Gretz: Chan Ball Not So Boring

[JuicesFlowing]

Chan Ball Not So Boring
Aug 09, 2008, 7:51:12 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

RIVER FALLS, WI – Some observers came here to the northwoods and reported back to Kansas City that the Chiefs offense was going to be a pretty boring attack this year. The Vermeil/Saunders Flying Circus was history and now under new coordinator Chan Gailey, the Chiefs supposedly were basic and not very flashy when they had the ball.

After Thursday night’s pre-season opener in Chicago, hopefully every fan of the Chiefs got to see there’s nothing about this offense that screams boring. Certainly it shouldn’t be considered boring after producing three touchdowns against one of the better defenses in the NFL.

Yes, it was a single game, and a pre-season game at that. But because Gailey’s offense is new and so many of the players operating in it are also new, there will not be a complete camouflage of this attack in these games that do not count.

The Chiefs cannot afford that. They must expose their players to as many snaps in the scheme, with as many plays possible. This must happen in front of everyone, including the fans, media and yes even their future opponents.

So what you saw is what you are going to get. Yet even against the Bears, Gailey didn’t pull out all the plays in his book. There’s more to come from the Chiefs offense.

What we saw at Soldier Field was a ball-handler’s offensive scheme. In this attack, you will not often see the quarterback simply hand the ball off to a running back after taking the snap. There are a lot of fakes by the quarterback. One of the most frequent comes on a play where the quarterback will fake a short handoff to the halfback, and then he’ll fake a pitch to the same halfback running to the left. The quarterback will then bootleg to the right, away from his running back and throw on the run.

Quarterback movement is big in this offense. There are the bootlegs (quarterback rolls out to the strong side of the formation) and nakeds (passer rolls out to the weak side of the formation.) Some of that comes because of unknown production from a newly created offensive line. Some of that is to keep the defense on its toes.

There are end-around runs, sometimes incorrectly called reverses by broadcasters, where a wide receiver takes the handoff from the quarterback. There are direct snaps to running backs, with the quarterback lined up as a wide receiver. There are throw- back screens, where everyone heads right, while the receiver and a group of blockers is setting up left. There are short screens, passes that travel sometimes no more than a yard.

Always there is the theme of trying to keep the defense off-balance, faking this way, to make something happen the other way.

That’s what has been happening since the first day of the off-season program. Nothing is being kept under wraps. Some unsophisticated football pundits may have declared it boring and basic, but that would have been after only watching the first week of work, when the players were doing more thinking than playing. Now, every practice the offense gets better, the execution is more efficient and the productivity has gone up.

Yes, the Chiefs have gotten better here in the land of beer and cheese.

They are doing just what Herm Edwards said they would do with this slimmer and trimmer playbook. They would work the plays and work the plays and work the plays so that the success of the system will be based on execution. In the past, the Vermeil/Saunders offense was based on the volume of plays and the different looks they presented to a defense with shifting, motion and formations.

After five-plus seasons, all the shifting and motion was no longer fooling anybody. Defenses eventually got to the point where they stood there and said, “go-ahead do all your movement, we’ll wait until your done.” With so many plays, there was less chance to practice them. That might work with a veteran offense that’s been together for some time. But with new people and new faces in new places, volume would be a disaster.

Without the volume, there must be execution.

That started in Chicago. Funny, it didn’t look boring to me.

[blueballs]

too bad they didn't try the shifting and motion with players under 30
instead go young and throw it out

[StcChief]

It looked good to me as well... Chan is a breathe of fresh air.

[JuicesFlowing]

I agree. At lest it looks like the offense is competitive. Last year was completely hopeless.

[Deberg_1990]

I cant wait to see Huard lined up in the slot.

[Huffman83]

“go-ahead do all your movement, we’ll wait until your done.”

That's pretty funny.

[dorseybowe]

The scheme fits the players we have. :thumb:

[Deberg_1990]

Ill bet Herm got full blown wood on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt jizz right there in his pants.

