Chiefs' Pass Rush Dominates Jaguars - How They Did It

The Chiefs pass rush was excellent vs the Jaguars and it came from a variety of different methods.

Through two games this season, the Kansas City Chiefs defense has been the talk of the town, and that narrative only got stronger after the performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. All three levels of the defense have contributed and deserve their time in the sun and they’ve done so in various different ways. After the most recent game against the Jaguars, it seems most fitting to take a dive into the pass rush the Chiefs have been able to cook up.

Chris Jones return for this game clearly played a huge factor in the Chiefs’ pass rush success but it’s not as if they were struggling beforehand. Against the Lions the Chiefs saw only 12 “True Pass Sets” - drop-back pass plays with a time to throw between 2 and 4 seconds - and recorded 8 pressures. That doesn’t mean they recorded a pressure on 67% of the drop-backs as multiple player scan create pressure on the same play but it’s still a good mark.

With the addition of Chris Jones, the Chiefs’ saw 20 True Pass Sets against the Jaguars and recorded a total of 14 pressures. Again, that’s not a pressure rate of 70% but still a great mark - for comparison, the Jaguars recorded 5 pressures on 18 True Pass Sets against the Chiefs. As many would expect, Chris Jones led the way with 6 pressures in these scenarios but that isn’t the interesting part. What I wanted to focus on this week was not only how the Chiefs were scheming up some of these Chris Jones pressures but how they were getting others in on the party at the quarterback so consistently.

The Chiefs Pass Rush

First things first, we have to talk about why we focus on True Pass Sets (TPS) and why it’s not the only thing that matters. The emphasis is on TPS because by removing plays like screens, play-action, and immediate throws we get a better since of how the actual pass rush is performing. One any one of those plays a defender could quickly defeat a pass block but still have zero impact on the play. By limiting the plays with certain criteria we focus entirely on plays in which there was “time” for a pass rusher to do defeat the opposing player and not still lose out to the scheme.

With that said, pressure on not TPS still exist and can often have a major impact. Take for example Leo Chenal in this game. He had 4 total pressures but only 1 on a TPS. That’s still an incredibly valuable 4 pressures as it creates a level of anxiety in the opposing QB that can not only blow-up that play but play a role in a later play that isn’t considered a TPS. The Chiefs’ 10 pressures on non-TPS still impacted the game significantly but looking at TPS pressure rate is probably a better indicator of high level individual play. Now, moving on to why the Chiefs pass rush was so successful.

The Complimentary Rush

This George Karlaftis sack came early in the game but it was exactly what the Chiefs were showcasing against the Lions before Chris Jones came back. It’s a perfect example of a complimentary pass-rush with everyone maintaining rush-lane integrity and executing a high-low rush attack. First note that Chris Jones is already aligned out wide as a defensive end, a matchup the Chiefs’ seemed to favor in this game against Anton Harrison a rookie right tackle.