Chiefs Ten Things About Today's Game

keg in kc · 12-21-2014, 07:56 PM

I'm going to say something nice about Andy Reid, which is hard today, of all days, but he had the right gameplan for today's game. That was obvious every time we tried to run the ball. Every time we got stuffed. And you can't argue that they didn't move the chains all day long through the air. The problem was the red zone offense. (And trying to run the ball on 4th down instead of either kicking the goddamn field goal since we wouldn't have had time to score a TD anyway, or going with what had worked the entire first half, namely the pass.)

We weren't going to run the ball today. And there was zero wrong with Alex Smith throwing 44 passes against that defense. The offensive line was getting their shit pushed in by Pittsburgh's front seven, and that wouldn't have changed with more carries. They did the right thing going pass heavy. The stats show it: they outgained Pittsburgh by 50 yards and had a 3 minute advantage in time of possession. That's exactly what you want.

What you don't want is kicking field goals every time you're inside the ****ing 20 yard line. And unfortunately Andy Reid has always had problems in the red zone, say all you want about being the "#2 red zone team" this year, and we saw that again today.

I think the biggest issue is that the kind of east west brinksmanship that allowed us to move the ball between the 20s is very difficult to execute in that part of the field. But they did also try to go vertical several times in the red zone, they just failed to execute. Maybe they could have tried another run play or three, but I don't think that would have made an iota of difference. They just couldn't open up running lanes. The line play was much worse in that aspect than even the stats would indicate.

So I would say 20 to 20, Reid did a good job. Kept the chains moving, kept Pittsburgh off the field. It was the right strategy and it would have been a winning strategy except that LeBeau owned him where it counted, in the red zone.

We had every opportunity to win.

12-21-2014, 07:56 PM	#10
keg in kc oxymoron Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: OP/KC/Whatever Casino cash: $9556299	I'm going to say something nice about Andy Reid, which is hard today, of all days, but he had the right gameplan for today's game. That was obvious every time we tried to run the ball. Every time we got stuffed. And you can't argue that they didn't move the chains all day long through the air. The problem was the red zone offense. (And trying to run the ball on 4th down instead of either kicking the goddamn field goal since we wouldn't have had time to score a TD anyway, or going with what had worked the entire first half, namely the pass.) We weren't going to run the ball today. And there was zero wrong with Alex Smith throwing 44 passes against that defense. The offensive line was getting their shit pushed in by Pittsburgh's front seven, and that wouldn't have changed with more carries. They did the right thing going pass heavy. The stats show it: they outgained Pittsburgh by 50 yards and had a 3 minute advantage in time of possession. That's exactly what you want. What you don't want is kicking field goals every time you're inside the ****ing 20 yard line. And unfortunately Andy Reid has always had problems in the red zone, say all you want about being the "#2 red zone team" this year, and we saw that again today. I think the biggest issue is that the kind of east west brinksmanship that allowed us to move the ball between the 20s is very difficult to execute in that part of the field. But they did also try to go vertical several times in the red zone, they just failed to execute. Maybe they could have tried another run play or three, but I don't think that would have made an iota of difference. They just couldn't open up running lanes. The line play was much worse in that aspect than even the stats would indicate. So I would say 20 to 20, Reid did a good job. Kept the chains moving, kept Pittsburgh off the field. It was the right strategy and it would have been a winning strategy except that LeBeau owned him where it counted, in the red zone. We had every opportunity to win.
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