The Chiefs secondary has overcome several early season hurdles

How is Kansas City overcoming the obstacles in the secondary?

Everyone on the back end of the defense has stepped up in 2020. Fenton has progressively gotten better since entering the Texans game in the second half, Sneed looked better than anyone could have predicted, and Ward has played well despite playing with a cast. The safety group has played another significant role in keeping the defense moving forward.

Tyrann Mathieu has continued to prove his worth with his versatility in 2020, playing in the slot more than any other alignment the first four games. The leader of the defense has yet to miss a snap in 2020. Thornhill and Daniel Sorensen have both seen significant snaps, with Thornhill playing just over 91% of the defensive snaps and Sorensen playing 78%. Even free safety addition Tedric Thompson has played 26% of the defensive snaps in 2020.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo leans on his safeties to take responsibilities off of the cornerbacks. The cornerbacks can play physical in both man and zone coverages, knowing they have help over the top. He also requires his safeties to be versatile, moving them around the defense to play different roles consistently. Mathieu, Thornhill, and Sorensen have all seen time playing deep coverages, down in the box, on the LOS in press-man coverage, and blitzing off the edge.

As good as the unit looked late in the 2019 season on the path to the Super Bowl, they have looked even better in 2020. That versatility has covered up several weaknesses in Kansas City’s defense through the first four games. It also helps confuse opposing quarterbacks pre-snap.

That’s not to say that the cornerbacks haven’t stepped up as well. Sneed played exceptionally before going down with a clavicle injury in Week 3. He had three pass deflections and two interceptions in those first three games. Fenton had a monster game against the New England Patriots with four pass breakups and an interception.

Playing sticky, physical coverage has allowed for several coverage sacks in the first four weeks. Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson are both quarterbacks that hold onto the ball longer than most but couldn’t get anything going against the Chiefs’ defense. Houston called plays to quickly get the ball out of Watson’s hands, averaging 2.45 seconds to throw. That average time would rank in the top 5 in the NFL.

Houston looked to take advantage of inexperienced cornerbacks with no luck resulting in Watson having to make several reads instead of one quick read. Frank Clark and Chris Jones alone combined 11 pressures and three of the four sacks for the Chiefs defense in that game. Against Baltimore, Kansas City held Jackson, the reigning MVP, to less than 100 passing yards on the night.

Young cornerbacks stepping up and playing well above expectations has been a substantial help to the defensive line. Taco Charlton doesn’t force the turnover without Fenton locking down N’Keal Harry in the end zone on the strip-sack against New England.

As the pressure comes around the back of the pocket, Hoyer looks to Harry in the end zone. Fenton remains on his hip, along with the rest of the secondary locking down their guys, and the Chiefs’ defense gets a turnover.

Fenton was the primary reason for several drives by the Patriots coming to an end. In the clip above, New England tries to throw a back-shoulder fade to Harry on 3rd and 11. Fenton, 5’11” and 188 pounds, does not allow Harry, 6’4″ and 225 pounds, to win the physicality battle as he remains aggressive and squeezes his route to the sideline.

Even against the run, Fenton was a drive-stalling factor. In the first clip above, Fenton takes out the fullback, who plugs the run lane and allows Clark to make the tackle. Not much later in the game, the young cornerback makes another play against the run, taking out the pulling left tackle and Rex Burkhead for a negative gain.

Similar to the second half of the 2019 season, young defensive players have played well above expectations. Sneed started in his first NFL game without the usual offseason programs or preseason and 2019 sixth-round pick Rashad Fenton continues to develop into a starting-caliber cornerback. Mathieu continues to play any role within the defense at elite levels.