Good Gretz Article on KC's lack of run defense
 

from bobgretz.com

The Problem Waiting For Romeo … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs
January 13, 2010 - Bob Gretz | Comments (23)

If Romeo Crennel has watched the Chiefs at all during the 2009 NFL season, he already knows the biggest challenge facing him when he takes over the club’s defense. If Crennel wasn’t watching, then he’s got a real bad surprise coming to him if/when he signs on.

There are a lot of hurdles the Chiefs must overcome to return to contender status. Scott Pioli, Todd Haley, Charlie Weis and soon it appears Crennel will have their hands full lifting all parts of the franchise.

The area that is the most important and needs the biggest change comes with their ability to stop the run.

With the exception of their AFC West division mates in Oakland, nobody in the league has been worse against the run over the last three seasons than the Chiefs. They have given up an average of 148.7 rushing yards per game. And, there is no coincidence that they are 10-38 in those three seasons.

There is also no doubt that one of the cornerstones for any real contender is being able to stop the run. Over the last three seasons (2007-09) here are the stats for the best and worst defenses in the league, along with the team’s overall record:

NFL RUSHING DEFENSES (2007-09)

[CHART OMITTED]

It’s pretty remarkable that over the last three years, three of the worst five run defenses in the league have been in the AFC West. San Diego has given up an average of 109.1 rushing yards per game in the last three years, with a 32-16 record and three division titles.

The Chiefs have gotten worse when it comes to stopping the run in each of the last three seasons. This year, when you pull the curtain back on the 531 carries and 2,504 yards that opponents racked up against the K.C. defense during the’09 season:

YARDS ALLOWED: That 2,504-yard total was next to last in the league. Tampa Bay was last allowing 2,531 rushing yards. The best rushing defense was Green Bay, as the Packers allowed 1,333 rushing yards. The NFL average was 1866.7 yards.

YARDS PER RUNNING PLAY: Opponents averaged 4.7 yards per carry against the Chiefs, placing them tied for 30th among the league’s 32 defenses. Baltimore led the league with the lowest average per carry at 3.4 yards. The NFL average was 4.2 yards.

NEGATIVE RUNS: The Chiefs were tied for 30th in the league in runs stopped for negative yardage. It was 26 runs for a minus-48 yards. The New York Giants and Oakland led the league with 55 stops for minus yards.

RUNS ALLOWED FOR +4 YARDS: They were 29th, as 47.5 percent of the runs against them went for four yards or more, that was 252 out of 531 carries.

RUNS ALLOWED FOR +10 YARDS: The KC defense was 26th in the NFL, giving up 57 runs for more than 10 yards. The leader with the fewest was Pittsburgh with 35.

FIRST-DOWN RUSHING – The Chiefs were 31st in the league, giving up 1,467 of their rushing yards on first down, an average of 5.22 yards per carry. Only 12 of those first down running plays were stopped for minus yards.

Massage the numbers and they all come out the same: the Chiefs are horrible against the run and it’s the biggest problem keeping them out of the victory column each Sunday. In the last 48 games, the Chiefs have allowed 20 running backs go for 100 yards or more. Those numbers came down in 19 games. In those games the Chiefs were 4-15, or a .210 winning percentage.

During his four seasons as defensive coordinator of the Patriots, Crennel saw his defense help win three Super Bowls. In the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, the New England defense finished 19th, 4th and 6th against the run. They allowed an average of 101.3 rushing yards per game and 3.9 yards per carry.

So Crennel knows good run defense. He’s seen it, he’s coached it and he’ll demand plenty of it when he takes over the Chiefs defense.

For the Chiefs to get out of the NFL basement, they have to get out of the defensive basement when it comes to stopping the run.

McClain and a quality NT, could go a long way in improving the run defense.

That was a freaking boring read to tell us something we already freaking knew

Gretz, why did you leave out the ranking for the 2002 Patriots?

In the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, the New England defense finished 19th, 4th and 6th against the run.

Because they finished 31st against the run?

C'mon, man.

