Wow. Incredible change in the defensive leadership on this team

[RealSNR]

If you were looking for a training camp report that gives you some optimism for some drastic improvement to our defense this year, here's a very good one.

You can click the link and read about all the nice things happening to the overall energy. It confirms a lot of what we hoped for-- Spags is really trying to get guys to just play instead of think... Hitchens looks like an entirely new player... the LBs in general are just faster and have more energy... Thornhill looks really really good, etc.

But what I really want to talk about are the two observations made by Stout at the end of the article. I embedded them below.

Again, it's training camp. Take it with a grain of salt. BUT... I mean, damn, did you ever hear about ANY of this kind of pride or attitude the defensive players and coaches had under Old Man Werthers? Yeah, the defense would occasionally make plays, and we'd always hear about so-and-so having a good camp, but I mean, did you ever hear about the LEADERSHIP on display from players and coaches like this? It's been years since I've heard about these kinds of things at a Chiefs camp.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/8/3/20753113/chiefs-training-camp-notebook-defense-looking-strong-from-top-to-bottom


Defensive line coach Brendan Daly wastes zero time in camp. He’s always looking to get a little extra work in off to the side and makes sure every single player gets each rep correct. He’s very hands-on with the position group and very vocal with criticism and praise alike. It’s refreshing to see this year.

Frank Clark has also adopted this mindset, regularly pulling others in his position group aside to teach technique. Alex Okafor was asking Clark for help on a pull/rip move, and that prompted rookie Khalen Saunders to come over and ask for help as well. Clark was happy to oblige, and he’s already showing his presence as a leader.

[SAUTO]

They changed the whole culture on that side of the ball.

I love it

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Awesome to hear.


And first . . . . .



Edit: Damnit Carl!

[Mahomes_Is_God]

*penis growth intensifies*

[New World Order]

We had quite a turnaround when we had a change of defensive coaching in 2010.

The same thing is going to happen this year

[Buehler445]

If you were looking for a training camp report that gives you some optimism for some drastic improvement to our defense this year, here's a very good one.

You can click the link and read about all the nice things happening to the overall energy. It confirms a lot of what we hoped for-- Spags is really trying to get guys to just play instead of think... Hitchens looks like an entirely new player... the LBs in general are just faster and have more energy... Thornhill looks really really good, etc.

But what I really want to talk about are the two observations made by Stout at the end of the article. I embedded them below.

Again, it's training camp. Take it with a grain of salt. BUT... I mean, damn, did you ever hear about ANY of this kind of pride or attitude the defensive players and coaches had under Old Man Werthers? Yeah, the defense would occasionally make plays, and we'd always hear about so-and-so having a good camp, but I mean, did you ever hear about the LEADERSHIP on display from players and coaches like this? It's been years since I've heard about these kinds of things at a Chiefs camp.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/8/3/20753113/chiefs-training-camp-notebook-defense-looking-strong-from-top-to-bottom

[/LIST]

Alright. Fuck it. I’m buying into bullshit camp hype. I’m all in bitches!

[O.city]

Hopefully they knock the shit out of some people

[TwistedChief]

Yup. I understood the issues with Berry but Houston was grossly underappreciated for his on-the-field contribution last year. Regardless, they were the only leaders on our defense and I was concerned when we jettisoned both of them at the same time.

Kudos to Veach for bringing in Clark and Matthieu as great replacements in that respect.

Change should be good. The bar is low and I like the new energy.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Yup. I understood the issues with Berry but Houston was grossly underappreciated for his on-the-field contribution last year. Regardless, they were the only leaders on our defense and I was concerned when we jettisoned both of them at the same time.

Kudos to Veach for bringing in Clark and Matthieu as great replacements in that respect.

Change should be good. The bar is low and I like the new energy.

Houston is the one I've been worried about missing. But we have 25 mil in cap space right now and we need it.

[O.city]

Sutton defenses were just so damn reactive and tried to play somewhat around guys

Hopefully now they say fuck it, I’m going thru you

[TwistedChief]

Houston is the one I've been worried about missing. But we have 25 mil in cap space right now and we need it.

Still would’ve been amazing to see Houston used properly under a real DC. His success rate as a pure pass rusher is as good as anyone in the NFL. Too bad Sutton wanted to get cute and have him covering Antonio Brown.

