The Kansas City Chiefs are going to their fourth Super Bowl in the last five seasons, with the opportunity to become the first team to win two straight Super Bowls since the 2002-2003 New England Patriots.
And the primary reason they’re in this position after their 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game is the efforts of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
That’s not been the case throughout most of the Chiefs’ dynasty — it’s generally been all about Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes on the offensive side of the ball — but in a season where their offense let them down over and over in the regular season, it was Spags’ defense that held the line and was the spine.
It didn’t help in this game that Lamar Jackson was sailing deep balls all over the place, and offensive coordinator Todd Monken abandoned the run far too early, but this Chiefs defense ranked seventh in DVOA in the regular season, and played to that level throughout.
“It was an unselfish job, man,” defensive lineman Chris Jones told James Palmer of the NFL Network right after the game. “The front four containing Lamar, the back end playing physically, not allowing big plays. We made them take the long, hard road, and we got a victory out of it.”
Well, the Ravens didn’t take the long, hard road — they had the ball for just 22:30 of the game clock, and only three of their 11 drives had more than six plays. The drive that might have tied the game ended with Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed punching the ball out of the hands of Ravens receiver Zay Flowers at the Kansas City one-yard line.
It was just that sort of day for the AFC’s one-seed.
Jackson completed 20 of 37 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a passer rating of 75.5. He had a couple of big throws, but Spags’ defense never let Baltimore truly capitalize.
“It’s going to take all 11 of us,” defensive lineman Mike Danna said in the week leading up to the game. “We have to pursue relentlessly to get him down. He’s an excellent athlete, excellent quarterback. We’ve got to do our jobs. We have to do our one-eleventh. Getting him down is not easy. Like I said, it’s going to take all 11 of us to pursue to the ball, contain him, and keep him in the pocket.”
Whether he’s blitzed with stunning alacrity, or set his players up in coverage concepts with intelligent disguise and late movement, Steve Spagnuolo has been the Kansas City Chiefs’ MVP all season long.
And he’s the main reason they’re going back to the Super Bowl.