It still shows signifigant improvement, even if you do include that year. I'll take a top 6 run-stuffing defense, after Crennell's gets his guys.

I'd like to see this better...

1 SS Eric Berry
2 MLB Brandon Spikes
2 OLB Eric Norwood
FA NT Vince Wilfork

Okay everyone, it's time to get off the Berry bandwagon.

weak up the middle (NT,LB and Safety) + generally Soft players = bad run defense

Exactly.

Learn to love the McClain.

Yeah, that too.

However, my post is due to the fact that CoMo thinks he should be our first pick.

Kiss of death.

Which is a better winning percentage than the Chiefs had in the other 29 games where we were 6-23 for a .207 mark. :shrug:

Because Gretz wrote something?

See post #10.

Because CoMo called it.

LMAO.

Completely missed it.

Couple that with our negative plays on first down, and you have opponents facing second and short/med, us facing second and long.

There's your 4-12 record in a nutshell...

I've been pimping him for weeks.

I'm ahead of the curve.

The Chiefs need a mountain in the middle.

Maybe Crennel can be activated.

While it's a mildly interesting conglomeration of stats, the article doesn't really address why, or how they can fix it.

It's kind of like popular science doing an article that tells us the sky's blue.

He's a heck of a LBer. I can see us making worse picks. I'm thinking he may end up being one of the prizes in this year's draft. The kid is a workhorse and can bring the hammer down. I've been impressed with his play.

The play up the middle has to improve. McClain would certainly help us, IMO. I just really like how he has a nose for the ball and delivers solid tackles time and again.

I like that despite the fact that he has protypical size and speed, he's heady and studies tape like he's peyton frikkin manning at LB. Saban's purportedly called him the smartest player he's ever coached. Which is a pretty rare thing to hear about a defensive player.

And I also like that he's been playing in a 3-4 at bama.

It's a perfect fit in my mind. Which means he's going before we pick, or we're taking Okung with him on the board, and I'm breaking my TV in April.

On this note, Petro and Kevin Harlan had a short discussion as to why Glenn Dorsey should be our tackle in the 3-4. They based this statement on the success that Jay Ratliff is having in Dallas, and he is barely over 300, if that. His quickness for a big man is what makes him so disruptive in the 3-4 Dallas runs, according to Petro. That being said, having DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer on the outside may help that, as well.

Point being is that we may not actually need a 360 pounder in the middle if we can figure a way to use the guys we have now properly.

How? 1) NT that occupies double teams and can help collapse the pocket a bit, 2) Dorsey continue to improve and not re-injure his leg, 3) Jackson live up to a first round draft status, 4) Magee improve, 5) More talented ILB play.

IMHO, ILB impact is going to rely upon the front 3.

They run a different 34 than KC. 1 gap vs 2 gap. If KC keeps the current scheme they need an immovable object in the middle.

I think Jackson or Magee will eventually be our NT, although whether that's in '10 or '11 I don't know. That's what I thought when we drafted them both last year.

I'm no expert, but I'd say that the scheme we ran last year sucks, and we need another one.

Hell, all three of our ends looked lost most of the time last year. I have high hopes that Romeo will scrap our version of the 3-4 and install one that actually, you know, works.

We seemingly have a bunch of guys on our line whose forte is to get upfield, not take up space.

There's definitely going to be some kind of change on the line, with the dc and the d-line coach gone.

Since they implemented the scheme without the correct talent and DC to run it, I'd say that the powers that be like the scheme and it'll stick around.

We might be able to pick up an older free agent on the market this offseason, but without trades, the value won't be there at NT in the draft when we're picking.

Eh, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.

A blind, reeruned squirrel with no legs lying in a coma who makes Terri Schiavo look like Liza Minnelli doing an encore on Broadway?

The "value" argument IMO isn't as important as hitting on your first round pick. It's great if you can hit and get value, but at the end of the day getting a very good player outweighs the value argument IMO.

