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Tyrann Mathieu could have lit up Deshaun Watson in Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game between the Texans and the Chiefs, but he didn’t.
Tyrann Mathieu could have lit up Deshaun Watson in Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game between the Texans and the Chiefs, but he didn’t.
Well said.
Football is a contact sport, but not every play warrants a violent hit. Tyrann Mathieu realized that on Sunday.
As the Chiefs rallied from a 24-point deficit to rout the Texans, 51-31, in the AFC Divisional round, some fans noticed that Mathieu had a clear opportunity to hit Deshaun Watson on Houston’s final drive.
The blitzing safety, though, elected to pull up on the play and let Watson get off his pass unscathed — a 14-yard connection with Taiwan Jones. When The Athletic’s Mike Sando called out Mathieu’s decision, the Chiefs safety explained why he chose against laying the hit on Watson.
The game was over. Yeah that’s my boy , but I’m not fake tough, I don’t have to hit you to make me feel like imma big beast. This is football, but every act isn’t violent. https://t.co/KmNl7zDEhF
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) January 13, 2020
And honestly, that’s a veteran move from Mathieu.
Mathieu previously played for the Texans, and he’s still close with plenty of their players, including Watson. At that point in the game, the Chiefs knew they were going to win. The last thing Mathieu wanted to do was lay a hard hit on Watson and cause an injury — or even face a potential fine if the hit ended up being illegal.
By allowing Watson to get the pass off, Mathieu let the game wind down to the eventual Chiefs win without any drama. Otherwise the hit would have just been violence for the sake of violence.
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The Houston Texans take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional. The Chiefs Wire helps take a look at what to expect at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs get ready for a Week 6 rematch in the AFC divisional playoffs. What has changed since Oct. 13? What has stayed the same? Charles Goldman, managing editor of the Chiefs Wire, returns to help preview the playoff matchup.
Charles Goldman: They were elated. Andy Reid, of course, has a tremendous record with extra time to prepare for an opponent. On top of that, this team has faced significant injury-related adversity throughout the entire season. Just having that extra time to rest and heal for this matchup will pay dividends.
When the Chiefs signed defensive back Tyrann Mathieu in the offseason, they hoped Mathieu would help the defense. He’s done more than that.
Through the first half of the 2019 season, it looked like the Chiefs were going to have to take the same trip to the postseason they had in 2018 — riding Patrick Mahomes all the way, and hoping their defense didn’t blow it all up. The last straw for Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ front office for ex-defensive coordiantor Bob Sutton was Kansas City’s loss to the Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship game, when the Chiefs never got the ball in overtime, and New England marched down the field on a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Sutton’s defense was helpless to stop it, and things had to change.
To replace Sutton, the Chiefs hired Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the 2007 Giants defense that stunned the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Spagnuolo’s multiple fronts and aggressive coverages provided a different template than Sutton’s far more passive approach, and though it took a while for everything to gel, the Chiefs now have a championship-caliber defense at exactly the right time.
Through the season’s first nine weeks, Kansas City allowed 14 touchdowns and had just six interceptions, though their seven dropped interceptions (tied with Cincinnati for the league lead) was a precursor of better things to come. Kansas City allowed 7.02 yards per attempt, and an opposing QBR of 90.50. Not the worst in the league in any of these departments, but hardly the kind of defense Spagnuolo or Reid wanted. Their opponent completion rate of 62.96% ranked 11th-best in the league.
Rex Burkhead’s game-winning touchdown run in the 2019 AFC Championship game spelled the end of Bob Sutton’s tenure. (Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)
But from Weeks 10-17, the change has been remarkable. The Chiefs are tied with the Ravens for the fewest passing touchdowns allowed with seven, and have picked off 10 passes — tied with the Falcons, Browns, Colts, Saints, and Dolphins for the most in that span. They also have seven dropped picks in the second half of the season Only the Steelers, Packers, and Ravens have allowed a lower completion percentage than Kansas City’s 57.36%.
The Chiefs have allowed 6.22 yards per attempt — only the Ravens, 49ers, and Steelers have been better, and only the Steelers have allowed a lower QBR than Kansas City’s 68.72. The Chiefs’ defensive Positive Play Rate (the percentage of plays in which an opposing offense has Expected Points Added over zero) has dropped from 46% to 42%.
