The Chiefs Achilles Heel: Offensive Efficiency, Part 1
The Kansas City Chiefs are winning games like they’re going out of style. A lot of games. They’re not only winning at a .778 clip this year but have a 17-2 record in the last 19 regular season games and they’re 18-3 in their last 21 games, including the playoffs. With all that team-progress you’d think that the offense was having a lot of success but the fact is, they’re currently lacking in offensive efficiency and you could say it’s their Achilles heel.
Let’s review the offense so far during the 2016 season
Charger 27 @ Chiefs 33
The Chiefs opened the season looking like the 2016 Cleveland Browns for 2 ½ quarters then in an epic turnaround looked like the the 1988 San Francisco 49ers coming from behind and winning 33-27 on 30 points coming in the 3rd & 4th quarters and the first drive of OT, freeze-frame Alex Smith doing his best Incredible Hulk impersonation. Spencer Ware, Jeremy Maclin, Tyreek Hill and Alex Smith all scored TDs. Santo is 2-for2 on FGs attempts. TDs = 4.
Chiefs 12 @ Texans
The Chiefs wimp out in Houston and the Texans get their pseudo-revenge from last year’s playoff loss but did I mention the Chiefs looked wimpy producing 12 whole points… don’t you just love Cairo Santos… becauses… his 4-for-4 wizardry could make a house fall on a witch… parenthetically, zero-zip-nada-zilch-nil-nought in the TD department. TDs = 0.
Jets 3 @ Chiefs 24
The real Chiefs offense finally showed up and pounced upon the mighty NY Jets… w-h-a-t-?… the Jets are only 3-7 with the 5th worst record in the league… well at least the offense scored 24 points against them right… well… DJ scored one of those TDs and Cairo Santos had 1 FG and 2 PATs? So you’re saying the offense only was responsible for two TDs total in their “blow out” of NY? Yes, and that would be 2 offensive TDs over the past 8 quarters of play. TDs = 2.
Chiefs 14 @ Steelers 43
Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce scored one TD each. TDs = 2.
Chiefs 26 @ Raiders 10
Spencer Ware, Jamaal Charles and the Hungry Hippo… or was it Pig… each scored a TD. I’m not sure if we can count a TD that Dontari Poe scores as an offensive TD… well alright… I guess he did line up with the offense to do it. EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS SCORE MORE THAN 2 TDs IN A GAME. TDs = 3.
Saint 21 @ Chiefs 27
Spencer Ware and Tyreek Hill score but Cairo Santos kicks two FGs and Daniel Sorensen returns an INT for the other TD. Another game where the Chiefs don’t break the 2 TDs in a game mark. TDs = 2.
Chiefs 30 @ Colts 14
Alex Smith goes down with a concussion but throws a TD before leaving the game. Nick Foles throws 2 TDs and Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Jeremy Maclin all put one in the end zone by game’s end. TDs = 3.
Jags 14 @ Chiefs 19
Albert “Chiefs Savior” Wilson scored one TD and Cairo “The Chiefs Real Savior” Santos went 4-for-4 on FG attempts to pull this one out of the fire against a supposedly bad Jacksonville team. TDs = 1.
Chiefs 20 @ Panthers 17
Eric “The True Savior of the Chiefs” Berry scores the game’s only TD for the Chiefs as Cairo Santos goes 4-for-4 again and the Chiefs convert their one TD extra point for two to get to 20 points. TDs = 0.
That’s a long way of saying the Chiefs offense has been anemic. Now, if you’re doing the math with me, the Chiefs offense has been responsible for 17 total TDs in 9 games. That’s 1.88 TDs per game. When analyzing scoring I often look at points or scoring by quarters. Since much of the game planning and in-game adjustments happen during these times it’s a helpful tool in looking at the total output per quarter. In that case, the Chiefs are scoring a TD 0.47 times per quarter of play, not even a half-a-TD per quarter of play. Obviously, that just the bottom line and not the reason.
So, what might the reasons be for such a dismal amount of production?
One of the reasons I am writing this piece is that I have said out loud repeatedly during games that I am tired of FGs and failed or stalled drives. The Chiefs appear to have all the pieces. A dynamic backfield led by a QB who’s not going to lose the game for you… a team of running backs that keep the fanbase excited to watch the games… a top tier tight end… an excellent #1 WR with a rookie WR who may challenge him for his job before too long. So what gives? Why can’t the Chiefs sustain drives and produce more scoring?
So, what are the Chiefs typical list of excuses. There’s the:
“he doesn’t know the playbook yet” and,
“he drops the ball because he’s still developing” and,
“the playbook is just too big to grasp quickly” and the,
“we just haven’t jelled as a unit yet” and the
“he’s never fumbled before so we don’t know why he’s fumbling now” excuse.
Excuses, excuses, we’ve heard them all before and more. However there’s one “reason” that’s not on this list… yet. It’s the one that says, “is this the right offensive scheme for this group of talented player?” While we will never know if this group of players would be better off in an Air-Coryell Offensive scheme or an Erhardt-Perkins scheme it’s clear that those schemes are a more simple and straightforward offensive approach for players to assimilate and adjust to.
There’s the distinct possibility that the Chiefs are running a scheme that the offensive players can’t fully digest. Not publicly of course… I think that Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid have made sure to bring in the kinds of players that will not only be good guys in terms of “off-field values” but also are guys who will go along with whatever Andy cooks up.
This past summer you could hear Alex Smith opening up about the relationship he has with Andy Reid. He’s said he can throw ideas out there to see if it is something Reid wants to try and while that sounds very open, the Andy Reid offensive scheme is a comprehensive plan. Sure, we’ve heard tell of the playbook evolving but what Andy Reid really means by that is that the playbook has gotten bigger. Case in point, he recently was talking about Nick Foles who started the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Foles said that while the playbook is essentially the same, they now have different plays stemming from the same sets that were previously used. So, Reid hasn’t really replaced anything in this playbook, he’s just expanded it.
Why is that important?
We’ll get into that tomorrow morning as well as taking a look at the Chiefs “First Downs-to-Drives Efficiency.” See you then in part 2 of…
“The Chiefs Achilles Heel: Offensive Efficiency” .