I agree. Value is great and all but as soon as the draft is over draft value has no value. Wasn't Doresy a good value pick? He may still turn into a good player but where is all that draft value right now? Also a player may have value for one team but may not have value for another. Value to a point.

PhilFree:arrow:

You better get more than a "very good player" when drafting in the Top 5.

Period.

Clevelands rushing D with Romeo as HC:

2008: 28th
2007: 27th
2006: 29th
2005: 30th

Keep trying to pour the kool-aid!!

That logic works if you're picking 25. Not so much at 5.

Isn't much to choose from this year, in any case. Pretty much Cody and Williams, neither of whom's a top-5 calibre pick.

We'd be smarter looking in free agency or later in the draft.

It still comes down to the players -

KC has Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams starting at inside linebacker. They also have Tyson Jackson and Ron Edwards on the D-line with Tamba Hali on the outside. None of these guys are hold your ground, physical run stoppers.

The Chiefs need to at least improve their personnel at NT and MLB if they want to improve against the run.

Safeties being out of position rarely had a negative impact on the run D this season.

Hopefully if we pour enough kool-aid you'll drown in it.

So, who would you have liked to see brought in as DC?

This.

In fairness, I think Haley is a very competent play caller, but his offense sucked ass in KC.

There can be other factors involved. Naturally, this doesn't excuse our newest fat man completely.

If you get a very good player you are doing well with the top 5 pick.

If you look at the top 5 picks from 2003-2007, how many are better than "very good"? Andre Johnson, Fitzgerald, Joe Thomas, anyone else?

I think it's because that was the years they went to and won the Superbowl...that's my guess anyway. He's trying to prove a point about run defense and its importance towards winning a Superbowl...or 3.

Well when you bring in a Shaun Rogers and have Corey Williams and Robaire Smith along your defensive front* and actually regress from 27th to 28th in the NFL in rushing D it sure doesn't cast your defensive coordinator in a good light.

* Both quality 3-4 DE's. See: http://profootballfocus.com/by_posit...=25&numgames=1

Anyone besides another Patriot asshat.

Actually I don't really put Crennel in that same "we're smarter than everybody else so fuck you" group of "Patriot Way" douches like Pioli, Mcdouche, etc. I like Crennel but I don't think he's very progressive in his thinking as a DC, and if anything the stats back that up.

If I was brininging in a new DC I'd have to look hard at up and comers on Capers, Phillips, Rex Ryan, Nolan, or even Ron Riveras staff.

funny, "Kiss of Death" is actually playing right now right when I was reading this. I'm on Split Lip Rayfield's website.

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Because they won the SB in '01, '03 & '04. His point stands. They were 31st in '02 and didn't win the SB in '02. They were 9-7 in '02.

Reading these posts, gotta feel that McClain makes the most sense as the 1st pick in the draft.

'02 was the nightmare known as "Steve Martin". The impact of the upgrade from him to Washington was immediately obvious. That's what the Chiefs are going to need to find if they really want to be competitive for titles.

I've mentioned this a few times, but I was actually impressed with what he was able to do with the personnel he had to work with, particularly since he didn't start his install until 2 weeks before the season. The line became almost below average over the course of the season, which I attribute largely to scheme and playcalling. Whether it was happy accident or not, he 'discovered' Charles' value as a weapon, and went with it, particularly notable because he's always been a pass-happy coordinator. He got production out of midseason waver-wire wide receivers and scrap heap tight ends. There were early flashes of scoring as the season progressed (Dallas, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh) and then the two highest scoring games of the year came in the last three weeks.

It was not "good" by any stretch of the imagination, and that's not what I'm saying, but I think it did show some possibility for the future if the front office side of the franchise equation is able to put competitive players on the field, instead of a patchwork team of journeymen and castoffs. The system they want to run has already shown that it can work here, potentially; the real issue is whether or not Pioli and friends give them enough pieces to compete.

TJax will destroy next year. It always takes DEs a year to adjust to the NFL, everybody knows this

Bump. In lieu of Whitlock's recent article I hope everyone pays attention to this.

And this: