Denver Broncos defense vs. Kansas City Chiefs offense
The Kansas City Chiefs look to be returning almost the entire offense from last season’s Super Bowl-winning squad.
Andy Reid has adapted his offensive scheme to fit nicely with today’s quarterback. The scheme utilizes a hybrid of the college spread style and traditional professional style offenses. But in all actuality, Reid runs a more college-style, right down to the dual-threat quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Reid utilizes simple concepts with a ton of window dressing (i.e. motion, jet sweeps, and run/pass options). Reid is a master at setting up plays, and you have to assume each play is getting your eyes fixed on something so he can counter later in the game.
Coupling exotic looks along with a mobile quarterback, the Chiefs utilize their speed to eventually find holes in zone coverage or create separation in man.
As the Chiefs are a well below-average rushing offense, the Broncos must be prepared to stop the half-a-billion-dollar man, easier said than done I know.
Man concepts against the Cheifs only work with enormous amounts of pressure coupled with containment. With a solid offensive line and a magician at QB getting home with sellout blitzes (ala the Wade Phillips years) can be impossible to do consistently.
The Broncos’ lack of speed in the secondary reduces the effectiveness of man and should be used only when significant pressure looks are needed.
Fangio would be wise to not bring pressure consistently throughout the game, utilizing a 4-man rush as much as possible.
On defense, the Broncos need to win their one to one matchups upfront, and they have the personnel to do it. Assuming the Broncos run nickel (5 defensive backs), which they will most of the time versus the Chiefs, the Broncos have individual talents that can win up front.
This is especially true now with the addition of Casey (see the Tennesee game versus Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the 2019 playoffs).
Ideally, the Broncos are lining up with Miller and Chubb on the outside, Harris, and Casey on the inside. But, all four of their starting nickel rushers show the ability to rush from different spots on the line, providing Fangio an array of options to get the matchup he wants.
Utilizing zone concepts allows the Broncos to keep the Chiefs weapons in front of them and allocate more resources to each receiver per play.
To maximize pressure, the Broncos must utilize stunt games up front to ensure players like Casey and Shelby Harris are free one-on-one.
The Cheifs line is stout, so the Broncos will need to maximize the better matchups inside.
The Broncos can utilize a TAN stunt to get Harris and Casey into favorable matchups while allowing Miller and Chubb to prioritize containment.
In a TAN Stunt, the defensive tackle creates movement first and works to cross the face of the guard and hit the center/guard gap, a NUT stunt calls for the nose tackle to go first.
Regardless of the language of the call, these twist games can create issues both against slide or man protection calls.
When predetermining the loop of either defensive tackle, the two-man inside twist can create havoc and provides opportunities to push the pocket quickly.
The key is, the rush has to get home or force early throws. If the stunt doesn’t land home, Mahomes can have widened throwing lanes and or escape routes to pick up easy yards.
The Broncos can utilize a more read-based twist designed to keep Mahomes in front of them. This gap-focused approach identifies rush lanes by the movement of the offensive line, usually starting with the center out.
This approach takes longer and maybe a good mix to throw in, creating different rush types like changing baseball pitchers change velocity. You hope this approach gives Mahomes different things to think about leading to an error and an errant throw or untimely sack.
Though the task of stopping the Chiefs is tough, the Broncos must continue to create ways to get to Mahomes.
Now, drawing it up and executing it against this team is a whole different story. We shall see how Fangio defends Reid in his second year at the helm.