Chiefs My Thoughts on the Game

**doomy3** · 01-09-2011, 06:47 PM

I just got home from the game, and just logged in. Haven't read any threads yet, so I apologize if this is all reposts.

1. We did not seem to have any direction at all this game. What exactly was our game plan? The Ravens completely controlled that game from start to finish. There was never a point in the game, even when we were up, that we looked like we should be on the field with them. We were completely outclassed.

2. There is no excuse for Jamaal Charles to get only 9 carries. Completely inexcusable. Down by only 3 points at the half, and did he even receive a carry in the entire second half? One of the best running backs in the league, and we don't even give him the ball when he is ripping off amazing YPC. Incredible.

3. Our receivers suck. There was no separation anywhere on the field. Bowe completely disappeared, and apart from a deep post where Cassel didn't look his way, he didn't look to be open all day. No one did.

4. The playcalling was horrendous. As already mentioned, our entire gameplan should have revolved around Charles, and we seemed content to drop back and try to pass every down. On top of that, the routes were way too deep repeatedly for the amount of time, and it seemed like every pass play had 3 receivers running to the same spot. The middle of the field was open, but we never had routes going there. Also, screens are still legal in the NFL, aren't they?

5. Cassel played like shit. He didn't do one thing today that was positive. I was sitting on the 50 yard line in the upper level, and I honestly didn't see a lot of plays where he had any receivers who were open, but 70 passing yards in ridiculous. Once we got behind, he started forcing things, and the result was interceptions. I feel like that was partly a result of no one being open though, and he was trying to make plays.

6. Flacco tore us apart. He had open receivers and he hit them. I have no idea why Heap and Rice were open every single passing play. We didn't even attempt to cover them.

7. We have absolutely no pass rush up the middle at all. More than another rush linebacker, I feel like we really need a nose tackle who can get some push up the middle. Even when there was pressure from the edge, Flacco would either just step up and hit a wide open Todd Heap, or he would just tuck and run for positive yardage. Hopefully the Chiefs' offensive line watched and learned how to keep a clean pocket today.

8. Safety and Cornerback play was pretty good today. Berry was all over the field today. He played a really solid game today, and I thought he was our best player on defense. I have no idea why we just let Heap run free, or why Hali was covering Housh on some plays. But the secondary played well I thought.

9. Shaun Smith was a positive player for us this year and today. Every play, Smith was one of the few players who seemed to play with consistent heart. He made plays, and disrupted plays. He plays with fire, and is a guy we can play with going forward.

10. This game gave us a good idea of who we really are. It was a great season and we outplayed everyone's expectations. That said, the Ravens were better at every position. We got dominated.

Haven't watched the game on DVR yet, so some thoughts may change. This is what I saw at the game though. Nice season, now hopefully we can keep moving forward.

**SAUTO** · 01-09-2011, 06:50 PM

I saw bowe come free on that play but cassel was under fire already.

It did seem as though or wrs were just beat all day long.

And so was cassel
Posted via Mobile Device

rageeumr · 01-09-2011, 06:50 PM

At first glance, I agree with most of your thoughts. It seemed like Berry was everywhere today. Shaun Smith was making tackles 10 yards down the field on the opposite side. Todd Heap is apparently uncoverable.

FAX · 01-09-2011, 07:02 PM

Interesting observations, Mr. doomy3. Here are my 10 retorts retorted in order.

1. No offense, but disagree. We belonged on the field with them for a quarter and a half. It wasn't until we decided to switch to the Weis' patented WTF Offense that the enemy began to dominate.

2. No offense, but Jamaal got his head knocked off. Plus, we only had about 7 offensive plays. It's hard to get him the ball when we don't have the ball.

3. No offense, but we had open receivers on a variety of occasions. Saw them myself on my TV. On replay and slow motion, too. Cassel didn't, though.

4. No offense, but I agree. The flat passes to McClusterf*** didn't quite do it for me.

5. No offense, but I agree with this too. Except for the "receivers not open" part, that is. What ever happened to moving the QB around a tad, too?

