Mike Danna
This might sound a little crazy. It’s not that Mike Danna’s name came up regularly on the broadcast, nor does the stat sheet have anything of note here for the Chiefs’ third-year defensive lineman. Instead, you might assume that, like most games, Danna turned in some reps of solid effort as a rotational lineman and nothing more.
That’s where you’d be wrong.
Watching the Chiefs get after Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow early and often was a thing of beauty, and it resulted in official sacks for Danna’s teammates like Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and George Karlaftis. But what was so helpful at times on some of those very plays was the initial disruption provided by Danna to force Joe Burrow to move around in the pocket (or out of it entirely) only to fall into the grasp of another Chiefs’ defender.
Danna has taken a serious step forward this season and put up a career-high 5 sacks for a defensive line that needed several players to make such a leap. Check out the following:
Mike Danna has quietly been the Chiefs 2nd best pass rusher on the DL this year.
— Tyler Simmons (@trsimmons58) January 20, 2023
He finished the regular season 2nd on the DL in true pass rush win rate (19.5%) and pressure percentage (10.1%), according to PFF.
Puts him 82nd and 51st in the league among 245 DL qualifiers. pic.twitter.com/h2D5L3PgET
Danna is coming into a contract year next season and should put up a good enough season to earn a nice payday. But if Veach is smart, and he is, expect the Chiefs to make it worth Danna’s while to stick around for an extra year or two with a sensible extension. He’s proved he can make a difference even in the biggest games.