Introduction into Steve Spagnuolo's vaunted pressure packages
The Chiefs have found great success with the blitz over the years, can the trend continue?
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The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the more aggressive teams in terms of blitz percentage over the past couple seasons and that trend may only continue in 2021. The Chiefs have finished in the top 10 in terms of blitz - five or more rushers - percentage in each of the past two seasons and that number would appear to be on the rise.
In 2020, the Chiefs ability to pressure the quarterback only rushing their four defensive linemen took a significant step back compared to the two prior seasons. To help cure the lack of pressure issue the Chiefs defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, had to dig into his bag of tricks and rely on blitzing the opposing QB more than he had in the past. While Spagnuolo had been known as a risk taking, aggressive defensive coordinator, his coaching career was often built on the back of dominant defensive lines.
Spagnuolo has always had a well developed pressure package and has never shied away from dialing them at any given time but there was never a reason to rely upon that bag of tricks. That changed down the stretch in 2020 and Spagnuolo was not only able to meet that challenge head on but also thrive. Throughout the rest of this offseason, we are going to go on a journey through the pressure packages that Steve Spagnuolo has built into this Chiefs defense and why it may not be just a flash in the pan.
Spagnuolo’s Pressure Packages
This is just the introduction to one of the most complicated parts of football. We are going to get very lightly familiar with some of the blitzing concepts, ideologies, and rules that the Chiefs have been practicing the last few seasons and why they have been incredibly successful.
The first thing that comes to mind with Steve Spagnuolo’s pressure portfolio is the high use of Cover 0 - an all out blitz with only players in direct one on one coverage not rushing the QB - and that’s where this had to kick off. This particular blitz has been referred to as “Key 0” in Spagnuolo’s coaching tree and the significant takeaway is just how often the Chiefs ran this play last year.
In just their three playoff games alone, the Chiefs ran a variation of Key 0 at least seven times. To make it even more fun, that isn’t the Chiefs only man-coverage Cover 0 blitz in the arsenal, just the most preferred one. There will be more time down the line to dive all the way into these Cover 0 blitzes but this one does a premium example of showcasing the detail of Spagnuolo from pre-snap alignment, to DL rush angles, and which players are actually coming after the QB.
Man blitz
While the preferred coverage for the Chiefs under Steve Spagnuolo has been a version of match-quarters coverage, he has begun trending heavily towards man coverage shells behind his blitzes. Part of that has to be attributed to his versatile defensive back room but it also appears he is preying on the NFL’s surge into the quick passing game.
Lead plays like the video at the top often garner the most attention. The exotic nature, the eye candy, and the confusion the alignment creates followed by a horde of defenders coming at the QB is flashy and effective. Telegraphed, single player blitzes with quality coverage behind it can be just as effective.
Spagnuolo doesn’t often send just five defenders but he will at times and it’s the execution that allows it to excel. Unlike the Cover 0 blitz above in which there are more defenders than blockers, on this Backer 1Y call the offense has plenty of blockers to pick up the blitz but the execution is just fantastic for the Chiefs.
The sleight feint up into the line of scrimmage by the WILL LB/Dime defenders pulls the eyes of the OG up and allows the stunt between the MIKE LB and DE to generate pressure through the B-gap. It’s the attention to detail oozing from this play that makes such a simple looking blitz so effective, and one can only imagine what it looks like as Spags digs deeper into his bag of tricks with that level of nuance.
Zone blitz
It’s not as common in Spagnuolo’s playbook as it used to be but he will still mix in zone blitzes from time to time. Most of the time there will be a match-zone shell over the top in which it almost plays out like man coverage rather than the traditional Fire Zone, spot drop plays that riddled the NFL through 90’s and 2000’s.
This is an example of how the Chiefs still found a way to utilize the zone blitz in specific situations. Overloading the weakside of the offense but also bringing the Nickle Back off the strong side creates a sense of urgency and necessity to find the “hot read” for the QB. The offense will never be able to block all of the defenders and are being forced to work to only one half of the field.
The next wrinkle is having the strong side DE play into the OT and then drop back into a shallow hook zone to help create a box around the three wide receivers. A screen play ends up as the play call that runs directly into the dropping DE but the pressure is also barreling down on the QB instantly from multiple angles.
The man blitzes appear to be the high volume move while the zone blitz is a more targeted, selective call. This allows the Chiefs to dial them up in specific situations and manipulate offenses at an even higher level on these particular play calls.
Wrapping it up
With these three plays, the surface has just been scratched with what Steve Spagnuolo likes to do and has been able to accomplish by creating pressure on opposing QBs. These plays all seem incredibly different but some of the same general ideologies are present in every play. There is an overload to a specific side of the offense, whether real or faux. There is an exchange of rush gaps/lanes that reduce the QB’s ability to escape the pressure from traditional escape routes. The pressure is pushing a QB into trying to attack the strength of the coverage of that particular play call.
It shows a certain level of command of not only his own defense but the opposing offense and how they may be trying to attack. As the offseason continues to roll on, I look forward to diving deeper into Spagnuolo’s pressure package and detailing how he’s able to make various types of pressures work that stem from the same ideology.
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