Hammock Parties
06-27-2007, 10:29 PM
“The other team is trying to win the game,” Herm Edwards said last year. “You cannot help them. That’s not smart football.”
The subject was penalties. In 2005, the Chiefs were not a smart football team as they finished the season with a 10-6 record and were out of the playoffs.
Last year, they were 9-7 and made the playoffs. They were also a smarter football team. From Day One, Edwards made reducing penalties one of his team’s major goals. A pair of officials worked every single practice the Chiefs held in the 2006 season and they kept track of penalties during the week. Those practice penalties were addressed each morning during the team meeting by Edwards and repeat offenders learned that type of play wasn’t going to fly with the new head coach.
All the attention paid off as they ended up with 76 flags walked off against them, compared to 115 during the 2005 season. They ended up ranked fifth in the NFL in fewest penalties and were third in fewest penalty yards with 577 yards. In the 2005 season, they were tied for 17th in penalties.
Here were the NFL’s best and worst teams in penalties last season:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6193/793c6f21eda1484ba12a1b5kv5.gif (http://imageshack.us)
“We ended up fifth,” said Edwards. “We had a chance to be in the top three but things got away from us in the last couple games. We played a lot of players, played a lot of young guys, so that’s pretty good when you do that. They are starting to realize that we have to stay away from that. Fifth in the league, that’s not bad. You’d like to be in the top three.”
Understand the point we made last year in reporting on penalties: the lack of flags does not guarantee victory or a championship. Indianapolis won the Super Bowl and they finished the year as one of the least penalized teams in the league. Chicago played them in the championship game and they were among the most penalized teams in the league. Only four of the 13 teams with the fewest penalties made the playoffs.
But for any team struggling to rise above the league’s mediocrity and parity, any advantage is a good one. There’s no doubt the Chiefs increased discipline as far as the rules were concerned made a difference for them on the field.
In the 2004-05 seasons the Chiefs had 13 of 32 games were they had eight penalties or more walked off against them. Last season, they had none. The most penalties they had in any game was seven, against Miami. In the 2004-05 seasons the Chiefs had three of 32 games were they had four or fewer penalties. Last season, they had seven games with four or fewer penalties.
Here’s how the numbers break down by unit:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1700/1a894b760da646bc8e1d92dnd0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The huge drop in offensive penalties can be seen especially along the Chiefs offensive line, where despite injury problems and the retirement of Willie Roaf at left tackle, there was a drop in false start and holding calls:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3678/a5de1749430744b8b1463e1gd0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Only five of those eight holding calls were against the offensive line, led by Jordan Black with three. Brian Waters and Kevin Sampson had one each. The other three belonged to tight ends Tony Gonzalez (2) and Jason Dunn (1.) One of the reasons for the fewer flags was the Chiefs threw the ball less often in ‘06 than they did in the previous season.
“If you don’t throw it as much, you don’t get as many holding calls,” said Edwards. “You don’t have guys in so many bad situations.”
The drop in false starts reflected a drop in pre-snap penalties in ‘06. Those types of flags had skyrocketed in the ‘05 season. Those were flags for things like false starts, illegal formations, illegal motion, illegal shifts and delay of game.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7550/91278452abfb425fb4d78c6yt2.gif (http://imageshack.us)
That’s evidence of increased focus and concentration. The false start calls are still too high compared to earlier in the decade when the team averaged 10 a year for three seasons (2001-03.)
“Self inflicted penalties, there are five of them and you can’t recover from them most of the time,” said Edwards. “Those are five things that you do to yourself. We emphasized it.”
CB Pat Surtain led the team with six penalties. Black, Tamba Hali and Bernard Pollard tied with five penalties each. Gonzalez, Dunn, Kyle Turley, Damon Huard and Ty Law had four each.
The Chiefs had just 10 coverage penalties: pass interference, defensive holding or illegal contact. With 506 passes thrown against them, that’s a very good number. They benefited from an overall drop around the league in those types of coverage calls.
Not so surprisingly, rookies contributed 12 penalties for 110 yards, led by Hali and Pollard.
Of the 76 flags walked off, only three fell in the unsportsmanlike conduct/personal foul category; again showing the Chiefs played with their emotions under control. There were a number of players who had significant playing time without a penalty: RG Will Shields, WR Eddie Kennison, LB Kendrell Bell, S Greg Wesley, S Sammy Knight and S Jarrad Page.
There were four games where the Chiefs played the first half without a penalty. In fact, in Cleveland they were not flagged until the fourth quarter. A lot of good that did them in losing that game in overtime.
Despite the drop in calls, there were several times when penalties were especially painful:
* In Pittsburgh, the Chiefs scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from Huard to Gonzalez, but it was wiped out by a holding call on Black. They ended up turning the ball over on downs after having first-and-goal at the Steelers 11-yard line.
* Against the Chargers at Arrowhead, Jared Allen had a sack, fumble and KC recovery wiped out because he was offside.
* In Miami, where the Chiefs struggled all day, a chop block call against Turley wiped out a 16-yard pass from Huard to Gonzalez that would have given the Chiefs a 1st-and-10 at the Miami 40. Instead, they were 1st-and-24 at their own 30-yard line.
The Chiefs record in those three games: 1-2.
