PFF Grades the Chiefs, Week 9

[Hammock Parties]

1. Jonathan Baldwin's snaps went up to 38 this week, with 32 on pass plays. Considering we had 55 passing snaps, that's not enough.

2. Branden Albert, Ryan Lilja and Casey Wiegmann are innocent. They all had positive grades (although Albert gave up 3 pressures). Your culprits are Jon Asamoah and Barry Richardson, although interestingly enough their pass blocking grades are not wildly horrible. Their run blocking was terrible though. Richardson allowed 4 QB pressures, Asamoah 3.

3. One guy no one is talking about: Jake O'Connell. His pass protection was terrible at a -2.7. Blitz pickup FAIL.

4. The only guy credited with allowing a sack was Matt Cassel. Which again points to the talk that the Dolphins simply brought more guys than we could block. Coaching fail.

5. Cassel was under pressure 16 times. On those plays he ran 7 times, completed no passes, and was sacked 5 times. Get me a new QB.

6. Nobody on defense had a green rating this week. That means everyone was average at best, and there is a lot of red on the page.

7. Interestingly enough, Jovan Belcher had a nice game with 7 stops.

8. We had 0 QB pressures.

9. Nobody in this game was good in coverage. Carr and Flowers were targeted 12 times, and gave up 10 catches for 129 yards. The Dolphins didn't throw at anyone else that much, although Studebaker, DJ, Pieceofshitty and Travis Daniels all gave up one big play each.

PFF's recap:

Dolphins – Three Performances of Note

Showing Moore effort

What a turnaround for Moore in this game! Prior to Week 9, Moore’s highest passing grade was +2.0, while against the Chiefs it was +6.5. Moore was incredibly accurate with 17 of his 22 throws caught —discounting, batted passes, throwaways — with another two passes dropped, and did so without changing his aggressive approach. In fact, only two incompletions were from beyond ten yards and his 244 passing yards indicate a healthy 10.6 yards per attempt. Moore made the Chiefs pay for blitzing him, completing all five pass attempts against the blitz for 55 yards and two of his three touchdown passes. The former Panther didn’t feel any pressure all game and he responded with improved decision-making and remarkable accuracy. It’s too bad the Dolphins can’t have a perfect game in pass protection every game, because if this Moore was around every week, Chad Henne would have been long-forgotten by this point in the season.



Tight end make significant contributions

Anthony Fasano (+2.8) became the first Dolphins TE since 2008 to catch two touchdown passes in one game, when he caught them, and played a big role in the Dolphins win. After a disappointing first half of the season, Fasano turned in his best game of the year and made plays through the air and blocking in the run game. His second touchdown, at 9:55 in the second quarter, was the product of good play-design and execution as Moore rolls out to the right, freezing ILB Derrick Johnson up just long enough for the big TE to get behind him and stretch for the touchdown. Fasano is known more for his blocking than receiving skills, though, and he didn’t sacrifice the former for the latter in this game. He helped spring Bush (+2.2) for a touchdown in the third quarter with a key block on left OLB Tamba Hali (-2.4) on a reverse to his side.



Defensive standouts

Typically this spot would be reserved to discuss a poor performance or two, but when a previously winless team turns in a 31-3 road victory, it’s hard not to want to give credit rather than blame for once. In that spirit, let’s briefly look at a few standout defensive performances. DE Kendall Langford (+3.7) had his highest-graded output of the season thanks to five pressures of Matt Cassel. ILB Karlos Dansby (+2.7) was extremely active all over the field and finished with a sack, three tackles for loss, and a pair of tackles short of first-down yardage on third down, giving him a total of five defensive stops for the game. Kevin Burnett (+2.0) had his best game of the season for the second week in a row and is starting to look like the player Miami expected to get when they signed him. For those looking to find fault with the team’s first win, look to the secondary, where rookie CB Jimmy Wilson (-3.6) and veteran safety Yeremiah Bell (-1.1) combined for five penalties. Wilson’s penalties were pass interference calls he supplemented with a couple missed tackles. Bell was the victim of a poor unnecessary roughness call, but the other two were his own doing.



Chiefs: Three Performances of Note

Oh my, O’Connell

After seeing the contributions of Fasano and Clay up close and personal, have the Chiefs felt the loss of Tony Moeaki more sharply than now? It doesn’t help that their own TEs didn’t play too well in this one. Leonard Pope (-1.3) didn’t have a good game by any means, but the true offender was Jake O’Connell. O’Connell (-3.8) was graded negatively in every facet we grade players, and when you play 57 snaps and don’t perform well in any capacity, you’re likely to play a big part in a team’s loss and grace the virtual pages of our Re-focused articles, or worse, Khaled’s “Had a Bad Day” articles. Besides being a non-factor as a receiver, O’Connell allowed three pressures of Cassell in only 14 pass-block attempts and drew a holding penalty. The sting is that much more painful with Fasano’s big day on the other side.



