Analyzing the Chiefs Playcalling By Down

by Joel Thorman on Oct 29, 2009 10:46 AM CDT in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign

The Kansas City Chiefs playcalling has come under scrutiny in the first half of the season and for good reason. The Chiefs have struggled to move the ball on offense, Todd Haley was brought in because of his offensive background, and then Haley took over the playcalling duties two weeks before the season opener.

Combine all that and you've got a microscope on the Chiefs playcalling. I've broken down the Chiefs playcalls by down and supplemented those with some commentary on what the team generally does in certain situations.

Full numbers after the jump.

First Down: 108 rushing plays (3.45 avg), 75 passing plays (4.36 avg)

The Chiefs obviously prefer to run on first down but in situations where it's first and longer than 10, they also prefer to run, which seems strange.

The Chiefs have had a first and longer than ten on 12 occasions. They have run the ball eight of those times for an average of 3.75 yards.

Second Down: 57 rushing plays (3.19 avg), 86 passing plays (4.41 avg)

The Chiefs prefer to throw on second down.

They have had a second and less than five times 28 times. They have rushed it 15 times in that situation, getting a first down 8 times. They have passed it 13 times in that situation, getting a first down six times.

So, on second and short, the Chiefs run and pass the ball with as similar amount of success.

Third Down: 20 rushing plays (3.75 avg), 80 passing plays (4.54 avg)

Ah, third downs, arguably the Chiefs biggest problem this season.

The statement often heard: The Chiefs always run the ball on third and long! An exaggeration, at best.

The Chiefs had third and long situations (more than 6 yards to go) 67 times. They have run the ball a whopping 11 times.

On third down, with less than five yards to go, the Chiefs have run the ball 9 times and passed it 24 times. They have gotten 7 total first downs.

Fourth Down: 5 rushing plays (1.4 avg), 11 passing plays (7.0 avg)

There's not much to glean from this small sample size. This is more about situation than anything.

On fourth and short (less than two yards to go), the Chiefs have converted on 3/5 rushing attempts and 2/3 passing attempts.

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It should change after the bye week

Haley said his coaching staff is spending its extra time this week installing what the Chiefs hope is a more effective offense. That could mean more emphasis on Charles and, if he’s healthy, Smith.

According to the KC Star

"The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer."
--John Madden

by cpa913 on Oct 29, 2009 10:54 AM CDT reply actions

I don't think the problem has been the play calling.

The problem has been execution. The line is not opening holes for the runing game, the passing game has been out of sync, and negative plays are killing us. You offense will never be good when you face 3 and 10 or more on a consistent basis. I think if the execution gets cleaned up the offense will be respectable.

Football is about players not plays.

by saskwatch on Oct 29, 2009 11:09 AM CDT reply actions 6 recs

absoutely correct

* "I doubt anyone will miss Connor Barth except UCrawford"
* the LB corps may become the biggest strength of the Chiefs in 2009
* The OL is NOT as bad as you think it is... give it time, and you'll see improvement this season

by stagdsp on Oct 29, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions

recd saskwatch and plus the penalties we are getting so many flags this year .

i think at this point any time we get an explosion play which for us is like 8 yards i just assume there is a holding call i dont even celebrate anymore. cause 98% of the time is coming back. haahah

FOUR F'S FIND UM FEEL UM FUGUM FORGET UM.

by sexassassin on Oct 29, 2009 11:31 AM CDT up reply actions

yeah, fix the penalties, sacks and pressure and the offense is instantly better

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions

When a play is

never executed despite being called all of the time, the problem is play calling. Stop calling plays that don’t work.

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 29, 2009 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions

i think the reason he is calling runs up the middle so much

is that he is trying to establish us as a good run team which would open up the rest of the offense. i agree it’s not working, so we gotta fix something. I think when haley came in here he thought our backs were the strongest part of our O so he’s been trying to get them going, it’s just not working.

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Did he watch NO gametape from last year

We had some legendarily bad performances trying to establish a power running game. LJ is a year older, the Oline is worse, how can he possibly think it would work this year? Because he is a offensive genious?

Child please.

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions

yeppers, we were terrible last year

i’m not sayin it’s right, i’m just sayin why. when he got here he saw that we had one good receiver that was inconcistant, a new QB and no pass protection. He also, might of thought that a lot of the prob last year was coaching?

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Wow, I appear to be wrong.

I had felt that part of the reason that LJ was only averaging 2.7/carry and others were doing better is that he was rushing on predictable running downs where as others (like Charles) ran in more pass downs and defense was not keying on the run.

The Chiefs are averaging 3.45 on 1st and 3.19 on 2nd, and those are when Larry gets the majority of the carries. If he is averaging 2.7/ carry with many more carries, the others must be averaging significantly higher in similar situations in order to push the average over 3 yards/carry.

It possibly could be that defense stack the box when LJ is in the backfield and not with others, but even if that is the case, if it allows us to gain more positive yards on the early downs and creat more 3rd and manageable distances, so be it.

It looks to me by these numbers that LJ should be getting less carries, and now after running his mouth, I say cut him and give the youngs guys a chance. It looks like it will be better without him anyways.

by saskwatch on Oct 29, 2009 11:22 AM CDT reply actions

Yep

There was a stat that Chiefs are #1 in the NFL for running up the middle. (In terms of # of carries, but 27th in execution)To the strength of the defense. To the weakness of our offensive line.
To me this speaks to terrible play calling.

