PFF: ReFo: Chiefs @ Saints, Week 3
 

ReFo: Chiefs @ Saints, Week 3
John Maney | 2012/09/24

After taking a 24-6 lead with just over five minutes left in the 3rd quarter of Sunday’s game, it looked like the New Orleans Saints would cruise to victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Chiefs had other ideas, turning the game around on a 91 yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles and eventually winning in overtime. Kansas City’s defense took its play to another level as well, completely shutting down the New Orleans offense. The results of the Saints’ final five drives following Charles’ run totaled an interception with four 3-and-outs.

This stunning late-game turnaround leaves New Orleans as one of just two 0-3 teams in the league (Cleveland being the other) and looking for answers. They better find them fast, because 0-3 can quickly become 0-4 with a trip to Green Bay next on the schedule. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are back in the thick of things in a wide open AFC West, as they now turn to their division opener against San Diego.

What happened in New Orleans? Let’s take a few key performances from each team.

Kansas City – Three Performances of Note

Jamaal Charles Carries the Offense

What a day for Charles as he had a career-high 33 rushes for 233 yards including a game changing 91 yard run for Kansas City’s only touchdown of the day, along with 6 receptions for 55 yards. He didn’t have to make many guys miss, only forcing a single missed tackle on the afternoon, but Charles hit the holes hard when he found room to run. Credit the blocking line for opening many of those running lanes for Charles. Jon Asamoah (+5.5) and Ryan Lilja (+4.0), filling in at center for much of the game, dominated the Saints’ front seven. The downfield blocking wasn’t too bad either: late in the 3rd quarter, wide receiver Terrance Copper put a big time block on Roman Harper that sealed him inside, allowing Charles to turn the corner for a 40 yard gain.

For as well as he played, it seems that Charles may not be fully healthy. He was dangerously close to being caught from behind on the TD run and failed to finish his other long run, opting to cut back instead of trying to outrun Malcolm Jenkins – two things I don’t think we see from a completely healthy Charles.

Houston is Huge

While Charles was the man on offense, Justin Houston (+5.1) stole the show on the Kansas City defense, producing one of the most complete performances you will see from an outside linebacker in a base 3-4 defense. Lining up on the left side of the defense on 52 of his 61 snaps, Houston abused Saints’ right tackle Zach Strief, finishing the game with three sacks, three hurries, and a QB hit. When he wasn’t in the face of Drew Brees, Houston was also a force in the run game, adding a further stop to his sacks, and in coverage. Dropping back 11 times, Houston didn’t allow a reception either time he was targeted, breaking up one of the passes. The Chiefs defender produced many of these big plays at critical points in the game. Late in the 4th quarter, Houston ended two straight Saints drives with sacks, the second of which went for a safety which then setup the Chiefs’ game tying drive.

The Curious Case of Matt Cassel

Though he made some key throws late in the game, Matt Cassel (-2.0) put on what was otherwise a very poor display for the second week in a row. With a clean pocket for most of the afternoon, he was pressured on just 9 of his 47 pass attempts, you’d think Cassel would have shredded a New Orleans defense that has been one of the league’s worst. Instead the Kansas City QB missed on far too many passes that a player of Cassel’s experience should make. His 3rd quarter interception, which led to a Saints touchdown, came on a badly forced throw that had no chance before it even left his hand. Many of his misses were on throws downfield, as he was just 4-of-16 on passes beyond 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, including 0-6 on balls thrown 20+ yards. A performance like that isn’t going to help Cassel shed the “Captain Checkdown” moniker that some have given him, and may have fans calling for Brady Quinn before long.

New Orleans – Three Performances of Note

Trouble Up Front

Coming into the game, we told you that a key for the Saints would be how left tackle Jermon Bushrod handled Tamba Hali. While Bushrod allowed five pressures, perhaps we should’ve focused on the matchup on the other side of the line, where Zach Strief (-2.7) was on the opposite end of Justin Houston’s monster game. Strief was responsible for five pressures, including two sacks. None of these pressures was worse than the sack allowed for a safety late in the game. On the play, Strief didn’t even slow Houston as he went around the edge far too easily, giving Brees little chance to get rid of the ball.