[JuicesFlowing]

Ill bet Herm got full blown wood on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt jizz right there in his pants.

That's what made last year such a joke: a ball-possession offense that couldn't eat up ANY clock.

[Hammock Parties]

This was a response to Whitlock.

It may be premature, but good for Gretz anyway.

[Red Dawg]

I totally agree with the G man. Chan did well with what he's got. He has gotten plays that help a team with a weak O-line. This will help protect Brodie and move the chains.

[JBucc]

I really liked the playcalling on the first drive. Loved getting the QB out of the pocket and all the misdirection.

But despite their reputation the Bears D was pretty shitty to average last year.

[BigChiefFan]

Way to throw the previous regimes under the bus, Gretz. Total high road on your part.

[blueballs]

last year's preseason game 1
was a 16-12 loss to the Browns
double the points in 1 year progress

[KcMizzou]

Ill bet Herm got full blown wood on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt jizz right there in his pants.I'm not sure about Herm, but I was damned close, myself.

[KCJohnny]

Wow. Gretz knows his stuff.
None of us were able to analyze things on this level.
Pretty good news from my foxhole.
Thanks for posting this.

[KCJohnny]

Ill bet Herm got full blown wood on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt jizz right there in his pants.

BTW, you homosexual posters need to find some family-friendly metaphors to express your emotions.

[Deberg_1990]

BTW, you homosexual posters need to find some family-friendly metaphors to express your emotions.

Ill bet Herm got really happy on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt clap his hands in approval.


Not quite the same ring is it?

[KCJohnny]

Ill bet Herm got really happy on the Chiefs first drive. 16 plays, 8 minutes of clock?

Im surprised he didnt clap his hands in approval.


Not quite the same ring is it?

I'm confident your parents did a better job than that.

[Hammock Parties]

BTW, you homosexual posters need to find some family-friendly metaphors to express your emotions.

Dude, seriously. You're in here dropping "LOL I AM IN A FOXHOLE" crap and bossing people around, trying to shove your bullshit christian values on people. Being in the army doesn't make you special. Loving jesus doesn't make you special. So knock it off. Or I'll jizz all over jesus in a foxhole.

[Molitoth]

popcorn

[KCJohnny]

Dude, seriously. You're in here dropping "LOL I AM IN A FOXHOLE" crap and bossing people around, trying to shove your bullshit christian values on people. Being in the army doesn't make you special. Loving jesus doesn't make you special. So knock it off. Or I'll jizz all over jesus in a foxhole.

No comment/reply neccessary.
ROFL

[RealSNR]

Dude, seriously. You're in here dropping "LOL I AM IN A FOXHOLE" crap and bossing people around, trying to shove your bullshit christian values on people. Being in the army doesn't make you special. Loving jesus doesn't make you special. So knock it off. Or I'll jizz all over jesus in a foxhole.

How to create a thread implosion:

STEP 1: Classic extreme poster throw out a comment that pisses people off (Check)

STEP 2: Another poster writes an even ruder response to previous post (Check)

STEP 3: Reaction from more people, even those that were pissed off by the first comment

STEP 4: ...

STEP 5: Profit (Never going to happen)

[KcMizzou]

BTW, you homosexual posters need to find some family-friendly metaphors to express your emotions.Why... that's not very christian of you...

[KCJohnny]

Why... that's not very christian of you...
Laugh, OK? Just laugh and let it be what it is.
For remedial training, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXap2twPc-0).

[Hammock Parties]

Oh, thanks for that rep, KCJohnny. My post was a bad decision, you say? What are the consequences? Is god going to strike me dead? Note that I left that uncapitalized out of disrespect for your almighty douchebucket overlord.

A bad decision? Why? Explain it to me, Mr. hey-zeus guitar strumming iraqi shooting freakazoid. Drop some filthy scriptures on me if you want.

