Kansas City Chiefs: Reviewing the team’s performance against the Browns

Grading the Pass Rush

Going into this game I was expecting a big day for the Kansas City pass rush against a mediocre Browns offensive line. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as the Chiefs only sacked Baker Mayfield twice and hurried him nine times. Some of that had to do with the Chiefs outside linebackers playing contain against Mayfield and dropping into coverage more often than normal.

Dee Ford dropped into coverage on nine plays while Breeland Speaks dropped into coverage for ten. It seemed like defensive coordinator Bob Sutton was more worried about Mayfield escaping the pocket to make a play and in turn kept his linebackers holding the boundaries. When Kansas City did bring pressure, most of it came from the right side from Ford and defensive end Chris Jones who got a sack against Mayfield. The other sack came from safety Jordan Lucas blitzing from the left side of the offensive line.

We also saw a minimal role from Tanoh Kpassagnon once again this week only getting to rush the passer on seven plays for the defense. Bob Sutton talked all offseason about wanting to have a rotation of pass rushers, yet even with Justin Houston being out, Kpassagnon is getting minimal time on the field. He’s flashed some big plays when he does get the opportunity which begs the question of why he’s not getting more playing time?