Chiefs’ Steve Spagnuolo, seeking to hand Tom Brady another Super Bowl loss, doesn’t want QB to ‘read our mail’

As it pertains to overcoming the legendary superpowers of one Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., the Kansas City Chiefs have a not-so-secret superweapon – but it's not the guy with the frohawk and frog in his throat wearing the red No. 15 jersey.

No, it's the pleasant 61-year-old with the Boston accent who's often been able to make football wicked hahd for Brady.

Steve Spagnuolo is preparing to face TB12 for the sixth time as a defensive coordinator and second in the Super Bowl. But just because the man known as "Spags" owns a 3-2 record against Brady – and is widely credited for derailing the previously undefeated 2007 Patriots in Super Bowl 42 while orchestrating the New York Giants defense – he clearly isn't taking anything for granted heading into Sunday's Super Bowl 55 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

"He's a step ahead of everything," Spagnuolo said this week of Brady, who's finishing his first season with the Bucs after spending 20 years in Spags' native Massachusetts.

"He has total control, he gets them out there in time to change things. We're gonna have to be really good on the back end, not to show him things or, as we say, 'Don't let him read our mail.' Because if he can read our mail, he knows exactly what to do."

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is finishing his second year with the Chiefs. (Photo: Jamie Squire, Getty Images)

Brady and his record-setting New England offense, despite an unprecedented 18-0 start 13 years ago, failed to decipher the Giants' mail when it counted. He was constantly pressured, sacked a season-high five times, as the Patriots finished with 274 yards and 14 points – the only time they failed to score at least 20 during a campaign when they set league records for points scored, touchdowns and point differential.

The wild-card Giants shockingly prevailed 17-14.

“That game," Brady said this week, “is one of my least favorite football memories.”

He fared better against the Chiefs in November, passing for 345 yards and three TDs but was picked off twice and sacked once. The Bucs narrowly lost 27-24.

"I think Spags runs a great scheme, and I think he really caters to the strength of his players. I think his schemes evolve different times that I've played him … over the last, I don't know, 13, 14 years," said Brady, who's been sacked 13 times and intercepted four in his five matchups against Spagnuolo.

"I know he's gonna have those guys ready to go. They'll be prepared. They've got a lot of great players on that defense, a lot of veterans, a lot of guys who really understand football. Obviously, the moment's not too big for those guys. … It's gonna be pretty tough."

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'Changed the dynamic of this defense'

Life's been pretty tough for the rest of the NFL since Spagnuolo joined Kansas City. The Chiefs haven't missed the playoffs since 2014, winning the AFC West five years in succession. But their 50-year championship drought ended last season, coinciding with the arrival of Spags, who lifted a team that reached the 2018 AFC championship game but lost to Brady's Patriots thanks largely to the league's second-worst defense.

The Chiefs, who have won 25 of their past 27 games, ranked 10th in points allowed in 2020 (down from seventh last year), permitting 22.6 per game. They've been better in the playoffs, limiting the Cleveland Browns and high-octane Buffalo Bills to a combined 41.

"Spags is great, man, he changed the dynamic of this defense," Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones told USA TODAY Sports. "I think he's been a plus, to not only our defense but our individual careers. I think he improves us as players. And he got us over the hump of just making it to the AFC championship."

Jones was a disruptor as the Chiefs limited the San Francisco 49ers to 20 points in Super Bowl 54, and he'll doubtless have to do more against Brady – whether or not he sacks him.

"It's (about) affecting the quarterback, it's not necessarily sacking him," said Spagnuolo, who'd like to see hands in Brady's face, off-balance throws and disjointed timing.

"We'd love to have a bunch of sacks, but that's not gonna happen. That's not the No. 1 goal. The No. 1 goal is to affect the quarterback to the point that he doesn't complete the pass."

Brady had more success doing that in Super Bowl 46, when the Patriots lost again to the Giants, whom Spagnuolo had already left in 2009 to coach the St. Louis Rams. In Brady's only other Super Bowl defeat, to the Philadelphia Eagles three years ago, he fired off three TDs and a Super Sunday record 505 passing yards but suffered one late sack while losing a 41-33 shootout to Nick Foles and Co.

Brady's propensity to get rid of the ball quickly and his array of weapons in Tampa – he had Randy Moss and Wes Welker in 2007 but not a tight end like Rob Gronkowski or this many capable wideouts – suggest Spagnuolo can't just count on his line to generate pressure, especially since it doesn't have the depth that those 2007 Giants and their famed "NASCAR" pass rush did when Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora were on the field together.

"You can only do as much as your players allow," said Spagnuolo, who has a very strong mutual trust with his players, especially havoc-wreaking defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, and is certainly willing to blitz – even admitting he's relied on Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes to cover up defensive mistakes on the scoreboard.

"The game has changed a little bit from when we played back there in '07 – the quarterback we're playing is still the same, he's still every bit as good. We'll try pressure-wise and all that, but I just think we've gotta be on-point coverage wise and see what we can get with our guys out of a four-man rush."

Plus, surely, a few wrinkles Brady isn't expecting or maybe hasn't seen.

"You can't do one thing too much, or (Brady will) find a way to make you pay for it," said Spagnuolo.

"When you face this kind offense, with a lot of weapons, you just have to mix it up. You can't sit in one thing – Tom's too good. He's gonna figure out what you're trying to do, what you're trying to take away, and he's going to expose you somewhere else."

Spagnuolo said the two-week lead-up to the Super Bowl allows him to thoroughly prepare – he just has to ensure he's not giving his players too much to think about.

"You clutter their mind, you tangle up their feet," he said. "We don't want to do that, we want to let our guys just go and play."

Of course, they'll have to be ready for just about anything against Brady, who masterfully manipulates his offense pre-snap, calls for the optimal protections and motions, rarely makes a bad decision – and has the Bucs, who haven't lost a game since they last saw Kansas City, playing much, much better during a seven-game winning streak they've ridden to Super Bowl 55.

"Call it synergy, call it chemistry, call it whatever you want – they're clicking on all cylinders," said Spagnuolo. "Once you start having success, then it snowballs, and that's what I've seen them do. Everybody gets confident. You've got the best quarterback in NFL history playing there.

"I just see a unit that's clicking – great chemistry with a great leader."

Sure sounds a lot like the Kansas City defense.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

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