The Kansas City Chiefs beat Indianapolis.
Steve Spagnuolo still wasn't happy.
I like that.
Kansas City is 2–0 after surviving the Colts 33–30 in overtime, but the Chiefs' defensive coordinator made it clear Thursday that the final score wasn't going to erase what he saw when he reviewed the film.
The contrast between Kansas City's first two games is pretty dramatic.
Against Denver, the Chiefs allowed only 10 points, 176 total yards and nine first downs.
Indianapolis produced 30 points, 329 yards and 24 first downs.
Spagnuolo's assessment was basically that his defense probably isn't as dominant as it looked in Week 1—and hopefully isn't as poor as it looked at times in Week 2. More importantly, he said the defensive room wasn't allowing the victory to hide the mistakes. Arrowhead Pride
That's exactly the attitude I want from this team.
Winning Can't Become an Excuse
One of the dangers of winning close football games is that problems can become easier to ignore.
The Chiefs won.
Patrick Mahomes made plays.
Kenneth Walker III helped finish the game.
Harrison Butker eventually ended it.
Everybody goes home happy.
But Kansas City's defense knows it helped create the overtime situation in the first place.
Indianapolis converted five of 12 third downs, and two failed third-down attempts were immediately followed by successful fourth-down conversions. Spagnuolo pointed out that eight of those third downs were manageable third-and-5 or third-and-6 situations. Arrowhead Pride
That's not where this defense wants opponents living.
Steve Spagnuolo's best defenses force quarterbacks into situations where everybody in the stadium knows the pass rush is coming.
Third-and-11 opens the defensive playbook.
Third-and-5 keeps almost everything available to the offense.
Run.
Pass.
Quarterback movement.
Screen.
Quick game.
That difference matters.
Then Spagnuolo Did Something Good Leaders Do
He blamed himself.
Spagnuolo specifically criticized his own play-calling near the end of the first half and said the decisions contributed to an Indianapolis score. Arrowhead Pride
Think about the message that sends inside a defensive meeting room.
A coach can spend an hour showing players missed tackles, bad leverage, poor communication and incorrect assignments.
Then he can say:
I contributed too.
That matters.
Accountability becomes much easier to demand when it travels both directions.
Steve Spagnuolo has four Super Bowl rings as a defensive coordinator. He has been running NFL defenses for decades. The Chiefs don't need him publicly accepting responsibility to protect his reputation.
He does it because the standard applies to him too.
That's how you maintain credibility with players.
The Overtime Response Still Matters
There was also something encouraging buried inside an otherwise frustrating defensive performance.
Kansas City's defense responded when it absolutely had to.
Indianapolis produced a huge play in overtime and appeared positioned to finish the game. Instead, the Chiefs stiffened in the red zone and forced a field goal.
Spagnuolo specifically praised that response.
Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill helped Kansas City survive a situation that could easily have ended the night. Arrowhead Pride
That's worth remembering.
Good defenses don't play perfect football.
Sometimes good defense means limiting the damage after something has already gone wrong.
Kansas City did that.
The offense received another opportunity.
The Chiefs won.
Now Comes Miami
The timing of this conversation is useful because the Chiefs are preparing for a completely different challenge.
Miami has speed.
Malik Willis can extend plays.
De'Von Achane can turn a small crease into a huge gain.
That makes defensive discipline especially important.
Kansas City can't afford to carry the sloppy parts of the Indianapolis game into Miami just because the Colts game ended with a celebration.
Spagnuolo clearly understands that.
My Take
I actually feel better about Kansas City's defense after hearing Steve Spagnuolo talk Thursday.
Not because the Colts game suddenly looks better.
It doesn't.
The Chiefs defense had problems.
What encourages me is that the people inside the building apparently aren't pretending otherwise.
There is a huge difference between saying, "We're 2–0, so everything is fine," and saying, "We're 2–0, but that isn't our standard."
Championship teams have to understand that difference.
I also think Spagnuolo publicly taking responsibility is important.
Players know when a coach made a questionable call.
They watch the same film.
They were standing on the field.
When the coach acknowledges his own mistake instead of assigning every failure to execution, he earns the right to demand the same honesty from everybody else.
Kansas City won't hold every opponent to 176 yards.
That's unrealistic.
But the Chiefs absolutely can demand better tackling, better third-down defense, better communication and better situational football than they showed against Indianapolis.
The Colts game gave Kansas City a warning without giving it a loss.
That's a pretty valuable combination.
Now we get to see whether the defense learned from it.
Sources
Kansas City Chiefs — Steve Spagnuolo Press Conference, September 24
Arrowhead Pride — Chiefs defense knows Week 2 wasn't good enough
No comments:
Post a Comment