KANSAS CITY Super Bowl Darwin Thompson Jersey , Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs finally got Justin Houston back onto the field Sunday against Arizona, and the four-time Pro Bowl linebacker made one of the plays of the game when he picked off Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen on a second-half screen pass.The Chiefs also got safety Daniel Sorensen back from injured reserve, where he had resided since breaking his leg in training camp, and he five tackles while providing a hard-hitting presence.Perhaps it’s no surprise the Chiefs defense played the best it has all season.With two of their anticipated starters back on the field, the Chiefs held the Cardinals to 260 yards in a 26-14 victory. They sacked Rosen five times, intercepted him twice and even managed to keep David Johnson under 100 yards rushing — just barely.“I feel like the first couple weeks we were putting too much into it, trying too hard,” linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “We’re having fun with it. Whatever happens, happens. It’s football. We’ve been playing this game for too long for us not to have fun with it. It’s a child’s game and we’re grown men playing it, so have fun with it. Don’t worry about all that other stuff.”The Chiefs (9-1) sure looked as if they were having a ball Sunday.Dee Ford had his ninth sack of the season, not to mention three tackles for a loss and four hits on Rosen. Allen Bailey had his fifth sack while Chris Jones had two more to give him a career-high seven for the season, including at least one sack in six consecutive games.All told, Rosen was hit 13 times and fumbled once while throwing for just 208 yards and a score.“The one thing we’re doing right now is we are minimizing big plays,” defensive tackle Jarvis Jenkins said. “That is one thing we all play on is minimizing big plays, then getting them one-dimensional so we can rush the passer. I think we did that this game.”The only game in which the defense played nearly as well was Cincinnati Darwin Thompson Jersey nfl draft , when the Chiefs allowed 239 yards in a 45-10 rout. But it’s often easier to play stingy defense when the game has gotten out of hand, and on Sunday the Chiefs needed to show up in a game that Arizona managed to keep relatively close.“That’s happened a couple of times now, things have stalled out (on offense) then they step up and make plays,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That’s a great thing. We need that as a football team. We need that. It’s important.”Especially given who is up next: The Chiefs are headed to Mexico City to face the high-flying Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in a matchup of two of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.The Rams are second in yards-per-game and the Chiefs are third, and those rankings are flipped when it comes to scoring with Kansas City second and Los Angeles third.In other words, it’s a good time for the Chiefs’ maligned defense to start showing up.They can still get a whole lot better, too. Middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens was out Sunday with bruised ribs, and backup linebacker Frank Zombo missed the game with a hamstring injury, giving undrafted rookie Ben Niemann a chance to start his first NFL game.“I was still on four phases of special teams,” Niemann said, “so I got a little tired out there. But it was good. You want to play. You want to play as many snaps as possible.”Someone else who wants to play? Eric Berry, the Chiefs’ star safety, who still hasn’t played since tearing his Achilles’ tendon in the season opener last year. Berry practiced throughout the summer and into training camp, but a heel injury has kept him off the field for months.It would be another boon for the Chiefs defense if he can return in any effective capacity.“Sooner or later, it has to be the defense (stepping up) Xavier Williams Jersey ,” Jenkins said. “That’s part of being a team. You can’t be one-dimensional. I think the feeling we have now is it’s a good team. It wasn’t pretty (Sunday) but we got it done. That’s what we have to do.”Notes: Reid said Monday he’s not concerned about the field conditions at Azteca Stadium, where the combination of concerts and soccer matches have wrecked the turf. “I’ve seen it,” Reid said, “but I think the NFL is on top of it. They do a great job with all that stuff.” … Reid said he doesn’t expect Patrick Mahomes to miss practice after his girlfriend’s stepfather died suddenly on Sunday. The Chiefs are off on Tuesday and Wednesday. “He’s here this morning and he’s got things set there, organized and settled down,” Reid said, “so he can do what he’s got to do here.” For example, we discuss what Spagnuolo’s past says about the Chiefs’ future at defensive end"Michael Strahan. Osi Umeniyora. Justin Tuck.We are all familiar with these names, as they were excellent pass rushers for the New York Giants of the 2000s — a team for which Steve Spganuolo was the defensive coordinator for three years.It doesn’t take long to recognize these three high-profile players as bigger, stronger defensive ends that aren’t classic speed-and-bend edge rushers. Is this is a pattern worth exploring? Is there really a trend here — or was this just a group of very good players who happened to play for Spagnuolo? In our now-available KC Draft Guide, I explored this question — looking not only at those well-known players but also guys like Olivier Vernon, C.J. Ah You and Robert Quinn. Deeper digging led to names like Hall Davis, George Selvie, Owamagbe Odighizuwa and others.While all of these players are technically Steve Spagnuolo defensive ends, in reality Patrick Mahomes Jersey , Spagnuolo was handed three of the best-known players: Stahan, Umeniyora and Tuck. So to determine if there really is any kind of pattern to the types of players Spagnuolo likes for defensive end, I went back to the beginning and looked at everything. The processA few memorable players — some not the result of his presence — wasn’t near-enough to generate a player profile for a Spagnuolo defensive end. So I looked at the kinds of players that were drafted under Spagnuolo, along with unrestricted free agents signed to his defenses and year-by-year major contributors.I was most interested in a profile that could help narrow down potential draft or free agent targets at defensive end. Using combine and pro day data — as well as playing weights in the NFL — I was able to create an athletic profile that included their