Kansas City Chiefs Front Seven Evaluation: NFL Week Nine

Hey everyone,  I'm here to bring you the KPM for the Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game last week.  It was an ugly, sloppy game where several players did not play well on the front lines.  As always, the rating system is located here.  Let's get to it!

• The Chiefs were in a 3-4 defense 57.8% of the game.

• The Chiefs were in a nickel defense 39.0% of the game.

• The Chiefs were in a goal line defense 3.2% of the game.

• Crennel blitzed a linebacker or safety 23.4% of the game.

• Tyson Jackson is in on snap #1 this week.

• Studebaker continuing his role as outside linebacker in the nickel.

• Great job by DJ to get to the quarterback on 3^rd down of the first series. He did well to get pressure on the quarterback and almost stripped the ball. Instead, he got the ball as Campbell's hand was coming forward for a pass break up.

• Ron with free men on the two running plays he was supposed to get a double team. Tyson let one through on the second, wiping out the inside linebackers and giving up an 8-yard gain.

• AND AGAIN! The very next play, Tyson and Ron allow second level blockers, creating huge space and big running lanes. Belcher and DJ are getting overrun.

• McGraw with a big hit on McFadden in the second series after the front seven strung pull blockers along to the outside.

• Wow, what a blitz by Berry! McFadden stepped up to block him, and Eric blew him up. He then moved right back to rushing the passer and (with Tamba pressuring him forward) sacked Campbell. Nice work, rook.

• Belcher draws a hold after blasting through the gap and Gallery has to throw him to the ground by the back of his jersey to stop a tackle.

• FUMBLE! DJ with the great play to get a hand in and knock the ball loose from the running back. Gilberry was quick on the recovery as well.

• I'm tempted to give a sack to Tamba and Shaun Smith for getting to Campbell after a fumble that left him prone on the ground. I couldn't tell who got to Campbell first, and the NFL credited as a team sack. I normally don't like those, because the quarterback can get up and run, but this one, Campbell gave up and laid there. No sack for either player.

• Belcher nabs his second quarterback pressure of the day on a 2^nd quarter play. The blitz is working well, and at this point, Crennel is blitzing about 25% of the time.

• Beautiful play in the 2^nd quarter for DJ and Tamba. Tamba has a delayed rush and pressures Campbell to throw earlier than expected. DJ is all over McFadden and tackles him for a 5-yard loss. Great effort by both.

• Very, very nice read on the pick from McGraw. He didn't really get too much help from the pass rush, he just made a nice play on a poorly thrown ball.

• First defensive play of the second half, Ron and Dorsey both let free men to the second level. While watching the game live, I noticed a couple of these, but it is the sole reason why McFadden was able to get through the line relatively unscathed. The front three are NOT playing well.

• Another great pursuit by Belcher to come all the way across the line and make a big stop for a loss on 2^nd and short. Guy is playing really well this week.

• Go figure: The front three did their jobs and left the linebackers to hit the gaps, DJ took out the fullback, and Belcher hesitated, letting McFadden go for a big gain.

• Oakland's pull blocking scheme is wrecking havoc on the front seven. They are doing an incredibly good job at getting to the Chief linebackers before they get to the ballcarrier. It makes those plays where the three down linemen don't protect the linebackers even more crucial.

• Good play on 1^st and goal in the 3^rd quarter by the middle of the defense. Smith and Dorsey caught double teams, allowing Mays and DJ to get up the center and tackle the ballcarrier for a tackle at the line of scrimmage.

• Oakland's touchdown was on McGraw. He recognized too late the tackle eligible.

• Nice job by Tamba to get the sack with a hand in his face mask. Good determination to not wait on a flag.

• Berry is faaaaaaast. Great pursuit on his second sack, and back-to-back sacks for the Chiefs.

• The struggles of the down linemen continue in the 4^th quarter. This is by far the worst performance I've seen out of these players this season.

• Arenas has made some big stops over the past two weeks. The kid is coming into his own as a nickel back.

• DJ is just everywhere. It seems like every big play has him involved in some way. Guess that contract didn't go to his head.

• Berry with another quarterback pressure opposite of Tamba. They both forced Campbell out of the pocket. I like how Crennel is using Eric this game.

• Gilberry continues to make his presence felt with a clutch sack near the end of the 4^th quarter.

• You know, Ford's catch to set up the game tying field goal was bobbled all the way until it was shielded from the camera, which is when he hit the ground. Considering the referees challenged a very clear catch earlier in the drive, it's odd that play was not challenged.

   

The KPM's:

Glenn Dorsey

Dorsey was a contributing part to a poor defensive line performance. He had three gaps filled, four double teams, and two tackles for no gain, but he let two free men through. His errors weren't nearly as glaring as others, but he still didn't have a great game. Was surprisingly weak against the run compared to how I've seen him play earlier this year, reaching for tackles instead of using his footwork to get his body on the running back.

