Chiefs have Bob’s SUTTON DEATH defense
By Laddie Morse
Nov 15, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs free safety Eric Berry (29) celebrates his interception with defensive back Daniel Sorensen (49) and cornerback Marcus Peters (22) in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Currently, the Chiefs have the seventh-ranked defense. While that may not sound so historically amazing, consider that after the Chiefs first four games they were near the bottom of the league and they set a team record by allowing three teams in a row to score 30 or more points on them.
The defense is third in time of possession at 28:33, which means they are killing a high percentage of drives and getting off the field. In the San Diego game, the K.C. defense allowed the Chargers only 10 plays on the Chiefs side of the 50.
Consistently winning time of possession means the Chiefs offense is successfully possessing the ball. The offense and special teams gave the Chargers an average starting field position of the 15-yard line. Having more field to defend can potentially mean other teams could possess the ball for longer periods of time, but it just doesn’t happen because of the effectiveness of the Chiefs defense.
The credit for this new moniker: the SUTTON DEATH defense, obviously goes to defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. Sutton is dialing up his pressure tactics and blitz packages with greater frequency than he was earlier this season. More importantly, it’s working and working very well.
In the San Diego game, the Chargers had ten drives. Of those ten drives, seven of them were six plays or less. Pundits hail the 3-and-out but the next best thing is 6-and-out because it often means two drives and a punt like it did in the Chargers game. While the Chiefs defense created two such 3-and-out drives by the Chargers, their seven 6-and-out drives better tells the story of this game.
Bob Sutton’s defense has recently become a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. The low QBR ratings for opposing starting quarterbacks since the loss to the Vikings has been impressive:
12.3 Brian Hoyer, Texans (85.9 Ryan Mallett)
59.4 Peyton Manning, Broncos
78.0 Aaron Rodgers, Packers
95.3 Andy Dalton, Bengals
35.8 Jay Cutler, Bears
64.3 Teddy Bridgewater, Vikings
17.0 Landry Jones, Steelers
8.9 Matthew Stafford, Lions
0.1 Peyton Manning, Broncos (67.8 Brock Osweiler)
20.0 Philip Rivers, Chargers
Next: So What Happened to Transform the Chiefs Defense?