Curious to get CP’s thoughts on our pass rush. There’s been quite a bit of talk about the Chiefs offense and how to address some of the inconsistencies on that side of the ball. One of the biggest areas of concern though has to be our pass rush (or lack thereof).
Chiefs are tied for 27th in the NFL with 19 sacks (on pace for about 32 this season). Last year we finished second in the NFL with 57 sacks. Outside of Chris Jones we don’t have a player that can consistently win one-on-one matchups. It seems like Spags knows his pass rush won’t win rushing 4 so he sent multiple blitzes against the Bills. For the most part (outside of the play where McDuffie forced the throw away) the blitz didn’t work against Buffalo. Bills were also playing with a backup at right tackle but it didn’t matter.
Can Charles Omenihu help? Yes I think so but he’s also coming off a major knee injury so I’m not sure how much he can be counted on this year- probably a limited role. I was optimistic for Josh Uche but Spags only gave him 5 snaps Sunday -I think he’s a liability against the run. FAU hasn’t turned into the player we were hoping for when he was drafted. I like George but he’s more of a high motor, effort guy who can apply pressure but it usually takes longer because he’s not as explosive as some other rushers. Wharton has really cooled off after a nice start. Danna doesn’t give much of anything in the pass rush after getting a $24M contract.
Can Spags scheme up enough of a pass rush in the postseason? Maybe but it becomes more difficult with our issues at cornerback past McDuffie. [Reply]
They have a ton of pressures. They're just not converting them into sacks. I think some of it is that teams are getting the ball out quickly and our DBs aren't sticky enough to stop it. [Reply]
Well part of it too is that last year we had sneed combined with mcduffie so we could leave those guys on an island while we blitz. Since Williams went down, corner play is looser and the QB can find the outlet faster before the rush can hit OR there aren't as many blitzes because Spags can't trust the corners to hold up anymore. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
The pass rush numbers last year were alot of LB's and DB's having sacks IIRC.
It was an issue, similar to the passing game in 2022 had alot of RB TD's and such, and we kinda whistled past the graveyard on it.
Our top 4 leaders in sacks were all defensive linemen- Jones and Karlaftis each with 10.5, Omenihu with 7 and Danna with 6.5. All those guys are trending lower (obviously Omenihu hasn’t played). [Reply]
Originally Posted by louie aguiar:
Our top 4 leaders in sacks were all defensive linemen- Jones and Karlaftis each with 10.5, Omenihu with 7 and Danna with 6.5. All those guys are trending lower (obviously Omenihu hasn’t played).
Losing Sneed, then Watson has really hurt that unit. [Reply]
Omenihu had 6.5 sacks in his last 9 games last year including a big time sack/strip on Lamar. He ended the regular season with at least a .5 sack a game streak.
If that guy is anywhere near the same coming back we are gonna get a huge boost [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
We gotta find an answer for all the easy flats throws we are giving up. Not tackling well enough to just let teams do it all day.
It's been under discussed, but to me, that was the issue against Buffalo. We didn't tackle well at all. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
We gotta find an answer for all the easy flats throws we are giving up. Not tackling well enough to just let teams do it all day.
They had it covered perfectly in the back 7 on the 4th and 2. Spags playcall on that zone look was money.
Karlaftis cannot give up gap integrity like he did. Stay in your gap and that play had a great chance of being stopped. [Reply]
Uche needs to step up and Omenihu needs to come in and play halfway decent. Maybe Jones can get a little rest while we still get pressure and then he can be fresh as the season winds down and the playoffs start. I still think we have a slight hangover from being back-to-back champs and as we get closer to the postseason these guys will wake the hell up. [Reply]
Conventional football mentality has always been to stop the run game and then the pass rush can feast. We've excelled against the run but the sack numbers are very low. Like others said, it probably has to do with easy throws in the flats.
Omenihu coming back will help. Also, Danna was hurt and he's registered 0.5 sacks this year in six games. He had 6.5 last season in sixteen games. [Reply]