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T-post Tom 01-15-2019 08:36 AM

Chiefs' living and dying with pass rush will get ultimate test from Tom Brady
 
Outside linebacker Justin Houston has played for some strong pass-rushing teams since joining the Kansas City Chiefs. He usually contributes to the effort in a big way, never more so than in 2014, when he had 22 sacks.

Houston said recently that he wasn’t sure how this year’s team compared. “That’s a tough one," Houston said. “I’ve been on a lot of great units."

Houston was certain of one thing, though.

“The best is yet to come," he said.

Houston has good reason to feel that way. The pass rush has helped carry the Chiefs to Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs tied for the NFL regular-season lead with 52 sacks. Lineman Chris Jones led the way with 15.5, followed by linebacker Dee Ford with 13. Houston had nine despite missing four games with an injury.

For much of the season, the pass rush was about all the Chiefs could consistently rely on from their defense. Their rushing defense was woeful and their pass coverage spotty.

The most obvious example of the pass rush winning a game for them came in December against the Baltimore Ravens. With the game tied 24-24 late in the fourth quarter, Houston sacked Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, forced him to fumble and then recovered with the Chiefs in field goal range.

The Chiefs missed the kick, sending the game to overtime. But after taking a 27-24 lead, the Chiefs in effect closed it out with another Houston sack that pushed the Ravens into late-down and long-distance situations.

The rest of the defense has come around. The Chiefs allowed just one late touchdown and a defensive TD in their 31-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round, after giving up just a field goal in the final regular-season game against the Oakland Raiders.

The pass rush is still the basis of everything the Chiefs accomplish on defense. They sacked Andrew Luck three times on Saturday. Impressive, considering the Colts allowed a league-low 18 sacks this season.

“We don’t care who we are going against," Jones said. “We can go up against brick walls and we will find a way to beat them."

It’s not just about sacks. The Chiefs, for instance, deflected four passes against the Colts, three by Jones and one by Houston.

“[When] you start affecting [the quarterback's] spot, [when] he can’t get to his second or third read ... [when] he can’t step up ... there are a lot of things that affect the quarterback," outside linebackers coach Mike Smith said.

“The ball comes out quick these days, especially against us. It’s almost record time every time we play. They’re adding chips, keeping guys in. It affects an [opposing] offense. They’ve got to prepare every week for what we have."

Ford said, “Obviously, you want a sack but you’re not going to get a sack every play. You can’t rush with the mentality that ‘I want a sack every play’ because you could be hurting the defense. Getting pressure on the quarterback means disrupting the timing of his throws [when] he can’t step through on certain throws. That takes certain types of rushes and it takes you knowing how to do that every play.

“If the ball is going to come out quick, all we can do is disrupt that throw. That can lead to us getting off the field.’’

Getting off the field without allowing points is the goal on every defensive drive, the sooner the better because field position can be affected.

That’s where a strong rush comes in. The Chiefs generated a strong pass rush without blitzing a lot. They blitzed on about 12 percent of their plays in the regular season, which was the 10th-lowest rate in the league.

That approach could be helpful Sunday. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has historically had trouble facing defenses that can rush the passer successfully without blitzing.

The Chiefs blitzed even less against the Colts, on just five of the 53 snaps they defended.

“Everybody will tell you if you can do it with four people, that’s an even bigger advantage," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. “Obviously it gives you more people to cover with and you can do more things schematically."

The Chiefs had a strip sack against the Colts when Ford knocked the ball away from Luck. The Chiefs recovered. In their 43-40 regular-season loss to the Patriots, the Chiefs sacked Brady twice, but Brady threw for more than 300 yards. On Sunday, in what could be another high-scoring game, disrupting Brady and getting the ball back to Patrick Mahomes and the offense will be paramount.

“A pass rush can get you off the field," said Sutton, whose defense gave up 500 total yards to the Patriots in the Week 6 matchup. "Even when you’re not playing dominant defense and giving up a lot of yards, the key part is always getting the ball back or getting off the field. One or the other. The other thing we’ve done a great job of is stripping the ball. It’s not just sacks but the ability to take the ball away. That’s a challenging thing for an offense to deal with. Not only do you have to deal with pressure but also the possibility of losing the ball."



http://www.espn.com/blog/kansas-city...from-tom-brady

2bikemike 01-15-2019 08:39 AM

Repost!:D

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=320429

T-post Tom 01-15-2019 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2bikemike (Post 14040125)

My bad. Edit done.

