Sometimes, a Super Bowl-caliber team isn’t completely built during the dog days of summer in training camp and preseason. Sometimes those last remaining pieces of the puzzle aren’t found until the midway point of the regular season.
That’s the case with defensive tackle Mike Pennel.
Before the Topeka native made his return to the Kansas City area, the Chiefs’ biggest weakness was their defense’s inability to stop opposing teams from running the football down their throat.
They lacked a big run stuffer that could close up holes as soon as they opened and make life tougher for opposing backs.
That’s when Kansas City General Manager Brett Veach called and signed Pennel on Oct. 19, 2019, for the remainder of the season. The move would prove to be a match made in heaven.
Signing Pennel has become one of the best mid-season moves Veach has made since taking over as GM.
At 6-foot-4-inches and 330-pounds, Pennel, 28, has been exactly what Kansas City needed to help push back opposing rushing threats and he’s played a huge role in the Chiefs’ defensive resurgence that dates back to November 18, 2019.
In eight regular-season games, Pennel has recorded 24 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 QB hits.
Now, he’s on his way to his first Super Bowl appearance after helping the Chiefs defeat the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship and limiting running back Derrick Henry, who was averaging 185 yards a game in the postseason, to just 69 yards rushing.
Pennel has played a huge role in Kansas City’s return to the Super Bowl and he will look to continue what he’s been doing against another solid run game in the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco has three rushers the Chiefs defense will need to prepare for in Matt Breida, Tevin Coleman, and Raheem Mostert. All three average 4 to 5 yards per carry and they’ve all carried the ball at least 120 times each.
Breida has 623 yards rushing on 123 carries, Coleman has 544 yards rushing on 137 carries and Mostert has rushed for 772 yards on 137 carries.
Pennel is one of those ‘feel-good’ stories because before coming to Kansas City, he previously played for New England, N.Y. Jets, and Green Bay after going undrafted from the University of Colorado State-Pueblo in 2014.
Pennel struggled to fit within the schemes of the previous three destinations but it seems he’s coming into his own within Steve Spagnulo’s defensive playbook and now he’s on his way to the Super Bowl as one of the key pieces to help Kansas City get there.
