The Chiefs' Pass Rush Has Room to Improve, But It's Probably Been Better Than You Think

The Kansas City Chiefs haven't recorded a sack in three games. At face value, that's an alarming statistic that paints a grim picture of the team's pass rush. After a longer look, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that the team's defensive line will be able to put it all together after the bye week.

Using this week off to take a longer look at a few key position groups that will determine where the Chiefs go in the next act of the season, Kansas City's D-line has some work to do, but they have been better than their box score indicates.

First, find the Chiefs in this chart of key pass rush stats. (There's a lot of information for all 32 teams, so we'll break down the important parts next.) Surface-level, what do you see?

Key pass rush stats: pic.twitter.com/uq0LEa6pEK
— Sam Hoppen (@SamHoppen) October 6, 2026

There's a whole lot of green (which is good) throughout the Chiefs' row, with two dark purple (bad) cells. Why?

In that chart, the Chiefs are No. 6 in the NFL in pressure rate, No. 8 in quick pressure rate, No. 13 in non-blitz pressure rate and No. 8 in average time to pressure. Those are the numbers of a top-10 pass rush unit! Then, the purple boxes.

The Chiefs are No. 31 in sack rate (2.5%) and dead last, No. 32, in pressure-to-sack ratio (5.7%). The KC D-line is creating pressure at a top-10 rate, but they've been one of the worst-finishing teams on those opportunities. Ultimately, I think that paints a relatively positive picture of the pass rush, and it certainly beats the alternative.

Those numbers are supported by other individual stats, like the fact that George Karlaftis was credited with a whopping seven quarterback hits against Kirk Cousins by Pro Football Focus (a performance supported by a longer look at the film), giving him a total of 12 quarterback hits this season, despite getting zero sacks out of those hits.

Most QB hits this season, via @PFF
George Karlaftis - 12
Greg Rousseau - 12
Dallas Turner - 9
Cameron Thomas - 9
Maxx Crosby - 9

Resulting Sacks
Greg Rousseau - 6
Dallas Turner - 6
Maxx Crosby - 3
Cameron Thomas - 2
George Karlaftis - 0 pic.twitter.com/CdsAVfNdmt
— KC Sports Network (@KCSportsNetwork) October 7, 2026

Regarding the other defensive ends, rookie second-round pick R Mason Thomas has also flashed far beyond his one sack would suggest, while former first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah (lined up over the center in the clip below) has had some of his best reps as a pro throughout the start of this season.

The way R Mason Thomas can accelerate towards the QB is just nuts. pic.twitter.com/ZsjpPTFvY6
— Seth Keysor (@RealMNchiefsfan) October 5, 2026

Even second-year third-round pick Ashton Gillotte's season benefits from a deep dive into more advanced metrics, as Gillotte's "DIPRA" (defensive impact per rush attempt) is 10th-best in the league through four weeks.

The defensive tackles, particularly superstar veteran Chris Jones and first-round rookie Peter Woods, haven't had a series of game-wrecking moments so far this season, but Woods has shown tremendous physical tools, and Jones has been on the injury report with a calf issue to begin the year. I'm still very optimistic about Woods, and I'll wait a few more weeks before I'm willing to worry about Jones in his age-32 season.

Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga has been a positive force against the run, and second-year lineman Omarr Norman-Lott is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list due to his ongoing recovery from last season's torn ACL.

Yes, the Chiefs' pass rush still needs to turn pressures and hits into sacks, but they appear to have the players to get to the quarterback; that's a much better problem than the issues they had last season.

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