The impact of star players doesn’t always show on the stat sheet. The Kansas City Chiefs have several players who fit that role and continue to change games.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke with the media on Thursday, discussing Chris Jones’ influence on games.
“He’s (Chris Jones) attracting a lot of double teams right now. You guys (the media) have probably done your film study, so you can see that, right? Yeah, he does.” said Spagnuolo. “I mean, we try as much as we can to get him on one person, but that’s hard to do. People tend not to let that happen. One of the things we probably need to do a better job of is get into some longer third downs.”
Jones recently had half a sack taken away from his assistance in taking down Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He has worked well with double teams, allowing teammates like George Karlaftis to take advantage of matchups.
“I was sharing with the(defensive) unit this morning that, if I did my math right, I think we’ve only had 19 third-and-two plus (situations). That’s really not enough in the game,” said Spagnuolo. “That’s only nine and a half a game, but that means you have to play better on first and second down. That’s where this team (Atlanta Falcons) is going to become really challenging because we know they run the ball really well.”
The Chiefs will rely on Jones’ dominance while on the road against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night.