I really am not quite sure what to say here. It was a devastating loss to the hated Raiders. I am not exactly sure what my feeling is at the moment but I know it’s not good. I know that I am upset and I know I have the right to be upset. There was nothing truly wrong with any one players performance yesterday but they were just put in suspect positions by their coaching and that led to bad things happening. Coaching is relative and all matter to opinion and hindsight. If the fleaflicker the Chiefs ran against the 49ers ends in an interception then Haley is an idiot, as it stood, he is a genius for “pulling one out of a hat.” It is extremely difficult to step back from a situation and actually determine, at a certain point, what was truly a good or bad call. That being said, the majority of the game yesterday was poor call’s by the Chiefs coaching staff.
When you break things down football is a simple game, put the ball in the hands of your best players/playmakers, know who you are, have a gameplan, be able to make adjustments. It’s easier said (written) than done, but if you follow that model then generally you find yourself in a position to win most games. The Chiefs have done that this year and have been in a position to win every single game, with the exception of the Colts game. The Chiefs were in a position to win this game, but they were not put there by their coaches. The Chiefs were handed that game by atrocious officiating and a Raiders team that was begging to implode on itself. Despite that the Chiefs still couldn’t win the game.
Why were the Chiefs throwing in the red zone at the end of the first half? Why did the Chiefs throw on the majority of 3rd downs causing them to have a 3/15 day on third downs? Why did Jamaal Charles only get 10 carries when he was averaging 5.3 yards per carry? Why do the Chiefs insist on using a 2-4-5 formation on every third down? These are questions there is no clear cut answer to but all of which contributed to the Chiefs losing that game. While a win would’ve taken some of the sting off this loss, I still would not have been happy.
The coaching decisions mentioned above were particularly perplexing. Why take the Chiefs strength and their best player and take that out of the equation? That makes no sense. I understand that you want to take what the defense gives you, but at some point you need to do what’s been working for you. You dance with the girl that brought you, and that was the running game, not Matt Cassel to Tony Moeaki bombs on third and one. I think the biggest coaching question mark I have at this point in the season is with Romeo Crennel. Not to say he himself is a question mark, I think he has done an absolutely phenomenal job, but I wonder about his 3rd down defense. As mentioned above, he consistently throws the 2-4-5 look out there on third down.
I see the advantages of the 2-4-5. You get another defensive back out there, you keep your athletic linebackers there, and then finally you still have your two best d linemen out there. This makes sense on third and 6+, but every 3rd down, the Chiefs trot out this package. Why? Usually with this package the Chiefs sit in a deep zone and just keep plays in front of them, which I understand, you don’t want to give up a big play on third down, but why not keep the regular unit out there when it’s 3rd and 2? Or at least keep the original formation and keep the same cornerbacks with the cornerbacks? Players like Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr work best when they are pressing at the line of scrimmage. They are both physical corners who play better bump and run, but in the 2-4-5 they play ten yards off their man. The lead to a lot of comeback routes on 3rd down that both corners got burned on, and when you have that much space, a no-name speedster like Jacoby Ford can just run past slower, physical corners like Flowers. The knock on Flowers has always been his slightly below elite level speed and that’s what burned the Chiefs yesterday. On the pass to Ford in overtime Flower was in correct position, Ford was just faster, and that will happen to Flowers. If anything keeps him from being the best defensive player in the game it’s his lack of top end speed. The coaches should not have put Flowers and the secondary in the position to where that was going to be the situation.
Now let’s step back and take a little perspective on this. Nobody thought the Chiefs were gonna end up 14-2. However, we knew there was a good chance the Chiefs would be favored in all their remaining games and that means there would be a letdown somewhere in there with a loss. That was this day.
Nobody thought the Chiefs would be 5-3 at midseason and in 1st in the AFC West, but here we are. If you would have said 9 weeks ago the Chiefs would be where they are, I would have taken it no questions asked. Now, I know that doesn’t mean I should be happy with everything that has transpired, but it does mean we all need a little perspective when looking at the season. If the Chiefs replicate what they have done here and end the season 10-6 is anyone going to complain? I didn’t think so. I have to keep reminding myself that the Chiefs are overachieving. They are not going to win the Super Bowl this year and if they make the playoffs it’s a solid bonus to an extremely improved season. I said at the beginning of the year I would be happy if the Chiefs went 8-8, showed improvement and are ready to make that jump next year. Regardless of what happens this year, with another offseason, the Chiefs are in prime position to take that step. We knew this was gonna happen eventually, the Raiders are up and coming just like we are, so we are not in bad shape. We need to learn from this, pick up and move on.
That was longer than usual and as such I’m going to quickly go over my good and bad thoughts on the game.
Good:
Jamaal Charles – Our best playmaker, should have gotten the ball more.
Tamba Hali – Man can he rush the passer, get him some help and it’s a breakout season.
Eric Berry – Got two sacks. He still has some learning to do, but he continues to step up and make plays.
Bad:
Brandon Flowers – It’s probably unfair to put him here and it pains me to do so, but he let the game clinching interception slip out of his hands, then got burned in overtime to what led to the game winning field goal. He is still our best defensive player and an elite CB, but when you come against a speedster like Ford, and your coach puts you in a bad position, things like that happen. This fault is equally on him and the coaches.
Coaching – It was just awful this game. Worst of the season. We knew it was gonna bite us eventually and it did.
Coaching – Did I mention this was bad? No excuse for putting your players in a position like they were put in in this game.
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