Did we see our first real "Brendan Daly" impact Sunday?

[DJ's left nut]

So we'll start by saying that Kurt Cousins sucks man. I don't care what he did in October - Cousins sucks and was missing dudes with no pressure on him at all.

That said, I think I saw that the Chiefs only had 1 sack and 4 QB hits on Sunday? And yet I felt like he was hassled a LOT.

Didn't it feel that way a lot of the time with the Patriots? They never seemed to get many sacks, rarely had anyone truly blowing plays apart, but always seemed to just make things a pain in the ass for QBs in the pocket.

I'm not even sure I believe it - like I said, it's possible that Cousins really !@#$ing sucks. But I sure feel like there was a lot more to the performance of the DL than a mere 1 sack and 4 QB hits and it reminds me enough of the havoc I felt like I saw from the relatively stat-free Patriots to ask if this is the kind of attack Daly had in mind.

Was our idea of 'pressure from everywhere' just a little bit misconceived and in reality it WON'T mean 6-8 sacks from several different guys on the line? Instead it will mean fairly pedestrian sack/hit figures that undersell the pain in the ass that Daly's DL's have been to deal with in the past? Because I feel like the line was a lot more impactful than that line score and that dovetails pretty closely with what we always seem to think about NE defensive lines.

:shrug:?

[Hoover]

I thought I saw we had 20 QB pressures. Can somebody confirm

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Vikings are the #3 offense in yards per play. They are one of the best offenses in the league and we basically shut them down. Our defense according to DVOA is 11th and our pass defense is 4th. This defense is for real boys!

[DJ's left nut]

I thought I saw we had 20 QB pressures. Can somebody confirm

I've always had a hard time rooting up reliable pressure stats. I think they've become a 'proprietary' metric so you have to pay for them now.

But yeah, I think the pressure rate was pretty good, depending on how one would define it.

It just seemed like a much different sort of pass rush approach. Rather than 25 play sample size with 2 sacks, a couple hits, a pressure and 15 largely non-competitive snaps where the QB gets plenty of time, you get 1 sack, 1 hit, 8 pressures and maybe only 6-8 non-competitive snaps.

So maybe the best way to put it is fewer true 'highs' like we saw with Houston/Ford/Jones generating a lot of sacks in the regular season but also far fewer real 'lows' like the goose-eggs they put on the stat sheet in the AFCCG where Brady was simply never harassed.

That's a good trade, right? Would you trade 1 sack for 2 pressures? 3? 2 sacks for 5 pressures? Seems like that may be the kind of calculus we're working with here more than I realized or expected.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

His impact can be seen without statistics. Just look at the way in which the DL are playing. Damn near every single one has played at a very acceptable level over the last 3 weeks, vs. run and pass. Technically sound, explosive, disciplined.

[Megatron96]

If you watch the "In the Trenches" video I posted about the kickers/punters yesterday, near the beginning somewhere they talk about how many times Spags and company got pressure with our front four, how many times they sent pressure, etc. Essentially the Chiefs got pressure 42% of the time, equaling what they did against DEN, but were able to send an extra defender to create that pressure only 25% of the time, or something like that. What that worked out to was on 18 passing plays the Chiefs were able to pressure Cousins with just the front four DL.

They get into it a bit, and apparently they had a chance to talk to Spags Or Daly about it after the game.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

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[ThaVirus]

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Excellent team defense

[Easy 6]

Just started Kissel and Leckeys recap before seeing your post, always enjoy them

To the op, I’m certain Daly is having an impact, but it’s surely also a confluence of other factors as well... getting Jones back, depth guys who’ve had a chance to grow due to injuries, and it also seems like Spags has unleashed the playbook lately like he’s getting comfortable with their understanding of the scheme

Jones, Nnadi, Saunders, Williams, Ogbah, Kpass, Okafor, Pennel... let all these guys get healthy at once and that’s a versatile, girthy group

[jerryaldini]

Football Outsiders DVOA
Kansas City may be the most balanced team in the league right now, sort of. There is no team that ranks in the top ten in all three phases of the game, but Kansas City comes closest: second in offense, 11th in defense, and eighth in special teams.

