In another lesson designed to make you a smarter Kansas City Chiefs fan, I've gone ahead and put together some stats on the Chiefs' play calling this season. Specifically, the play calling by down.
We've all been sitting next to a buddy during a game who screams, "The Chiefs ALWAYS run it on first down. Why don't they mix it up?" Well now, thanks to these stats, you can correct your buddy and says, "Actually, the Chiefs only run the ball 56% of the time on first down." Then you can follow up with a Boo-Ya or a "You just got clowned!"
This always makes for fun banter. Here are the stats on how the Chiefs' play calling breaks down by down through ten games:
First Down
The Chiefs run the ball 56% of the time on first down and average a rather mind-boggling 6.15 yards a play doing it. The other 44% of the time the Chiefs are passing it on first down and averaging 5.94 yards per play.
Second Down
On second down, KC is rushing the ball 58% of the time and gaining 3.79 yards per rush. The other 42% of the time they are of course passing the ball and getting some decent yardage per play - 7.93 yards in fact.
Third Down
As with most NFL teams, if not all, the Chiefs pass the majority of the time on third down. The Chiefs pass 70% of the time on third down and naturally they're running it the other 30% of the time. Our third down rushes average 3.56 yards per carry and the third down passes yield 5.6 yards per play.
Fourth Down
The Chiefs split their run/pass play calling evenly on fourth down. They've gone for it 8 times on fourth down and average 1.5 yards per rush and 5.12 yards per pass.
Study these. Clown your friends. Be the smartest fan in the room.