My favorite mad scientist playcall from Spags Week 1

[Direckshun]

It was on the third play of the season. LMAO Amusing.

Now, I don't have any fancy pants GIFs that make everything sexy, so instead I'll use the method I used back when I was a n00b and just go all MicroSoft Paint up in here.

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/picture.php?albumid=160&pictureid=2042

Chris Jones lines up over the center, with Niemann and Frank Clark standing to both sides of him, Kpass and Okafor playing wide 9. Sorensen also creeping up at the line of scrimmage, and Antonio Hamilton in the slot right up at the line of scrimmage and peeking into the backfield.

Who's coming? Turns out: almost everyone, with two hilarious exceptions.

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/picture.php?albumid=160&pictureid=2043

Hamilton blitzes. Sorensen blitzes. Niemann blitzes. All to the same side. Right as they do, the left tackle false starts for whatever reason, and the play is blown dead.

However, look who the Chiefs drop into coverage: Chris Jones and Frank Clark. And not only does Spags drop them into coverage, but he criss crosses them. What!?

Ballsy, and it created pressure immediately as Hamilton was in Watson's face and sent him scrambling as the play was blown dead. But faulty -- Clark didn't find his guy, which was a tight end rolling out as the hot route, and Jones showed good speed but was an easy five yards off David Johnson before the play was called dead.

Hard to blame the players on this, as they had too much ground to cover for big dudes not used to dropping into coverage. Hard to fault Spags either; he was successful in pressuring Watson off the bat.

Just a weird mad scientist playcall I was particularly fond of.

Now watch one of you smart asses gif it. :D

[Hammock Parties]

Wow.

https://i.imgur.com/Nb5OeoP.gif

[Direckshun]

Wow.

https://i.imgur.com/Nb5OeoP.gif

Boom!

Edit: rewatching this, and Chris Jones actually looks pretty tight in that coverage. Clark is just out wandering the pasture, though.

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Clark was asked about this today lol. He said he needs to work on his backpedal. He said he will be covering Tight Ends coming up which for me thinking since our LBs can’t cover for shit maybe Clark can

[bobhill]

Where is Frank Clark on that play?

[bobhill]

I think i found him

[Direckshun]

Where is Frank Clark on that play?

I think i found him

Literally charted for you, bub.

[Dante84]

What I don’t like is that it leaves a wide open lane for Watson, a very mobile QB, to run through.

I like this play for when we go against a statue like Brady.

[Direckshun]

What I don’t like is that it leaves a wide open lane for Watson, a very mobile QB, to run through.

I like this play for when we go against a statue like Brady.

To be fair to the play, Watson did run for that hole, but had Hamilton closing in with Badger/Jones closing down.

That play was going, probably, for a yard or two.

[Dante84]

To be fair to the play, Watson did run for that hole, but had Hamilton closing in with Badger/Jones closing down.

That play was going, probably, for a yard or two.

I dunno, I think he has a decent shot at a first down if he dives ahead to his left if that play continues. Jones was shifting his attention back to Watson, closing off Watson's right. I still think with his speed and ability he could get a first down unless Nieman makes the snag.

He's one of like, 6 QB's who could do that though. I hope we run that against Brady, Tannehill, Lock, Carr, Brees, & Ryan.

[POND_OF_RED]

Zach Fulton looked thoroughly confused about his assignment.
https://media1.giphy.com/media/6uGhT1O4sxpi8/giphy.gif

[Megatron96]

That is a wild ass play. I think that was supposed to be a sack for 20. But if he doesn't get Watson, the design basically funnels him right into Chris Jones, with HB right there to clean up. Niemann is right there on his left, so there's no cut-back lane, there's no way Watson can complete a pass on the right, so his only option is to try to take on CJ or run for the sideline.

The other thing is what exactly is Spags building on here? From that "Time's Yours" clip, we know that Spags wants to build his plan with each successive play. He doesn't just call plays reactively; he calls plays within a context.

I think it would be interesting to eventually find out what he was thinking when he inserted this play into his gameplan.

[ModSocks]

Not a fan.

Putting your best two DL's into coverage is getting too cutsie.

I'm having PTSD of Greg Robinson dropping Vonnie Holiday into coverage.

No fucking thanks.

[wazu]

Not a fan.

Putting your best two DL's into coverage is getting too cutsie.

I'm having PTSD of Greg Robinson dropping Vonnie Holiday into coverage.

No fucking thanks.

At this point I think we're just fucking with people because it's fun.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Not a fan.

Putting your best two DL's into coverage is getting too cutsie.

I'm having PTSD of Greg Robinson dropping Vonnie Holiday into coverage.

No ****ing thanks.
I mean, that's exactly why you do it. The O-line is absolutely planning to block those two.

[Megatron96]

Not a fan.

Putting your best two DL's into coverage is getting too cutsie.

I'm having PTSD of Greg Robinson dropping Vonnie Holiday into coverage.

No ****ing thanks.

Kinda what I'm talking about. Spags isn't stupid, so dropping his two best pass-rushing DLs into coverage was for some reason.

Also, while the play was blown dead so we'll never really know unless Spags calls this thing again, it's a fact that 20 came clean; he should've sacked Watson for a big loss there. He takes a bad angle that allows Watson to step up and escape, but Watson has literally nowhere to throw the football, and at best he reaches the 1st down stripe, but there's no big play for him down the right side either running or throwing.

[DJ's left nut]

The other thing is what exactly is Spags building on here? From that "Time's Yours" clip, we know that Spags wants to build his plan with each successive play. He doesn't just call plays reactively; he calls plays within a context.

I think it would be interesting to eventually find out what he was thinking when he inserted this play into his gameplan.

