KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Through three games, the Chiefs’ defense has accomplished plenty of positive results.
The unit, led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, has produced a pivotal takeaway in each of the Chiefs’ three victories, including one against the Cincinnati Bengals that immediately resulted in a touchdown. The Chiefs’ best defender, pass rusher Chris Jones, has generated consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback. And the Chiefs secondary, led by star cornerback Trent McDuffie, have yet to allow an opposing receiver to finish a game with at least 70 receiving yards this season.
While the Chiefs’ defense has been the better, more consistent unit when compared to the offense, led by coach Andy Reid and coordinator Matt Nagy, the team’s three games have revealed the lone major issue for Spagnuolo: covering tight ends.
“We can be better on some of our post play,” Spagnolo said before Thursday’s practice. “In these games, good quarterbacks are going to find their safety-valve guys. Sometimes that’s a result of the other guys are covering really well, so (the quarterback) gets it to the tight end.
“What we’d like to eliminate is explosive plays to the tight end. If we can do that, I don’t think it would look nearly as bad as it comes out right now.”
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One of the most eye-popping statistics for the Chiefs this season is that they’ve allowed their three opponents — the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals and the Atlanta Falcons — to complete 35 passes to a tight end, resulting in 335 yards. Both categories are the highest in the league, according to TruMedia.
In this past Sunday’s game, the biggest reason the Falcons scored their second and final touchdown before halftime was because they were able to generate their longest completion, a designed passing play for tight end Kyle Pitts. The Chiefs ran a simulated pressure on the play, but quarterback Kirk Cousins found Pitts in a one-on-one matchup with safety Justin Reid. Pitts beat Reid while running a 20-yard corner route, gaining 50 yards on the play to set up a 1-yard touchdown run for Bijan Robinson.
Pitts goes 50 yards down to the one-yard line!
📺: #KCvsATL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/uGTy8vfHMH— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2024
“They had the one big play, so that’s going to stick out,” Spagnuolo said of the Falcons. “We thought we were going to get a little bit more pressure on that one. I probably should’ve had a better call. I made it tough on (Justin) Reid.”
The past two seasons, the Chiefs’ answer to limiting the production of an opposing team’s top tight end was to put Reid on him across the line of scrimmage. But Reid, who missed the majority of training and all of the preseason with a quad injury, has struggled in coverage this season, earning a 53.6 grade in his 130 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Drue Tranquill, one of the Chiefs’ three main linebackers, has also been a disappointment in coverage, earning a 38 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.
“The three teams we played against, that’s their (identity),” safety Bryan Cook said of opposing teams utilizing the tight end. “They like end-breaking routes, so that’s what they like to do best. It’s the beginning of the season, so everybody is still feeling themselves out and figuring out what they’re good at and not good at. As of right now, that’s what we’re getting hit with.”
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The Bengals countered the Chiefs’ defensive strategies, which involved McDuffie smothering receiver Ja’Marr Chase in coverage, by completing 14 passes to their trio of tight ends — Mike Gesicki, Erick All Jr. and Drew Sample. The biggest highlight occurred when quarterback Joe Burrow converted a fourth-and-3 snap by throwing the ball to Gesicki, who beat Reid in man coverage for a 37-yard gain.
“The tight end is kind of your quarterback’s best friend, those inside guys that play inside the hash (or) number,” coach Andy Reid said Wednesday. “The thing the NFL has right now are some really good tight ends that just aren’t blockers. They can get out and matchup with the safeties and nickels.
“Our safeties work on that like crazy. Our nickels work on that like crazy. Those are big bodies that you’ve got to try to (outleverage). They’re normally bigger than what you are on the backend there, so you’ve got to really be disciplined with it.”
The most receiving yards the Chiefs have allowed in a game occurred in the season opener, when Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely recorded 111 yards. Likely’s most damaging highlight against the Chiefs was 49-yard touchdown that was generated by quarterback Lamar Jackson scrambling out of the pocket.
The most glaring mistake on the play, Spagnuolo said, was that linebacker Nick Bolton couldn’t tackle Likely after he made the reception.
“He’s probably going to throw some guys open on a scramble,” Spagnuolo said of Jackson two weeks ago. “When the quarterback starts to scramble, what we preach in zone coverage is that it becomes like a basketball play. You’ve got to plaster to somebody. Nick got caught plastering this tight end. (Jackson) gets it completed, but we expect more red jerseys there to help out.”
ISAIAH LIKELY SO GOOD
📺: #Kickoff2024 on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wusReXzb9I— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
One objective for Spagnuolo’s unit for the Chiefs’ upcoming game Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers is to not allow tight ends Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst to have a reception of 15 yards or more. Through three games, Dissly and Hurst have produced a combined 12 receptions for 111 yards and no touchdowns. The Chargers’ offense might also have to operate without key players such as quarterback Justin Herbert (ankle), rookie right tackle Joe Alt (knee) and left tackle Rashawn Slater (pectoral).
An adjustment Spagnuolo could implement starting Sunday is to have second-year safety Chamarri Conner be responsible for guarding a tight end more often. As the Chiefs’ nickel defender, Conner has been effective in coverage while generating two pass breakups, an interception and a fumble recovery against the Begnals that he returned for a 38-yard touchdown.
“He’s flying around and he knows the defense a lot better,” Cook said of Conner. “He has more confidence and I try to tell him all the time, ‘Bro, you’re a nickel, so take your shot because I’m always behind you.’ I try to instill that in a lot of my guys because the faster you can play, the better it helps me out. Him flying around helps out everyone else.”
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When guarding tight ends this season, the most positive outcome for the Chiefs so far is that they haven’t surrendered a touchdown to that skill-position player when defending from inside the red zone. Most teams try to get their tight end in one-on-one matchups when throwing the ball in tighter windows because of the red zone’s condensed space.
“If you don’t focus first on stopping the run, why would the other team do anything different?” Spagnuolo said. “You’ve got to get them to throw the ball. You do have to keep people guessing down there from a coverage standpoint. We try to do that and hopefully we can be sticky enough with our coverage.”
The final play of the Chiefs’ season opener was a dramatic one. With the Ravens just 10 yards away from a game-tying touchdown, Jackson almost completed a pass in the back of the end zone to Likely as time expired. When the officials reviewed the play, Likely’s right toe was just out of bounds.
The Ravens were THIS CLOSE to scoring the game-tying touchdown 👀#Kickoff2024 pic.twitter.com/08KjTVFHQZ
— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
“I know it’s a game of inches, but Nick could’ve been closer to (Likely),” Spanguolo said two weeks ago of the Chiefs’ zone coverage. “But thank God he got there when he did to at least push him out enough that we got the black shoe on the white back end there.”
Last week, the Chiefs needed two stops inside the red zone in the fourth quarter to escape Atlanta with a victory over the Falcons.
The first stop proved to be the closest the Falcons came to scoring a potential game-winning touchdown. On a third-and-five snap from the six-yard line, Cousins attempted a pass into the back of the end zone for Pitts. Cook, in man coverage, didn’t turn his head to look at the ball and used his shoulder pads to record a pass breakup despite initiating contact with Pitts, perhaps enough to warrant a pass-interference penalty. But no flag was thrown.
On the next snap, Spanguolo blitzed seven defenders, putting Cook in another one-on-one matchup, this time against receiver Drake London. The play ended with Cook not allowing London to catch the ball in the middle of the end zone.
“I know my responsibility was to try to force (Cousins) to have a difficult throw,” Cook said. “I got the job done. Being DB is a difficult position to play, especially in the red zone because everything is happening fast. I want to compete for my guys as best as I can without getting a flag.”
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
