The Kansas City Chiefs offense has been so fun to watch this year because of all the misdirection they run. Andy Reid has always been the king of misdirection but it feels like he’s taken it up a notch this year.
“They have a lot of things that you don’t see every day in pro football,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said this week. “Coach (Andy) Reid does an excellent job with his offense and disguising his intent, using a lot of different guys to touch the ball, a lot of skill.”
Former Chiefs lineman Geoff Schwartz did a good job here explaining some of the unique things the Chiefs are doing, including all the formations and motions that are essentially distractions for the defense.
A good example of the effect of this misdirection comes from a quote I saw from Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.
“I think [Kareem Hunt is a] great back, he’s been doing a great job this year,” Manusky said. “We’ve got to get a lot of hats around him, make sure that we tackle him. He can break tackles, seen him do that many a times. You know, No. 10 [Tyreek Hill] in the backfield and No. 13 [De’Anthony Thomas] in the backfield – two fast guys that can really split you down the middle and also running the ball. [They are] two effective guys that can run to the edge.”
Tyreek Hill and De’Anthony Thomas have just a combined seven carries this season yet here’s the opposing defensive coordinator mentioning them right after Kareem Hunt as guys they have to prepare for out of the backfield. Andy Reid puts them back there enough that you have to respect it and obviously the Redskins do if they’re bringing it up.