Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs blitzes are legendary. These coaches can tell you why
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Chiefs’ 2025 Super Bowl run
The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 9, falling short of a historic third-straight win.
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Steve Spagnuolo likes to think outside the box. It’s been his calling card for 26 years as an NFL assistant and head coach.
Ahead of last week’s AFC Championship Game, the Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator was careful not to show all his cards when it came to stopping the Buffalo Bills. However, he still provided a tidbit of information for those curious about how things work on the sideline.
“I’m usually trying to give the guys a heads up,” Spagnuolo said. “I don’t always get a chance to do that because sometimes I just pull something out of the sky — not literally. But I’ll try to say to them, ‘Next time we get in that situation, I’m thinking about running this.’”
That’s when the magic happens.
Spagnuolo is known for his willingness to draw up crazy blitz packages on key downs. He’ll send a linebacker one play and three defensive backs the next. Each time, the defensive alignment is disguised well to cover his tracks.
“It’s probably, maybe, a little bit more of a feel than anything else,” Spagnuolo said. “Listen, I know the guys do enjoy that part of it. They like to be aggressive. Every DB and linebacker will tell you that they want to blitz.”
It’s no secret each NFL team has its own blitz packages. But Spagnuolo has a special formula that opponents struggle to decode.
Other coaches have taken note.
The Star spoke to three renowned football coaches — Joey McGuire (Texas Tech University), Joel Applebee (Mill Valley HS) and Sean Martin (Raymore-Peculiar HS) — to better understand what makes Spagnuolo difficult to counter.
The trio broke down four plays for The Star from various points in Spagnuolo’s career, illustrating part of why the Chiefs are challenging for an unprecedented three-peat.
“They’ve got one of the best defenses in the NFL,” McGuire told The Star. “They have such a knack for getting great (play) calls at the right time and pressure at the right time in big situations.”
Overload blitz: Chiefs vs. Houston Texans in 2024 regular season
The Texans were facing third-and-long, trailing 27-19 with 4:27 to play. The Chiefs sacked Houston quarterback CJ Stroud for a 12-yard loss and forced a punt.
What made it possible? A timely Spagnuolo blitz.
“Whenever you look at it, it’s almost like sim pressure,” McGuire said. “A lot of times with people that run sim pressures, they make you think they are bringing more than four, but they are only bringing four.”
Or in this case, only bringing five.
“They do a really good job of knowing who they are playing,” McGuire continued. “CJ, with where that safety was, probably should have seen that and known.”
The key to blitzes like this, McGuire said, is “finding ways to get four (rushers) on three (blockers).”
“So many people that bring pressure like that — they are playing so much man behind it, so now if you’ve got an elite receiver or elite tight end you could be in trouble in some matchups,” McGuire said. “The thing they are doing is zone behind it, to where it’s giving the quarterback a hard time.
“They’ve got four deep, two under and they’re just matching up what’s in those zones. The tough thing is the QB has to get the ball out of his hands so quick because they don’t have enough people to block for him.”
So what’s the counter to that blitz?
Applebee offered a high school coach’s perspective on how his team might try to counteract that look — and what his teams couldn’t do.
Essentially, there’s not enough time to plan for everything. So if an opponent “is showing a lot of different looks...”
“We will full slide our offensive line — meaning these two guys are manned up here on this side, we’re going to slide everybody to the right based on the strength of the defense,” he said. “We would slide everybody because we are limited on time and limited on film time with kids.”
And hope you can find a way to get the ball out quick.
Disguised blitz: Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII
Trailing 10-3 to the 49ers at halftime of Super Bowl LVIII, the Chiefs needed a big play to help change the momentum of the game. Thanks to a cleverly disguised blitz by Spagnuolo, the Chiefs nearly sacked quarterback Brock Purdy and forced an incomplete pass.
If you take a closer look, the 49ers missed out on a big-play opportunity due to a crucial mistake by their running back.
“The receiver goes in motion, so the corner is taking the tight end, but you’re bringing that defensive end, that defensive tackle and the linebacker,” McGuire said. “So the 49ers don’t have enough players to block those guys.”
