Post by joemcrugby on Sept 20, 2020 11:34:52 GMT -7
There is hope with the defense.
________
One team, though, has proven better than the rest at achieving this goal: the Los Angeles Chargers, who face the Chiefs in their home opener Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium.
Consider the numbers:
• Since taking over as the full-time starter in 2018, Mahomes has been held under 6.0 yards per passing attempt in only three games. Two of those were against the Chargers, both last season — Week 11 in Mexico City and Week 17 in Kansas City.
• In total, the Chargers have held Mahomes to 7.2 yards per attempt in their four meetings since the start of the 2018 season. That is the lowest average among any team to play the Chiefs multiple times over that span.
• The Chiefs were held to less than seven explosive plays — rushes of more than 12 yards or passes of more than 16 yards — in only six games with Mahomes at quarterback in 2018 and 2019. He was playing the Chargers in two of those games, including Week 17 of last season, when the Chiefs mustered just four explosive plays. The Chargers have given up an average of 6.75 explosive plays in their four games against Mahomes.
“We do have the athletes to compete with those guys,” safety Rayshawn Jenkins told The Athletic this week.
But the Chargers’ relative defensive success against the Chiefs is more layered.
At the crux of their approach is defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s philosophy. Bradley comes from the Seattle defensive tree, and his scheme — like others who coached for the Seahawks, including Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh — revolves around preventing explosive plays. Bradley achieves this by calling a heavy dose of Cover 3 zone, which has one defender covering each third of the deep part of the field.
Since Bradley took over as Chargers defensive coordinator in 2017, the Chargers have allowed the second-fewest explosive plays (287) of any team in the league.
The defensive system, by nature, isn’t aggressive. Bradley’s defenses have regularly ranked among the bottom of the league in blitz percentage. And that trend has been evident in the Chargers’ matchups with Mahomes. In their four games against the Chiefs in 2018 and 2019, the Chargers’ 9.8 percent blitz rate is second lowest for any defense. Only the Bengals have blitzed less against the Chiefs, in Week 7 of 2018.
This would, on its face, appear counterintuitive. Rattling Mahomes and getting him off his spot would seem to be the more apt strategy. But the real key in slowing down the Chiefs is preventing them from hitting on explosive plays. That is what makes them so incredibly dangerous.
“Andy Reid is looking for the big plays,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins added that it is crucial to “discourage” Mahomes from looking to push the ball down field.
“Every time they have check it down or get a 5-yard, 6-yard gain, that’s not who they want to be,” Jenkins said. “As long as we can get them to be that team, to check it down, then I feel like we, as a defense, can have success as an entire unit.”
That is easier said than done, of course. But the Chargers have that prevent mentality built into their scheme. It is inherent to the way Bradley calls defensive plays. And that, more than anything, has led to the defense’s success.
“They try to get the ball in their playmakers’ hands and they’re always, in our terms, just big-play hunting,” Jenkins said. “So we just got to keep the big play off of us and I think we’ll be fine.”
The other key in containing the Chiefs’ high-powered offense is disguise. And that responsibility falls mostly on the shoulders of Jenkins as the deep safety on most snaps.
“We do understand how our defense works and how people are trying to attack us,” Jenkins said. “So we just try to set traps.”
Jenkins did a quality job of that in the Chargers’ two games against Kansas City last season. He picked off Mahomes in their Week 11 matchup in Mexico City when he baited the Chiefs quarterback into throwing a deep ball near the right sideline.
“In professional football, you know that the quarterback, when he comes out, the first thing he looks at is the safety, to see if it’s single high or a Cover 2 shell. And then they just try to play you from there,” Jenkins said. “I try to just mix it up. I might show like I might be coming down sometimes. I might be going back, or I might be back and coming down sometimes or I might be left going right or right going left. I just mix it up like that, man, and just try to keep the quarterback guessing, because the more you can do that and keep them out of a rhythm — that’s the big thing, keep them out of of a rhythm — then you have much better success when you’re playing them.”
The Chargers also attacked their offseason with the Chiefs in mind. They signed Chris Harris Jr. — a player very familiar with Reid and Kansas City from his decade with the Broncos — to add more variety and versatility to their secondary. They lost some of that depth when safety Derwin James went down in training camp with a season-ending knee injury. But Harris’ presence as the slot corner still allows Bradley to move pieces around in his defensive backfield, including Desmond King and Nasir Adderley, who both rotated in at safety in the Week 1 win over the Bengals, with King at strong and Adderley at free.
Harris is an excellent slot coverage defender. But just as importantly for this matchup with the Chiefs, Harris is a sound and physical tackler in space. As Jenkins put it, Reid is always “trying to find the matchups” to get his playmakers the ball in one-on-one situations. Harris can consistently win those head-to-head battles in space.
“You throw one more guy in our bag of tricks,” Jenkins said of Harris. “Everyone is going to get their one-on-one matchup at some point during this game. You just have to win it. And we have faith in all of our guys in our back end.”
History dictates that the Chargers will be able to keep Mahomes and the Chiefs in relative check. Tyrod Taylor and the offense will be tasked with controlling the ball, keeping Mahomes off the field and limiting turnovers. Despite their solid defensive performances against Mahomes, the Chargers are 1-3 against him all time, largely because they have committed 10 turnovers in those four games.
You can’t stop the Chiefs. But you can slow them down.
