The Chiefs are on a hot streak in the turnover battle.
The Kansas City Chiefs are riding a six-game win streak heading into the final week of the regular season. In that stretch, the Chiefs committed zero turnovers compared to forcing 11 takeaways.
Prior to Week 12, the Chiefs had only nine takeaways all season and gave the ball away 14 times in 10 games. The drastic flip is happening at the right time as the starters prepare for a postseason run.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo acknowledged the importance of maintaining a positive turnover margin during a press conference on Thursday.
“We know what that stat means it terms of wins and losses,” Spagnuolo pointed out to reporters. “So we’ll always emphasize it.”
“It’s a team thing: you win the turnover ratio, your percentages go way up of winning the game,” Spagnuolo elaborated. “That and fourth-down stops, big special teams plays, they seem to tip the game in your favor. The more of those we can get, the better.”
The Chiefs’ defense has forced multiple turnovers in three consecutive weeks, including seven interceptions. The defensive backs are not letting any chances slip through their hands.
“I will credit the guys on the back end for the catches they’re making,” Spagnuolo mentioned. “Justin Reid’s last week, the one Bryan Cook made back in the Cleveland game, those guys work at that all the time. We always say, ‘Catch the ones they throw to you,’ because you don’t get that many opportunities.”
“Nazeeh [Johnson] had one in the Cleveland game that we actually dropped,”reflected Spagnuolo. “But I don’t know if there have been many actual drops… the opportunities have been there, and the guys have made the catches.”
On the flip side, the Chiefs’ offense is on a nearly unprecedented streak: only three teams in NFL history have gone six consecutive games without a giveaway. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy pointed to the disciplined play of quarterback Patrick Mahomes over that time as a catalyst.
“Pat has been phenomenal over the last several weeks at being good in decision-making,” Nagy told reporters during his press conference on Thursday. “His accuracy has been really, really good.”
The clean performances have come against two of the best teams in the NFL at forcing turnovers: the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers rank in the top five of the NFL in takeaways.
It speaks to the preparation Nagy and the coaching staff focused on leading into these games.
“Pittsburgh, last week, they’re special, and they’re elite at what they do with getting the ball out,” Nagy emphasized. “We showed clips of them punching the ball out all week long… I feel like there are some times where the players, when they’re in the middle of a play, it clicks real quick in their brain: ‘ball security.’”
Both sides of the ball must continue the urgency in the turnover battle. In each of the three seasons the Chiefs have won the Super Bowl under head coach Andy Reid, the team produced a positive or neutral turnover margin in the postseason.
“It’s massive,” Nagy assured. “You look at turnover margin in the NFL. If you can protect the football and get the football… you’ll have a chance to go far. When we lock in on that, and the defense does it, it can be pretty fun.”