The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing for the unique blitz schemes of the Philadelphia Eagles. Though the late Jim Johnson was the one who made them famous, replacement coordinator Sean McDermott has continued with the defense.
Head coach Todd Haley was asked about the Eagles blitz packages.
"Looks like they’re carrying over a lot of the same stuff to me," he said. "I would say that it’s hard to see a lot of difference now. Coach (Jim) Johnson was the best as far as the timing and instincts, when he did and didn’t bring (pressure) and staying ahead of the curve, so that’ll be on the new guy to pick up from there. But it doesn’t look like a lot is different. I can’t give enough credit. To me, going against anybody in the league, Coach Johnson was the one."
And how, exactly, do the Chiefs prepare for this?
"Great job of disguising, of either making it appear that they’re coming when they’re not or vice versa and that’s what is tough," Haley said.
Matt Cassel was asked about the Eagles blitz package yesterday.
"They’re very dynamic in their blitz scheme," Cassel told reporters. "They bring multiple looks and bring people from different areas of the field. Safeties get involved, corners get involved, so it’s one of those that you just have to play heads up and people have to be alert for their hots and they have to know their spot adjusts. Our backs need to know if they’re checking one way or another. They are very unique in how they try to come after you."
Cassel also said he and the Chiefs coaches have been paying attention to what the Saints did to the Eagles last week in a 26 point win.
"I think they run an interesting scheme there on offense and they did a lot of things where they were able to utilize certain players. Hopefully we can have some carryover there, but there are no guarantees in this game from one week to the next."
This should be an interesting test for the Chiefs. With a blitz, there's obviously less players in coverage so there will be opportunities for Cassel and Co. They'll just have to capitalize on them.