A Curious Drive In San Diego:
Quick Hitters On A Drive Without Kelce
With Jeremy Maclin gone, the spotlight has most certainly turned to Kansas City Chiefs most dynamic play-maker: Travis Kelce. What? You thought I was going to say Tyreek Hill? Yeah Hill is good, but Kelce has been at the top of his position since his second year in the league. I think Hill will continue to do well, but I know that Kelce can. Of course the real question then becomes: what happens if Chiefs lose Kelce to an injury (or a suspension, like when he puts spurs on and rides the ref around the field like a pony, because he missed another holding call)? For one peculiar drive against the San Diego Chargers, the Chiefs did just that. Fans have theorized that it was to punish Kelce, but no explanation has ever been given. I thought this would be an interesting drive to look at though, because it shows us how Chiefs offense will cope with the loss of a play-maker. It’s also interesting to note that they played this game without Spencer Ware. Enough set-up, lets dive into the film. Please excuse my MS Paint skills, or lack thereof.
1st and 10
The Chiefs come out in a “22 personnel” package (two RBs, two TEs). Smith is in the shotgun with West slightly behind and to his right. Former TE James O’ Shaughnessy is lined up next to FB Anthony Sherman on the left, but motions to the right side before the snap and WR Jeremy Maclin is lined up on the far right. At the snap, the Chiefs line blocks to the right and RB Charcandrick West follows Center Mitch Morse up the middle for a four yard game. This is about what you can expect from West as a rusher. He gets what’s blocked, but not a whole lot more. It’s easy to see why the Chiefs drafted another running back in Kareem Hunt. Without Ware, the run game lacks a whole lot of punch. The play was able to succeed, because Reid used the formation to trick the defense into expecting a run to the left, and the O-line blocked it well.
2nd and 6
Chiefs come out in an “11 personnel” package. They line up WR’s Chris Conley and Albert Wilson on one side with Maclin on the other. TE Demetrius Harris and RB Charcandrick West are just blocking on this play. Conley’s man is playing off coverage, Smith motions him behind Albert Wilson. This isn’t quite what you’d call a pick play, but it’s the same concept. Wilson’s route gets in the way of Conley’s defender. Conley runs a short comeback route, in a play that’s designed for Yards-After-Catch (YAC). Unfortunately, despite an accurate throw, Conley drops the ball. For those worried about Maclin’s departure, this is certainly concerning. Right now, Conley reminds me a little bit of Terrance Copper, he can make the big catches, but sometimes struggles with the little ones.
3rd and 6
Chiefs come out in 11 personnel again. This time with Maclin and Hill on the right and Conley on the left. Harris lines up on left, and West lines up next to Smith, on his right. Chiefs motion Maclin behind Hill in much the same way they did with Conley on the last play. Hill runs a go route, but rather than going behind him, this time, Conley runs an in route directly at Charger’s ILB. He manages to make it look like he bums into him, turning back toward the ball, but it’s pretty obvious that it was a pick. Smith throws to West, who leaks out into the flat. Because of Conley’s block, the LB can get to West in time and there are no defenders in front of him, except the deep safeties. 29 yards later, Chiefs have a first down, and the ball in SD territory. This is a really well designed play by Reid. It’s legality is somewhat dubious, but there’s enough gray area there that refs will rarely call a penalty. This play is also notable, because these are the kind of things you can ask West to do successfully, he’s above average as a receiving RB.
1st and 10
Chiefs come out in 21 personnel (two RBs one TE). Harris starts on the left, but motioned over next to Sherman on the right. Smith is under center. Hill, on the right, runs back toward Smith, at the snap, faking the end around. DeAnthony Thomas runs a post route from the left side. This is a designed outside run for Charcandrick West and a gain of 5 yards. Chiefs blocking was able to give West the edge, but he slipped on the turf. If he hadn’t he could have gained a couple more yards on the play. If you’re careful not to do it too often, designed runs are good times to get your depth WRs snaps. Their routes don’t actually matter to the outcome of the game much, but they give you some tape to review progress. As Laddie noted the other day, Reid really likes to run on first down.
