The second day of practice featuring the entire available Kansas City Chiefs roster at training camp didn’t disappoint. The poor weather to start the day didn’t stop large crowds from getting an early look at some young defensive stars making plays during the intense scrimmage battles against the formidable Chiefs offense.
Kansas City’s defense has shown the ability to win games when the offense isn’t scoring as usual, meeting crucial late-game moments with reckless abandon in their pursuit of victory. They have not yet proven to be a dominant unit throughout the course of an entire season but have found ways to maintain stability and achieve middle-of-the-pack defensive efficiency ratings amongst the rest of the league.
This a stat that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has circled in his game plan as an area for improvement, as he explained to reporters after Monday’s workouts.
“Conventional NFL [stats] say [that the] number one defense in the NFL is the total yardage team. We don’t really go down that road. To us, it’s [about] defensive efficiency,” the veteran coordinator said.
“There are nine categories to defensive efficiency; you guys have probably seen it before. And we want to be number one in the NFL in defensive efficiency points allowed third down red zone, right? It’s all the rankings in those particular categories. I’d like us to climb up there. I’m not going to worry about that week to week. But at the end of the year, I’d like that to be the ultimate goal.”
Spagnuolo’s scheme has improved the Chiefs’ reputation since he took over as the team’s defensive coordinator during the 2019 season. Players have praised him for his aggressive approach showing a variety of schemes helping in the development of standouts like Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed.
