Look… I get it.
I don’t blame anyone for focusing attention on the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense. How could you not do that? Wide receiver Rashee Rice is back. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is playing at an MVP
level. The Chiefs have scored 28 or more points in five consecutive games.
It’s sexy. It’s fun. The offense is everything the past two Kansas City offenses have not been.
But have you noticed that in recent weeks, coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs defense has quietly — very quietly — been rounding into form.
It started with the performance against the Detroit Lions, when they finished with fewer than 300 total yards and just 17 points. Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown combined for just 112 yards from scrimmage on 28 touches — four yards per touch — which is well below their career norms.
It felt like something the Kansas City defense could build upon. And it was.
In the two games since then, the unit has allowed a total of just seven points — all of them coming on a miraculous Terry McLaurin touchdown reception on Monday night.
The last time Kansas City’s defense held back-to-back regular-season opponents to seven or fewer points was in 2019. In this century, the Chiefs have done this just one other time: in 2006.
That’s pretty good.
While the results against the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders were similar, the process was quite different. Against Las Vegas, the Chiefs’ defense was as dominant as we’ll probably ever see. The Raiders finished the game with just 30 offensive plays — in large part because they didn’t convert a single third down.
Washington was able to move the ball with more success, but Kansas City came up with enough timely plays to hold the Commanders at bay. Mike Danna ended Washington’s first drive with an interception. Jaylen Watson ended the second with a fourth-down tackle, stopping Zach Ertz just short of the line to gain. And the Commanders’ third drive ended when the Chiefs’ pass rush got home, forcing quarterback Marcus Mariota to make a bad fourth-down pass.
The second half, however, was a return to the defensive dominance we saw the previous week. Washington’s four second-half drives produced 20 plays for 65 yards. Three of the four resulted in punts, with the final drive ending on linebacker Jack Cochrane’s first career interception.
Is this really the same defense that couldn’t get off the field against the Los Angeles Chargers in the season opener?
It now seems like that game will go down as the outlier. The Chiefs now rank second in the NFL in points allowed per game and third in yards allowed per game. This is no longer a small sample size. Kansas City is playing like an elite unit.
Diving deeper into the numbers makes it clear just how good this defense has been:
- The Chiefs have held four straight regular-season opponents to 320 or fewer total yards. It’s only the sixth time in the past 20 years the defense has maintained such a streak.
- Kansas City has allowed 131 points. Only twice in the last 20 years has the Chiefs’ defense allowed fewer points by this point: 2023 (129) and 2013 (98).
- The Chiefs’ 2,222 yards allowed are their fewest through eight games since 1998. The only NFL defenses this decade to allow fewer total yards through eight games were the 2015 Broncos, 2017 Panthers, 2019 49ers, 2021 Bills, 2023 Ravens, 2023 Browns, and 2024 Titans.
I knew they had been playing well. I did not realize they had been playing that well.
But this success will soon be put to the test. This year’s worst defensive performances have all come on the road — and a trip to Buffalo is next on the schedule. That’s followed by the team’s bye week and a three-game gauntlet at Denver, home against the Indianapolis Colts and on the road against the Dallas Cowboys for Thanksgiving.
One area of the defense that could still use a boost is the pass rush. Pro Football Reference has the Chiefs among the bottom 10 in hurry and pressure rate. Kansas City has only two defensive linemen among the top 100 in hurries: George Karlaftis (fourth) and Chris Jones (23rd). A defensive line reinforcement (or two?) at the trade deadline wouldn’t hurt.
Regardless of what happens over the next week, it appears the Chiefs’ defense has found its footing. I can’t believe I ever doubted Spagnuolo’s ability to do it.
