Game-altering; Taking a closer look at Chris Jones icing multiple wins for the Chiefs

Almost no other defensive player in the league can boast the number of clutch impact plays Kansas City's defensive tackle has made.

I’ve made it no secret that I believe Chris Jones is one of the most underappreciated players in Kansas City as well as one of the best defensive players in the NFL. What’s my basis to believe he’s underappreciated? Well, without getting too deep into the woods, feel free to read many of the replies to this tweet following the Chiefs/Broncos game and Jones’ late heroics.

Seth Keysor @RealMNchiefsfan

Oh, and before I forget (and I'll likely try to write about it this week), Chris Jones made another argument for why he should be in the DPOY conversation tonight.

Now, granted, Twitter is decidedly NOT real life. And quite frankly, the number of Chiefs fans who believe Jones is awesome outnumber his detractors by a wide margin. That said, I’ve noticed that over the years Jones has had a larger (and louder) number of fans who don’t recognize his elite play than any other player of his caliber I can think of. Hence, my label of “underappreciated.”

So every now and then, I like to find ways to point out just how good Chris Jones has been for the Chiefs (which is inevitably replied to with a reference to a single game and a “how come he didn’t do it in Situation X,” as though that’s the way the NFL works for defensive players. But I digress). Often, I do so based around how good his film is, such as when I wrote about the Chiefs using him (with great success) more sparingly at defensive end earlier this year.

Other times, I’ll cite his statistics, which are consistently great. This is especially true when you look at things like win rates or pressures/hits and ignore the slightly more “staticky” number of sacks (which involve a little more luck and context). For example…

Seth Walder @SethWalder

Usually look at win rates in terms of, well, rates. But obviously some players play more than others (and/or face more opponent pass plays). Here's the top 10 players in total pass rush wins regardless of position. Would not have guessed Chris Jones would be No. 1 overall!

I’m not going to use these two things today, though. Today, I’m just going to point to a few moments this year that demonstrate Jones’ value. In particular, his ability to pick the right time to make a big play more frequently than almost any other defensive player in the league.

The short story is this; In multiple victories this year, especially in recent weeks, Jones has made pivotal plays in the 4th quarter that gave Kansas City a stop when they needed it to ice or have a chance to ice the game. And even in a few games where they lost, Jones made pivotal plays that gave the offense a chance to get the win (and didn’t get credit due to the final outcome).

Don’t believe me? Well, I’ll prove it. Let’s point out some of the pivotal plays Jones has made icing (or trying to ice) games for the Chiefs.