KC Chiefs’ Defense Receives Heaps of Praise After Key Win Over Jacksonville Jaguars

Following a tremendous showing in Jacksonville, Steve Spagnuolo's defense is being credited for the Chiefs' win.

After surrendering just 14 points to the Detroit Lions' offense in Week 1 of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs came out and did even better against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2.

Coming into hostile territory and giving up three field goals on Sunday, Steve Spagnuolo's defense held the opposition to just 4.2 yards per play and 271 net yards. Doug Pederson's squad went 3-for-12 on third downs, didn't convert on a single fourth down attempt and averaged a mere 4.3 yards per pass play. Jacksonville punted five times on the afternoon, which was a testament to just how thorough of a job the Chiefs' defense did.

Kansas City nearly doubled the Jaguars' point output in the game, yet the defense is being credited for doing such great work in the victory. Speaking to the media after the outing, head coach Andy Reid praised multiple players, his defensive coordinator and his staff.

"Defensively, [it was] great to have Chris Jones back," Reid said. "Obviously, he influenced the game in a positive way for us. (Trent) McDuffie, you know, I can go on and on. The guys, I thought on defense, just battled. Spags had a phenomenal game plan. His coaches did a great job there."

The Chiefs' offense struggled at times on Sunday, putting just 17 points up on the scoreboard while also failing to take care of the football. Kansas City committed a pair of turnovers as a team and was sloppy offensively and on special teams. Despite some occasional shortcomings from quarterback Patrick Mahomes and company, the other side of the ball still managed to be fantastic anyway. Taking the podium after Reid, Mahomes echoed a similar sentiment. 

"The defense was incredible," Mahomes said. "That's a good offense, a really good offense. For them to shut them down — I think they were like 0-for-4 in the red zone — a couple of critical stops after we turned the ball over. And then when they got critical stops, we made three-and-out a couple of times and they kept holding them to field goals. The defense won that game. We have to continue to get better as an offense, which I think we will. But if that defense plays like that, we're going to be a hard team to beat because that's special."

Multiple members of Spagnuolo's defense stood out for good reasons in Week 2. Jones, in particular, recorded numerous pressures on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in his season debut and also had 1.5 sacks in the critical early-season win. On top of that, second-year defensive end George Karlaftis matched that sack production and fellow pass-rushers Mike Danna and rookie Felix Anudike-Uzomah were credited with a half-sack each. Linebacker Nick Bolton, cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and safety Justin Reid combined for 21 tackles between the three of them. 

As the Chiefs look to find some level of consistency on offense, the emergence of Spagnuolo's unit as a force has been a somewhat unexpected one. Week 1's performance was without Jones in the fold, and free agent pickup Charles Omenihu was suspended and out of the lineup for both games. That, along with the fact that this success is coming against a pair of top-10 scoring offenses from a season ago, is noteworthy. Tight end Travis Kelce reiterated on Sunday that the Chiefs are a work in progress but as things are still working themselves out, the defense is giving Kansas City one heck of a safety net in the interim.

"It's still early in the season," Kelce said. "What you guys just saw is the second game bringing all the new pieces together, and we're going to keep building. We're going to keep growing. I know we've got great leadership but right now, hats off to the defense for the way they're playing and keeping us in games. We love them for it, and we've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot on offense." 

Read More: Four Takeaways From the Chiefs' 17-9 Win Over the Jaguars