Chiefs' Spagnuolo Says These 2 Factors Make Bo Nix Dangerous

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke from the podium before practice Thursday. The Chiefs (5-4) will visit the Broncos (8-2) on Sunday (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

To view his comments, watch and read below:

Opening statement:

“So, it's been a while. Been two weeks. It's good to be back at it. The guys we had yesterday and then the walk-through this morning. So, it's nice when they came back in the building on Tuesday, because it's not the same being a football coach without any players. So, it's good. With that, I'll just open it up.”

On the defensive issues in the last game, Nov. 2 at Buffalo:

“Yeah, the tight end was an issue. There was the first one on the touchdown. We decided, you could tell we decided to take somebody else away. He found the single coverage. And in hindsight, I'd do something differently on that one. I'm not going to talk about that right now. But there was one on the big long one to the tight end, was just a missed technique. That can easily be cleaned up; that we've done 100 times.

dalton kincai — Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid (86) runs with the ball in the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

“And so, you get those two or three explosive pass plays that kind of put you behind the eight ball and got them down in the red zone. We didn't play very good in the red zone, but all of them were really tight. So, we've talked a lot about that, and I was a little disappointed. I just we didn't feel like, I mean, we were all saying this in the locker room, we just didn't feel like we played our best football. We thought if we had, I think we had a decent chance to win the game. But we didn't. They played better.”

On self-scouting honestly during the bye week, without allowing the Bills game to skew the process:

“I guess that's a really good way to put it. I mean, we looked at all, obviously, all nine games, and kind of put it all together. But it didn't feel great. In the last one, we were feeling pretty good about, I guess, the previous games there. But I mean, all in all, I think we'd all say, I don't think we've played our best football. I'd like to think we haven't.

jonathan tayo — Nov 9, 2025; Berlin, Germany; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) scores the winning touchdown in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons during the NFL Berlin Game at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“I do think we need to play better for where we're headed and what we're about to face, not only in the game this week, but what we got going forward. So, everybody needs to step it up. It’s that time of the year. I think our guys, we got guys in our unit, in the locker room, that recognize that, know how to step it up. So, hopefully that's what will happen.”

On Sean Payton’s offenses consistently ranked among league leaders in 11 personnel (three wide receivers), and challenges there:

“Well, I think they do a really good job of changing personnel. They end up in that a lot. When you do the numbers and the percentages, that's certainly the highest. But, and especially early in games, they were rolling a lot of people. You've watched it, like we'll watch the TV games, and they were rolling bodies in and out. You got to stay on top of that.

“I mean, one thing we have a little bit, that we feel a little bit good about, is we see 11 personnel from April (during OTAs and camp). Our guys are in it all the time, so it's not something that we're uncomfortable with. But I think they do a good, really, really good job in what they have quarterback-wise, and what he does really well, and I think that's why they've had some success.”

seanb payto — Nov 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton before the game at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

On what he’s seen in Bo Nix this year compared to his rookie season:

“Yeah, listen, so he's got a year under his belt. He looks like he has full command of what to do at the line of scrimmage. And you can see that last year, as the year went on, he got better and better at that. I think their coaches obviously have confidence in him now with changing plays. And he's another athletic quarterback. Those guys are always a little bit of a headache, because even when you're right in what you're doing, he can make you look bad by making him miss.”

On Nohl Williams against Buffalo, allowing Trent McDuffie to play more in the slot, whether matchups dictated that:

“Yeah, a little. … Yeah, it was a little bit. It was a little bit more in his play. It was pretty good. So, and I think we talked about this before, every week's gonna be a little bit different. We'll see where he is this week.”

On Maxwell Hairston saying Xavier Worthy had tendencies, and how the Chiefs scout opponent receivers:

“I mean, we're always looking for it. The best place to get a lot of that stuff is off the TV copy, the broadcast, especially verbal things. I don't know what it was. I don't know what they were talking about there, if anybody ever discovered it. But listen, our guys, like the back-end guys are always studying wideout stances, how they align, their width alignment. How close are they to the numbers, etc, etc.

“And if you can find something to hang your hat on, you do. It's not always easy to do, because I think coaches are smart enough to change it up, but I don't know whether they had worked or not. I mean, I'm not privy to it, if Matt (Nagy) heard that, but I don't even know what it was. So. I'll let you guys figure it out.”

c.j. strou — Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) is tackled by the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter of a 2025 AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

On the pattern in past seasons of improving defensively as the season progresses:

“We have been able to do that. I hope that continues, because we do need to get better. I give all the credit to the to the assistant coaches and the players. I mean, you got to have coaches that feed it and keep working at it, which our guys do, and then you got to have cerebral players that embrace it, want to get better.

“We got a lot of guys that, we always talk about chasing improvement, and that's what our guys do. Not every team has that, I don't think, but we're blessed that we got guys that think that way.

“Yeah. I mean, as the season goes, we try to add because we feel like we can with our guys. And I think you can only do that if you got trust in the guys are going to pick it up and do it. So, there was part of that.”

evan engra — Oct 26, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram (1) runs against the Dallas Cowboys in the second half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

On unfamiliar territory this year, chasing the division leader, rather than being the division leader:

“Yeah, it's funny, I get exactly what you're saying. And I guess -- I don't do it a lot, like I'm not one that looks around the league that much -- I can honestly tell you that, I mean, and I couldn't tell you the standings of other divisions and all that. I just know I'm not, kind of just we and Andy's built this way, and maybe it's from working with him all those years, but it is truly what's on the plate next.

“I've always said, now it might be different now because we're at 17 games and not 16, but it's a race to win 10 games, or win as many as you can, and then see if that gets you in the playoffs. So that's kind of been where the thought process is. Now look, we know going to Denver, it's a division game. They're really good. Hopefully we're getting better. It's a big game. So, I think our guys feel that.”

bo ni — Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) throws a pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

On the importance of making Nix feel unsettled:

“Yeah, it's a rhythm passing game. I mean, what they're really good at is the play-action, I call movement passes. Whether it's a boot or whether it's just play-action, and they block it up. They're really good at that. Now, that's not always easy to get them out of rhythm on those because they've got a lot of people packed in there, so a part of it comes back to tight coverage and getting them to hold onto the ball a little bit. And then we always talk about, somebody's got to punch a hole, got to punch a hole in the protection.”

On his thoughts with regard to the head-coach opening at the New York Giants:

“Yeah, we're good. We're playing Denver. … Does that make sense?”

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