{"id":38293,"date":"2025-11-24T12:10:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:12:27","slug":"kansas-city-chiefs-defense-rounding-into-form-to-spur-playoff-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40"},"content":{"rendered":"<article data-gtm-id=\"article_content\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.pff.com\/2025\/11\/Chris-Jones-Week-12-scaled.jpg?w=1912&amp;h=1076\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Chiefs\u2018 defense held the Colts\u2018 offense in check:<\/strong> Kansas City surrendered only a 25.5% success rate and 10 first downs against one of the NFL&#8217;s best units.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Steve Spagnuolo is getting back to his bread and butter:<\/strong> The Chiefs have blitzed at a higher rate over their last two games, especially on late downs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get PFF+ for 40% off:<\/strong>\u00a0Use promo code\u00a0<em>BLACKFRIDAY<\/em>\u00a0to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more \u2014 everything you need to win your season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After 11 weeks of the 2025 NFL season, a number of surprise themes had emerged throughout pro football, from unexpected teams breaking out at the top of divisions to squads relying more on Jumbo sets. But perhaps nothing was more astonishing than the Kansas City Chiefs sitting at 5-5 with only a 59% chance to reach the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the Chiefs\u2019 playoff lives oriented around the team\u2019s effort in Week 12 against the then-8-2 Indianapolis Colts. If the result is any indication, Kansas City may be just fine \u2014 mostly because of its defense.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Steve Spagnuolo\u2019s unit was up to the challenge against the league\u2019s No. 1 offense. In the team\u2019s 23-20 overtime victory, the Chiefs contained Indianapolis to only a 25.5% success rate \u2014 easily a season low \u2014 along with -0.033 EPA per play, 10 first downs and just five explosive plays.<\/p>\n<p>The foremost headache on the Colts\u2019 offense is containing superstar running back Jonathan Taylor, but Spagnuolo\u2019s bunch was clearly well-prepared. Indianapolis averaged only 3.9 net yards per rush, including a balanced 1.5 yards before <em>and<\/em> after contact.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Chiefs defenders both met Taylor fairly quickly and also didn\u2019t miss chances to bring him to the ground. More specifically, Kansas City tallied only two missed tackles in run defense, per initial PFF run charting, with Taylor limited to a season-worst 29 yards after contact.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to stopping runs, Spagnuolo\u2019s bunch preyed on the Colts in passing situations as well. The Chiefs held Indy to -0.007 EPA per pass thanks to lockdown coverage.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Colts pass-catchers were charted as having some type of separation (a step, being open or wide open) on just 20 of 50 offensive snaps. Likewise, four Chiefs defenders earned a 70.0-plus PFF coverage grade on first review: Jaden Hicks, Jaylen Watson, Nick Bolton and Trent McDuffie.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not as though Kansas City\u2019s pass rush was overwhelming, either. The Chiefs garnered only 13 pressures on Daniel Jones\u2019 33 dropbacks, securing a 30.3% pass-rush win rate with zero sacks. Instead, Spagnuolo\u2019s unit was disciplined in both the front four and secondary, preventing chunk opportunities for the NFL\u2019s most efficient \u2014 and one of its most explosive \u2014 offenses.<\/p>\n<p>What also assisted: Chris Jones returning to his dominant form. After a sluggish last three matchups, Jones was a game-wrecker against the Colts, posting an 82.7 overall PFF grade on early review. Jones was especially strong as a pass rusher, collecting a team-high four pressures on a 16.1% pass-rush win rate.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Schematically, Spagnuolo has maintained a similarly predominant rate of zone coverage over the last two weeks as compared to the start of the year \u2014 mostly Cover 3, Cover 2 and Quarters. However, in signature fashion, he\u2019s blitzed at a higher clip (38.7% vs. 32.3%), including on late downs (47.8% vs. 36.5%). That slight tweak can presumably align with the Chiefs ranking third in conversion rate allowed (23.0%) in Weeks 11-12 compared to 15<sup>th<\/sup> in the prior window.<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City\u2019s offense has been a sleeping giant all season, placing second in EPA per play and third in success rate \u2014 yet only ninth in points scored (277). But as efficiency and scoring have dipped a bit over the last two weeks, Spagnuolo\u2019s defense has started to carry the freight. Now, the team\u2019s defense is clandestinely in the top 10 in both EPA per play and success rate.<\/p>\n<p>Having moved to 6-5, the Chiefs are right back in the playoff mix thanks to their defense stepping up in a humongous way. That refrain has carried Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid &amp; Co. to the postseason in recent years, and it may be shaping up to be true yet again.<\/p>\n<p>If Kansas City\u2019s offense can fully awaken, the team\u2019s defense \u2014 with contributors at all three levels \u2014 could render the 2025 Chiefs not just a group sneaking into late January, but one that could threaten to win it all.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chiefs&#8217; defense put the clamps on the Colts&#8217; high-powered offense in Week 12, potentially saving their season in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chiefs&#039; defense put the clamps on the Colts&#039; high-powered offense in Week 12, potentially saving their season in the process.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T12:10:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T12:12:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-24T12:10:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-24T12:12:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","og_description":"The Chiefs' defense put the clamps on the Colts' high-powered offense in Week 12, potentially saving their season in the process.","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-11-24T12:10:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-24T12:12:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293","name":"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png","datePublished":"2025-11-24T12:10:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-24T12:12:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kansas-city-bau-99.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=38293#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\ud83d\udd25 Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Defense Is Quietly Transforming \u2014 Are They Powering a Surprise Playoff Surge? \ud83e\udd14\ud83d\udc40"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38296,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38293\/revisions\/38296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}