Tribal Warfare
10-16-2011, 01:51 AM
Haley has rules of winning he expects Chiefs to follow (http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/15/3209911/chiefs-coach-haley-has-rules-of.html)
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
As the Chiefs coaching staff studied hours of game tape and sorted through stacks of statistics during their bye week, coach Todd Haley didn’t have to dig too deep into the data to quantify a reason for his team’s 2-3 start.
Haley puts an emphasis on several stats, which he considers barometers of whether a team is trending in the right direction. You could even call them his rules for winning. And one was obviously being broken more than the rest.
“The No. 1 thing on the top of the Chiefs’ list, ‘Do not turn the football over,’ ” Haley said. “When we don’t turn the football over — and factor in a bunch of other things — that’s a key to us being much more successful.”
Indeed, the Chiefs turned the ball over a staggering nine times, leading to 51 points, in their first two games, lopsided losses to Buffalo and Detroit. A fourth-quarter interception ended a comeback bid at San Diego.
The Chiefs had zero turnovers in their last two games, wins over Minnesota and Indianapolis. They only have five takeaways this season, which have produced just three points. But keeping the ball is far more important than taking it.
“You can win without creating turnovers, as we showed at Indianapolis, but you can’t win if you turn it over,” Haley said. “In this league, if you just don’t give it away, you’re close to a 70 percent win clip.”
Turnover differential is just one of the categories that Haley analyzed in assessing the first five weeks of the season and that he’ll stress when the Chiefs resume play next Sunday at Oakland.
In breaking down the season, Haley checked off six more points of emphasis:
Yards after contact
Haley’s favorite statistics are the YACs: Yards after contact, and after catch.
In the early-season losses, Chiefs runners and receivers had trouble shaking defenders. But Jackie Battle and Dwayne Bowe, in particular, bounded off tacklers and added substantial yardage on plays last Sunday.
Haley said the Chiefs had 92 yards after the catch or after contact at San Diego, but 120 against Minnesota. And last week, at Indianapolis, the Chiefs picked up 250 combined yards after contact and catch.
“The run-after-the-catch has been a difference-maker for us,” Haley said. “Jackie Battle averaged close to 5 yards after contact on Sunday, which is out of this world for a running back.”
Bowe averaged 10 yards after the catch on his seven receptions, compared to zero yards after five catches at San Diego.
“That’s 70 yards,” Haley said. “Yards equal points, and there’s never been more evidence than last Sunday. … It changes the game dramatically, if all other things are equal.
“That’s something that is very coachable, very changeable, and it’s not asking somebody to do something that they’re not capable of doing.”
Win the return game
The Chiefs haven’t set the world on fire in returning kickoffs and punts. In fact, Dexter McCluster’s fumbling the opening kickoff in the season opener against Buffalo seemed to put the team in a funk for the entire game.
But Javier Arenas has quietly become the NFL’s punt-return leader, averaging 16.3 yards in 10 returns, including a 33-yarder against Minnesota that set up Ryan Succop’s first of five field goals.
Last week at Indianapolis, Arenas’ 14-yard return in the fourth quarter, coupled with a 15-yard penalty for a horse-collar tackle, gave the Chiefs possession at their 46, setting up the game-winning touchdown drive.
A good return game usually means good field position. In the Chiefs’ three losses, their average starting field position was their 20, 21 and 36. In their two wins, the average starting spot was their 31 and 26.
“Field position is important,” Haley said. “In the Indianapolis game, we started on the 26, and they started on the 20. That’s 66 more yards (for 11 possessions) they had to gain.”
Run more efficiently
It certainly didn’t help that Jamaal Charles, the NFL’s second-leading rusher in 2010 and the focal point of the Chiefs offense, was lost for the season in week two after he tore a knee ligament. And it’s no coincidence the Chiefs are the only NFL team without a rushing touchdown.
But the Chiefs, who led the NFL in rushing last season, are ranked seventh this season with contributions from Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster and Battle. Defensively, the Chiefs rank 20th in stopping the run, though in their two wins, they held Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson to 80 yards in 23 carries, a 3.5-yard average; and limited the Colts to 78 yards in 27 carries, a 2.9-yard average.
