Through the first half of the 2019 season, it looked like the Chiefs were going to have to take the same trip to the postseason they had in 2018 — riding Patrick Mahomes all the way, and hoping their defense didn’t blow it all up. The last straw for Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ front office for ex-defensive coordiantor Bob Sutton was Kansas City’s loss to the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship game, when the Chiefs never got the ball in overtime, and New England marched down the field on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Sutton’s defense was helpless to stop it, and things had to change.
To replace Sutton, the Chiefs hired Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the 2007 Giants defense that stunned the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Spagnuolo’s multiple fronts and aggressive coverages provided a different template than Sutton’s far more passive approach, and though it took a while for everything to gel, the Chiefs now have a championship-caliber defense at exactly the right time.
Through the season’s first nine weeks, Kansas City allowed 14 touchdowns and had just six interceptions, though their seven dropped interceptions (tied with Cincinnati for the league lead) was a precursor of better things to come. Kansas City allowed 7.02 yards per attempt, and an opposing QBR of 90.50. Not the worst in the league in any of these departments, but hardly the kind of defense Spagnuolo or Reid wanted. Their opponent completion rate of 62.96% ranked 11th-best in the league.
Rex Burkhead’s game-winning touchdown run in the 2019 AFC Championship game spelled the end of Bob Sutton’s tenure. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)
But from Weeks 10-17, the change has been remarkable. The Chiefs are tied with the Ravens for the fewest passing touchdowns allowed with seven, and have picked off 10 passes — tied with the Falcons, Browns, Colts, Saints, and Dolphins for the most in that span. They also have seven dropped picks in the second half of the season Only the Steelers, Packers, and Ravens have allowed a lower completion percentage than Kansas City’s 57.36%.
The Chiefs have allowed 6.22 yards per attempt — only the Ravens, 49ers, and Steelers have been better, and only the Steelers have allowed a lower QBR than Kansas City’s 68.72. The Chiefs’ defensive Positive Play Rate (the percentage of plays in which an opposing offense has Expected Points Added over zero) has dropped from 46% to 42%.
Perhaps most importantly for their playoff prospects, the Chiefs have become the kind of team that can beat other postseason entrants without a superhuman effort from Mahomes — or even with Mahomes in the game. Playing through injuries as he has, Mahomes saw a drastic dip in production from his 2018 MVP season, but the Chiefs beat the Vikings, 26-23 in Week 9 with Mahomes on the bench and Matt Moore throwing for 275 yards and a touchdown. They lost a close one, 31-24, to the Packers the week before with Moore as their quarterback. They beat the Patriots, 23-16 in Week 14, with Mahomes challenged by New England’s top pass defense, managing 283 yards and a touchdown. And now, they have a revenge match on Sunday in the divisional round against the Texans, who beat them 31-24 in Week 6, back when this defense wasn’t what it would become.
The unquestionable key to this turnaround, besides everyone getting on the same page with Spagnuolo’s more aggressive man and match concepts, has been defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, the former Cardinals and Texans star who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Chiefs in March. As has been the case through his career, Mathieu is a game-changer from every possible position. This season, he’s played 1,080 snaps — 82 at the defensive line, 315 as a box safety or nickel/dime linebacker, 483 as a slot cornerback, 27 as an outside cornerback, and 173 as a free safety.
“He wears a lot of hats,” defensive backs coach Sam Madison recently said, via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “Early in the year, we just wanted to put guys in situations to be comfortable. He understands the defense. … Since he’s been at LSU, he’s played all over the place. It was just a natural fit for him. He’s taken to it very well. I talked to him a few weeks ago, telling him just to be patient and try not to go out there and find the plays [but] let them come to him. That’s what he’s been doing.”
Mathieu’s transformation in Spagnuolo’s schemes mirrors the overall defensive improvement.
“He’s the glue,” Spagnuolo has said of Mathieu. “He’s the guy that can get in the huddle in practice and say, ‘Hey, we need to step it up.’ You need guys like that. That stuff, I value as a coordinator. It makes my job a lot easier.”
As a slot defender through the first half of the season, he allowed 16 receptions on 21 targets for 132 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 107.6. From Week 10 on, he increased his efficiency with 17 catches allowed on 27 slot targets for 110 yards, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 40.2.
