5 burning questions the Chiefs must answer in 2019

5. How will the Chiefs’ defense look under Steve Spagnuolo?

The Chiefs’ loss in the AFC Championship game came down to the defense’s inability to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots on offense. A bad penalty from former Chief Dee Ford wiped out a game ending interception, and the Chiefs let New England go right down the field to score the winning touchdown on the first possession of overtime.

That failure cost long time coordinator Bob Sutton his job, with Andy Reid hiring Steve Spagnuolo to run the Kansas City defense. Unlike Sutton, who ran a 3-4 defense in Kansas City, Spagnuolo will bring a 4-3 front to the Chiefs’ unit.

This helps explain some of the personnel changes the Chiefs made in the winter, trading Dee Ford and releasing long time contributors Justin Houston and Eric Berry. The Chiefs acquired Frank Clark from the Seahawks to boost their pass rush and signed Tyrann Mathieu to a big contract to replace Berry in the secondary, giving Spags a weapon with the ability to defend the slot, stop the run, and cover deep.

There is also a lot of familiarity between Reid and Spagnuolo, who served as an assistant under Reid when he coached in Philadelphia from 1999-2006. Since then Spagnuolo has gone on to be a defensive coordinator for several teams, including the New York Giants when they upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Any scheme change can lead to an adjustment period, and how the Chiefs adapt to Spags’ scheme could lead to some problems early in the year. Kansas City needs to keep the growing pains to a minimum on defense in order to avoid falling behind the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West.