The Kansas City Chiefs defense is one of the better units in the league, and while the players deserve their flowers, perhaps one of the main reasons is Steve Spagnuolo’s influence.
The 64-year-old is known around the league as one of the most brilliant defensive minds, winning four Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator. Under his tutelage, the New York Giants won a championship and the Chiefs had won three in recent years.
However, there also might be a secret behind Spagnuolo’s success: His wife Maria’s cooking. When the Chiefs took on the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday, Amazon Prime’s sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung reported that each defensive player has an added incentive for great defensive plays.
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“[I] just discovered a secret ingredient to the Chiefs success: Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s wife, Maria,” Hartung began. “Her homemade banana pudding is delivered every week to the facility. And she cooks up an entire Italian meal for the player with the best hit in each win.
“After last Sunday, that was Justin Reed. And get this, even [Las Vegas Raiders head coach] Antonio Pierce, who played for Spagnuolo with the Giants, told us he is looking forward to a brown bad with that pudding inside after this game.”
Against the Raiders, the defense certainly made Pierce’s offense work, holding Las Vegas to only three points in the first half. However, the second half was a different story, with the Raiders scoring 14 points in the 19-17 loss to the Chiefs, just barely missing out on the upset.
Steve Spagnuolo was the architect of Kansas City’s defense with the Chiefs looking to win a third straight Super Bowl (
Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images)
The Raiders had a chance for one more meaningful drive with time running out in the fourth quarter. Instead of stringing together a solid play, the ball was snapped to an unsuspecting Aidan O’Connell, who let the ball bounce off his forearm, which was then recovered by the Chiefs defense.
After the game, Kansas City’s star quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke to reporters about the game and the win. “Yeah, I didn’t see it,” the star said regarding the play. “But obviously a big spot in a big moment that got us the win there. We gotta execute better in the fourth quarter so that it doesn’t come down to that.”
Once Mahomes’ availability was over, linebacker Nick Bolton was brought to the podium and he shared what he saw on the final play of the game. In particular, the 24-year-old noted that Las Vegas had a miscommunication, which ultimately led to Kansas City’s win.
“I’m pretty sure he was trying to make a pre-snap check to one of his wideouts,” Bolton said to reporters in reference to O’Connell’s miscue. “The center kind of had a miscommunication, hiked the ball too early. The ball fell on the ground, the quarterback fell on it, kind of squirted out the back part by his feet and I was in the right place at the right time. I was happy to come up with the football.”
With the win, the Chiefs officially clinched a playoff spot, doing so for the 10th consecutive year. Additionally, Mahomes passed Len Dawson for the most touchdown passes in franchise history in the win, as Kansas City improved to 11-1 on the year.
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