I understood why he left and genuinely think he’s underappreciated, but I doubt we’d have traded for Clark had he stayed. And that’s the future.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I'm starting to get a little pumped now for our defense. My god , just think what three more possesions per game for Mahomy crunch will mean.

[PunkinDrublic]

I hope everyone is right. We’ve been burned too many times by these rah rah training camps only to see a lot of the same old shit during the regular season.

[Hoover]

Still would’ve been amazing to see Houston used properly under a real DC. His success rate as a pure pass rusher is as good as anyone in the NFL. Too bad Sutton wanted to get cute and have him covering Antonio Brown.

I understood why he left and genuinely think he’s underappreciated, but I doubt we’d have traded for Clark had he stayed. And that’s the future.
You know what? Fuck that.

Maybe its just me but I didn't think Houston was much of a leader last year.

Great player when he was in his prime, but last year was a disappointment IMO.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Sutton defenses were just so damn reactive and tried to play somewhat around guys

Hopefully now they say fuck it, I’m going thru youWhat I love hearing is Spags talking about identifying what his players excel at, and then designing defenses that put players in positions that utilize their strengths. It's exactly the opposite of Sutton's idiotic adherence to his scheme. Sutton never met a round hole he didn't try to stuff a square peg into.

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[crispystl]

What I love hearing is Spags talking about identifying what his players excel at, and then designing defenses that put players in positions that utilize their strengths. It's exactly the opposite of Sutton's idiotic adherence to his scheme. Sutton never met a round hole he didn't try to stuff a square peg into.

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

Excellent point

[Bump]

Spags has some talent to work with, but I'm not expecting it to be dominant. It has potential to, we'll have to see how the LB's and CB's perform because on paper there's not a lot there. If it can just be like a rank 20 defense, that's more than enough for Mahomes and this offense. Having the worst defense in the league really holds you back and we still almost went to the Superbowl.

[FAX]

Alright. **** it. I’m buying into bullshit camp hype. I’m all in bitches!

So am I, Mr. Buehler445. All in.

Personally, I think our 2nd-most important move was bringing in Daly. That hire shouldn't be under-estimated, IMHO.

Daly was a big part of the reason that the Chiefs struggled against the Immigrant Blowjobbers last year. He doesn't just promote stunts and twists, he schemes them from a tactical perspective by analyzing the enemy (which was us in 2018) o-line's strengths and weaknesses down to the individual player level.

I also believe Wally is correct that, in the New NFL, the key to QB pressure is interior pressure ... not edge pressure. IMO, this adds to Daly's value.

Plus, he apparently believes in strategery ... just like I do.

FAX

[MMXcalibur]

If this defense can be even slightly above average....man, look the fuck out, NFL

[Naptown Chief]

I am very excited to see this defense in action. My God, if they can force an additional 1-3 stops per game we're 19-0.

[carcosa]

Hell yeah!!!!!

[carcosa]

I am very excited to see this defense in action. My God, if they can force an additional 1-3 stops per game we're 19-0.

I'm squirting !

[FAX]

Takeaways. That's what I'm looking for in this defense.

Takeaways and good tackling.

FAX

[-King-]

Clark came in with the mindset that he was getting a fucking ring this year and it had shown with everything he's done so far.

[T-post Tom]

I'm squirting !

So sexy.

[suzzer99]

You know what? Fuck that.

Maybe its just me but I didn't think Houston was much of a leader last year.

Great player when he was in his prime, but last year was a disappointment IMO.

Agreed. I think he said all the right things and went through the motions - but he knew he was on his last payday and on a shitty defense. I think his heart wasn't in it.

[threebag]

*penis growth intensifies*

Chubby Bunny
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcS3STqh3Pez2gqEfc5CVdvvLcBjsUZxzx3nbH8DEygWb_4QahVj

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

I'm squirting !

Let me lick the juices

[chiefzilla1501]

So am I, Mr. Buehler445. All in.

Personally, I think our 2nd-most important move was bringing in Daly. That hire shouldn't be under-estimated, IMHO.

Daly was a big part of the reason that the Chiefs struggled against the Immigrant Blowjobbers last year. He doesn't just promote stunts and twists, he schemes them from a tactical perspective by analyzing the enemy (which was us in 2018) o-line's strengths and weaknesses down to the individual player level.

