Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850617)

The issue with the run game is that we're getting less and less effective at it because teams AREN'T sitting in 2-high against us anymore.

A lot of these plays are based on box counts and Mahomes has a check at the line. He's getting a lot more loaded boxes than he used to and so we're passing the football out of it.

But everything is sideways so A) It's not terribly effective and B) Its not forcing those safeties BACK out of the box.

And as noted in another thread, when you only get 8-10 drives in a given game because your defense can't force quick stops or turnovers (and your offense isn't explosive) every single drive counts. So you can't dedicate 2-3 drives to running the ball ineffectively in order to try to keep defenses honest.

It's really not as simple as "Run the ball, Andy!" because we've had a snowball of things offensively (and really, defensively) that make that really inefficient for us and right now we can't afford offensive inefficiency.

We'll absolutely run the ball when it's there. We did most of the season. Andy didn't just decide "Eh, **** it, I wanna pass..." -- teams adjusted to close the run lanes and so we're trying to find a new adjustment back.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850625)

I mean we handed the ball off to Pacheco, Hunt and Perine a combined 20 times for a whopping 74 yards last night, guys.

We aren't running the ball well and teams are intentionally looking to shut it down at this point because they just aren't scared of us attacking the safeties with the pass.

Honestly, the answer is easily "Throw it deep!" as much as it is "Run the ball" -- we have got to start making them pay for the aggressive boxes they're sending at us. And no, if the best we can do on 20 carries is to run for 75 yards, we don't need to be running the ball more either. ESPECIALLY not when we're throwing for about 5.5 yards/attempt at the same time.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850625)

I mean we handed the ball off to Pacheco, Hunt and Perine a combined 20 times for a whopping 74 yards last night, guys.

We aren't running the ball well and teams are intentionally looking to shut it down at this point because they just aren't scared of us attacking the safeties with the pass.

Honestly, the answer is easily "Throw it deep!" as much as it is "Run the ball" -- we have got to start making them pay for the aggressive boxes they're sending at us. And no, if the best we can do on 20 carries is to run for 75 yards, we don't need to be running the ball more either. ESPECIALLY not when we're throwing for about 5.5 yards/attempt at the same time.

Originally Posted by Megatron96 (Post 17850645)

I agree with DJN. It's not that we aren't running enough. It's that defenses are finally defending the run and daring us to throw, and right now it's working. It looks like to me that they're basically doubling/boxing both Travis and DHop whenever possible and playing a lot of man vs. our other receivers, and it's working most of the time. Our passing offense is just struggling right now because we really don't have other reliable options vs. man.

I think Humphries is a serious upgrade and will get better with more game reps (I hope to God he's not seriously hurt), and the return of Hollywood should make the difference.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850625)

I mean we handed the ball off to Pacheco, Hunt and Perine a combined 20 times for a whopping 74 yards last night, guys.

We aren't running the ball well and teams are intentionally looking to shut it down at this point because they just aren't scared of us attacking the safeties with the pass.

Honestly, the answer is easily "Throw it deep!" as much as it is "Run the ball" -- we have got to start making them pay for the aggressive boxes they're sending at us. And no, if the best we can do on 20 carries is to run for 75 yards, we don't need to be running the ball more either. ESPECIALLY not when we're throwing for about 5.5 yards/attempt at the same time.

Originally Posted by BWillie (Post 17850654)

Oh of course. I don't want to run the ball more to win. I want to run the ball more so Patrick Mahomes doesn't get hurt and we might still win. In the playoffs chuck the ball --- except on short yardage and in goalline which we pass way too often.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850649)

He got worked up the arc 3-4 times last night.

Now maybe he is just knocking rust off, but he wasn't a notably upgrade over anything Morris gave us this season (Raiders disaster excluded).

If he's going to make a difference, he needs to get a lot better and very quickly.

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 17850660)

The problem is that our running game is resulting in too many 3rd and longs, which will also ultimately get Pat killed with this line.

Until they figure out how to run the ball EFFECTIVELY nothing is going to change.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 17850682)

Yeah - that 3rd and 10 play on the first drive leading to the punt after Baylor Cupp dropped an easy 6-8 yard catch and run really set the tone for the night.

Because as soon as it was 3rd and 10, the offense didn't seem to have a plan. That play never had a chance to do anything and sho 'nuff, it didn't.

They just cannot handle 3rd and long. Now if you're running it at a consistent 4 yards/clip, you're fine. But we weren't. I mean even that mediocre YPC figure from last night came after Pacheco had 3 pretty solid carries on the last drive. Before that, they were struuuuuuuugling.

And unlike the Chargers, who could seeming dial up an easy pitch and catch over the middle on 2nd and 9 to get to 3rd and 1, if our 1st down play didn't work, it seemed our 2nd down play wouldn't either.

I mean, it's just not a very good offensive team right now. There are a LOT of things that simply aren't working.

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 17850623)

You've gotta get more explosive, but we can't seem to block it up well enough. I dunno, we're running on fumes and guts here.