6. No offense, but yeah. We surrendered the intermediate pass in the zone all day. The little flat pass to the RB, too. I think we should have intercepted the first Flacco pass, personally. Things would have been better for us if we'd done that.

7. No offense but we definitely could use some D-linemen. Although, they did a good job early on of eating up the Ravens' offensive line and allowing the LBs and Berry to clean up.

8. No offense, but yep. Berry had a good game. Flowers too, overall. Funny that they decided to challenge Flowers today.

9. No offense and I noticed that Haley was listening intently to Smith on the sidelines today. Maybe, after his NFL career comes to a close, if he doesn't open up a mountain oyster bar he'll become a coach.

10. No offense, period. I think we have the foundation laid for improvement. Still many holes to fill, though. The good news is that we're very young at key positions with tons of room for improvement.

FAX

Deberg_1990 · 01-09-2011, 07:07 PM

Did they ever officially say whether or not Charles was dinged? He took a big hit late in the 2ndQ where he really looked shaken up. I know he played after that but his carries were very limited after that hit.

I thought Haley mentioned in his postgame that he did get dinged up, but im not 100% certain?

**Bugeater** · 01-09-2011, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Did they ever officially say whether or not Charles was dinged? He took a big hit late in the 2ndQ where he really looked shaken up. I know he played after that but his carried were very limited after that hit.

I thought Haley mentioned in his postgame that he did get digned up, but im not 100% certain?

Are you talking about the hit HE MADE on a guy instead of running OOB?

**doomy3** · 01-09-2011, 07:17 PM

Oh, I forgot one.

11. There was no home field advantage this game. I could not believe how quiet Arrowhead was for a playoff game, from the beginning. There were a ton of empty seats, and I was so disappointed overall in the atmosphere. There was also no attempt by those in charge of the pregame festivities to get the fans pumped up. Pregame for the MNF game got everyone going, and then we did nothing at all for a ****ing playoff game. I can't imagine that any of the 3 other stadiums that had games this weekend were quieter than Arrowhead, or had more open seats.

**doomy3** · 01-09-2011, 07:23 PM

And FAX, to address your points:

Even for the first quarter and a half, I don't know how we were in the game. Honestly. We did a good job on defense of holding tough in the red zone and Tamba made a great individual play on the turnover. Other than that, they were moving the ball at will. We had no answer for their passing game all day. Heap was just left free in the passing game all day. Rice too.

We had no offensive identity at all today, aside from a big Charles run, and a series where he was ripping off big yards before fumbling. Maybe if he doesn't fumble the game is different.

Yeah, Jamaal got beat up, but he was back in the game. We didn't run the ball at all in the second half. We were down by three ****ing points. Run the ball. That is our team's strength. We don't have the weapons to drop back and throw every down. Charles was in the game for much of the second half, but was pass blocking instead of making plays.

I disagree about our receivers getting open, but I could have missed it. It seemed like our receivers were bracketed all day, and they were getting pass rush with their front 4. I don't think they blitzed hardly at all, and they were still getting pressure on Cassel, even though we had max protect in. That means they were dropping 7 into coverage and we had TEs staying in blocking. Not good.

Fairplay · 01-09-2011, 07:26 PM

Moreaki was a decoy today. Lets not use him like a Todd Heap. That was an issue today.

boogblaster · 01-09-2011, 07:29 PM

No O .. No coverage on Heap .. that beat us .......

B_Ambuehl · 01-09-2011, 07:35 PM

The defensive game plan was solid. The reason the middle was so open is because the linebackers were dropping under the outside receivers and the safeties were dropping back. The Ravens offense revolves around 10-12 yard outs, comebacks, and go routes...it's 80% of their offense. Romeo took away what they like to do but it left the middle open. Give Baltimore credit for adjusting. I'll take my chances with Eric Berry covering Todd Heap but Heap won that matchup all day.

