Super Bowl 54 Strategy Guide: Breaking down the Kansas City Chiefs

A comprehensive look at how the Chiefs play.

Andy Reid is in the Super Bowl again, but this time the future Hall of Famer has a dynamic offense filled with capable skill players at his disposal. Oh, and a quarterback who effortlessly makes every throw. (Also, Reid doesn’t have to scheme against Bill Belichick, which is nice for him.)

Reid has been one of the league’s top offensive minds for nearly three decades now, consistently finding ways to move the ball even when his players aren’t better than the ones on defense. We’ve always wondered what he’d do with the right pieces … and now we know.

We decided to take a look at how Reid’s offense works, and the results aren’t all that surprising: the offense can be somewhat predictable, but the Chiefs are relentlessly efficient doing what they do.

On defense, a series of changes brought on when Reid hired a new defensive coordinator helped fix a leaky secondary.

Here’s a detailed look at the Chief’s plans and personnel on offense and defense as they prepare to take on the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54.

(All statistics from Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise noted.)

CHIEFS OFFENSE

Andy Reid hasn’t played with his personnel groupings this season as often as he has in the past. You can pretty much count on Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Damien Williams to be out on the field every snap with Mecole Hardman, DeMarcus Robinson or backup TE Blake Bell filling the remaining skill player spot. On the rare occasion when the Chiefs have two backs on the field, they are one of the more run-heavy teams in the league — but they are deadly when they do pass out of those looks.

Kansas City does a little bit of everything in the passing game and they do so at a hyper-efficient level. Patrick Mahomes takes deep drops (five to seven steps) with no play action at one of the highest rates in the league, and it’s easy to see why Reid has called so many of those plays with the Chiefs averaging 0.44 Expected Points Added per dropback.

Reid is always looking for ways to create downfield opportunities for his star receivers. He leans heavily on the old “all go” concept to do so. The veteran coach has several different variations of the concept but this one, with Kelce running a crossing route from the backside, shows up on tape the most.

With attention on Kelce, Hill is left with a one-on-one in the slot that he easily wins before hauling in an easy touchdown pass from Mahomes. Depending on the coverage tendencies of the defense, Hill will sometimes run the deep over route, where he can use his speed to outrun, well, basically anyone in the league.

With all of the speed he has at his disposal, Reid loves him some deep crossing routes, which test the long speed of opposing defenders. There are countless route combinations that feature a deep crosser in the Chiefs’ playbook, including the old Air Raid staple “Y-Cross.”

The vertical route by the lone receiver takes the top off the coverage, while the gravity of Hill’s shallow crosser creates a nice window for Kelce to run into. With all the star power the Cheifs have in their receiving corps, it’s basically impossible to hone in one target. It helps having a quarterback who can get the ball anywhere on a football field.

While Kansas City’s pass game has layers to it, the run game isn’t all that complicated. The Chiefs will pull a guard every now and then but they are mostly a zone-blocking team, especially when there is a second tight end or running back on the field. In spread sets, Reid will call more man blocking runs.

The Chiefs’ menu of run calls is mostly made up of outside zone and inside zone. Reid will attach RPOs to give Mahomes an option to throw a quick pass if the defense is loading up against the run. He has several different concepts he’ll pair with his runs, including a bubble screen on the backside of outside zone.

Reid will also employ downfield RPOs. Those are typically quick slants or stick routes. Here the Cheifs have married an inside zone run with a stick concept to Mahomes’ right.

When Mahomes was still nursing a knee injury and defenses could get away with playing more man coverage, the effectiveness of these RPOs was limited. But now that Mahomes is capable of scrambling, the Chiefs are seeing more zone coverages, which is what RPO offenses want to see.

All-pro Mitchell Schwartz is the lone star on a solid Chiefs offensive line. Eric Fisher is a dependable blindside protector on the left side, but he isn’t dominant in either phase of the game. The interior has struggled in the run game, which explains why Kansas City’s ground game has not been efficient this season after ranking near the top of the NFL in 2018. But the guards and center have been able to keep the pocket clean for Mahomes, which is far more important.

CHIEFS DEFENSE

The Chiefs play dime (six defensive backs) more than any team in the league. In general, they do not match personnel. They’ll go light most of the time, fielding at least five defensive backs against two-receiver sets and fielding six against three-receiver sets. As you can see in the efficiency numbers, Kansas City is sacrificing its run defense in order to stop the pass. Opponents are averaging -0.24 EPA per drop back against the Chiefs’ dime sets but adding an average of 0.18 per play on the ground.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn’t married to one family of pass coverages. The Chiefs mostly play Cover 3 with match principles but they are not afraid to play man coverage despite fielding a less than stellar group of coverage players — outside of do-it-all star Tyrann Mathieu, that is.

The season-ending injury to standout rookie safety Juan Thornhill forced the Chiefs to shuffle their secondary. Cornerback Kendall Fuller took Thornhill’s spot at the back of the defense. Mathieu is almost exclusively playing in the slot, though he will sometimes drop deep and play at a traditional safety spot. Daniel Sorensen, who had been playing as a dime linebacker, has had to drop deep more often with Thornhill out.

The Chiefs have defended the pass well but their cornerbacks are a major concern. Bashaud Breeland has been a liability while Charvarius Ward has been solid at best. Rookie Rashad Fenton has received more playing time of late and has looked good in coverage. He broke up a would-be touchdown pass in the AFC title game while isolated in coverage.

Kansas City’s cornerback group may be a concern, but it’s far from the biggest one heading into a matchup with the 49ers. Kyle Shanahan has been known to pick on linebackers who struggle in coverage. Well, he has three to choose from here. Reggie Ragland earned the highest coverage grade from PFF this season, but he hardly plays with the Cheifs employing so much nickel and dime. On obvious pass downs, Spagnuolo will call on reserve linebacker Ben Niemann, who is the best of Kansas City’s linebackers in coverage.

As bad as the Chiefs linebackers are in coverage, they’re not much better against the run. Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson struggle to beat blockers and make tackles near the line of scrimmage. That could be an issue against the 49ers run game.

If San Francisco does enjoy early success on the ground, look for backup defensive tackle Mike Pennel to get more playing time than Derrick Nnadi, who can get pushed around at times.

Pass rush depth is a concern. Outside of Chris Jones, the Chiefs don’t have a player capable of putting consistent pressure on the pocket. Frank Clark has played well at times but has been inconsistent during his first season in Kansas City. Tanoh Kpassagnon has the potential to develop into a good edge rusher but he’s not there yet. And Terrell Suggs, while still productive, is a million years old and is mostly playing on passing downs. When he’s on the field, Kpassagnon kicks inside to defensive tackle alongside Jones.