Chris Jones Breaks Down Chiefs' Late Defensive Stop, Neutralizing Josh Allen's Sneaks

It's said a lot, but it's oftentimes true: Football is a game of inches. When two great teams take the field, several minor differences can end up swinging a game's outcome in either direction. A ball bouncing one way, a kick being just short or a bit wide, a shoestring tackle being made or missed... you name it.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, their AFC championship game win over the Buffalo Bills stemmed from multiple short-yardage plays and a critical fourth-and-5 stop. The difference was a couple of yards and a pass being oh-so close to getting caught, only to instead deflate the visitors' run and help the reigning Super Bowl champs get back to the big game.

Speaking to the media after Sunday's victory, defensive tackle Chris Jones spoke about the club's clutch performance being a byproduct of the trust defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his players have.

"It's all year, building that," Jones said. "We work through situations throughout the year within practice of late-game situations, two-minute situations. For us, it's just another play. We're very comfortable in it, and we trust in Spags to put us in the right position to make a play."

One particular element that the Chiefs managed to have unparalleled success against was the quarterback sneak. Several times in the conference title game, Buffalo ran a rendition of the Philadelphia Eagles' "Tush Push" or "Brotherly Shove" play on late downs. With Josh Allen being listed at 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, that makes total sense to spam to a degree, especially considering their success on the play. Entering the weekend, the Bills had converted 20 of those 21 tries. Since 2022, Kansas City had given up a conversion on every single attempt against them.

Sunday was a different story. On third and fourth down, Allen went 2-for-5. According to Next Gen Stats, it's the most run stuffs by a defense on sneaks in the database's existence (dating back to 2016). What was the key?

The Chiefs had planned for it. Their success wasn't accidental, similar to their blocked field goals throughout the year. Schematic and personnel advantages played directly into the defense standing tall, which Jones believes it's partially a mindset requirement.

"The d-line's got to be dominant," Jones said. "You've got to have your two noses and two ends, got to be very physical on the inside. We were very successful tonight at limiting Josh Allen on the QB sneaks."

Those aforementioned fourth downs played a huge role in Sunday's contest. Kansas City largely struggled against them, surrendering conversions on four of six tries. One immediately following the two-minute warning, though, helped keep this current Chiefs dynasty rolling. With the Bills threatening at their of 47-yard line, Spagnuolo sent a blitz look that left Allen with little time to do anything but run and chuck up a prayer due to how he slid the offensive line pre-snap.

Tight end Dalton Kincaid had a chance to save the day, but it was all for naught. The bend-but-don't-break defensive performance panned out, and the Chiefs are headed to Super Bowl LIX for a Super Bowl LVII rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones's explanation for why was simple.

The Chiefs make the stop on fourth down!

📺: #BUFvsKC on CBS
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— NFL (@NFL) January 27, 2025

"Spags called a heck of a play," Jones said.

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