Chiefs' offense: "one of the worst in the league, by nearly every measure"

[the Talking Can]

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2013/9...chiefs-offense

some numbers to chew on from arrowhead pride

The Chiefs are actually 12th in the league in PPG, at 23.7. But if you take away the 14 points the defense is directly responsible for, that number drops to 19 PPG, which would be tied for 23rd - with the Raiders. The Chiefs are relying on the defense to score points, which isn't good. Defensive scoring is random and shouldn't be part of the game plan. They didn't need Tamba Hali's pick-6 to beat the Jaguars, but they did need Eric Berry's against the Eagles.

They also are just not moving the ball; their 333 yds/gm is 21st in the league and their 4.9 yds/play ranks 25th. "Well Kyle," you may ask, " if the Chiefs offense is so bad, how are they undefeated this year?" That's an excellent question, thank you for asking. The answer is that the defense and special teams are much, much better than we thought.

The problem the Chiefs are having is getting to the Red Zone in the first place. They're 30th in yards per drive, with only Tampa Bay and Jacksonville behind them, and Cleveland directly in front of them (not good company to be in). This is a really, really bad offense. But here's the real kicker: the Chiefs' offense has the best starting field position in the NFL this year, and still can't score.

The Chiefs average 17 yards per drive better field position than their opponents (ok, ok, 16.95), the best mark in the NFL (2nd table). Only two other teams average more than 10 yards better starting field position than their opponents (New England and Chicago). The Chiefs' average starting line of scrimmage (LOS) is their own 36.97 yard line (best in the NFL), while their opponents average starting LOS is their own 20.02 yard line (also best in the NFL). What all of that means is the Chiefs's offense is handed consistently great starting field position and can't do anything with it, then they let the special teams pin opponents deep in their own territory. The defense bails out the offense by not letting opponents move the ball, giving the offense the ball back with great starting field position. Lather, rinse, repeat.

There's a nice breakdown of our defense against philly over there as well:
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/9/2...p-kelly-eagles

I have to reiterate and emphasize just how much the Chiefs played man to man -- like a ton of it. And they have the secondary to handle it, unlike most teams in the NFL. Specifically, they matched up Sean Smith on Cooper a lot on the outside. If this had been a prize fight, Cooper's corner would have thrown in the towel somewhere around the middle of the second quarter. Smith owned him right up until the end of the game when he started cramping up. Cooper just couldn't shake him, especially on those aforementioned deep routes Kelly had him running all game.

[Hammock Parties]

What Alex Smith is doing now is not good enough to win championships. It is not. No ****ing way.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

So what? I mean, that's the mantra, right? Russell Wilson is this "Elite" player already?

As I pointed out earlier, Flacco averaged 238 yards a game last year. Alex Smith is averaging 223 this year.

That's a difference of about 240 yards over the course of a season, much of which Alex will make up for on the ground.

So are you telling us that 240 yards is the difference between a GREAT QB and a pedestrian QB?

So what? The "so what?" is that no one expects Wilson to be a static player; he's ascending (or should be, based on experience).

This is not true of Alex ****ing Smith. This is what he is. At best, he's a decent game manager.

And that's why the acquisition was a ****ing joke the minute it happened.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

So what? The "so what?" is that no one expects Wilson to be a static player; he's ascending (or should be, based on experience).

This is not true of Alex ****ing Smith. This is what he is. At best, he's a decent game manager.

And that's why the acquisition was a ****ing joke the minute it happened.

Then why would anyone complain about his stats or his indifference to throwing the long ball when he is what he is?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

So what? The "so what?" is that no one expects Wilson to be a static player; he's ascending (or should be, based on experience).

This is not true of Alex ****ing Smith. This is what he is. At best, he's a decent game manager.

And that's why the acquisition was a ****ing joke the minute it happened.

The "so what" is that for as much shit as people give about a game management or efficient approach, it still does work very well in the modern NFL. And there are lots of teams that prove that, yet somehow get overshadowed by explosive teams which have had just as much mixed postseason success.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Pam Oliver's Forehead

What Alex Smith is doing now is not good enough to win championships. It is not. No ****ing way.