Flacco tends to hold onto the ball and it's pretty obvious what the Chiefs were trying to do...stop the run on 1st down, force them to nickel and dime their way down the field, and hope you can force a sack, Int, or sack fumble. The gameplan was solid but Baltimore did what they had to do. The D is another pass rusher away from being very, very good.

**doomy3** · 01-09-2011, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl

The defensive game plan was solid. The reason the middle was so open is because the linebackers were dropping under the outside receivers and the safeties were dropping back. The Ravens offense revolves around 10-12 yard outs, comebacks, and go routes...it's 80% of their offense. Romeo took away what they like to do but it left the middle open. Give Baltimore credit for adjusting. I'll take my chances with Eric Berry covering Todd Heap but Heap won that matchup all day.

Flacco tends to hold onto the ball and it's pretty obvious what the Chiefs were trying to do...stop the run on 1st down, force them to nickel and dime their way down the field, and hope you can force a sack, Int, or sack fumble. The gameplan was solid but Baltimore did what they had to do. The D is another pass rusher away from being very, very good.

Eric Berry wasn't covering Heap. No one was. He was literally left to run free. Same with Ray Rice. We were devoting so many resources to their outside receivers, and letting Heap run free. Hell, we were playing Arenas on Boldin man to man in the slot. Does that seem like a good matchup to you?

B_Ambuehl · 01-09-2011, 07:43 PM

Berry didn't cover Heap all day, but he was on about 4 or 5 of Heap's completions. You can't take everything away. Romeo took away what Baltiimore likes to do - I can't fault him for that. Flacco held onto the ball and the pass rush couldn't consistently do anything about it. If we had a legitiimate pass rusher opposite Hali the result could have been very very different. Go back and watch the game again and you'll see on the majority of those completions Flacco had 5 seconds to throw the football. As a defense there's not a whole lot you can do about that.

Fairplay · 01-09-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doomy3

Eric Berry wasn't covering Heap. No one was. He was literally left to run free. Same with Ray Rice. We were devoting so many resources to their outside receivers, and letting Heap run free. Hell, we were playing Arenas on Boldin man to man in the slot. Does that seem like a good matchup to you?

I was hoping we would change things in the third quarter. But Chiefs stuck with the same game plan.
Can't blame the Ravens for going with the obvious.

Change it up Haley!

Fairplay · 01-09-2011, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B_Ambuehl

Go back and watch the game again and you'll see on the majority of those completions Flacco had 5 seconds to throw the football. As a defense there's not a whole lot you can do about that.

I agree. I have seen a few comments where we got to Flacco a few times today. Whoopie.

Flacco had the freakin ball most of the day what do you expect.

