The Kansas City Chiefs lost their first game of the season in Week 7, 20-3, to the Seattle Seahawks.
Let’s look at one thing that went well and two things that didn’t in the game:
Mansoor Delane in a trail position
The Chiefs have few bright spots on offense, defense, or special teams. However, I think rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane deserves credit for playing a very good game overall.
Going back to his film at LSU, one of Delane’s best skills is his ability to win in trail position. Delane doesn’t often get behind a play, but that can happen occasionally as a cornerback, depending on your move.
The Chiefs are in a Cover 1 bracket here, bracketed by wide receiver Jaxon-Smith Ngijba with a top safety. Delane is on the outside, with help in the middle. Delane gets about a step behind the wide receiver, but he closes that space and blocks his arm to break up the pass. Delane’s recovery speed is excellent, and he does a good job of getting the ball out with late hands.
The Chiefs sent a blitz this time with a Cover 2 man coverage call behind it, putting Delane inside with leverage. He realizes Smith-Njigba is trying to move Delane to the outside so he can get inside to position on the slant, but Delane sits it all out and boxes Smith-Njigba from inside positioning.
Delane covers Smith-Njigba on both routes as he goes to the sideline, but honestly, that’s not bad coverage. Smith-Njigba is the best receiver in the NFL, and Delane had to cover him one-on-one in a two-way go. Most men lose there. Because Smith-Njigba is so good in the middle of the field, Delane has to worry about not letting Smith-Njigba cross his face, allowing him to get downfield. Delane is still in a good position and tries to knock the ball down; the throws and catches are just better. You will cover this range every time.
L’Jarius Sneed playing man coverage in the slot
L’Jarius Sneed resigned this offseason to provide cornerback depth, but since the Chiefs didn’t know who would start in the slot, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo opted to go with the veteran Sneed.
Sneed began his career in the slot, and his physicality and blitzing made him a perfect fit for that position. Sneed played well from the slot against the Denver Broncos in Week 1, but since then, he’s been a total liability in coverage. Sneed’s snaps also slowly decreased, with just 14 against Seattle and almost none after halftime.
Despite playing just 14 snaps, Sneed’s play with the Chiefs was hurt. At this stage of his career, he can’t cover man-to-man anymore, and Seattle knows it. The veteran allowed 83 yards on five receptions in the first half alone, according to Sumer Sports. Farzin Vousoughian in X noted that Sneed also allowed the most receptions in the NFL this season and the fourth most receiving yards (378).
The Chiefs run Cover 2 man coverage again, with Sneed bluffing the blitz and dropping into coverage. Sneed has inside positioning on Smith-Njigba, so a slant shouldn’t cross his face. But Sneed’s footwork and change of direction were slower than before, leaving him flat-footed when Smith-Njigba ran inside. He has no chance to recover, and this becomes the first down.
Another play where Sneed clicks slowly and closes on a slant, and the receiver easily crosses his face. It’s a losing theme, especially on third down; site manager Ron Kopp Jr. a few more plays where Sneed lost earlier this week.
Sneed will no longer be able to play in the slot. If he plays, he needs to play outside, where he has a better chance of defending vertical routes. Move Delane into the slot if necessary. I’ll either play Chris Rolland-Wallace, and I’ll play Jaden Hicks on the Dime over Sneed or kick Delane inside and Sneed to the boundary.
The most frustrating part of this game was that the Chiefs pass rush did nothing against a shaky Seattle offensive line. The Chiefs finished with no sacks and only one player hit Darnold (George Karlaftis had two quarterback hits, each Pro Football Reference).
Watching the game back, the thing that stands out is that the Chiefs had no inside pressure in this game. Sam Darnold didn’t have to throw a muddy pocket. He was free to get out to avoid R Mason Thomas and George Karaftis on the sideline.
The statistics back this up. Chris Jones finished this game with no pressure. Peter Woods is under no pressure. Khyris Tonga had one and Felix Anudike-Uzomah had two to lead their interior pass rush. The 250 lb edge player.
The issue is, this has happened all year. Jones has 13 pressures in six games. That’s a low price for a player like Jones. Jones had just 18 in six games to start last year and then turned it on when the season was desperate. But he is not good this year. It seems more difficult for him to climb and turn in the fast corners he used to be good at.
Woods also has no juice as a pass rusher this year. He has two pressures all year and has a 2.3% pressure rate. The Chiefs put Anudike-Uzomah on the field on third down with Woods as Woods struggled to get any pressure.
The issue here is that the Chiefs defensive ends aren’t good enough to rush inside. Anudike-Uzomah is 250 lbs and struggles to move guards back. Ashton Gillotte had a chance to do that in this game and it wasn’t pretty. You want Thomas and Karlaftis to run on the side because they are good at that. But without any inside pressure, you allow quarterbacks to freely step into the pocket and hit receivers. The Chiefs need their defensive tackles to play better for this to be a good defense.