Problems in Washington’s D, see

The Chiefs have suffered some bad performances at the safety position this year, but Donald Washington’s (-4.0) game against the Dolphins ranks up there. Washington didn’t record a tackle, but he did miss two, although one was erased through an unrelated penalty. The penalty was a stroke of luck for Washington, as his missed tackle of Bush allowed Bush to run free down the sideline for significant extra yardage all the way down near the five-yard line. He also bit on a play-fake that allowed Fasano to sneak into the back of the end zone for his first touchdown catch, uncontested. Additionally, Washington committed a costly unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit on Bush after he was stopped for a short gain that would have led to 3rd-and-6 at the Dolphins own eight-yard line. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the recipe for an all-around poor game.



Where’s the rush?

Again, normally this paragraph would serve to remind that it’s not all bad when a team loses and that there are strong performances in almost any defeat. In this game, though, it’s far more relevant to continue discussing the poor performances than to ignore them to discuss a performance that had far less impact on the game. The root of the problem for the Chiefs in this game was their inability to get any pressure whatsoever. It’s not uncommon for the Chiefs defense to struggle to get pressure outside of Tamba Hali (-2.4), but when Hali is shut down as he was, somebody else has to step up. They did not and Moore, a QB who typically struggles under pressure, was able to sling the ball around care-free. Hali actually had more penalties called against him than he did pressures, a feat that certainly doesn’t occur very often. Despite their inability to get any pressure in this game, the Chiefs only called five blitzes. That number will need to increase if the Chiefs continue to struggle to get to the opposing quarterback.



Game Notes

- Thanks mainly to their collective perfect game in pass protection, the entire Dolphins offensive line outside of right guard Vernon Carey (-0.6) graded in the green, marking the first time right tackle Marc Colombo has done so all season.

- In 16 drop-backs under pressure, Cassel took off running seven times, absorbed five sacks, and completed none of the four passes he actually got off.

- Bush’s strong game marked the first time he’s graded in the green in back-to-back games since weeks 2-3 of 2008 season.

PFF Game Ball

Quarterbacking a winless team to a victory takes enough grit to warrant consideration for this award regardless, but Matt Moore’s impressive display erases all doubt.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by milkman

The Packers won last year because of one thing, and they are winning this year because of that same thing.

Aaron Rodgers.

The Packer D this year is giving up a shit ton of points, but Rodgers keeps putting up more.



Alex Smith is not going to get a team to the SB.

As Hamas stated, these 9ers are the 90s Chiefs.



Cincy hasn't beaten anyone, Philly is a 3-5 team.

Tampa might be good, but they also got their shit stomped in by Chicago, was it?

And we really don't know for sure what the Lions are either.

For now, you can't really point to any one of those teams as some kind of measure of the 9ers greatness.

I'll completely disagree about that. The Bears beat the Bucs in London by 6 I think.

They won 3 out of those 4 games on the road. Traveling to the East Coast and winning every single road game on your schedule is impressive.

[Chiefnj2]

Going on the road to the east coast and winning multiple games is big. The 49ers might not win the Super Bowl, but it's pretty amazing what a new coach can do.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

The 49ers might not win the Super Bowl, but it's pretty amazing what a new coach can do.

Pretty amazing job Harbaugh has done so far, and just shows how bad Singletary was because they are basically the same team.

But ive got to agree, no way in hell Alex Smith carries a team to a SB. Not a playmaker.

[Hammock Parties]

That team is 30th in passing. LOL

They are basically last year's Chiefs with a better defense.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

So we are a HC and a QB away from competing.

We don't have a HC problem. We have a HC handcuffed with a mediocre QB problem. This one is on Pioli, not Haley.

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

This team desperately needs a complementary pass rusher more than it needs a RT or NT.

Agreed. But our RT need is only second in a photo finish.

Originally Posted by BossChief

There will be growing pains, but there are really only 3 quarterbacks out of this upcoming class that I think might be better than him.

Luck
Barkley
Foles

I really dont think Landry Jones is head and shoulders a better quarterback.

I'm not impressed by Foles. Believe me I have tried to be impressed by him. Landry Jones has impressed me enough every time I had a chance to see him, which is not many.

