Top Ten Reasons For the Chiefs Defensive Turnaround

Laddie Morse

Happy New Year everyone! 2022 is here! We already know the Kansas City Chiefs defense has made a dramatic turnaround this season and now it’s fun to watch the Defense do it’s thing again. Keep your eyes on the Linebackers and you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you can keep your eyes on any defensive position group and you’ll be rewarded. We’ve heard many speculate about why this turnaround has happened — because it’s been dramatic — so here’s a list of the top ten reasons for the Chiefs defensive turnaround.

At the beginning of the season, Daniel Sorensen looked like he needed to retire… years ago. Juan Thornhill wasn’t being given the number of snaps that many thought he should be getting, but eventually, the change was made and now Thornhill not only locks down the back end but frees up Tyrann Mathieu to play all over the field, which is how he is best utilized in Spags multi-verse attack.

To say the Chiefs defense finally got healthy isn’t enough. The return of DE Frank Clark to health has helped to make the defensive line a force once again. The important element to remember here is that all these pieces came together like a jigsaw puzzle and once finished, it has painted a miserable picture for opposing offenses. Jordan Foote at SI.com said in November after the defense began to turn things around giving up less than 20 points in two straights games:

“Football Outsiders’ DVOA now ranks Steve Spagnuolo’s group at 28th in the league, which is multiple spots higher than where it was about a month ago. That’s a start…. simply getting healthy was a huge deal for the Chiefs. Defensive end Frank Clark battled hamstring injuries throughout training camp and into the regular season, rendering him either inactive or largely ineffective until he was in shape and able to exert full effort… and Clark is playing some of his best football as a Chief.”

If you include all those games at the beginning of the year when the defense was one of the worst in the league (and maybe league history)… even now, they rank 6th best in the league. My take is… they actually now have a top three defense if you consider their progress in the last ten games.

Brett Veach attempted to sign Melvin Ingram in the offseason, but he ended up in Pittsburgh. Ingram was unhappy there and wanted out after being given 29% of the snaps vs the Seahawks. In stepped Veach, who swallowed his pride, and ended up giving up a 6th round pick to get the guy he wanted all along.

As I said, so many of these points are intertwined so when Frank Clark got healthy and Melvin Ingram began to chop wood in K.C. it meant that the experiment of moving CJ to DE was not a primary need any longer and allowed Mr. Spagnuolo to move him around and when Stone Cold has been used inside at defensive tackle he’s returned to his usually dominant form. Spags likes to move his DL around so this doesn’t mean CJ is back inside on a permanent basis, but with Ingram, as well as Alex Okafor in the DE rotation, it means CJ can spend more time doing what he does best. Which, includes, batting balls down, and he gets much more of a chance to do that from the inside.

By saying, “Jarran Reed showing up” I don’t mean to imply that he wasn’t trying in the first part of the season. What has shown up is his stat line, well, let’s take a look:

Let’s not forget that Jarran Reed is new to the Chiefs and Spags system so it has taken him some time to assimilate to the nuances of the calls. Yes, Tershawn Wharton did he strip sack here (below), but it was Jarran Reed who did the scoop-and-almost-scored, against the Steelers:

I should include the gradual climb of Charvarius Ward as well. The Corners have even been called “Lockdown” corners. From Jake Johnson at ArrowheadAddict:

“Though few will admit it, it’s time that everyone starts to look at the Chiefs’ starting cornerbacks for who they really are: the best corner trio in the NFL. The group of Rashad Fenton, Charvarius Ward, and L’Jarius Sneed have been lockdown players in coverage.”

David Bell and I have had many conversations about the Linebacking crew for the Chiefs and although Anthony Hitchens has not been a great LB by any means, he’s recognized as the leader of that group by the other LBs and they continue to speak highly of him. With Nick Bolton and Willie Gay taking huge steps forward, it makes Hitchens better than he was before. Also, it should be noted that Hitchens says the reason for the improved play of he LBs is the improvement of the DL in front of him. Wow, there’s never enough humility to go around is there?

Yes, Chris Jones and Jarran Reed and Melvin Ingram have already been covered but their collective growth is probably the biggest reason for improved play at all the other positions. Now, that includes Tershawn Wharton, Derrick Nnadi, Alex Okafor, and Mike Danna as well. It’s been written many times that the Chiefs DBs play better, in part, because they face Patrick Mahomes every day in practice… but if you follow that same logic, the Chiefs DL must be getting better every day because they face the Chiefs greatly improving OL every day.

While it’s the players who make the adjustments on the field, it’s the coaches who make sure they’re analyzing what needs fixing and making the calls in practice that will lead the players to a better result. If you’re someone who is willing to heap the coaches with the responsibility when things go badly, then you have to see fit to give those same coaches credit, and much credit is due here.

Early in the year, I kept hearing the Chiefs defensive players say they needed to “communicate better. It sounded like something they’d rehearsed. I was obviously wrong and they have not only figured out how to communicate better but the coordination of all units is superior. David Bell says:

“The defense is playing as a unit, knowing each other’s strengths, and plugging in where there are weaknesses. DC Steve Spagnuolo deserves a ton of credit for the turnaround of the defense and bringing into full bore the “3 Cs.” [Consistency, Cohesiveness, and Continuity]“

We might add “Communication” to that list too. What do you think?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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