Why The Chiefs Lost The Super Bowl: No Edge Formed
This is the start of my miniseries, "Why The Chiefs Lost The Super Bowl". We examine an issue from the Super Bowl and how Kansas City can fix it going into 2021.
This is going to be painful.
When someone is faced with potential pain or memory of pain, they actively want to avoid it. It’s human nature. I fall victim to that as well. That’s especially true in the world of sports, with significant losses.
Kansas City had a significant loss in February, getting demolished in all phases at the Super Bowl. Tampa Bay obliterated them in every category of the game. While I tried my best not to go back and watch that game again, I did. Why? So we can learn. The goal in life and football is to continually get better, and you improve the most off your failures. So, for the next few weeks, we will cover specific aspects of the Super Bowl and why those areas were reasons Kansas City lost the Super Bowl. To start, let’s cover the issues with the run defense. I hope you enjoy this!
Setting The Edge
In the Super Bowl, running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones combined for 28 carries, 150 yards, and one touchdown. Both were dominant on the ground all game, continuously churning out extra yards vs. a reeling Kansas City defense.
This was the under-talked-about from the Super Bowl, in my opinion. Kansas City could not stop the run the entire game, especially in the 2nd half. Tampa Bay was blowing them off the ball every snap, and the running backs weren’t touched until they got to the 2nd level.
When I went back and watched the Super Bowl, I found a clear diagnosis; Kansas City couldn’t set the edge to save their lives. Every defensive end that played in the Super Bowl was horrific in setting the edge. Our slot and box safeties were continually getting sealed, which left large holes to the sideline. Both running backs could get downhill to the sideline and gain a head of steam to take on the cornerback.
On this play, Tampa Bay is running “Duo,” which was their primary run play of the game. Duo is similar to “Power,” but without the puller. The C-G and G-T counter on the playside with Double the defensive tackle in the hole, and whichever player with better leverage will “Deuce” or climb to the 2nd-level to take on the linebacker. The backside tackle backblocks the defensive end, and it’s the job of the tight end and receiver to seal the defensive end and slot defender.
Rob Gronkowski, the best blocking tight end ever, gets an excellent seal on defensive end, Alex Okafor. That defensive end is locked out from setting the edge. The receiver then goes to seal off L’Jarius Sneed, who’s playing in the slot. With both of those blockers sealing the edge off, the running back only has one guy to beat, the cornerback.
This play only went for 8-9 yards, but it reflected what largely happened the entire game. Our defensive ends couldn’t do anything vs. Gronkowski on the edge, and our secondary defenders did nothing getting over the top or slipping blocks. The edges were open the entire game, and Kansas City couldn’t do anything to stop it.
This play isn’t Duo, but a Power play. Ali Marpet, left guard, pulls up the arc to block the cornerback off the edge. But besides that, this play is drawn up similarly to the one above, but with the Buccaneers aligning three tight ends off the right tackle. Again, you see Kansas City’s two edge defenders - Tanoh Kpassagnon and Daniel Sorensen - get sealed completely by the tight ends, and there is no edge set at all. Those guys get good leverage on the outside shoulder, and Fournette runs untouched to the endzone. No linebacker gets over the top as well, but without an edge to force a running back to cut, you can’t do anything vs. that.
Conclusion: What Do We Learn From This?
Run defense is a collective thing for a defense. A defense without great continuity will struggle to stop the run. So it’s difficult analyzing which position defensively is most important to stop the run because each gap being closed is critical to stopping the run.
But having a defense where you can run outside the edges every play is not a successful defense. If teams can run to the sideline all day without cutting back or slowing down, it’s near-impossible to stop. That’s been an issue for Kansas City for two years now. Frank Clark is an elite run defender with his length and power in his hands, but opposite him has been rough. Alex Okafor, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Mike Danna, and others aren’t great run defenders.
Kansas City chose this offseason to address the linebacker issue of their run defense by selecting Nick Bolton instead of drafting an edge rusher. Instead of spending one of those 2nd-round picks on a guy who could come in and set the edge, they went with a linebacker to help alleviate some of their concerns with the run defense. To me, that isn’t necessarily the right strategy. The bigger issues with linebacker for me in the Spagnuolo era come in coverage, not run defense. The biggest problem with the run defense was KC’s leakiness off the edge.
Now, the one new option they have is Chris Jones. If Jones is (as reportedly) going to play more defensive end this season, maybe he’s the answer to the edge problem. He’s got the length and size to set a firm edge, and tight ends are going to have a hard time sealing 280 lbs Chris Jones. With him and Frank Clark, the Chiefs have the potential to have two quality-to-great edge setters, which would fix this run defense.
But, I have to see it first. If Jones isn’t that guy off the edge, Kansas City is just going to have to get better there. Mike Danna did show promise as a run defender at points in 2020. He makes more sense than Alex Okafor to do that because Okafor can’t set an edge anymore. Regardless, Kansas City will need to figure it out, otherwise, this will be a big issue in their attempt to get back to the Super Bowl.