Kansas City Chiefs Front Seven Evaluation: NFL Week Eight

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Hey everyone,  I'm here to bring you the KPM for the Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs game last week.  Several key rotational players got lots of snaps this week, and it was interesting to see how it affected their ratings.  As always, the rating system is located here.  Let's get to it!

 

• The Chiefs were in the 3-4 defense 22.1% of the time.
• The Chiefs were in the nickel defense 74.4% of the time.
• The Chiefs were in the dime the remaining 3.5% of the time.
• The Chiefs blitzed a safety or linebacker 12.8% of the time.
• The nickel formation this team opened with had Tamba as an outside linebacker, Vrabel and DJ as inside linebackers, and Dorsey-Edwards-Gilberry as down linemen.

• DJ had that pick six dead to rights on the first defensive play of the game. He's going to want that one back.

• Lots of Studebaker early on, subbing for both Vrabel and Tamba. I think he's performed well enough to grab the coaching staff's attention.

• Great moves by both Tamba and Studebaker on the 1^st quarter sack. It's nice to have that pressure coming from both sides. I'm not sure that Tamba would have brought him down all by himself, so Studebaker cleaning up was huge.

• Gilberry is getting a few 3-4 snaps on top of all the nickel snaps in the early going. It looks like the coaching staff is really easing Tyson Jackson back into the game.

• Gilberry is getting his hands up a lot early on. There's usually not enough of that for my liking, so it's nice to see him getting into it.

• Bonehead play by Demorrio: roughing the kicker. I didn't take points away because it was on special teams, but that's a giant no-no. Afterwards, he was yelling at Haley when coach was telling him to take a seat.

• What. A. Move. Gilberry dominates both linemen blocking him for a strip sack. Great bullrush. He's having a huge impact thus far.

• I really don't like the amount of cushion Flowers and Carr are giving their respective receivers. The short pass is wide open, and it's just eating up yardage.

• I've counted two plays that Tamba beat his man, only to be grabbed on his face mask and held from behind...and it's only the first quarter.

• Tyson looked really slow on a pass rush near the beginning of the 2^nd quarter. He is holding his own in the running game, but he had the opportunity to get to the quarterback, and just couldn't close the gap.

• Studebaker has played a lot of nickel snaps in the first half. He's looked really good while doing it, as well. Whether it was because Vrabel struggled last week or Studebaker just finally earned the spot, it's good to see.

• Arenas looks really solid in the first half. He's been in on a couple of plays that would've been big gains. Doing a really good job of sticking his hand in the way and breaking up a pass.

• Stupid play by Gilberry, swinging his arm and whacking the quarterback in the helmet well after the ball was gone. Cost the defense a 3 and out.

• I don't care if the refs missed it, Studebaker definitely sacked the quarterback at the end of the half. His elbow and knee were even more clearly down than the previous play, where Tamba received a sack after a review. I'm giving Andy the sack in the KPM.

• Several times this game, Tyson Jackson has strung along a sweep play an dhas been a real nuisance in Buffalo's blocking scheme. Rather than relying on a single blocker, Tyson is blowing through his man and making one of the pulling offensive linemen readjust and block him, rather than a linebacker.

• Tyson sniffs out another screen play late in the 3^rd quarter. Occasionally he's been disruptive when single blocked, but he hasn't missed a blocker yet, whether he's double teamed or single blocked. He just won't be shoved off the line. Well done, TJack.

• Studebaker has been very effective both in pass coverage and in pass rushing. Vrabel is still seeing the early-down snaps, but he's seeing pretty much all of the passing down snaps this game.

• Man, that was an incredible hit and strip by Flowers late in the 4^th quarter. It's really too bad Vrabel couldn't get his mitts on it a hair sooner.

• Dorsey is imposing his will on the left side of Buffalo's line. He's being a handful over there against the run and the pass.

• Great play by Tamba to cut back inside and bat down a screen pass in the 4^th quarter. He could've taken the outside line to the quarterback, but saw the screen developing and stayed home.

• DJ, DJ, DJ. That's two dropped interceptions that would've been game changers.

• Tamba didn't seal the edge very well late in the 4^th quarter and allowed Spiller to get to the outside to pick up a 3^rd and 1. A tackle for loss there likely makes for a 4^th and 5, and more importantly, makes Buffalo punt it away instead of driving further into KC territory to attempt the winning score. Luckily, Fitzpatrick gifted the interception to Berry on the next play.

• DJ and Vrabel both missing tackles in overtime that would have stopped a long gain. After a game full of holding Buffalo to short gains, the end of the 4^th quarter and overtime opened up a bit.

•  

• Wow, Arenas' pass break up late in overtime was a huge play. Well done, rook.

The KPM's:

Glenn Dorsey 

Dorsey was STRONG this week.  A season-high SEVEN double teams alongside one tackle for no gain.  He caused lots of problems for the offensive line, and made DJ, Vrabel, and Belcher's jobs easier.  Nice work, Glenn.

Overall KPM:  15 Points

Snaps:  80

KPM/Snap:  0.188

Tyson Jackson

Tyson continues to do well!  Three gaps filled, two double teams, one quarterback pressure, and one tackle for loss.  He still didn't get a whole lot of snaps, but he's quite effective when he's on the field.

Overall KPM:  12 Points

Snaps:  23

KPM/Snap:  0.522

Ron Edwards 

Ron was outstanding!!!  Three gaps filled, an incredible TEN double teams, one pass batted down, and one tackle for no gain.  He did let a free man through and he was shoved off the line once.  It's no wonder people noticed him this week, he was a force to be reckoned with!

