Bye week review of this team

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11-06-2013, 11:40 AM
matthewschiefs

Bye week review of this team

This years Chiefs have reached there bye week and I don't think even the biggest homer anywhere had this team being 9-0. I know for sure that I didn't. There are a lot of people who didn't have this team winning 9 games all year long. And after last season who could blame them. So this years team has been a real pleasant surprise.

The defense. I'll start with the easy part. Even at their worst this has been a bend but don't break defense. They have allowed some teams to move the ball but they have yet to allow a team to put up over 17 points. They have had a very limited number of bumps in the road like the 3rd quarter against the Titans. But even with those little bumps (which every team has) they have still been the only defense to yet to give up more then 17 points. They have been OUTSTANDING. Still some things to clean up but still even with those they have been the best in the NFL.

The offense. Very frustrating at times. They have shown some flashes from time to time of what they can do. But now 9 games into the season they have yet to be able to put it together for a whole game. They are going to have to here soon the test are about to get a whole lot harder. But the good news is it's nothing they can't fix. The bye week comes at the perfect time for this team. They have 2 weeks to A. Work on the things that have held the offense back. And B. Get ready for there biggest foe in the AFC west race. This offense has great potential. They just have to put it together. They are the perfect offense to beat Denver but they have to get it done on the field. Potential is great. But this team had potential last year. We all saw what happened. The bye week is a great chance to get these things worked out. They have to get it done. It would be great to see this offense running up to what they can. It would make this one really tough team to beat.

All of this has been talked about now here are some things that I don't think have been talked about enough

John Dorsey- Is there any doubt that he is the GM of the year. Just look at the moves he has made that no one thought about that we all now see were pretty good moves. They are the rest of the surprises.

Marcus Cooper- Where did this guy come from? The defense was missing there top CB on a couple of occasions but he didn't make you miss him much. The guy has come out of no where and he's only a rookie. He can still get better and that's very very exciting for this team.

Sean McGrath- While he isn't bound to be a pro bowler this year he did a very nice job filling in at TE. For a 3rd string TE you really couldn't expect any more then what you got. These are the types of moves that good GMS make. It's easy to talk about the trade for the QB. But for the 3rd string TE to be helping the team win that's not something that you see very often.

Ron Parker-Special teams is not something that most football fans like to talk about. It's one of the "little things" that good teams do. This guy to special teams has been like Cooper to the defense. Where in the world did he come from? I can't tell you how many times we have seen him be the guy to make a play on special teams. There is some luck involved with the muffed punt. But at the end of the day he put himself in position to make that play. The guy is one of the most underrated stories on this team.

Dontari Poe- This is not a Dorsey special but the guy has been a surprise. He made a HUGE jump from last year. And has been a force on defense. I was one that didn't like the pick when it was made. But he's making me happy that I was wrong. Hopefully he is able to keep it up.

This years team has been a surprise to everyone. They are contenders. They have as good of a chance to win it all as anyone else. I look forward to seeing this team get a chance to EARN the respect from the talking heads on tv. They have a great chance to do so between now and the end of the year. They just have to get it done.
11-06-2013, 03:15 PM
brdempsey69

It's very ironic that the 49ers trip to slip Cooper through on waivers just to keep Nmandi and the Chiefs claimed Cooper and the 49ers just recently waived Nmandi. Nice pickup by Dorsey.
11-06-2013, 03:54 PM
ctchiefsfan

Great post Matthew!!!!

A couple of small things I think you missed.....

1) As well as Dorsey for GM of the year I have to say Andy Reid for Coach of the year. Maybe not for the offense he has put together (they are certainly still a work in progress) but certainly for the new spirit he has brought to the team and the many assistant coaches he was responsible for bringing here. No doubt in my mind that at the end of the year the Chiefs will have made the biggest single year turnaround in NFL History. THANK YOU Andy Reid!!!!

2) Bob Sutton....Is their any doubt he deserves some sort of award for what he has done with this Defense? Everybody knew they had potential with all the Pro Bowlers but he turned that potential into what will probably turn out to be the best Defense in the NFL this year. And how many times have we seen teams with HUGE "potential" turn out to accomplish very little. Bob Sutton is a HUGE part of our success this year.

Other than those two things I think your post was truly exceptional!!!
11-06-2013, 04:46 PM
matthewschiefs

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctchiefsfan

Great post Matthew!!!!

A couple of small things I think you missed.....

1) As well as Dorsey for GM of the year I have to say Andy Reid for Coach of the year. Maybe not for the offense he has put together (they are certainly still a work in progress) but certainly for the new spirit he has brought to the team and the many assistant coaches he was responsible for bringing here. No doubt in my mind that at the end of the year the Chiefs will have made the biggest single year turnaround in NFL History. THANK YOU Andy Reid!!!!

2) Bob Sutton....Is their any doubt he deserves some sort of award for what he has done with this Defense? Everybody knew they had potential with all the Pro Bowlers but he turned that potential into what will probably turn out to be the best Defense in the NFL this year. And how many times have we seen teams with HUGE "potential" turn out to accomplish very little. Bob Sutton is a HUGE part of our success this year.

Other than those two things I think your post was truly exceptional!!!