[Demonpenz]

Cutblocks are worthless when you suck at them

[chiefzilla1501]

I was excited about house. But was really excited about Daly. I don't know that I'd trust a Pats guy on his own to run the D the way Detroit and Miami did. I also wasn't excited about spags running a spags defense. But put a creative guy like Daly under a guy like spags who's also interested in a lot of creativity with the front 7 and its a match made in heaven. I also wonder how much house has brought college ideas to the D.

But biggest contribution will be in prepping mahomes to beat the Pats. I still believe this is why Daly was our biggest move of the year. If our defense starts to become the one defense we struggled to beat, imagine how much it helps for pat to see this all year.

[O.city]

I think having jones at end and moving dudes around in there just has it all working

[Coochie liquor]

If you watch the "In the Trenches" video I posted about the kickers/punters yesterday, near the beginning somewhere they talk about how many times Spags and company got pressure with our front four, how many times they sent pressure, etc. Essentially the Chiefs got pressure 42% of the time, equaling what they did against DEN, but were able to send an extra defender to create that pressure only 25% of the time, or something like that. What that worked out to was on 18 passing plays the Chiefs were able to pressure Cousins with just the front four DL.

They get into it a bit, and apparently they had a chance to talk to Spags Or Daly about it after the game.

Watching the game it sure seemed we were getting pressure a good amount with 4. That’s exactly what we need. Getting this D rolling into the playoffs!!

[Buehler445]

I think a lot of it is sticking the run.

There were very few missed tackles save that simple pass play we inexplicably couldn’t defend. But the run plays largely got stuffed.

That led to a lot of third and long rather than 3rd and 2 where a quick pass gets it and extends drives.

The combination of 3rd and longer and getting off the field to stay fresh can’t be overstated.

One other thing is they’re looking to knock down passes rather than hit somebody. There was one play it was Ogbah who got loose and was just trying to get in the passing lane rather than bearing down on Cousins. Looked much more like basketball defense than trying to kill someone Lawrence Taylor style. It worked. Cousins couldn’t find an angle. In the past we’d chase a QB and he’d just go over the defender or get a little angle and embarrass fools.

But I’m right with you. Consistent pressure without maybe getting home as often is much more effective than plays with nothing.

[BossChief]

I think we started to see it against Denver.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

We lead the league in pressures the last 3 weeks guys.

[Titty Meat]

So we'll start by saying that Kurt Cousins sucks man. I don't care what he did in October - Cousins sucks and was missing dudes with no pressure on him at all.

That said, I think I saw that the Chiefs only had 1 sack and 4 QB hits on Sunday? And yet I felt like he was hassled a LOT.

Didn't it feel that way a lot of the time with the Patriots? They never seemed to get many sacks, rarely had anyone truly blowing plays apart, but always seemed to just make things a pain in the ass for QBs in the pocket.

I'm not even sure I believe it - like I said, it's possible that Cousins really !@#$ing sucks. But I sure feel like there was a lot more to the performance of the DL than a mere 1 sack and 4 QB hits and it reminds me enough of the havoc I felt like I saw from the relatively stat-free Patriots to ask if this is the kind of attack Daly had in mind.

Was our idea of 'pressure from everywhere' just a little bit misconceived and in reality it WON'T mean 6-8 sacks from several different guys on the line? Instead it will mean fairly pedestrian sack/hit figures that undersell the pain in the ass that Daly's DL's have been to deal with in the past? Because I feel like the line was a lot more impactful than that line score and that dovetails pretty closely with what we always seem to think about NE defensive lines.

:shrug:?

Ogbah was the first

[BossChief]

Took a lateral move to a competitor and we had high hopes, but it’s clear as day our new DL coach/run defense coordinator is a huge downgrade from a bad unit last year. By now, we should at least be seeing some improvement. We are seeing regression.