01-09-2011, 06:47 PM
doomy3 Supporter Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $5353539	My Thoughts on the Game I just got home from the game, and just logged in. Haven't read any threads yet, so I apologize if this is all reposts. 1. We did not seem to have any direction at all this game. What exactly was our game plan? The Ravens completely controlled that game from start to finish. There was never a point in the game, even when we were up, that we looked like we should be on the field with them. We were completely outclassed. 2. There is no excuse for Jamaal Charles to get only 9 carries. Completely inexcusable. Down by only 3 points at the half, and did he even receive a carry in the entire second half? One of the best running backs in the league, and we don't even give him the ball when he is ripping off amazing YPC. Incredible. 3. Our receivers suck. There was no separation anywhere on the field. Bowe completely disappeared, and apart from a deep post where Cassel didn't look his way, he didn't look to be open all day. No one did. 4. The playcalling was horrendous. As already mentioned, our entire gameplan should have revolved around Charles, and we seemed content to drop back and try to pass every down. On top of that, the routes were way too deep repeatedly for the amount of time, and it seemed like every pass play had 3 receivers running to the same spot. The middle of the field was open, but we never had routes going there. Also, screens are still legal in the NFL, aren't they? 5. Cassel played like shit. He didn't do one thing today that was positive. I was sitting on the 50 yard line in the upper level, and I honestly didn't see a lot of plays where he had any receivers who were open, but 70 passing yards in ridiculous. Once we got behind, he started forcing things, and the result was interceptions. I feel like that was partly a result of no one being open though, and he was trying to make plays. 6. Flacco tore us apart. He had open receivers and he hit them. I have no idea why Heap and Rice were open every single passing play. We didn't even attempt to cover them. 7. We have absolutely no pass rush up the middle at all. More than another rush linebacker, I feel like we really need a nose tackle who can get some push up the middle. Even when there was pressure from the edge, Flacco would either just step up and hit a wide open Todd Heap, or he would just tuck and run for positive yardage. Hopefully the Chiefs' offensive line watched and learned how to keep a clean pocket today. 8. Safety and Cornerback play was pretty good today. Berry was all over the field today. He played a really solid game today, and I thought he was our best player on defense. I have no idea why we just let Heap run free, or why Hali was covering Housh on some plays. But the secondary played well I thought. 9. Shaun Smith was a positive player for us this year and today. Every play, Smith was one of the few players who seemed to play with consistent heart. He made plays, and disrupted plays. He plays with fire, and is a guy we can play with going forward. 10. This game gave us a good idea of who we really are. It was a great season and we outplayed everyone's expectations. That said, the Ravens were better at every position. We got dominated. Haven't watched the game on DVR yet, so some thoughts may change. This is what I saw at the game though. Nice season, now hopefully we can keep moving forward.
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01-09-2011, 06:50 PM	#2
SAUTO Shit Join Date: Jun 2008 Casino cash: $10039067	I saw bowe come free on that play but cassel was under fire already. It did seem as though or wrs were just beat all day long. And so was cassel Posted via Mobile Device
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01-09-2011, 06:50 PM	#3
rageeumr Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: St. Louis :( Casino cash: $9989900	At first glance, I agree with most of your thoughts. It seemed like Berry was everywhere today. Shaun Smith was making tackles 10 yards down the field on the opposite side. Todd Heap is apparently uncoverable.
Posts: 2,313

