Chiefs vs Cardinals: Breaking Down The O-Line Tape

Week #11

The Kansas City Chiefs got back on track with a win over the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday.  The running game picked back up, the passing game was taking strikes down the field, and the offensive line added a new wrinkle in their blocking attack.

The loss to the Denver Broncos might have served as a wake up call to the Chiefs and their passing game.  Sometimes taking the next step comes from how a team reacts in the face of adversity.  Time will tell if the Chief's players have taken another step.  But for this week, the Chiefs can congratulate themselves for answering the bell.

Let's take a look at those O-line grades.

	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	00
Percent Scale

• Please refer to the Chiefs Preseason: Breaking Down The O-Line Tape - Primer at the bottom of this article for any inquiries into the method used to grade the lineman.
• Click on Bewsaf Past Posts at the bottom of this post for any past o-line articles you might have missed.

Offensive Line Scheme Wrinkles:

Last week I wrote an article showing what the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos had done to slow the Kansas City Chief's running game (you can find it hear).  And guess what the Arizona Cardinal's defensive front looked like this past week.  That's right.  They came out in basically the same 5-3 front that had given the Chiefs such problems the past couple of weeks.

So what did the Chiefs do to counter the defensive tactics?  Did they adjust at all?

In the Arizona game the Chiefs tried to get a push in the middle of their offensive line by doubling two defensive tackles and trying to drive them:  Something the Chiefs really haven't done this year.

This new blocking wrinkle caught the Cardinal defenders, who were looking for reach blocks, off guard from time to time and allowed the Chiefs to exploit the middle of the defense.

The objective appeared to center around getting a push on the tackles and not releasing to the second level, like the normally do in the zone scheme.  This was the Chiefs can create a push off the line and hopefully obstruct the linebackers with a bunch of "trash" that hinders their ability to scrape along the line of scrimmage.

Looks like one of the Chief's solutions was to try and solve my proposed problem #2 (from last weeks article) with this new blocking wrinkle.  Against the Arizona Cardinals...it worked.

 

Performance Perspective

60% or below		70%		80%		90% or above
60% is an indication the lineman was some defenders boy toy.		70% is a rough day in both the run or passing game.  The lineman probably got notice a lot and won't hold a job scoring 70% every week.		80% is a solid day for run blocking but only an average day for pass blocking.  Players strive to be above 80% every game.		Player had great game run or pass blocking if they score a 90%. All pro players are consistently in the 90%.

RUN BLOCKING

PASS BLOCKING

	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100			10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
Percent Scale												Percent Scale
Albert												Albert
Waters												Waters
Wiegmann												Wiegmann
Lilja												Lilja
Richardson												Richardson
O'Callaghan												O'Callaghan
Asamoah	N/A											Asamoah	N/A
Pope												Pope
Moeaki	N/A											Moeaki	N/A

Run & Pass Blocking Notes:

• After Albert game out of the game due to an injury O'Callaghan came in at right tackle and Richardson moved to left tackle.
• After Richardson's first play at left tackle, which he missed his assignment, he settled in and did a decent job.  O'Callaghan did a decent job at right tackle as well...but was not called upon to do much second level blocking or one-on-one pass blocking.
• Albert does a much better job at cut blocking.
• On one play Albert gives a punch (the technical form) to the face mask of the defender and the player's helmet turned sideways as he looked through his ear-hole.
• This is the second week in the last three that Waters has had trouble with a tall defensive tackle.  Alan Branch, 6-6, was able to get good extension on Brian and get of his blocks to make a tackle.
• Both Waters and Richardson had off days, not horrible but off.  
• On the 3rd possession the Chiefs had a goal-to-go and just about every lineman had a great block as Jones scampered up the middle for a KC score.
• Waters drives #78 about 5 yards down field on one play.  It is the first time this year that I have seen a Chief's lineman actually dominate someone on a block.

SECOND LEVEL BLOCKING

POINT OF ATTACK BLOCK

	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100			10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100
Percent Scale												Percent Scale
Albert												Albert
Waters	2 for 2											Waters
Wiegmann												Wiegmann
Lilja												Lilja
Richardson												Richardson
O'Callaghan	0 for 0											O'Callaghan
Asamoah	N/A											Asamoah	N/A
Pope												Pope
Moeaki	N/A											Moeoki	N/A

Graphic bars from draftboardinsiders.com

Second Level Blocking Notes:

• This is the 4th week in a row that Brian Waters has scored below an 80% on his run blocking grade.  So far, Mr. Waters has only scored above 80% in run blocking 4 of 10 games.  This week Brian was driven 4 times by Alan Branch.
• Point of attack percentages were down this week.  Wiegmann scoring the lowest with 25%.
• Three offensive lineman had penalties this week:  Waters (holding), Lilja (holding), Pope (false start).

 

OTHER SEASON STATS

Player		Games Played		# Penalties		# of Drivens		# Sacks
Albert		10		3		6		2
Waters		10		3		14		0
Wiegmann		10		2		26		2
Lilja		9		4		16		1
O'Callaghan		2		0		2		1
Pope		10		4		7		1
Richardson		10		2		13		1
Asamoah		2		0		5		0

 

Click On " Bewsaf Past Posts " for more past articles

*Chiefs Preseason: Breaking Down The O-Line Tape - Primer		*What You Look For in an NFL Offensive Lineman - The Basics		*The Next Hurdle For A Young KC Chiefs Team:  Fortitude