I also believe Wally is correct that, in the New NFL, the key to QB pressure is interior pressure ... not edge pressure. IMO, this adds to Daly's value.

Plus, he apparently believes in strategery ... just like I do.

FAX

Agreed. Daly hire is huge in many ways. I'm not overly sold on spags' scheme. But Daly might be able to tweak the scheme to make it modern and great. Daly will also be huge for mahomes' development. If the Pats disguises stumped mahomes, what better way for mahomes to learn how to read them than to see it in practice?

[chiefzilla1501]

He hasn't played a snap for us yet but honey Badger might already be my favorite player on defense. That guy brings an attitude to this defense we haven't seen in years. We've had a lot of quiet, hard working guys on defense. Honey Badger will make our defense fun to watch. Never seen a player so damn excited to put on a chiefs uniform.

[tmax63]

Not to mention getting the OL up to speed. Seeing more crazy shit in practice time with blitzes and stunts can't help but get the OL in a better place.

[chinaski]

Clark, Mathieu, Jones are all excellent players.

Hitchens is going to be different this year going back to a 4-3.

By all reports Thornhill is more than holding his own, and looks to be a potential breakout star.

We good.

[ThaVirus]

Fuck all this fluff shit. I won't buy any of it until I see results.

[Chris Meck]

so much of defense is attitude. It's WANT TO.

Sutton was passive, and the guys that had been in his scheme for years tended to play that way too.

Houston is a good player, but he's no longer a fiery, give his all every down player (if he ever was).

A culture change was needed.

Spags' scheme? Well, I mean, what is it exactly? It seems to me that it's simply pressure and varying coverages and looks. Bigger, more aggessive 4 man line to disrupt and stuff the run. That bigger line should give free-er flow to the ball for the linebackers. All of that is more 'concept' than scheme really.

In that way, it's the opposite of Sutton, who mostly lined up in man with a 3 (and sometimes 2) man line and dared the offense to win the match-ups every play. Problem is, the opposing offenses often could.

I agree that Daly seems to be an innovator with defensive line play, and will play an important part. This line is stacked so long as they stay healthy.

I'm super optimistic about the situation because of 1)the change in attitude from the entire staff 2) the change in player leadership; Honey Badger and Clark are real tone-setters. It appears that on-field accountability will be addressed. 3) the 'scheme', as much as we know is to disguise and confuse pre-snap reads in the back 7.

I see no reason not to expect a pretty dramatic difference.

[chiefzilla1501]

Clark, Mathieu, Jones are all excellent players.

Hitchens is going to be different this year going back to a 4-3.

By all reports Thornhill is more than holding his own, and looks to be a potential breakout star.

We good.

Spags has been inconsistent. But he's consistently been an outstanding DBs coach. Thornhill, Ward, Fuller... Excited to see him work with all our young talent. We might have a lot more talent at DB than we think.

Also Spags has been nails at drafting stud DBs in the first 2 rounds. Over his career he's drafted Landon Collins, Aaron Ross, Eli Apple, and was DBs coach when Philly drafted Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. He really knows his DBs.

[neech]

**** all this fluff shit. I won't buy any of it until I see results.

https://media.tenor.com/images/b48b318f3df4ef6bcdef6b4e3a7019ad/tenor.gif

[chiefzilla1501]

so much of defense is attitude. It's WANT TO.

Sutton was passive, and the guys that had been in his scheme for years tended to play that way too.

Houston is a good player, but he's no longer a fiery, give his all every down player (if he ever was).

A culture change was needed.

Spags' scheme? Well, I mean, what is it exactly? It seems to me that it's simply pressure and varying coverages and looks. Bigger, more aggessive 4 man line to disrupt and stuff the run. That bigger line should give free-er flow to the ball for the linebackers. All of that is more 'concept' than scheme really.

In that way, it's the opposite of Sutton, who mostly lined up in man with a 3 (and sometimes 2) man line and dared the offense to win the match-ups every play. Problem is, the opposing offenses often could.

I agree that Daly seems to be an innovator with defensive line play, and will play an important part. This line is stacked so long as they stay healthy.

I'm super optimistic about the situation because of 1)the change in attitude from the entire staff 2) the change in player leadership; Honey Badger and Clark are real tone-setters. It appears that on-field accountability will be addressed. 3) the 'scheme', as much as we know is to disguise and confuse pre-snap reads in the back 7.

