Crossing Broad
When you talk about the Kansas City Chiefs, you generally hear about Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid. Casuals can probably tell you about Chris Jones, and should know Nick Bolton, Justin Reid, and others, but you really don’t hear a lot of talk about the KC defense because they’ve got generational stars on the offensive side and in the coaching ranks.
As such, Steve Spagnuolo’s unit is generally overlooked. And maybe there’s a bit of recency bias considering the fact that the Eagles put up 35 points and 400 yards in Super Bowl 57 and won at Arrowhead during the 2023 regular season.
Here’s a quick look at some of KC’s combined regular + postseason numbers (19 games) ahead of Super Bowl 59:
It’s a solid group, but not the 1985 Chicago Bears. For context, the Ravens had the #1 rushing defense in the NFL, allowing just 80.9 yards per game, and the Eagles tore them up for 140 on the ground and two scores in Baltimore a few months back. The Packers finished top six in run defense and the Birds averaged about 150 in two games on two different continents against that team. So you’re looking at a bit of unstoppable force vs. immovable object here, an appropriate Super Bowl matchup to determine who lifts the Lombardi Trophy.
A couple of things to focus on are third down percentage and completion percentage. They do have trouble getting off the field at times, while quarterbacks are completing a relatively-high number of throws. Part of that can be attributed to the top-5 blitz rate and the fact that they get after the QB with a lot more frequency than in years past. Chris Jones had the 5th-most hurries this year and Jones and George Karlaftis finished #2 and #3 in QB knockdowns. Trent McDuffie had the 7th-most PBUs and Mike Danna was tied for the league lead with three strip sacks.
Looking at the Houston and Buffalo playoff games, Jones and Karlaftis combined for 11 QB hits against C.J. Stroud and Josh Allen. They sacked Stroud eight times and Allen twice. There were 12 tackles for loss over two games but KC did not force a turnover and Buffalo ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns at Arrowhead, with James Cook going for 6.5 yards per carry. Joe Mixon ran for 88 yards on 18 carries, which was good...