Overall KPM:  22 Points 

Snaps:  37

KPM/Snap:  0.595


Wallace Gilberry 

Wallace was on the field a LOT this week.  Two gaps filled, one double team, one strip sack, three quarterback pressures, and one tackle for no gain made for quite the positive haul.  However, he did miss a big tackle and had the 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer.  Still, as little as he was on the field in previous weeks, I was worried he might struggle to keep a high work rate.  That was not a problem after all.

Overall KPM: 15 Points 

Snaps:  56

KPM/Snap:  0.268

Shaun Smith 

Shaun Smith did well in his time on the field.  He had two gaps filled, six double teams, one quarterback pressure that forced Fitzpatrick out of the pocket, but had two free men.  He wasn't on the field as much as Edwards, and with the Chiefs in the nickel most of the time, they didn't really play to Shaun's strengths.  He still held up very well.

Overall KPM: 13 Points

Snaps:  26

KPM/Snap:  0.500

Mike Vrabel

Vrabel once again didn't have a good week.  He had four gaps filled, one successful coverage, one running back contain, and one quarterback pressure countered by one missed tackle and one personal foul penalty.  He played his share of snaps, but split much more evenly with Studebaker.  He was mainly on the field on running downs, and the Bills didn't try to go to his side very often.

Overall KPM:  4 Points

Snaps:  50

KPM/Snap:  0.080

 

Tamba Hali

TAMBA FOR PRO BOWL!!!  He clocked a pass break up, seven quarterback pressures (four out of pocket), one tackle for no gain, and one forced intentional grounding penalty. He did have once where he was late to the gap on a running play, but was an impact player all game long, stepping up at crucial moments!

Overall KPM:  30 Points

Snaps:  84

KPM/Snap:  0.357

 

Derrick Johnson

DJ was all over the field once again this week.  He had seven gaps filled, one forced dropped pass, two broken up passes, one successful coverage, one quarterback pressure, and one tackle for loss.  He did have one wrong gap, two late gap fills, and one missed tackle on the negative side.  Sure, he could've done much better with the two pass defenses, but he's in the right positions to make plays.  He's really stepped his game up incredibly.

Overall KPM:  13 Points

Snaps:  86

KPM/Snap:  0.151

 

Jovan Belcher

Jovan killed it when he was on the field this week!  He had six gaps filled, two running back contains, one quarterback pressure, one tackle for no gain, and one tackle for loss, but had one missed tackle.  As usual, he played every 3-4 snap as the strongside inside linebacker, and for having such a limited amount of time on the field, he may have had his best overall performance of the year.

Overall KPM:   12 Points

Snaps:  19

KPM/Snap:  0.632

Andy Studebaker

Studebaker was on the field a lot this week!  He had one filled gap, two sacks, one quarterback pressure, but had one missed tackle.  He made a huge difference at the strongside outside linebacker spot on obvious passing downs, making the offensive line account for two outside pass rushers instead of loading up against Tamba.  This performance staked his claim on that pass rushing spot.  I'd still like to see what he can do against the run on a more frequent basis, but he's much better than Vrabel at rushing the passer.

Overall KPM:  9 Points

Snaps:  38

KPM/Snap:  0.237

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TOTALS:

 

Defensive Line:

 

This Week's KPM		This Week's KPM/Snap
Ron Edwards	22	Ron Edwards	0.595
Glenn Dorsey	15	Tyson Jackson	0.522
Wallace Gilberry	15	Shaun Smith	0.500
Shaun Smith	13	Wallace Gilberry	0.268
Tyson Jackson	12	Glenn Dorsey	0.188

 

Linebackers:

 

This Week's KPM		This Week's KPM/Snap
Tamba Hali	30	Jovan Belcher	0.632
Derrick Johnson	13	Tamba Hali	0.357
Jovan Belcher	12	Andy Studebaker	0.237
Andy Studebaker	9	Derrick Johnson	0.151
Mike Vrabel	4	Mike Vrabel	0.080

 

YEARLY TOTALS:

 

Defensive Line:

 

KPM		KPM/Snap
Glenn Dorsey	103	Shaun Smith	0.505
Shaun Smith	102	Ron Edwards	0.444
Wallace Gilberry	94	Wallace Gilberry	0.433
Ron Edwards	88	Tyson Jackson	0.395
Tyson Jackson	30	Glenn Dorsey	0.255
Anthony Toribio	-6	Anthony Toribio	-0.111

 

Linebackers:

 

KPM		KPM/Snap
Tamba Hali	121	Tamba Hali	0.269
Derrick Johnson	79	Andy Studebaker	0.241
Mike Vrabel	38	Cory Greenwood	0.200
Jovan Belcher	32	Demorrio Williams	0.190
Andy Studebaker	20	Derrick Johnson	0.177
Demorrio Williams	8	Jovan Belcher	0.132
Corey Mays	1	Mike Vrabel	0.099
Cory Greenwood	1	Corey Mays	0.077

 

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

Not only did Tamba make an impact all throughout the game, he was absolutely clutch.  He made a great play near the goal line to keep a sure touchdown on a running back screen with his pass break up.  He had a big sack near the end of the 1st half to keep the Bills out of scoring range.  Finally, he had a great play to force an intentional grounding penalty in overtime and stop a potential game-winning drive.  There is no doubt in my mind that had Tamba not played so well in this game, the Chiefs would have another loss on the record.  It's nothing short of outrageous that he's not a household name, but with over half the season left and him already at seven sacks, I can't see him not becoming one by the end of the year.

Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!