I've always been convinced that the reason Reid went with Spags rather than a younger, more 'up and coming' guy was that he's looking for a DC who can just be the HC of the defense. A guy he can throw the keys to and kinda ignore.

And to see Spags approach his defensive gameplanning in a similar manner to Reid (where the calls are setting up calls or looking for tendencies) and it all builds on itself - yeah, if that's truly what he's doing out there and isn't just coach-speak, that makes him a natural fit for Andy.

And with the depth on the DL he has and the depth in the secondary he WILL have when everyone is healthy and eligible, he can do some pretty exceptional shit in the same way Reid could do with his offenses once he got the weapons and the triggerman to take all the governors off.

Again - it's just REALLY hard to say this team has any ceiling at all. I mean it's a no-shit 19-0 possibility, especially if they can get past Baltimore. Even with a pretty nasty road slate this year, I'm not sure I'd favor anyone against them except for maybe the Ravens at home (which means less right now for obvious reasons).

[DJ's left nut]

Not a fan.

Putting your best two DL's into coverage is getting too cutsie.

I'm having PTSD of Greg Robinson dropping Vonnie Holiday into coverage.

No fucking thanks.

But again, its similar to some of the stuff Reid puts on tape that I'm convinced he does knowing full well it probably won't work.

It's on there to give teams something else to think about and typically done in situations where the damage won't be terribly great even if things go wrong. With Reid it's some kind of double reverse to get guys to freeze on a sprint action before you cut their throats with Hill blasting up the seam at the snap or something.

Now with Spags, if you're an OL and you know that there's even a slight chance that Jones/Clark could drop into coverage, you see those safeties or LBs sneak up and know there's a chance that's your guy. Now if there's as much as a twist where Clark and/or Jones aren't engaging at the snap, you've got it in the back of your mind to look for some wild-ass blitzing CB coming through on a blitz.

Meanwhile you've missed the pickup as Clark sneaks to your inside shoulder on the stunt and blows past you.

At this point I just assume that everything this coaching staff does is some crazy 5D chess shit. These guys aren't playing around.

[Megatron96]

I've always been convinced that the reason Reid went with Spags rather than a younger, more 'up and coming' guy was that he's looking for a DC who can just be the HC of the defense. A guy he can throw the keys to and kinda ignore.

And to see Spags approach his defensive gameplanning in a similar manner to Reid (where the calls are setting up calls or looking for tendencies) and it all builds on itself - yeah, if that's truly what he's doing out there and isn't just coach-speak, that makes him a natural fit for Andy.

And with the depth on the DL he has and the depth in the secondary he WILL have when everyone is healthy and eligible, he can do some pretty exceptional shit in the same way Reid could do with his offenses once he got the weapons and the triggerman to take all the governors off.

Again - it's just REALLY hard to say this team has any ceiling at all. I mean it's a no-shit 19-0 possibility, especially if they can get past Baltimore. Even with a pretty nasty road slate this year, I'm not sure I'd favor anyone against them except for maybe the Ravens at home (which means less right now for obvious reasons).

Plays like this one, and some that I looked at last year, really make me wonder just how high-level Spags thinking really goes. I really wish the play hadn't been blown dead so we could see what would've happened at full speed.

Last year there was a play against DET where I swore Spags designed the play to force Stafford out of the pocket (to his right I think), where he had to run basically parallel to the LoS and either run for a couple yards out of bounds, slide for a couple yards, or throw into what amounted to triple coverage. Basically it looked like Spags designed the play to generate a pick by funneling Stafford to his right having to try and make a throw across his body while running hard away from the target(s).

And then there was the play against the Pats that did generate a INT by Breeland, IIRC. In effect, there were two or three Chiefs in the area when Brady released that ball. Right after the Pats game, I wondered if that play was designed to generate that pick, but it sounded so tin foil hat crazy that I didn't really go into it.

There was also one against the Ravens where I would almost bet was designed to force Lamar into throwing into triple coverage.

But now this appears to be at least the third or fourth time that Spags has designed a play that forces the QB out of the pocket in a certain direction and then limits his options downfield in a kind of funnel of rapidly increasing difficulty with a rapidly decreasing time limit.

Am I just imagining things or is Spags really this kind of chess player? If he is, that's kind of frightening. For teams not named the Chiefs.

[Aspengc8]

Plays like this one, and some that I looked at last year, really make me wonder just how high-level Spags thinking really goes. I really wish the play hadn't been blown dead so we could see what would've happened at full speed.

Last year there was a play against DET where I swore Spags designed the play to force Stafford out of the pocket (to his right I think), where he had to run basically parallel to the LoS and either run for a couple yards out of bounds, slide for a couple yards, or throw into what amounted to triple coverage. Basically it looked like Spags designed the play to generate a pick by funneling Stafford to his right having to try and make a throw across his body while running hard away from the target(s).

And then there was the play against the Pats that did generate a INT by Breeland, IIRC. In effect, there were two or three Chiefs in the area when Brady released that ball. Right after the Pats game, I wondered if that play was designed to generate that pick, but it sounded so tin foil hat crazy that I didn't really go into it.

There was also one against the Ravens where I would almost bet was designed to force Lamar into throwing into triple coverage.

But now this appears to be at least the third or fourth time that Spags has designed a play that forces the QB out of the pocket in a certain direction and then limits his options downfield in a kind of funnel of rapidly increasing difficulty with a rapidly decreasing time limit.

Am I just imagining things or is Spags really this kind of chess player? If he is, that's kind of frightening. For teams not named the Chiefs.

Check out some of Spags’ stuff from the Giants 2015–17 seasons. Same fore zone concepts. Love it.