The Kansas City Chiefs are on their way to another AFC Championship after defeating the Buffalo in the Division round on Sunday evening. The Chiefs’ offense picked up where they left off in the Wildcard vs. Miami and had arguably their finest game of the entire season. Meanwhile, Steve Spagnuolo’s defense came alive in the second half, allowing Buffalo to score only once in the second half.
Kansas City’s specialty on defense has been nullifying the opposing team’s passing attack, thanks to a revamped secondary filled with second and third-year players the team drafted in the later rounds of recent drafts. Former fourth-round pick L’Jarius Sneed is at the forefront as the group’s respective starter.
Behind him are Joshua Williams (fourth-round), Jaylen Watson (seventh-round), and Trent McDuffie (first-round) round out the top four corners on the depth chart. Factor in tough, veteran safeties Justin Reid, and Mike Edwards, and what you get is one of the top secondaries in the NFL.
During his Monday press conference, head coach Andy Reid credited general manager Brett Veach for the he’s done constructing the roster through the later rounds of the draft.
“I’m a big (General Manager) Brett Veach fan,” Reid began. “He’s done a great job. I told him after the game, that’s him. This game is him, this is a reflection of all the time and effort he and his guys have put in. That’s what it comes down to they’ve given us good football players to coach.”
Kansas City was one of the only teams last season that started an all-rookie secondary, with McDuffie, Williams, Watson, and safety Bryan Cook all coming from the same draft. Fast forward a year later, and the Chiefs have the fourth-best passing defense in the NFL. Reid explained the reason Kansas City’s corners and safeties are such a good unit stems from how often they’ve been around each other since their first training camp at St. Joe.
“You go away to training camp, you can’t be on the cell phone all day and you’re around the guys all day,” Reid explained. “Guys talk, whether it’s at dinner time or wherever they talk. They’re living in the same dorm, and so on, so there’s a bond that does get started there. It’s just how you grow it from that point,” he said. “This group, I felt that in our game they’ve done a nice job of growing together and supporting each other.”
“Last year, they got better every game,” Reid continued. “Just with the experience, and throughout the off-season, working. Throughout this season, they’ve continued to get better and feel more comfortable challenging in man coverages and tightening up these zones and zone coverage.”
Against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Chiefs prevented Jost Allen and company from having a single play of 20 yards or more through four quarters. Despite allowing Allen to throw for a touchdown in the third quarter, all of Buffalo’s pass catchers finished under 50 yards receiving, and star wideout Stefon Diggs finished with four receptions for 21 yards.
This week, Kansas City’s defensive backs will face their toughest challenge of the year in defending against quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens passing attack.
“This coming week will be their biggest test all up to this point,” Reid acknowledged. “[Baltimore’s] got a great group of wide receivers, so I think our guys look forward to that challenge once we get through the week here. They’ve done a nice job.”
Last weekend, the Chiefs lost Mike Edwards, who left the game early with a concussion. Filling in was rookie safety Chamarri Conner, who did a fine job and finished Kansas City’s Divisional game with ten tackles and a forced fumble.
“Chamarri (Conner) did a heck of a job,” Reid said. “He’s been working in nickel and dime situations but to come in and have that extended time in there and make the plays he did – except for just trying to pick up the ball to scoop and score, he probably should have just fallen on it when it’s all said and done. He sure did a nice job in there.”
