Chiefs: By the Bye, Focus on Defense – Part I

Chiefs: By the Bye, Focus on Defense – Part I – We are at a standstill game-wise, with two weeks to heal up and prepare for the the game in Las Vegas versus the Raiders. I have chosen to take a peek at the Kansas City Chiefs defense, with an advanced look at the area that I consider to be the Chiefs greatest weakness — the Linebacking Corp. which I’ll cover in Part II. There is no consensus about the room and it’s players. Rookie Willie Gay has not progressed as quickly as I would have wished and the two starters are questionable, in most observers minds, and the depth is thus nowhere near where it needs to be.

It’s true that there is a need to look at the prowess of the offense and also where concern has arisen related to special teams and the glaring errors that have occurred, include Harrison Butker’s 6 missed extra points. I will leave this for others to tackle. However, I think from what we have seen thus far, we can envision where performance problems and injuries have affected the team on the defensive side of the ball. Besides linebackers, I see the Defensive End Role as lacking depth and that this is a concern for the remainder of the season and next year’s task of addressing any need. Still in all, the main thrust of my observations will address the LB room. I would be remiss in failing to take a look at 2021 as well.

Homeostasis of Spag’s Defense

If you use rating services such as PFF (Pro Football Focus), you will find the Chiefs defense ranked very low in regard to it’s run defense. The problem that I have with this focus is how well the Chiefs defense has performed overall. By this, I am far more influenced by the W-L column as the Chiefs are 8-1. They have faced 9 opponents who have tried many ways to slow down the Chiefs on defense and all of them have had trouble going head-to-head with the Chiefs offense. The Chiefs defense has only two games in which an opposing team has exceeded 30 points: the Las Vegas Raiders (when they allowed 40 points), and the Carolina game (where the Panthers scored 31). In four other contests, the Chiefs held their opponents to 17 or under — the Patriots, Broncos, Bills and Jets — and in the other 3 games, the D held the opposing teams to 20 points or less, the Texans, Chargers, Ravens.

I’ve used the concept of a “magic” number for defense efforts for perhaps 15 years. For most of that time I used 17 as the magic number that a defensive effort must strive to achieve. Which, would require enough offensive effort to exceed that number for a win. Due to the shift in emphasis in the past 4 or 5 years to dynamic passing offenses, last year I began to use 20 as the magic number. The NFL is clearly working closely to that vein of thought. Even when the Chiefs gave up 31 versus the Panthers, their offense was dynamic enough to win the game. I viewed the game against the Raiders as a true “trap” game. However, I didn’t expect the Panthers to be as well balanced as they were on Sunday and Matt Rhule deserves a ton of credit for his game plan and the Panthers almost pulled off an upset.

What is Amazing is, the Chiefs Secondary

In the last offseason, almost everyone, including myself, was worried about who would man the Cornerback positions: outside and in the slot and who they would have for depth? No one expected Brett Veach to be able to retain Bashaud Breeland while the Chiefs lost Kendall Fuller to Free Agency. Panic was everywhere even as camp was closing down. It was a great concern for most of us. Somehow, Veach worked a miracle and Retained the services of Breeland. The way it looked over the first four games was:

1. Charvarius Ward
2. They had unproven Fenton
3. There was L’Jarius Sneed, a rookie and,
4. Newcomer Vet Antonio Hamilton.

The questions had to revolve around getting things done until Bashaud Breeland’s suspension had ended. Until then, what would happen with the other outside role was a huge question. The Chiefs were fortunate for the scouting effort of Brett Veach’s eye when it comes to L’Jarius Sneed. Sneeds game has shown, in weeks 1-3, an Exemplary rating. He also opened a lot of eyes.

Fast Forward to where things stand at the Bye. It requires a look at the season so far, the injuries and what we can expect for the next 7 games.

Again, for 7 of the 9 games played, the secondary performed very well. They were without Bashaud Breeland for the first four games and then in week 3, L’Jarius Sneed was injured with a clavicle fracture. That put the Chiefs aerial defense at risk. Charvarius Ward was manning one outside position. Sneed had really stepped it up, but Breeland was going to be absent until the 5th week of season. Thankfully, Rashad Fenton was solid and able to step up and play at NFL speed while Antonio Hamilton’s experience helped out in the process. Even so, the first four games included the game in which the Chiefs were caught napping and the Raiders scored big time. That hurt.

Consider the fact that the secondary has held together across all 9 games, for the most part. By the end of the Bye week and another week of preparation, the secondary should have healed up considerably. Rashad Fenton sprained an ankle in the Panthers game, but should be more than ready to go from what I understand. Of greater concern is CB Antonio Hamilton, who has struggled with a hamstring problem most of the season. He is not a starter, but has been integral to the Cornerback role, especially with Sneed out since week three. Sneed was activated before the Panthers game and should be ready to rock n’ roll versus the Raiders.

Recall that I was very high on L’Jarius Sneed when he was picked up in round 4 of the 2020 draft. In each of the first two games, he had a pick. The play on which he was injured, he clearly had a great shot at his third pick until his should hit the ground. He has played far above the level of expectation but for me he was fulfilling what I thought he could do. I really look forward to his return as a starter. Rashad Fenton, a 6th round 2019 draft pick, came on late last year and has been playing good football as well. This gives the Chiefs a solid Foursome for the Cornerback roles — Ward, Breeland, Sneed and Fenton — with Hamilton capable of playing outside or inside and bringing experience to the group as needed. With Ward’s hand out of a cast, and Sneed back from the IR, the Cornerback room once again will be a strength, with versatility.

What About the Backend?

The Return of L’Jarius Sneed also gives DC Steve Spagnuolo the flexibility that he covets. Sneed had collegiate time as a Safety and Spags can mix and match players and coverages with Sneed and the safeties. Tyrann Mathieu can move up to Corner and so can Tedric Thompson as well. Last year, Juan Thornhill played the role of deep Safety like a pro, but was hurt at the end of the season and was unavailable for full time play until two weeks ago. That really hurt to lose his quality play. Tyrann Mathieu, Armani Watts and Dan Sorensen provided the basis for the Safety assignments and that includes Tedric Thompson and his versatility as well. Now that Juan Thornhill is back, I believe our Safety crew is one of the absolute best in the NFL.

The Chiefs Front Four

My concern here was brought to fruition this past week with injury that knocked Taco Charlton out for several weeks (or even the whole season). Alex Okafor had sustained another hamstring injury in week six and has not been available since then. At this point, Tanoh Kpassagnon is the partner in crime to Frank Clark. I suspect though, that Alex Okafor will return to play after the break. Tim Ward, is also available for call up from the PS. Still, my view of the DE role is that it has been seriously affected due to the injuries to Okafor and Charlton. Setting the edge against the run outside the tackles is a crucial task and I remain worried about the defense against the run because of this. Not so much with the pass rush, because the Chiefs DE’s as well as the men inside, have applied plenty of pressure to the pocket, hurrying the QB and putting him on the ground. Yes, I am good with that.

I am also pleased of course with the inside DL play. We feature Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennell (who missed the first two games due suspension). Add in Khalen Saunders to the picture as he has also returned from the IR. The interior should be well manned. The surprise of course is Tershawn Wharton from the small college environment of MO S&T (check out Alan Haupt’s “More Unexpected Surprises” in which he features Tershawn Wharton). He has convinced me that he is the real deal. Stopping the run should be the focus for Brendan Daly and Steve Spagnuolo going forward, but if they don’t get it done it’s going to fall on the shoulders of the DC.

Tomorrow, in Part II, we’ll start by taking a look at the Chiefs Linebackers then the overall DVOA on Defense. See you then.

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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