Kansas City Chiefs Front Seven Evaluation: NFL Week Seven

Hey everyone,  I'm here to bring you the KPM for the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs game last week.  These results are actually the second time I did the breakdown, as I had completed it, then had my hard drive crap out on me, so the bullet points are a bit more brief than they normally are.  It was an interesting week, as the first touchdown scored by a member of the front seven occurred, and the defense as a whole didn't allow a lot of yards.  As always, the rating system is located here.  Let's get to it!

• 56.6% of the time, the Chiefs lined up in a 3-4 defense.
• 38.3% of the time, the Chiefs lined up in a nickel formation.
• 5.1% of the time, the Chiefs lined up in a goal line formation.
• The Chiefs blitzed 16.6% of the time.
• The starting defensive line (Dorsey-Edwards-Smith) is really clogging things up. The Jaguars tried to run between Edwards and Smith twice in the first drive without success.

• Belcher is hitting the holes hard in the early going. As much as I have criticized his slow starts, he started well against the Jags.

• Good job by McGraw of getting through the blockers to stop a screen pass from gaining a first down in the early going.

• Tamba really fought hard to strip the ball from the quarterback on his sack. Bouman did an excellent job of hanging on one-handed.

• I originally was going to take points away from Belcher for a 1^st and 10 pass play that went for a first down. However, after further review, he was bad illegal screen by the other tight end, not allowing him to continue coverage. Refs missed a really bad one, there.

• And the Pass Interference call to continue the Jaguars second drive was an equally bad miss. I'm not usually a guy that complains about referees, but that's two bad misses on the same drive.

• Both DJ and Belcher blew through the gaps on the same play for a big tackle for loss that went to DJ. Great read by the linebackers, and great double teams up front from Smith and Edwards.

• DJ playing great pass defense early. He's getting in front of the receivers and getting his hands in the way of the pass.

• Vrabel gets burned on a long pass play to the tight end and then misses the tackle on a cutback. He's been a bit behind on his passing plays so far, and he finally got caught.

• Vrabel again with poor coverage on Jacksonville's first touchdown. Jones-Drew comes out of the backfield and Vrabel turns to cover him, but simply gets outrun on the play and gives up the touchdown.

• Non front-seven note: Brandon Carr is playing some really good coverage in the first half. It's taken some ridiculous throws to get past him thus far.

• Great blitz call to send Berry towards the end of the first half. Berry pressured Bouman to make a throw, and it was very nearly an interception for DJ.

• I'll just touch on it, because it's been talked to death, but when the wide receiver has both hands wrapped in the defensive back's jersey before tossing him to the ground, that's the very definition of offensive pass interference. Absolutely pathetic call by the referee who was right there.

• Great spot on the 1^st and goal defense at the end of the half by Vrabel. Berry did not see the tight end split out wide, and Vrabel practically grabbed him and made him cover. The result? A great pass break up by Berry.

• I loved Vrabel's run out onto the field just before 3^rd and goal to coach Studebaker. He also had some words for Smith and Jackson as well. Funny moment just after: an assistant for the team ran out onto the field to bring Vrabel his helmet, not realizing that he was just out there coaching during he timeout.

• Yet another great coverage by DJ on 3^rd and goal. He made the quarterback have to throw a pass that was an extremely difficult catch for the tight end. DJ's coverage made that throw happen.

• First defensive play of the first half, Dorsey commands a double team, then slices through it into the backfield and stops the running back behind the line of scrimmage. Great individual effort!

• So apparently the key to gain huge yardage against this Chiefs team is to throw it deep, have the receiver shove the defensive back, then wait for the flag to fly. Berry's call was pretty ridiculous as well. That's a no-call at best.

• While watching the game, I criticized Vrabel quite a bit. During the breakdown, it was even more evident. He just didn't seem to have the same quickness off the snap to play the pass that he normally does, Bouman saw it, and picked on it.

• Belcher is continuing to get a good jump on the snap up to the line. Big improvement this week out of him.

• Absolutely fantastic read by DJ on the interception. Not much more to say outside of that it was an incredible jump on the route.

• Second successful blitz of the game by Berry late in the third quarter. He was just a split second late on both of them. He is AMPED!

