Chiefs Defense Leads the Way to 7th Straight AFC Championship Game
The Texans’ protection has been an issue all season. They finished dead last in pressure percentage allowed and it was their number-1 concern entering Kansas City on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Houston, that concern came to fruition as the Chiefs pressured C.J. Stroud on over 50% of his drop backs and sacked him 8 times.
Many of these pressures came during critical moments that could have sent the game in one direction or another. That included multiple 3rd downs as well as the key sequence of the game with just 10 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.
Like any Chiefs game, it wasn’t just THAT the Chiefs got pressure. It was HOW they got pressure that was most interesting and instrumental to the outcome of the game. Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo used different fronts, good blitz disguises, and even the play clock to give the Texans headaches all afternoon.
Let’s start with K.C.’s first sack, because this likely set up several of their subsequent sacks and pressures later in the game.
This was a 3rd-and-8 on Houston’s second drive. Spagnuolo found a way to get Chris Jones a 1-on-1 matchup against rookie right tackle Blake Fisher, who has struggled all season.
He did so with a tilted front (like you see the Texans do all the time), with three D-linemen to one side of the center and Jones kicked out over the right tackle:
The Texans would slide to the 3-man side.
K.C. also brought linebacker Nick Bolton down over the right guard, and he would occupy him for a second after the snap. That ensured the 1-on-1 for Jones:
And he quickly took advantage:
The Texans would think twice about allowing Jones to be singled up on the outside again.
On Houston’s next drive, they faced a 3rd-and-5 from the Chiefs’ 34-yard line. This time, Jones was aligned outside of left tackle Laremy Tunsil:
Even though the most likely blitz threat was coming from the right side, the Texans slid to Jones. That was so they could give Tunsil help against him: