Gretz:Negative Thoughts … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

[Tribal Warfare]

Negative Thoughts … Monday Cup O’Chiefs


Over the last few days, even as he spent time with the kids and got away from the office for a few hours, you can bet that Todd Haley’s thoughts never strayed too far away from football.
Especially Todd Haley the offensive coordinator. The contemplation most certainly centered on negative plays, minus yardage. In football, the object of the offense is to move forward. For the 2009 Chiefs offense, there have been far too many plays where they went in reverse.
In seven games, the Chiefs offense has had 90 negative yardage plays. That’s running and passing play for minus yards, sacks, interceptions, fumbles lost and offensive penalties. When it comes to negative on offense, the Chiefs lead the league.
“Minus plays, minus plays, we have to eliminate minus plays,” Haley said last week. “Coach (Bill) Parcells drilled it into my head over and over and over again for years about minus plays and how they lead to dissatisfaction with your offense.
“Right now, we’re all dissatisfied with the offense and to me the root of that evil is minus plays.”
Here’s how those negative plays breakdown at this point in the season:

Negative Plays	#	Minus Yards	Comment
Running	25	- 66	Tied for 3rd in NFL for minus runs, 2nd in minus yards
Passing	4	- 9	Tied for 8th in negative pass plays
Sacks	24	- 164	Leading NFL in sacks for negative yardage
Interceptions	5	- 68	68 yards INT return yardage, affecting field position
Lost Fumbles	1	0	Among NFL’s best teams in not losing fumbles
Penalties	33	- 235	Leading the league in offensive flags and lost yards
Totals	92	- 542	No. 1 among NFL offenses in going backwards

