The Kansas City Chiefs’ pass rush finally found a pulse on Sunday, racking up a season-high five sacks in their 35-12 win over the New York Jets. But let’s be real, Seattle, it took getting absolutely shut down by *our* Seahawks to spark that fire. After weeks of struggling to convert pressure into actual sacks, and looking downright toothless against some opponents, they finally broke through.
Remember When Our Hawks Made Them Look Silly?
For most of the 2026 season, Kansas City’s defensive front was searching for answers, big time. Their pressures weren’t consistently turning into sacks, giving opposing quarterbacks all the time in the world to extend plays. Before this Jets game, the Chiefs had only nine sacks through their first seven matchups, and eight of those came in just two games! They even opened the season with four sacks against Denver, then went three straight games without *a single one*. Seriously, three games! They had a brief spark with four sacks against the Chargers, but that momentum evaporated faster than a puddle in the summer sun. The real kicker for us in the Emerald City? In consecutive road losses to *our* Seattle Seahawks and Denver, the Chiefs combined for a grand total of just one sack. One! According to NFL Next Gen Stats, they were converting a pathetic 9.8% of their pressures into sacks during Weeks 1 through 8. Our guys really put the clamps on them.
Chris Jones Steps Up After That Hawks Wake-Up Call
Against the Jets, it was a completely different story. The Chiefs’ pressure-to-sack conversion rate skyrocketed to 26.3%. They generated 18 pressures on Geno Smith, hitting a season-high 50% pressure rate, and five of those led directly to sacks. While the whole defense looked better, the afternoon truly belonged to Chris Jones. The veteran defensive tackle put on a show, generating a season-high six pressures on 29 pass-rush snaps. That’s a 20.7% pressure rate, and two of those pressures ended in sacks. Three of his pressures came in under 2.5 seconds, showing just how quickly he was blowing up New York’s protection. Not only did he dominate the game, but Jones also hit a massive career milestone with those two sacks, reaching 90.5 career sacks. That moves him past former Chiefs great Tamba Hali for second place on the franchise’s all-time list, trailing only the legendary Derrick Thomas. “It means a lot,” Jones said after the game, reflecting on the accomplishment. “Dedication to the hard work and amazing teammates I’ve had over the course of 11 years.” So, after getting a much needed kick in the pants, partially thanks to the Emerald City, it looks like this Chiefs defense might just be getting back on track. Good for them, I guess, but it doesn’t change what *our* boys did.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Arrowhead Pride.
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