Get off to better starts
When Succop made a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter against Minnesota, it was the first time in four games the Chiefs led in a game.
They fell behind 20-0 to Buffalo; were down 20-3 at halftime at Detroit; trailed 10-0 without a first down in the first half at San Diego; trailed 7-3 after the first quarter against Minnesota; and spotted Indianapolis leads of 17-0 and 24-7.
That’s no way to win in the NFL.
“We need to work on as a staff how to make sure we get off to better starts, whether it’s one guy or two guys or the entire group …” Haley said. “And it’s not always consistent. It comes down to us being able to play complementary football. If the defense starts off slow, the offense can’t also start off slow, because when that happens, you’re going to be down pretty quickly. … ”
Convert third downs
The Chiefs rank 30th in the NFL in converting third downs. They’ve been successful on just 24 of 65 tries (36.9 percent). In their two wins, they converted 48 percent (14 of 29). That percentage over five games would rank fifth in the league.
Strangely, the Chiefs have been better in converting third-and-long situations, ranking second only to New Orleans on third and 7 and longer, than on third and 5 or less.
“Defensively, it’s the reverse,” Haley said. “It’s almost a mirror image. We’re not very good on third-and-longs, we’re allowing too many conversions, yet we’re pretty good on third and short. … Third down is an area we have to get a lot better.”
The Chiefs rank tied for 16th in third-down defense, allowing 30 conversions in 69 attempts, or 43.5 percent.
Winning the sack race
Opponents have sacked Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel 10 times, while the Chiefs have just five sacks — four by Tamba Hali and one by Wallace Gilberry. Oakland’s Richard Seymour, who they’ll face next week, is tied for the AFC lead with five.
Haley isn’t too alarmed by getting outsacked by a two-to-one margin in the first five weeks.
“We’ve played against two of best the pass rushers you’ll see,” he said of NFL sack leader Jared Allen of Minnesota, who had two of his 8 1/2 sacks against the Chiefs, and Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney, who had 1 1/2 .
“We’re getting better at protecting and knowing how we need to get the ball out.”
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
As the Chiefs coaching staff studied hours of game tape and sorted through stacks of statistics during their bye week, coach Todd Haley didn’t have to dig too deep into the data to quantify a reason for his team’s 2-3 start.
Haley puts an emphasis on several stats, which he considers barometers of whether a team is trending in the right direction. You could even call them his rules for winning. And one was obviously being broken more than the rest.
“The No. 1 thing on the top of the Chiefs’ list, ‘Do not turn the football over,’ ” Haley said. “When we don’t turn the football over — and factor in a bunch of other things — that’s a key to us being much more successful.”
Indeed, the Chiefs turned the ball over a staggering nine times, leading to 51 points, in their first two games, lopsided losses to Buffalo and Detroit. A fourth-quarter interception ended a comeback bid at San Diego.
The Chiefs had zero turnovers in their last two games, wins over Minnesota and Indianapolis. They only have five takeaways this season, which have produced just three points. But keeping the ball is far more important than taking it.
“You can win without creating turnovers, as we showed at Indianapolis, but you can’t win if you turn it over,” Haley said. “In this league, if you just don’t give it away, you’re close to a 70 percent win clip.”
Turnover differential is just one of the categories that Haley analyzed in assessing the first five weeks of the season and that he’ll stress when the Chiefs resume play next Sunday at Oakland.
In breaking down the season, Haley checked off six more points of emphasis:
Yards after contact
Haley’s favorite statistics are the YACs: Yards after contact, and after catch.
In the early-season losses, Chiefs runners and receivers had trouble shaking defenders. But Jackie Battle and Dwayne Bowe, in particular, bounded off tacklers and added substantial yardage on plays last Sunday.
Haley said the Chiefs had 92 yards after the catch or after contact at San Diego, but 120 against Minnesota. And last week, at Indianapolis, the Chiefs picked up 250 combined yards after contact and catch.
“The run-after-the-catch has been a difference-maker for us,” Haley said. “Jackie Battle averaged close to 5 yards after contact on Sunday, which is out of this world for a running back.”
