Game 8 observations

Yeah I know there's another thread like this, but I had too many points of observation for one reply. I'll get right to the meat:

1a- This O NEEDs to improve. Buffalo WILL be tough and I for one do not remember KC doing well there. The rest of the schedule is going to be tough if our O is like this. The first half was very promising and Alex was getting good protection. But when Cleveland adjusted for the 2nd half, we had almost no answer. Granted, we were again playing against a very good D.

1b- Alex Smith: This was the first time I can totally go with the label of game manager for him. He is still mil;es ahead of Cassel, but his newly obvious trend of high passes on tosses over 7 yards needs to be fixed fast. I don't know what it takes, but he needs to be sharp next week in cold Buffalo.

2- When was the last time we scored a TD on our very first drive? I'm sure we've had one this year, but I don't remember it. After two initial excellent drives we should have been 14-0, not 6-0.

3- Gimmick plays have never worked consistantly for the Chiefs since Hank Stram. There was a big difference in the execution of the flea flicker by the Browns and by the chiefs in this game. Our reverse in the 1st quarter developed very slowly in the backfield and expectedly didn't go anywhere.

4- Bowe may not have yet gotten untracked in receiving, but I think his blocking is priceless. He doesn't get much credit for that.

5- Twilight Zone moment of the game: Andy declined a running-into-the-kicker penalty giving the momentum riding Cleveland O the ball on their 27! WHAT THE HELL?!! Why not let the best punter in football punt from 5 yard closer and try to pin Cleveland deeper in their own end? I'm totall stumped on this.

6- Andy almost did not challenge a 3rd down play when the refs spotted the ball a full yard back of where Alex had gone down, almost forcing us into a 4th and inches decision. It was so obvious that my grandma could have seen it, and she's long been dead. WTH ANDY?!

The offense has to be better. The first half offense wasn't perfect for sure but if that offense happened in the 2nd half this game wouldn't have been close at all. I think in this one the Chiefs offensive coaches and Reid were out coched in this one. The Browns made a halftime adjustment on there defense and the Chiefs couldn't make an adjustment to that adjustment. I also think Mccluster getting hurt late in the first half had a role in it he was not the same in the 2nd half

7- Our D is a great one, needless to say. we asked for an attacking., swarming D and we got one. But the nature of this kind of D is that occasionally it's vulnerable to the big play. The last two weeks this has been exposed a little bit. One of these weeks the D will give away one too many big plays and I hope our O is ready to take the wheel then.

8- Cleveland has two great coordinators.

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Originally Posted by matthewschiefs

The offense has to be better. The first half offense wasn't perfect for sure but if that offense happened in the 2nd half this game wouldn't have been close at all. I think in this one the Chiefs offensive coaches and Reid were out coched in this one. The Browns made a halftime adjustment on there defense and the Chiefs couldn't make an adjustment to that adjustment. I also think Mccluster getting hurt late in the first half had a role in it he was not the same in the 2nd half

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I did make a comment about halftime adjustments in your thread. That is not directed at you (although it's verbalized like it) but only my thoughts. I see you and I see the problem of our lack of adjustment the same way. Great coaches don't usually get comfortable with the 1st half performance and HAVE to account for the opponents adjustments. In this, our coaches failed today.

I just sent this to matthewschiefs thread of the same topic. See you there.

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Originally Posted by Frankenchief

Yeah I know there's another thread like this, but I had too many points of observation for one reply. I'll get right to the meat:

1a- This O NEEDs to improve. Buffalo WILL be tough and I for one do not remember KC doing well there. The rest of the schedule is going to be tough if our O is like this. The first half was very promising and Alex was getting good protection. But when Cleveland adjusted for the 2nd half, we had almost no answer. Granted, we were again playing against a very good D.

I expect Fubbalo to be tough. They almost always give us a hard time Regardless of their record, I expect them to make next week a very hard fought game. Just like the Browns did today.

1b- Alex Smith: This was the first time I can totally go with the label of game manager for him. He is still mil;es ahead of Cassel, but his newly obvious trend of high passes on tosses over 7 yards needs to be fixed fast. I don't know what it takes, but he needs to be sharp next week in cold Buffalo.

I AGREE COMPLETELY ON THE PASSES OVER 7 YARDS. DURING THE NEXT OFFSEASON SMITH NEEDS TO HIRE HIMSELF A PERSONAL TRAINER TO TEACH HIM TO THROW THE 7-25 YARD PASSES MORE ACCURATELY. Overall though I hate the term "game manager" as it brings on comparisons with Cassel. And Alex Smith ain't no Matt Cassel.

2- When was the last time we scored a TD on our very first drive? I'm sure we've had one this year, but I don't remember it. After two initial excellent drives we should have been 14-0, not 6-0.