Perhaps most importantly for their playoff prospects, the Chiefs have become the kind of team that can beat other postseason entrants without a superhuman effort from Mahomes — or even with Mahomes in the game. Playing through injuries as he has, Mahomes saw a drastic dip in production from his 2018 MVP season, but the Chiefs beat the Vikings, 26-23 in Week 9 with Mahomes on the bench and Matt Moore throwing for 275 yards and a touchdown. They lost a close one, 31-24, to the Packers the week before with Moore as their quarterback. They beat the Patriots, 23-16 in Week 14, with Mahomes challenged by New England’s top pass defense, managing 283 yards and a touchdown. And now, they have a revenge match on Sunday in the divisional round against the Texans, who beat them 31-24 in Week 6, back when this defense wasn’t what it would become.
The unquestionable key to this turnaround, besides everyone getting on the same page with Spagnuolo’s more aggressive man and match concepts, has been defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, the former Cardinals and Texans star who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Chiefs in March. As has been the case through his career, Mathieu is a game-changer from every possible position. This season, he’s played 1,080 snaps — 82 at the defensive line, 315 as a box safety or nickel/dime linebacker, 483 as a slot cornerback, 27 as an outside cornerback, and 173 as a free safety.
“He wears a lot of hats,” defensive backs coach Sam Madison recently said, via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “Early in the year, we just wanted to put guys in situations to be comfortable. He understands the defense. … Since he’s been at LSU, he’s played all over the place. It was just a natural fit for him. He’s taken to it very well. I talked to him a few weeks ago, telling him just to be patient and try not to go out there and find the plays [but] let them come to him. That’s what he’s been doing.”
Mathieu’s transformation in Spagnuolo’s schemes mirrors the overall defensive improvement.
“He’s the glue,” Spagnuolo has said of Mathieu. “He’s the guy that can get in the huddle in practice and say, ‘Hey, we need to step it up.’ You need guys like that. That stuff, I value as a coordinator. It makes my job a lot easier.”
As a slot defender through the first half of the season, he allowed 16 receptions on 21 targets for 132 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 107.6. From Week 10 on, he increased his efficiency with 17 catches allowed on 27 slot targets for 110 yards, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 40.2.
As a safety, his coverage improvement has been similarly transformative. In the first half of the season as a box or deep safety, he allowed 23 catches on 34 targets for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 92.9. In the second half of the season, he allowed 28 completions on 42 targets for 193 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 47.0.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid knows his safeties — he had Eric Berry from 2013 through 2018 in Kansas City, and Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins in Philadelphia from 1999 through 2008. As far as Reid is concerned, Mathieu belongs in that discussion.
“This organization was blessed to have Eric Berry… a great leader, tough, all those things. Before that I was with Brian Dawkins. I’ve been lucky to be around some really good safeties. They’re all different in their own way but they’re all great football players with great instincts and good leaders. They lead a different way. This kid here, he’s a special kid. He’s not the biggest guy. You’re not looking at one of those huge safeties but, man, is he a good football player. He just gets it.”
Leadership is one thing. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound Mathieu also brings top-tier athleticism, field awareness, and the ability to read a play and snuff it right out — from anywhere on the field.
Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien says that safety Tyrann Mathieu has been a big part of the Kansas City Chiefs’ success on defense.
The Houston Texans will be taking on a familiar face when they play the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional playoffs Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CT at Arrowhead Stadium.
A really familiar face.
All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu used to be a part of the Texans’ secondary in 2018. After signing a three-year, $42 million contract with the Chiefs, Mathieu produced 75 tackles, 2.0 sacks, four interceptions, and 12 pass breakups in 16 starts for Kansas City.
“He’s a big part of it,” O’Brien told reporters Monday. “He’s playing really well. Line him up in different spots, plays nickel, plays safety. They do a good job. They mix it up on you, they spin the dial from one snap to the next, you really don’t know what you’re going to get. So, you’re going to have to be very, very alert, you’re going to have to have a great week of communication.”
In the wild-card round against the Buffalo Bills, part of what helped the Texans prevail 22-19 in overtime was quarterback Deshaun Watson being careful with the football. The two-time Pro Bowl signal caller went 20-of-25 for 247 yards and a touchdown, though he did take seven sacks on the afternoon.
“You’re going to have to have a great week of preparation, because [defensive coordinator] (Steve) Spagnuolo does a great job,” O’Brien said.
