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The defensive mastermind behind the Kansas City Chiefs' success
When the Buffalo Bills were faced with a fourth-and-5 to keep their Super Bowl hopes alive in the AFC Championship game last weekend, everyone knew what was coming.
The fans inside at Arrowhead Stadium knew it. As did the millions watching at home. And so did Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
The Kansas City Chiefs were going to blitz.
The pressure was inevitable. The pass rushers were coming. But from where and in what number – that was the mystery.
In the final seconds of an epic encounter – and with dozens of hours of postseason Chiefs football on tape and available for analysis – the Kansas City defense could still spring a surprise when it mattered most.
That is the root of Steve Spagnuolo’s genius.
On this occasion, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator overloaded his defense to Allen’s left, and then sent a cornerback blitz from the opposite side. Star corner Trent McDuffie – rather than playing safe and dropping back to defend the pass – made a beeline for the quarterback. And defensive end George Karlaftis broke through to drag Allen to the turf.
It is a measure of Allen’s immense quality and otherworldly arm talent that he was still able to fire up a catchable – if hopeful – pass that would have resulted in a first down had it not slipped through tight end Dalton Kincaid’s grasp.
It was a masterstroke from Spagnuolo, the likes of which anyone with an understanding of the defensive schemer’s track record in such situations has learned to expect.
Spagnuolo is already the most decorated coordinator in NFL history. His four Super Bowl triumphs – one with the New York Giants and three with the Chiefs – is a record. If he and Kansas City claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy once more in their Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles on February 9, the defensive mastermind will again have had his fingerprints all over it.
The final blitz against the Bills was the greatest example of Spagnuolo’s chess-master-like play calling, but it was not the only one that night.
Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
On three occasions, the Chiefs thwarted Allen’s usually unstoppable QB sneak on third- and fourth-down plays. The Buffalo star entered the game with a career record of having converted on 83 of 93 attempted sneaks on key downs.
Spagnuolo had identified Allen’s tendency to drive behind his left guard on short-yardage rush attempts, and so the Chiefs’ defensive line was ready and waiting to stuff him.
In Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs have the best quarterback in the world. And head coach Andy Reid is one of the great offensive schemers.
But Much of Kansas City’s recent success has been built on resolute defense. Their average of just 19.4 points allowed per game this season is the fourth-lowest in the NFL.
They boast a talented roster on that end of the ball, headlined by star defensive tackle Chris Jones. But no one is more responsible for the Chiefs’ outstanding defense than Spagnuolo.
"As long as they continue to let Spags be our DC and not hire him as a head coach, we're going to continue to win," Jones told ESPN, alluding to the fact the 65-year-old coordinator continues to be overlooked for head-coaching openings around the league since an unsuccessful stint with the Rams between 2007 and 2009.
"For me, he's one of the greatest assistant coaches to ever coach the game. When you look at his résumé, he's got one of the greatest résumés.
“He finds a way to close. That's what Spags does. Whether it's dropping deep and covering a tight end or whether it's sending a quarterback pressure at the end of the game, that's what he's known for.
“He can dial up different schematics and different blitzes to affect the opposing quarterback and he does a really, really good job at it."
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has performed well against the blitz this season.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
He finished the 2024 regular season with a career-high expected points added (EPA) average when blitzed of 0.25, according to TruMedia. He is also protected by the best offensive line if the NFL, benefitting from an average time to throw of 3.31 seconds – the second-highest mark in the league.
But against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round, there was plenty of evidence that Hurts and the Eagles can still be troubled by effective blitz packages. The Philadelphia quarterback was sacked seven times on a snow-covered Lincoln Financial Field, at a cost of 63 yards of offense, with Sean McVay’s men also limiting Hurts to just 128 passing yards.
Hurts stood up well to the Chiefs’ blitz when the two sides met in the Super Bowl two years ago. According to Pro Football Reference, Spagnuolo blitzed 15 times that night, yet Hurts was sacked just twice and completed an impressive 28 of 35 attempted passes for 304 yards, with just an 8.8 per cent bad throw rate – by way of context, Mahomes’ bad throw rate was 12 per cent.
And although the Eagles narrowly came up short, Hurts’ EPA per drop-back when blitzed was 0.34, per TruMedia, which tied Tom Brady’s Super Bowl LV-winning performance as the best mark against any Spagnuolo-led defence in the playoffs.
What’s more, stopping the Eagles is not as simple as stopping Hurts. There is also, of course, the small matter of stifling Saquon Barkley, who this season became only the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards.
But if anyone can devise a plan to lock down an offence as talent-rich and versatile as Philadelphia’s, it’s the man they call Spags.
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