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The Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive turnaround is in full effect after an awful start to their season where the team struggled to stop even the most average opponents. Though this week was far from their most challenging matchup, playing the Packers without MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Chiefs managed to give up just seven points and held Green Bay to 301 yards of total offense.
In comments to the media on Monday, head coach Andy Reid told reporters that the perceived improvement is real, and credited trade deadline acquisition Melvin Ingram III for his efforts to stiffen up the defense.
“The last two weeks I think the guys have played better,” Reid said. “Some of it is just getting the guys back on the field as a unit. Getting 24 (Melvin Ingram III) in there I think helped. That’s a nice addition. If you can add a Pro Bowl-type player in on the defensive line, it surely can’t hurt, and he got quite a few snaps in there on nickel situations. But they’re playing well together, and I think Spags is doing a nice job with the game plans.”
Ingram played quite a few snaps in Week 9, recording one tackle and four total pressures. Asked specifically about his vision for Ingram’s contributions moving forward, Reid seemed optimistic about the role he’ll have in the defense.
“You see how we do it, we rotate everybody,” Reid explained. “So, we’ve got all these different packages. We try to keep throwing fastballs at the offense, so all the guys are going to play. I don’t know how that works out. He came here to play and that’s what he wanted to do, so first game he gets 29 snaps. I can’t tell you what he gets next time, but he’s been a starter in this league, and I think as long as he’s playing a lot, I think that’s what he wants to do.
“He’s getting in that twilight part of his career, but he still can play, and he knows all that, but he loves playing man. We got a taste of that yesterday. We got a chance to see it which was kind of fun.”
Now that the defense seems to be in order, all eyes are on Kansas City’s offense and Patrick Mahomes to get points on the board in the coming weeks. Tough matchups against Las Vegas and Dallas await them before the bye in Week 12, so the clock is ticking to see if both sides of the ball can play well together in time for the playoffs.
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