How the Chiefs slowed the Eagles offense

[Ace Gunner]

Raanan Review: How the Chiefs slowed the
Eagles offense, why the tactic isn't foolproof


Chip Kelly's genius status took a hit Thursday night in front of a national audience. His offense didn't perform well, turning the ball over five times and finishing with 16 points.

Kansas City deserves credit. They have a strong defense that played well in Philadelphia and wanted desperately to get Andy Reid a win against his former team. They also came in with an excellent game plan to slow down Kelly's offense.

One of their primary tactics involved their standout outside linebackers, Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. Rather than have them rush straight upfield, the Chiefs had them start wider and delay their rush.

"In the first half, [Houston] wouldn't really rush. He would kind of come up on me and then just take off," rookie offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. "It was delayed a little bit and that is what made it so tough. Sometimes I would set back and he wouldn't come at all, then he'd do a quick twitch and come inside or outside. It made it tough."

Look here at this play with 6:37 left in the second quarter. Michael Vick has the ball seven yards behind the line of scrimmage and is looking to his right. Houston barely moved from his starting spot. He's delayed his pass rush and, in the process, created a much more difficult throwing lane for Vick, who wanted to hit DeSean Jackson with a short, quick pass on the play.




Remember, Vick isn't the tallest quarterback. He's 6-foot if stretched to the max. Houston is listed at 6-foot-3 and well over 7-feet with his hands in the air.

But as he often does, Vick compensates for his height deficiency with his mobility. Even though he can't get the pass to Jackson on this second-quarter play, he escapes the pocket on the opposite side where there is still an opportunity for a huge play. Running back Bryce Brown is wide open streaking down the sideline.




But Vick didn't see Brown on the sideline and tried to force the ball to a well-covered Riley Cooper deep downfield. Incomplete.

It was that kind of evening for the Eagles. They moved the ball, had opportunities for big plays, but just didn't make them. And upon further review, a lot of it had to do with Vick having an off night. He easily played his worst game of the season Thursday night against the Chiefs.

Here's another huge miss on a similar play.




This time Vick escaped pressure and had Jackson matched against former Eagle Akeem Jordan. No contest. It would have been an easy pitch and catch for a big gain, possibly even a touchdown given Jackson's incredible speed. Again, Vick tried to force the ball to Cooper downfield. Incomplete.

The Chiefs had Vick off his game. They did so by disrupting his reads early in plays. Here's another one where Houston didn't do much right at the snap.




Again, Vick was looking for Jackson with a quick pass on the right side. That didn't happen. Houston was in the throwing lane. So Vick pumped to try and create an opening. He then tried to squeeze the pass in, only to have Houston knock it down.

The Chiefs used this delayed rush technique all game long. It helped slow Kelly's offense when the Eagles weren't self-destructing (5 turnovers).

Now it's the new Eagles coach's move. He must come up with an adjustment to combat the game plan that the Chiefs used and future opponents will almost certainly try to replicate.

Other Notable Observations:
• The Eagles brought a blitz (defined here as anything more than a 4-man rush) on just seven of 44 pass plays. Two of those seven plays went for first downs, including a Donnie Avery 3rd-and-long conversion in the second quarter. Two of the blitzes resulted in Chiefs penalties.

The Eagles used cornerback Brandon Boykin and safety Patrick Chung as pass rushers with regularity throughout the game. Cornerback Bradley Fletcher came on one play. Middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans was involved in three of the seven blitzes.

As a whole though, defensive coordinator Billy Davis wasn't very aggressive with his play calling. The Eagles rushed three men more than a handful of times on Thursday night.

• Defensive end Cedric Thornton had a strong game. He was dominant against the run, improving his run-stop percentage to 11.3, good for seventh in the NFL after three games, according to Pro Football Focus.

• There were some costly breakdowns and the final numbers (5 sacks) looked ugly, but the Eagles offensive line wasn't quite as bad as I thought in my initial observation. They actually did a decent job keeping Vick upright most of the time and had very few missed assignments. Two of the sacks weren't the offensive line's fault and Vick took just 12 total hits in the contest. That includes plays where he ran the ball. That's much better than the 19 he absorbed in Week 1.

• Vinny Curry's production was astounding. The second-year defensive lineman played 12 snaps and had three pressures and a sack. What impressed me watching the coaches tape was how quickly Curry got off the ball. It allowed him to beat his blocker several times without even making a move.

• After reviewing Damaris Johnson's muffed punt several times I came to the conclusion that it was likely a mental, not physical, mistake. Johnson waited too long to call for a fair catch. That left him scrambling at the last second to position himself properly and waive his hand. It wasn't Johnson's only mental blunder either. Moments later he failed to catch a kickoff that landed seven yards deep in the end zone. It all makes you wonder: Does Johnson have what it takes upstairs to be a successful returner in this league?

These aren't his first mental mistakes. Johnson made a foolish decision to return a kickoff in the opener and several times last season fielded punts inside the 5-yard line. The Eagles may want to reconsider Johnson as their kick and punt returner.


http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2...ull_proof.html