Three Key Trends for Chiefs to Maintain Dominance of New-Look Defense

The Kansas City Chiefs made a concerted effort to retool their defense during the offseason, leaving many to wonder just how long it would take Steve Spagnuolo's group to come together.

It's obvious that a one-week sample size can't be taken with anything but a grain of salt, but Kansas City came out with a bang and looked awesome on that end against the Denver Broncos. Holding head coach Sean Payton's crew to just 3.7 yards per play, the hosts routinely got pressure and held up both in the trenches and the secondary.

How sustainable is that production, though? What could be the keys to another stellar showing against the Indianapolis Colts this weekend? Joshua Brisco and Seth Keysor discussed that and more on a September episode of the Only Weird Games podcast on KC Sports Network.

Nohl Williams is breaking out before our very eyes

After (willingly) losing both Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to the Los Angeles Rams in the spring, Kansas City sent a message that it was comfortable with a rebuilt cornerback room. The reacquisition of L'Jarius Sneed is paying off already and first-round rookie Mansoor Delane logged an interception on the first drive of his professional career, but it's Nohl Williams who should be stealing the show.

The second-year man picked up right where he left off in 2025, clamping opposing wideouts and living up to the hype. He was masterful against the Broncos, surrendering just nine receiving yards on five targets. Oh yeah, he also did that while executing a tough ask by playing a significant chunk of man coverage:

Last season, Nohl Williams had an 80th %ile yards allowed per coverage snap as a rookie

Tonight he was targeted 5 times but only allowed 9 receiving yards on 29 coverage snaps (while playing man on 45.5% of his snaps)
— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) September 15, 2026

In 17 regular-season games as a rookie, Williams ceded 6.9 yards per target and logged an 82.9 passer rating when thrown at. One game into 2026, those respective marks are 4.5 and 62.5. In order for the Chiefs' defense to keep thriving, it may be as simple as Williams continuing to do the same.

How legitimate is the Kansas City pass rush?

Much was made all offseason about how concerning Spagnuolo's pass rush could be. In addition to sending tons of blitzers out of necessity in 2025, the defense struggled to get off the field on late downs and was rather predictable. Aside from a slightly declining All-Pro defensive tackle in Chris Jones and a solid-but-injured defensive end in George Karlaftis, there was plenty left to be desired.

Maintaining quality coverage in the secondary, paired with 2026 NFL Draft pickups like tackle Peter Woods and edge rusher R Mason Thomas, seems to have done the trick early on. According to TruMedia, KC was fifth in pressure rate in Week 1 at 45.5% and sat eighth with 15 total pressures on the Monday Night Football stage. Spagnuolo stayed true to his roots, bringing six-plus men on 18.2% of plays (fifth), but there was enough variety to inspire some confidence.

Jones played just 26 snaps in the opener, good for 51% of those available. If he's going to be fresh on top of all the other positives, the Chiefs might be cooking with gas.

Stifling run defense is critical on Sunday

Sometimes, the best run defense can be getting out to a lead on offense and forcing the opposition to become one-dimensional. There was certainly an element of that in Week 1, when the hosts kept the ball on the ground 38 times compared to the visitors' 15. Still, Kansas City did a nice job bottling up starting Broncos halfback J.K. Dobbins to the tune of 36 yards.

After ranking 13th in EPA per rush given up in 2025 (-0.06, per SumerSports), that slotting was fourth after a week of 2026 play thanks to an EPA/rush allowance of -0.19. The Chiefs were fourth on early downs, too, highlighting just how difficult it was for Denver to get anything going. According to NFL Pro, Spagnuolo's crew forced the Broncos to muster -0.32 rushing yards over expectation (10th).

Up next is a contest against reigning rushing carry (323) and touchdown (18) leader Jonathan Taylor. If the Chiefs can find a way to slow down the Colts superstar, then it'd be worth wondering whether this run defense is serious.

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