Breaking Down the Tape: O-line vs San Diego Chargers

From the FanPosts  -Joel

A saying that will always ring true in football, "the film never lies."  Each week one fan says a particular offensive lineman is doing poorly and at the same time another fan says the worst player is some other offensive lineman entirely.  Well, the film never lies.  This post will attempt to expose the players performances by evaluating the execution of each player on every offensive play.

Here's how it works:

• Each offensive lineman was given a "+" for doing their job or a "-" for failing to do their job on each play.
• These pluses and minuses were grouped into the type of block they were asked to do, e.g., a run block solo (RB Solo), a run block double team (RB Double), or a pass block solo (PB Solo), etc.
• A "D", for "driven", was assigned every time a player was manhandled during a pass or run play.
• The quality of the lineman's play is represented as a percentage below.  The higher the percentage the better the lineman did.
• I tried to be very strict...I think Haley would want it that way.
• One important note, some plays were unclear as to who exactly did not do their job, e.g., a defensive tackle going unblocked at the line of scrimmage.  Was it the centers fault?  The guards fault?  In these cases it was clear that a mistake was made and the player that looked to be most at fault was assigned the blame.

Here are the grades from first three quarters against the San Diego Chargers:

                                                        "Lineman Making the Grade"

                                                                               >

                                                                                     via www.kcchiefs.com

Here are some observations from a review of the tape:

1. In the game against the Redskins the Tight Ends were left one-on-one with a pass rushing defender and were beat repeatedly.  In the game against the Chargers the tight ends were used more as a double team help. 
   
2. Smith played very well at center.  He did especially well at passing players off and picking up loop stunts.
3. Goff looks to have two major weaknesses:  1.  He can get bull rushed, 2. His decision making when passing off defenders in pass protection or picking up a loop stunts.
4. Waters is solid.
5. None of the lineman are good at drive blocking, which is not a good thing for Larry Johnson.  The lineman are more "shield" blockers and need more of a versatile back that can see the field and get through whatever hole opens up.
6. Larry Johnson did not have a very good day picking the holes.  Many times it looked like Larry had predetermined that he would cut back.  He frequently ran right in the back of a lineman when he could have went through a crease for a couple of yards.
7. The worst blockers are the Tight Ends, by far.  After watching two games of film it is evident that the Tight End blocking is very poor.
8. O'Callaghan, Goff, and Richardson do not pick up blitzes very well.  Waters and Smith, when Smith is at center, pick up blitzes well and at times block two players at once.