This run defense is going to prevent us from making the playoffs.

I think this guy is a Trojan horse.

Thoughts?

This was a legit reaction after the Houston game.

4 days later, they breathe fire on Denver, play well against GB the next week and dismantle Minnesota’s elite offense. What happened between October 13th (the Houston game) and October 17th (when they played Denver)?

They looked soft against Indy and Houston, then...BAM.

[Megatron96]

Something else: over the course of the season I've spent a little time lurking on our upcoming opponent's fan forums. I just like to see what the opposition thinks of our team, but more importantly, what they think of their own. It provides me with some interesting perspectives.

The overriding common theme since Week 1 is that the Chiefs have the league's worst defense. In particular against the run. Most think our D can't get pressure without bringing extra guys because we gave away Ford and Houston. Etc. and so on.

Even the Vikes fans didn't notice that our defense has improved in the last two weeks. And neither have the Titans fans. From what I can tell, anyway; their forums are like ghost towns.

And neither have the TV analysts; they have all said before every game that the Chiefs defense is terrible against the run. Not one has noticed that our defense has improved dramatically over the last three weeks against the run.

And opposing OCs seem to be taking those sentiments to heart. Zimmer specifically told his OC to run the ball in the second half, in spite of the fact that their running game had only produced about 3 yards/carry in the first.

It's going to be interesting to see how long it is before someone out there notices that the Chiefs' defense in 2019 isn't the same as the one from 2018.

[The Franchise]

This was a legit reaction after the Houston game.

4 days later, they breathe fire on Denver, play well against GB the next week and dismantle Minnesota’s elite offense. What happened between October 13th (the Houston game) and October 17th (when they played Denver)?

They looked soft against Indy and Houston, then...BAM.

A coach is a Trojan horse is a legitimate reaction? In what fucking universe?

[staylor26]

A coach is a Trojan horse is a legitimate reaction? In what fucking universe?

LMAO

So true. Daly got passed up for the NE DC job and was pissed about it. Why the fuck would he ruin his career to help the Pats after that? It was BlackOp level shit.

[Coogs]

This was a legit reaction after the Houston game.

4 days later, they breathe fire on Denver, play well against GB the next week and dismantle Minnesota’s elite offense. What happened between October 13th (the Houston game) and October 17th (when they played Denver)?

They looked soft against Indy and Houston, then...BAM.

I think I heard, or read, that HB called out the entire defense for not doing their jobs.

[-King-]

So far 3 games of definite improvement. They wore down in the last part of the Packers game but there's a definite trend upward. We can win with this defense especially once Mahomes is back and knocks off any rust he may have

[chiefzilla1501]

I hate the idea that a coach saves his best stuff for later. But spags seemed to be very vanilla on either until his D got it or until he trusted them to make stops. HB calling the D out probably helped but the huge difference was that spags started dialing up stunts and blitzes. Was that because he was desperate or was that planned all along? I kinda get the feeling that it was planned until the D was ready but he probably should have flipped the switch sooner.

[BossChief]

A coach is a Trojan horse is a legitimate reaction? In what fucking universe?

I think I heard, or read, that HB called out the entire defense for not doing their jobs.

Go to game pass and watch the defense play against Houston then watch any time after that. It’s complete night and day.

The defense that played against Indy and Houston was sofT.

If HB called people out somewhere in between October 13-17...that’s the moment the defense turned things around.

[jerryaldini]

Makes you wonder how much of a role effort, attitude and unity can play. HB's comments coupled with Pat's injury coincide with the turnaround. And more aggressive scheme. But in football I wouldn't necessarily discount the former.

[JakeF]

I hate the idea that a coach saves his best stuff for later. But spags seemed to be very vanilla on either until his D got it or until he trusted them to make stops. HB calling the D out probably helped but the huge difference was that spags started dialing up stunts and blitzes. Was that because he was desperate or was that planned all along? I kinda get the feeling that it was planned until the D was ready but he probably should have flipped the switch sooner.
Andy Reid definitely believes in saving stuff even when it puts winning a game at risk.

