Flipping narrative of years past, Chiefs’ playoff hopes anchored by 2nd-ranked defense
Before the Chiefs’ 25-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in their last full-squad regular-season game, I can’t swear I ever heard Patrick Mahomes so much as utter the word “punt.”
Certainly, he’d seldom, if ever, acknowledged its practical place in the Chiefs’ repertoire.
Really, you’d have to figure it was torment to even let out the repulsive word. Like the way one of his biggest fans, Henry Winkler, would get stuck any time he tried to say he was “wrong” or “sorry” as Fonzie on Happy Days.
But here was Mahomes after that game, saying “we can punt, man,” if the offense gets bogged down. And saying it again later, smiling as he admitted “that’s not how I’ve always rolled.”
Lest it seem it was a fleeting thought, Mahomes reiterated the concept again Tuesday as the Chiefs (11-6) prepared to play host on Saturday to the Miami Dolphins (11-6) in an AFC Wild Card game.
“We don’t even have to score too (many) points,” he said. “If we can just score enough points, our defense will shut the door.”
Make no mistake: These aren’t exactly concessions being made by Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense, which even in what feels like a disjointed season is sixth in the NFL in passing yards per game, fifth in yards per play, second in fewest sacks allowed and sixth in third-down conversion percentage.
But it is was such testimony to a fascinating turnabout, both in fact and in terms of Mahomes’ perspective, that the man in charge of punting brought it up unbidden.
And while Mahomes’ words weren’t quite shocking to special teams coordinator Dave Toub, they were striking.
“He’s very smart. He’s a football smart guy,” Toub said. “He understands the big picture.”
And framed dead center of that is this: The defense has been the most potent and dependable asset for a franchise that has played in three of the last four Super Bowls and won two of them largely because of the high-octane offense generated by Mahomes.
As such, the defensive group that thus far is among the few best in coach Andy Reid’s storied career and second in the NFL in points allowed and yards allowed per game figures to need to flip the narrative of recent postseasons if the Chiefs are going to commence a substantial run toward becoming the first NFL team to repeat as champion in nearly 20 years.
Sure, the regular season is something to be proud of and all, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told his group in a meeting the other day.
Then again …
“All of that is going to be forgotten if we don’t rise up when it matters most, right?” he said. “And so all we’ve really done, some of the stats are really good, but all we’ve really built is some confidence, some chemistry, a foundation to go in.”
Vastly improved as it’s been over the last five seasons under Spagnuolo, in fact, his postseason Chiefs have given up 25.5 points a game.
That’s actually essentially the same postseason average (25.0) the deposed Bob Sutton’s last unit had — albeit accented by breakdowns in a 37-31 overtime loss to the New England Patriots.
So the postseason is a different sort of challenge, and this task begins with the daunting Dolphins’ offense — which led the NFL in yards a game (401.3) and was second in points per game (29.2).
But the Dolphins also have amassed their gaudy stats against bottom 10 defenses, and the Chiefs muzzled Miami to just 292 yards in a 21-14 victory in Germany that was highlighted by safety Bryan Cook’s touchdown after Trent McDuffie jarred the ball loose from Tyreek Hill and Mike Edwards lateraled to Cook.
Similarly containing Miami a second time is another matter – even if the miserable weather that’s been forecast could limit both teams’ capacity to score.
Just the same, it’s not like this has been fluky or streaky on its way to yielding merely 17.3 points and 289.8 yards a game — the second-fewest yards a game a Reid team has surrendered in his 25 seasons as a head coach.
All of that has been enabled in part by 57 sacks and permitting only four rushing touchdowns and 176.5 net passing yards a game — all regular-season lows in Reid’s head-coaching career.
All of which was hard for the casual observer to see coming in training camp, especially when Chris Jones was holding out, Charles Omenihu had just received his six-game suspension and L’Jarius Sneed was out for the most part with a knee injury.
Not to mention that the Chiefs entered the season having allowed 21.7 points a game last year … and 35 in the Super Bowl victory over Philadelphia.
No wonder there was skepticism when linebacker Nick Bolton started talking about aspiring to be a top 10 defense shortly after arriving in St. Joseph.
“There’s no reason we can’t do that,” he said one day.
While that may have left some considering all the reasons why not, in hindsight it’s somewhat simple to see why it could take a momentous step forward and they believed it then because of what Justin Reid called “the chemistry, the cohesiveness, the selflessness of the team.”
What’s so apparent now is that continuity, particularly with Spagnuolo’s complicated schemes, was vital, perhaps especially so in a defensive backfield that a year ago was full of rookies and with veteran Reid playing in his first season for Kansas City.
As he put it after nabbing his first interception as a Chief in a 19-8 victory over Denver, “It’s night and day. I feel like an entirely different player. I feel like I’m playing fast and free; I’m not out there thinking.”
Then there is Sneed emerging as one of the best in the game, despite the Pro Bowl snub, and second-year men Trent McDuffie, Cook before he was injured and George Karlaftis becoming more dynamic by the game. Jones returned to become a force once more. The linebacking of Bolton and Willie Gay was enhanced by the arrival of Drue Tranquill, who along with Edwards and Omenihu proved to be vital veteran offseason acquisitions.
All of which has become a point of comfort and inspiration to Mahomes and the offense, which at least subconsciously has to understand that it needn’t or shouldn’t take unnecessary gambles and play complentary football.
“You love to hear that, especially from a quarterback like Pat, who I have to say is the greatest quarterback that … I’ve ever seen,” McDuffie said. “I think it just gives us more confidence. Let’s the defense know that we’re doing our jobs right and the offense is seeing it.”
Added Omenihu: “I think it’s a testimony to how our season’s been. But it means nothing if you don’t bring it to the playoffs.”
And keep reassuring Mahomes that he doesn’t have to do it all himself.
“We just want to make sure,” Spagnuolo said, “we can live up to that.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2024 at 12:22 PM.