Healthy Shark; Looking at every snap of a resurgent Frank Clark vs the Raiders.

Clark helped swing the game, showing the versatility in pass rushing that was his calling card in Seattle.

I could talk about the importance of Melvin Ingram's addition to the Chiefs’ defense. I could talk about Chris Jones moving back inside. I could talk about the secondary finally getting healthy and playing more disciplined. I could talk about Juan Thornhill relegating Dan Sorensen to a more part-time role and allowing Tyrann Mathieu to dominate in the intermediate portion of the field. I could talk about Willie Gay Jr.’s speed and physicality at the second level.

All that (and more) help explain the Chiefs’ development from one of the worst defenses in the league to one of the very best (argue with the numbers if you disagree) over the last several months. They’re all important, and I’ve written about many of them in spots (here’s an article on Gay shrinking the field, here’s one on Jones dominating from defensive tackle vs the Cowboys, here’s one on Ingram and the complementary rush, here’s a look at Thornhill and Rashad Fenton’s impact… basically, I write a lot here!).

However, one of the most crucial changes on the defense has gone largely overlooked, and it’s fascinating because it’s one of the Chiefs’ most high-profile players. I won’t bury the lede (I think I already did?); Frank Clark is playing his best football as a Chief right now, and it helps bring the entire defense to another level.

Clark played an excellent game against the Raiders and has gotten some attention for it. But to really examine the impact he had against Las Vegas (and has had in recent weeks), it’s important to look at every snap to see what happened beyond the highlights and the box score. Because his impact was felt throughout the game. And so, to the film we go to chart every snap by Clark Sunday.

If you’ve never read a piece of mine discussing defensive linemen, the methodology is simple. I chart wins/losses/neutral snaps against the pass and the run (so “pass rush wins/losses,” run defense wins/losses”), as well as looking at pressures/hits/sacks and effective double teams. The idea is to see how often a player was able to make an impact and have success in a way that might not show up in the stats sheet, and how consistent he was throughout the day.

The Raiders are a perfect team to do this against because they have a solid left tackle in Kolton Miller who Clark wasn’t able to do much against in several recent matchups.

So let’s look at the numbers, then talk about how Clark has (against all prognostications) returned to his 2018 form.