I see no reason not to expect a pretty dramatic difference.

Agreed. And even if it isn't, that's ok. We need our defense to be better, not necessarily top 10. Thought that would be nice. More importantly, by forcing teams to pass teams will either score quickly, go 4 and out, or force a turnover. Either way they'll get off the field quickly. We may give up a lot of yards but we'll have other offenses forced into a shootout with Mahomes. We need our best player on the field, not watching our Defense soak up a 5 minute drive with this bend don't break bullshit.

[Chris Meck]

Agreed. And even if it isn't, that's ok. We need our defense to be better, not necessarily top 10. Thought that would be nice. More importantly, by forcing teams to pass teams will either score quickly, go 4 and out, or force a turnover. Either way they'll get off the field quickly. We may give up a lot of yards but we'll have other offenses forced into a shootout with Mahomes. We need our best player on the field, not watching our Defense soak up a 5 minute drive with this bend don't break bullshit.

Yep.

I expect that the next two seasons will be the most explosive offenses we're likely to see and that the defense will be the ascending unit. As we start having to pay Mahomes, we'll see his supporting cast become lesser by necessity. That's fine, and in the salary cap era to be expected. If we have Mahomes and a good defense we'll be contenders every year. That is, unless we can continue to find late round gems like Hill. Spending big money on free agents will probably be less of a thing moving forward. We'll have to draft and develop, and finding stars is difficult picking #32. It'll be role players and Mahomes.

[Easy 6]

You know what? Fuck that.

Maybe its just me but I didn't think Houston was much of a leader last year.

Great player when he was in his prime, but last year was a disappointment IMO.

When Justin Hamilton is calling you out, you’re not being a leader

Good riddance to that jackoff, I’m glad he’s stealing Indy’s money and not ours

[DJ's left nut]

If you were looking for a training camp report that gives you some optimism for some drastic improvement to our defense this year, here's a very good one.

You can click the link and read about all the nice things happening to the overall energy. It confirms a lot of what we hoped for-- Spags is really trying to get guys to just play instead of think... Hitchens looks like an entirely new player... the LBs in general are just faster and have more energy... Thornhill looks really really good, etc.

But what I really want to talk about are the two observations made by Stout at the end of the article. I embedded them below.

Again, it's training camp. Take it with a grain of salt. BUT... I mean, damn, did you ever hear about ANY of this kind of pride or attitude the defensive players and coaches had under Old Man Werthers? Yeah, the defense would occasionally make plays, and we'd always hear about so-and-so having a good camp, but I mean, did you ever hear about the LEADERSHIP on display from players and coaches like this? It's been years since I've heard about these kinds of things at a Chiefs camp.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/8/3/20753113/chiefs-training-camp-notebook-defense-looking-strong-from-top-to-bottom

[/LIST]

I would like to repeat - Craig Stout should be given a shot at the Chiefs beat writer gig. He's an infinitely better football writer than Mac and Cheese.

There are very few football writers out there these days that can actually educate fairly savvy football fans. Most of them, at best, can provide you context/quotes that you don't have because you don't have the access they have.

But someone like Stout can actually give you information that you wouldn't have noticed even if you DID have their access.

Good get, SNR.

[Buehler445]

Agreed. Daly hire is huge in many ways. I'm not overly sold on spags' scheme. But Daly might be able to tweak the scheme to make it modern and great. Daly will also be huge for mahomes' development. If the Pats disguises stumped mahomes, what better way for mahomes to learn how to read them than to see it in practice?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Reid and the coaches are responsible for prepping Mahomes on what he’ll see out there. They got it at half time, but they should have caught on sooner.

Fucking Cheatriots.

[Buehler445]

Takeaways. That's what I'm looking for in this defense.

Takeaways and good tackling.

FAX

All I give a fuck about is stops.

An 80 yard field isn’t scary to Mahomes.

Getting gashed on 10 minute drives is bad.

Stops. Don’t give a fuck how they come. If they’re tirnovers that’s great. But the important thing is stops. We’ve learned over the years that turnovers are nice. Sacks are nice. Big losses are nice. But if they just pick up the first anyway (obviously besides the turnovers) all that flashy shot doesn’t matter. Only stops.

