2024 Super Bowl: Top under-the-radar moves that led Chiefs to NFL title game for fourth time in five years

For the fourth time in five seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the Super Bowl and will face the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas. Because the Chiefs have been so good, for so long, pretty much everybody knows all the main characters involved in their success. Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. Travis Kelce is the league’s best tight end. Andy Reid is arguably its best coach. Even players like Chris Jones, Isiah Pacheco, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie are pretty well-known at this point.

So, identifying under-the-radar moves that helped Kansas City get here is a pretty difficult task. We’re going to attempt it nonetheless, obviously.

Hiring Steve Spagnuolo in 2019

Through the early part of the Andy Reid era, the Chiefs mostly did not have very good defenses. And in 2018, when Mahomes took the league by storm, throwing for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns during his debut season as a starter, the defense finished the season 31st in yards allowed, 24th in points allowed, 31st in yards per play, 28th in points per drive. … you get it. It was a bad unit under former defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. Then the Chiefs hired Spags to be their defensive coordinator, and the rest is history. 

The defense hasn’t been elite every year, but by the end of the season it has always rounded into contender shape. And because of his ability to design bespoke game plans, it has typically been even better in the playoffs. This season has been the crowning achievement (thus far) for Spagnuolo’s unit, with the Chiefs playing like a top five defense for almost the entire season and last week putting together probably their best performance of the year in holding Lamar Jackson and Co. to just 10 points. Other than drafting Mahomes, there might not be a more important move this team has made in the last seven years.

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Author : Jared Dubin

Publish date : 2024-02-04 18:54:49

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