Heading into Week 10 of the 2019 season, the Kansas City Chiefs have turned a page towards becoming a complete football team following their 26-23 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs are coming off another solid defensive performance for the third consecutive week against one of the league’s top offenses.
In the early portion of the season, stopping the best the NFL had to offer just wasn’t possible for Kansas City’s defense. In fact, the team’s inability to stop almost anybody was a major issue that dates back to last season and despite all the new additions General Manager Brett Veach made over the offseason, the Chiefs defense continued to struggle…until now.
Though injuries have been an obstacle that Kansas City has been forced to maneuver around since the start of the season, the Chiefs have not faltered and their defense has managed to find their groove as of late.
One player that’s played an important role on defense and specifically as a run-stuffer is linebacker Reggie Ragland, who’s been a healthy scratch for much of the first half of the season. However, due to injuries and the recent struggles of Darren Lee, Ragland has found his way back to stardom.
In the last three games, Kansas City’s ability to snuff out opposing running backs has improved greatly, allowing an average of 3.76 yards per carry. Which is good enough to rank as the eighth-lowest in the league.
After Wednesday’s practice, Ragland told 810 sports that the recent success on defense is due to the team going back to fundamentals and just playing football.
“We’re playing football,” said Ragland of the last three games. “We’re just doing what got us here, we’re not doing all that extra stuff or trying to do too much,” he explained, “Everybody’s just doing their job and I feel like everybody’s just figuring out their roles on this team, so we’re just going out there and playing football,” Ragland said.
Defending the run isn’t the only area the Chiefs have improved, but also when defending the pass. In the first six weeks of the season, sacks seemed to elude Kansas City’s pass rushers and getting pressure on the passer, alone was a major challenge.
However, over their last three games, the Chiefs defense has managed to collect 69 QB pressures and 14 sacks, which ranks atop the NFL over that stretch. If you compare that to their total of just 11 sacks in their first six games, it paints a better picture of just how much the Chiefs defense has improved and it showed in last week’s victory over Minnesota.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins never got comfortable in the pocket and the constant pressure from Kansas City caused him to be erratic at times and he missed a lot of easy throws that he typically makes. Defensive tackle Chris Jones, who returned from a groin injury he suffered last month, played a big part in making Cousins feel uneasy all game, registering seven QB pressures and a sack.
Kansas City’s resurgence on defense means they’re just a few healthy players away from being a complete team with a legit chance at making the Super Bowl. Honestly, I’m not sure if this team can be stopped when Patrick Mahomes finally returns to the lineup, let alone the rest of their injured players.
Kansas City now travels to Tennessee to take on the Titans (4-5) where they’ll face another strong running game led by Derrick Henry and the outcome looks promising as the Chiefs’ defense has finally shown they can hold their own against the league’s best offenses.