[Pitt Gorilla]

A coach is a Trojan horse is a legitimate reaction? In what ****ing universe?

It’s not. It was stupid then and is stupid now.

[stevieray]

Whatever it is..we should be thrilled...if it continues.


This kind of production after that kind of overhaul is normally unheard of.

This could end up being a pretty special second half of the season.

[el borracho]

Hmmmm...... I’m not sure how well this fits your theory, but the Patriots are like +17 in turnovers this year while the Chiefs are like +2. Maybe 2019 is an anomaly for them, but the Patriots are definitely benefiting from more “wow” plays than the Chiefs.

Exit: Nevermind.... It’s late and I somehow missed that you were only talking about the Dline. Apologies.

[Chris Meck]

I hate the idea that a coach saves his best stuff for later. But spags seemed to be very vanilla on either until his D got it or until he trusted them to make stops. HB calling the D out probably helped but the huge difference was that spags started dialing up stunts and blitzes. Was that because he was desperate or was that planned all along? I kinda get the feeling that it was planned until the D was ready but he probably should have flipped the switch sooner.

guys I don't understand why it's difficult to grasp.

Entirely new scheme, new calls, new keys, new philosophy.

Entirely new coaching staff unfamiliar with hold-over players and mostly entirely new starting groups.

Nothing "changed" between games in the season so much as guys were missing keys, slow to process things, and not quite being where they were needed to be quickly enough. Remember when it all looked "slow?"

By Houston, they were embarassed. These are still proud athletes, after all. Men who don't like their manhood being questioned.

They were getting closer but weren't seeing results yet. Still hesitant, still not trusting each other to be in the right place. Honey Badger says what he said, and maybe that was a key moment, maybe it was just another brick in the wall.

Denver comes out determined to run the ball, KC's defense determined to stop them. Trusted the system. Trusted each other. Played with aggression because the whole football watching nation was calling them soft and weak.

The individuals just needed to see the big picture and focus on their individual jobs. They know what they need to do now, and can play fast.

It was always going to take some time.

[RunKC]

Like I said in the other thread, it all changed when Mike Pennel and Khalen Saunders started playing.

The difference is that we started stopping the run and making teams one dimensional. When you do that you’re going to have success.

We shut down Dalvin Cook which enabled Daly to open his bag of tricks.

[Lzen]

Excellent team defense

Yes, that's what I see. Notice how they contain the backside/cutback. Great team defense. Pennel and Saunders making a difference, too.

[chiefzilla1501]

Like I said in the other thread, it all changed when Mike Pennel and Khalen Saunders started playing.

The difference is that we started stopping the run and making teams one dimensional. When you do that you’re going to have success.

We shut down Dalvin Cook which enabled Daly to open his bag of tricks.

They've been great. But Denver was when we really started to see the creative stunts and blitzes. We were incredibly vanilla before that. And we dominated in Denver without Pennel. They've no doubt helped. But spags has definitely dialed things up. It's scheme as much as talent.

[chiefzilla1501]

I also think the whole league was caught off guard by how offenses decided to set up a power run game. Power run teams are doing really really well right now. No way indy should be this good. SF has a good team but didn't expect them to be undefeated. Still think Pennel being available this long is proof of that. We've adjusted. At some point the rest of the league will too and I just wonder if that brings like SF and indy a little bit more down to earth. Very good teams but both seem to be outkicking the coverage.

[oldman]

It's a combination of getting the scheme down and getting the right bodies in the right place at the right time. We've had better coverage in the secondary which allows the line to put more pressure up front. Also of note, the Saunders pick looks like it was a total winner.

[stumppy]

Whatever the reason, ain't it great.

This is what we've been waiting for. This is exactly what this team has needed for the last few years.

I've got more confidence in the team now, with Mahomes coming back soo, than I've had for years.

[FAX]

It was probably wishful thinking on my part, but I originally believed that Daly was the most important defensive staff pick-up this off-season. I've now changed my mind and am riding front-car on the Spaggyboots victory train.

