Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 578

Chapter 578: 577 Patches and Repairs Chapter 578: 577 Patches and Repairs This offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs focused more on renewing and adjusting their defense, but they still faced a series of challenges.

First was the defensive line.

Last season, the defensive line’s performance in pass rush and quarterback harassment was mediocre, forcing the team to repeatedly rely on linebackers or cornerbacks to fill gaps to create sufficient pressure, yet risking gaps in the backfield defense.

This method of robbing Peter to pay Paul was not sustainable.

During the offseason, the team traded for starting defensive end Xavier Williams from the Arizona Cardinals.

Williams was an undrafted rookie in 2015 but had been a starting defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals for the past two years; this offseason, the Arizona Cardinals placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Williams.

Unlike Bell’s exclusive franchise tag, Williams was allowed to meet with other teams.

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If there was an offer, the Arizona Cardinals had the option to match it:

If they matched, Williams would have to stay in Arizona.

If they refused to match, Williams could sign freely with any team, and Arizona would receive a draft pick corresponding to the round of the team’s choice for that year, but since Williams was an undrafted rookie, this condition naturally was nullified.

In other words, the Kansas City Chiefs got Williams without any cost.

Additionally, at the defensive end position, last season’s two main rotational players, Allen Bailey and Chris Jones, secured starting spots with their outstanding performances in training camp.

Especially Jones, this third-year player displayed great enthusiasm and willpower, making him one to watch in the new season.

Next were the linebackers.

The situation in the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason training camp was fraught with unease; last season’s starting outside linebackers, Justin Houston and Dee Ford, both struggled with injuries.

Although the injuries were not serious and did not affect their games, the stability of both players was questionable—

Worse yet, even though Houston and Ford had already “shown their flaws,” other outside linebackers failed to seize the opportunity to secure starting positions, and their performances still fell short of Houston and Ford.

Thus, in the new season, the two veterans were still starters, playing through injuries.

The situation with the inside linebackers was also concerning.

This season’s transfer from the Dallas Cowboys, Anthony Hitchens, along with Reggie Ragland—who had been a backup linebacker since transferring from the Buffalo Bills last season—became starters.

But neither player became a starter because of a standout performance that earned unanimous praise; rather, there were simply no better options available, a case of picking the tallest dwarf.

The linebackers might still need the defensive team captain, Houston, to continue shouldering the heavy responsibilities.

Finally, the secondary defense.

Last season, despite the unstable performance of the defensive front line, it was always they who stood up in crucial moments, patching things together for yet another year that wasn’t too bad; in contrast, the fragility of the secondary defense was the Kansas City Chiefs’ critical weakness—

The Super Bowl’s offensive battle was spectacular, but the secondary defenses of both teams were riddled like sieves, bad news for both cornerbacks and safeties.

This offseason, with Berry still recovering and Revis announcing his retirement, the dire secondary defense of the Kansas City Chiefs urgently needed re-energizing, and this was a major focus for Veach throughout the offseason.

However, plans do not always keep up with changes.

In terms of cornerbacks, Fowler, who was traded from the Washington Redskins, partnered with Steven Nelson, who had been on and off last season due to injuries, as the starting cornerback, and it seemed like some improvement could be seen in the new season.

However, at the safety position, last season’s fourth substitute safety Daniel Sorensen, who had already secured the starting spot, got injured during training.

Although he wasn’t out for the season, it was estimated that he would not make it for the September games; and the rookie players all performed below expectations, pushing the coaching staff into a tough spot—

Last season, Murray, who came onto the field to replace Berry but performed averagely, partnered with Jordan Lucas, who also had a lackluster rotational performance last season, as the starting free safeties, both players being free safeties.

In other words, the Kansas City Chiefs had to kick off the new season without a strong safety.

Troublesome.

Throughout the whole off-season, they were busy patching things up, just like a tinker; but in the end, Veach couldn’t craft a satisfactory lineup.

That’s the NFL for you, under the hard cap constraint, facing the huge layout space of twenty-two slots for the offensive and defensive groups, transforming within a single season is too difficult; it requires time and patience.

It’s for this reason that the NFL demands a strong sense of the big picture from team managers.

Then, the new season kicked off.

Facing the Pittsburgh Steelers without Bell, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense absolutely could not take things lightly.

Not only Veach, but others in the League were curious about the outcome of the Chiefs’ extensive off-season efforts.

On paper, the defense still looked …

a mess, with Houston as the only Pro Bowl player.

Could they really rely on Houston, dragging his ageing legs, to carry the Chiefs’ defense for another year?

Little did they expect, lowering their expectations brought a pleasant surprise.

The Chiefs’ defensive coordinator, Sutton, was a coach who made careful and precise calculations.

Last season, with limited resources, he managed to hold the line; this season, he began to play to his strengths, continuing to make adjustments.

Facing the Pittsburgh Steelers without Bell, Sutton devised a strategy—

Perhaps, judging from the actual ground advancement effectiveness, Tomlin could always rely on tactical coordination and ground cover to create space for the running back, with the ground yardage not being much less than when Bell was on the field.

But in terms of deterrent and threatening effects, lacking Bell meant one less threat, and the Chiefs’ defensive strategy became much clearer.

Up front, put pressure on Roethlisberger, but no need for blitzing.

Roethlisberger is such a quarterback that, under pressure, his passing vision gets limited, and the choice of passes becomes questionable; yet, when facing collisions, this huge-sized quarterback often releases explosive power, passing intuitively in critical situations, which can bring some surprises.

Thus, there’s a subtle line between applying pressure and capturing, and now the Chiefs only needed to apply pressure.

Moreover, now without the threat of Bell, the pressure on the Chiefs’ defensive front lightened, affecting both their tactical choices and their level of focus.

In the second line, thanks to the relatively simplified defensive tactics of the front line, the linebackers could spare part of their attention, focusing on defending short passes, which in turn could free up space for cornerbacks and safeties, ensuring they could focus on their defensive assignments.

Sutton used a simple but effective method here.

By assigning cornerbacks Fowler to specifically mark the Steelers’ offensive ace, Brown, simultaneously, a safety and a linebacker, while holding their defensive positions, dedicated 50% of their effort to step up and defend Brown, using numerical superiority to erode Brown’s presence.

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The entire defensive strategy was clear, straightforward, and efficient.