The Chiefs defense ended the 2019 season allowing 11.5 points per game over their final six contests and safety Tyrann Mathieu said in August that he expected the unit to pick up where they left off last season.
For most of Thursday night’s opener against the Texans, it looked like Mathieu got what he wanted. The Chiefs built a 31-7 lead over the visiting side before giving up a pair of touchdowns that made the final score look more respectable without ever threatening to change the outcome.
After the game, Mathieu expressed his disappointment in the way the unit closed things out.
“We have a lot more work to do,” Mathieu said, via Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star. “We could have held those guys to seven points. . . . I’m pissed off. I felt like we played fairly decent up until the last couple of stretches in the fourth quarter. We started giving up big plays, big chunks.”
The defense let their guard down late, but it was a strong overall performance to kick off the season. They sacked Deshaun Watson four times, intercepted him once and allowed the Chiefs offense to turn a 7-0 deficit into that 24-point lead before taking their foot off the gas.
Finishing the job with the same urgency as they showed in the first three quarters would be nice, but they did more than enough to open the season with a win.