What Steve Spagnuolo is doing to get most out of ‘young and hungry’ Chiefs defense
By Nate Taylor
Sep 21, 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As a group, the Kansas City Chiefs defenders know their job is not always finished after a successful stop on third down — especially when the opposing offense has the ball past midfield.
That situation happened midway through the second quarter of Sunday’s game when Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson kept his offense on the field for a pivotal fourth-and-5 play on the Chiefs’ 45-yard line. In response, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo used one of his favorite tactics: He put the Chiefs’ dime personnel on the field. Believing the Jaguars would pass the ball, Spagnuolo put six defensive backs on the field. He trusted his secondary and four-man pass rush to disrupt the opponent’s plans because they proved they could do it last season.
Even before the ball was snapped, safety Bryan Cook and cornerback Joshua Williams communicated with the same signal — their hands together to create a diamond shape — to ensure they were ready for the bunch formation the Jaguars were going to deploy for the routes in the passing concept. Cook and Williams double-teamed receiver Jamal Agnew, taking away the deep-pass option from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed jammed receiver Calvin Ridley within 15 yards before passing him off to rookie cornerback Chamarri Conner. Then, just as Lawrence began his throwing motion, Sneed switched to cover the third receiver, Christian Kirk.
Without an open receiver, Lawrence was surrounded by a crumbling pocket. The play ended with Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones recording his first sack of the season.
“It’s always a dream to have rush and coverage working together,” linebacker Drue Tranquill said Wednesday. “When you have guys that can get to the quarterback, it makes the guys in the back have to cover for less time. And when you have guys in the back that can cover well, it gives those guys up front time to get home. It’s great having good players around you.”
Through two games this season, Spagnuolo has played dime personnel on 33 snaps, the third most in the NFL, according to TruMedia. The combination of six defensive backs, one linebacker and four linemen has led the Chiefs to generate defensive expected points added of 8.21, the second highest in the league, and the third-most “splash” plays (15), according to TruMedia. (A splash play is defined as a snap that ends in a turnover, sack, negative yardage, a pressure that leads to a throwaway from the quarterback, a pass breakup or a third- or fourth-down stop.)
In the Chiefs’ 17-9 win, the team’s last two defensive snaps featured dime personnel, the six defensive backs featuring three cornerbacks (Sneed, Trent McDuffie and Joshua Williams) and three safeties (Cook, Justin Reid and Mike Edwards). Once again, with the Jaguars on the Chiefs’ 14-yard line for a third-and-10 play, Lawrence didn’t have one of his four receivers open. Jones, rushing the edge, hit Lawrence less than three seconds after the ball was snapped, the play ending as a sack, a forced fumble and a 2-yard loss. Lawrence’s last throw of the game was thwarted by the Chiefs’ excellent zone coverage, his throw toward the back of the end zone ending in an incompletion.
“As a DB, I love it,” McDuffie said of the Chiefs’ effective dime package. “Anytime I can have all my boys out there on the field, I’ll take that anytime, man. It also just shows the trust (Spagnuolo) has with the defensive backs. It brings a lot of pride to the group. We’re out there to make a play.
“This is a defense that’s young and hungry. Spags has been calling some great plays for us.”
Even before the Chiefs began their postseason run to the Super Bowl last season, Spagnuolo’s dime package became his most effective and versatile personnel grouping. Last season, Jones, the Chiefs’ best and most experienced defender, led the team with 15 1/2 sacks, 12 1/2 of those coming with the Chiefs in dime personnel.
The dime package was instrumental in three of the Chiefs’ takeaways last postseason — cornerback Jaylen Watson’s one-handed interception against the Jaguars, Cook’s deflection leading to Williams’ interception against the Cincinnati Bengals and linebacker Nick Bolton’s 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Already this season, four of the Chiefs’ five sacks and one of their two takeaways have come with six defensive backs on the field, including three sacks against the Jaguars.
“We get to dime, you don’t know what you’re going to get from coach Spags,” defensive line coach Joe Cullen said in “Time’s Yours 2,” an NFL Films documentary that was released earlier this month. “He does a great job of mixing it up. We could be bringing overload pressure, a strong safety coming or maybe the corner coming.”
One reason the Chiefs have success in the dime package is that many of Spagnuolo’s players in the secondary can play interchangeable roles.
Reid, a six-year veteran, is the Chiefs’ best man-to-man defender against opposing tight ends, but he is also one of their best blitzers. Three of the cornerbacks — Sneed, McDuffie and Conner — have the coverage skills, quickness and toughness to play the nickel position. Last season Sneed had three sacks in the team’s first four games, all on blitzes from the nickel. But Sneed switched roles at times with McDuffie during the second half of the season. McDuffie’s lone sack last season came on a blitz from the nickel position, as he strip-sacked Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson for a pivotal takeaway just before halftime.
Cook and Edwards have helped the Chiefs’ coverage become even more unpredictable since both safeties can be disciplined in man-to-man and zone assignments.
“I think they’re going to be a plus-plus unit throughout the season,” Nate Tice, a former NFL offense quality control assistant and former college quarterback, said of Spagnuolo’s unit Monday on “The Athletic Football Show.” “They just have better answers than they’ve ever had under Spagnuolo. Young legs and a couple of stars is a pretty good formula.”
In one of the season’s early surprises, Tranquill, a five-year veteran in his first season with the Chiefs, acknowledged that the defense at times hasn’t been put in ideal situations by the offense, a unit that is averaging just 18.5 points and has committed four giveaways. The Chiefs’ red zone defense has thrived, however. After stopping the Jaguars from scoring a touchdown in three red zone trips Sunday, the Chiefs are tied for fourth in the league in that category.
One of McDuffie’s highlights this season came when he derailed the Detroit Lions’ short bubble screen inside the red zone. He avoided a block on the perimeter before forcing receiver Marvin Jones Jr. to fumble the ball, which Cook recovered.
“Yeah, we won the Super Bowl, but I know this defense definitely felt like we could’ve done more (last season),” McDuffie said. “Coming into this year, this is something we definitely want to continue to succeed with and be consistent. Over the offseason, we’ve been talking about, ‘What can the defense do?’ We’ve done a really good job at just getting the ball back to (Mahomes).”
The biggest challenge ahead for the Chiefs’ dime personnel, coach Andy Reid said, is whether the secondary — which features four second-year players, McDuffie, Williams Watson and Cook — can continue to ascend in critical situations.
“What they did last week was great, but they’ve got to do it again and build on that,” Andy Reid said. “They work very hard and Spags does a great job of putting them in positions and moving them around. It’s fun to watch them grow, but there’s still plenty of room to go.”
Injury update: Bolton (sprained ankle), linebacker Willie Gay (bruised quad), running back Isiah Pacheco (bruised hamstring) and receivers Richie James (MCL) and Kadarius Toney (sprained toe) didn’t practice Wednesday. Sneed (knee) was the team’s lone limited participant. Bolton and Gay did participate in the team’s usual morning walk-through. Andy Reid said James could be the lone player of the group who misses multiple games.