Mathieu is a known quantity for the Texans as he spent the 2018 season with the Texans after playing the first five seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals. While he didn’t get to stay in Houston, Mathieu used the “prove-it” aspect of his one-year contract with the AFC South club to audition for suitors who would be willing to pay retail for Mathieu’s services.
In the Week 6 encounter between Houston and Kansas City, Mathieu had 10 tackles and a pass deflection in 89 snaps. If the “Honey Badger” can add more production, it could help the Chiefs defend their home-field advantage in the rematch.
Are there problems in the Cardinals locker room that make Johnson want to leave?
It has been a tough season for Arizona Cardinal running back David Johnson. He began the season having a bit of a down year, especially as a runner. Then he got hurt. Then he lost his starting job and playing time.
Now he is a backup to Kenyan Drake and his role in the future seems in question, even though he has a long-term deal with the team.
A common theme for Johnson on social media this year has been proving people wrong or staying strong despite having a number of doubters.
He had another such post Tuesday.
“Surrounded by enemies, I know they praying for my down fall. They really want to see the end of me, know I won’t fold imma stand tall!” pic.twitter.com/alcPFUKGEV
— David Johnson (@DavidJohnson31) December 11, 2019
What makes this post interesting is not the post itself but one of the replies.
Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, a former Cardinals teammate, replies, telling him to go to Kansas City, presumably telling him to join him on the Chiefs.
Come to KC
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) December 11, 2019
Johnson is still under contract with the team after this season so the only way for him to join the Chiefs would be via trade or if the Cardinals cut him in the offseason and then he signed with them. However, cutting him would create more than $16 million in dead money.
Mathieu left the Cardinals after the team cut him. He has hard feelings because of how things went down.
Many have speculated that Johnson’s post is related to what is happening within the Cardinals organization and how there are those perhaps among the coaches or in the front office that no longer believe in him. Others believe it is in reference to the fans who have turned on him since his production declined.
If it is something related to the team, it should raise concerns. But as much as Mathieu might want Johnson on the Chiefs, it isn’t likely to happen. Of course, if the Cardinals managed to trade Johnson and get something in exchange, it is something they probably should consider, especially if Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t believe he is good enough to be a featured back in his offense.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
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This wasn’t just the game the Kansas City Chiefs defense needed but it was the game that they wanted to have heading into the bye week.
The much-maligned Kansas City Chiefs defense stepped up in a big way against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11.
They combined for 69 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, four interceptions and 12 passes defended on the evening. They held the Chargers to 5-of-15 on third-down conversions. They allowed just one touchdown to the Chargers in four trips to the red zone. It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, but they were able to help the Chiefs to a much-needed victory in primetime.
One of the defensive leaders that led the charge was defensive end Frank Clark. He perhaps embodied the embattled and often criticized Chiefs’ defense, because his production hadn’t quite been what fans had expected. Clark explained that it took faith in each other and a lot of hard work from him and his fellow defensive lineman to come up with this type of game.
“I love my defensive line, man,” Clark said following the game. “There’s nothing that I can do without them. We go to work every week. We go through all the difficult times and we go through the turmoil and people are doubting us. It just felt good to be able to go out there with my D-Line and get the job done, man.”
It wasn’t just the defensive line that got things done for the Chiefs on Monday night. Communication and execution were in sync throughout the defense, from the front end to the back end.
“Our job as a defense is to go out there and force as many three-and-outs as possible,” Clark said. “Get off the field on third down and make plays and force turnovers. I believe that just collectively as a defensive unit we did that tonight…”
This is the type of performance that the Chiefs can ride with an important five-game stretch of the schedule coming up for Kansas City. Leaders like Clark and Tyrann Mathieu are now tasked with harnessing that momentum and ensuring it lasts through the bye week.
“It’s a confidence boost for us,” Mathieu said. “Especially with how we finished the game last week. Then understanding and realizing the kind of football that we need to play going forward. We’ve got Oakland (Raiders) whose hot right now, and then New England (Patriots). So we’ve got some teams that we need to understand our momentum and take advantage of our momentum. I thought tonight was beautiful. I thought Rashad (Fenton) stepped up, made some big plays and Dan (Sorenson) that interception in the endzone was just so sweet…”
For some of those young players like Rashad Fenton, they’re taking cues from the veteran leadership on the defense. Fenton credited guys like Clark and Mathieu for getting the team prepared for this game and keeping the energy up throughout it.
