Chief’s Offensive Line Got Owned, But They Still Own the Raiders, Part II

Chief’s Offensive Line Got Owned, But They Still Own the Raiders, Part II

David Bell

I started this week with my initial impressions of the Kansas City Chiefs game with the Las Vegas Raiders. This is Part II. I must offer a mea culpa because, after the first-quarter slaying of the OL, they played far better form the 2nd Quarter onward. They did not play the dominating game we saw when the Chiefs faced the Buccaneers, but it wasn’t the slaughter that my game-flow impressions ascertained. In other words, I was wrong about the overall game.

Overall Take After a 3rd Run-Through

Thursday, I went through the all-22 view of the game for the third time and I think the result I ended up with is valid: the Raider Defense owned the Chief’s Offensive Line, early. The K.C. defense will be top 15 by the end of the season. We had two sorely missed pieces: CB McDuffie and LB Willie Gay. Although, Darius Harris played an excellent game and made multiple plays throughout the game.

The defense was exposed by the Raiders, whose game plan was a good one. Josh McDaniels threw curves at the defense, focusing on the ground game, and used an Offensive Lineman as a Tight End outside the tackles which provided the blocking for Jacobs to be a constant ground gainer, his own record game. It was a solid plan. I still think our OTs got owned… but going back through the video made me shift that view quite a bit.

.

.

In the 1st Quarter, they were “owned” purely and simply and I counted four pass block fails by Andrew Wylie alone and two by Orlando Brown Jr.. However, after the Chiefs entered the 2nd Quarter, the OL faired far more favorably. One that, they played far better, and the play-calling aided them as the defense couldn’t cheat as much. What surprised me was that my overall impression of Wylie and Brown shifted extensively by the 2nd half.

.

.

The problem was that the Chiefs threw themselves under the bus in the first Quarter. Brown and Wylie’s blocking failures were so evident that I began to view that as the reason the first three possessions failed. Unfortunately, that was not the case — it was mistakes by skilled players and poor blocking in that Quarter. Poor play-calling mix to sequence plays to keep the defense guessing. McKinnon single-handedly got the whole team to play with better intensity in the second Quarter. The blocking by the OTs was far better, and the IOL could stop some of the blitzing.

.

.

Then, Reid called better plays for quicker throws to WRs and used plays that utilized the slants — I have been calling for more of that. When the opposing defense is man-up coverage, those plays get someone open, even if it extends to 3+seconds. Mixing the runs in, then kept the Corners up near the box. It worked; after the mistakes in the possessions of the first Q, they settled in.

The Chiefs reeled off 30 points to Raider’s 12 and won the game despite a game-changing bad call on Chris Jones — fortunately, Carl Cheffer’s flag on Chris Jones did not affect the end result and the outcome of the game would have been even more outrageous for fans.

The OL Did Not Have Good Game

Going through the game video three times leads me to think my original conclusion was overly harsh. At the same time, the overall performance of the OL, including the play of the Interior Three, lacked aggressiveness. Too often, the pass rush pushed up the middle, flooding the front end of the pocket, which reduced the time Patrick Mahomes could keep his feet still, staying in the pocket and making his progression work. At the same time, my focus was on how the OTs handled the edge rushers and blitzes. It was what enabled the Edge Rushers to get pressure on Mahomes.

.

.

A Bottom Line Observation

My predicted number in a close “in division” game was 31-20. I knew the Raiders would hotly contest the game. The defense’s inability to play cornerbacks on an island was a crucial facet of the Raider’s offensive success. DC Steve Spagnuolo served up that dependency, and his defense gave up 29 points. Despite my critique of the offensive line, the Chiefs scored 30 points, and a coaching decision by Raider’s HC to go for two points on the Point After turned out to be a failure… and that was the difference in this game.

.

.

After reviewing the game three (3) times, I concluded that the Offensive Line was owned by the Raider’s defense –> into the middle of the 2nd Quarter. At the same time, the Chiefs drove the football and moved the chains. Errors by skilled players and the Chiefs substitute PK Matthew Wright’s missed FG was 3 points that would make the final decision by the Raiders to go for two points moot.

.

.

I was mostly unhappy with the play-calling mix, especially for the first three possessions. I believe the play-calling by Andy Reid was a detriment to the offensive line’s ability to get their job done. However, sometimes you have to win ugly. Josh Daniel’s game plan exposed too many weaknesses and the Raiders gave the Chiefs all they could handle. When I compare the two teams, the Raiders probably played at their Peak Level, while the Chiefs simply did not. This may not sound right, but that should be encouraging for Chiefs fans. Unfortunately, that ugliness was what the game on Monday Night ended up being.

.

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

.