Grading Andy Reid: Week 13 vs Raiders

Let the good times roll ♫ -- This classic Cars hit is probably a good way to describe the way the Chiefs and their fans have been feeling lately. Who wouldn't mind if 'Let the Good Times Roll' was the new song the Chiefs played for touchdowns at Arrowhead? It'd probably be better than what they're playing now, but I digress ...

I've been a bit under the weather this week, so I apologize ahead of time if this week's grade is slightly abbreviated. We'll use the same grading scale as before:

Grading Criteria (Points Possible)

• Starting Roster (15)
• Player Preparedness / discipline (15)
• Offensive play calling (30)
• Game altering decisions (25)
• Clock management (15)
• Challenges +/- a range of 5 points.

Starting Roster

As in weeks past there were a number of questions regarding the offensive line. Another question going into this week was who should get the lion's share of carries at RB. Andy Reid started the game with the OL combination of Fisher - Allen - Fulton - LDT - Reid. After Allen left the game early, Stephenson stepped in and played admirably at LG; a position Stephenson hadn't played before in an NFL game that counts. Reid really had no choice with the OL decisions given all the injuries to everyone.

At RB Reid made the good decision to split the carries between Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware. West had nine carries while Ware had seven. Having a fresh set of legs at RB will really help the Chiefs down the stretch and players begin to get worn down from the grind of the season.

Starting Roster Grade: 15/15

Player Preparedness / Discipline

Two of the Chiefs key play makers on offense had fumbles. Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce are the leaders of the team and they need to focus on keeping the ball to the ground. The concentration of holding onto the ball after the catch needs to be addressed after a week with two fumbles. That said, credit Charles Woodson for making a pretty good play on the Kelce fumble.

The Chiefs also had 11 penalties that were accepted. They were playing the Raiders, not trying to impersonate the Raiders. If the Chiefs have 11 penalties in games against better competition they will get themselves into trouble.

Player Preparedness / Discipline Grade:  9/15

Offensive Play Calling

Really Good Cheeseburger of the Week:

After Jason Avant and Albert Wilson made their blocks there was no way in hell the Raiders were going to stop this play. My question is what were the Raiders doing on defense? The Raiders defense was in trouble the moment Jeremy Maclin ran out of the slot and none of their defenders came over to help. This is a classic Andy Reid play.

Run/Pass Ratio: 17 run, 29 pass.  37% run, 63% pass. This does not pass the litmus test of running the ball 40% of the time.  Reid will need to continue to focus on running the ball.

Third Down Conversion Rate: 3/8. The Chiefs can do better than this.

Red Zone TD Rate: 100% - The Chiefs scored each of their red zone possessions. Can't ask for much more than this.

TD to FG Rate: Four offensive touchdowns, 0 FGs. The Chiefs did a great job of putting the ball in the end zone and not settling for FGs.  Hopefully this trend continues.

Screen Play Rate: I only counted four screens. Two of them were awful and resulted in incompletions. The other two screen passes were touchdowns to Maclin. Screen pass rate: 8.7%  I'm not sure what this number should be but I want to track it .... what does everyone else think?

The Chiefs were extremely successful in the red zone. The only thing Reid can legitimately have points deducted for is a third down rate that could be a little better and maybe a few points for passing the ball too frequently.

Offensive Play Calling Grade:  28/30

Game Altering Decisions

Once again Reid wasn't faced with many game altering decision chances in this game. There was the decision to go for two in the fourth quarter to put the Chiefs up by 14 points instead of potentially 13. This was the correct decision, especially since it worked,

Game Altering Decisions Grade:  25/25

Clock Management

Strangely .... I can't think of anything to comment on in regards to the clock management in this game. Perhaps Reid is getting better? Can anyone else remember yelling at the TV during the game because of a clock management decision Reid made? I sure don't remember anything ... Odd.

Clock Management Grade:  15/15

Challenges

Reid didn't make any challenges in this game so his grade will be unaffected.

Week 13 Grade:  92/100

2015 Average Grade:  77.00 percent

--Sorry, no graph this week, abbreviated post and all, ya know.

Next Week Against the Chargers

What would I like to see against the Chargers?

• Don't take the Chargers lightly, Philip Rivers still has some tricks up his sleeve.
• Play clean, mistake free football. No more fumbles from the receivers.
• Focus on keeping Alex Smith safe. If the Chiefs get a big lead, go ahead and play Chase Daniel, who likes playing the Chargers once a year.