Kansas City Chiefs Front Seven Evaluation: NFL Week Three

Hey everyone, I'm back with this week's KPM breakdown! With it being a week later, some of you may have moved on to this past weekend's games, but I figured I'd save the breakdown for the week of the game to try and boost spirits leading into the Colts game. This week was very, very easy to grade, with lots and lots of positive points to shower on players, but two in general really shone. As always, the rating system is located here. Now onto the praise!

• 68.9% of the time, the Chiefs were in a standard 3-4.
• 31.1% of the time, the Chiefs were in a nickel formation.
• 13% of the time, the Chiefs blitzed.
• Shaun Smith is mixing it up early. Third play of the game, he's already doing a lot of talking and shoving.
• Dorsey starting out in the nickel with Gilberry. Last week Magee was in that spot.
• DJ is saved by a holding penalty against Gilberry in the second drive. Alex Smith took off on a wrong and DJ was wrong footed and whiffed on a tackle.
• The following play, Tamba does a great job of staying home on a screen pass and forces Alex Smith to throw over him to Westbrook. The result: the pass is too high and incomplete.
• Belcher having his best half of the year. He's everywhere and hitting gaps well. Great play by Smith to turn Gore inside, and Belcher hit the hole hard for the tackle for loss alongside Tamba.
• Gilberry was held again on Flowers' interception and the refs missed it. It was a bad one. Also, DJ had Crabtree lined up for the hit had Flowers not have picked it.
• Side note: Funny moment after McCluster's TD. Cassel runs off the field and jumps up to shoulder bump with Croyle, and Brodie about falls down with the hit.
• At the half, Shaun Smith has a whopping 1.19 KPM/snap. Absolutely incredible.
• Tamba using a lot more swim moves this game than the last couple, and it's really causing trouble for SF's tackles.
• Crennel is bringing the blitz hard early in the third quarter after not using it much in the first half with good success. Lots of quarterback pressures in a row to force some bad throws, including two by Ron Edwards when the offensive linemen were picking up the blitzers.
• Good play by Toribio and Smith to get through the line and force a throw by Alex Smith with a QB pressure. Unfortunately, Belcher gave too much cushion and allowed the completion.
• Both Edwards and Toribio seem to be getting by the middle of the line easier than I've seen either one able to do in any game.
• Tamba is EVERYWHERE. He's behind the line often and quickly. He's caused real problems for San Francisco. They're having to double team him and are keeping the running back to his side for help as well.
• Studebaker is seeing a lot more time as Vrabel's relief in this game.
• Beautful sniff-out of a screen pass in the 4^th quarter by Dorsey. Tamba went for the quarterback, and Dorsey recognized the setup, putting pressure on the running back and forcing a dropped pass. Belcher was right behind him, so very well done by both players.
• Edwards exploded through the left guard and center for his sack and closed the distance to the quarterback. I believe that's the fastest I've ever seen a nose tackle in a Chiefs uniform move. =)
• I know I'm completely stating the obvious here, but Brandon Flowers is the team's best player. This kid is a shutdown corner in the making.
• This team has got a scary pass rushing 3-4 when Edwards is playing this well and we put Tamba, Dorsey, and Gilberry on the field at the same time. Those four are wreaking havoc on SF's offensive line.
• Demorrio Williams may very well be strictly a defensive end now. On the last drive of the game, he was in the weakside defensive end position beside Toribio. The only inside linebacker was Corey Mays.
• A fantastic play by Wallace Gilberry on the last drive to sniff out a screen pass and net a tackle for loss. It seems Crennel really focused on this aspect of the SF offense and made accurate adjustments.

The KPM's:

Glenn Dorsey

Dorsey had a solid, but unspectacular day. He filled one gap, had three double teams, had a beautiful screen pass read, and a quarterback pressure alongside two free men and one offsides penalty. He seemed pretty locked down on his side, not getting pushed off the line, but not making the penetrating plays that he had in previous weeks. Still, weeks like this are what the Chiefs need out of him. Even when he's not impacting the play directly, he's staying involved and doing his job, instead of getting lost in the wash like last year.

Overall KPM: 7 Points

Snaps: 46

KPM/Snap: 0.152

Ron Edwards

Ron continues to play really well in this young season. Two filled gaps, four double teams, two quarterback pressures, and one outstanding knifing move that resulted in a sack for the big man. He did let two guards to the second level, but outside of that, was an anchor in the middle of the line. I think it's pretty obvious that Romeo Crennel has lit a fire under Ron somehow, because the transformation between last year and this year is Bruce Banner-ish!

