Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs are doing well this year when it comes to sacking opposing quarterbacks. While the Chiefs were 29th in the NFL in sacks in the 2021 season, you could also make the argument that this measly total was one of the biggest reasons for their failure. This season however, they have 45 total Sacks. Following is a list of the ways the Chiefs Sacks breakdown this season, player by player:
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While K.C. finished the 2021 season with only 31.0 total Sacks, reaching 45.0 this year in only 15 games is a huge step up for the defense. Here’s what StaMuse.com has for a graph of this year totals (so far).
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Although the Chiefs are 5th in the NFL right now, they are just second in the AFC, five behind only the Patriots. I pointed out earlier that K.C. was 29th in the league with 31 Sacks, but the DBs & LBs comprise 27.77 percent of the sacks in Steve Spagnuolo’s approach this season. Without these sacks, the Chiefs are about where they were last season when they only had 31 all year long. The following shows the difference in the DL and the DBs & the LBs:
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With over one out of every four sacks coming from the back end of the Chiefs defense this year, it will be much easier moving forward to know what to expect — and keep an eye on — from Spags scheming and defensive play calling.
I was having a phone conversation with David Bell a couple of days ago and I asked him if he saw a difference between DL “Sacks” and DL “Batted Ball?” He said “No Difference” and I agreed. After giving it some thought it seems that the only real difference is that the ball is moved backwards a few feet when a DL gets a Sack. Now, I would think that the personal satisfaction of nailing a QB to the ground would also be a difference, but other than that, they seem to be the same to me as well.
The reason for bringing this up is that rookie Defensive Lineman George Karlaftis is tied for second in the league right now with 7 passes defensed (or batted down balls) with seven (7). GK is tied with three other players:
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The reason for highlighting the Passes Defensed by DL is that if you add the Sacks George Karlaftis has — 4.5 — with his Batted Down Passes, he’s currently at 11.5 total. You’d have to grade his rookie year out as top notch… so far.
Also, Carlos Dunlap is very good in that department as well and he has 6 Passes defensed by a DL and is also tied with 3 other players. BTW, Dunlap is second all time among DL who have the most passes defended in a season, with 15 and that was in 2016.
Dunlap is playing on 48% of the Chiefs Defensive Snaps this year while George Karlaftis is playing on 64% of the Chiefs Defensive Snaps.
Note: Chris Jones is on this list too. He is tied for 5th along with 11 other players who all have four (4) Passes Defensed.
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Here’s a look at the Chiefs All Time list for Sacks:
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If Chris Jones keeps up this rate of Sacking, he should pass Justin Houston in the 2024 season. Jones current contract goes through the 2023 season so it may be a priority for Brett Veach to get him a new deal this coming offseason. I’m hoping for that!
While going over this list above, I noticed the pairings for the other four top four sack leaders of the Chiefs. Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith played for the Chiefs during many of the same seasons and the same is true for Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. I guess that makes Chris Jones accomplishment of reaching the Chiefs top five all the more impressive because he hasn’t had anyone else who poses as big a threat as he does. I’m also hoping that Carlos Dunlap can be re-signed again this coming offseason. His Sacks + Passes Defensed (4+6) is very good considering he’s played less than half of the Chiefs defensive snaps.
Another interesting note is that from last year to this year has been a big improvement in Sacks for K.C., the same is true for the Eagles to an even greater degree. The Philadelphia Eagles ranked 31st with only 29 sacks in 2021 and then this season will finish in first place as they already have 61 sacks to lead the NFL by a wide margin. That’s also an interesting note because if the Chiefs happen to face the Eagles in this year’s Super Bowl, their frequently porous OTs will have their toughest test yet.
Although the Chiefs defense is perhaps the leagues worst in the Red Zone, allowing opponents to score 68% of the time, the Sacks and Passes Defensed that the Defense is producing is excellent. Let’s just hope K.C. can put it all together in the Red Zone.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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