physical measurements, so I could find the traits these players had in common.These things caught my eye:There were three main traits that were emphasized in these defensive endsThese traits were tied to a players physical characteristics rather than athleticismThere were two secondary traits that were preferred, but were likely have less impact on a player’s performance, and weren’t used as hard cut-offsThe only athletic test that appeared to characterize a secondary trait was the bench press; no test of speed, explosiveness or agility seemed to fit a specific trendThe players acquired in his short time in Kansas City fit these criteriaDrafted playersDuring his time as a defensive coordinator or head coach, Spags has drafted seven defensive ends. Of these, four of them hit all of the main criteria or traits as well as both secondary criteria. One more player fits in the three main criteria but only one of the secondary traits. Only two of the seven missed out on a primary trait— and it was a single trait. The only two players drafted on the first two days of the draft — Robert Quinn and Owamagbe Odighizuwa — fit every criteria that I had found. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesFree agents signedSix free agent defensive ends were signed.One of them was resigned twice. Of the six, half display the three main criteria, while two miss on a single primary trait.One was George Selvie, who was also one of the players drafted by Spagnuolo that missed a primary trait. The only free agent player to miss a primary and secondary trait was Renaldo Wynn, who was signed for a single year when Michael Strahan retired.Photo by Al Bello/Getty ImagesDefensive ends that playedObviously there will be some overlap — we’ll total that up later — but 19 players played significant snaps for Spagnuolo during his tenures as defensive coordinator and head coach.13 of these 19 hit all three of the primary benchmarks. Four players missed out on just a single primary trait, and two players missed both a primary and secondary trait. Chris Long and Olivier Vernon are the two players that miss a primary criteria. Vernon had a few proven NFL seasons Mitch Morse Jersey , and Long was technically not drafted or brought in by Spagnuolo. Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty ImagesTotal numbersSpags DEsHit All CrieriaMissed 1 PrimaryMissed 2+ PrimaryMissed Primary & SecondaryHit All CrieriaMissed 1 PrimaryMissed 2+ PrimaryMissed Primary & SecondaryEssentially, players that fit all three of the primary criteria make up the bulk of the defensive ends that were brought in or played for Spagnuolo. The other bigtakeaway is that players who fail two or more primary traits simply don’t a get a shot in his defenses. The upcoming draftThis is a nice collection of data points, but what purpose does it serve? So I took all this data and combed through the combine invitees to determine which players fit (and don’t fit) them.Guys that fit:First rounders: Most of the defensive ends are slotted as first round picks — which makes sense given that the NFL always covets size and speed. Skilled players that also happen to be larger are often drafted more highly than similarly skilled — but smaller — players. Jaylon Ferguson: As poor as the testing was for Jaylon Ferguson, his tape is good. There is a reason he is the NCAA’s all- time sack leader. He has skills for the NFL if his athleticism doesn’t limit his strengths too much.Zach Allen: Technically, Zach Allen misses a secondary trait, but there appears to be more wiggle room with secondary criteria and the correlation to playing ability seems much lower. Allen does, however, meet all three primary traits.Guys that don’t fitChase Winovich: Winovich is a fan favorite for nearly every fan base — and for good reason— but he misses all three primary traits. Drafting Winovich to play defensive end would not only be the first Spagnuolo-drafted player to miss all three primary traits, but also the first to miss two. Jachai Polite:Polite has resurfaced as a popular pick to the Chiefs in the second round because the value is still good and his tape is unbelievably good. Like Winovich, however, he is missing all three primary traits, which would make him a complete outlier. Ronheen Bingham: A later-round pick that is appealing because of the pass rushing skills, Bingham is a small-school prospect that has recently caught the eye of evaluators. But Bingham only hits one of the three primary benchmarks. Given his athletic skills, there is potential to use him more as a rushing Sam linebacker — but as a pure DE, he doesn’t fit the mold. Chiefs offseason movesThere is always a chance that with a new coaching staff — or perhaps an updated philosophy — might move Spagnuolo and away from his past tendencies.So let’s look at the Chiefs offseason moves at defensive end. Dee Ford - traded: Missed on all three primary traits.Justin Houston - cut: At the combine Chris Jones Jersey , he fit all three primary traits.But his playing weight has dipped since then and he’s listed under the threshold for one of the primary criteria. Alex Okafor - signed: Hits all the primary criteria and just misses hitting one secondary benchmarks.Emmanuel Ogbah - traded for: Hits all the primary criteria and — like Okafor — is missing one secondary trait.It doesn’t appear as if Spagnuolo’s new surroundings have changed tendencies at defensive end.With the addition of defensive line coach Brendan Daly — who at first glance, appears to favor players in a similar mold — may even strengthen them.These type of players may not be everyone’s preference as pass rushers. They may lack some dynamic traits that Chiefs fans have seen over the past two decades.But the trend is strong, and it only appears to be building.Knowing what the Chiefs are looking for at defensive end reveals a plan of attack, and shows they are thinking forward with their picks — rather than just selecting players that are less athletic.KC Draft GuideYou can read the entire article highlighting all the players, the specific criteria and full list of draft prospects that fit this mold — and more — in the first-ever edition of the KC Draft Guide. It is now available for you to read TODAY! You can purchase the fruits of our hard work for only $9.99!We’ll have over 225 prospect write-ups, with specifics about how prospects fit the Chiefs. There will be big boards, more than 300 grades on players, mock drafts, positional rankings and features — all specific to the Chiefs. Loading...