• After Vrabel got dinged up, Studebaker came in for a couple snaps. Shortly thereafter, Demorrio stepped in to play the outside linebacker/defensive end role.

• Great pressure from Williams twice in one drive, including (alongside Dorsey) the pressure that forced Berry's interception. Side note: Demorrio laid a great block on the return, and if Dorsey would've only blocked Bouman, Berry's taking that one to the house.

• Another side note: Vrabel laid a solid outside block on Battle's touchdown dive, and Studebaker got the assist on getting Cassel out of the scrum afterwards. =)

• Cory Greenwood sighting! I assume he's on the field because Mays got dinged up on the last kickoff return.

The KPM's:

Glenn Dorsey 

Dorsey played really, really well this week.  He had one gap filled, four double teams, two backfield penetrations, three quarterback pressures, and one tackle for loss.  He only let one free man through.  Dorsey really seemed to find his groove again against Jacksonville's offensive line, and it got to the point where they had to double team him.  In the passing game, it was evident that the blocking scheme was to take care of Tamba and Gilberry, but Dorsey let them know he needed to be doubled as well.

Overall KPM:  23 Points

 

Snaps:  54

KPM/Snap:  0.426

 

Tyson Jackson

Tyson got eased back into the defensive rotation this week.  He filled two gaps, commanded three double teams, but let one free man through.  He did seem to struggle a bit with his lateral movement, but he was still getting a good jump off the ball and caused trouble for those in front of him.  He was still outplayed by Smith and Dorsey, but it was a good start back into the system.

Overall KPM:  6 Points

Snaps:  18

KPM/Snap:  0.333

Ron Edwards 

Ron had an uncharacteristically poor outing.  While he filled one gap, caught six double teams, and had one tackle for no gain, he let his season high four free men through and was pancaked once.  There were some obvious communication troubles on a couple of plays where he and Smith were discussing gaps and pointing to each other right after a play where free blockers were running through the second level.  Hopefully it was just a fluke and Ron shows up strong next week.

Overall KPM:  4 Points 

Snaps:  29

KPM/Snap:  0.138


Wallace Gilberry 

Wallace finally fell off his ridiculous pace.  He only had two quarterback pressures, and he created a huge gap for a big running play.  He got just as many snaps as he had in previous weeks, but as I said above, the Jaguars really focused on shutting he and Tamba out of the game as much as possible.  Rarely was he up against a single blocker, instead receiving lots of chip blocks after the first man.  He's definitely commanded some attention, and it's nothing short of incredible that teams are game planning around him now.

Overall KPM: 2 Points 

Snaps:  21

KPM/Snap:  0.095

Shaun Smith 

I could probably type the same thing for Shaun Smith every week.  The guy is incredibly consistent.  Four gaps filled, six double teams, one quarterback pressure, and one tackle for no gain.  The only offsetting play was a single free man. This guy just gets it, and he's keeping one player rested and another good player on the sidelines.  Romeo knows how to get what he needs out of this guy.

Overall KPM: 17 Points

Snaps:  29

KPM/Snap:  0.586

 

Anthony Toribio

Toribio, to his credit, is consistent.  However, he's a big dropoff from Smith and Edwards.  He caught one double team and let two free men through.  The biggest change that I notice when he gets in the game is how easily the push up the middle occurs, and it's usually with one player.  He did see less time with the first team (most of his snaps occurred in garbage time) with Tyson back in the fold, though, so I think he might be getting phased out.

Overall KPM:  -2 Points

Snaps:  13

KPM/Snap:  -0.154

Mike Vrabel

Vrabel struggled this week.  He had two gaps filled, two passes broken up, one successful coverage, one quarterback pressure, one tackle for no gain, and one forced penalty.  However, he allowed three big pass completions (one for a touchdown) and missed a tackle.  As I noted in the bullet points, he was pretty poor in coverage of receivers coming from the backfield, and that's what stuck out in this game.  Run support was still adequate, but for once, he was the liability against the pass.

Overall KPM:  -1 Point

Snaps:  49

KPM/Snap:  -0.020

 

Tamba Hali

Tamba had another solid game.  He had one gap filled, one forced checkdown, two quarterback pressures, one sack, and one tackle for loss, and he didn't record a negative point.  Tamba was doubled and tripled early and often.  Crennel recognized this and started dropping him into coverage, leaving some of the potential blockers with nothing to do, while overloading the opposite side.  Both of these attributed to fewer pass rush attempts, but he made things rough when he did.

