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People often ask me what makes the Kansas City Chiefs defense good. I talk about Justin Houston and how he is more than just a great pass rusher - he's terrific against the run, too. I talk about the waiver wire claims that are making an impact, such as Ron Parker and Jaye Howard. I talk about two former Pro Bowlers Eric Berry and Tyvon Branch running with the second team most of the offseason. I also say that you can take last year's defense and add Derrick Johnson, which instantly makes it better.
What I also need to start discussing is that the Chiefs don't make many mistakes on defense. As in they do the most fundamental thing - tackling - very well.
Take this stat from Pro Football Focus:
After 2 weeks the Raiders have already missed 26 more tackles than the Chiefs. KC lead the league with only 5 MTs, OAK dead last with 31.
— Ben Stockwell (@PFF_Ben) September 24, 2015
One of these players will be in Green Bay on Monday night (Clay Matthews).
Four players (Charles Woodson, Malcolm Smith, Clay Matthews, Ryan Shazier) have more MTs after 2 weeks than the entire Chiefs' D combined.
— Ben Stockwell (@PFF_Ben) September 24, 2015
How often did we used to complain about missed tackles with previous Chiefs teams? It was like the offensive line - we were always complaining about it. The Chiefs defense is very good at tackling, which seems like an important thing to be good at.
The other thing here is that opposing teams have to face Jamaal Charles, who was a cyborg built solely to force missed tackles. The Chiefs have that guy on their team.