Good morning AP readers. It's a cold, wet morning here in Austin, TX. I really wish I could stay in bed all day today. How nice does that sound?
To get your morning started off right, I've compiled some statistics on the Kansas City Chiefs play calling. While I was putting these together, I decided to figure out how the Chiefs' third downs break down to see if we can glean any more info about why the Chiefs are so darn bad at converting them.
This is what I found:
- 15% of the time the Chiefs face third down and 1-2 yards to go
- 23% of the time the Chiefs face third down and 3-5 yards to go
- 62% of the time the Chiefs face a third down of more than six yards to go
Yes, it's what we've been saying all along - The Chiefs third down woes stat on first and second down.
For some perspective, here are those same stats for the Indianapolis Colts, who lead the NFL in third down efficiency:
- 23% of the time the Colts face third down and 1-2 yards to go
- 30% of the time they face 3-5 yards to go
- 47% of the time they face more than 6 yards to go
Not huge percentage differences but that just goes to show you how razor thin the margin of error is in the NFL.
After the jump, I've compiled down by down play calling stats. Let us know what you think.
First Down (51% rush, 49% pass)
- 3.78 average yards per rush
- 4.92 average yards per passing play
- 5% of the time the Chiefs rush for a first down
- 11% of the time the Chiefs pass for a first down
Second Down (39% rush, 61% pass)
- 3.34 average yards per rush
- 4.2 average yards per passing play
- 11% of the time the Chiefs rush for a first down
- 12% of the time the Chiefs pass for a first down
Third Down (19% rush, 81% pass)
- 2.34 average yards per rush
- 5.34 average yards per passing play
- 5% of the time the Chiefs rush for a first down
- 20% of the time the Chiefs pass for a first down
Fourth Down (36% rush, 64% pass)
- 3.89 average yards per rush
- 4.88 average yards per passing play
- 20% of the time the Chiefs rush for a first down
- 28% of the time the Chiefs pass for a first down
Thoughts on the Chiefs play calling? What do you want to see them do more of?