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions

I guess it was 25th...but my point stands. Thats horri-awful playcalling

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions

AGREE

I don’t know how a Head Coach could’ve watched film from the Chiefs previous two seasons and thought we could do it all again … his way … which is the same??? What is Haley thinking exactly?

And why is it always the players’ fault with some of you guys? the Head Coach could use his thinking cap and call some different plays..preferably some where we have a TE blocking on both sides of the ball. Remember those days? The days when Dunn would help block on Roaf’s side of the ball and we could run, pass, wait 10 seconds before making a decision?

by Knocknheads on Oct 29, 2009 11:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Our TE can't block

How many holding calls has Ryan had? I think we just need to start putting Vrabel in as a blocking TE…lol I’m joking. How about Smith when the rest of the oline is healthy. I was really hping Pope would step up and take the TE position. Where is Cottam I really had high hopes for him to. I’m ready to see Ryan out of a Chiefs uniform.

by groundedchevy on Oct 29, 2009 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions

That problem is compounded..

When you add in the fact that LJ has zero first-step burst and can’t hit whatever hole HE sees.

It seems to me that he is running with the mentality of a power run game, where the RB runs where the hole should according to the playcall, as opposed to taking what is given by the zone blocking scheme we’re attempting to use currently.

We need a back that can read and react what the defense is doing as opposed to running towards a gap and hoping the hole is there, which we all know is NEVER there.

"The first step to penetration... must not be lateral"
-Confucius, in contrary to Glenn Dorsey lining up in the 2-tech

by ArrowSpread on Oct 29, 2009 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Why LJ?

Where is the fact that the O-line is the right up there with the worst in the league? and since the 2006 playoff game against the Colts every defense has stuffed a minimum of 8 players in the box when LJ is running the ball. The Colts were one of the first teams to completely shut down the Chiefs offense. Any DC could review that tape and use the same game plan three years later because the Chiefs continue to use LJ in the same way.

Defense’s don’t stack the box against our other RBs. Which is why they have a better chance of finding holes and gaining more yards.

And if our O-line is better than people think it is..how come we can’t pass the ball better? how come the QB isn’t more confident in the pocket? I suppose that’s the WRs fault because they drop the ball or don’t get separation? While that’s correct..it’s also important to note that the QB is in fear for his life 1 sec after he hikes the ball.

how about some two RB sets? how about some two TE sets? How about some hurry up? how about trying anything other than what we’ve done so far this season?

by Knocknheads on Oct 29, 2009 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

i don't think he's blaming LJ

I think he’s blaming the line, and with our line, LJ just wont work

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:23 PM CDT up reply actions

I think you kinda hit on a good point

LJ isn’t much of a passing threat, so defenders can key on him as a runner only.

Having a passing threat out there like Charles may actually open up the run game, even if he’s a inferior runner.

If LJ does come back, they really need to establish him as a passing threat and do so strongly right away (e.g. several screens, routes over the middle)

by VermeilLikesToCry on Oct 29, 2009 12:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Can the "shotgun draw" have it's own section? That's my favorite play....

Don't forget to be an AP-vangelist...Tell A Friend...

by woodman212 on Oct 29, 2009 11:51 AM CDT reply actions

right, mine too, but only when it's to Larry

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions

WOW, out of 100 3rd downs...

67 have been 3rd and long. that’s terrible! i didn’t know it was quite that bad

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:04 PM CDT reply actions

This is the number one issue with this offense.

The reason we can’t put together scoring drives is that the offense consistently puts themselves in horrible positions on third downs.

by saskwatch on Oct 29, 2009 12:09 PM CDT up reply actions

yeah i know

when we fix that, and i think we will eventually, we’ll instantly be able to sustain drives

by E.C. on Oct 29, 2009 12:13 PM CDT up reply actions

I heard on Sirius 124 the other day

That Chiefs have ZERO offensive TD’s this year on drives where they haven’t gone for it on 4th down.
Thats rediculous.

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

the only way

to have an offensive TD on a drive where you don’t go for it on 4th down is if there’s a penalty on the punt that gives you a first down.

by TDubb on Oct 29, 2009 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm sorry?

What about if you get the first down on 1st, 2nd or 3rd down?

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 12:23 PM CDT up reply actions

correct.

a drive has a fourth down. let’s say it’s less than five yards. you decide to punt. but the other team jumps offside. you then have a first down if you take the penalty. otherwise the only other way to get a TD on a drive with a 4th down is to go for it. That’s what i was saying.

if you don’t get to 4th down, then you either had a turnover, a touchdown or an end to a half.
the ones that don’t have a 4th down don’t qualify for what you had said you heard on the radio. just saying.

by TDubb on Oct 29, 2009 12:40 PM CDT up reply actions

What I heard was

Chiefs have not scored a TD when the aren’t forced to go for it on 4th down.
Maybe I’m not illustrating it clear enough, but I don’t know how else to explain it.

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by craig in calgary on Oct 29, 2009 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions

that's different

the way it was said you were only talking about drives with a 4th down play

by TDubb on Oct 29, 2009 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions

no the point is

that we have not had a scoring drive where we did not get to a 4th down, i.e. we start at the 30 get 5 yards on 1st and 2 yards on second and then get a 1st down on 3rd and 3. With the Chiefs this year the only way we sustain a scoring drive is having to use at least 4 downs to get to the next 1st down.

by Tigkoly on Oct 29, 2009 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions