The Athletic has live coverage of Chiefs vs Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, and Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance.
NEW ORLEANS — Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie is one of the NFL’s best coverage defenders, a player who can stay step-for-step with the best receivers. Most of the time, though, McDuffie’s favorite moment in a game comes when he doesn’t start the play backpedaling.
As the linebacker with the green dot on his helmet, Nick Bolton gets the play calls from defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo transmitted in his ear and relays them to his teammates. Bolton loves when he realizes — before his teammates know — that the Chiefs defense is about to go on the offensive.
Justin Reid, the Chiefs’ all-everything safety, reminds himself of a short message just before the defense blitzes the opposing quarterback.
“The only thought is, ‘Don’t be late,’” Reid said, smiling. “You don’t want to hang those guys covering out to dry.”
A sequence of details in the final minute of the Chiefs’ most recent game, a win over the Buffalo Bills, is part of why the team will play in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday. The Chiefs defense, led by Spagnuolo, is most known for its bold, exotic blitzes — especially in the biggest moments of postseason games. The Chiefs, who are aiming to beat the Philadelphia Eagles to become the first NFL team to capture an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory, have won nine consecutive playoff games. Each of those nine wins featured a successful Chiefs blitz at a critical time.
“Throughout the whole game, he plays the chess match with the offense,” safeties coach Donald D’Alesio said of Spagnuolo. “I’m showing this (play) to set up this (blitz) later in the game. Or I’m showing this to hope later in the game they slide (the pass protection) that way and we get the blitz coming the other way.”
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That’s exactly what happened with two minutes left in the AFC Championship Game against the Bills. The Chiefs defense, trying to protect a three-point lead, put the Bills offense in a pressurized fourth-and-5 snap.
Spagnuolo poured over his play sheet during the two-minute warning to find just the right blitz, one he hoped would surprise quarterback Josh Allen.
“I said to myself, ‘We haven’t run it yet, so let’s run something we haven’t run yet,’” Spagnuolo said of his boldest blitz this season. “It was on the list. It could’ve been on a third-down call. It was one of three or four (play calls).”
McDuffie blitzed from the perimeter, leading to immediate pressure on Allen, who was forced into a rushed deep passing attempt.
“I always tell people I have the biggest smile on my face when I’m blitzing,” McDuffie said, smiling.
The Chiefs make the stop on fourth down!
📺: #BUFvsKC on CBS
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/s4rXNURB3z— NFL (@NFL) January 27, 2025
Allen’s pass fell incomplete when tight end Dalton Kincaid failed to make a diving catch, surrounded by defenders. It was the Bills’ last offensive play of the season.
“I’ve got confidence in Spags,” coach Andy Reid said. “In certain situations, I don’t have to run over to him and go, ‘Hey, let’s not do that or this.’ I have enough confidence in him and been around him long enough to know he’s going to make the right call for the right time.”
Before the unit unveils its next attack, one the Chiefs hope to use to frustrate Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, here’s a recap of the 10 most important blitzes Spagnuolo and his players have unleashed to outwit their opponents to help Kansas City become the NFL’s newest dynasty.
Jacksonville (2022 divisional round)
The situation: Chiefs leading 27-17, fourth quarter, 3:55 left, second-and-6 from midfield
The blitzers: Reid and safety Bryan Cook
Unsung hero: pass rusher Chris Jones
Although it was Bolton’s fourth career postseason game, he was still sometimes nervous or anxious with Spagnuolo calling a blitz for a significant moment in the fourth quarter. Bolton knew the Chiefs could give up a long completion to the Jaguars if Reid or Cook didn’t hit Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
“There’s a couple of blitzes where you’re like, ‘Uh, I don’t know…’” Bolton said, laughing. “You look at the formation and they could block it or they have people to block it — or maybe they can get the ball out quick, like a screen alert. You don’t really know until you see the result of the play.”
Bolton was technically correct about this blitz: The Jaguars had enough blockers (six) to block each of the Chiefs’ six blitzers. But the Jaguars still had two interior linemen assigned to Jones, the Chiefs’ best defensive player. Jones occupied two linemen in the middle of the field, which allowed Reid to sprint untouched through the B gap, leading him to hit Lawrence as he released an intermediate pass.
