Chris Jones saved the Chiefs’ season with a dominant performance last week
The Chiefs needed a win in a bad way coming into Week 14. Jones made sure that happened, and he’s retired NFL defensive end Stephen White’s Hoss of the Week.
Way back in Week 2, Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones notched three sacks, two caused fumbles, an interception, and a pass breakup in a win over the Eagles. His performance easily earned him Hoss Of The Week honors, and at the time I thought it was going to be just the beginning of big things for Jones' sophomore campaign.
Alas, prior to Sunday, Jones had only been able to muster a total of one half of a sack since that glorious day in September. To make matters worse, after a strong start winning six of their first eight games, Kansas City lost four games in a row leading into this past week's game. If the Chiefs lost again on Sunday it was highly likely that they would fall out of first place in the AFC West for the first time all season and their playoff chances would be in serious jeopardy. There would never be a better time for Jones to have another big game than on Sunday against the suddenly resurgent Raiders, a hated division rival, to try to get himself and his team back on track..
Jones answered the call.
Facing one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, Jones had one of his best days as a pro, getting after the quarterback all day long. And he got going early.
On the Raiders first third down of the game, Jones lined up as the left defensive end on the outside shoulder of Oakland right tackle Marshall Newhouse.
On the snap, Jones came off the ball and shot both of his hands into Newhouse's chest to try to bullrush him. After a step or so, Jones transitioned to a long arm move, using just his inside hand (right) hand to push Newhouse back.
Jones has that Paul Bunyon type strength. He was able catch Newhouse with his feet about to cross over and, well, let's just say that did not end well for Newhouse. Jones ran through him like left over Taco Bell and almost slung him right into Derek Carr. Jones then finished the move by shot-putting Newhouse upfield. Seemingly all in one motion, Jones continued unabated and ran slap the hell over Carr to sack him for a loss of seven yards and force a punt.
That play set the tone for the rest of the game.
With a little under seven minutes left in the first half, the Raiders found themselves already down 16-0, but threatening to score after moving the ball all the way down to Chiefs' 24-yard line. On this occasion Jones was lined up as the right three-technique on the outside shoulder of All-Pro left guard Kelechi Osemele.
Just before the play the outside linebacker to his side, Frank Zombo, appeared to be motioning to Jones to let him know that because the Raiders motioned Marshawn Lynch out of the backfield, Zombo would have to drop into coverage. That was good info for Jones to have because with no edge rusher to his side he would have to be mindful about containing the quarterback. He also had to be aware that that the left tackle, Donald Penn, didn't have anybody to block, and there was a good chance he would try to help Osemele with Jones.
Jones came off to bullrush Osemele initially, but, predictably, Penn soon came to help and blasted Jones from the side. Jones smartly used the momentum from Penn's blow to help him gain inside leverage on Osemele. In a flash, Jones pulled Osemele's inside (right) shoulder toward him with his inside (left) hand, while doing an arm-over with his outside hand over Osemele's head.
Osemele barely had time to understand that he had been beaten before Jones was on Carr's ass. Carr tried backpeddling away from Jones, but he couldn't quite get away from him. As Carr tried to throw the ball downfield, Jones was able to reach out and hit Carr's arm on the follow through. The pass subsequently came out high and short, like a pop up on a baseball field, and Kansas City cornerback Terrance Mitchell was able to just dive and catch it for the interception.
Pressure bursts pipes and creates turnovers. But Jones was just getting started.
With just over a minute and a half left in second quarter, Oakland was facing a third-and-1 from their own 34-yard line.
On this play, the ever so versatile Jones was actually lined up as the one-technique in the right A gap. The Raiders tried to to run some kind of counter to Jones' side that called for Osemele to block down hard on Jones to try to move him out of the way. What Osemele didn't anticipate was that Jones would stunt outside.
With the two stepping in opposite directions, Jones was able to avoid Osemele's block attempt with a quick arm over outside, then immediately get upfield in the B gap. The first puller, right guard Gabe Jackson, bypassed Jones and continued on his way, but the second puller, tight end Jared Cook, wasn't so lucky.
Jones blasted Cook to take away running back DeAndre Washington's cutback lane, giving him nowhere else to go except into Jones' waiting arms. On third-and-1, Jones made a tackle for a loss of three yards, helping end a Raiders’ drive again.
That was a recurring theme all game — Jones making plays to help end Oakland drives. He kept answering the call.
For yet another example, with a little over nine minutes left in the third quarter Jones again got pressure on Carr and helped to end another drive. The Raiders were facing a third-and-14 from their own 21-yard line. Jones was lined up at left defensive end in a nine-technique on the outside shoulder of tight end Lee Smith.
The play actually didn't start off so hot for Jones. I don't know if he just wasn't expecting Smith to chip him or what, but Smith got a pretty good lick on him before he continued into a route. The blow momentarily knocked Jones off balance and had him flailing a bit, but after Jones regained his balance he seemed to take his revenge out on Newhouse.
Jones ran right down the middle of Newhouse with a full head of steam and just crushed him. Newhouse went tumbling back into Carr who appeared to try to hide behind him for a second. Once he saw that wasn't going to work, Carr took off to his left to try to get away from Jones.
Jones couldn't quite haul Carr down to notch another sack, but he did pressure Carr into a long incompletion on the play helping to end yet another drive.
Oh, but he still wasn't done.
With 46 seconds left, and the game all but out of reach, the Raiders had worked the ball from their 12 all the way down to the Chiefs’ 38-yard line. Even though the Chiefs had an 11-point lead, Jones wasn't about to let up off the gas.
This time Jones was lined up head up on the center as a zero nose. On the snap, Jones looped to his right toward the B gap.
Osemele, who stepped inside to try to block him, came back outside to try to keep Jones from beating him in the B gap. Osemele looked to be in good position to block Jones this time, but once Jones got his hands on Osemele, he abruptly changed directions back inside. Jones then executed one of the slowest swim moves I've ever seen in my whole entire life.
Slow or not, there's no denying its effectiveness.
Credit to Osemele, he did try like hell to recover and block Jones so far inside that he couldn't make a play on Carr. Unfortunately for Osemele, Jones did a great job of turning his hips toward the quarterback just as soon as he had freed himself from Osemele's clutches.
Once again Carr tried to drift away from Jones so he could get his throw off, and he was a little more successful this time. He was able to actually get the ball down the field, but having to force the throw over Jones' outstretched hand caused the pass to sail on Carr just a bit. It was high enough that Johnny Holton wasn't quite able to jump up and come down with it. Instead Holton tipped the pass up in the air where it was snagged by safety Steven Terrell to effectively end the game.
It took awhile for Chris Jones to have another big game this season after his Week 2 outburst, but his performance on Sunday couldn't have come at better time for the Chiefs. With the win, Kansas City is still in first place, tied with the Chargers for the division lead, and their playoff hopes are still very much alive.
With a sack and three pressures — two of which lead to interceptions — on top of a tackle for loss and an assist, Jones had a huge hand in securing that all important victory. His efforts earned him his second Hoss Of The Week honors for this season and if he can keep playing like that, the Chiefs have a shot against anybody.