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There have been many changes this offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs. And the team’s defensive coordinator will have his work cut out for him.
The Kansas City Chiefs overcame a 3-4 start in 2021, finishing 12-5 and winning the AFC West for the sixth year in a row. Andy Reid’s team sometimes had trouble getting stuck in football. But the good news was that after a sluggish seven weeks, the Chiefs regained their opportunistic touch.
After forcing seven turnovers in their first seven outings, Reid’s team came up with 22 takeaways in their last 10 outings in the regular season. Including the playoffs, Kansas City were 11-2 in their last 13 competitions – both losses to the Super Bowl-tied Bengals.
This offseason there were some notable defensive departures. The list includes safety Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sørensen, who both signed with the Saints. Linebacker Anthony Hitchens was released by the franchise. Cornerback Charvarius Ward signed a deal with the 49ers and defensive tackle Jarran Reed joined the Packers.
That’s a lot of changes for Spagnuolo’s device. And when the coordinator this week was asked about the legendary “growing pains” that come with a renewed device, the coordinator was pretty sluggish (via Ed Easton Jr. from ChiefsWire.com)
“There’s no doubt about it. Yes, there are a lot of new faces coming, there are youth, the system is new to many guys, even if they are not young. I go through an eyeball, ‘What are we going to do, we are not going to do continually.’ I’m throwing a lot at them right now, and they’re probably talking that way – the volume is huge right now for a reason. You know, find out who can handle it, who can’t.
“We will never go into a fight with all this. So there will be mistakes out there that I do not normally think we would commit. There will have to be some growth, you know, in the game, so that say. There will be – we will have to live with some growing pains … “
That said, Spagnuolo seems optimistic when it comes to overcoming these “growing pains.” I believe we can hopefully overcome them. But I think that’s the only way we can get it to where we need it. Because you’re right. You’re just watching some guys have to step up and play. “
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