[staylor26]

Fuck all this fluff shit. I won't buy any of it until I see results.

Stout isn’t really a “fluff” kind of guy. Sounds like he’s just objectively pointing out a difference he sees in the defensive coaching/leadership. The question is will it translate, which I’m pretty confident it will.

[carcosa]

Fuck all this fluff shit. I won't buy any of it until I see results.

Shush!!!!!

[RealSNR]

I would like to repeat - Craig Stout should be given a shot at the Chiefs beat writer gig. He's an infinitely better football writer than Mac and Cheese.

There are very few football writers out there these days that can actually educate fairly savvy football fans. Most of them, at best, can provide you context/quotes that you don't have because you don't have the access they have.

But someone like Stout can actually give you information that you wouldn't have noticed even if you DID have their access.

Good get, SNR.
That was a very nice thing to say! Thank you!

[Skyy God]

When Justin Hamilton is calling you out, you’re not being a leader

Good riddance to that jackoff, I’m glad he’s stealing Indy’s money and not ours

I had forgotten about that incident.

Dude was clearly checked out.

“No. 74, Juicy came up to me on the sideline and he pretty much called me out,” Houston explained. “He challenged me. He said, ‘I need to see that same energy you have during the week. I need to see it now. You’re the leader, you need to take over. Do your job.'”

[Lprechaun]

We need 1, just one, uno, more stops per game average. That is all we need to win the SB.
1!
This defense sure as hell better be able to do that. Anything above that just makes the wins easier, 1 stop more per game makes them all wins.

[ThaVirus]

https://media.tenor.com/images/b48b318f3df4ef6bcdef6b4e3a7019ad/tenor.gif

Lol.. I've been through too many training camps and this team's been on the cusp for too damned long.

[RealSNR]

Lol.. I've been through too many training camps and this team's been on the cusp for too damned long.

Just curious, but what level of improvement from the defense would you need to see this year to believe a fluff piece like this was correct?

I don't think anybody is really under the impression that we're a top 5 defense, or even a defense as good as the one that Sutton had in 2013-2015, which was a high turnover defense with an opportunistic pass rush and some pretty tricky coverage schemes that fooled a lot of QBs. The run defense wasn't good at all, but it was nowhere near as bad as the run defense from last year, and it typically was able to not suck just barely enough to not be the thing that made the entire D crash in on itself and suck.

It appears we're going to bring back that opportunistic aggression that we used to have on this team, and come hell or high water, Spags is going to get this D to stop the run. We're still gonna get gashed by big plays, and the offense will still be asked to win a lot of shootouts, but the overall improvement in specific areas appears to be enough to put us around 20th in total defense, which is a far cry better than 31st.

[Warpaint69]

[QUOTE=Buehler445;14377797]All I give a **** about is stops.

An 80 yard field isn’t scary to Mahomes.

Getting gashed on 10 minute drives is bad.

Stops. Don’t give a **** how they come. If they’re tirnovers that’s great. But the important thing is stops. We’ve learned over the years that turnovers are nice. Sacks are nice. Big losses are nice. But if they just pick up the first anyway (obviously besides the turnovers) all that flashy shot doesn’t matter. Only stops.[/QUOT

It all starts with stopping the run and stopping the run is a whole lot of want to along with doing your job. Put teams in 3rd down and long, that’s when you can get creative up front with twists, curls, and stunts. That’s when you can get creative with disguised blitzes. Playing teams with lesser QBs, you take away the run, your defense can dictate the game forcing those QBs into having to make plays to sustain drives. Teams are going to try to play ball control and keep away from Pat, the defense has to stop the run!

[Randallflagg]

They changed the whole culture on that side of the ball.

I love it


Indeed! :clap:



'Bout damned time!

[ThaVirus]

Just curious, but what level of improvement from the defense would you need to see this year to believe a fluff piece like this was correct?

I don't think anybody is really under the impression that we're a top 5 defense, or even a defense as good as the one that Sutton had in 2013-2015, which was a high turnover defense with an opportunistic pass rush and some pretty tricky coverage schemes that fooled a lot of QBs. The run defense wasn't good at all, but it was nowhere near as bad as the run defense from last year, and it typically was able to not suck just barely enough to not be the thing that made the entire D crash in on itself and suck.

