The Kansas City Chiefs are still riding high from their clutch victory last Sunday night over the Atlanta Falcons. Veteran players made plays on defense, halting a potential comeback drive and keeping the other Chiefs undefeated.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke with reporters on Thursday about linebacker Nick Bolton’s impact on the unit.
“Yeah, it was great to see Nick (Bolton) make that last tackle, I mean, well, you all know, he gutted it out. His back was bothering (him), and he went back in,” said Spagnuolo. “And, thank God we got guys that can go in when Nick’s not in there and still function the same way. I think that’s huge. I mean, we all learned that last year, right when Dru (Tranquil) had to take over. But when you lose that guy in the middle, it’s like losing the quarterback, right? And even if it’s for three plays, if you don’t have somebody that can go in there, that everybody feels comfortable with, it gets tough.
Bolton returned from the injury just in time to make the game-saving tackle on Bijan Robinson. The clutch performance was another reminder that Bolton is valuable to the defense.
“Nick just coming back and doing what he did,” said Spagnuolo. “I think we all know this about Nick: He’s got such great football instincts. He feels things, and he studies the game, so he knows ahead of time when teams are going to do certain things. But, I thought he played great.”
Bolton will look to recover quickly before the Chiefs make the West Coast trip for this Sunday’s AFC West matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.