Spagnuolo’s Pressure Defense: Winning From the Back End

Recently, ex-Rams QB, and Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner provided a tape breakdown of the Steve Spagnuolo’s defense in which he says, “The Chiefs Defense would’ve given me fits when I was playing!” Warner’s breakdowns are called: Study Ball, and worth taking a second look at, but I’ve broken this one down into smaller bite size pieces, so it’s not only more easily digested, but also allows me to make some comments.

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The Queen’s in the Chess Game

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Here, Warner points out how good Daniel Sorensen is. While there are many Chiefs fans who think differently, I agree with Warner on this one. What Warner doesn’t do is point out how important Juan Thornhill is. That clip was taken from the middle of Warner’s breakdown, but it’s too important not to place it first.

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A Three Safety Look

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So, the third Safety is implied with Warner. After the 2021 season, many more fans will know who Juan Thornhill is and I predict he will be one of the Chiefs breakout players this season.

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Disguise Coverage: Create Negative Plays

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DC Steve Spagnuolo is a savant when it comes to disguising the Cover-Two defense. Not sure what that makes Tyrann Mathieu… maybe a Savant’s Savant? While I’m supremely interested on Warner’s observations of the Chiefs back end defense, I’m also focused on how Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr., who are both good in coverage, will increase Spags options. If Bolton and Gay can take pressure off of the Safeties, it means they can spent a higher percentage of their time lending support to the corners.

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Disguising the Classic Cover-Two

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Right before the ball is snapped, ILB Anthony Hitchens is looking back to get directions from Tyrann Mathieu. This conforms my suspicions that Mathieu is has the final say-so on defensive play calling. By disguising coverages, it can help to confuse a QB who may end up going to the wrong WR with the ball. It also gives the DC some control when most OCs are dictating to the defense what is going to happen.

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Providing Flexibility

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This shows just how much easier it is for Spagnuolo to send a blitzer when the back end is able to confuse a QB long enough for that blitzer to get home. The fact that Juan Thornhill can also play in the slot, gives Spags even more flexibility. With Sorensen being given the responsibility to cover RBs and TEs, with Bolton and Gay getting more snaps this year, it may be good news to those Kingdom fans who were not thrilled to see Dirty Dan assigned to those duties in the past.

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Note: it’s hard to see this defense working without Tyrann Mathieu. The Chiefs need to make sure they tie Mathieu up with an extension this summer, prior to the time training camp begins. This D just doesn’t work without him.

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Three Safety Looks

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Spagnuolo has been known to, on rare occasions, drop a lineman in to coverage. Notice how wide the Chiefs DL is lined up here. As with the next clip, Spags leaves such wide open spaces as to tempt the opposition to run the ball more. Why would he want to do that? Any time you can dictate what the other team will do, you won half the battle. Also, if you expect to win a game running the ball predominately vs. a Patrick Mahomes offense, you’re entirely mistaken. What I’m saying is, it’s part Steve SPgnuolo’s game plan: to force the opponent to go to the run.

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Spreading Out, Clamping Down

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Here, the defense starts out with the middle of the field almost completely exposed, but in the end, the entire space is well covered. Confusing the QB here, results in a sack. Although Warner is showing us some of the best plays that the Safeties make, what’s not seen are all those plays that allow the offense to pick up boatloads of yardage. The Chiefs were 16th in the league in total yardage allowed with 5.733. They were also 21st in the league in rushing yards allowed giving up 1,954 yards, and 14th vs. the pass giving up 3,779 yards through the air. When you consider that Patrick Mahomes has averaged 307 yards per game over his short career (which equal 5,219 passing yards in 2021 over 17 games), or that he averaged 316 yards per game in 2020 (which works out to 5,372 yards in 2021 over 17 games)… you can see why it’s likely one of Steve Spagnuolo’s goal: to force the opposition to run the all, as much as possible. That’s what this defensive approach looks like it may be accomplishing.

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Mathieu Makes it Happen

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While Daniel Sorensen may not get the love he deserves, it’s the other aspects revealed in this breakdown which are worth consideration. That includes the impact that Jarran Reed may end up having on the back end coverage. Reed came into the league more noted for his run stopping ability, but has added a pass rush to his resume with 19 sacks over the past three seasons along with 32 QB Hits and 115 tackles over that same time span. His ability to put pressure on the QB will make Tyrann Mathieu’s job easier, along with making every other DL’s job simpler. Forcing he opposition into running the ball more may also end up playing right into Reed’s hands.

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As much as I have an image in my head of Andy Reid sitting up late at night and devising new plays like some sort of Dr. Frankenstein… I also have that image of Steve Spagnuolo with his newly found chess pieces. As long as Steve Spagnuolo can get a the required number of stops per game, it increases the already high probability that Patrick Mahomes will be able to punch the ball into the end zone enough times to win. With Mahomes saying he wanted to increase his effectiveness this offseason, he may not have to do that as much as we think he might, especially if Spagnuolo has his defense firing on all cylinders this year… and it’s looking like that probability is getting higher and higher as well.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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