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

This team does not have the depth to withstand injuries, which will invariably happen.

The best point of the thread.

Originally Posted by BossChief

I completely disagree.

Relatively speaking, of course.

WTF?!!!

Originally Posted by ILChief

I'd rather go with Stanzi than Mallett

but we have to see Stanzi play first. He is inactive every week. What's up with that? We have T-Jones, O'Connel, and Piss-the-belly taking up room on the roster and we can't dress up Stanzi to at least send him in late in a ranaway game?!

Originally Posted by BossChief

Id give up a whole draft for either one of them...even though Barkley can be a bit of Jeykl and Hyde.

Most years I would disagree with this. But we may have enough starting talent in place that going that aggressively after someone like Luck may be warranted. I just wish he wasn't such a mucus machine! I'd just keep my fingers crossed that Gaither would get healthy enough to topple Richardson, Houston would provide the complimentary pass rush, and/or I could get some FAs signed at S, RT, OLB.
I like Barkley a lot too, but I wouldn't do an entire draft on him.

[milkman]

I've seen Landry Jones 3 times this year, and one other time last year, and I have been highly unimpressed with him.

Foles has a slow release, but a good QB coach can work out a couple of mechanical issues which will improve the release, but I really like the competitiveness he brings.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by milkman

I've seen Landry Jones 3 times this year, and one other time last year, and I have been highly unimpressed with him.

Foles has a slow release, but a good QB coach can work out a couple of mechanical issues which will improve the release, but I really like the competitiveness he brings.

I see Foles as the guy we can probably stand pat on and take when we pick in the first round and a guy Zorn can probably improve the most of any of these kids.

Ive watched some of this Griffin kid and he could be the real deal, too.

He is slowly creeping up my list the more he shows his ability to be a pocket type passer and not just a gimmick.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

The 9ers were definitely wise to take my boy, Aldon Smth. Dude is straight up beasting as a rusher right now. 6.5 sacks through 8 games.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

The 9ers were definitely wise to take my boy, Aldon Smth. Dude is straight up beasting as a rusher right now. 6.5 sacks through 8 games.

***BLAINE GABBERT TROLLPOST***

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Iconic

9ers have beat Cincy, Philly, Tampa Bay, Detriot, and had a VERY close one against Dallas. Which is why I point to the 2008 Patriot season.

First of all, the the only teams you mentioned the Niners beating that even looks remotely impressive are the Lions and the Bengals, and they're playing a rookie QB. The rest have had Incredibly underwhelming season to this point. Also, the Pats won 11 games that year against a very soft schedule despite Cassel, who look ehhh with a WR corps that had been the most prolific in the history of the game just the year before. Cassel did the same there as he does here.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Id also rather go with Stanzi than all but 3 (maybe 4) of the quarterbacks in this upcoming class.

Hell, at least compared to the QB's from last year's draft who have played, I think only Newton and Dalton are better than Stanzi. I do though think Dalton reminds me of Stanzi.

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Iconic

They beat 5 teams that were .500 or higher. Even if it's not the toughest schedule how confident would you be if Haley were your HC in that situation. I'd have thrown in the towel the second I saw Brady go down. Haley is just an average HC. If he knew what he was doing he wouldn't have made Bill ****ing Muir our OC...

All they had to do to "tailor" the offense to Cassel was throw out any passing play beyond 10-15yds. Not joking.

[Bob Dole]

Bob Dole was as under the weather as the team was and didn't even manage to watch the entire first half. Did they ever start moving Hali around as in the previous games, or just leave him across from Long to continue to get stoned all day?

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Bob Dole was as under the weather as the team was and didn't even manage to watch the entire first half. Did they ever start moving Hali around as in the previous games, or just leave him across from Long to continue to get stoned all day?

They moved him. But, if he wasn't getting Long, he was getting double-teamed on the other side. Chipped sometimes - even when he was on Long's side, now that I think on it. Their plan was to nullify Hali and they did a very good job.

That's why I don't understand Romeo's thinking very much. Anyone could see that they were dedicated to taking Hali away but Romeo didn't adjust and mix up the rush packages. I can only assume that he didn't think he could on account of our completely injury savaged secondary which was playing like those dudes standing next Custer while he was trying to surrender.

FAX THE ATTENTIVE

[Nightfyre]

So the key to passing on the Chiefs is to bullseye Hali.... makes sense. I wonder if Romeo can adjust the scheme to compensate for teams doing that in the future. Granted, he is confined by the shitty safety play...