Inconsistent Offense

Three games, three largely uninspired performances from Drew Brees. Although he played better this week, Brees (+3.8) still wasn’t quite as sharp as he needed to be. Early in the game, he underthrew a wide open Devery Henderson. Henderson still caught the ball for a 36 yard gain, but it was underthrown just enough that Brandon Flowers could recover and make the tackle. Another miss came on a throw to Pierre Thomas in the red zone when Brees, under pressure on the play, just tossed the ball short, though Thomas almost made a spectacular catch. Like the other two examples, his lone interception was also slightly underthrown, allowing the defender to make a play on the ball. On this particular play, Henderson was well covered by Stanford Routt, but a perfect pass to the outside shoulder could have gone for a TD – a pass we’ve seen this QB make many times. Even though these misses were slight, they were misses that Brees can’t afford to make given the team’s other problems.

Speaking of other problems, the receivers dropped four passes, with Jimmy Graham (-1.5) adding two for the second straight week, while the offensive line allowed pressure on 15 of Brees’ 40 drop backs. The run game never got going either; outside of a 47 yard run by Darren Sproles, the Saints were held to2 yards per carry on 18 attempts.

Worn Down Defense

A lot of the blame for the loss can be put on the offense, which repeatedly put the defense on the field with little rest and in poor field position towards the end of the game. However, there were plenty of errors on a defense that allowed over 270 yards on the ground. While LB Curtis Lofton (-3.1) contributed seven stops included in his 11 overall tackles, he took himself completely out of plays he could have made with terrible angles, looking nothing like the player we saw in Atlanta and in the first two weeks. By no means were the issues unique to Lofton, as Saints defenders repeatedly overran plays and took poor angles, creating big holes for Jamaal Charles.

One of the bright spots was the play of rookie DT Akiem Hicks, who put in his second strong performance in a row, logging 42 snaps. The 3rd round pick out of Canada, predicted to be a project, has contributed more quickly than expected and looks to be developing into one of the better players on the New Orleans defensive line.

Game Notes

- After not receiving a carry in the first two games, Darren Sproles led the Saints with 62 yards on 7 rushes.

- Subbed in after the Rodney Hudson injury for the Chiefs, LG Jeff Allen gave up two QB hurries, four stops in the run game and received a grade of -3.6.

- Talk about ball control; the Chiefs offense ran 98 plays, while the Saints ran just 61.

Game Ball

It’s a toss-up between Houston and Charles, but we’re giving it to the guy was responsible for over 288 yards of offense and the team’s lone touchdown. Not bad for a guy many thought would be a “change of pace back” as he worked his way back from last year’s knee injury.

Holy ****ing shit.

The jig is up.

98 plays....dayum

Maney post on here? If there's ever a Duke of Dink reference, we'll have hard evidence.

:clap: I remember Vermeil/Saunders saying 70 was their goal. 98 is freaking outrageous. Course there was an OT.

ryan lilja sucks huh

jeff allen is a god huh

/CP told me

We would have had 40 points with a real QB.

Justin Houston is The Waterboy

We only had 1 TD in 98 plays. That is ****ing pathetic! :cuss:

Jesus... I'm so sick of this ****ing shit...

awful......just awful

No doubt...that's insane.

and this against the worst defense in the league. But Dane says this team can run the rock, so, well... we shall see.

0-6 beyond 20 yards against a team that ****ing sucks epic ass on defense.

pretty much sums up Cassel's career

Scott Pioli, folks

ROFL

PFF doesn't mention death by Cassel Pass. I suppose they don't have a metric for Decapitation Via Errant Wobble, though.

FAX

How does Brees get a +3.8 when he was shut down and poor the 2nd half?

Put the ball in the endzone 3 times, pretty good 1st half.

3 TD's?

we still need a QB .... has anyone noticed .....

I can't believe PFF didn't assign blame to Cassel for any of the sacks.

Who the **** scored that game.

Cassel is now 22nd on the PFF QB list.

24th in passing.

21st in deep passing

30th in completion percentage under pressure

29th in sack percentage

Has been pressured less than all but 5 QBs

The time of reckoning is nigh.

