Defending the Run out of the Dime

Highlighting one of the keys to the Chiefs' early season defensive success

Steve Spagnuolo loves to utilize his six-defensive back dime defense. It’s where we see some of his most innovative coverage calls and exotic blitzes. The Kansas City Chiefs are at their best when they can get into advantageous down and distances to where they can easily get into the dime. The numbers back up that statement, as the Chiefs dime defense is allowing 3.8 yards per snap — just over a yard per play less than any other grouping that the team regularly utilizes.

This week, Kellen Moore looked at those same numbers and came to the conclusion that more and more offensive coordinators may come to in the future: he needed to keep the Chiefs out of their dime defense. At every opportunity, Moore and the Los Angeles Chargers attempted to play with tempo, preventing the Chiefs from substituting and getting into their preferred formations. It was a terrific strategy that paid off by keeping the Chiefs in their base defense — which has easily been their worst formation this season, more on that in a future article — and away from their most devastating schematic weapons.