Furious motor; Chiefs DE George Karlaftis is earning his nickname

The 2nd-year pass rusher has become a big part of the complementary pass rush with a frenzied, nonstop, borderline psychotic style of rushing the passer.

There were so many good, fun things to write about (and one REALLY annoying one) from the Chiefs’ complete beatdown of the Bears Sunday that it was tough to choose.

Do I talk about Rashee Rice and Skyy Moore coming along in the offense? Maybe people (myself included) needing to put respect on Justin Watson’s name? Jawaan Taylor being legitimately targeted by the refs? The OL being an impregnable wall in pass protection? The run game getting going? The pass rush looking frightening? The secondary playing out of its mind? Travis Kelce once again showing his unbelievable importance to the offense?

All of those sound like a lot of fun, and some of them (once the all-22 is out) are definitely things I’ll cover. But ultimately I settled upon a guy who plays like every snap might be his last. No, not Isiah Pacheco (though that’d be fun too).

I’m talking about Furious George Karlaftis, who is living up to his nickname with a borderline frantic style of pass rushing that makes him a terrific complement for superstar Chris Jones.

Watch him from the RDE spot below. The man never stops.

Through three games, Karlaftis has recorded (per Next Gen stats, it’s worth noting every site/company charts these differently) pressure at a clip of about 15% this season, reaching a respectable level and doubling what he did last year.

What’s interesting to me, on going back and watching his snaps against the Bears (where he was a part of an absolutely smothering overall effort), is the WAY Karlaftis is achieving pressure and helping the Chiefs’ pass rush. Because while you can see that he’s working on his craft (we’ll talk about that), a lot of it is just him being a borderline maniac on the field with a battery that apparently never drains.

Let’s talk about Furious George Karlaftis, where he’s winning, and how his style of play gives him a high floor while he refines his game.