Chiefs rookies forced to come of age against the Patriots
Unfortunately for Chiefs rookie outside linebacker Breeland Speaks, the moment most others will remember from his first career start won’t be the sack and forced fumble he had. It’ll likely be the sack that wasn’t.
Speaks had both hands on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the backfield on the play that ended with Brady rushing into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown with 5:25 remaining.
Speaks, who started in place of injured linebacker Justin Houston, was one of two rookie starters on defense along with defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, while rookie defensive back/kick returner Tremon Smith delivered the biggest special-teams play of the game, a 97-yard kickoff return. The Patriots won 43-40 on a last-second field goal. But if nothing else, the Chiefs came away with some more of their young core players having gained big-game experience.
As for what happened on the play in which Speaks let Brady slip out of his hands?
“I thought he threw it,” Speaks said of the Brady play. “I thought it was gone.”
Speaks, who had his head down and an arm around Brady’s waist, assumed Brady had let go of the ball, shades of former New York Giants edge rusher Mathias Kiwanuka in 2006. Kiwanuka, a rookie at the time, made all the national highlight shows for having quarterback Vince Young in his grasp and letting him go after assuming the ball had been released. Kiwanuka let go of Young, not wanting to earn a roughing the passer penalty.
The Chiefs’ top draft pick (second round, 46th overall) from this past spring, Speaks said he stopped on the play rather than follow through and take Brady to the ground out of fear of drawing a roughing the passer penalty.
“Especially in New England,” Speaks said. “We’re in New England. Tom’s going to get the call.”
The Chiefs were called for a defensive holding penalty in the end zone on the play, which may have wiped out Speaks’ sack. In the game, Speaks registered six tackles, one sack and a forced fumble, which led to one of Patrick Mahomes’ four second-half touchdown passes.
Speaks lined up for the first play of the game next to fellow rookie Nnadi, who made his second consecutive start. The Chiefs’ third-round pick (75th overall), Nnadi has been plugged into the lineup to eat up blockers and help a struggling run defense. Nnadi made four tackles in the loss.
“Honestly, I prepare the same way,” Nnadi said of starting this early in his rookie season. “You’ve got to be ready for anything. Even when I wasn’t starting, I got ready to play. Now, I’m starting, and I’m doing the same thing — getting ready to play. How I see it is all of us are going to play.”
Smith, a sixth-round draft pick who drew praise from the coaching staff during training camp for his speed and athleticism, had been inactive for the past two weeks after having dressed for the first three games.
A injury to wide receiver/kick returner De’Anthony Thomas (fractured leg) during practice on Thursday thrust Smith into action as a kick returner.
“Going to active from inactive, it put a burden on me,” Smith said. “I mean, I practiced different. I was already practicing hard, but I practiced different. I wanted to get back up and get my pads on again, so I wanted to do the best I could.”
With the Chiefs trailing 30-26 and having not led since they went up 3-0 in the first quarter, Smith settled under a kickoff from Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, darted into a crowd of blockers, squirted through the other side, picked up a crucial block from Damien Williams and sprinted up the sideline before getting pulled down at the 3.
“I’d seen it all night,” Smith said. “My guys in front of me did a great job of blocking. There was holes everywhere. I had plenty to choose from, finally got that one and it was that time in the game when we needed a turning point. I just wanted to do whatever I could.”
The return set up a 1-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill, which put the Chiefs ahead 33-30 with 8:38 remaining.
While Speaks, Nnadi and Smith’s largest contributions came in a loss, veteran starting outside linebacker Dee Ford stressed that there’s immense long-term value in the experience.
“It’s huge,” Ford said. “I’d rather learn from experience than from speculation. When you’re not doing anything, really you don’t know what to get better at.
“I’d rather fail — (the saying) is 100 years old but Michael Jordan one of the greatest spoke on it — you have to fail in order to succeed. Failing is not literally you’re a failure. You’re not going to succeed as much in the beginning, but you need those experiences to learn.”
Ford played just 122 defensive snaps his rookie season. Speaks (117) and Nnadi (106) were already closing in on that number heading into Sunday’s game. They and Smith figure to play significant roles going forward, particularly with Thomas and Houston (hamstring) out.
“Hell yeah (it’s important), especially on a big stage,” Ford said of the contributions from the rookies. “Every game now on, it’s like ‘I been there before.’”
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