It appears we're going to bring back that opportunistic aggression that we used to have on this team, and come hell or high water, Spags is going to get this D to stop the run. We're still gonna get gashed by big plays, and the offense will still be asked to win a lot of shootouts, but the overall improvement in specific areas appears to be enough to put us around 20th in total defense, which is a far cry better than 31st.

Any bit would do the trick, but I'm just going to remain cautiously optimistic until I see results when the games count.

Overall I'm expecting a statistical regression offensively and a slight progression from the defense. That'll keep me from being too disappointed.

[RealSNR]

Any bit would do the trick, but I'm just going to remain cautiously optimistic until I see results when the games count.

Overall I'm expecting a statistical regression offensively and a slight progression from the defense. That'll keep me from being too disappointed.

I'm really not so certain there will be a statistical regression for overall offense. Again, I think the D is going to be in feast or famine mode a lot, and we're just not going to see teams play ball control like they did last year. Either they'll score quicker or the D will stop them much earlier in drives. The result is I think the Chiefs offense will see more drives per game and control the ball more minutes per game this year. I think our scoring output could equal or surpass what we did last year, especially since we're still gonna be in a bunch of shootouts.

[Easy 6]

I had forgotten about that incident.

Dude was clearly checked out.

“No. 74, Juicy came up to me on the sideline and he pretty much called me out,” Houston explained. “He challenged me. He said, ‘I need to see that same energy you have during the week. I need to see it now. You’re the leader, you need to take over. Do your job.'”

A second stringer needing to call out a supposed "star" player, just pathetic

His time in Indy will be short lived IMO

[ThaVirus]

I'm really not so certain there will be a statistical regression for overall offense. Again, I think the D is going to be in feast or famine mode a lot, and we're just not going to see teams play ball control like they did last year. Either they'll score quicker or the D will stop them much earlier in drives. The result is I think the Chiefs offense will see more drives per game and control the ball more minutes per game this year. I think our scoring output could equal or surpass what we did last year, especially since we're still gonna be in a bunch of shootouts.

We won't know for certain until the bullets fly and, of course, I hope you're right. There are just too many variables, too many things that can go wrong.

Most offenses that perform at such a historic level aren't able to match it the following year. The 07 Pat's couldn't, the 13 Broncos couldn't. The 11 Packers, 98 Vikings, 12 Pats, 04 Colts, and 11 Saints are some others as well.

We can hope for a 99-00 Rams situation, I suppose. We are ridiculously stacked at skill positions... The offense as a whole likely goes a step Pat goes.

[BWillie]

If you were looking for a training camp report that gives you some optimism for some drastic improvement to our defense this year, here's a very good one.

You can click the link and read about all the nice things happening to the overall energy. It confirms a lot of what we hoped for-- Spags is really trying to get guys to just play instead of think... Hitchens looks like an entirely new player... the LBs in general are just faster and have more energy... Thornhill looks really really good, etc.

But what I really want to talk about are the two observations made by Stout at the end of the article. I embedded them below.

Again, it's training camp. Take it with a grain of salt. BUT... I mean, damn, did you ever hear about ANY of this kind of pride or attitude the defensive players and coaches had under Old Man Werthers? Yeah, the defense would occasionally make plays, and we'd always hear about so-and-so having a good camp, but I mean, did you ever hear about the LEADERSHIP on display from players and coaches like this? It's been years since I've heard about these kinds of things at a Chiefs camp.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/8/3/20753113/chiefs-training-camp-notebook-defense-looking-strong-from-top-to-bottom

[/LIST]

We'll see. You got rid of your best cornerback, 90% of your pass rush. There are no certainties. I really don't think this defense is going to be much better. Maybe 20th instead of 28th is the best we can hope for. Which might be enough. Hopefully it was just Bob Sutton that was the problem.

[Chris Meck]

We'll see. You got rid of your best cornerback, 90% of your pass rush. There are no certainties. I really don't think this defense is going to be much better. Maybe 20th instead of 28th is the best we can hope for. Which might be enough. Hopefully it was just Bob Sutton that was the problem.


Say no to drugs.

