The Chiefs' Defense Looks to Build On Last Season's Success
The transformation of the Kansas City Chiefs' defense in 2019 was one of the more underrated aspects of their Super Bowl season. Sure, the offense has been one of the best in the NFL over the past two seasons with Patrick Mahomes leading the way. However, the defense needed to step up in order to reach the mountaintop in 2020, and they will need to continue what they started if they want to build this team into a dynasty.
In 2018, the Chiefs' defense was one of the worst in the NFL. This was a defense led by longtime defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. He led a very vanilla “bend-but-don’t-break” style of defense, which included quite a bit of both bending and breaking. The Chiefs had some excellent individual defensive players over the last several seasons but could never take the next step as a complete unit.
After reaching the AFC Championship game in January 2019 but failing to adjust the gameplan to stop Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, Sutton was let go. This paved the way for Andy Reid to bring in Steve Spagnuolo to lead the defense.
The offseason also brought the Chiefs free-agents Frank Clark and Tyrann Matthieu, two players who were known around the league to have a now-often-discussed “dog mentality." They brought a “championship swagger,” in the words of Matthieu himself. The defense in 2019 started slowly out of the gate, but by the end of the season, they were a top-10 unit in the league.
Where does this put the defense heading into 2020, and can they build off that “championship swagger” to pair with their dynamic offense and build a dynasty going forward?
I believe they can. The Chiefs have a majority of their starters from last year returning and should be able to pick up right where they left off last season. The ongoing theme that seems to haunt fans and media alike is the perceived lack of urgency at the cornerback position, both through the draft and in free agency. The Chiefs' front office has put more stock into building a rock-solid defensive line and, in theory, that should keep the pressure on opponents and give the secondary a greater chance to succeed.
If the Chiefs' offense continues to soar as a top-three unit and the defense continues to play at a top-10 level, there’s no reason this team shouldn’t be holding up another Lombardi Trophy in 2021. At this point, it seems like their main competition may be COVID-19.