Bowe averaged 10 yards after the catch on his seven receptions, compared to zero yards after five catches at San Diego.
“That’s 70 yards,” Haley said. “Yards equal points, and there’s never been more evidence than last Sunday. … It changes the game dramatically, if all other things are equal.
“That’s something that is very coachable, very changeable, and it’s not asking somebody to do something that they’re not capable of doing.”
Win the return game
The Chiefs haven’t set the world on fire in returning kickoffs and punts. In fact, Dexter McCluster’s fumbling the opening kickoff in the season opener against Buffalo seemed to put the team in a funk for the entire game.
But Javier Arenas has quietly become the NFL’s punt-return leader, averaging 16.3 yards in 10 returns, including a 33-yarder against Minnesota that set up Ryan Succop’s first of five field goals.
Last week at Indianapolis, Arenas’ 14-yard return in the fourth quarter, coupled with a 15-yard penalty for a horse-collar tackle, gave the Chiefs possession at their 46, setting up the game-winning touchdown drive.
A good return game usually means good field position. In the Chiefs’ three losses, their average starting field position was their 20, 21 and 36. In their two wins, the average starting spot was their 31 and 26.
“Field position is important,” Haley said. “In the Indianapolis game, we started on the 26, and they started on the 20. That’s 66 more yards (for 11 possessions) they had to gain.”
Run more efficiently
It certainly didn’t help that Jamaal Charles, the NFL’s second-leading rusher in 2010 and the focal point of the Chiefs offense, was lost for the season in week two after he tore a knee ligament. And it’s no coincidence the Chiefs are the only NFL team without a rushing touchdown.
But the Chiefs, who led the NFL in rushing last season, are ranked seventh this season with contributions from Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster and Battle. Defensively, the Chiefs rank 20th in stopping the run, though in their two wins, they held Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson to 80 yards in 23 carries, a 3.5-yard average; and limited the Colts to 78 yards in 27 carries, a 2.9-yard average.
Get off to better starts
When Succop made a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter against Minnesota, it was the first time in four games the Chiefs led in a game.
They fell behind 20-0 to Buffalo; were down 20-3 at halftime at Detroit; trailed 10-0 without a first down in the first half at San Diego; trailed 7-3 after the first quarter against Minnesota; and spotted Indianapolis leads of 17-0 and 24-7.
That’s no way to win in the NFL.
“We need to work on as a staff how to make sure we get off to better starts, whether it’s one guy or two guys or the entire group …” Haley said. “And it’s not always consistent. It comes down to us being able to play complementary football. If the defense starts off slow, the offense can’t also start off slow, because when that happens, you’re going to be down pretty quickly. … ”
Convert third downs
The Chiefs rank 30th in the NFL in converting third downs. They’ve been successful on just 24 of 65 tries (36.9 percent). In their two wins, they converted 48 percent (14 of 29). That percentage over five games would rank fifth in the league.
Strangely, the Chiefs have been better in converting third-and-long situations, ranking second only to New Orleans on third and 7 and longer, than on third and 5 or less.
“Defensively, it’s the reverse,” Haley said. “It’s almost a mirror image. We’re not very good on third-and-longs, we’re allowing too many conversions, yet we’re pretty good on third and short. … Third down is an area we have to get a lot better.”
The Chiefs rank tied for 16th in third-down defense, allowing 30 conversions in 69 attempts, or 43.5 percent.
Winning the sack race
Opponents have sacked Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel 10 times, while the Chiefs have just five sacks — four by Tamba Hali and one by Wallace Gilberry. Oakland’s Richard Seymour, who they’ll face next week, is tied for the AFC lead with five.
Haley isn’t too alarmed by getting outsacked by a two-to-one margin in the first five weeks.
“We’ve played against two of best the pass rushers you’ll see,” he said of NFL sack leader Jared Allen of Minnesota, who had two of his 8 1/2 sacks against the Chiefs, and Indianapolis’ Dwight Freeney, who had 1 1/2 .
“We’re getting better at protecting and knowing how we need to get the ball out.”