ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Chiefs are crushing it with 13 personnel.

The Chiefs Use of 13 Personnel Has Become a Problem for Opposing Defenses
The Chiefs have utilized their unique ability to attack vertically out of heavy personnel exceptional well late in the season.
by Matt Lane
5 hr ago

The Kansas City Chiefs went into Las Vegas and easily dispatched the Las Vegas Raiders to lock up the first seed for the AFC Playoff picture. They hit the ground running and jumped out to an early lead before coasting off to a comfortable victory. A lot of flashy play calls and designs are going to be the first thing most remember from this game but it’s the building blocks being established that ultimately will matter more going forward.

The last few weeks have seen the Chiefs consistently working on specific parts of their offensive game plan in preparation for the playoffs. Last week there was an emphasis on getting quality looks in the vertical passing game. This week the Chiefs leaned a little more on the run game but there was another wrinkle they have been experimenting with all year.

The Chiefs have been using their 13 personnel for much of the season but with the return of Blake Bell that package has been forced to change. Substituting in Bell for Jody Forston certainly lowers the overall athleticism of the unit but the trade off is an increase in physicality and run game success. The challenge becomes maintaining a threatening passing attack from this heavy personnel that now presents as a dangerous run personnel grouping.

The Chiefs 13 Personnel Package

The Chiefs have been playing around with heavier personnel packages quite frequently in recent seasons as teams work to slow down the vertical passing attack. The issue they’ve continued to run into is how to maintain a threatening vertical passing attack while getting less speed on the field but it feels like they finally be figuring it out in time for the playoff run.

Stretching the Field

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Chiefs have been toying around with their 13personnel and how to attack teams vertically out of it.<br><br>LV even stuck to nickel (and dime) vs 13p most of the game to defend it but the PA Jet Motion Wheel still snuck behind them. <a href="https://t.co/NcIpJephzQ">pic.twitter.com/NcIpJephzQ</a></p>— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Matty_KCSN/status/1612870508156194818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This general concept - the motion behind the line of scrimmage paired with hard play-action - is something the Chiefs have been working in all season. They’ve ran it with tight ends, wide receivers, and out of various different alignments. It works well for the Chiefs because they have some athletic tight ends that can are capable of working vertical over the middle of the field and a quarterback willing to throw the ball to them.

This can stretch the opposing defensive backs horizontally because of how many players the Chiefs can get on the same plane. The routes over the middle of the field force safeties to decide on honoring the middle of the field and leaving the outside corner isolated one on one, or assisting the the outside corner leaving their safety mate at risk of defending multiple routes.

With Chiefs are working with heavy personnel and out of a condensed split, it forces the defense to play tight to the line of scrimmage even if they remain in lighter personnel. This creates a lot of vertical space to be attacked by the Chiefs athletic, tight ends Travis Kelce and Noah Gray. The Chiefs are manipulating space vertically and horizontally through the alignment and route distribution on the field. The route combinations for the Chiefs are on point - as always - but it’s how it forces the defense to play that is the key.

Forcing Basic Coverage Shells

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">13p forces defenses into more basic coverage shells and KC trusts their QB + weapons to still win vertically.<br><br>87 demands the attention of both deep third defenders by splitting them, RB to the flat drags the hook defender wide, and Bell wraps to wide open grass. <a href="https://t.co/U2LiDhwIC8">pic.twitter.com/U2LiDhwIC8</a></p>— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Matty_KCSN/status/1612871114677538822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When the Chiefs trot out this heavy personnel, teams are forced with the decision on how to respond with their own personnel. Some teams - like the Broncos - will play their base defensive personnel packages while other - like the Raiders - will play nickel or even dime personnel. Regardless of the actual players on the field, the formations will force defenses into relatively basic 4-3/3-4 alignments.

