In the Kansas City Chiefs’ most recent loss, a 28-24 defeat to the Denver Broncos, the pass rush may have had its least impactful performance of the year.
After the game, we wrote about the Chiefs’ pass rush that generated just two pressures over 34 dropbacks by Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, according to ESPN analytics. That comes roughly two months after Kansas City harassed Nix in a season-opening win with four sacks and two additional quarterback hits.
The defense executed the game plan well without
pressure through three quarters, but let’s take a closer look at the Chiefs’ pass rush overall from Week 8:
Chris Jones rushing from inside
When watching the game back, the Chiefs’ rush looked its best when defensive tackle Chris Jones lined up where he should most of the time: inside over the guard in a 3-technique or 4i alignment.
On third-and-2 early on, linebacker Drue Tranquill blitzes and occupies the only player that can help right guard Quinn Meinerz on Jones. Getting a one-on-one, Jones flies off the line and through Meinerz’s outside shoulder to quickly enter the pocket. A quick pass negates the win by Jones, who ends up with hands on Nix.
Jones lined up in the B-gap on 24 of the 48 plays he was on the field in Denver (50%). He typically lines up there on neutral downs (1st and 2nd down) or third-and-short.
Needing four yards to convert this third down, Nix’s dropback is a little more drawn out than the previous third-and-short pass. This time, Jones and defensive end George Karlaftis bull rush the two right-side linemen and force Nix to feel them in the pocket — and Karlaftis finishes the rush by getting a hand on the pass.
After the game, Chiefs Communications noted that Karlaftis took sole possession of the NFL lead in batted passes (7). He also earned the team’s only sack of the afternoon, although it came on a drawn-out play action where Denver left a tight end to block him on the back side.
One of Jones’ biggest assets as a rusher is his size; he’s hard to see over when a quarterback is trying to scan the field, and his 6-foot-6 frame, even when blocked, can disrupt a dropback from the front of the pocket.
When second and third downs get longer, Jones typically moves to line up either over or outside of the offensive tackle. Defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah becomes a key rusher from the inside in those scenarios; he blew up one screen pass in Denver by knifing in and getting to Nix quickly from an interior spot.
However, I believe Jones is most impactful when rushing from the front of the pocket.
Setting up one-on-ones
After the game, Jones said the Chiefs needed to “win on one-on-ones.” He mentioned it being a big emphasis. He is included in that, but the pass rushers around him need to take advantage of Jones’s gravity.
On this second-and-18, the Chiefs’ pass rush seems to run a stunt that invites Nix to move forward and to the right of the pocket. Jones flies down off the ball and occupies the right guard and center, setting up defensive end Ashton Gillotte to loop around behind him and meet Nix in the open space.
However, Gillotte is either late to loop or simply forgot that was his assignment until Jones was in front of him. Suddenly, Nix had a wide-open platform to confidently fire a rocket over the middle. It’s hard to ask much more from the coverage on this one.
On this third-and-10, Jones draws heavy attention from the three interior linemen of Denver after rushing over the center. The left guard helps and spins around before coming back to help the fullback — a key to the Broncos’ pass protection against blitzes — on linebacker Nick Bolton, who gets no penetration.
However, look at the space Karlaftis gives left tackle Garrett Bolles to work into the pocket. Instead of gearing up for an inside move based on how the line came out, the Chiefs’ lead edge rusher takes himself out of the play by rushing upfield.
On the other side, a sloppily executed stunt leaves Gillote and rookie R Mason Thomas useless. This gives Nix a platform to deliver a calm strike to move the chains that he simply misses.
As the game wore on, the lack of wins from pass rushers not named Chris Jones became more evident. On this first-down play, up two scores in the fourth quarter, Nix buys himself enough time to eventually find a target over the middle for a huge gain (although Bolton slipped on his way to likely breaking up the pass).
Jones draws two blockers, and most notably, Gillotte can’t get past the right tackle, leaving Nix the space to throw. With nose tackle Khyiris Tonga on the field, the team wasn’t built to get after the quarterback, so is it worth criticizing the coaching staff for not using edge rusher R Mason Thomas more in a full-time role once the Chiefs build such a late-game lead?
The bottom line
Kansas City’s pass rush wasn’t the biggest factor in blowing the game in Denver, but a few more splash plays would have gone a long way in a game the Chiefs led in the second half until the final minutes.
One tweak is to keep Jones on the inside at all times when getting after the quarterback and give Thomas more run on the field; he only played 17 snaps against the Broncos, less than 30% of the snaps.
However, the main critique is of the players around Jones. He isn’t making plays himself this season, but he is still drawing a lot of attention; his teammates need to sharpen their pass-rush moves to take advantage of it more often.