Agreed on both points

One thing I did mean to mention that I think speaks to Sutton's impact on this team is has anyone else noticed how much Berry has improved covering TES? It use to be a real weak point for him but this year he has been MUCH MUCH better at it then in the past. I think that's something that Sutton has helped with
11-06-2013, 05:19 PM
ctchiefsfan

EVERY aspect of our Defense has improved under Sutton. If you really worked at it, how many Defensive players could you find that are not outperforming last year? Fisher perhaps has not been as big as we hoped, but he is a rookie and he is playing "out of position". Under those circumstances I can't blame Sutton for not making Fisher into a star this year. This is a defense that is going to terrify opponents for years to come. Shades of the "Steel Curtain" or perhaps the "Purple People Eaters".
11-06-2013, 05:40 PM
Eydugstr

Great post, MC!

I'd have to throw Bob Sutton's name in the ring, too. I'm not sure that we're a "bend but don't break" style defense, because Sutton is really aggressive at times. We're more of a "play hard/adjust/then play harder" D that doesn't telegraph it's punches.

Reid deserves coach of the year. He's also proving that an old tiger can change his stripes. One of the best decisions made by Reid was not to go to a 4-3 defense, and stick with the 3-4 alignment that was currently here. We would not be 9-0 if we'd gone with the 4-3, and went through all the problems switching back to that style D.

Dontari Poe has been AWESOME. His commitment to better play resulted in the entire D line getting better.

Marcus Cooper lately has been my favorite player to watch. It's like watching Albert Lewis all over again. If he stays focused and continues to get better, teams will have no choice but to throw somewhere else. And they'll pay for that decision, too. The job he did in the Buffalo game was outstanding.

On special teams I'd have to give Quentin Demps some props, along with DMC.

Our offense has definitely struggled, but I think a large part of the problem there comes from how much a front office can do with just one offseason. It'll take time to build a team that dominates on both sides of the ball. We also have 7 more games and players coming back from the injury list to help improve in that area. Can you imagine what this team could accomplish, if our D maintains it's level of play, and all of a sudden the offense starts lighting the scoreboard?
11-06-2013, 06:39 PM
doobs_05

Does KC lead the league in punts?
11-06-2013, 10:11 PM
ctchiefsfan

Quote:

Originally Posted by doobs_05

Does KC lead the league in punts?

I've no clue, but I think it's possible they come close. And while that is not a statistic any team wants to lay claim to, it's not as bad a thing as it might sound. 3 and out from your own 20 or 30 is a real problem. But if you get the ball on your own 20 or 30, get 2 first downs and the punt pins the opponent inside his own 15 then it is not all that bad a thing. Then the game becomes a chess match--a game of field position if you will. With our defense and Colquitt that is generally a matchup we are going to win.

NO DOUBT our offense needs to punt less, get more first downs and score more. ABSOLUTELY! But in the end a team with a strong defense should win darned near every game they play if they score 28 points per game. We're currently at 23.88 points per game. The oddity is that our offense has only scored (I think) 166 points (18.44 points per game) with the other points (49) coming from defense and special teams (5.44 points per game). Relying on Defense and Special teams for 5.44 points per game is not something a team can make a living at long-term. Our offense has to figure out how to average one more touchdown per game. That would bring our offense up to an average of 25.44 points per game----just 2.56 points per game less than the 28 points per game that should win us almost every game.

The problem is not so much that we are punting too often....it's simply that our offense is not scoring enough points. They need to convert 1 more drive per game into a touchdown. One more touchdown per game and our PF/PA against ratio would be 278 to 111. That is overwhelming. It's 2.504 points for every point the opponent scores. That would yield an average score of 30.88 to 12.33.

The problem is not how often we punt, it's that we don't score enough touchdowns on offense. We need one more offensive touchdown per game.
11-07-2013, 03:22 AM
jap1

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctchiefsfan

I've no clue, but I think it's possible they come close. And while that is not a statistic any team wants to lay claim to, it's not as bad a thing as it might sound. 3 and out from your own 20 or 30 is a real problem. But if you get the ball on your own 20 or 30, get 2 first downs and the punt pins the opponent inside his own 15 then it is not all that bad a thing. Then the game becomes a chess match--a game of field position if you will. With our defense and Colquitt that is generally a matchup we are going to win.

NO DOUBT our offense needs to punt less, get more first downs and score more. ABSOLUTELY! But in the end a team with a strong defense should win darned near every game they play if they score 28 points per game. We're currently at 23.88 points per game. The oddity is that our offense has only scored (I think) 166 points (18.44 points per game) with the other points (49) coming from defense and special teams (5.44 points per game). Relying on Defense and Special teams for 5.44 points per game is not something a team can make a living at long-term. Our offense has to figure out how to average one more touchdown per game. That would bring our offense up to an average of 25.44 points per game----just 2.56 points per game less than the 28 points per game that should win us almost every game.

The problem is not so much that we are punting too often....it's simply that our offense is not scoring enough points. They need to convert 1 more drive per game into a touchdown. One more touchdown per game and our PF/PA against ratio would be 278 to 111. That is overwhelming. It's 2.504 points for every point the opponent scores. That would yield an average score of 30.88 to 12.33.

The problem is not how often we punt, it's that we don't score enough touchdowns on offense. We need one more offensive touchdown per game.

I agree, but instead of one more touchdown, would just like to see a better red zone efficiency. One or two FGs that are TDs instead would get us to where we need to be. Going from 50% red zone efficiency (where we are now) to closer to 75% would be huge.