Worst to first is one of the most interesting things to watch in sports, as a franchise can go from last place in a division to first place seemingly overnight and nowhere is that more common than in the NFL, where the NFC South did it a number of years in a row and this season it could be the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team went just 2-14 last season and had the number one pick in the draft, but despite all that, the roster has enough talent to end up with a winning record, as evidenced by the five Pro Bowlers from the losing team last year. This year the team has a new head coach in Andy Reid, a new quarterback after trading for Alex Smith and a revamped defense after making a number of free agent moves and all that could add up to a division title in 2013.
Jamaal Charles showed last season with over 1,500 yards rushing that he is one of the most explosive backs in football and along with Dwyane Bowe, the team has two of the most dynamic players on offense in football. The Chiefs gave up a second round pick for Smith, but upgrading at quarterback over Matt Cassel was a priority for Reid and now they have someone to build around in the West coast offense. Charles has already rushed for over 1,000 yards three different times and he can also catch balls out of the backfield and that is something Reid loves.
While with Philly, Reid used LeSean McCoy and Brian Westbrook in the same way and he got plenty of production out of those two over his time with the Eagles as well as Duce Staley. Even though the Chiefs went 2-14 last season, changes from losing to winning have happened with worse teams, including when the Dolphins were 1-15 before turning things around years ago. The team has a solid schedule and after the defense played well in the preseason, Reid is hoping for improvements.
Last year the team ranked fifth in rushing yards per game and 32nd in passing yards and having Smith will surely help that. The defense ranked 12th in passing yards allowed and 27th in rushing yards allowed and they should be better on both ends this season. The opening schedule is easy to start with Jacksonville, but after that the team faces the NFC East gauntlet with the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants before playing the Titans. The team also has winnable games against the Raiders, Browns, Bills and Colts and the team could be much improved over that span.
"Once we got Alex Smith, we felt like, 'OK, now we've got something. We can start this thing,'" Chiefs assistant head coach David Culley said. "We've got to have that guy, whoever that guy is. Well, it was Alex who was the guy. ... I don't know if there was another guy out there available that would've been better than Alex Smith, and now he understands why we got him."
