Every now and then, when an opposing offense doesn’t see it coming, Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid will slowly move toward the line of scrimmage, and the moment the ball is snapped, he rushes towards the quarterback like a lightning bolt.
It looks easy the way Reid blitzes, almost like he’s just reacting to the quarterback’s movements.
But it’s much more complicated than it seems.
While timing is important, it’s not the only factor. The way defensive linemen occupy the offensive line, how the other players in the defensive backfield hide their coverage, and how other pass rushers force the quarterback to move in a direction where Reid expects him to be, all play key roles.
The mastermind behind all of this is Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator. He’s been crucial in getting the team back to the Super Bowl and recently interviewed with several teams looking for a new head coach.
“He’s incredible,” Reid said before Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles. “My first year here, like, the amount of pressures and cover-zeros and simulated pressures — the sheer volume of it was a little bit like, ‘Wow, this is really deep.’ But as you get a ton of reps at it and start to get a feel for the defense, you’re almost hungry for it. Like, ‘Let’s put in more, put in something else nobody has ever seen.’”
It’s hard to believe there’s still something new to add.
But that complicated defensive playbook, along with the creative blitzes Spagnuolo has developed over time, is one of the main reasons the Chiefs are facing the Eagles again on the NFL’s biggest stage.
“I love this defense, man. Spags, we’ve always trusted him and everybody that plays under him,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “They’re so sound and they play their tails off, and they throw their heart out there on the field every single week.”
In the Chiefs’ early years of success, their defense was a weak point, often relying on Patrick Mahomes and the offense to cover for it. But things changed when Spagnuolo joined the team, and general manager Brett Veach started investing more into the defense with free-agent signings and draft picks.
As a result, the Chiefs’ defense has become one of the best in the league in terms of scoring, and they’ve been especially strong against the run this season.
That could be crucial when trying to slow down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley in the big game.
As for stopping the passing game, blitzes are a key part of the strategy. These blitzes can come from any part of the defense, at any time, but what they all share is their high rate of success.
“He doesn’t do it every down,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “Sometimes you get the stigma of being a ‘blitz guy.’ It’s when he does it and how he knows the protections or the run scheme, you know, for the run blitzes. How he understands the scheme and when to go about using it. I think that’s what makes him so unique and why they’re so successful.”
The success of the Chiefs’ defense, along with Spagnuolo’s down-to-earth personality, has made him a fan favorite. This is one of the reasons teams like the Jets and Jaguars interviewed him for their head coach positions.
Spagnuolo had a brief chance to be a head coach with the Rams from 2009-11, but he didn’t find success, going 10-38. The team was going through a rebuilding phase and had a lot of instability at quarterback, the most important position in football.
Andy Reid would love to see his longtime friend get another chance to be a head coach. But for now, he’s grateful that Spagnuolo and much of the defensive staff have stayed together for several years, bringing stability to that side of the ball.
“They know the scheme like the back of their hand. Spags has confidence in them, and then the players have confidence in their coaches and Spags,” Reid said. “You have to stay focused during the meetings, you have to detail it at practice, you have to detail the walkthroughs that you do meetings on the field.
Then, most of all, you have to execute it on game day. But there’s that trust, that whole foundation that you’ve built with the trust and these guys, they’ve got that.
“Then, likewise, I have the confidence in Spags and in certain situations. I don’t run over to him and go, ‘Hey, let’s not do that or this.’ I have enough confidence in him and been around him long enough to know he’s going to make the right call.”
