Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs defense is prolific, to say the least.
The unit is currently ranked No. 1 in the NFL in sacks with a cool 35. That’s ten more than the Baltimore Ravens, who come in at No. 2 in that category, mind you.
The Chiefs are also No. 3 in opponent passing yards allowed per game and first in the league in opponent third down conversions. Kansas City’s opponents have only completed 24-of-95 third down conversions so far this season, which comes out to about 25 percent.
Big Pro Bowl-esque names such as Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, Eric Berry and Dontari Poe have led the way for the Chiefs defensively, but there are two players up front who have been putting in a ton of work, but have received minimal credit: Defensive ends Tyson Jackson and Mike DeVito.
For those thinking this may be a bit unfair, fear not.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton spoke highly of the two defensive linemen in a recent press conference:
"“As we have said a lot of times, the cumulative effect of a guy making a sack or a guy making an interception, there are usually a lot of people involved in that,” Sutton said.“Certainly you have individual skill and talent that plays into that, but there are a lot of players involved. Certainly I think Tyson Jackson and Mike DeVito have been really outstanding players so far through these first seven games.”“I think like most players who line up between those tackles, you don’t know a lot about them sometimes, but they are doing those hard jobs play after play after play and they have done it on a highly consistent basis,” he said.“They’re doing a great job in there, and I think if you talk to the other players and the linebackers on running plays – just like last week’s tough zone scheme that demands a lot – those guys did a tremendous job enabling the linebackers and safeties to clean up the running game for Houston. We’re really pleased with them, and I think within the locker room, those guys are highly respected for the way they play and practice.”"
Jackson has racked up 18 tackles and two sacks so far in 2013. DeVito on the other-hand, has notched 11 tackles.
They may not be the superstars of this unit, but these two bookends are certainly the unsung heroes of Kansas City’s defense.