Kansas City Chiefs Ironman L’Jarius Sneed Leads NFL Defensive Backs In Sacks

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo joked he was getting impatient.

So when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had 1st and 10 at their own 34-yard-line with 5:09 left in the first half, he sent cornerback L’Jarius Sneed on a blitz.

The result was Sneed recording the fastest sack of Week Four. He reached the Buccaneers’ Tom Brady in 2.5 seconds, according to Zebra Technologies, and sacked the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

“It felt great,” Sneed said.

And it came at a perfect time in the Chiefs’ 41-31 victory. The Buccaneers were showing signs they were going to make it a game. They had just scored a touchdown, and the Chiefs’ ensuing drive ended in punt.

“It was a good momentum changer,” Spagnuolo said.

Sneed forced the fumble, Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones recovered the ball, the Chiefs scored a touchdown five plays later and the Buccaneers never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Sneed tricked perhaps the best quarterback to ever play in the NFL. He put both his hands on his helmet like he was adjusting it, pulled on his gloves for a second and then backpedaled two steps as if he was getting ready to cover.

“I know Tom Brady is going to pick it up really fast,” Sneed said. “So I tried to wait and disguise it.”

During the Sunday Night Football telecast, Brady was captured on the sideline, saying he never saw him coming.

After that sack of Brady, Sneed not only leads the Chiefs in sacks with three through four games, but he also leads all NFL defensive backs.

The 6-1, 192-pound Sneed excels at blitzing for multiple reasons.

A safety during his senior year at Louisiana Tech, he’s used to the physical play necessary for taking down a quarterback.

He’s also especially fast out of a standstill position. That means he can rush out of a coverage stance, offering no indication he’s going to sprint toward the quarterback.

“He’s really explosive from point to A to point B. That’s not really easy to do. Some guys take a while to get going,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s gotten good at timing it up.”

But Sneed is more than just a blitz specialist. He plays the challenging nickel cornerback role for the Chiefs.

“You’ve got to have a little bit of linebacker in you, a little bit of safety, a little bit of corner when you get into that nickel spot,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “And he’s got that.”

In addition to mastering those versatile responsibilities, Sneed plays the physical man-to-man coverage that Spagnuolo often employs.

“He’s a good cover guy,” Reid said. “He’s always right there and tight on it.”

Further demonstrating his value, Sneed is something of an ironman. He has played 100% of the defensive snaps in every game except the Week One victory against the Arizona Cardinals, and several Chiefs starters did not finish that contest because the result was out of hand.

If the 25-year-old cornerback maintains his level of play, he could make his first Pro Bowl and also be in line for a contract extension.

Sneed is currently in the third year of his four-year, $3.9 million deal. That’s great value for an ascending player.

“I’m just going to keep going,” he said. “I’m getting better day by day and week by week.”