Sound familiar? It’s another case of “two on three,” McGuire said. And it’s an interesting equation of risk-reward.
“The running back really screws it up — I’m talking from the standpoint of just watching the play,” McGuire continued. “If the back would have seen the linebacker coming instead of trying to get out, they would have had him picked up, so (Purdy) would have had time.
“If the running back screws up, it was (Spags) giving them enough of disguise — maybe showing them something they haven’t done alignment-wise or anything like that. If you look at that play, the guy that comes free is the linebacker, and if the running back steps up and takes him they’ve actually got enough time.”
Applebee’s view was similar, highlighting how “it’s just bringing too many in one spot for the offense.”
“See how he stunts into that gap and brings another guy?” Applebee said. “See, that’s the hardest part when you stunt lineman. See how he stunts into the A-gap (between center and guard) there — that causes the guard to take him. They have the defensive end out here to occupy the tackle.”
And then the linebacker came free.
All-out blitz: New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys in 2007 playoffs
Spagnuolo has confused quarterbacks, play-callers and the like for nearly three decades. In 2007, he piloted a New York Giants defense that featured Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Pro Bowl standouts Osi Umenyiora and Antonio Pierce.
The Giants went on a historic postseason run to win Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots. The Giants faced rugged competition — including their NFC East rival, the Dallas Cowboys — in the postseason.
In the playoffs, Spagnuolo dialed up a signature blitz that left Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo flustered. He had eight defenders at the line of scrimmage and sent two linebackers and a slot corner on the blitz.
It was too much for the Cowboys to handle. The crash blitz pushed Romo off his spot and 10 yards in the backfield.
Martin summed up the play (the second shown in this video) to perfection.
“(Romo) has to recognize where that has got to go,” Martin said. “I mean, that is so tough. And up front, those linemen are taken care of. I mean, everybody is occupied.”
The Cowboys looked to throw a deep ball down the sideline. But the aggressive blitz negated that play from ever developing.
And there’s another element when you send the house like that: You have to trust the guys on the outside to cover.
“Just overloaded,” Martin said. “More guys than they can block. You know, the secondary is so important in that case. You have guys that you can trust to man up and take care of that.”
Perhaps like cornerback Trent McDuffie this year, and L’Jarius Sneed, too, a season ago.
Fourth-down flurry: Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills in this year’s AFC Championship Game
Spagnuolo tends to save the best for last. This time, it was with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
The Chiefs held a 32-29 lead with two minutes left against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Bills quarterback Josh Allen faced a fourth-and-5 with his season in the balance.
Spagnuolo dialed up one of his patented blitzes to win the game. He sent two defenders while dropping linebacker Nick Bolton in coverage. Allen had a few options on the play that included a mesh concept and a post route to tight end Dalton Kincaid.
The Chiefs were ready. They pressured Allen into an off-balance throw as they secured their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.
“If you have a defense that can force your opponent into making poor decisions and all of that, it has such a big impact on the game,” Martin said.
McGuire agreed. There was an option for Allen to throw to running back James Cook, but the Chiefs denied the opportunity with their defensive flurry.
That blitz decided the game’s biggest play.
“The other thing that is really strange on this play is that, you know, with two minutes left in the game, (Allen) has plenty of time and tries to escape to his right,” McGuire said. “They are throwing mesh and you’ve got two at the mesh and three in coverage. He is rolling to the right to hit one of those shallow guys.”
The Chiefs, though, had that option locked down.
“None of them are open,” McGuire said. “So he ends up throwing the ball deep because he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”
The well-designed play has the Chiefs in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX — and knocking on the doorstep of NFL immortality.
And it’s why so many coaches admire what the Chiefs do, such as McGuire calling Spagnuolo’s blitzes “very, very difficult” and particularly well disguised.
“You’re really talking about three of the best to ever do it,” McGuire said. “When you’re talking about the DC, Andy Reid and the quarterback — everybody talks about iron sharpening iron. Those three guys probably really sharpen each other.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 6:05 AM.
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