KC Chiefs defense deserves serious credit for effort against Browns

As the dust settled from the Kansas City Chiefs nerve-racking 22-17 win over the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, most of the focus was on the offense. Will Patrick Mahomes be able to come back to play next week after leaving with a concussion? Can you believe those last few plays by Chad Henne to seal the game? What about the guts of Andy Reid to throw the ball on fourth down in that situation?

Those were definitely my initial thoughts immediately following the game, but as my heart rate came back down to a normal level and I thought back about the game as a whole, I think we definitely need to take a moment and appreciate how the Chiefs defense stepped up in this game.

As long as the Chiefs are coached by Andy Reid and have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback with skill position players like Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, this team is going to be viewed as an offensive one. That’s fair and completely understandable. However, both during last season’s Super Bowl run and in this first playoff game of the “Run It Back” campaign, the defense definitely had to step up and pull their weight.

The Browns averaged 25.5 points per game on the season and were coming off a 48-point performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round. On this day, however, the Chiefs defense would hold them to just 17 points.

There will be plenty of time this week to monitor the status of Patrick Mahomes and preview the challenge provided by the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game. Today I think we should take a moment to talk about how the defense stepped up and kept the Chiefs quest of a repeat alive.

This is a conversation that must start with the play of All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu. The Honey Badger was all over the field. He played like an absolute superstar. He helped shut down the run at times and was equally big in coverage, even coming up with a huge interception in the second half.

The Chiefs have three high-priced defenders that they are paying to make plays in just these situations and none of them came up more clutch than Mathieu in this one. I would even say the only player on this team more valuable than Mathieu is Patrick Mahomes himself. You can make an argument for a few other guys, but Mathieu is the heart and soul of the Chiefs defense and it showed on Sunday. He’d get my game ball for the Browns game.

Next up on my shout-out list is rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed has quickly become one of the best players on K.C.’s defense. He’s strong in coverage, tackles well in the run game, and has proven himself a successful pass rusher. Sneed had six tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss in this game. Much like Mathieu, he seemed to be all over the field. Simply put, Sneed was a home run pick for the Chiefs in the 2020 draft, and he’s been their clear cut rookie of the year—a key player in their attempt to repeat as champions.

While Mathieu and Sneed were the two best defensive players in this game, I think at this point it would be wrong to not acknowledge the huge play made by safety Dan Sorensen that very well may have saved this game for the Chiefs. I feel like it is a safe assumption to say that the Browns score a touchdown before the half if Dirty Dan doesn’t force Rashard Higgins to fumble the ball.

In a game that the Chiefs won by just five points, the play could not have been bigger. People can debate if the rule is fair or not, but that’s the rule and Sorensen’s play saved the day for the Chiefs. I also know there was some talk about it should have been a flag. I understand the rule, but it wasn’t helmet to helmet and he wasn’t a defenseless receiver. So while I couldn’t have argued if they did flag it, I feel like it was a football play—not a dirty one—and I wouldn’t be upset if a similar play wasn’t flagged against Kansas City at some point.

I think you also have to give credit to the defensive tackles up front. Chris Jones may not have recorded a sack, but he was a disruptive force in the middle, including on Cleveland’s final drive where the Chiefs forced them to punt. Tershawn Wharton tipped a pass (that Baker Mayfield ended up catching) on a third down that led to a punt. The overall run defense was also solid on the day. Nick Chubb had a few big runs in the second half that inflated the Browns’ run totals, but the Chiefs built their early lead because Cleveland’s ground game was a non-factor.

The biggest question going forward is obviously the health of quarterback Mahomes, but even if Mahomes is able to go, the Chiefs are going to need some help from their defense in order to beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game.

While there have been times throughout this season that the defense has been a concern, I think they deserve a ton of credit for this game. They had players step up and have huge games. They made big-game changing plays when one was needed. Most importantly, they kept the Cleveland Browns from even breaking the 20-point barrier in this game. They did it without the pass rush even having a great game too, so there is still room for improvement. That’s a great sign for the Chiefs moving forward. Now let’s just hope they are ready to do it again this weekend—regardless of Mahomes’ status.