NEW ORLEANS — If there is one thing that Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is known for more than anything else, it’s his ability to design creative blitz packages that confuse and overwhelm opposing offensive lines and the quarterback behind them.
“He’ll be able to bring the strong side corner, or the weak side corner, you never know where the blitz is coming from. We’ve got so many different looks, I think that confuses the quarterback and the opposing team,” star defensive lineman Chris Jones said. “You never know what you’re gonna get from Spags.”
Kansas City blitzed at the NFL’s fifth-highest rate during the 2024 regular season, sending at least five pass rushers on 35.6% of opponent dropbacks, per TruMedia. Those blitzes were also highly effective, with the Chiefs generating pressure 43.8% of the time that they blitzed.
“I think it’s the situational timing,” safety Justin Reid said regarding why Spags’ pressure packages are so successful. “He does it at times when things are critical and he also just sets it up. Just when he has you thinking that this all-out zero pressure is coming, then he does a simulated pressure to where it ends up being a max drop and the quarterback’s already thinking about getting the ball out fast and he’s throwing it into a max protection defense.
“So I think that the way he’s mixing it up, I think that the creativity he brings to it every week to where it’s always different and having different game plans each week where teams don’t know what exactly we’re doing each week. I think that all of that adds together to make it just really hard to play.”
Reid is right on about Spagnuolo bringing the blitz at the most important moments. On third and fourth downs, Kansas City blitzed even more often — 42.2% of opponent dropbacks.
The Chiefs got pressure — a sack, a hit or a hurry — an incredible FIFTY-SEVEN percent of the time when blitzing on third or fourth down, the second-best mark in the league. They also had the league’s fourth-best expected points added per dropback when blitzing on late downs, as they allowed just a 50.8% completion rate and 6.4 yards per attempt, with a scant two touchdowns against three interceptions.
That creativity and willingness to blitz at the wildest moment paid off in a big way in the most important moment of the AFC title game, with the Chiefs sending the weak side corner (Trent McDuffie) on a blitz through the B-gap. McDuffie got pressure on Josh Allen almost immediately, forcing the quarterback to roll out to his right and throw off his back foot.
Allen’s pass miraculously got pretty damn close to tight end Dalton Kincaid, but with the timing of the play thrown off so badly by the blitz, the Chiefs were able to force a tougher play than it should have been, and Kincaid was unable to come down with the catch. Just like that, the game was essentially over.
Sending a corner blitz on fourth-and-5 near midfield is just the kind of thing that Spags would do, that so many other defensive coordinators wouldn’t. And Spags apparently has something else just as wild up his sleeve for Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I would tell y’all something but it’s part of the game plan so I can’t really say too much,” Jones said. “But we just had that what the f— moment like two days ago. Like what is going on, what are you doing kind of thing.”
While Jones may have been confused about it, Reid said that has never happened for him. He always knows what the design is meant to accomplish, and has full confidence that it’s going to work.
“Every time he’s drawing something up, it’s like, yeah, I can’t wait to pull it off,” he said. “Can’t wait to pull it off, and I can’t wait to put it on the field.”
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Author: Jared Dubin
February 6, 2025 | 1:55 pm