[KcMizzou]

For remedial training, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXap2twPc-0).I actually enjoyed that. Mr. T cracks me up.

[KCJohnny]

I actually enjoyed that. Mr. T cracks me up.
I like where he says at the end, "get some nuts!"
LOL!

[InChiefsHeaven]

*ahem* Back to the original subject of the thread...


...I was smiling wide the entire drive. After about 5 or 6 plays, I was thinking...man, we are going to score a TD on the first drive...can't remember the last time I felt like that...

...it was definitely good. The implosion on the second drive highlights what we will see this year, flashes of brilliance one drive, reasons to absolutely puke on another. Hopefully, that stuff will be out of the way by mid-season and we'll be a pretty consistent offense towards the end.

...can't wait to get Dorsey in this week. But that's a defense thread so...

[KCJohnny]

*ahem* Back to the original subject of the thread...


...I was smiling wide the entire drive. After about 5 or 6 plays, I was thinking...man, we are going to score a TD on the first drive...can't remember the last time I felt like that...

...it was definitely good. The implosion on the second drive highlights what we will see this year, flashes of brilliance one drive, reasons to absolutely puke on another. Hopefully, that stuff will be out of the way by mid-season and we'll be a pretty consistent offense towards the end.

...can't wait to get Dorsey in this week. But that's a defense thread so...

And yet, somehow, all 3 QBs led scoring drives... that has to be encouraging.

[Baby Lee]

Dude, seriously. You're in here dropping "LOL I AM IN A FOXHOLE" crap and bossing people around, trying to shove your bullshit christian values on people. Being in the army doesn't make you special. Loving jesus doesn't make you special. So knock it off. Or I'll jizz all over jesus in a foxhole.

Haaaave you met Johnny?

http://www.daemonstv.com/images/cbs/barney_stinson2.jpg

[Bearcat]

Defenses eventually got to the point where they stood there and said, “go-ahead do all your movement, we’ll wait until your done.”

I thought that for a long time... we would break the huddle, shift a bunch of times, and the defense would just stand there. After a while it looked pretty pointless.

I like the article (and gochiefs' post.. jizz all over jesus in a foxhole LMAO), and it's the same old argument of whether it's the coaching (having a 5000 page offensive playbook) or execution (running the same 20 plays extremely well). Gretz is right, the 2nd option is what this team needs, but only if it eventually gets more complicated and only if we don't play into the strengths of the defense (ie audibles to prevent running straight into a goal line defense). We ran the same stupid WR screen 20 times a game last year, even if it didn't work the first 19.

It's all about adjustments, regardless of how complicated the scheme.

[milkman]

I really liked the playcalling on the first drive. Loved getting the QB out of the pocket and all the misdirection.

But despite their reputation the Bears D was pretty shitty to average last year.

Yes they were.

However, they had a lot of injuries last year.

The guys lined up on D against the Chiefs in the first quarter last night were the guys that were a part of that top 5 D a couple of years ago.

[milkman]

BTW, you homosexual posters need to find some family-friendly metaphors to express your emotions.

Why do you always have to be a dick?

[FAX]

Another way to look at it is this ... it isn't unreasonable to assume that this Bears' defense would have shut down last year's offense. We might have gotten three plays off in the first possession. Maybe.

FAX

[FAX]

Why do you always have to be a dick?

One word. Vaccinations.

FAX

[kcxiv]

I really liked see'ing the bootleg. Croyle looks good running it. Hopefully we use it quite a bit this year. Especially against the ****ing Broncos.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Another way to look at it is this ... it isn't unreasonable to assume that this Bears' defense would have shut down last year's offense. We might have gotten three plays off in the first possession. Maybe.

FAX

Especially considering that we played them last year and all.

[FAX]

Especially considering that we played them last year and all.

I'd forgotten about that. We scored ... 10 points total?

