The Kansas City Chiefs have seen a massive overhaul on the defensive side of the ball. Steve Spagnuolo seems to be changing the direction in 2019.
The Kansas City Chiefs have has seen the largest amount of changes to the coaching staff and roster than they’ve seen in years. It all started when the franchise decided to move on from defensive coordinator Bob Sutton and replaced him with Steve Spagnuolo. With that change came a large number of moves in the coaching staff as well on the defensive side of the ball.
Moving on from long-time defensive leaders like Justin Houston, Eric Berry, and Dee Ford have fans astonished and confused with the direction of the defense. For as long as many fans can remember, finding elite talent to rush the passer has been the object of the game on defense. Many years filled by Justin Houston and former edge rusher Tamba Hali, along with many greats before them, makes it hard to understand moving on from so many talented pass rushers a season after leading the league in sacks.
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Unfortunately, offenses have adapted to the pass rush with quick passing attacks and the RPO game (run-pass option). We saw it in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots when Tom Brady lit up the defense in key situations all without being sacked a single time. Much of that had to do with Sutton’s lack of aggression playing his secondary members off the line of scrimmage and some of that had to do with the little talent the Chiefs suffered from in that area of the defense in 2018.
Spagnuolo looks to bring a new style of defense for the Chiefs in 2019 and moving forward. The most that we have heard about his style of defense revolves around the 4-3 under. Of course, Spagnuolo has admitted that he will adjust his scheme to the players on the roster’s strengths and spending an entire year off from the league has given him time to adjust his scheme to the new league.
Between Spagnuolo and the new defensive line coach Brendan Daly, who spent the last four seasons as the defensive line coach of the Patriots, the coaches have shown in their career that they don’t need elite pass rushers to generate pressure on the quarterback. It should be refreshing to hear that for Chiefs fans following the Sutton era that was vanilla and passive in rushing the passer. Instead of sending just four guys every down, Spagnuolo and Daly both tend to use stunts and blitz packages to generate pressure.
The Patriots didn’t have three elite pass rushers along their defensive front in 2018, yet they seemed to get enough pressure on quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the AFC Championship. It was defensive lineman Trey Flowers and a bunch of mediocre talents. New England was creative with their stunts and blitz packages to generate their pressure mixing it with tight coverage from their secondary.
It seems that Spagnuolo has complete control over the defensive side of the ball and that moving on from players like Houston and Ford in the same offseason will not be a tremendous problem given his aggressive style of football. Defensive lineman Chris Jones is the sole remaining piece from last year’s elite pass rushers. Is that enough to get enough pressure in 2019?
Recent second round picks Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks are the most likely on the roster to start at the defensive end positions. Although, free agency isn’t over and the draft will likely bring more talent as well. The Chiefs did sign a new defensive end in Alex Okafor who spent the last couple of seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He’s not an elite talent but could be a solid role player in the new defense. It goes to show what Spagnuolo values with the lack of pass rushing options the Chiefs have brought in to replace Ford and Houston.
Given that the Chiefs have signed safety Tyrann Mathieu and hosted visits with cornerbacks like Ronald Darby and Darqueze Dennard, it would seem that the team is looking to bolster the secondary with upgraded talent to be able to hold down receivers longer and allow the defensive front more time to get after the quarterback. That doesn’t mean that they won’t try and find another cornerback early in the draft, but it could push it to a day two pick.
With the NFL changing quickly and offenses adjusting to pass rushers, it would seem that the Chiefs are looking to keep up with the times and switch their attack. While it’s obviously important to get quick pressure on the quarterback, finding players that can make plays in coverage seems to be the more important trait. Remember, sacks don’t come that often, but cornerbacks have to cover their man every given play.
Even with the loss of star edge rushers, I still see this defense is improved from a season ago. Of course, it can’t get much worse. Given the scheme and the upgrades to the secondary both that have already happened and changes that are to come, I think the Chiefs are moving in the right direction on defense. Valuing great players on the back end instead of the front seems to make a lot of sense in a league that is spreading out the defense more and more. Kansas City has been best when they’ve had playmakers in the back end, here’s to hoping they get back to that.