7 Numbers To Consider Before Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee Titans Game
By Ben Nielsen
Aug 7, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Allen Bailey (97) pressures Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jason Campbell (17) in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
NUMBER: 24
Of the 73 qualifying 3-4 defensive ends who played at least 22 pass rushing snaps, four of the top 13 pass rushers were Chiefs. Kyle Love, Jaye Howard, Allen Bailey, and Vance Walker combined to cause 24 quarterback pressures, or 24 more pressures than Tyson Jackson had this preseason.
The next step for Kansas City’s defense this offseason was upgrading the secondary (though upgrades are needed) but to improve their depth at pass rush. Specifically they needed to add an inside rush to help take blockers off of Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. Outside of Dontari Poe, the Chiefs were not getting much of anything from their defensive line when it came to rushing the passer.
For example, Jackson had only 12 quarterback pressures last season, including the playoffs. That’s number is barely higher than 10, which is the number of games he did not provide a single quarterback pressure. Ten games.
Mike DeVito isn’t blameless here either. In his time on the field he produced only 13 pressures, with none of them being sacks and only one being a quarterback hit.
So in 964 snaps between DeVito and Jackson the Chiefs 25 quarterback pressures. Comparatively, Dontari Poe had 33 quarterback hurries – not pressures, hurries – in 1,063 snaps.
Flanking Poe with some players who could win some one-on-one matchups on passing downs was vital to the Chiefs offseason, and it would seem they’ve found some depth there. Allen Bailey’s progression against the run helps make him a balanced threat as a starter. Vance Walker produced 41 quarterback pressures for the Raiders last season, and Jaye Howard had a heck of a preseason rushing the passer.
Should Kansas City have some interior depth to their pass rush then their already stout pass rush may become lethal. And a lethal pass rush is a secondary’s best friend.