Spagnuolo's the problem in KC

 

At the end of week 3, the Kansas City Chiefs are in a position they haven’t been in since 2015. Under .500 and looking up at their AFC West rivals. A tough loss, at home, to a division rival, there is a lot of blame that can go around. Most of the blame should be on the Chiefs defense and their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Looking back at Spagnuolo’s history shows a pattern that doesn’t bold well for the Chiefs. After coaching a Giant’s team to a historic Super Bowl win over the heavily favored Patriots, he was hired by the Rams to be their head coach and led them to an abysmal record and was fired. His stint with the Saints as their defensive coordinator didn’t fare any better and was fired after one year. His return to the Giants in 2015 was a mixed bag as they went from having the worst defense in the league to a top 10 unit, only to regress again and be fired shortly after.  

Of course, he would sign with the Chiefs in 2019 and fixed the league’s worst defense and helped bring a Superbowl to Kanas City. Yet the year after, the defense regressed again, and this year it looks even worse.

The problem with Spagnuolo’s defense is his scheme heavily relays on pass rushers to get to the Quarterback. His scheme relays on players being smart and knowing the playbook and tends to overlook talent and ability. This has resulted in subpar tackling, wide open players, an inability to stop to the run, and players like Daniel Sorenson and Ben Niemann getting playing time over young players like Juan Thornhill and Willie Gay.

An attempt to fix this problem was to move All-Pro Defensive Tackle Chris Jones to Defensive End a position he has never played before, and it has obviously failed. Jones looks lost out on the field. Yes, he had two sacks Week 1, but outside of that he has been getting run all over.

Chiefs LB Anthony Hitchens described himself as a leader on the defense and said this after the game:

“I am one of the leaders on this defense, so I will be the first one to say I messed up”

 When he was asked about the team’s performance and if the defense played better, he said this.

“It is okay to give up 40 but when you lose you’ve done no good. Points matter, but it really doesn’t”

Do you really want the leader of your defense saying this? It reeks of not caring about doing a good job. It says that the defense is okay with giving up points and yards as long as the offense bails them out of it. When you look on the field, you see it. They use their high-powered offense and star Quarterback as an excuse for their poor play instead of doing their job and stopping the opposing offense.

If the Chiefs are going to go back to the Super Bowl and turn this season around. It starts with Steve Spagnuolo being able to motivate this defense, using his players correctly, and giving the younger players a chance to play. If this doesn’t happen, the Chiefs may be in trouble, and history isn’t on their side.