Three reasons not to panic about KC Chiefs defense

Sep 12, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt (27) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt (27) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – SEPTEMBER 10: Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo of the Kansas City Chiefs talks to a player during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium on September 10, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – SEPTEMBER 10: Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo of the Kansas City Chiefs talks to a player during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium on September 10, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Coaches can be trusted

Football is a game of adjustments. The league has plenty of coaches who can piece together an impressive opening drive or even piece together a couple early series in which their teams look excellent. It’s another thing entirely, however, for a head coach to be able to go in at halftime and come out having made the required adjustments to overcome a weakness, deal with an injury, and/or climb out a deficit.

On Sunday, the Chiefs exhibited the ability to do all of that. The Chiefs were dealing with numerous injuries or absences, especially on defense. They also watched a poor performance overall from the defense in the first half, one that caused fans to rage online about even replacing a defensive coordinator (although we try not to listen to that emotional section too often). At halftime, they were down 22-10 and again by 9 with only 10 minutes left to play in the whole game.

Yet as we’ve seen several times before, the Chiefs have a way of bringing things back around. Patrick Mahomes and his offensive entourage earned all the acclaim but the Chiefs defense undoubtedly stepped up when it mattered most. They created turnovers. They started generating pressure on Baker Mayfield. They were able to slow the run at key moments. Spags has been here before with much more on the line, so we trust these coaches will see to it that some of these issues are taken care of going forward.