Nelson was our best CB? WHAAAAAT?! Oh hell no.
replaced Houston with Okafor, replaced Ford with Clark.
Still got Jones, Nnadi, and drafted Saunders.
Added Breeland (who at WORST is a wash, but you'd have to be blind to think that.) Fuller back to pure slot where he was the #1 ranked player in football.
Honey Badger actually plays in games, so that's a big plus over Berry.
Thornhill's early press looks like he's going to be a good one.
Aggressive, pressure oriented scheme over no-bump-n-run.
Big, deep offensive line. 4-3 LB'ers actually playing in a 4-3.

There's no way this isn't a better defense. 20th? That would actually be a drastic change from 31st. If we're top ten versus the run, we might go 15-1.

[JakeF]

I thought everyone said the Britt Reid was great last year?

[bricks]

I think the additions of Mathieu and Clark are going to have the most impact. I think both will bring that ‘defensive attitude’ this team has been lacking for years. Thats huge imo and hopefully that will resonate well with the rest of the D.

[Bwana]

Good read.

[2bikemike]

I am excited to see this new defense in action!

[RealSNR]

We'll see. You got rid of your best cornerback, 90% of your pass rush. There are no certainties. I really don't think this defense is going to be much better. Maybe 20th instead of 28th is the best we can hope for. Which might be enough. Hopefully it was just Bob Sutton that was the problem.

90% of our pass rush is missing? Are you a fucking idiot?

That's like saying 100% of our passing was missing going into last year because we got rid of Alex Smith

[Bowser]

I think the additions of Mathieu and Clark are going to have the most impact. I think both will bring that ‘defensive attitude’ this team has been lacking for years. Thats huge imo and hopefully that will resonate well with the rest of the D.

I agree, but we can't overlook the coaches we've brought in on the defensive side. We've damned near got an all-star squad of young up and coming coaches on that side now.

[R Clark]

90% of our pass rush is missing? Are you a ****ing idiot?

That's like saying 100% of our passing was missing going into last year because we got rid of Alex Smith

Ya can’t fix stupid !

[38yrsfan]

The defense seemed to 'die' overnight in just a couple of seasons. It's not unreasonable to see the same resurrection back to normalcy.

[Naptown Chief]

I would like to repeat - Craig Stout should be given a shot at the Chiefs beat writer gig. He's an infinitely better football writer than Mac and Cheese.

There are very few football writers out there these days that can actually educate fairly savvy football fans. Most of them, at best, can provide you context/quotes that you don't have because you don't have the access they have.

But someone like Stout can actually give you information that you wouldn't have noticed even if you DID have their access.

Good get, SNR.

That was a very nice thing to say! Thank you!

Such sweetie pies in this thread!

[Naptown Chief]

I agree, but we can't overlook the coaches we've brought in on the defensive side. We've damned near got an all-star squad of young up and coming coaches on that side now.

That, to me, is as exciting as the players we've cut, signed, and drafted. The coaching staff is unbelievable.

[Fishpicker]

the only memory I have of last years defense is of Berry chewing ass on the field. Im so glad were going in a different direction. onwards and upwards

[GloryDayz]

If you were looking for a training camp report that gives you some optimism for some drastic improvement to our defense this year, here's a very good one.



You can click the link and read about all the nice things happening to the overall energy. It confirms a lot of what we hoped for-- Spags is really trying to get guys to just play instead of think... Hitchens looks like an entirely new player... the LBs in general are just faster and have more energy... Thornhill looks really really good, etc.



But what I really want to talk about are the two observations made by Stout at the end of the article. I embedded them below.



Again, it's training camp. Take it with a grain of salt. BUT... I mean, damn, did you ever hear about ANY of this kind of pride or attitude the defensive players and coaches had under Old Man Werthers? Yeah, the defense would occasionally make plays, and we'd always hear about so-and-so having a good camp, but I mean, did you ever hear about the LEADERSHIP on display from players and coaches like this? It's been years since I've heard about these kinds of things at a Chiefs camp.



https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2019/8/3/20753113/chiefs-training-camp-notebook-defense-looking-strong-from-top-to-bottom



[/LIST]Thank God...

[GloryDayz]

Sutton defenses were just so damn reactive and tried to play somewhat around guys

Hopefully now they say fuck it, I’m going thru youIf we can get the team and coaches coached-up on lobbying for calls, this could be awesome.

[Imon Yourside]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B0n9FHxD3gK/?igshid=kaxpqtwc6e2t

[tk13]

All I give a **** about is stops.