01-09-2011, 07:02 PM	#4
FAX testing ... 1, 2, 3 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Tennessee Casino cash: $6753759	Interesting observations, Mr. doomy3. Here are my 10 retorts retorted in order. 1. No offense, but disagree. We belonged on the field with them for a quarter and a half. It wasn't until we decided to switch to the Weis' patented WTF Offense that the enemy began to dominate. 2. No offense, but Jamaal got his head knocked off. Plus, we only had about 7 offensive plays. It's hard to get him the ball when we don't have the ball. 3. No offense, but we had open receivers on a variety of occasions. Saw them myself on my TV. On replay and slow motion, too. Cassel didn't, though. 4. No offense, but I agree. The flat passes to McClusterf*** didn't quite do it for me. 5. No offense, but I agree with this too. Except for the "receivers not open" part, that is. What ever happened to moving the QB around a tad, too? 6. No offense, but yeah. We surrendered the intermediate pass in the zone all day. The little flat pass to the RB, too. I think we should have intercepted the first Flacco pass, personally. Things would have been better for us if we'd done that. 7. No offense but we definitely could use some D-linemen. Although, they did a good job early on of eating up the Ravens' offensive line and allowing the LBs and Berry to clean up. 8. No offense, but yep. Berry had a good game. Flowers too, overall. Funny that they decided to challenge Flowers today. 9. No offense and I noticed that Haley was listening intently to Smith on the sidelines today. Maybe, after his NFL career comes to a close, if he doesn't open up a mountain oyster bar he'll become a coach. 10. No offense, period. I think we have the foundation laid for improvement. Still many holes to fill, though. The good news is that we're very young at key positions with tons of room for improvement. FAX
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01-09-2011, 07:07 PM	#5
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Did they ever officially say whether or not Charles was dinged? He took a big hit late in the 2ndQ where he really looked shaken up. I know he played after that but his carries were very limited after that hit. I thought Haley mentioned in his postgame that he did get dinged up, but im not 100% certain? Last edited by Deberg_1990; 01-09-2011 at 07:13 PM..
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01-09-2011, 07:17 PM	#7
doomy3 Supporter Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $5353539	Oh, I forgot one. 11. There was no home field advantage this game. I could not believe how quiet Arrowhead was for a playoff game, from the beginning. There were a ton of empty seats, and I was so disappointed overall in the atmosphere. There was also no attempt by those in charge of the pregame festivities to get the fans pumped up. Pregame for the MNF game got everyone going, and then we did nothing at all for a ****ing playoff game. I can't imagine that any of the 3 other stadiums that had games this weekend were quieter than Arrowhead, or had more open seats.
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01-09-2011, 07:23 PM	#8
doomy3 Supporter Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $5353539	And FAX, to address your points: Even for the first quarter and a half, I don't know how we were in the game. Honestly. We did a good job on defense of holding tough in the red zone and Tamba made a great individual play on the turnover. Other than that, they were moving the ball at will. We had no answer for their passing game all day. Heap was just left free in the passing game all day. Rice too. We had no offensive identity at all today, aside from a big Charles run, and a series where he was ripping off big yards before fumbling. Maybe if he doesn't fumble the game is different. Yeah, Jamaal got beat up, but he was back in the game. We didn't run the ball at all in the second half. We were down by three ****ing points. Run the ball. That is our team's strength. We don't have the weapons to drop back and throw every down. Charles was in the game for much of the second half, but was pass blocking instead of making plays. I disagree about our receivers getting open, but I could have missed it. It seemed like our receivers were bracketed all day, and they were getting pass rush with their front 4. I don't think they blitzed hardly at all, and they were still getting pressure on Cassel, even though we had max protect in. That means they were dropping 7 into coverage and we had TEs staying in blocking. Not good.
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01-09-2011, 07:26 PM	#9
Fairplay A certain set of skills Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: texas Casino cash: $10026683 VARSITY	Moreaki was a decoy today. Lets not use him like a Todd Heap. That was an issue today.
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01-09-2011, 07:29 PM	#10
boogblaster MVP Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Verdigris Valley Campsite Casino cash: $10004900	No O .. No coverage on Heap .. that beat us ....... __________________ WR or S please
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01-09-2011, 07:35 PM	#11
B_Ambuehl Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Casino cash: $9805405	The defensive game plan was solid. The reason the middle was so open is because the linebackers were dropping under the outside receivers and the safeties were dropping back. The Ravens offense revolves around 10-12 yard outs, comebacks, and go routes...it's 80% of their offense. Romeo took away what they like to do but it left the middle open. Give Baltimore credit for adjusting. I'll take my chances with Eric Berry covering Todd Heap but Heap won that matchup all day. Flacco tends to hold onto the ball and it's pretty obvious what the Chiefs were trying to do...stop the run on 1st down, force them to nickel and dime their way down the field, and hope you can force a sack, Int, or sack fumble. The gameplan was solid but Baltimore did what they had to do. The D is another pass rusher away from being very, very good. __________________ Who's decision was it to fire Romeo" - Coleman C Hunt: "It was my decision but it was one that Scott agreed with" LOL
Posts: 2,605

01-09-2011, 07:43 PM	#13
B_Ambuehl Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Casino cash: $9805405	Berry didn't cover Heap all day, but he was on about 4 or 5 of Heap's completions. You can't take everything away. Romeo took away what Baltiimore likes to do - I can't fault him for that. Flacco held onto the ball and the pass rush couldn't consistently do anything about it. If we had a legitiimate pass rusher opposite Hali the result could have been very very different. Go back and watch the game again and you'll see on the majority of those completions Flacco had 5 seconds to throw the football. As a defense there's not a whole lot you can do about that. __________________ Who's decision was it to fire Romeo" - Coleman C Hunt: "It was my decision but it was one that Scott agreed with" LOL
Posts: 2,605