Chiefs’ ‘overlooked’ defense ready for Eagles
With quarterback Patrick Mahomes dialing up plays to lead a high-power Kansas City Chiefs offense, the defense sometimes goes unnoticed.
Especially when the hype coming into Sunday’s Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium is the matchup between Mahomes and his playmakers and the Eagles’ fierce defense, led by the emergence of defensive end Haasan Reddick.
Reddick, the former Cardinal, who had 16 sacks this season, basically unplugged the San Francisco 49ers’ offense in the NFC championship game in their first drive of the game with his hit on quarterback Brock Purdy that caused a fumble and resulted in Purdy sustaining a torn ulnar ligament in his right elbow.
But the Chiefs have made big strides on defense. And front and center of that is defensive tackle Chris Jones, who has 15.5 sacks and has had two sacks in the playoffs.
His job, as with the rest of the Chiefs’ defense, is to try to make quarterback Jalen Hurts’ first Super Bowl stage as uncomfortable as possible.
“Defense is kind of overlooked, especially Spags (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo),” Jones said. “We’re thankful for Spags and happy to have him around.”
But Jones knows it might take a herculean effort against the Eagles for the defense to come to the forefront, especially if Mahomes doesn’t have to put up monster numbers in the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl appearance in four years, winning it in 2020, beating the 49ers 3120 behind Mahomes.
“To be honest, I don’t think we’ll ever get the recognition that you all say we deserve,” Jones said. “It’s because this is an offensive team. When you have Patrick Mahomes, who is competing for the MVP every year, it’s hard to look at the defense, respectfully so.
“We have Travis Kelce, a great tight end in this league. It’s like it’s secondhand, but it’s understandable. It’s OK. It’s been like this since Day 1. We’re going
to continue to pound it, continue to make sure they remember us after every game we play.”
Defensive end Frank Clark, in his eighth NFL season and third with the Chiefs, has played a big role in helping the defense, Jones said.
Clark’s flexibility, being able to drop into coverage and ability to move around, has been instrumental. The Chiefs ranked 16th defensively for yards given up this season. Jones hasn’t had a lot of help getting to the quarterback. And teams have had success making plays down the middle of the field. But Clark believes this defense has made strides and will be ready Sunday.
“Spags don’t take it lightly on us in the film room,” Clark said. “From the moment he came in, he dropped his book on us. He’s got all these different schemes, blitzes, twist loops, corner drops. Sometimes you see guys come and they don’t get it. But our ability to grasp guys don’t get it. But our ability to grasp the concept of our playbook, take it all in and be able to make that change at the right point in the season, where people are saying, ‘I don’t know. But I think they’re making it happen defensively.’
“Our ability to focus in. We were focused in way more this year. I feel like for the first time in the last few years, as a defensive unit, we’re all on the same page.”
Defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi calls this moment surreal, going to another Super Bowl.
“In my mind, it’s, ‘Treat it like it like another game,’ “Nnadi said. “But in reality, it’s amazing. This doesn’t happen that often. But we know how it feels on both ends. How it feels to win it, and how it feels to lose it. That’s what makes it that much more important. I take it as a place I can learn from and grow from.”
Jones praises the Eagles’ offensive line, which features Kelce’s brother, Jason.
He knows how well they run inside the zone and how they need to be ready for Hurts taking off with the ball.
“We’re in the Super Bowl playing against the best offensive line and the best team in the NFC,” Jones said. “They’ve got two receivers (A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith) that have over a thousand yards. They do everything well.
“The D-line has to get after (Hurts). It starts with us up front.”