You knew this was coming after yesterday's good stat post.
Sunday's loss to the Chargers was probably the worst statistical performance by the Kansas City Chiefs, in addition to clearly being the ugliest loss of the season to watch on television.
I know this is going to be beating a dead horse but we've got to do it.
Here are the five bad stats I'm talking about:
- Pass completion percentage
- Solid drives
- Pass rush
- Offensive line penalties
- Big plays, yadda yadda yadda
It's all after the jump.
42%
Sunday was Matt Cassel's worst day in the NFL. He only completed eleven of twenty-eight passes. As the title notes, that's only 42%, solidly Cassel's worst completion rate for the season and his career.
Are concerns about Cassel's accuracy legitimate? Not yet, IMO. Think about the offensive line Cassel has blocking for him and just how many receivers we've gone through. There are plenty of missed passes that are all Cassel but until I have a larger body of work to analyze, I'm not about to write off his accuracy.
Only two decent offensive drives
The Chiefs had fourteen drives against the Chargers and only two of them were worth their effort.
First, the Chiefs drove 42 yards in nine plays near the end of the half. The drive resulted in a missed Ryan Succop field goal but it was still a nice effort by KC.
The second decent drive was at the beginning of the second half. The Chiefs drove 56 yards in ten plays. They also racked up three more first downs. Of course, this drive resulted in the Dwayne Bowe touchdown we all remember.
It's really tough to watch an offensive when they're only interesting two out of fourteen times they have the ball.
Only two QB hurries, no sacks
I think I read a comment on another site about how Phillip Rivers wasn't very good statistically in his career against the Chiefs. Despite reading that, I had a feeling Rivers would tear the Chiefs up.
And of course he did. And a big reason for that was the Chiefs were not able to apply consistent pressure in the backfield. The Chiefs had no sacks and only two QB pressures on Philip Rivers.
And when the Chiefs blitzed and weren't able to get to Rivers, the secondary wasn't able to handle the SD receivers. I can't really blame them for that.
Offensive line penalties
Four of seven Chiefs' penalties on Sunday were on the offensive line. TE Sean Ryan was called for holding; Barry Richardson a false start; Brian Waters holding; and Wade Smith for being an ineligible player downfield.
Brian Waters has six penalties on the season, second only to his '05 season when he had nine. Waters already has more penalties this season than eight of his NFL seasons.
Giving up the big play (again)
The Chargers had 403 yards of offense on 66 plays. 221 of those yards were on the Chargers' five longest plays.
55% of their offense. On 8 % of their plays.
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Anything stand out to you guys? Or are we sick of talking about this game already?