Chiefs defense has one unique advantage when preparing for Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill
The Kansas City Chiefs had a secret weapon earlier this season when trying to counter dynamic receiver Tyreek Hill:
Their video archives.
During defensive meetings, KC coaches pulled from three years earlier and dusted off some training camp footage from one-on-one drills between Hill and Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
It made for the perfect teaching tape ... and an advantage the rest of the NFL doesn’t have. Chiefs coaches, with their extensive knowledge of Hill, could show practice footage of the best tactics to neutralize him.
The results were encouraging. Hill was held to eight catches and 62 yards — his third-lowest total of the season — during KC’s 21-14 win over Miami on Nov. 5 in Frankfurt, Germany.
“Me playing him, all in my early years, it helped me out big-time,” Sneed said in the Chiefs’ locker room Tuesday. “I played against him, I practiced against him every day. I know what he wants. I know who he is.”
The Chiefs’ defenders are hoping familiarity will lead to similar success in Saturday’s home playoff game against Hill and the Dolphins.
Though second-year cornerback Joshua Williams said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had yet to show the Hill training camp footage this week, he expected to see it again soon.
Meanwhile, KC’s defenders also enter with confidence after they previously slowed Hill this season.
“It was fun being able to go against Tyreek, and he’s jawing at you and you’re just going back and forth, competing and making plays,” Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “I feel like that’s why you want to come to the NFL.”
The Dolphins’ video team caught a specific exchange in November between Hill and McDuffie while Hill was mic’d up. Hill spoke to McDuffie before a particular snap, saying, “You ain’t played against nobody yet like me, boy. It’s on.”
McDuffie said Tuesday that Hill wasn’t excessive with his jabbering that day.
“He’s one of them dudes that, he’s not really talking trash. It’s like all fun and games,” McDuffie said with a smile. “We didn’t say much. It was all cool.”
Sneed, meanwhile, says he expects Hill to be plenty chatty when returning to the Chiefs’ home stadium for the first time since he was traded to the Dolphins two seasons ago.
When asked if he expected to get some talking from Hill during the game, Sneed said, “Yeah, I definitely will. I know he’s coming back to Arrowhead. But I talk, too.”
Though the Chiefs varied their defensive looks against the Dolphins in Week 9, they succeeded with a few specific approaches. For one, they often tried to jam Hill at the line, looking to neutralize his speed by getting into his body before he could take off.
KC’s safeties also were intentional with getting depth in zone coverage. They also tended to shade toward Hill’s side, whether that was breaking on a crossing route or hard-charging on a screen pass his way.
Williams also said Spagnuolo had repeated a two-word mantra often this week that was also an emphasis one month ago: “eye discipline.” Williams said Hill had burned other defenses when the Dolphins used deception to get defenders’ vision in the wrong places.
“You don’t want to get caught up in a play fake and next thing you know, you’ve got a 60-yard touchdown going over your head,” Williams said. “So eye discipline is one of the main things this week for sure.”
McDuffie cited two other important factors for the defense against Miami: open-field tackling and getting off blocks. The Dolphins test a defense from sideline to sideline — in the passing and run game — and because of that, they have the potential to create huge creases for their guys in open space.
For his part, McDuffie limited a pair of potential huge Hill gains in the last game with sure tackling. On one instance, he trailed Hill in man coverage across the field and brought him down for a seven-yard reception. On another — when the Chiefs busted a coverage before the snap — McDuffie dragged Hill down from behind for a nine-yard catch that would’ve been a touchdown otherwise.
The bottom line, Sneed said, is there aren’t many secrets in this particular matchup.
KC has the book — and the practice film — on Hill ahead of this week’s rematch.
“Everybody knows who Tyreek is,” Sneed said. “We know what we’ve got ahead of us.”
