The Chiefs Defense is Fixin’ to get a “Booster”

The Chiefs Defense is Fixin’ to get a “Booster” – What’s Happened in Previous Episodes — The Cornerback Group: The Chiefs coming off win number four with a defense playing darned good football is about to get another dose of good medicine. First, let’s review a bit because we have all worried and fretted about the K.C. Cornerbacks and how sparse the population was of talent. This came back into focus when Charvarius Ward suffered a fractured hand.

Brett Veach found the exact type of talent to play outside Cornerback then drafted him in the 4th round as L’Jarius Sneed was called to duty. He had his feet wet in the NFL, but he was to be tested quickly and in two starts came up with two picks. Charvarius Ward was on the sideline in the game against the Ravens and Sneed nearly picked of a pass on the sideline, but fractured his clavicle trying to make the play.

Before the Chiefs would have liked to bring him back into the fray with a cast on his hand, Ward immediately hit the field and the Chiefs did not suffer for it. The problem was that Ward still had a tender hand and as we found, Sneed’s injury was serious enough for the Chiefs to place him on the IR. In today’s world, he must remain on the IR at least 3 weeks and I would be surprised if he got back by week 8.

At any rate, Dave Merritt and Sam Madison had worked extensively with Rashad Fenton and DC Steve Spagnuolo had no qualms about calling him to a starters role. Fenton stepped in and up after a successful rookie season where he saw significant snaps late in the year. We saw in the Patriot game just how well Fenton did in “School”. He has turned in performances as an outside CB that you would attribute to a player of considerable NFL experience.

A Secondary Light On Talent?

From last season, the Chiefs could not retain DB Kendall Fuller who desired and did return to the Washington team. At the same time, no one thought that the Veach would be able to figure out how to retain CB Bashaud Breeland. To make matters worse, when Veach miraculously worked out a deal with Breeland, it then brought the next worry to the attention of the fans and pundits alike. Breeland would have to serve a 4-week suspension for “behavior off the field.” Breeland lost his appeal and has finished sitting out the first four games the Chiefs have played, and in the meantime, free agent signee, Antonio Hamilton, has made significant contributions.

For his part, Bashaud Breeland has maintained an extensive workout protocol. Breeland practiced with the Ones in training camp and I was a bit surprised about that because there were no preseason games plus, the Chiefs had young talent that would have to fill in, consequently would be needing snaps to get them up to speed. Of course, at that time, we had no idea that L’Larius Sneed would be anywhere near the competitive player that he’s turned out to be. Thank Heavens!

So you can fast forward to losing Ward to a hand fracture… followed by Sneed being injured. Though Ward fit right back in, the secondary was exposed in the CB role immediately. At this point, we should write a feature piece on Rashad Fenton and certainly add a postscript piece about Antonio Hamilton. Last season, Hamilton gave notice that he wanted a chance to prove he could be a starter. At first he played mostly special teams, but injury demanded he step up and get on the grass. He did and he did not break down with any poor quality snaps.

Four games in and, the Chiefs are 4-and-0. What was a worry was the game with the Chargers and the Ravens. Both were wins of course. The next thing to be faced was the perennial enemy, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. That game ended up as a win in a game where Patrick Mahomes was not at his peak level. Seth Keysor wrote about the Ravens game as being the best game PMII had ever played and after reviewing his article, I have come to recognize just how masterfully Mahomes was in that win. The Ravens were favored and the Chiefs mastered the master and won this important game handily.

The, it turned out that the offense was out of sync playing the Patriots and Belichick did his usual great job as a head coach. The Chiefs beat both the team and in the second half, mastered the master and his maneuvers and adjustments. The Chiefs won 26-10.

The “Booster Shot”

This brings me back to week five and the booster shot I mentioned. If you did a quick review of 2019 articles here at ArrowheadOne you would find numerous mentions of critique of Breeland, especially about his grabbiness, his pass interference penalties and lack of contribution to the defense against the run. However, that changed as games rolled by and the defense closed ranks. By the time the Chiefs won the division and had secured the Playoff Bye Week, Breeland had settled into his role on Spagnuolo’s new defense and during the playoffs he played pro-bowl level defense, against the best of the best.

It turns out, apparently, that it took time to get the players all on board with the Spagnuolo defense concepts, duties and roles. Breeland played at the top level in the Chiefs secondary. By the end of the 2019 season, I had to adjust my view about Breeland and then I had to sit on my hands for the past four weeks while he was away from the team.

That’s the booster shot! In week five’s game, Breeland returns to the team as an experienced hand in the Chiefs secondary. It could not come at a better time and all things that I see, even from Breeland himself tells me he is ready to play, physically and mentally. This “booster” will help the Chiefs get over the null situation that has occurred from the injury bug. Sneed has made a home outside in the secondary and Ward is playing good football, even if wearing a cast. Rashad Fenton suddenly burst on the scene, and is playing top notch football. Tyrann Mathieu has been used in the hybrid defense, getting looks as a Cornerback, Safety and even a linebacker a couple of times. Tedric Thompson also used his versatility to move up to take on the CB role.

How Important is Breeland… Now?

Keep in mind that the initial view of the Chiefs Cornerbacks was… being light on talent and experience. What has transpired? They have brooked no quarter and the defense has more than held its own.

Last week, DT Mike Pennel came off his suspension and has been a factor in the middle of the KC defense. This week, The Chiefs get back much needed help with the return of Bashaud Breeland. Having witnessed the success of the Corners thus far, having Breeland return is an, in the nick of time, type deal.

2019 in the Rearview

As poorly as Breeland played in the new Spagnuolo defense early in the year, he ended the season with the following numbers in 15 starts for the 2019 regular season:

You sorta’ have to look back at the complete picture of 2019, because in the end, Breeland turned a corner, and it was in the play that he made a pass breakup facing those very same Patriots back in week 14, deflecting a pass that ended Tom Brady’s last real assault on the Chiefs. That play finalized a huge victory against the team that had knocked them out of the playoffs due to a neutral zone infraction by DE Dee Ford the year before. Breeland’s big moment sealed that win, 23-16 win. He also had a first half interception, but two penalties in the first quarter, then gave up a TD pass from Brady to Edelman. However, as they say, a real pro shakes off the errors and the rest you might say is history.

In the playoffs Bashaud Breeland played top drawer football and aided the defense in shutting down all opponents (despite the frailty that appeared to be the truth in the first round versus the Houston Texans). Breeland and kept his focus the rest of the way to the AFC crown. Then in the Super Bowl, Breeland’s intensity and experience shined through as he picked off Jimmy Garoppolo.

Breeland came aboard last year on a one year contract with a guarantee of $1.5M. Of course he would want more money to stay in 2020. Veach came up with another miracle and retained Bashaud’s services with a deal in April that no one thought he could pull off. It was another one year contract, but this time worth up to $4.5m. I expect to get our money’s worth.

So Breeland may not be a shutdown corner, but he is pretty danged good as the numbers demonstrate. What he brings back to KC this week is familiarity of Spag’s defense and capping off a truly great postseason in 2019. According to PFF’s ranking of all CB’s with 100 snaps or more, Breeland’s playoff rating were:

The Formality (Suspension) has been Served and Now, the Formality is on the Field of Play

Those PFF ratings are saying a lot. I was very critical of his support of the run game and missed tackles and was totally critical of the flags. The possible $4.5M Breeland signed for has performance incentives. I suspect we will shortly find out just how valuable Breeland is to the secondary. With the money that was offered and the Chiefs knowing that he was likely going to serve a suspension, now he’s back and should be a big booster!

If not, I’ll have to eat my hat and like it.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne

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