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After losing three of their past four games, the Kansas City Chiefs have fallen to 6-6 — and missing the postseason altogether is now a very plausible scenario.
In the team’s frustrating defeats, giving up big plays has been a recurring problem — especially on third downs. But the team’s defensive leaders still believe it is possible to get the season back on track for the final five games — starting with Sunday’s crucial matchup against the Houston Texans.
“I think everyone is dialed in,” defensive tackle Chris Jones told reporters on Thursday. “I think everyone’s committed to doing whatever it takes to finish the season strong. It’s about being consistent day-in and day-out… not just one game, but the next game also. So for us, [if] we can stay consistent as a team, I think we can finish strong.”
The Chiefs have gone without a sack in their past two games. Jones knows that he and the rest of the defensive line — especially defensive end George Karlaftis — are under pressure to deliver in a must-win situation. Jones and Karlaftis have combined for only 1.5 sacks over the past four games.
Looking back at last Thursday’s 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Jones sees what went wrong.
”Overall, I think we could have affected a quarterback more as a unit,” he said. “As a D-line unit, we didn’t get there — [and] we didn’t affect him as often. So, I put that on me and Karlaftis. We’ve got to step up and make sure we’re attacking the quarterback — and leading these guys.”
In his turn before the press corps on Thursday, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo again reminded his listeners that quarterback pressure comes from both the front and back ends of the defense.
“I think sacks are great — and we always want to get him,” he declared. “[But] I’m more into, ‘Did we affect the quarterback? Did we make him throw it out quick?’ You’ve got to do a combination of that. It’s not just the upfront guys… Sometimes, we’ve got to be a one step tighter in coverage to give the guys a chance.
“I remember one particular call that we had: it was to try to get Jones a one-on-one. We got it — [and] he won — but it was a half-a-tick late. So now, maybe could somebody cover just a little bit longer on the back end? Once we get the combination of rush and coverage together, maybe some of those will come.”
But as a leader of his unit, Jones sees it the other way around.
“We’ve got a lot of talented guys in the room that can rush the passer,” he observed, “and we’ve got to win more one-on-ones. We’ve got to win more as a unit — because if [the quarterback is] able to stay in the pocket, then it affects the back end of our defense. So we as a unit [have to] make sure that we’re executing all our blitzes, all our one-on-ones and especially the pass rush. I put a lot of emphasis on us improving as a D-line throughout these last five games of the season.”
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The Kansas City defensive backs had their own problems against the Cowboys. Cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson combined for five pass interference penalties.
Spagnuolo realizes that some of it comes with the territory.
“I sat with McDuffie and Watson,” the coach recalled, “and some of those [penalties] are probably going to happen when you play like that — and you play that good a team with all those weapons that they had. We just would have liked to have cut [the flags] in half… It would have made a pretty big difference.”
But there is a line the coordinator is determined not to cross.
“We’re not going to stop being physical,” he insisted. “We’re not going to stop being aggressive. We’ll try to get better.”
Spagnuolo indicated that he might return to practice routines usually restricted to training camp — such as having defensive backs wear mittens during scrimmages.
“We’ll get back to that,” he said. “We’ll try to get it ironed out.
“But those guys have got a lot of pride in the way they play — and I don’t want them to be any less aggressive. I just want to be a little bit better. The one thing that I never like is when we grab jerseys, because that’s just an undisciplined thing. So if we can clean that up, we’ll be better.”
Jones agrees that minor changes can make a big difference — but time is short.
“We’re not far from where we want to be,” remarked Jones. “But it’s more so about executing. Close but no cigar — [and] we need the cigar at this point.”