Overall KPM:  14 Points

Snaps:  56

KPM/Snap:  0.250

 

Demorrio Williams

Demorrio didn't see normal rotational reps in the nickel until near the end of the game, but he did well with what he got.  He recorded back to back quarterback pressures, including the throw that Berry picked off.  He looked quick and used pass rush maneuvers successfully.

Overall KPM:  4 Points

Snaps:  9

KPM/Snap:  0.444

 

Derrick Johnson

DJ was an absolute MONSTER!  He recorded three gaps filled, three passes broken up, one forced checkdown, two successful coverages, one tackle for loss, and one interception returned for a touchdown.  That is a gaudy stat line!  All game long he was stellar, and never let up.  THIS was DJ at his finest, but the best part is that his "bad" games aren't bad anymore.  Here's hoping games like this happen more often because of it.

Overall KPM:  25 Points

Snaps:  56

KPM/Snap:  0.446

 

Jovan Belcher

Jovan was much stronger this week.  A solid seven gaps filled, one successful coverage, and one tackle for no gain was offset by one pass completion for a big gain.  His hesitation from the previous two weeks seems to be simply from a pass heavy offense and his responsibility was to stay home to guard the short pass.  It was good to see him back to his attacking ways.

Overall KPM:   6 Points

Snaps:  34

KPM/Snap:  0.176

 

Andy Studebaker

Studebaker filled in after Vrabel got dinged up, but didn't do anything to record a KPM point.

Overall KPM:  0 Points

Snaps:  10

KPM/Snap:  0.000

 

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:  3

KPM/Snap:  0.667

 

Cory Greenwood

 

Greenwood came in at the end of the game and recorded one gap filled.

Overall KPM:  1 Point

Snaps:  5

KPM/Snap:  0.200

 

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TOTALS:

Defensive Line:

This Week's KPM		This Week's KPM/Snap
Glenn Dorsey	23	Shaun Smith	0.586
Shaun Smith	17	Glenn Dorsey	0.426
Tyson Jackson	6	Tyson Jackson	0.333
Ron Edwards	4	Ron Edwards	0.138
Wallace Gilberry	2	Wallace Gilberry	0.095
Anthony Toribio	-2	Anthony Toribio	-0.154

Linebackers:

This Week's KPM		This Week's KPM/Snap
Derrick Johnson	25	Corey Mays	0.667
Tamba Hali	14	Derrick Johnson	0.446
Jovan Belcher	6	Demorrio Williams	0.444
Demorrio Williams	4	Tamba Hali	0.250
Corey Mays	2	Cory Greenwood	0.200
Cory Greenwood	1	Jovan Belcher	0.176
Andy Studebaker	0	Andy Studebaker	0.000
Mike Vrabel	-1	Mike Vrabel	-0.020

YEARLY TOTALS:

Defensive Line:

KPM		KPM/Snap
Shaun Smith	89	Shaun Smith	0.506
Glenn Dorsey	88	Wallace Gilberry	0.491
Wallace Gilberry	79	Ron Edwards	0.410
Ron Edwards	66	Tyson Jackson	0.340
Tyson Jackson	18	Glenn Dorsey	0.272
Anthony Toribio	-6	Anthony Toribio	-0.111

Linebackers:

KPM		KPM/Snap
Tamba Hali	91	Tamba Hali	0.249
Derrick Johnson	66	Andy Studebaker	0.244
Mike Vrabel	34	Cory Greenwood	0.200
Jovan Belcher	20	Demorrio Williams	0.190
Andy Studebaker	11	Derrick Johnson	0.183
Demorrio Williams	8	Mike Vrabel	0.102
Corey Mays	1	Jovan Belcher	0.090
Cory Greenwood	1	Corey Mays	0.077

 

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

Like there was any question about it, eh?  The guy played out of his mind, and it's a testament to his work rate and desire to be a starter and integral part of this team that he has made this kind of turnaround.  "Roller coaster" DJ must've stayed behind this year, and it's a welcome change.  The media's taking notice of him and discussing him as a pro bowler, and with another performance like this, they'll have a hard time keeping him home that weekend.

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!