Before the season started, Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones set his sights on winning the NFL’s defensive player of the year award.
His motivation was fueled by the Chiefs’ loss last season to the Bengals in the AFC championship game, which Jones had Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow in his grasp twice only to let him get away. Jones turned that fire into one of his best seasons in the NFL, and now he and the Chiefs are rewarded with a bye week after clinching the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
“Last year stuck with me,” Jones said. “I had two critical plays that I should’ve made that I missed on. And we know how the game went. So this year we’re eager to get after it after the bye week.”
Jones’ 15.5 sacks this season led the team and tied a career high. He also had 44 tackles, which marked a new career high. He also had 29 QB hits, tying his previous career high set in 2018.
“I’m a natural-born pass rusher,” Jones said. “But we emphasized improving on the run this year and taking my game to another level on the pass rush and the run game and pushing me to become a more complete player than just a pass rusher.”
In the regular-season finale against the Raiders, Jones had 2.5 sacks while the Chiefs had six sacks as a team. The Chiefs were much better in sacking the quarterback this season compared to last year. The Chiefs had 55 sacks this year and just 31 last year.
Jones gave credit for the turnaround to his teammates and defensive line coach Joe Cullen, who he said helped him improve his game even though he was constantly being double teamed.
“It’s not about how you start,” Jones said. “It’s about how you finish. And I think we finished in a good mind frame, a good place as a D-line overall. My supporting cast, those guys free me open, and Joe Cullen brining him in as a mentor for me and as a D-line coach has completely transformed my game, whether it’s the run game or the pass rush. So I’m very grateful.”
Jones and the Chiefs also went 6-0 in the AFC West, winning the division for the seventh straight year. And that, he said, was a little extra special given how some predicted the Chiefs would slip this season with all the additions and money spent by the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos.
The Chiefs, however, won 14 games and left everybody in the AFC looking up to them come playoff time.
“With Coach (Andy) Reid and Pat (Mahomes) and the supporting cast, we were able to overcome every adversity, every stick and stone that was thrown our way and go undefeated in the division,” Jones said. “I think that’s tremendous. It takes a lot to do that. That’s not an easy task. It takes a lot from each individual also to buy in and truly believe in that. And I’m just extremely proud of these young men.”