Overall KPM: 17 Points

Snaps: 27

KPM/Snap: 0.629


Wallace Gilberry

Wallace once again saw every nickel snap and got a couple of 3-4 snaps. He had the aforementioned screen pass defense, achieved penetration once on a quarterback pressure, had a tackle for loss, and had a holding penalty called on his blocker. No negative plays out of Wallace, and he didn't seem to get shoved off of the line as readily in the 3-4 as I had seen in the past. He caused some real trouble for a line that was already having trouble with Tamba, and kept the blockers honest on several of Tamba's pressures.

Overall KPM: 13 Points

Snaps: 33

KPM/Snap: 0.394

Shaun Smith

Shaun Smith is a monster! He recorded one, count it, ONE negative play: he got shoved off the line. However, he tabulated SEVEN double teams, one gap filled, two backfield penetrations, one quarterback pressure, and one tackle for loss. Very few of those positive plays were assisted by another player: it was all his doing in week three, and has presented a dilemma for Romeo Crennel: just how do you justify keeping this guy off the field?

Overall KPM: 25 Points

Snaps: 32

KPM/Snap: 0.781

Anthony Toribio

I am glad to say that Anthony Toribio made an improvement after a bad week last week! He had one gap filled, one double team, and one penetration that resulted in a quarterback pressure. He was shoved off the line once, and was pancaked once, but didn't let any free men through. He's still not the answer some were hoping for, but filled in well in his time on the field.

Overall KPM: 4 Points

Snaps: 16

KPM/Snap: 0.250

Mike Vrabel

Vrabel had another typical game for him. He had two filled gaps, one forced checkdown, and three quarterback pressures to go along with an allowed completed pass. Two of those quarterback pressures were with him dropping into coverage, then making a late rush at an out-of-the-pocket Alex Smith. He was still strong, and his on the field leadership is unquestionable. Still, it would be nice to see a bit more out of the position.

Overall KPM: 8 Points

Snaps: 45

KPM/Snap: 0.178

Tamba Hali

Rebound game! Tamba recorded one gap filled, one tackle for loss, SEVEN quarterback pressures, and three sacks, one of which forced a fumble. Absolutely no negative plays for our stud pass rusher, and he really used swim moves effectively after being primarily a speed rusher. He caused all sorts of problems for the 49ers and reminded the league that last year's performance is extending into this year.

Overall KPM: 36 Points

Snaps: 55

KPM/Snap: 0.655

Demorrio Williams

I feel like I'm typing essentially the same thing for Demorrio each week: he again only saw a handful of snaps in the nickel as a down lineman, but garnered more as our backups were on the field late. He had an offsides penalty, but didn't do anything else to record a KPM point.

Overall KPM: -1 Point

Snaps: 14

KPM/Snap: -0.071

Derrick Johnson

DJ had a silent but effective game. He recorded four gaps filled, one pass broken up, two forced checkdowns, and one tackle for no gain. It wasn't as many positive plays as in previous weeks, but the difference was that he only made one negative play: a missed tackle. It wasn't the flashy game we have seen over the past two weeks, but this was a step closer to putting together a lights out game down the road without the mistakes.

Overall KPM: 9 Points

Snaps: 55

KPM/Snap: 0.164

Jovan Belcher

Jovan came out really aggressive this week, which was a nice thing to see. He had five filled gaps, forced two checkdowns, had two tackles for no gain and one tackle for loss. He did allow two completed passes in front of him, but neither of them were for big plays. He shed blockers quite well this week and after watching DJ in the hole first the past couple of weeks, it was nice to see the strongside linebacker make his presence felt.

Overall KPM: 10 Points

Snaps: 36

KPM/Snap: 0.278

Corey Mays

Mays only saw time during the last drive of the game when the backups were in. He didn't do much, but got wrong-footed and missed a tackle on a big play that allowed the 49ers to get within scoring range.

Overall KPM: -2 Points

Snaps: 7

KPM/Snap: -0.290

Andy Studebaker

Studebaker looked really good in relief of Vrabel this week. He had one gap filled, one tackle for no gain, a quarterback pressure, and a sack. While most of his snaps came at the end of the game, he gave Vrabel a couple breaks near the middle of the game and didn't really drop the quality of play from that position. It's clear they're going to integrate him slowly into more and more snaps based on how they've used him thus far this season.

Overall KPM: 8 Points

Snaps: 17

KPM/Snap: 0.470

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KPM Rankings:

Defensive Line:

1. Shaun Smith 25
2. Ron Edwards 17
3. Wallace Gilberry 13
4. Glenn Dorsey 7
5. Anthony Toribio 4
6. Demorrio Williams -1