This could be the key to the Chiefs’ playoff success. (You know, besides Mahomes.)
The Chiefs clinched the AFC No. 1 seed on a Sunday afternoon last month, made official as quarterback Patrick Mahomes took the final snap and knelt on one knee. As the clock ran out, he shook hands with opposing players and some of his own before walking to the sideline.
He sought out a couple of teammates there — defensive linemen Chris Jones and Frank Clark. In his coach’s retelling of the story, Mahomes essentially thanked the two for carrying the load that day in a 17-10 win against the Falcons. The offense had been atypically ineffective, and the quarterback had been, well, atypically human. The pass rush, on the other hand, had produced its best outing of the season.
“It would be unfair as a team to ask Pat to throw for five touchdowns (every) game,” Jones said, “even if the expectations for Pat Mahomes (are) so high.”
On Sunday, the Chiefs will begin the defense of their Super Bowl championship as the favorites to win another. That’s for a host of reasons, to be sure, but they all start with Patrick Mahomes.
He might just throw for five touchdowns in every playoff game this month, the way he did in last year’s AFC Divisional Round win against the Texans. But the offense might have a rare off day at some point along this ride. Yes, it’s possible the Chiefs will need an alternative. A way to win a football game without Mahomes being Mahomes.
And they’ve invested in one particular area to do just that.
The pass rush. The guys Mahomes thanked after that Week 16 win.
A key to last year’s postseason run, the pass rushers will be tasked with making enough plays to ensure this year’s run is just as lengthy. Outside of their own quarterback dominating a game — and he dominates plenty — the safest path to winning is to ensure the other guy isn’t much better.
“Some games you can throw for five touchdowns; some games it’s hard to get three,” Jones said. “But it’s OK. That’s what we’re here for.”
In this season in particular, no Chiefs position group has been stationed under the microscope more often, mostly because of the dip in production from 2019 to 2020.
But the scrutiny isn’t going anywhere now. It’s a statistical fact (and basic logic) that quarterbacks are worse when pressured than when operating with a clean pocket. Overall, teams are 18% more likely to punt on drives that include a sack, per a study done by FiveThirtyEight.
The Chiefs’ pass rush came alive during last season’s Super Bowl run. They got to Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson five times. Sacked Titans passer Ryan Tannehill three more. And although they sacked 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo just once, they deflected numerous passes in the final quarter.
“In this league, that’s a pretty consistent factor, as well as teams throw the ball,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And this group (Cleveland) is no different. This group does a great job throwing the ball in and out of the pocket. And so pass rush becomes important — however it’s generated and from wherever.”
The Chiefs are built around this philosophy. Financially married to it. In the offseason, they determined Jones was worth $85 million over four season. Why? He affects the quarterback as well as any interior defensive lineman not named Aaron Donald.
Even when the baseline numbers don’t show it. Jones measures himself on sacks the same way you might measure him on sacks. He had only 7 1/2 this year after 9 in 2019 and 15 1/2 in 2018.
But would you believe that he’s actually been more effective on the whole? Pro Football Focus gave Jones the best pass-rush grade (93.1) of his five-year career. He had more hits on the quarterback (21) than any other season, too.
So why the dip in sacks then? Jones has faced double teams in nearly half of the snaps in which he’s on the field. It’s rare that a center doesn’t have his eye on Jones, ready to help a guard who probably can’t win one-on-one. The obstacle to the quarterback is greater than before.
“My guys still give me open lanes — Alex Okafor and Frank Clark, they do a really, really good job of causing disruption on the edge and freeing me up sometimes — but it’s hard,” Jones said. “It gets hard, and that’s the beauty of the game — the challenge. So just keep on challenging, and we’ll keep on getting at the quarterback.”
The whole concept is about making the quarterback uncomfortable. The Chiefs aren’t doing it as often this season. They had 32 sacks as a team, down from 45 in 2019. But they had their best day in the starters’ final outing, with four sacks against Atlanta.
It stands as the most critical piece of the defense’s performance these playoffs.
It was last year.
Clark absorbed criticism in his first regular season with the Chiefs, only to turn it on in the postseason. He had five sacks in three games. The time off — a bye week — seemed to do him some good in an injury-riddled year. After sitting in the regular season finale, he’s operating with nearly three weeks of rest when the Browns visit Sunday.
The Chiefs blitz 35.6% of the snaps, eighth most often in the NFL, and yet are just 22nd in hurry percentage (8.9%), per Pro Football Reference. They need a jump from somewhere, and Clark represents the most logical choice. His career resume underscores his capability . His playoff history doubles down on that.
Clark was the only Chiefs player to get home in the Super Bowl, a fourth-down sack of Garoppolo that put the Chiefs in full control late in the fourth quarter.
In the on-field celebration after that game, as Clark shook hands with team president Mark Donovan, he was tapped on the shoulder.
It was Mahomes.
He’d made his way through a maze of cameras and teammates to find Clark, a similar message as the one he delivered only a few weeks ago.
“We need those guys,” Mahomes said afterward.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "This could be the key to the Chiefs’ playoff success. (You know, besides Mahomes.)."