DJ's left nut 01-15-2019 08:51 AM

I think the 'live and die with the rush' thing is starting to get a little overplayed now that Ron Parker isn't out there blowing coverage every other snap and Ward is giving us genuinely solid play at CB2.

There were definite coverage pressures against the Colts. And Sutton had his DBs sitting back and then driving on those short routes to screw up the timing patterns as well.

If the Patriots want to try to dink and dunk all day, they might have some success there but I think we've made personnel and schematic adjustments (made possible by said personnel adjustments) that can keep that from beating us if that's all they do. Where we might get gashed is by a double move or two but that's where the increased recovery speed from Lucas comes in and the Patriots can be hurt by their lack of deep speed now that Gordon's gone.

And Jones - man I loved the way he played Saturday. He was smart and disciplined. Played within himself and kept his responsibility seemingly every play. Nnadi was fantastic and Bailey was steady. I think the front can be run-responsible as well.

Now sometimes a good RB just makes yards and Michel is showing the ability to do that. And sometimes a fantastic pass-catching back creates big-time problems, James White qualifies. There are still some matchups where we might just get physically beat, but I don't think this defense is automatically a 1-trick pony, especially not at home.

If the Pats want to try to go full Ravens and run the ball while leaning on their short passing game, I think we have some ability to deal with that better than most expect. We won't skunk them, but I think we can keep them in the low 20s.

2bikemike 01-15-2019 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-post Tom (Post 14040148)
My bad. Edit done.

No worries, I don't get the jump on many good stories very often.

pugsnotdrugs19 01-15-2019 08:53 AM

Our secondary has been flying around and hitting dudes the last two games... while defense has really, but the secondary is where the biggest difference is seen.

T-post Tom 01-15-2019 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 14040160)
I think the 'live and die with the rush' thing is starting to get a little overplayed now that Ron Parker isn't out there blowing coverage every other snap and Ward is giving us genuinely solid play at CB2.

There were definite coverage pressures against the Colts. And Sutton had his DBs sitting back and then driving on those short routes to screw up the timing patterns as well.

If the Patriots want to try to dink and dunk all day, they might have some success there but I think we've made personnel and schematic adjustments (made possible by said personnel adjustments) that can keep that from beating us if that's all they do. Where we might get gashed is by a double move or two but that's where the increased recovery speed from Lucas comes in and the Patriots can be hurt by their lack of deep speed now that Gordon's gone.

And Jones - man I loved the way he played Saturday. He was smart and disciplined. Played within himself and kept his responsibility seemingly every play. Nnadi was fantastic and Bailey was steady. I think the front can be run-responsible as well.

Now sometimes a good RB just makes yards and Michel is showing the ability to do that. And sometimes a fantastic pass-catching back creates big-time problems, James White qualifies. There are still some matchups where we might just get physically beat, but I don't think this defense is automatically a 1-trick pony, especially not at home.

If the Pats want to try to go full Ravens and run the ball while leaning on their short passing game, I think we have some ability to deal with that better than most expect. We won't skunk them, but I think we can keep them in the low 20s.

Good points! Not missing Parker.

htismaqe 01-15-2019 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 14040160)
I think the 'live and die with the rush' thing is starting to get a little overplayed now that Ron Parker isn't out there blowing coverage every other snap and Ward is giving us genuinely solid play at CB2.

There were definite coverage pressures against the Colts. And Sutton had his DBs sitting back and then driving on those short routes to screw up the timing patterns as well.

If the Patriots want to try to dink and dunk all day, they might have some success there but I think we've made personnel and schematic adjustments (made possible by said personnel adjustments) that can keep that from beating us if that's all they do. Where we might get gashed is by a double move or two but that's where the increased recovery speed from Lucas comes in and the Patriots can be hurt by their lack of deep speed now that Gordon's gone.

And Jones - man I loved the way he played Saturday. He was smart and disciplined. Played within himself and kept his responsibility seemingly every play. Nnadi was fantastic and Bailey was steady. I think the front can be run-responsible as well.

Now sometimes a good RB just makes yards and Michel is showing the ability to do that. And sometimes a fantastic pass-catching back creates big-time problems, James White qualifies. There are still some matchups where we might just get physically beat, but I don't think this defense is automatically a 1-trick pony, especially not at home.