The nice thing about Daly's contribution is his ability to coach the proper technique when running twists and stunts. What I didn't expect (and didn't even think about at the time) was synchronizing the d-line stunts and interior blitzing. That's the area that the staff has impressively brought to the table over the course of the last few games. It also showed up in the Horns game ... and would have defeated the Puckers, had it not been for Rodgers' lucky-ass fling-the-total-prayer-to-completion method. But that game is in the past.

We are running a very interesting defense now. Interior pressure and solid edge control is a fascinating change from our previous system. Yet, I'm not sure you could do that and simultaneously defend the run effectively if it weren't for guys like Nnaughty and Saunders in the tackle spots. They are playing their ginormous asses off right now. The addition and contribution of Ivie and Pennel is also highly encouraging.

IMHO, linebacker play remains our biggest issue. I see improvement, but an inch might as well be a mile in the NFL. Especially when you're asking them to use sight adjustments to choose between run fits and playing intermediate zone.

All in all, I give Spaggyboots a B+ and Daly a B in today's report card.

FAX

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Yep HB is the reason why this defense is turned around. After the Texans game he called the defense out saying people aren’t doing their assignments. Said missed tackles and that we didn’t have the mentality to tackle

[WhiteWhale]

I think having jones at end and moving dudes around in there just has it all working

They went heavy on running downs, which makes sense given their struggles against the run.

I think we'll see more of a Jones/Nnadi/Saunders/Clark line on early downs as the season goes on.

Then you can get Jones inside on passing downs and let him do his thing 3 steps from the QB.

I'm liking the versatility this DL has shown.

[chiefzilla1501]

guys I don't understand why it's difficult to grasp.

Entirely new scheme, new calls, new keys, new philosophy.

Entirely new coaching staff unfamiliar with hold-over players and mostly entirely new starting groups.

Nothing "changed" between games in the season so much as guys were missing keys, slow to process things, and not quite being where they were needed to be quickly enough. Remember when it all looked "slow?"

By Houston, they were embarassed. These are still proud athletes, after all. Men who don't like their manhood being questioned.

They were getting closer but weren't seeing results yet. Still hesitant, still not trusting each other to be in the right place. Honey Badger says what he said, and maybe that was a key moment, maybe it was just another brick in the wall.

Denver comes out determined to run the ball, KC's defense determined to stop them. Trusted the system. Trusted each other. Played with aggression because the whole football watching nation was calling them soft and weak.

The individuals just needed to see the big picture and focus on their individual jobs. They know what they need to do now, and can play fast.

It was always going to take some time.

Just to be clear, I wasn't being critical of the approach. I meant I hate when people make excuses for bad performance by saying we were saving something. But in this case I really believe it was true only because we had so many new guys learning a whole new scheme.

[WhiteWhale]

They've been great. But Denver was when we really started to see the creative stunts and blitzes. We were incredibly vanilla before that. And we dominated in Denver without Pennel. They've no doubt helped. But spags has definitely dialed things up. It's scheme as much as talent.

The scheme hasn't changed, it's just more aggressive and I think Spags has a comfort level knowing how to use guys in the DL rotations. Also there's a synergy between the quick strike offense and the attacking defense that is going to be remarkable when Mahomes comes back. They'll REALLY start feeding off each other.

It's a lot of little things coming together. I didn't expect to see it, but spags has proven me wrong. That's why they say you don't win titles in september or October. Turning the corner into the 2nd half of the season KC looks more dangerous than they did in week 1.

[Pitt Gorilla]

guys I don't understand why it's difficult to grasp.

Entirely new scheme, new calls, new keys, new philosophy.

Entirely new coaching staff unfamiliar with hold-over players and mostly entirely new starting groups.

Nothing "changed" between games in the season so much as guys were missing keys, slow to process things, and not quite being where they were needed to be quickly enough. Remember when it all looked "slow?"

