Why NFL teams should be terrified of the Kansas City Chiefs

Frank Clark and Chris Jones

When you think about game-changing talent and units on the Kansas City Chiefs, everyone first thinks of Patrick Mahomes and the team’s elite passing attack. While that may be the top-billed attraction on this team, both the playoffs last year and the opener against the Texans on Thursday showed us that the dynamic duo of Chris Jones and Frank Clark on the defensive front has the potential to be a close second.

The Chiefs don’t have a defense that dominates every snap down after down, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be an absolute force and huge problem for opposing offenses. In the NFL, it sometimes only takes one big play to stop a drive. Finding a defender with the pure power/speed/talent to completely blow up a play at a critical time is hard to do. Most teams are lucky if they even have one player like that on their defensive front. The Chiefs have two.

Last season, a lingering injury kept Clark from being that kind of player for much of the season, but he was able to turn it on for the postseason run. This year it looks like Clark is starting the season in prime form. There were multiple plays where Clark simply blew by the Texans offensive tackles like he was standing still. It only takes a few of those snaps to change a game. Clark doesn’t even have to get a sack to impact the game. Forcing a quarterback to drop his eyes and abandon a play on third down can be as good as a turnover if the end result is punting the ball back to Mahomes and the offense.

Jones was also a force of nature in the Super Bowl and has been one of the NFL’s best interior pass rushers for the last couple of seasons. This offseason, Jones finally got the huge payday that he had been waiting for. If the question was whether or not Jones would still have that competitive fire now without the financial motivation, Jones made it quite clear on Thursday that it wasn’t money driving his dominant play. Jones picked right back up where he left off in the Super Bowl and was completely unblockable at times.

Jones and Clark combined for 2.5 sacks on Thursday and impacted other plays that won’t show up in a box score. If both Jones and Clark stay healthy this season and play like they did against the Texans, they both should have an excellent chance to clear double digits in sacks. On a team that should score plenty of points, and thus puts pressure on opposing teams to try and keep pace, having two elite pass rushers on your defensive front is a huge problem for opponents. When one sack (or even just a pressure that causes a rushed throw) can end a drive, it makes it that much more difficult to keep pace with the best offense in the NFL.

Simply put, if both Chris Jones and Frank Clark are healthy and motivated, it gives the Chiefs an elite pass rush that can absolutely be the elite part of their defense that creates nightmares for the rest of the NFL.

Let’s stay with the defense for one more reason other teams should be worried.