The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best young running backs in Jamaal Charles, who is entering his fourth NFL season out of Texas, but KC is still a work in progress that needs to really put things together in order to get back to winning games in 2010. Having finished last year at 4-12 (1-7 home, 3-5 away), the Chiefs need to improve on defense a bit and need to add some talent at wide out and tight end to support Matt Cassel in his second year in Kansas City.

Similar to the St. Louis, Detroit, and Tampa Bay, the Chiefs entered 2009 with a new head coach, and also a new GM who handpicked Matt Cassel to be his quarterback. While KC did get a signature win this year by knocking off the defending champion Steelers, that does not come close to washing away a disappointing 4-12 campaign – even it was a two game improvement over the previous year. Three of Kansas City’s four wins came after releasing Larry Johnson, who was probably their most famous player at that time, but Charles filled in very nicely for the departed Johnson. This change, along with other changes and signs of improvement at the top of the organization, provides hope that the Chiefs can soon become a feared playoff contender once again.

Stepping into some pretty big shoes, Charles helped to erase any regrets of the team having let Johnson go by becoming the fifth player in Chiefs history to rush for 1,000+ yards with a 5.0 yards per carry average during the course of the season, while rushing for a franchise-record 259 yards in a 44-24 win over Denver in the last game of the season – leaving fans anxious for what this new season may bring. Besides the solid running game, Cassel tied the record for touchdowns by a first-year Chief quarterback (16) alongside Steve DeBerg. KC’s leading receiver was Chris Chambers, which is both good and bad; bad because Chambers did not join the team until Week 9 and still bettered everyone else, but good because he did provide a needed spark the second half of the season, giving hope for increased help this year. Additionally, on special teams, 2009’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” kicker Ryan Succop set a Chiefs rookie record with 25 field goals, while also tying for second-most points by a Chiefs rookie.

Over on the defense, it was linebacker Demorrio Williams who led KC with 117 tackles and 95 solos, next to fellow-LB Derrick Johnson who tied an NFL record with two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the Week 17 rout of the Broncos. Upfront, defensive end Tamba Hali led the squad with 8.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles, while in the secondary safety Mike Brown was second on the team in tackles but first in assists, while cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr held down the outsides with Flowers (65 tackles, 58 solos, 7 assists) leading with 23 passes defended and 5 interceptions and Carr (62 tackles, 56 solos, 6 assists) just behind with 19 passes broken up.

With Matt Cassel leading the offense, behind the running of Jamaal Charles, the 2010 KC team will be looking to turn things around in the AFC West. That means you will definitely want to get your Kansas City Chiefs tickets right away in order to guarantee a to witness a return to the glory days at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.