2nd and 5
Chiefs come out in 21 personnel again. This time with Davis in at RB. Rather than going through all the glorious design of the play, let’s just point out the obvious. Davis is a terrible, terrible RB. He tries to run a similar play to West, but instead, runs into his own blocker, loses his balance and loses a yard.
3rd and 6
Chiefs come out in 01 personnel (no RB). Hill lines up far left, followed by Maclin and Harris. Wilson and Conley are on the left. The two outside receivers run short curl routes, Wilson runs a corner route and so does Maclin on the other side. Harris runs an out route. While Hill and Conley are open, neither is likely to gain the first down. Wilson is covered and so is Conley. Harris is starting to coming open as Smith throws, but he was being held (which the refs didn’t see for some reason). To his credit, Smith targets the only receiver who has a chance of making the first down, and Maclin rewards him with a big contested catch on a back shoulder throw. It’s Chiefs’ ball on the SD 10 yard line. This is where you worry about this year. Smith has two guys he throws to when he’s in trouble: Maclin and Kelce. If he didn’t have Maclin to throw to on this drive, Chiefs may have been looking at 4th down instead of 1st and goal.
1st and Goal
Hey guys, Knile Davis is gonna run the ball again! Wanna guess what happens?… If you guessed a loss of one, you’re wrong! If you guessed a loss of two though… ugh. Seeing Knile Davis in the backfield is like watching a black cat cross your path, or seeing a vulture sitting on your front porch. He’s basically a harbinger of doom for the offense.
2nd and Goal -2 (dang it Davis!)
Chiefs come out in 12 personnel (1RB 2TEs). Davis is in the backfield, but it’s a passing play. Harris motions out wide left, Maclin lines up between him and the line. Smith is in the shotgun. O’Shaughnessy lines up tight right and Hill is wide right. Hill and Shag run go routes. Maclin runs an in route, and Harris runs the same route right behind him. Davis runs a corner route out of the backfield. Smith has three open receiving targets within 4 seconds of the ball being snapped, but the O-line can’t give him that much time. Chargers rush four, Fisher gets owned by Bosa, and it has a domino-effect on the protection. Smith somehow manages to throw it away, with three defenders bearing down on him and Chiefs move on to third down. If Chiefs had Kelce on the field, instead of Harris, perhaps the Chargers would have dropped an extra guy in coverage, giving Smith enough time to find the open man.
3rd and Goal
Chiefs come out in 01 personnel. Conley lined up left, Wilson and Maclin right, with Harris wide right. Hill lined up as a RB on this play. The play never got anywhere, because Smith got sacked before the routes even finished. Fisher just gets schooled by Bosa and gives up the quick sack. It still stings just how awful the draft was the year Chiefs had the first overall pick. I’d trade Fisher for Bosa in a heartbeat. Who knows if there’s any truth to the rumors, but Fisher’s contract was mentioned as one of the Dorsey moves Hunt wasn’t thrilled with. I could see it, the more I re-watch Fisher, from last year, the more nervous I get. He’s not bad, but he’s not anywhere near as good as his paycheck would indicate.
4th and Goal
Well, time to bring in Chiefs most valuable player on offense: Cairo Santos. After a very Chief-y red zone collapse, they settled for three and this curious drive was at an end.
Random Thought
In case you were wondering, Knile Davis finished the game with 9 yards on 6 carries. Five of that was in one carry, so he averaged less than a yard per carry over the rest of his attempts.
If this is what the Chiefs look like without two primary contributors on offense (Kelce and Ware) consider me nervous. The two biggest plays of the drive were both facilitated by Jeremy Maclin. I’m on the record as saying Chiefs made the right choice there, but it’s still going to sting in the short term. If Chiefs could have brought Maclin back on a reduced contract, that certainly could have helped. As is, Chiefs need to hope Kelce stays healthy and Hill steps up. If a couple younger players, maybe Hunt and Robinson, beast out in training camp, I might feel a little better. For now, the offense is going to need some good luck. At least they started by getting rid of their honorary albatross: Knile Davis. Go Chiefs.
Bonus Thought
I haven’t forgotten that CBS made us watch overtime between the Steelers’ backup QB and Cleveland Browns, instead of San Diego’s first drive this game. Man that was annoying.
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