The whole offense scores two erections on the Hustler Scale.

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by Pam Oliver's Forehead

What Alex Smith is doing now is not good enough to win championships. It is not. No ****ing way.

The sob cant block worth a shit. He has added zero to the oline and needs to die. We need geno

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Then why would anyone complain about his stats or his indifference to throwing the long ball when he is what he is?

Because it's not good enough? I really don't understand what you're doing here. You know what the problem is.

Alex Smith is the very definition of "not that bad" but "not nearly good enough."

Why is this a ****ing debatable issue for Chiefs fans? Do we not know this model better than anyone?

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Why would one aspire to 09/10 or 10/03? I had no illusions of greatness at either point in time? Heartbreak was in the 90s when the personnel were actually good enough, but choke jobs, jobbing refs, or off days fooked us.

To be fair, I did spend time in fervent prayer in 2003 that the D would somehow pull it's head out of its ass. But it was a desperation plea, not a blindered act of faith. Deep down I know that G-Rob's dumb ass would waste our potent O.

That was kind of my point.... saying something to the effect of "some Chiefs fans can't ever be happy" is just horeshit, when the best we've had in the past decade was hoping for a small miracle in the playoffs. If a team does the same ****ing thing for 40 years, I'm not going to JIMP in September just because they aren't complete garbage and fans aren't flying banners and players aren't committing suicide in front of coaches.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

The sob cant block worth a shit. He has added zero to the oline and neds to die. We need geno

Tell us about the leather helmet days grampa

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Brock

Tell us about the leather helmet days grampa

[DeezNutz]

This whole ****ing debate is so stupid it's not even funny:

Wilson's floor is ****ing Alex ****ing Smith. Smith is a ****ing game manager who has reached his ceiling.

So let's keep comparing the two, or even mentioning them in the same sentence.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

And he only averaged 198 in the regular season.

Some teams are capable of stepping up in the playoffs and some aren't (see Falcons).

Yeah, mediocrity rules in the regular season. It seems to fool a lot of people, or maybe they just really like regular season wins. You have to put up points in the playoffs, which usually means your quarterback has to step up.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

This whole ****ing debate is so stupid it's not even funny:

Wilson's floor is ****ing Alex ****ing Smith. Smith is a ****ing game manager who has reached his ceiling.

So let's keep comparing the two, or even mentioning them in the same sentence.

What's stupid about it? There are people insisting that a game management approach is such a terrible thing. And yet, we see teams like the 2011 49ers, two years of the fighting Mark Sanchez's, and right now an absolutely elite team in Seattle make deep playoff runs off of this model. Regardless of Wilson's ceiling, he is probably going to be a favorite to make a deep playoff run NOW off a largely game management approach.

I'm not saying it's ideal. Again, I don't know if Smith can consistently make big 4th quarter plays the way Eli and Flacco have. But the knock on this approach is a little bit silly, because there are plenty of times who have had big postseason success with it.

[O.city]

It was brought up earlier in a thread, not sure which one, but that Smith has thrown passes that should have eben picked, which is true.

But I just saw a stat on Twitter that EJ Manual and Luck lead the league with 6 should be INTS apiece. Thats pretty crazy.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

You need to put up points when asked to. And in many instances, it's because you're playing an offensive powerhouse with a shitty defense.

Joe Flacco is 9-4 in the playoffs. He has thrown under 200 yards 7 times. Big Ben is 10-4 in the playoffs. He has thrown under 230 yards 8 times and only has ONE 300+ yard passing game in the playoffs. In Eli's first Super Bowl run, his highest yardage total was 255 yards.

A balanced football team with an efficient QB who makes big plays in big moments is still a terrific model for this modern NFL.

I think we're pretty much on the same page. You're talking about some pretty damn good defenses there, and like I've said, if you don't have elite QB play, you need an elite defense. When Baltimore wasn't top 5 in defense last season, Flacco had to put up 280+ yards 3 of 4 games.