Chiefs Gretz: Filling the Gaps

**Tribal Warfare** · 09-19-2008, 07:18 PM

Filling The Gaps
Sep 19, 2008, 8:51:23 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

To best understand what happened to the Chiefs run defense against the Oakland Raiders stop for a minute, hold up your left hand and take a look at it.

Now hold up your right hand and bring it together with the left, with fingers intertwined and your right thumb falling in the gap between the left thumb and left index finger.

That’s defense. Your left hand and its fingers are the five offensive linemen. Your right hand is the defense filling the gaps between those offensive linemen.

It’s called gap control and it’s vital to the success and failure of the Chiefs defense. The defensive linemen each fill one of those gaps, while the linebackers come up and plug gaps that come open. The safeties have gaps as well and they come up and pick up the slack when circumstances cause a hole in the line and linebackers.

In the basic football sense, it’s a very easy defense to play, if the players stay disciplined and fill their gaps. If they do not, well … put your hands together again and this time put your right thumb in the gap between your index and middle finger, or put your right pinky between your left ring and middle fingers.

Gaps open up. Good running backs and offenses find those holes. The Raiders certainly did last week, running for 300 yards.

Defensive players see the ball and want to go after it full speed. That’s the defensive mentality. They like to take the quickest route to where they see the ball. The problem in the NFL is this: see the ball here one nano-second and boom, the next nano-second it’s over here and suddenly, somebody has rolled in and is pushing the defensive player away from where the ball is going.

The Chiefs started a third-year defensive end (Tamba Hali), a pair of second-year players (Turk McBride and Tank Tyler) and a rookie defensive tackle (Glenn Dorsey). They’ve been schooled and taught to handle their gaps. But when the pressure is on, and the defense is trying so hard to make a stop and turn the game around, gap responsibility sometimes gets forgotten in dreams of making a big play. In the NFL, that’s a ticket to disaster.

“We’ve got some young guys playing up there and they have to be more disciplined,” Herm Edwards said this week. “They just need to play the defense and they’ll be fine.”

The D-Line was not alone. The linebackers didn’t always help matters with their gap fulfillment. Many times they had to deal with Oakland’s center and guards who came roaring off the line to block them. That’s something the defensive line needs to stop as well. On the six longest runs that the Chiefs allowed, their LBs were blocked and the Raiders kept running, and running, and running.

In 10 seasons as defensive coordinator or head coach no Gunther Cunningham defense has come close to giving up 300 rushing yards. In fact, in 166 games, a Cunningham defense gave up 200 rushing yards or more just nine times. This was not something anyone ever expected. And, it had not happened in 31 years. The last time a Chiefs defense allowed that many rushing yards was in 1977, when Cleveland ran for 322 yards.

The discipline must return, especially this Sunday against an Atlanta team that wants desperately to run the football and take the pressure off their rookie starting quarterback Matt Ryan. The only reason the Chiefs are 31st against the run in the NFL is that on opening Sunday, the Falcons ran for 318 yards against Detroit, now the 32nd defense vs. the running game.

The gaps must be filled.

09-19-2008, 07:18 PM	Topic Starter
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2777187	Gretz: Filling the Gaps Filling The Gaps Sep 19, 2008, 8:51:23 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ To best understand what happened to the Chiefs run defense against the Oakland Raiders stop for a minute, hold up your left hand and take a look at it. Now hold up your right hand and bring it together with the left, with fingers intertwined and your right thumb falling in the gap between the left thumb and left index finger. That’s defense. Your left hand and its fingers are the five offensive linemen. Your right hand is the defense filling the gaps between those offensive linemen. It’s called gap control and it’s vital to the success and failure of the Chiefs defense. The defensive linemen each fill one of those gaps, while the linebackers come up and plug gaps that come open. The safeties have gaps as well and they come up and pick up the slack when circumstances cause a hole in the line and linebackers. In the basic football sense, it’s a very easy defense to play, if the players stay disciplined and fill their gaps. If they do not, well … put your hands together again and this time put your right thumb in the gap between your index and middle finger, or put your right pinky between your left ring and middle fingers. Gaps open up. Good running backs and offenses find those holes. The Raiders certainly did last week, running for 300 yards. Defensive players see the ball and want to go after it full speed. That’s the defensive mentality. They like to take the quickest route to where they see the ball. The problem in the NFL is this: see the ball here one nano-second and boom, the next nano-second it’s over here and suddenly, somebody has rolled in and is pushing the defensive player away from where the ball is going. The Chiefs started a third-year defensive end (Tamba Hali), a pair of second-year players (Turk McBride and Tank Tyler) and a rookie defensive tackle (Glenn Dorsey). They’ve been schooled and taught to handle their gaps. But when the pressure is on, and the defense is trying so hard to make a stop and turn the game around, gap responsibility sometimes gets forgotten in dreams of making a big play. In the NFL, that’s a ticket to disaster. “We’ve got some young guys playing up there and they have to be more disciplined,” Herm Edwards said this week. “They just need to play the defense and they’ll be fine.” The D-Line was not alone. The linebackers didn’t always help matters with their gap fulfillment. Many times they had to deal with Oakland’s center and guards who came roaring off the line to block them. That’s something the defensive line needs to stop as well. On the six longest runs that the Chiefs allowed, their LBs were blocked and the Raiders kept running, and running, and running. In 10 seasons as defensive coordinator or head coach no Gunther Cunningham defense has come close to giving up 300 rushing yards. In fact, in 166 games, a Cunningham defense gave up 200 rushing yards or more just nine times. This was not something anyone ever expected. And, it had not happened in 31 years. The last time a Chiefs defense allowed that many rushing yards was in 1977, when Cleveland ran for 322 yards. The discipline must return, especially this Sunday against an Atlanta team that wants desperately to run the football and take the pressure off their rookie starting quarterback Matt Ryan. The only reason the Chiefs are 31st against the run in the NFL is that on opening Sunday, the Falcons ran for 318 yards against Detroit, now the 32nd defense vs. the running game. The gaps must be filled.
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