The pressure influenced Lawrence’s pass, which was intercepted by cornerback Jaylen Watson, who made a one-handed catch.
OH MY GOODNESS @JAYLENWATSON12 pic.twitter.com/v4UrSL7CEK
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 22, 2023
Cincinnati (2022 AFC Championship Game)
The situation: Tied 20-20, fourth quarter, 7:08 left, second-and-3 from the Bengals’ 36
The blitzers: McDuffie and linebacker Darius Harris
Unsung hero: cornerback Joshua Williams
The Bengals began the drive looking to take their first lead of the game.
The Chiefs appeared to be in zone coverage pre-snap, but Spagnuolo tested the Bengals’ offensive line and running back Samaje Perine to see if they could win each of the six one-on-one blocks. Indeed, the Bengals — in a rarity that night — succeeded and gave quarterback Joe Burrow enough time to find a favorable one-on-one matchup: receiver Ja’Marr Chase running a 15-yard corner route against Williams.
The play ended in an incompletion because Williams stayed close enough to Chase that the ball fell to the turf down near the Chiefs’ sideline.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces,” Spagnuolo said. “Everybody gets focused on the guys that are actually coming. But the guys on the back end that are taking things away so the quarterback can’t get (the ball) out of his hands (quickly) are just as important.”
On the next play, Burrow attempted a deep pass to receiver Tee Higgins, who was double-covered by Cook and Williams. Cook located the ball and deflected the pass up and away from Higgins. The ball landed in Williams’ hands for a timely interception.
Rookie DBs Bryan Cook & Joshua Williams came up big for the @Chiefs 🙌@Pepsi | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/XdPSWGfa51
— NFL (@NFL) February 2, 2023
Philadelphia (2022 Super Bowl)
The situation: Chiefs leading 28-27, fourth quarter, 10:40 left, third-and-3 from Eagles’ 32
The blitzers: McDuffie and linebacker Willie Gay
Unsung hero: Jones
With the Chiefs clinging to a one-point lead, Spagnuolo wanted to force the Eagles to punt after a three-and-out. He called a blitz he felt would work against a run or a pass. He was right. Hurts did a run-pass option fake, which gave McDuffie and Gay plenty of time to generate immediate pressure from both sides of the Eagles’ formation.
Jones forced Hurts to escape the pocket, too, beating a double team against two interior linemen. With none of his three receivers open, Hurts threw the ball out of bounds.
On the next play, Kadarius Toney returned the Eagles’ punt a Super Bowl-record 65 yards to set up a touchdown.
Miami (2023 wild-card round)
The situation: Chiefs leading 26-7, fourth quarter, 7:27 left, first-and-1o from the Chiefs’ 25
The blitzers: Reid and Gay
Unsung hero: cornerback L’Jarius Sneed
Although the Chiefs were up 19 points, Spagnuolo wanted to stop the Dolphins from building any momentum with a touchdown. He hadn’t blitzed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa much to that point in a game that started with a temperature of minus-4, the fourth-coldest game in NFL history.
The Dolphins did not score because Spagnuolo called one of Reid’s favorite blitzes.
“There’s one where I get to blitz the A gap and we disguise it like I’m not even coming at all or like I’m (more) coming off the edge,” Reid said. “At the last moment, we get to run over the center and we’ve got some twist (with defensive linemen) happening and you have a corner coming, too. Usually, somebody gets home.”
When the Dolphins showed their formation before the snap, Tagovailoa had three receivers on the right side. Tyreek Hill was the closest to the offensive line. Across from Hill was Reid, giving the impression that he would be the defender in man coverage. But just before the snap, Reid timed his blitz toward the A gap with McDuffie moving to cover Hill.
Tagovailoa then made an ill-advised decision: He targeted Hill, who was double-covered, on a deep pass. Sneed broke up the pass in the end zone.
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Buffalo (2023 divisional round)
The situation: Chiefs leading 27-24, fourth quarter, 13:38 left, second-and-2 from the Bills’ 33
The blitzer: linebacker Drue Tranquill
Unsung hero: Reid
Spagnuolo rarely blitzed Allen in this one, the Chiefs’ first road playoff game in the Patrick Mahomes era.