“This is the time to showcase your talents,” Jenkins said.
theathletic.com/2074604/2020/09/17/the-chargers-have-a-pretty-good-blueprint-for-slowing-down-the-chiefs/
________
One team, though, has proven better than the rest at achieving this goal: the Los Angeles Chargers, who face the Chiefs in their home opener Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium.
Consider the numbers:
• Since taking over as the full-time starter in 2018, Mahomes has been held under 6.0 yards per passing attempt in only three games. Two of those were against the Chargers, both last season — Week 11 in Mexico City and Week 17 in Kansas City.
• In total, the Chargers have held Mahomes to 7.2 yards per attempt in their four meetings since the start of the 2018 season. That is the lowest average among any team to play the Chiefs multiple times over that span.
• The Chiefs were held to less than seven explosive plays — rushes of more than 12 yards or passes of more than 16 yards — in only six games with Mahomes at quarterback in 2018 and 2019. He was playing the Chargers in two of those games, including Week 17 of last season, when the Chiefs mustered just four explosive plays. The Chargers have given up an average of 6.75 explosive plays in their four games against Mahomes.
“We do have the athletes to compete with those guys,” safety Rayshawn Jenkins told The Athletic this week.
But the Chargers’ relative defensive success against the Chiefs is more layered.
At the crux of their approach is defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s philosophy. Bradley comes from the Seattle defensive tree, and his scheme — like others who coached for the Seahawks, including Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh — revolves around preventing explosive plays. Bradley achieves this by calling a heavy dose of Cover 3 zone, which has one defender covering each third of the deep part of the field.
Since Bradley took over as Chargers defensive coordinator in 2017, the Chargers have allowed the second-fewest explosive plays (287) of any team in the league.
The defensive system, by nature, isn’t aggressive. Bradley’s defenses have regularly ranked among the bottom of the league in blitz percentage. And that trend has been evident in the Chargers’ matchups with Mahomes. In their four games against the Chiefs in 2018 and 2019, the Chargers’ 9.8 percent blitz rate is second lowest for any defense. Only the Bengals have blitzed less against the Chiefs, in Week 7 of 2018.
This would, on its face, appear counterintuitive. Rattling Mahomes and getting him off his spot would seem to be the more apt strategy. But the real key in slowing down the Chiefs is preventing them from hitting on explosive plays. That is what makes them so incredibly dangerous.
“Andy Reid is looking for the big plays,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins added that it is crucial to “discourage” Mahomes from looking to push the ball down field.
“Every time they have check it down or get a 5-yard, 6-yard gain, that’s not who they want to be,” Jenkins said. “As long as we can get them to be that team, to check it down, then I feel like we, as a defense, can have success as an entire unit.”
That is easier said than done, of course. But the Chargers have that prevent mentality built into their scheme. It is inherent to the way Bradley calls defensive plays. And that, more than anything, has led to the defense’s success.
“They try to get the ball in their playmakers’ hands and they’re always, in our terms, just big-play hunting,” Jenkins said. “So we just got to keep the big play off of us and I think we’ll be fine.”
The other key in containing the Chiefs’ high-powered offense is disguise. And that responsibility falls mostly on the shoulders of Jenkins as the deep safety on most snaps.
“We do understand how our defense works and how people are trying to attack us,” Jenkins said. “So we just try to set traps.”
Jenkins did a quality job of that in the Chargers’ two games against Kansas City last season. He picked off Mahomes in their Week 11 matchup in Mexico City when he baited the Chiefs quarterback into throwing a deep ball near the right sideline.
“In professional football, you know that the quarterback, when he comes out, the first thing he looks at is the safety, to see if it’s single high or a Cover 2 shell. And then they just try to play you from there,” Jenkins said. “I try to just mix it up. I might show like I might be coming down sometimes. I might be going back, or I might be back and coming down sometimes or I might be left going right or right going left. I just mix it up like that, man, and just try to keep the quarterback guessing, because the more you can do that and keep them out of a rhythm — that’s the big thing, keep them out of of a rhythm — then you have much better success when you’re playing them.”
The Chargers also attacked their offseason with the Chiefs in mind. They signed Chris Harris Jr. — a player very familiar with Reid and Kansas City from his decade with the Broncos — to add more variety and versatility to their secondary. They lost some of that depth when safety Derwin James went down in training camp with a season-ending knee injury. But Harris’ presence as the slot corner still allows Bradley to move pieces around in his defensive backfield, including Desmond King and Nasir Adderley, who both rotated in at safety in the Week 1 win over the Bengals, with King at strong and Adderley at free.
Harris is an excellent slot coverage defender. But just as importantly for this matchup with the Chiefs, Harris is a sound and physical tackler in space. As Jenkins put it, Reid is always “trying to find the matchups” to get his playmakers the ball in one-on-one situations. Harris can consistently win those head-to-head battles in space.
“You throw one more guy in our bag of tricks,” Jenkins said of Harris. “Everyone is going to get their one-on-one matchup at some point during this game. You just have to win it. And we have faith in all of our guys in our back end.”
History dictates that the Chargers will be able to keep Mahomes and the Chiefs in relative check. Tyrod Taylor and the offense will be tasked with controlling the ball, keeping Mahomes off the field and limiting turnovers. Despite their solid defensive performances against Mahomes, the Chargers are 1-3 against him all time, largely because they have committed 10 turnovers in those four games.
You can’t stop the Chiefs. But you can slow them down.
“This is the time to showcase your talents,” Jenkins said.
theathletic.com/2074604/2020/09/17/the-chargers-have-a-pretty-good-blueprint-for-slowing-down-the-chiefs/
