Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley broke down the San Francisco 49ers' offense already and now here's the defense. I tend to notice when Haley mentions specific players by name because he doesn't do that very often. On the defense, he mentions DE Justin Smith, LB Patrick Willis and CB Nate Clements.
Defensive line: "Starting up front, this Justin Smith is one of the great motors in the league, on top of being strong, quick, fast, so he is a full-time job."
Smith, as a 3-4 defensive end, can get to the quarterback. Throw in Aubrayo Franklin at nose tackle and this is a good defensive line.
Linebackers: "They’ve got a very good front three, throw the whole seven in, including #52, LB Patrick Willis who is a truly great player or becoming a great player in the league at his position that covers the entire field. I told our players today about an overtime game in Arizona that we had a receiver running with the ball from his own 20 that looked like a sure touchdown to win the game in overtime and Patrick Willis, from the line of scrimmage, with a slight angle, ran him down, tackled him and we missed the field goal and lost in overtime. So I know this player, he’s very good along with Manny Lawson and the rest of the linebacker group."
Willis is flat-out amazing. The Chiefs could have some trouble with him and I'd imagine that Matt Cassel will keep him an eye out for him on every play.
Secondary: "In the secondary, they’ve got a bunch of good young players and CB Nate Clements is one of the real good defensive backs in the league, in my opinion that you have to be aware of where he is."
Clements is a key here and the Chiefs will also see Taylor Mays, who was drafted in the second round as a safety.