Stanford Routt was abused in coverage according to the rating log.

Gave up 6 catches, 72 yards.

Dorsey and TJack kicked ass against the run though. Their best games.

Justin Houston's 5.1 was his 4th game above 3.0 in his last 9 games. All Pro material.

Holy ****, #2 OLB?

Justin Houston.

In the NFL? Dayum!

Remember how we used Houston in coverage tons last year?

Thanks to that experience he now ranks #2 in pass coverage for an OLB.

According to PFF Lilja is the best run blocking guard in the NFL.

Let's hope Romeo keeps the ****ing heat on and doesn't go back to that passive shit.

The Saints game is proof that this defense is made to attack and dictate tempo...not play on their heels.

FYP ;)

What is Routts overall ranking out of all corners?

Let's be real here...

Giving up 72 yards against Drew Brees and getting a pick in the process is a good game for ANY corner.

****ing outstanding considering he faced two EXTREMELY GOOD right tackles in Clabo and Streiff to achieve that ranking.

Coming up on ESPN after the game....

Drew Brees complains about the replacement officials.

Another byproduct of Houstons emergence?

Opposing teams will need to keep their tight ends in line to help block him and that will help our pass coverage because it's one less guy to cover. That should allow us to blitz corners and safeties a little more too. More ice cream for Berry and Arenas and more field time for guys like Belcher.

He played his best game yesterday. As a Chief, anyway. I like the guy.

Routt #25

Carr #27

Pioli genius

Not sure how impressive that is supposed to be considering the Carr is playing the #1 CB role and Routt is playing the #2 CB role.

They are both playing rcb

OK. I stand corrected then.

Let it play out a few more weeks.

Routt sucks.

Dude.

He is covering elite and borderline elite receivers every week and is grading out better than Carr that isn't facing as good of receivers.

Whats the point of discrediting his play?

So does Allen Bailey, right?

Clay, I think you're a good poster most of the time. Gif'd up and your ability to have a glass half-empty view provides much needed balance to this forum. Sometimes though, your constant negativity to the point that it makes you say imbecilic comments drives me nuts.

Stanford Routt has not been an issue in the regular season since coming to KC.
I'm no Pioli fan because of Cassel (like yourself) , but if he has been able to find a corner of similar talent for a much cheaper price, then don't act like the man pissed your cheerios over this (although, feel free to act like he did for Cassel, TJack, etc)

Routt has been a positive addition.

its not just Clay on here. It's majority of CP.

for the last 3 weeks I have read how badly Ryan Lilja sucks for this team and they need to throw the better talent Jeff Allen out there and blah blah blah.

and Ryan Lilja statistically is far and away our best olineman.

That's how much this places knows, so let Clay spout whatever he wants because everyone else puts their foot in their mouth when they try to spew some Chiefs knowledge as well, no different.

I didn't see anything different in the game that led me to believe that the defense was called any differently than the first two weeks. I did though, see players execute the defense properly and it paid off.

Allen Bailey didn't do shit on Sunday.

So what the ****, mang.

If we had re-signed Carr and he only gave up 72 yards AND HAD A PICK AGAINST DREW BREES, we would be celebrating his performance.

He ****ing sucked dick against the Saints.

Giving up six completions for 72 yards and a TD is not good corner play.

Stop sugar coating shit.

TBF, Lilja played much better at center than he has at guard.

However, your point stands true. All Clay did last week was bitch about how Bailey was a bust, and the first game back he proves to be a solid contributor and a leading reason why our nickel package (which we ran the whole game) was successful. He opened up one-on-ones for Houston, was adequate against the run, and was able to provide a much better pass rush from the 3 tech than either Poe or Pitouia had been able to provide.

What a stupid post.

no, Lilja was like one of the few guys to grade out positive in the blowouts too. He's a good veteran that this place writes off because everyone wants and expects Will Shields and Brian Waters at our guard positions.

Jon Asamoah is much worse than Lilja and he gets a pass on here because he's a young talent. Because people on here slob over every Pioli 3rd, 4th and 5th round pick like it's some 1st round talent that Pioli magically evaluated and made a genius pick on. Pioli's drafts are garbage besides 2 players. And that so far has been true and for the foreseeable future will stay true.