If the Pats want to try to go full Ravens and run the ball while leaning on their short passing game, I think we have some ability to deal with that better than most expect. We won't skunk them, but I think we can keep them in the low 20s.

Excellent post.

htismaqe 01-15-2019 08:56 AM

Guys, I'm going to go in a different direction with my thoughts on the article...

Did anybody notice who provided quotes? In particular, who was the first defensive coach quoted?

:hmmm:
:D

O.city 01-15-2019 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 14040174)
Guys, I'm going to go in a different direction with my thoughts on the article...

Did anybody notice who provided quotes? In particular, who was the first defensive coach quoted?

:hmmm:
:D

Eh, I saw that but I'm not gonna read into it yet.

O.city 01-15-2019 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 14040160)
I think the 'live and die with the rush' thing is starting to get a little overplayed now that Ron Parker isn't out there blowing coverage every other snap and Ward is giving us genuinely solid play at CB2.

There were definite coverage pressures against the Colts. And Sutton had his DBs sitting back and then driving on those short routes to screw up the timing patterns as well.

If the Patriots want to try to dink and dunk all day, they might have some success there but I think we've made personnel and schematic adjustments (made possible by said personnel adjustments) that can keep that from beating us if that's all they do. Where we might get gashed is by a double move or two but that's where the increased recovery speed from Lucas comes in and the Patriots can be hurt by their lack of deep speed now that Gordon's gone.

And Jones - man I loved the way he played Saturday. He was smart and disciplined. Played within himself and kept his responsibility seemingly every play. Nnadi was fantastic and Bailey was steady. I think the front can be run-responsible as well.

Now sometimes a good RB just makes yards and Michel is showing the ability to do that. And sometimes a fantastic pass-catching back creates big-time problems, James White qualifies. There are still some matchups where we might just get physically beat, but I don't think this defense is automatically a 1-trick pony, especially not at home.

If the Pats want to try to go full Ravens and run the ball while leaning on their short passing game, I think we have some ability to deal with that better than most expect. We won't skunk them, but I think we can keep them in the low 20s.

I'm gonna hold off on it because we've been small sample sized before, but damn it Ward has been playing pretty well. How big would that be if he could really settle in and be that #2 guy? He's owed like 2 million dollars for the next 2 or 3 years.

Does he have the #1 type upside?

I don't think so, but he's played well.

RobertWeathers 01-15-2019 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 14040185)
Eh, I saw that but I'm not gonna read into it yet.

Tom hasn't had success vs the blitz as he had in past years but you won't need it.

Thing is y'all have the pass rush out of your base which is a concern.

pugsnotdrugs19 01-15-2019 09:06 AM

Mike Smith basically telling everyone with his quotes that having these pass rushers is completely changing the way opposing offenses play (throwing it extremely quickly).

No way Andy lets Ford walk for nothing.

htismaqe 01-15-2019 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertWeathers (Post 14040195)
Tom hasn't had success vs the blitz as he had in past years but you won't need it.

Thing is y'all have the pass rush out of your base which is a concern.

Our 4 man front can generate a lot of pressure. Nnadi is coming on late in the season. He's a rookie but he's been taking a lot of doubles.

One of the big sacks on Saturday came out of a set with Ford lined up outside of Houston, on the same side. They didn't even have to blitz, the Colts just couldn't handle it.

DJ's left nut 01-15-2019 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 14040211)
Our 4 man front can generate a lot of pressure. Nnadi is coming on late in the season. He's a rookie but he's been taking a lot of doubles.

One of the big sacks on Saturday came out of a set with Ford lined up outside of Houston, on the same side. They didn't even have to blitz, the Colts just couldn't handle it.

If you can get Houston isolated on a guard, the play is essentially over.

They had Houston inside and sent Hitchens on a loop, IIRC. That pulled protection that could've helped out inside on Houston away and he just mauled that poor bastard guard (maybe it was the C). That interior lineman didn't have anywhere near the quickness to stay in front of him and Houston's hand-fighting skills are second to none.

He just slapped the punch away and ran right past him. And Houston will do that to just about any guard in the league. There were some really nice schematic adjustments/wrinkles on Saturday.

It really was a command performance pretty much across the board.


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