The Broncos need an answer for Chris Jones to beat the Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have beaten the Denver Broncos 11 straight times. To prevent a 12th, Fangio and the Broncos defense will need to find a way to slow down Patrick Mahomes. Yesterday I wrote about how such a gameplan will create stress points on other parts of the defense, which means individual matchups along the Broncos front are going to be critical. Unfortunately, nothing the defense does will matter if Pat Shurmur and the Broncos offense can’t move the ball. To do so, they’ll need an answer for the Chiefs best player outside of Mahomes himself: Chris Jones.

If you look at the season long numbers, the Chiefs defense is abysmal. On the year they’re allowing 364 yards per game, the 10th worst mark in the league. They’re also the 26th ranked defense by Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric that adjusts for opponent strength. Dig beneath the surface a little and you’ll notice 2021 has been a tale of two defenses for the Chiefs: they were historically inept through the first five weeks of the season and that played a huge role in Kansas City’s 2-3 start. In the six games since, they’ve created 11 turnovers and limited opponents to 303.5 yards per contest, a mark that’d rank among the three best defenses in the league.

On this week’s Cover 2 Broncos, KC Sports Network’s Craig Stout and I went over the personnel changes that occurred to spur such a momentous improvement, because it isn’t as if Steve Spagnuolo reinvited the egg. Daniel Sorenson’s role was minimized, as he was replaced in the starting lineup by Juan Thornhill. The linebacker corps. has moved to a rotation consisting of Anthony Hitchens, Willie Gay, and rookie Nick Bolton, while Melvin Ingram was acquired before the NFL trade deadline to serve as a pass rush specialist. All these moves made incremental improvements that have added up, but none moved the needle nearly as much as the way Spags changed Chris Jones’ role.

After experimenting with him at five technique early in the campaign, Spagnuolo moved Jones back to his familiar home along the interior defensive line. It’s worked to perfection, as the Chiefs’ best defensive player has looked like a complete game wrecker in the weeks leading up to their bye. Jones’ four and a half sacks since the Chiefs loss to the Tennessee Titans fails to really capture how dominant he’s been. The Dallas Cowboys had no answer for him.

Facing 2nd and two from the Dallas 34, the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore dials up a play action boot for Dak Prescott. The play call makes sense. With only two yards to the sticks, it’s as good a time as any to take a shot towards the goal line. The run action should hold the Kansas City linebackers and the flow away from the action could give Prescott a chance to escape the rush and find someone downfield. The concept fails because Jones immediately sniffs out the play, crosses the right tackles face, and chases Prescott down in the backfield. A four-yard sack sets up third and six, and it’s back to the drawing board for Kellen Moore.

Third and six is an obvious passing down for most NFL offenses, and the Chiefs respond by lining Jones up at the three technique across from the Cowboys’ overmatched left guard. With Jarran Reed and Frank Clark beside him to eat up any potential help, Jones bursts off the snap and forces his way past the guard to Prescott. Dak sees the trouble bearing down and rolls out to his left but can’t reset his feet to get rid of the ball because of pursuit by Clark and Jones. The quarterback sheds a lunging tackle by Clark and flips his hips to get rid of the ball but can’t throw it before Jones strips him. The sideline is the only reason Kansas City doesn’t come away with a turnover.

Take note of the fact Jones moves around. Kansas City won’t hesitate to use him over whatever matchup is most favorable, which means the questions about Dalton Risner’s back and Quinn Meinerz’s knee loom large over the contest. Jones has the quick hands and power to match up with the Broncos’ rookie right guard, as well as the burst and twitch to be a huge problem for Risner because he has the quickness to force an overset before working across. He’s also has the length to give Netane Muti nightmares if Risner can’t play through pain.

The best way to mitigate the damage Jones can do is limit the number of opportunities he has to pin his ears back and rush the passer. He’s so athletic, strong, and savvy that he can be a huge issue for run blockers as well, but there are instances where he’ll play too high, which can make him moveable. Pat Shurmur should make a concentrated effort to establish the run this week so long as the game situation allows for it.

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