Asamoah had a bad game against White Williams and was dominant against NO.

You're a fool. Judge his play with your eyes, not the PFF ranking.

and if your argument is Lilja is a better center than guard than that goes back to this piece of garbage coaching staff and awful idiot GM who should just play Lilja at Center and move the ****ing Two Time All American guard in Hudson, at ****ing guard.

But since this team has a hard on for playing guys out of position, ya know.

6 completions, 72 yards, a TD, and a pick. That helped change the entire momentum of the game. That, btw is something PFF can't account for.

You conveniently leave that out. Additionally, you can't expect Routt to allow 0 catches. He isn't Darrelle ****ing Revis. However, he is a productive player and has been a positive addition.

are you kidding me. what kind of garbage take is this

so JUSTIN HOUSTONS PFF RANKING IS OKAY AND IS SEEN AS THE END ALL BE ALL of OLBers

but Ryan Lilja's PFF Ranking is not, and we should judge him by our eyes

OKAY. This ****ing place sometimes.

I will say that Lilja has improved from last year, IMO. Particularly during the second half of the season last year.

I think he played better at Center than Guard, and I would be willing to bet most agree with that statement.

.

You won't get an argument out of me there. Rodney beasted at guard in limited action last year.

I understand his projection at center, but I, like yourself, think he could be a wonderful guard.

I would sure as hell hope a guard switching to center would play well. Just b/c Lilja played better at center than he does at guard doesn't mean he's better than Hudson.

Facts are facts.

Routt is ranked 42nd out of 55 corners in receiving yards allowed.

And he also had a game changing play. Why is it so hard for you to acknowledge that?

Mcaj22 had a valid point about Lilja.

It may be his only valid point IMO but it is valid.

Lilja has played very well this year, thus far.

Hudson is the two time all american at the guard position that should be playing guard.

you need to learn to read.

the argument here is if it was

LT- Albert
LG - Hudson
C - Lilja
RG - Asamoah
RT - Winston

it would be much much better.

i will take this as a compliment

LOOK AT WHO HE HAS FACED.

JFC

He is ranked pretty well, even though he has given up yards.

What does that tell you?

If what they say backs up what you see, great. If not, then should you just bow to their opinion? Lilja has shown himself incapable of playing the position at a high level consistently.

Credit where it's due.

Brees threw the ball right to Routt like he was the intended receiver. It wasn't that impressive.

The kind of pick Eric Warfield would make.

That's who Routt is.

Excuses for another failed Pioli player? Not surprised.

so then by your logic

Derrick Johnson and Standford Routt and Jamaal Charles and everyone else on this team sucks too. Because they are also all inconsistent.

They see me trollin...

I think he played well this game... I saw ugly things from him in the first two games. A lot of missed assignments, and missed blocks in the run game.

Looked pretty solid watching the game. I do respect PFF though. 25th eh, seems CR is spinning out of his mind with this 72 yards shit. Dumb.

It has been pointed out during the broadcasts that Routt has been leaving a 10 yard cushion at the the line. Don't know if that is our scheme or if routt is afraid he'll get beat deep.

First, Warfield has/had no idea how to ever turn his head around.
Ever. Like, he still doesn't.

Again, why can't you just acknowledge that he made a play and it had a positive outcome? Listen Clay, I was pissed that we won this game because like you, I want a real QB. However, I'm not going to sit here and shit on Stanford Routt because he provided the Chiefs with their only ****ing turnover of the season so far.

Routt had PERFECT coverage on the play. That's the point. Brees made a bad decision, and Routt made him pay for it.

If Carr played the game Routt did, clay would be slurping it up.

You can't even get your facts straight. You're thinking of William Bartee.

Routt is shitty. He made a nice play though. Made up for some of his shitty corner play.

Routt has top end speed. It is probably just scheme and play specific.

For example, on early downs, we primarily play zone. On 3rd, we almost exclusively play press-man. Again, I'd have to watch it and make notes, but that is probably why.

good thing we run a zone blocking scheme and there is no such thing as assignments then.

ROFLROFL

Come on man. Routt is much better than Warfield. He actually makes contact with offensive players.