The Bills were hoping to retake the lead when the Chiefs employed one of their best run blitzes. Before the snap, Reid moved forward, suggesting to the offensive line that he could blitz. Reid wanted the Bills to see that. The Bills responded by having their left tackle take responsibility for blocking Reid. The Bills, though, didn’t know that Tranquill, in the middle of the field, was going to blitz from the A gap. Unaccounted for, Tranquill tackled running back James Cook for a 3-yard loss.
Two plays later, the Bills turned the ball over to the Chiefs on a failed fake punt.
“The players have confidence in their (assistant) coaches and Spags,” Andy Reid said. “They want to learn the system, that’s a tough system. You have to really stay focused during the meetings, you have to detail it at practice, you have to detail the walkthroughs that you do. Then, most of all, you have to execute it on game day.”
Baltimore (2023 AFC Championship Game)
The situation: Chiefs leading 17-7, fourth quarter, 15:00 left, second-and-8 from the Chiefs’ 9
The blitzers: Tranquill, Bolton and Reid
Unsung hero: Sneed
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made the right decision in the red zone when he noticed the Chiefs’ Cover 0 blitz: he identified that receiver Zay Flowers was open on a slant route for an easy, short completion.
“It goes back to Coach Spags just trusting us,” McDuffie said. “When you blitz, there’s some holes in the defense and some guys may be put in awkward situations.”
Flowers made the reception in front of Sneed, who was trailing in coverage. But as Flowers sprinted toward the end zone, he dived, extending the ball toward the goal line. Sneed, with perfect timing, knocked the ball out of Flowers’ hands. The ball bounced into the end zone, where McDuffie recovered it.
Sneed’s momentum-halting highlight dropped the Ravens’ win probability from 28.3 percent to 13.5 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.
“I’m just thankful, man,” Sneed said. “I just punched the ball out. We practice that every week.”
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, L’JARIUS SNEED!!! pic.twitter.com/rHw8hcuUgG
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 28, 2024
San Francisco (2023 Super Bowl)
The situation: Tied 16-16, fourth quarter, 2:00 left, third-and-5 from the Chiefs’ 35
The blitzers: McDuffie and safety Chamarri Conner
Unsung hero: pass rusher Chris Jones
Every Friday in practice, the Chiefs go through end-of-game scenarios — such as five seconds and the opposing offense has one timeout or 20 seconds left and is trying to get a few more yards to get into field goal range to win the game.
“It may not come up that Sunday in the game, but it’s going to come up (maybe) three weeks down the road,” D’Alesio said. “We’re just always kind of prepared for that moment.”
After the two-minute warning in last year’s Super Bowl, Spagnuolo called one of his favorite six-man blitzes. McDuffie, who lined up in the slot, appeared to be in a matchup with receiver Brandon Aiyuk before the ball was snapped.
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When quarterback Brock Purdy dropped his eyes to receive the shotgun snap, McDuffie sprinted toward him, his body directly in the passing lane where Purdy wanted to throw a short pass to Aiyuk, who ran a slant route.
McDuffie got a hand on the pass, which fell incomplete.
Purdy couldn’t even try passing to tight end George Kittle, who lined up in the backfield, because Connor’s blitz forced Kittle to block in pass protection
“Trent has a great feel and it’s so hard to coach,” D’Alesio said. “You try to coach people to time it up the right way, not giving it away too early or with your body language. Trent is just such a smooth guy. He has that feel.”
On 3rd & 5 with two minutes left in regulation, the Chiefs defense came out with 7 defensive backs on the field.
Trent McDuffie generated his 16th unblocked pressure of the season (including playoffs), five more than any other defensive back.#SuperBowlLVIII | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/dwwNJYG57O
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 12, 2024
The situation: Tied 19-19, overtime, 7:29 left, third-and-4 from the Chiefs’ 9
The blitzers: Bolton and Reid
Unsung hero: Jones
Coach Kyle Shanahan made an interesting decision when the 49ers won the coin toss before the start of overtime. He decided to have the 49ers take the ball first. The mission for the Chiefs defense was simple: Just don’t surrender a touchdown.
