Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo
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Following a rough Week 1, Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is focused on improvement.
It’s safe to say the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 2025-26 season didn’t start the way they’d hoped. Instead of kicking off a revenge campaign on a high note, Steve Spagnuolo’s defense got throttled by the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil in Week 1.
Everyone knows it, especially those in the building. Week 2’s opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, aren’t any easier to face. With that in mind, the reigning AFC champions are hard at work attempting to right their wrongs.
Steve Spagnuolo ‘Would Have Liked’ Some Chiefs-Chargers Calls Back
Step one is acknowledging those shortcomings. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Spagnuolo admitted that the Chargers’ pass-heavy approach caught them by surprise.
“Maybe it threw us off a little bit, but that’s football,” Spagnuolo said. “We did talk a lot about in the first game of the season or in the first quarter of the season, it’s going to be about adjusting in game. Maybe we could’ve adjusted a little bit quicker. I thought we did a nice job coming out of the locker room in the second half where we needed a three-and-out and we got that. Actually, the second drive we kind of got a second three-and-out, but there wasn’t enough good plays.”
There are no excuses for such a lackluster showing, though. Spagnuolo took accountability for the players’ struggles, expressing some regret for his own performance.
“When we talked after the game in the locker room — and I think our guys are great — we all felt like everybody took a turn making a mistake, myself included,” Spagnuolo said. “There were about four or five calls I would have liked to have had back. I think every player, to a man, said the same thing. If we can eliminate those, we’ll be better off.”
Los Angeles averaged 6.4 yards per play in Week 1, also going 7-for-13 on third downs. Quarterback Justin Herbert was outstanding. According to SumerSports, the Chiefs’ 0.28 EPA/play surrendered was the second-worst defensive average of the NFL’s opening week.
Kansas City Faced With Tall Task in Week 2 vs. Eagles
As previously alluded to, Sunday’s regular-season rematch of Super Bowl LIX doesn’t exactly pose as a glaring bounce-back performance.
Even in an underwhelming showing against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, the Eagles put up competent offensive production. Not only did quarterback Jalen Hurts complete 82.6% of his passes, but the team’s 48.4% success rate ranked seventh among all teams. This is an offense that can and will move the ball, especially on the ground.
Ironically, that’s an area Kansas City didn’t traditionally get tested at last week. They did, however, see Herbert use his legs to extend plays. Spagnuolo is well aware that Hurts can do the same thing.
“Yeah, it seems like we play one of these quarterbacks every week,” Spagnuolo said. “I mean, the guy we just got done playing, he’s a really good athlete. I give him a lot of credit for what he did with his legs. The guy we are getting ready to play this week is elite at that. We’ll talk until we’re blue in the face about pass rush lanes and containing, and we’ll have some things that we hope will take that away.
“Part of the whole — you know, in football — with the spy, however [or] whatever you want to call it, you’ve got to get them in those situations. When you’re in first and second down, you can’t be spying people because they’re going to run the ball right at you. We’ve got to try to dictate it somehow by having some negative plays on first and second down and get things kind of steered in our direction.”
Identifying something and putting a response plan into action are two different things. Spagnuolo and company are trying to marry them into one after a rough season debut.