Chiefs' secret weapon for disrupting Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa in Week 9
The Kansas City Chiefs are going to have their work cut out of them with Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa in their Week 9 matchup in Frankfurt, Germany. Tagovailoa has the quickest time-to-throw stats in the NFL, delivering his passes in an average of just 2.24 seconds. There has been a lot of discourse over the […]
The Kansas City Chiefs are going to have their work cut out of them with Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa in their Week 9 matchup in Frankfurt, Germany.
Tagovailoa has the quickest time-to-throw stats in the NFL, delivering his passes in an average of just 2.24 seconds. There has been a lot of discourse over the past few days about how the Chiefs' defense can affect Tagovailoa. Most of that discussion has been centered on the secondary and how they can force him to hold onto the ball a bit longer.
All of that said, Joe Cullen's defensive line also has a bit of a secret weapon at their disposal that could come into play in this one: Batted passes.
Chiefs' defense leads the league in batted passes
You know what NFL defensive line coaches always say – If you're not going to sack the quarterback, get your hands up. Through eight weeks of NFL play, the Chiefs' defense has proven to be the best at getting their hands into opposing throwing lanes, leading the NFL in batted passes (14) according to PFF. No other NFL team has more than 10 passes batted in this span. Both DE George Karlaftis and LB Willie Gay Jr. are currently tied for the team lead with three each.
Why is this an advantage for Kansas City? Well, that's because. . .
Only six quarterbacks have more batted passes this season than Tua
Trevor Lawrence (11), Sam Howell (9), Desmond Ridder (9), Baker Matfield (9), Jared Goff (8), and Joe Burrow (8) are the only NFL QBs with more batted passes on the season than Tagovailoa. He's currently in a five-way tie for seventh place. For context, Patrick Mahomes only has two batted passes on the season.
The one advantage that Tagovailoa might have here is the fact that he's a left-handed passer. That means the defenders in Kansas City are going to have to get a different arm up to bat passes down. This is something that the defense has been honing in on during their preparations leading up to Sunday morning's game.
Bottom line
The Chiefs obviously want to get Tagovailoa holding onto the ball longer in this game, but they also want to disrupt the rhythm passing game that Miami employs. One of the easiest ways to do that is to burn first, second, or even third down with a pass batted. It's the next best thing to a sack, and it's on par with getting pressure that forces an incomplete pass.
Chiefs injury update: 2 players questionable for Dolphins game
The Kansas City Chiefs have released their final injury report ahead of the team’s Week 9 clash with the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany.