Coming on Friday: A look at the NFL officiating crews and how often they threw the flag.
The subject was penalties. In 2005, the Chiefs were not a smart football team as they finished the season with a 10-6 record and were out of the playoffs.
Last year, they were 9-7 and made the playoffs. They were also a smarter football team. From Day One, Edwards made reducing penalties one of his team’s major goals. A pair of officials worked every single practice the Chiefs held in the 2006 season and they kept track of penalties during the week. Those practice penalties were addressed each morning during the team meeting by Edwards and repeat offenders learned that type of play wasn’t going to fly with the new head coach.
All the attention paid off as they ended up with 76 flags walked off against them, compared to 115 during the 2005 season. They ended up ranked fifth in the NFL in fewest penalties and were third in fewest penalty yards with 577 yards. In the 2005 season, they were tied for 17th in penalties.
Here were the NFL’s best and worst teams in penalties last season:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/6193/793c6f21eda1484ba12a1b5kv5.gif (http://imageshack.us)
“We ended up fifth,” said Edwards. “We had a chance to be in the top three but things got away from us in the last couple games. We played a lot of players, played a lot of young guys, so that’s pretty good when you do that. They are starting to realize that we have to stay away from that. Fifth in the league, that’s not bad. You’d like to be in the top three.”
Understand the point we made last year in reporting on penalties: the lack of flags does not guarantee victory or a championship. Indianapolis won the Super Bowl and they finished the year as one of the least penalized teams in the league. Chicago played them in the championship game and they were among the most penalized teams in the league. Only four of the 13 teams with the fewest penalties made the playoffs.
But for any team struggling to rise above the league’s mediocrity and parity, any advantage is a good one. There’s no doubt the Chiefs increased discipline as far as the rules were concerned made a difference for them on the field.
In the 2004-05 seasons the Chiefs had 13 of 32 games were they had eight penalties or more walked off against them. Last season, they had none. The most penalties they had in any game was seven, against Miami. In the 2004-05 seasons the Chiefs had three of 32 games were they had four or fewer penalties. Last season, they had seven games with four or fewer penalties.
Here’s how the numbers break down by unit:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1700/1a894b760da646bc8e1d92dnd0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The huge drop in offensive penalties can be seen especially along the Chiefs offensive line, where despite injury problems and the retirement of Willie Roaf at left tackle, there was a drop in false start and holding calls:
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3678/a5de1749430744b8b1463e1gd0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Only five of those eight holding calls were against the offensive line, led by Jordan Black with three. Brian Waters and Kevin Sampson had one each. The other three belonged to tight ends Tony Gonzalez (2) and Jason Dunn (1.) One of the reasons for the fewer flags was the Chiefs threw the ball less often in ‘06 than they did in the previous season.
“If you don’t throw it as much, you don’t get as many holding calls,” said Edwards. “You don’t have guys in so many bad situations.”
The drop in false starts reflected a drop in pre-snap penalties in ‘06. Those types of flags had skyrocketed in the ‘05 season. Those were flags for things like false starts, illegal formations, illegal motion, illegal shifts and delay of game.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7550/91278452abfb425fb4d78c6yt2.gif (http://imageshack.us)
That’s evidence of increased focus and concentration. The false start calls are still too high compared to earlier in the decade when the team averaged 10 a year for three seasons (2001-03.)
“Self inflicted penalties, there are five of them and you can’t recover from them most of the time,” said Edwards. “Those are five things that you do to yourself. We emphasized it.”
CB Pat Surtain led the team with six penalties. Black, Tamba Hali and Bernard Pollard tied with five penalties each. Gonzalez, Dunn, Kyle Turley, Damon Huard and Ty Law had four each.
The Chiefs had just 10 coverage penalties: pass interference, defensive holding or illegal contact. With 506 passes thrown against them, that’s a very good number. They benefited from an overall drop around the league in those types of coverage calls.
Not so surprisingly, rookies contributed 12 penalties for 110 yards, led by Hali and Pollard.
Of the 76 flags walked off, only three fell in the unsportsmanlike conduct/personal foul category; again showing the Chiefs played with their emotions under control. There were a number of players who had significant playing time without a penalty: RG Will Shields, WR Eddie Kennison, LB Kendrell Bell, S Greg Wesley, S Sammy Knight and S Jarrad Page.
There were four games where the Chiefs played the first half without a penalty. In fact, in Cleveland they were not flagged until the fourth quarter. A lot of good that did them in losing that game in overtime.
Despite the drop in calls, there were several times when penalties were especially painful:
* In Pittsburgh, the Chiefs scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from Huard to Gonzalez, but it was wiped out by a holding call on Black. They ended up turning the ball over on downs after having first-and-goal at the Steelers 11-yard line.
* Against the Chargers at Arrowhead, Jared Allen had a sack, fumble and KC recovery wiped out because he was offside.
* In Miami, where the Chiefs struggled all day, a chop block call against Turley wiped out a 16-yard pass from Huard to Gonzalez that would have given the Chiefs a 1st-and-10 at the Miami 40. Instead, they were 1st-and-24 at their own 30-yard line.
The Chiefs record in those three games: 1-2.
Coming on Friday: A look at the NFL officiating crews and how often they threw the flag.