Chiefs: Two Defensive MVPs in 2019 – I have great appreciation for the upcoming Rookie and newcomer class of 2020. Waiting with bated breath is a term commonly applied to an exciting proposition and 2020 has wonders we will soon behold. Hopefully. To address the currency, and the have a lot of capital invested in the upcoming season that would be a wise investment with the hubris of dealing with anticipated return, instead I choose to look back at the 2019 season and address what I regard as a remarkable turnaround for the defense while at the time positing that the Chiefs had Co-MVP’s for the 2019 regular and post season on defense. At least as I see it in retrospect.
A Costly Do-Over!
But first? think about the dilatoreous performance of the Chiefs defense the previous three seasons. The offense carried the load and even with all the high paid talent on the other side of the Ball got us nowhere. Players missed a bunch of games from Tamba Hali, to Justin Houston, to DJ to Eric Berry to Bob Sutton’s planned defense and play-calling. Something had to change and it did. Hali, Houston, DJ and Berry were no longer wearing Red n’ Gold, Bob Sutton departed as did the 34 defense, leading to a huge change of personnel and a rebuilt coaching staff.
Back up to getting to the post-season in 2018. The finale for the AFC Title was the Chief’s versus the Patriots. After the game ended, I was feeling heartbroken. So let’s do a quick review:
Charvarius Ward came up with the icing on the cake INT, which, on the face of it, turned New England away, giving Mahomes and the offense the ball with 54 seconds left in the game. At that juncture, victory was almost assured because barring a nasty turn-around, the Chiefs would have advanced a couple of times and run off the clock winning the AFC Hunt Trophy.
The speedy DE for most of his career at the Kingdom, Dee Ford — “What? I was lined up offsides?” — was flagged for his hand in the neutral zone at the snap. The Ward INT was nullified, the play was reversed, the Patriots kept the ball.
Trailing 24-28, with 1:01 left on the clock, 3rd down and 10, the Patriots snapped the ball. Brady over-threw his receiver who tipped the pass and Charvarius Ward was in the right place at the right moment. With 54 seconds left on the clock and the ball, Victory seemed to be assured. But no! Hold the presses! There was a flag on the ground – the game which should have been iced was suddenly burning in the fires of hades. Brady & Co went on to score immediately, taking the lead at 31-28. Remember? It took Brady 2 plays to get the Patriots the go ahead score. The Chiefs got the ball back at the 25 yard line advanced to the 31 Mahomes then provided some huge excitement of his own, getting the Chiefs into scoring position at about the 22 yard line. Harrison Butker tied the game with a Field Goal and the contest went to overtime. The Brady led Patriots put it way with a drive and score of a TD. Game over. Mahomes had no way to work another piece of magic because in this format, the first team to score a TD gets the win (this result led to a change in the rules of course).
The Chiefs lost the contest because they had an “idiot” over on the right side who lined up in the Neutral zone; and to think that I had defended his slow development since his arrival at the Kingdom. Bottom line though, Ford is Gone. Who we were counting on beginning in 2020? They are gone. Tamba Hali. Gone is Houston. So is DJ. So is Berry. So is bob Sutton. And more.
A Complete Turnaround for the Defense
With the Players who departed, so went Sutton. So went the 34. Usher in Steve Spagnuolo who had coached with Andy Reid in prior years. He also was fresh coming of a one-year sabbatical. With Spagnuolo came the 43 and a new Defensive coaching crew that meshed well with Spagnuolo and his approach to utilizing player personnel. New Faces arrived such as Bashaud Breeland, Dwight Clark, Derrick Nnadi, Alex Okafor, Damien Wilson, Tyrann Matheiu and several other new and key contributors who were supplemented by top retained players like Chris Jones. During the season, As the season progress, fears arose due to defensive inefficiency, lack of familarity with one another. Consistency and Cohesiveness was seldom witnessed. It took about 2/3rds of the season to pass into the book, and suddenly, the defense turned a corner and played like a championship defense — fighting at every snap save the one quarter debacle at the Kingdom in the playoff game at KC. Otherwise? The defense became the stalwart unit that fans had been demanding to take on opponents and compliment a stellar offense. What had arrived was what we had all been waiting for.
Co-MVPs
A lot of superb contributions were made by the defense, especially after the half-way point. The Chiefs suffered a loss against the Titans in a game fraught with errors in all three phases of the game but it was clear that the unit had arrived by week eleven. As I look back at the different player groups from the 2019 defense, I came up with two names who were playing top football for the whole season, who motivated their fellow players with their direction, intensity and ferociousness: Chris Jones and Tyrann Mathieu.
David Bell — ArrowheadOne
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