In the NFL’s Week 9, the Buffalo Bills are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs in a widely anticipated matchup. Over the past few years, Buffalo has been Kansas City’s regular-season nemesis. The Chiefs have now lost four straight to the Bills — but in the postseason, Kansas City has collected four consecutive victories over Buffalo. Any time these teams meet, it’s a hard-fought game that usually goes down to the wire; only one of the last six games was decided by more than one score.
As far as the Chiefs are concerned, breaking their regular-season losing streak against the Bills will depend upon controlling the reigning NFL MVP — quarterback Josh Allen — and the league’s second-ranked rusher: running back James Cook.
While Allen can hit any part of the field with his throwing arm, both players are significant threats on the ground.
“We’re always talking about pass-rush lane integrity,” Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told reporters this week. “There are snaps on here where you can be perfect with that — and [Allen] still finds a way to get out, you know. So hopefully, the number of those snaps is minimal and we can find a way to get him to rush his throw — or if he does decide to scramble, get enough guys around there that the gain he has is minimal.”
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Having multiple players rally to the ball was a common theme among the Chiefs on Thursday.
“He’s a big tall lumberjack guy,” said defensive end Mike Danna of the Buffalo quarterback. “You’ve got to have all 11 guys to the ball — all 11 hats — to just bring him down. He was the MVP for a reason last year, so you know we’ve got our hands full this week.”
But according to Spagnuolo, Allen can still get free when Kansas City does everything right.
“We can be perfect sometimes at what we’re doing up front with all of that, even with five guys,” he lamented. “He has just a real keen sense of finding that little seam.”
Defensive tackle Chris Jones agreed.
“Josh Allen is big enough [that] he can break tackles,” he said, “but he is also fast enough [that] he can slither through. So [you must be] very disciplined on your rush lanes — and moreso, close the pocket on him.”
Spagnuolo believes it will take more than one tactic to beat Allen.
“Do you rush four and one of them’s a spy?” he asked. “Do you turn five loose? Do you coordinate the pass rush? Do you go five rushers because there are technically five gaps there? I mean, in the past — and most teams do the same thing — [we’ve mixed] it up. We’re not gonna sit in one thing. We’re gonna have a little bit of everything.”
But the Chiefs understand that while limiting Allen is Job No. 1, stopping Cook is Job No. 1A. In the coordinator’s eyes, he’s among the league’s most dangerous.
“I’m always impressed with running backs that can make the jump cut,” he observed. “He can convince an edge defender he’s going inside — and boom — get outside on him. And that’s where he’s really dangerous, because he’s got really good speed.”
Danna puts Cook at the top of the heap.
“He’s the best running back in the league right now,” he said. “No. 1 offense, rushing team, you know. So we’ve got our hands full with that. We got to play sound football, have some gap integrity, execute our calls — our game plan — and [send] all 11 hats to the ball.”
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