Going into this weekend’s games, the Chiefs were 30th in offensive yards, averaging 251.6 yards per game. Factor in that lost yardage of 542 yards. That would be another 77.4 yards per game. If they were averaging 329 yards per game, they would be 19th in the league and had who knows how many other opportunities to score.
“We’re doing an extensive study,” Haley said of his offensive coaching staff, “To figure out if it is the play; are we asking the players to do something they just can’t do? Is it the players? Is it match ups? What is it? We are trying to see if we can see a pattern that develops between the sacks, the minus runs and the penalties. ”
With the coaching tape and computer systems available to the staff, they have more resources to delve into the problem that those of us outside Arrowhead Stadium. But there are some things we can investigate and learn from when it comes to the Chiefs offense and its problems with negative plays.
First is the obvious answer: they aren’t good enough. One can never stray too far away from that factor in this ‘09 season. The Chiefs do not have enough talent and that shows up in the negative plays. It shows up in the defenses penchant for giving up big plays. Haley does not have enough players who are fast enough, quick enough or strong enough.
That can be seen in the team’s offensive line, which is really the root of the root of the problem with minus plays. Haley’s offensive line coach Bill Muir is one of the best in the business, so the problem is not coaching. As offensive coordinator, Haley may have complicated the situation by changing the offense just before the start of the season. Part of that change was increasing the number of protections in the team’s game plan each week. Former coordinator Chan Gailey believed in fewer protections. Haley believes in more. That transition may have played a part in the blocking struggles.
On those negative running plays, eight were for lost yardage of four yards or more. That’s not the running back’s fault, since that’s an indication they were barely got the handoff before they were facing incoming tacklers. When it comes to penalties, the Chiefs offensive line is the biggest culprit. With 10 offensive holding calls, the Chiefs lead the league. With 13 false starts, they have the second highest total in the league. With four delay of game penalties they are tied for the third most in the league.
Every member of the Chiefs offensive line has been flagged this year so far. LB Brian Waters has been penalized six times for minus-45 yards. LT Branden Albert missed 2.5 games because of his left ankle injury, but he has four penalties for minus-25 yards. RT Ikechuku Ndukwe did not start long, but he picked up three flags, with C Rudy Niswanger and C/G/T Wade Smith each getting hit with two penalties.
When the offensive line can’t get things done and is inconsistent in performance, it’s a domino effect, because it falls back on the quarterback and the running backs especially. Even TE Sean Ryan is affected, as his role has changed from catching passes to now spending more time blocking. That’s a reason he’s one of the most penalties players on the team with three calls for minus-25 yards.
Pass protection falls on more than just the offensive line. The tight ends and backs have to contribute, so does the quarterback who can’t hold the ball too long and the wide receivers that have to adjust routes and recognize opponent blitzes. All are failing with the Chiefs. Beyond questionable talent on the offensive line, the spotlight falls on the inexperience of QB Matt Cassel. Last year, he led the league in getting sacks in New England. That was largely due to the fact he was coached by Bill Belichick and his staff to not taking any chances throwing the ball; they’d rather he take the sack than throw a ball in a spot where it might get picked off.
Haley stresses ball protection with his quarterbacks as well, and the surest way for the No. 1 guy to get a seat on the bench would be to throw interceptions and fumble the ball away. For the most part, Cassel has followed that path. Not until the loss to San Diego when he threw an interception hat trick has he had problems turning over the ball.
But there’s no question he has to get rid of the football faster, and he needs Haley to do whatever he can schematically to help the protection group.
Because of the lack of talent, the Chiefs will likely have to deal with negative plays the rest of this season; there’s no way to find an infusion of talent at this point of the season. However, there’s no doubt that better preparation, better play calling and better play will diminish the number of times the Kansas City offense goes backwards.
SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• DOLPHINS – activated LB Matt Roth from PUP List; released TE John Nalbone.
• REDSKINS – placed OT Chris Samuels on the injured-reserve list (neck).
• SEAHAWKS – activated CB Marcus Trufant from PUP List.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On November 2, 1969, the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills 29-7 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. A crowd of 45,844 saw the Chiefs score 23 points in the fourth quarter to take the victory. Going into the final period, Buffalo led 7-6 and all the Chiefs had been able to produce was a pair of Jan Stenerud FGs from 47 and 34 yards. Stenerud came back in the fourth quarter and kicked three more, from 37, 44 and 16 yards. Then the Chiefs added a pair of TD runs by RB Mike Garrett of five and 34 yards. Garrett finished the game with 71 yards on 14 carries. WR Frank Pitts caught four passes for 70 yards. QB Mike Livingston started and played until right before the end of the first half. That’s when Len Dawson came off the bench, where he was nursing a knee injury. The Chiefs defense had four interceptions, two by FS Johnny Robinson and solos from CB James Marsalis and LB Willie Lanier. They also had nine sacks in the game, setting a club record. They held rookie RB O.J. Simpson to 41 yards on 16 carries and two passes for 32 yards.
On November 2, 1975, the Chiefs lost to the Houston Oilers 17-13 at Arrowhead Stadium, in front of 62,989 fans. The Chiefs held a 13-7 lead at half-time, but the Oilers scored 10 points in the second half for the victory. The killing combination for Houston was QB Dan Pastorini (left) and WR Ken Burrough who combined on TD passes of 77 and 57 yards. Burrough finished the game with seven catches for 177 yards. Pastorini threw for 198 yards total and also punted, averaging 45.1 yards on seven kicks. The only Kansas City TD was a one-yard run by RB Jeff Kinney. Safety Mike Sensibaugh had an interception for the Chiefs defense.
On November 2, 1980, the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Colts 31-24 at Arrowhead Stadium in front of a crowd of 52,383 fans. It was the Colts running game that made the difference in the outcome of this game. Baltimore ran for 192 yards and a pair of TDs. They were led by RB Curtis Dickey, who had a pair of scoring runs, including one for 51 yards. The Chiefs were unable to protect QB Steve Fuller who was sacked 10 times, including 2.5 sacks by DT Herb Orvis. Kansas City TDs came on the ground, as RB Horace Belton scored twice and Fuller had a seven-yard run for a TD. Baltimore QB Bert Jones threw a pair of TD passes and also two INTs, as he was picked off by CBs Eric Harris and Gary Green.
On November 2, 1986, the Chiefs beat the Chargers 24-23 at San Diego Stadium. The Chiefs scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to win the game on a 37-yard FG by Nick Lowery with seven seconds to play. QB Bill Kenney threw a pair of TD passes, going one-yard to WR J.T. Smith and five yards to WR Emile Harry. RB Mike Pruitt had a one-yard TD run. Kenney completed 21 of 32 passes for 287 yards. Defensively, the Chiefs picked off San Diego QB Tom Flick three times, with safeties Lloyd Burruss and Sherman Cocroft and CB Albert Lewis getting picks. Lewis also had a sack.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on November 2, 1940 in Highland Park, Michigan was G Ed Budde (right). He was a first-round selection, the eighth player taken overall in the 1963 AFL Draft out of Michigan State. Budde played 14 seasons (1963-76) with the Chiefs, appearing in 177 games, most of those in a starting role at left guard. He was selected to the AFL’s All-Time team as selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Budde was selected to seven AFL All-Star games and Pro Bowls. He joined the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1984.
Born on November 2, 1960 in Indianapolis was C Adam Lingner. He was selected in the ninth round of the 1983 NFL Draft out of Illinois. Lingner spent five seasons with the Chiefs in two segments (1983-86, 1988) getting all most all of his playing time as a long snapper. He played in 76 games with one start. Lingner played another eight seasons with Buffalo, including appearing in four Super Bowls with the Bills.