Chiefly Bacon: Cut It Out
Now I don’t claim to be a better head coach than Andy Reid, or even capable of coaching for that matter, but I don’t suppose even I could have done much worse than that puke-worthy performance on Sunday. Going over everything that went wrong isn’t going to make any of us happy, but I want to look at a couple things the Chiefs can stop doing that are hurting their ability to compete.
Cut Out The Scripted Drive
Most West Coast offenses like to begin each game with a series of per-scripted plays, to get some initial info about the opposing defense. They note responses to particular formations and packages and that info sets up what they plan to do, for the rest of the game. The problem with this is that it tends to lead to impotent drives. The Chiefs started the game with a couple plays that work really well, and then shifted to totally different plays. Now I don’t believe the Chiefs hold so rigidly to this scripted drive that they won’t make changes based on down and distance, but it does steer them towards a specific play instead of considering multiple options to see if there might be something better. If K.C. wants to do something different for the first drive, I would suggest sending out personnel groups until they get a good play. If they get a good play, immediately go to the no huddle… and stick with it as long as it works during the drive.
Stop It With The Predictable Screen Passes
I’m not totally down on screens. They force the opposing defense to play honest. Thing is, most NFL defenses already play disciplined football. The Chiefs don’t need to run a screen play every drive to keep the defense honest and other teams are wise to their running screens out of the bunch formation. The foundation of the WCO is running every play out of every formation, but the Chiefs have gotten a bit lazy on that front. Screens need to play a diminished role in the offense, and be set up differently. K.C. might consider going back to an inside screen they used a lot last year that produced a few TDs for them.
Can’t Have These Under Center Issues
The Chiefs like to snap the ball with Alex Smith under Center. It’s supposed to do two things: allow for better play action fakes, and set up the timing of the offense, using the number of steps the QB takes to reach his drop. The problem is, the Oline hasn’t held up well enough for Smith to hit those timing throws because by the time he gets into his drop, he’s already under pressure. I’m not making excuses for Smith. I personally would like to see what Foles has after last week, but if Chiefs are going to keep rolling with Smith, they need to make a change. Smith needs to take more snaps from the shotgun (provided Morse doesn’t have any more bad snaps of course). The shotgun gives Smith a chance to see the field and how routes are developing. It should allow him to make throws, before WRs come out of their breaks, with his feet set and good mechanics for better accuracy. The downside to this has always been the lack of effective play action. They can mitigate this loss by running option and pitch plays out of the shotgun. It always seems like Smith plays better when he can run the ball a little bit. Opposing teams are playing a lot of zone coverage to take that away, but running the option from the shotgun could bring it back.
Getting Tired of Boring Coverage Schemes
Bob Sutton’s defense contains a ton of creative blitzes and the same coverage schemes most of the time. He will alternate between press man and off man, but he barely mixes in any zone and rarely does he bracket top WRs or let his CBs roam from their typical position. I can’t complain too much about what Sutton has done so far this year, but I can say I’d like to see him employ some of the same creativity in the secondary that he does with the pass rush. If a WR is too small and fast to be a good match for Peters, have Gaines or Nelson follow them around. If Nelson can’t handle a big physical WR, put Peters on him. If nobody can cover a guy, put a safety over top on him. I’d rather gamble with single coverage on a bad WR and double coverage on a good one, than have a FS try to cover both of them. As fast as Ron Parker is, he can’t be two places at once and opposing offensive coordinators aren’t dumb enough to call routes that can be adequately covered on the back end by one guy.
I‘d love to see Chiefs make some bolder changes, like using multiple RB formations, starting Nick Foles on some drives, or using some 00 personnel (five WRs no RB or TE), but, since none of that is going to happen, I’d certainly settle for axing some of the less effective plays that the Chiefs run.
And those are my Sizzling Takes!
