Andy Reid is surrounded by the right people in his quest for a historic three-peat with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 NFL season. One of the most important persons still by his side at Arrowhead is longtime assistant Steve Spagnuolo.
The Chiefs defensive coordinator has done a fantastic job with the team since 2019, playing an instrumental role in their three Super Bowl wins in the last five years. That’s why Kansas City’s defensive struggles in the 2024 NFL season opener against the Baltimore Ravens took many by surprise.
Spagnuolo, however, understands the unit had to go through a lot in the debut. Apart from the high number of snaps during the game, Reid’s assistant cited the preseason injuries as a big factor that affected the Chiefs defense against Lamar Jackson and company.
“I mean, playing 80 plays is a lot of plays. Now, that’s partly our fault, right? We can get off the field on a couple of third downs, but I thought it got tough at the end of the game because of that,” Spagnuolo said Friday, via Chiefs Wire. “Those guys hadn’t played, so that’s a different kind of conditioning. It’s different than getting on a bike or running gasses and whatnot.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on prior to playing the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.
Chris Jones, Justin Reid, and Nick Bolton managed to make it to the season opener just in time after dealing with injuries during preseason. It wasn’t the defensive performance many were expecting from the defending champs, but Spagnuolo knows the circumstances were quite challenging.
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The Chiefs managed to come up with a dramatic win to kick off the 2024 NFL season, with only a few inches denying Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely from giving his side the game-winning touchdown.
“I think if you ask those guys, they’d tell you that they were gutting it out at the end, and fortunately for us. I mean, listen, I know the foot and the inches the game is, and all that, but what I look at is, thank God,” Spagnuolo said about that play. “I mean, Nick (Bolton) could have been closer to that, but thank God he got there when he did to at least push him out enough that we got the black shoe on the white back in there.”
