The Kansas City Chiefs previous General Manager, John Dorsey, and current Defensive Coordinator, Bob Sutton, spent four years pretty much ignoring the run defense. Sure there was a piece added here and there, but all the major investments went to the pass defense. Enter new GM Brett Veach. The Chiefs acquire Reggie Ragland, KPL and Anthony Hitchens. What changed? One could argue, that Veach values run defense over Dorsey, but it seems likely that Sutton makes those kind of decisions. When it comes down to it, there’s really only one explanation that makes sense: the Chiefs are undergoing a dynamic shift on offense, and it’s changing their strategy on defense.
The Old Way (2013 through 2017)
With Alex Smith, the Chiefs winning formula was simple: play the percentages, don’t turn the ball over, don’t let teams score in the red zone, and don’t take unnecessary risks. The Chiefs knew that Smith’s skill set, as good as it was, didn’t give them much of a chance in shoot-outs. They used long drives to shorten games, and keep the opposing offense off the field. As such, stopping the run wasn‘t a priority. K.C. wanted to get the lead and run the clock. If the opposing team runs the ball, it runs the clock for you. Chiefs’ old defensive philosophy was 100% ok with letting the Titans run the ball. Chiefs had a big lead, running the ball ate clock, it fit right into their strategy. At least it would have if the offense could have scored on a drive or two, or at least made it past third down. The old Chiefs defense was worried about the red zone, and the deep ball… and not much else.
The New Mahomes Way (2018)
Suppose you are playing the New England Patriots. How do you handle Tom Brady? Aside from the obvious answer: you don’t, the formula is generally accepted to be:
- Long drives on offense keeping Brady off the field
- Get him under pressure
- Don’t waste drives by avoiding turnovers and 3-and-outs
On offense, the best way to do that, is to run the ball. For example, Kansas City has played the New England three times since 2014. They’ve won two of those games, rushing for 185 yards and 207 yards in those games (wins). The game they lost, Chiefs registered just 135 yards rushing. Long story short, K.C. now believes they have an elite QB, and don’t want a team to keep him on the sideline with their rushing attack.
Examining the Additional Changes
Aside from stopping the run, expect the Chiefs defense to play a lot more aggressively, against the pass, as well. The old philosophy worried about giving up a quick score. That’s not a concern anymore. Kansas City’s defense will want to force 3-and outs and cause turnovers. They’ll do this by playing press coverage, single high safety, and using a lot of blitzes. Sure, they’ll get burned by the occasional big play, but they’ll make life a lot harder on opposing offenses. Now, the Chiefs regime believes they can match other teams… score for score. They’ll not be as worried about giving up touchdowns, they’ll just need to get one quick stop and they should be up the rest of the game.
Chiefs are building an offense to outscore people if they need to. I'm expecting a serious downfield attack. Watkins and Ty and torch you deep, safeties will have to play deep and that SHOULD help out the OL and run game. If Pat is the real deal, good luck stopping that.
— Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 13, 2018
2018 should yield the most exciting football we’ve seen in Kansas City, in a long time. With a dynamic offense, and a gambler’s defense, these Chiefs will look to put their opponents in the rear-view mirror from the first snap to the last. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I’m pretty sure Reid learned a thing or two watching his ex-offensvie coordinator, Doug Pederson, gut out a win against the Patriots. At least that’s the theory. Go Chiefs.
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