For their final defensive play of the season, Spagnuolo broke his play-calling tendency: The Chiefs surprised Purdy with a Cover 0 blitz.
Before the ball was snapped on third-and-5, Spagnuolo matched his best cornerbacks, McDuffie and Sneed, on Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, the 49ers’ best receivers. Shanahan made a small concession: He had running back Christian McCaffrey motion from right to left across the formation before chip-blocking for Purdy.
The secondary — including McDuffie, Conner and safety Mike Edwards — covered the 49ers’ skill-position players just long enough for Jones to get to Purdy, who threw an incompletion.
After the play, two of the 49ers linemen argued as to which of them should’ve blocked Jones.
“Usually, it’s dictated by what we’ve seen on tape protection-wise,” Spagnuolo said of his blitzes. “When I first got in this league, there weren’t that many (pass) protections — and you could kind of dictate it even better. Now offensive coaches do a good job of taking things away.
“Sometimes you think they’re going to protect (the quarterback) a certain way and they don’t. When they do and you get a free runner (at the quarterback), that’s what we’re always looking for.”
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is at his best in the most critical moments, and so is his defense. (David Eulitt / Getty Images)
Houston (2024 divisional round)
The situation: Chiefs leading 20-12, fourth quarter, 10:05 left, fourth-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 40
The blitzers: Bolton and rookie safety Jaden Hicks
Unsung hero: Cook
Protecting an eight-point lead, Spagnuolo anticipated that quarterback C.J. Stroud would need at least three seconds before throwing a pass to allow his receiver to get past the line to gain. He blitzed six defenders, which forced a tight end to block George Karlaftis one-on-one. Karlaftis won his matchup with ease and sacked Stroud.
Stroud couldn’t even try a deep pass because Cook didn’t let any of the Texans’ receivers get behind him for a potential completion.
“Everybody is a piece to a bigger puzzle and everybody has to work together for the puzzle to do what it needs to do,” Cook said. “Something that might seem small matters. If I’m in the post, even if I’m not getting action, (my coverage) still is vital for the (blitz).
“Even though I’m not in the limelight, I never asked to be, too. I came here to play ball and get respect. The coaches appreciate that. That’s all I care about. I’m blessed and appreciative of what we have. I just do my job as best I can.”
DEFENSE WOKE UP HUNGRY TODAY 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/JGw5bKEAHF
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 18, 2025
Buffalo (2024 AFC Championship Game)
The situation: Chiefs leading 32-29, fourth quarter, 2:00 left, fourth-and-5 from the Bills’ 47
The blitzers: McDuffie and Reid
Unsung heroes: Jones and Cook
When he called his game-winning blitz, Spagnuolo knew it would leave an opening on the right side of the Chiefs’ coverage, the area McDuffie attacked from. Allen noticed the Chiefs’ blitz and looked to two receivers, each running a crossing route. But Cook was in the middle of the field, ready to break up a pass or make a tackle to stop the Bills from gaining a first down.
“He gets us in the right position to win games,” Cook said. “He dials them up in critical situations. When the play comes into the huddle, we’re fully confident in what we can do.”
McDuffie and Reid were able to generate immediate pressure on Allen because the offensive line was most concerned with blocking Jones, who lined up across the left tackle.
“Honestly, whenever Coach Spags calls a blitz, I’m usually pretty confident, especially late in the game,” McDuffie said. “You never know what side (of the defense) the blitz is coming from. Guys may say, ‘They’re going to blitz,’ but you don’t know which way it’s coming.
“I heard the O-lineman actually check the protection the other way. Right after that, I was like, ‘We got them.’ It was a good feeling.”
Spags’ shining moment ✨
His disguised blitz call led to a 4th down stop @Chiefs fans will never forget#NFLTurningPoint on ESPN+ with @LRiddickESPN pic.twitter.com/Ja9tqmpPYW
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) January 30, 2025
(Top photo of Trent McDuffie blitzing Brock Purdy in Super Bowl LVIII: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Source: nytimes.com