FAX

[chiefsngop]

I really liked see'ing the bootleg. Croyle looks good running it. Hopefully we use it quite a bit this year. Especially against the ****ing Broncos.

Alot of times last year I wondered why we wouldn't roll our QB out and away from the O-line that couldn't block anyone anyway.

This year's O-lines gonna need to be a lil quicker on their feet for pull blocking on the boots and misdirections.

[JuicesFlowing]

Solari's only answer for a bad O-line was to throw quick, 1-yard sideline passes, which inevitably ended up as 3 yard losses. Thankfully we won't be that crap.

[KCTitus]

For a team that's still riding a 9 game losing streak, meaningless game #1 was the most opportune time to dip a little deeper into the playbook to pull out a win.

[Valiant]

It was preseason.. Get back to me 4 weeks into the season..

[Hootie]

well, statistically chicago was one of the worst defenses last year so...

[mikey23545]

well, statistically chicago was one of the worst defenses last year so...

And as everyone but you seems to have noticed, they were riddled with injuries last year...In other words, it was an anomaly...

Feel free to look the word up.

[Hootie]

And as everyone but you seems to have noticed, they were riddled with injuries last year...In other words, it was an anomaly...

Feel free to look the word up.
well, I'm sorry, but they, like us, sat in base cover 2 defense and didn't show anything...

I love how our offense looked on that first drive...but I'm not doing any ****ing jumping jacks because we did against a Bears defense that was really good two years ago.

[Hammock Parties]

Some observers came here to the northwoods and reported back to Kansas City that the Chiefs offense was going to be a pretty boring attack this year. The Vermeil/Saunders Flying Circus was history and now under new coordinator Chan Gailey, the Chiefs supposedly were basic and not very flashy when they had the ball.

I guess they were right, eh, Gretzy?

[Reerun_KC]

Herm ball is beyond boring... Gailey, Solari, Hackett, Raye, and Mike Helrjlandaer (spelling)

Everyone of Herms scape goats ran the same boring fucking offense....

Hum? I guess Herm still gets that free pass....

[Ultra Peanut]

hahahahahahahaha oh godddddd

[teedubya]

It looked good to me as well... Chan is a breathe of fresh air.

Herm is a breathe of fresh dog shit.

[GoTrav]

There’s more to come from the Chiefs offense.

nice article Gretz. It seems he jumped on the Gailey splooge ride a bit early.

[Halfcan]

We had a Bye week and we come out and try to run against a huge D line-Chan needs to go.

[Reerun_KC]

We had a Bye week and we come out and try to run against a huge D line-Chan needs to go.

Its not like we can pass. This amazing OL that Carl and Herm has assembled has already ended one QB's career, Put Downfield BigQuitter on the IR and most likely will end another before the year is over...


So its not like we had much of a choice, you cant run or pass when your gameplan consists of just a couple of plays...

[Halfcan]

Its not like we can pass. This amazing OL that Carl and Herm has assembled has already ended one QB's career, Put Downfield BigQuitter on the IR and most likely will end another before the year is over...


So its not like we had much of a choice, you cant run or pass when your gameplan consists of just a couple of plays...

I agree with that-but the Titans knew Every play coming-how is that an Upgrade from last year??

This O is Boring and predictable just like last year.

I Love how Vermeils #1 kickass O is now labled as a Flying Circus and other names that somehow are suppose to mean it was a bad thing.

St Louis won a SB with his coaching-yeah he sucked ass all right. :rolleyes:

[Reerun_KC]

Cant argue the truth Halfcan...

[MahiMike]

Actually the Chiefs are pretty exciting. At least this board lights up whenever they play....)

[Bowser]

Don Coryell himself would rather sell insurance than try to coach offense under Herm Edwards.

[JuicesFlowing]

Good time to bump this thread.

[dj56dt58]

now that Chan is calling the plays and a competent qb, our offensive line actually looks good..Thiggy normally has a while to throw the ball and is rarely under a lot of pressure like croyle and huard were