Nobody knows how to close a playoff game quite like Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
When Bills quarterback Josh Allen was staring down fourth-and-5 in the AFC championship game, he and the offense had what they thought was the perfect play call. This play had an answer for almost anything the Kansas City defense could throw at Buffalo: an empty backfield to spread the defense out, a motion to identify whether the defense was in man or zone coverage, a condensed formation to create traffic and confusion for underneath defenders, and multiple crossing routes to force a tackle against moving targets.
Against almost any other defense, Buffalo’s play call would have moved the chains, but Allen’s season was effectively over before he even finished his dropback thanks to a masterfully designed blitz from Spags. Allen rushed backward before the pressure forced him to launch a prayer to tight end Dalton Kincaid, who couldn’t come up with the diving, change-of-direction catch. That play punched Kansas City’s ticket to the Super Bowl and further cemented Spagnuolo as this era’s preeminent defensive play caller.
“It’s always nice when it works,” Spagnuolo said with a sheepish grin during media availability in advance of Super Bowl LIX. On the doorstep of a three-peat and NFL history, Spagnuolo shrugs off the weight of the play or the suggestion that he masterfully orchestrated this defense to come through when the pressure is highest.
The self-assurance from Spagnuolo and Kansas City’s defensive unit comes along with their success, and all it takes is a brief look at television or social media to see the anxiety his blitzes cause the rest of the football world. Analysts and former players can’t agree on what, if anything, opposing offenses can do to beat Spags. There’s no consensus on what went wrong in the past or what offenses should do differently, and that’s exactly the kind of chaos that makes Spagnuolo’s scheme unique.
Spagnuolo’s aggressive approach to defense isn’t a new tenet of his play calling style; it’s the way he cut his teeth in the NFL. Spagnuolo started his career in the late ’90s as a position coach under former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, whose defenses were hailed for how often and effectively they attacked their opponents, and Johnson influenced a host of future defensive coordinators: Ron Rivera, Leslie Frazier, Sean McDermott, and Spagnuolo.
“[Johnson] was convicted about what he was going to do scheme-wise,” Spagnuolo said during media availability on Wednesday, “and never really deterred from that no matter what happened.” That kind of conviction is clear in Spagnuolo’s defenses too, even as he’s taken the core philosophies of Johnson’s defense and tweaked them over the years to fit changes in his personnel and ever-evolving offensive schemes.
In New York, Spagnuolo won a Super Bowl with a four-man rush featuring stars Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck. Since taking over in Kansas City in 2019, he’s leaned on the versatility of his defensive backs to great effect, with the Chiefs playing the second-most snaps with six or more defensive backs on the field leaguewide. Spagnuolo’s safeties do the heavy lifting in his defense, allowing him to maintain matchup advantages in coverage and hide where blitzes might be coming from.
“I’ll give credit to [Chiefs safety] Justin Reid—he’s the one that moves around the most for us,” said safeties coach Donald D’Alesio. “It takes a very smart guy, a football-savvy guy, to play [all] those positions. He does a lot of dirty work for us that some people may not see.”
Reid is one of the first guys I’m looking for any time I’m watching Kansas City’s defense on film. Per Next Gen Stats, this season he had 525 snaps at free safety and 302 as a slot defender or linebacker—and opposing offenses have to be on alert when he’s lined up closer to the ball pre-snap. In the clip below, Reid is effectively playing inside linebacker in Kansas City’s dime packages, occupying the 49ers right guard to open up a rushing lane for teammate Trent McDuffie.
Reid’s skill set brings Spagnuolo’s defense to life, and in turn, Spagnuolo’s defense has changed the trajectory of Reid’s career. When Reid left Houston for Kansas City, there were questions about whether he could get back to playing like the promising young safety he was in the first two years of his career. Not only has Reid bounced back with 194 solo tackles, 23 deflections, and three interceptions since joining the Chiefs in 2022, but his commitment to the “dirty work” makes his versatility valuable even when he isn’t the one making plays (he has no sacks and just three quarterback hits on his 53 pass rushing opportunities this season). Plus, his leadership helps fast-track the development of his younger teammates who haven’t previously played in a defense that puts so much on players’ plates.
“I really enjoy the teaching aspect of it,” Reid said at the Super Bowl’s opening-night event. “I invite guys over to my house to get on the whiteboard and draw things up.” Throughout this week, Kansas City’s defensive unit has made it clear that the vast possibilities for coverage schemes and blitzes in Spagnuolo’s defense can be daunting, and taking on the challenge of learning them all is a point of pride for players and coaches alike.
“Every [player] probably says it’s a little overwhelming at first, and I was in those shoes too as a coach,” D’Alesio, who joined the Chiefs in 2021, admitted. “The way Coach Spags does his install, everything is thrown at you, and then it starts to ease week by week.” And as players gain a better grasp of all the ways Spagnuolo can attack an offense, the Chiefs build confidence in executing the scheme, and the coaches find more ways to employ effective strategies by moving players all over the field.
The blitz that ended Buffalo’s season is a perfect example of how well Spagnuolo and his staff prepare their players throughout the season. If you watch the tape, you’ll find that exact blitz in obvious passing situations across multiple games. When you watch the clips below, you’ll see McDuffie get through as an unblocked rusher against the Raiders and Jaylen Watson do the same against the Falcons.
“We tell the guys, ‘Every one of you sitting in this room could be any of these four guys in this pressure,’” D’Alesio said. “It’s a testament to our guys and the trust we have.”
With all those moving parts on the back end, it’s not a surprise that it takes time for Kansas City’s players to get a grasp on the defense—and playing that way’s not for everybody. Linebacker Drue Tranquill, who joined the Chiefs last season, said he didn’t feel like he really had things down until this season, once his role became a little more defined. “There was a lot of position stuff I had to do last year, whether it was playing Mike, playing Buck, learning Sam,” he said. “This year there’s been a little more stability, and that stability has certainly helped in terms of understanding the intricacies of each position.” Tranquill being locked into a more defined role isn’t a demerit against him; it’s evidence that Spagnuolo and his staff keep their finger on the pulse of the team. Tranquill’s total tackles and run stuff numbers increased this season compared to last, and he’s another player in this defense who executes at a high level on blitzes, often working in tandem with Nick Bolton to cause conflict for interior offensive linemen.
“They look at [learning this scheme] as having a little fun and being able to implement their individual personalities in the defense,” said Chiefs linebackers coach Rod Wilson. That statement is true of Spagnuolo, as well. With a half decade of great defense in Kansas City under his belt, there’s no blitz Spagnuolo can call or coverage he can design that would shake the confidence of his players and staff. He’s proved himself in playoff situations dozens of times over, and there’s been zero doubt about his unit in the team’s pursuit of a third straight championship—even though this season’s defense wasn’t as dominant in the regular season.
With another Lombardi Trophy on the line, we can expect that Spagnuolo will have the right call in the right situation to put maximum stress on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and the rest of Philadelphia’s offense. If those blitzes get home, Kansas City will hoist the Lombardi again, and Spagnuolo should go down as one of the NFL’s greatest defensive minds of all time—and perhaps push the Pro Football Hall of Fame toward inducting coordinators.
