Arrowhead Pride
On Thursday, Kansas City’s defensive playcaller and one of it’s team leaders discussed Tampa Bay’s game-tying touchdown drive.
Although the Kansas City Chiefs were able to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime on the most recent Monday Night Football, there was a troubling sign.
Since the start of the 2023 season, the team’s defense has been among the most consistent units in the NFL. Late in the game, with the Chiefs holding a 24-17 lead, Tampa Bay’s offense retook the field. Over two minutes, the team would march for 71 yards on 11 plays to tie the game.
Before Thursday’s practice, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo discussed the unfortunate sequence.
“Listen, the most important thing is we won the game,” the coach recalled. “Nobody felt good about the way it ended defensively. The last thing we wanted to do is put the offense back out there, go to overtime and the whole thing. So, that part was disappointing.”
Spagnuolo did not have a firm idea for why his unit could not get the job done, but he made certain to note an unexpectedly strong offensive performance from the Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“I can’t put my finger on anything,” Spagnuolo admitted. “I’ve gone through the last three [plays] to see if there’s anything consistent. You’ve got to make a play here or there. I think we missed the sack on one. We got a couple of mental errors that we addressed — and that can’t happen in a two-minute [drive] because it’s too important.
“Baker Mayfield did a really good job, so I give them a little bit of credit too, but we wanted to find a way to keep them out of the end zone and win the game in regulation instead of overtime.”
Speaking after Spagnuolo, linebacker Nick Bolton expressed concern as the Tampa Bay touchdown marked three straight games the team has given up a late score.
“I think it’s been the last three games,” he remarked, “[that] we’ve given up a touchdown when we’ve been up [one or] two scores, I think a year ago we were a lot better in those situations and just closing our games. So, we understand that if we want to be able to meet our goal, we’ve got to be able to close our games [and] put teams away.
“[We’re] leaving a lot out there the chance with onside kicks and stuff like that. They don’t have to be there, so I think it’s something we’ve got to harp on now. Definitely, Coach Spags has been on it, and we’ve got such urgency for it.”
Spagnuolo realizes the late scores can be like playing with fire, especially in a tighter game as against the Buccaneers.
“Quite frankly,” he declared, “we need to get better there...The other two games were two possessions — it’s a little bit different — but this one stung a little bit, and we hope to improve there.
The Chiefs stand as the NFL’s lone...