By Houston, they were embarassed. These are still proud athletes, after all. Men who don't like their manhood being questioned.

They were getting closer but weren't seeing results yet. Still hesitant, still not trusting each other to be in the right place. Honey Badger says what he said, and maybe that was a key moment, maybe it was just another brick in the wall.

Denver comes out determined to run the ball, KC's defense determined to stop them. Trusted the system. Trusted each other. Played with aggression because the whole football watching nation was calling them soft and weak.

The individuals just needed to see the big picture and focus on their individual jobs. They know what they need to do now, and can play fast.

It was always going to take some time.All of this. New schemes take time and guys have to learn that freelancing won't be tolerated. I'm excited for when we really get the timing down on our stunts. Teams that stunt well can get after the QB with 4 regularly. We're going to get there.

[Pitt Gorilla]

It was probably wishful thinking on my part, but I originally believed that Daly was the most important defensive staff pick-up this off-season. I've now changed my mind and am riding front-car on the Spaggyboots victory train.

The nice thing about Daly's contribution is his ability to coach the proper technique when running twists and stunts. What I didn't expect (and didn't even think about at the time) was synchronizing the d-line stunts and interior blitzing. That's the area that the staff has impressively brought to the table over the course of the last few games. It also showed up in the Horns game ... and would have defeated the Puckers, had it not been for Rodgers' lucky-ass fling-the-total-prayer-to-completion method. But that game is in the past.

We are running a very interesting defense now. Interior pressure and solid edge control is a fascinating change from our previous system. Yet, I'm not sure you could do that and simultaneously defend the run effectively if it weren't for guys like Nnaughty and Saunders in the tackle spots. They are playing their ginormous asses off right now. The addition and contribution of Ivie and Pennel is also highly encouraging.

IMHO, linebacker play remains our biggest issue. I see improvement, but an inch might as well be a mile in the NFL. Especially when you're asking them to use sight adjustments to choose between run fits and playing intermediate zone.

All in all, I give Spaggyboots a B+ and Daly a B in today's report card.

FAXWatching the teams that stunt and twist well gives a preview to how good we can be. Even the Cowboys the other night were timing their stunts and twists insanely well. I think this is where Daly will have the biggest impact, given what NE did/does well on the DLine.

[chiefzilla1501]

Watching the teams that stunt and twist well gives a preview to how good we can be. Even the Cowboys the other night were timing their stunts and twists insanely well. I think this is where Daly will have the biggest impact, given what NE did/does well on the DLine.

Andy learned his innovative offense by forcing his assistants to study the hell out of offenses even on high school level. Even hired Childress to do it full time. I was always frustrated Andy didn't do this on defense too. I think we lucked it in having such a perfect set of assistants with a close relationship with spags. I don't know that I'm excited about spags Defense on its own. But Daly helps him get creative with the front 7. And id hope and think house brings a lot of unique ideas from college. We may have gotten a great package deal out of this. We now have a veteran D coach with ideas from both college and arguably the most innovative D in the NFL. Cool stuff.

[Coochie liquor]

Erection: Engage

[Halfcan]

I expect the defense to have a big game against the Titans. I think they are way overmatched on both sides of the ball.

[MahiMike]

I'm rewatching the game now and thinking Matt Moore should have gotten that $90M contract instead of Cousins. Funny how things work out.

[ptlyon]

I expect the defense to have a big game against the Titans. I think they are way overmatched on both sides of the ball.

At least 1 batted back pass for a touchdown

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

I have no problems at all with Moore. In fact if Mahomes was never on the Chiefs I would’ve begged for Moore to be our QB. Dude does everything good

[Hammock Parties]

So far 3 games of definite improvement. They wore down in the last part of the Packers game but there's a definite trend upward. We can win with this defense especially once Mahomes is back and knocks off any rust he may have

Raiders game and 3/4 of the Jags and Ravens games, too.

Also held the Colts down while the O jacked off.

[Jerm]

I thought Daly was a plant from NE though...LMAOLMAOLMAO