The Kansas City Chiefs offense was phenomenal but their defense was awful. Therefore, the Chiefs decided to sign Tyrann Mathieu to shore up the backend of their defense.
In 2018, the Chiefs defense ranked 31st in the NFL in total defense. Their passing defense was ranked 31st in the NFL—allowing 4,374 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Mathieu was signed earlier this offseason to a lucrative deal worth $42 million over three years. The talented safety played with the Houston Texans last season after spending five years with the Arizona Cardinals.
Kansas City desperately needed to improve their secondary after an abysmal season for their secondary in 2018. Signing Mathieu helps fill an absolute need for a team that needs a good defense to match their high-powered offense.
The honey-badger will come into 2019 ready to help propel the Chiefs forward with his leadership and performance on the field.
Here are three early goals for Tyrann Mathieu in 2019 with the Chiefs.
3. Remain Healthy
Over the last couple of seasons, it has been nice to see Mathieu remain healthy for all 16 games of the regular season. Although, injuries were an issue for Mathieu before the last two seasons.
Staying healthy is a goal for everyone in the NFL but some players are more prone to get hurt than others. The Chiefs are hoping they will witness Mathieu remain on the field for every game in the upcoming season.
For fans of the NFL, we're hoping Mathieu remains healthy as well. When Mathieu is fully healthy, he is still one of the best safeties and playmakers in the league.
If the Chiefs hope to see their defense improve drastically then Mathieu will need to remain on the field in 2019.
2. Get Turnovers
One of the positives for Kansas City's defense in 2018 was the number of turnovers they forced. The Chiefs forced 27 total takeaways—15 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries.
Over the course of his career, Mathieu has always been capable of forcing a decent amount of turnovers. In his six seasons in the NFL, Mathieu has 13 interceptions, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
The newly signed safety will want to continue his run as one of the best safeties in terms of getting turnovers. At 5'9″, 185 pounds, Mathieu isn't afraid to put his nose in the middle of anything.
They don't call him the honey badger for nothing.
Mathieu always seems to be around the ball and he will hope his ability to get turnovers continues for the Chiefs in 2019.
1. Help Improve the Chiefs Defense
Again, the Chiefs had a terrible year on the defensive side of the ball in 2018. As a result, the Chiefs fired longtime defensive coordinator Bob Sutton after their season ended.
The Chiefs made it to the AFC Championship but came up short against the New England Patriots. Their defense couldn't slow down the Patriots and the front office knew a change needed to be made.
Kansas City brought Steve Spagnuolo in to be their new defensive coordinator. Along with Mathieu being signed, the Chiefs traded for Emmanuel Ogbah and Frank Clark to improve their pass rush.
Mathieu is just one of the few new pieces that will be crucial to turning around the Chiefs defense. There's no doubt that someone like Mathieu is up for the challenge and welcomes the responsibility to be a leader of the defense.
In conclusion, Mathieu's ultimate goal in 2019 should be to help improve the Chiefs defense from 2018.
Although, it shouldn't be that hard as Kansas City ranked near the bottom of the NFL in every statistical category on defense.
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