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Soo, Andy Reid, your offense seems to run a lot faster than what we've seen around here in recent years.
"That's what we do," Reid told 810 WHB's Kevin Kietzman when asked about the pace of the Kansas City Chiefs offense last week against the New Orleans Saints. "We got a couple of different tempos that we can go at."
Trent Green said on the broadcast last Friday night that the Chiefs have three speeds -- no huddle, hurry up and then the regular huddle. What we saw on Friday night was the hurry-up, according to Green.
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"Jon's competing like a wild man and working out the offense and the different plays that he has just like everybody else is. He's made some nice plays here at camp and I'm sure they'll continue on in the games."
"Our players like to go fast and to do things at the line of scrimmage where they can see things happening," Reid continued.
I like the idea of going fast because you're making the defense think and move. They're more likely to make mistakes when they start thinking too much and worrying about how fast the offense is moving. Of course, as an offense you have to be able to function at that rate.
According to Reid, Alex Smith is capable of that and showed it last Friday night.
"That mental part of the game starts with that quarterback and how he's able to digest everything and make it click in a matter of seconds," Reid said. "He's got all the gigabytes to do that with. He understands and can spit it out to the players. I thought he handled that part of it very well [in the Saints game].
"The guys were receptive around him, which also helps. They had studied and functioned at a pretty good level right there."
The pace was noticeable on TV. I don't know of any good reports or studies on how the speed of an offense affects the game but it would seem that because the offense knows what's coming a faster pace would be an advantage over the defense who has less time to process what's going on. There are a lot of variables involved, such as the competency of your quarterback.
If understanding what the defense is doing and communicating with his teammates is a strength, Alex Smith running a fast-paced offense makes sense. He may not have the physical tools to overpower the defense but he can use his strengths to the Chiefs advantage.