Film Room: How the Chiefs can advance to Super Bowl 53
By Grant Tuttle
Defensively:
Shadow running backs at all times
This is the single most important part of playing defense against the Patriots. The Chiefs should absolutely shadow and smother the Patriots running backs. Between Sony Michel and James White, the Patriots have built a lot of their success. Whether it be on rushes or passes like this, the Patriots have built their success on the running backs.
On this play, you will see about 70% of the Patriots offense. James White releases out of the backfield and does a quick spot. As soon as he turns around, the ball is in his chest for a first down. The Chiefs will need to do their best to eliminate the “all-purpose” side of the Patriots running backs.
Flow to the ball and be aggressive on run plays
This is what doomed the Chargers, they did not flow aggressively to the ball. Instead of attacking the ball-carrier, the Chargers tried to use speed on their back end and it came back to bite them in the power rushing game. Sony Michel was given a sliver to run through and the backfield had no shot because of how quickly blockers got to the second level.
If the Chiefs are going to have success, they will need Anthony Hitchens and Reggie Ragland to play downhill. Additionally, the safeties will need to be quick to the line of scrimmage off of hand-offs. If the Chiefs can contain the rushing game, they will have shut down the toughest part of the New England offense.
Keep Tom Brady off-balance
Everyone knows that Brady has trouble with one aspect of his game. If he gets pressured consistently, he struggles to perform at a high rate. The key is making him feel uncomfortable. If the Chiefs can keep Brady off of his spot, he will throw the ball away and into tight coverages. This is ideal for the Chiefs defense.
On this play, the Dolphins don’t even do a great job on this play. They rush four and Brady has the ball for a tick longer than he wants. When the defender breaks free, Brady ducks and throws the ball away. The thing is, Tom Brady is the opposite of mobile and the Chiefs can exploit that by taking away his ability to get rid of the ball quickly. If Brady is sacked more than three times, I think the Chiefs have a great shot.