“We got 55 (Frank Clark) back and he was just amped the whole week,” Fenton said. “He was putting the pressure on us and if he was putting the pressure on us, you know he was putting the pressure on the D-Line as well. So we already knew coming into the game that the front seven was going to be on their job and that it was going to be on us to end it.”
This unit has been able to stick together and grow in spite of a lot of noise and criticism from the outside. Even though the game got away from them against Tennessee in Week 10, the entire defense showed determination in not allowing this crucial game in Mexico City against the Chargers to slip away too.
“Yeah, I think it’s all about really staying together through the ups and the downs,” Mathieu said. “And we have been able to do that defensively. It felt like before last week we were playing pretty decent defense and then last week we kind of let the game get away from us. And so we absolutely wanted to be in this situation again. And I thought we responded well. I thought we responded the right way. And so like I said, I’m really happy that my guys came up with the big play.”
The defense wanted their crack at redemption and they were able to show it during Monday night on the NFL’s biggest stage.
The Seattle Seahawks have a successful history in games following bye weeks under quarterback Russell Wilson and coach Pete Carroll.
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The Seattle Seahawks are in the middle of their bye week, which is the part of the year that all teams look forward to. With their 8-2 record, the Seahawks have certainly earned a breather.
Coming out of the bye, the Seahawks will be playing the Eagles in a battle of the birds. By this time of the season, it is clear Seattle is one of the better teams in the NFL, but what kind of effect could the week off have?
History says not a lot.
Since Pete Carroll took over as head coach in 2010, the Seahawks are 6-3 coming off a bye week, and two of those losses came in 2011 and 2012. That means that Russell Wilson-led teams are 5-2 following the week off from competition.
The last time the Seahawks lost after a bye week was in 2015 when a Week-9 bye led into a 39-32 loss to the Cardinals. The last time the Seahawks’ bye week was during Week 11 it resulted in a 24-21 loss to the Dolphins.
Since 2010, the Seahawks have outscored their opponents 204 to 158 in games after bye weeks.
The Seahawks have never faced the Eagles after a bye week, but they have beaten them recently. The last time the pair squared off in the regular season, Seattle came out with a 24-10 win.
As a unit, the Seahawks have had success recently following bye weeks, and Wilson is a big part of that.
In those games, he’s thrown for a 67.9 completion percentage with 14 touchdowns and only one interception. The lone pick came at the hands of Tyrann Mathieu in 2015.
Wilson and the Seahawks just stuck the 49ers with their first loss in Week 10, and now they get their rest. History says Carroll and Wilson are successful after the breaks, which could be bad news for the Eagles in Week 12.
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Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen had some words about the Chiefs’ secondary back in April.
After finishing as one of the worst secondaries in the NFL last season, the Chiefs made the point to address the unit this past offseason with a slew of acquisitions.
Back in April, after the initial wave of free agency and the draft, wide receiver Keenan Allen was asked about the changes Kansas City made.
“Since you asked, it was brought up today in the locker room. We just looked at their DB (defensive backs) group, and I’ll just leave it at that. We’ve seen it,” Allen said.
Keenan Allen was asked about the Chiefs’ busy offseason with departures and additions. “It was brought up today in the locker room. We just looked at their DB group and I’ll just leave it at that.” pic.twitter.com/IdXRFl7Y9l
— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) April 29, 2019
From Allen’s comment and smirk on his face, he didn’t appear to be that impressed with the group on paper.
Fast forward to now, and the new pieces that the Chiefs added have made a huge difference. Kansas City hasn’t allowed 300 passing yards in a game since Week 1, and they’re allowing 221.4 yards per game, which ranks No. 8 in the NFL.
Their new-look secondary includes safety Tyrann Mathieu, cornerback Bashaud Breeland and rookie Juan Thornhill. Those three players, along with the change to the defensive coordinator, have been a much-needed boost to the defense.
Quarterback Philip Rivers threw for over 300 yards when the two teams met twice last season, including the big victory at Arrowhead Stadium, which snapped their losing streak to the Chiefs.
Even though Rivers enters Monday’s contest against Kansas City with a league-high 2,816 passing yards, it won’t be an easy task for the veteran quarterback to have that success facing a revamped secondary and a depleted offensive line.
Allen will look to back up what he had to say about Kansas City’s secondary, and get back on track after being held to less than 70 receiving yards the past seven games and find the end zone for the first time since Week 3.
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