As a safety, his coverage improvement has been similarly transformative. In the first half of the season as a box or deep safety, he allowed 23 catches on 34 targets for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 92.9. In the second half of the season, he allowed 28 completions on 42 targets for 193 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 47.0.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid knows his safeties — he had Eric Berry from 2013 through 2018 in Kansas City, and Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins in Philadelphia from 1999 through 2008. As far as Reid is concerned, Mathieu belongs in that discussion.
“This organization was blessed to have Eric Berry… a great leader, tough, all those things. Before that I was with Brian Dawkins. I’ve been lucky to be around some really good safeties. They’re all different in their own way but they’re all great football players with great instincts and good leaders. They lead a different way. This kid here, he’s a special kid. He’s not the biggest guy. You’re not looking at one of those huge safeties but, man, is he a good football player. He just gets it.”
Leadership is one thing. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Mathieu also brings top-tier athleticism, field awareness, and the ability to read a play and snuff it right out — from anywhere on the field.
Mathieu gave a sneak preview of his outstanding second half of the season in this Week 3 breakup of a Lamar Jackson pass to tight end Mark Andrews (No. 89) in Kansas City’s 33-28 win over the Ravens. Andrews is looking to run a skinny slant from the inside of trips right, and Mathieu (No. 32) is aligned as the free safety in a two-high look. But watch how he diagnoses the throw. breaks late to the ball to avoid Jackson moving to a different target, and gets to the ball aggressively.
Mathieu’s diagnostic skills were on display in this Week 13 interception of a pass from Oakland Derek Carr to receiver Darren Waller. Mathieu is aligned over receiver Tyrell Williams in the defensive right slot, and he carries Williams through the first half of his deep post. Then, Mathieu breaks from that route and jumps the throw to Waller outside.
Speaking of diagnostic skills, there’s this Week 11 interception of a Philip Rivers attempt to Keenan Allen in Kansas City’s 24-17 win. Mathieu starts on the other side of the field from Allen in a two-high look with fellow safety Juan Thornhill, and Allen’s on the outside of a trips left, running a last-second split exchange pre-snap. Doesn’t matter what the Chargers do pre-snap, because Mathieu has this thing read as he eyes Rivers. Once again, the late break on the ball (a Mathieu specialty, and something that makes his intentions difficult to discern for quarterbacks), and Rivers most likely thinks Mathiey is sticking with receiver Mike Williams (No. 81) over the middle. Not so. Instead, Allen (No. 13) and Rivers experience an unpleasant reality — if you think Mathieu can’t get to your throw because he’s on the other side of the field, you are very wrong.
This fake dead-leg reaction to Julian Edelman’s pre-snap motion in Kansas City’s 23-16 Week 14 win over the Patriots is a personal favorite. The CHiefs are giving man coverage away here with Mathieu’s response to Edelman, and Tom Brady thinks he’s going to get away with a quick screen. Wrong answer, and Mathieu blows Edelman up for a two-yard loss.
Not that Mathieu is just a great cover safety. He can also stop the run surprisingly well for his size, because his diagnostic abilities extend to run fits, and he has absolutely no fear when taking on bigger backs — hence the “Honey Badger” nickname from his LSU days. He’s also an outstanding blitzer, picking up two sacks and seven total pressures on the season. This takedown of Broncos quarterback Drew Lock in the Chiefs’ 23-3 Week 15 win over Denver is the best effort sack I’ve seen all season by any defensive player. Once the Honey Badger is in your kitchen, you may have to move to a new neighborhood..
“I truly feel like they brought me here, obviously, to make plays, but to kind of set the tempo and set the energy in the building,” Mathieu recently concluded. “I’ve always been a team guy. I feel I can go into any locker room and fit in for the most part, really relate to the most of the guys in the locker room. That’s all I tried to do here is come in, play my role, be a veteran and be a leader on the defensive side and just try my best to kind of bring the team together and keep the team together whether things are going good or bad.
“The first thing with leadership is you have to understand your surroundings, your environment and the kind of people you’re dealing with day to day. Here we had such a young team, such a vibrant team with a lot of different personalities. I’ve just tried to be myself.”
So far, it’s worked amazingly well. It is not an overstatement to say that Mathieu has changed the complexion of Kansas City’s defense to the same extent that Mahomes altered Kansas City’s offense in 2018. When you have a leader who can do everything his position requires, that’s what happens. When you have one of those players on each side of the ball? Well, that’s how Super Bowls are won.