Even more important than the alignment is the limitation placed on the potential coverage shells on the back end. It’s difficult to rotate players around post-snap when so many have to play specific run fits in the box. Most defenses end up extremely limited in their blitz or coverage packages when aligned this heavy. Becoming more predictable in these ways is incredibly difficult against a team like the Chiefs with their offensive prowess.

The Chiefs do such a good job overloaded multiple “coverage zones” with potential route options until someone can pop open. On this play vs Cover-3 the Chiefs release three routes to the outside of the hook defender to the strong side. When the final route releases outside, the hook defender is forced to widen with the Flat route allowing another receiver to wrap around him.

They don’t stop there though. The Chiefs also push two routes vertically into the space between the two deep zones which forces both of them to play the deepest route. This creates a hi-lo over the middle of the field which forces the deep middle defender to make an impossible choice.

Even When “Failing” They Are Learning

[video here, posted the link, but not embeddable]

Here we have the Chiefs getting into the gun and having their tight ends slightly more spread out which allowed the Raiders to play less condensed at the line of scrimmage. The downhill run threat wasn’t as eminent allowing them to play with more depth along the second level.

As the vertical routes unfolded to stress the coverage shell horizontally, the underneath defenders were playing at depth not letting any vertical stretch to occur. Despite this happening, the Chiefs still had a chance for a big play in the passing game. Both the tight end and running back were delayed getting out into their routes which would have forced the curl-flat zone defenders to make a decision on what to cover.

Without that stress being placed, both corner backs were able to drift underneath the vertical routes and the pass rush started to get home before either receiver made it to the flat. The Chiefs likely identify this moving forward and make sure they get one of these Flat routes out early to allow for an outlet but also to properly create that vertical stretch.

Run the Dang Ball

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LV was okay staying in Dime personnel (then lining up in a 4-3 look) vs KC's heavy personnel.<br><br>Chiefs didn't hit any big runs but if defenses wanna play that light vs the 13p look, KC has the ability to pick solid gains on the ground. <a href="https://t.co/CjnZiIutrk">pic.twitter.com/CjnZiIutrk</a></p>— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Matty_KCSN/status/1612886595299938304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The short and sweet answer to the above play - defenses playing with light personnel and from depth - is simply to run the football. The Chiefs still haven’t opted to just pound the rock out of 13 personnel but they have flashed the ability to pick up positive yards. Blake Bell returning helps in this area a ton due to his ability to be an excellent in-line and second level blocker.

When the Chiefs run at 13 personnel it’s usually coming from under center and so far they have stayed pretty close to the vest in terms of run plays. It’s predominantly been Midline Zone and Outside Zone but the Chiefs have also diluted their traditional run plays down the stretch as well.

It’s quite possible that is where their run game sticks out of this formation and that’s okay. The Chiefs will still have the “weight” advantage on the majority of plays and can simply fall forward for a quality gain.

If the Chiefs want to mix things up and start to hunt for more explosive run plays out of 13 personnel they might start utilizing some of their power run game to create new run lanes. They can also go back into shotgun if teams are going to play further back against that look and attack the space vacated rather than trying to just plow ahead.

Moving Forward

The Chiefs aren’t likely to become a team like the San Francisco 49ers that base out of a heavy personnel group but their uptick in it’s usage down the stretch still tells a story. Andy Reid has been using games down the stretch to test out and perfect some situational football decisions and the use of 13 personnel is no different.

It’s hard to say how the Chiefs will use this heavy package but they’re going to work it in as they see fit. What makes it so dangerous for opposing defenses is how well the Chiefs 13 personnel can still attack vertically thanks to the athleticism at the tight end position. Combine that with well thought out route combinations and a good understanding of how to manipulate coverage shells with alignment and it becomes the perfect storm.

When the Chiefs learn how - or decide to - run the football out of this heavy personnel package they will take another step forward. Right now they just utilize this personnel grouping for the run threat, but if teams follow the Raiders’ plan of playing nickel and dime defense against them that could change.