This is something that really has me worried. For the first few games Smith was darned near perfect in the red zone. Recently he has struggled there.Given the struggles we are having on offense it is CRITICAL that when we get down in the red zone that we walk away from it with 7 not 3. This has been a problem for our Chiefs for just about as long as I can remember.

3- Gimmick plays have never worked consistantly for the Chiefs since Hank Stram. There was a big difference in the execution of the flea flicker by the Browns and by the chiefs in this game. Our reverse in the 1st quarter developed very slowly in the backfield and expectedly didn't go anywhere.

4- Bowe may not have yet gotten untracked in receiving, but I think his blocking is priceless. He doesn't get much credit for that.

Absolutely.

5- Twilight Zone moment of the game: Andy declined a running-into-the-kicker penalty giving the momentum riding Cleveland O the ball on their 27! WHAT THE HELL?!! Why not let the best punter in football punt from 5 yard closer and try to pin Cleveland deeper in their own end? I'm totall stumped on this.

As I mentioned during the game day thread, Colquitt was hurt during that play. I believe that Reid made the choice he did because Colquitt was not going to be able to get off a good punt. Remember that on the next punt Colquitt punted very short. It turned out OK because the Browns return man muffed the punt and we recovered, but I think the reason Reid declined the penalty was because Colquitt was not in any shape to punt the ball again. Please remember that Colquitt has been playing hurt for several weeks now.

6- Andy almost did not challenge a 3rd down play when the refs spotted the ball a full yard back of where Alex had gone down, almost forcing us into a 4th and inches decision. It was so obvious that my grandma could have seen it, and she's long been dead. WTH ANDY?!

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Or was Reid just taking his own sweet time with the challenge to give the offense a few extra seconds of "breathing room"? We also need to remember that he doesn't have the same view from the sidelines that we do from TV and instant replay. Reid may have been waiting for advice from upstairs on whether to challenge the spot or not as he may not have had a good enough view of the play to be sure if it was a bad spot or not. It's quite possible that the delay in throwing the challenge flag was Reid waiting for people who had the benefit of instant replay etc to tell him whether the challenge was worth the risk.

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Originally Posted by ctchiefsfan

5- As I mentioned during the game day thread, Colquitt was hurt during that play. I believe that Reid made the choice he did because Colquitt was not going to be able to get off a good punt. Remember that on the next punt Colquitt punted very short. It turned out OK because the Browns return man muffed the punt and we recovered, but I think the reason Reid declined the penalty was because Colquitt was not in any shape to punt the ball again. Please remember that Colquitt has been playing hurt for several weeks now.

6- Or was Reid just taking his own sweet time with the challenge to give the offense a few extra seconds of "breathing room"? We also need to remember that he doesn't have the same view from the sidelines that we do from TV and instant replay. Reid may have been waiting for advice from upstairs on whether to challenge the spot or not as he may not have had a good enough view of the play to be sure if it was a bad spot or not. It's quite possible that the delay in throwing the challenge flag was Reid waiting for people who had the benefit of instant replay etc to tell him whether the challenge was worth the risk.

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5- I don't remember Colquitt playing hurt for several games. I must have missed that. But when Andy chose not to re-punt I thought the only possible reason could be that Colquitt got hurt when run into on that play. But nobody mentioned it on the tube or even discuss the decision, so I wasn't sure.

6- Boy that was a LOOONG time of waiting for such an obvious challenge. The refs were totally stupid on the spot. It wasn't a mistake of inches. It was almost a full yard.-

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Originally Posted by Frankenchief

5- I don't remember Colquitt playing hurt for several games. I must have missed that.

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Dustin injured his right knee in the Giants game (9/29). He was listed as "probable" on the injury report for the Titans, Raiders and Texans games but not for the Browns game. He must've reinjured it on that play. You could see him limping after he got hit.

Exactly. As Frankenchief said, the announcers did not mention it during the game, but watching the replay on the livestream I am CERTAIN I saw him on the ground and clearly in pain after that play. And he certainly got hit hard in an earlier game. Memory fails me and I thought it was more recently than the Giants game, but I clearly remember the announcers talking about the possibility that Succup might have to be the punter for the rest of that game. Guess it was the Giants game.

Colquitt has been taking a lot of hits (for a punter) this year and I am am convinced that teams are targeting him.

On the late challenge flag....no doubt it was obvious watching on TV. Especially after seeing instant replay a couple of times. But was it as obvious at field level without the benefit of replay? The zebras got it wrong and they were right there. My guess is that Reid thought the spot was bad but called "upstairs" to see if with the benefit of replay they agreed. I believe Reid immediately wanted to challenge the spot but decided to check with upstairs to see what they thought with the benefit of replay. I think it was "upstairs" taking their time watching the replay that caused the delay in Reid finally throwing the red flag.