Overall KPM: 9 Points

Snaps: 57

KPM/Snap: 0.158

Tyson Jackson

Tyson also suffered this game. He had one gap filled, five double teams, and one quarterback pressure, flushing the quarterback out of the pocket. Negatively, he had three free men. Getting the starting nod for the first time this year, he was just average. After running at him early, Oakland abandoned his side of the field and ran at the defensive right.

Overall KPM: 8 Points

Snaps: 30

KPM/Snap: 0.267

Ron Edwards

Ron was bad, bad, bad. He had one gap filled, five double teams, but a killer six free men. He just didn't seem to get it done this week. I'm not sure if Oakland's pull blocking was messing with his head when they went to a standard blocking scheme, but he was constantly letting players into the second level. Ron needs to flatten this roller coaster ride out.

Overall KPM: -1 Point

Snaps: 35

KPM/Snap: -0.029


Wallace Gilberry

Typical Gilberry: one gap filled, one fumble recovered, one sack, and two quarterback pressures. Wallace played every nickel snap and once again was an impact player. This kid is a specialty player, sure, but he handles his responsibilities well.

Overall KPM: 11 Points

Snaps: 25

KPM/Snap: 0.440

Shaun Smith

Shaun saw less time on the field with Tyson getting integrated again. He was double teamed once, had one quarterback pressure, and had one tackle for no gain. He took his time well on the field, and was pretty much equivalent to Tyson's production this week. He should bounce back to more nose tackle reps after Tyson's performance at defensive end this week.

Overall KPM: 5 Points

Snaps: 18

KPM/Snap: 0.278

Anthony Toribio

Toribio saw some relief nose tackle snaps this week. He was double teamed twice, but was pancaked once. His effect on the game was minimal.

Overall KPM: 2 Points

Snaps: 7

KPM/Snap: 0.286

Mike Vrabel

This week, Vrabel had two filled gaps, one quarterback pressure, and one big yardage pass completion. He didn't get in on very many nickel snaps, instead making way for Studebaker. Like Tyson, the Raiders ran at Vrabel early, then abandoned it when they had little success over the defensive strong side. When teams won't run at you, you're not in to rush the passer, and you're not able to play pass defense, it leads to a bad-looking game. It wasn't as bad as the numbers looked.

Overall KPM: 1 Point

Snaps: 52

KPM/Snap: 0.019

Tamba Hali

So I don't know if you, the reader, have heard about this Tamba Hali kid, but he is playing out of his MIND right now! He had two gaps filled, six quarterback pressures (two forced out of pocket), one sack, one tackle for no gain, and two forced opposition penalties. He did have a play that he was late to the gap, but he is clearly deserving of all the commendations that will certainly come his way this year. Keep it up, hawk!

Overall KPM: 24 Points

Snaps: 64

KPM/Snap: 0.375

Derrick Johnson

DJ got paid, and he PLAYED! He recorded eight gap fills, one pass broken up, two successful coverages, one forced fumble, one quarterback pressure, three tackles for no gain, and two tackles for loss. That stat line is SICK. I still can't believe this defense has gone from a couple of occasional playmakers to a group of guys that consistently causes problems. Great work, DJ!

Overall KPM: 27 Points

Snaps: 64

KPM/Snap: 0.422

Jovan Belcher

Belcher put in a solid game this week. He had five gaps filled, one wrong gap, two quarterback pressures, two tackles for no gain, and one forced opposition penalty. For being the linebacker that suffered the most from the defensive line's inadequacies this week, he ended up having a pretty good game. He's getting better weekly at shedding blocks in the hole, and has done a good job of shedding pull blockers on sweep plays.

Overall KPM: 11 Points

Snaps: 37

KPM/Snap: 0.297

Andy Studebaker

Studebaker again saw a lot of nickel snaps. He only recorded a quarterback pressure in his time on the field, though. He would have seen more time at the end of the game, but the coaching staff opted to place Vrabel on the field instead of having Andy on the field for his pass rushing ability.

Overall KPM: 2 Points

Snaps: 14

KPM/Snap: 0.143

Corey Mays

Mays was in the game for the goal line snaps, and filled a gap on the goal line for a tackle for no gain. He did a great job of standing up the running back and holding his ground.

Overall KPM: 2 Points

Snaps: 2

KPM/Snap: 1.000

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TOTALS:

Defensive Line:

Linebackers:

YEARLY TOTALS:

Defensive Line:

Linebackers:

And now, time for Kalo's MVP of the Week! This week, it's DERRICK JOHNSON!

DJ, once again, shows up in a huge way, and while it was difficult to choose between him and Tamba, DJ forced a big turnover, and that made the difference. It was great to see that a big contract didn't make him relax any, and instead he blew up the Raiders. I'm anxious to see this continue against the next 3-4 teams and their suffering offenses.

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!