A pair of seemingly contradictory defensive performances for the Kansas City Chiefs have left fans pondering how much trust to put in the unit.
Kansas City opened the season with a dominant 31-10 beatdown of the Denver Broncos, sacking quarterback Bo Nix four times and holding the reigning AFC West champions to just 176 total yards.
A week later, however, the Chiefs sweated 70 full minutes for a 33-30 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts gained 329 yards against Kansas City. Despite
multiple close calls, quarterback Daniel Jones played five quarters without being sacked.
Speaking before Thursday’s practice, defensive line coach Joe Cullen credited the Indianapolis offensive line for thwarting the Chiefs’ pass rush.
“They’re a physical offensive line,” observed Cullen. “They’ve always had a good offensive line. And one of the things we stressed is we got to get them in those down and distances like we had a third-and-16. [Defensive end George Karlaftis] made a great play on the screen… We had a third-and-11, and George jumped the gun, went offside. So now you’re down to third-and-6, and the ball gets out a little quicker. But they’ve always had a decent offensive line. And I think we saved the best rush for the last one when George put him on his back, but they’re a good offensive line.”
On Thursday, defensive tackle Chris Jones reiterated the importance of wins and losses over all other stats while acknowledging the need for improvement. He does see an overtime victory as an indication of the Kansas City defense’s perseverance.
“I think the most important thing that matters is wins and losses,” said Jones. “We were able to pull through, but we were also able to learn a lot about this team — the resiliency of the team and the core strength of the team. But there are still areas for improvement.”
One area for improvement will be preventing quick passes — as Jones was able to seemingly get off for completions any time the Chiefs’ pass rush threatened him. Cullen knows it is a problem, but it will take the whole defense to prevent a repeat performance by opposing quarterbacks.
“We’ve had some consistent pressure,” remarked the coach, “and it’s not always going to be a sack, but we’ve put pressure on the quarterback in a lot of different ways. But the coverage in the back end and the rush go hand in hand. Those are the things that when they’re tied in together, you’ve got to get home. [When] the quarterback’s patting that ball for over three seconds, you’ve got to get home.
“Ball gets out quick —you may have to change your rush and get your hand up to knock a slant down. The slant’s getting out in 2.2 seconds. When you make the quarterback clutch it, you got to get home, and when he doesn’t, and he’s getting it out quick, we got to get our hands up and helping the slant game.”
The Chiefs’ defense will next be tested on Sunday in South Florida against the Miami Dolphins. Cullen expects a well-prepared squad from new head coach Jeff Hafley. The Chiefs also have respect for possibly the league’s fastest running back, De’Von Achane, and quarterback Malik Willis — who took Kansas City to overtime in 2022 while with the Tennessee Titans.
“We’re excited,” Cullen declared. “A great opportunity going on the road for the first time down to Miami, and Coach Hafley’s building that program, and they’ve got some really skilled athletes on offense. [Achane] — No. 28 —is as good a back as there is. He’s had 5.7 [yards] to carry last year. We played Malik Willis when he was at Tennessee in the game here. So great athletes, and we’ll have our hands full, but we’re excited and looking forward to the challenge.”