An 80 yard field isn’t scary to Mahomes.

Getting gashed on 10 minute drives is bad.

Stops. Don’t give a **** how they come. If they’re tirnovers that’s great. But the important thing is stops. We’ve learned over the years that turnovers are nice. Sacks are nice. Big losses are nice. But if they just pick up the first anyway (obviously besides the turnovers) all that flashy shot doesn’t matter. Only stops.

Especially because any team with offensive talent is going to try and copy the Patriots by running the ball 50 times to take the ball away from Mahomes.

[kysirsoze]

Man everyday I read about:

A. Frank Clark being a total beast who is taking over camp

and

B. The run defense kicking ass constantly

I know it's the season of puff pieces, but throw in a bunch of buzz around KPass (!), Hitchens, and Ragland (!!!) and I'm extremely excited to see this defense prove some people wrong this year. I'd still love a move at the cornerback position, but I'm buying in.

[Coochie liquor]

Say no to drugs.

Nelson was our best CB? WHAAAAAT?! Oh hell no.
replaced Houston with Okafor, replaced Ford with Clark.
Still got Jones, Nnadi, and drafted Saunders.
Added Breeland (who at WORST is a wash, but you'd have to be blind to think that.) Fuller back to pure slot where he was the #1 ranked player in football.
Honey Badger actually plays in games, so that's a big plus over Berry.
Thornhill's early press looks like he's going to be a good one.
Aggressive, pressure oriented scheme over no-bump-n-run.
Big, deep offensive line. 4-3 LB'ers actually playing in a 4-3.

There's no way this isn't a better defense. 20th? That would actually be a drastic change from 31st. If we're top ten versus the run, we might go 15-1.

Don’t forget the classic, leave your shutdown corner on one side of the field so the opposition can put their number one receiver on the other side. And NEVER switch him to follow their best receiver. Ugh Sutton was horrendous. I’ll never forget Houston covering Brown.

[Mecca]

Don’t forget the classic, leave your shutdown corner on one side of the field so the opposition can put their number one receiver on the other side. And NEVER switch him to follow their best receiver. Ugh Sutton was horrendous. I’ll never forget Houston covering Brown.

Ok now there are a lot of teams that don't move their CB's especially if they are primarily a zone team.

[ILChief]

Ok now there are a lot of teams that don't move their CB's especially if they are primarily a zone team.

If you have two really good corners it’s ok. The year we had peters and Sean Smith, it worked ok. When we had peters and a bunch of trash, we get lit up

[kysirsoze]

Ok now there are a lot of teams that don't move their CB's especially if they are primarily a zone team .

Sure, but we weren't.

[Lzen]

Spags has been inconsistent. But he's consistently been an outstanding DBs coach. Thornhill, Ward, Fuller... Excited to see him work with all our young talent. We might have a lot more talent at DB than we think.

Also Spags has been nails at drafting stud DBs in the first 2 rounds. Over his career he's drafted Landon Collins, Aaron Ross, Eli Apple, and was DBs coach when Philly drafted Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. He really knows his DBs.

Hmmm, didn't know that. I'm excited about this defense and that makes me even more so.

[Lzen]

I had forgotten about that incident.

Dude was clearly checked out.

“No. 74, Juicy came up to me on the sideline and he pretty much called me out,” Houston explained. “He challenged me. He said, ‘I need to see that same energy you have during the week. I need to see it now. You’re the leader, you need to take over. Do your job.'”

When did that happen?

[Sorce]

During the Raven's game.

[rtmike]

Just about every position coach on defense could be a DC.

Rumor for a bit before Spags was House was to be the new DC. If that side breaks out we’re liable to lose a few next year?

[Megatron96]

I just watched a recent Tyrann Mic'd up video, and I have to admit, I'm getting a little excited about the D. He's taking a major role in coaching up this D, and apparently it's showing up in practice. With any luck, it'll show up early this season. Go Chiefs!

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Clark says watch out this defense is gonna be something special

[GloryDayz]

Clark says watch out this defense is gonna be something special

Cool. But last year's was "special" too. But not in a good way.

[PAChiefsGuy]

Clark says watch out this defense is gonna be something special

Believe it when I see it. Every team talks shit during the offseason, few live up to it.