The Kansas City Chiefs bounced back on Sunday against the New York Jets. It was a bit of a slow start, and fans also had to endure an injury scare involving Patrick Mahomes and his throwing arm. But after that passed, Kansas City turned in a dominant victory over the Jets.
The Chiefs' defense stood out with its performance. A failure to get stops on crucial downs and a lack of pressure had haunted them the previous two weeks. Steve Spagnuolo's unit was able to stand tall in the red zone, K.C. got pressure at a consistently high rate for a change, and some highly paid names came through.
Jets' impressive skill players largely held in check
New York is not one of the best teams in the NFL. That much is clear. However, this was a more competitive team in the first half of the season than its current 2-7 record would have one believe. The Jets are stocked with tremendous young talent on the offensive line and at the skill positions.
Yet Kansas City did not allow those pieces to get settled in whatsoever. Adonai Mitchell entered Sunday after a strong stretch of play. He had zero catches on seven targets against the Chiefs. Yes, Geno Smith just missed him on some aggressive shots, but not getting burned by Mitchell was a key to this game.
Mason Taylor was limited to just one catch. Despite Kansas City not being the greatest against tight ends over the last few years, New York's young tight end did not pop off the screen much at all.
Of all the weapons, Breece Hall and Braelon Allen each churned out some chunk gains on the ground. However, Nick Bolton punched the ball out of Allen's hands for a massive momentum shift, stalling the early success the Jets had gained on the ground. Plus, K.C. finally got a turnover and capitalized on it two plays later.
Chiefs finally get pressure home with varied blitz packages
What made this performance more Spags-esque from his defense? For one, Kansas City was attempting more varied pressures. We are accustomed to seeing this when the Chiefs' defense finds its groove. Too many static and basic pressure attempts were not getting home or were called too often over the previous two weeks.
Mixing in overload pressures to one side was noticeable on Sunday. The Chiefs also disguised their simulated pressures pre-snap and confused the New York offensive line. George Karlaftis led the way with two sacks, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and one batted pass.
As good as Armand Membou and Olu Fashanu are, they were whiffing often against Kansas City. Membou even got so frustrated that he ended up taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, simply because he had been beaten over and over again.
The Chiefs' defense was flying around all over the field. Rallying to the football against both the run and the pass helped knock the Jets off schedule or into dire down-and-distance situations. From the jump, it was clear that both teams were being diligent in trying to pry the ball free. Kansas City successfully punched it out and essentially did not look back from then on when defending New York.
Kansas City is set to face even more great opposing offenses soon. Teams like the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Cincinnati Bengals await the Chiefs over the next month or so. If K.C.'s defense is going to build on this outing against the Jets, it has to carry the same schematic creativity, production, and fundamentals into the next handful of weeks. Can Kansas City ride the wave, or was its best defensive outing since Week 1 a flash in the pan?
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