Chiefs Only Hope of Playoff Berth Rests on Jamaal Charles, Offensive Balance: The Kansas City Chiefs control their playoff destiny with four games remaining, yet two consecutive losses—first to the then-winless Oakland Raiders, and then an ugly loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football during which they generated 151 yards of total offense—would keep them out of the playoffs if they started today. As it stands, the No. 6-seeded Miami Dolphins hold the tiebreaker over the Chiefs due to win percentage in conference games, but Kansas City sits one game back of the 8-4 San Diego Chargers with a Week 17 contest at Arrowhead Stadium looming and a win over the Chargers already under its belt. There is no margin for error here, as the Chiefs are one of six 7-5 teams in the AFC and their playoff hopes are all but tied to securing a wild-card berth, sitting two games behind the AFC West leading Broncos with a pair of head-to-head losses to Peyton Manning and company already this season. The Chiefs offense was inept last week against Denver, going three-and-out on their first two possessions and trailing 14-0 by the end of the first quarter. This forced the Chiefs to play from behind, resulting in 14 touches (10 carries, four receptions) for star running back Jamaal Charles. It was his least number of touches since the season opener against the Tennessee Titans, except for Week 2 when he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first quarter. His usage—or lack thereof—prompted offensive coordinator Doug Pederson to say he hopes to get Charles more touches moving forward, according to Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star. We as a staff, and me as a coordinator, I have to allow him to touch the football as often as we can. You look at the stat sheet and look at the targets and the number of touches that guys get, and then you go back and say, ‘Oh, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that, or more of this or less of that,’ after the game, win or lose. It is a novel idea to get the ball in the hands of your best player, but it comes with the caveat that the Chiefs have led for a combined seven minutes over their last two games, according to Pro Football Talk’s Darin Gantt. They fell behind by two touchdowns in both. As Pederson acknowledged, the Chiefs were forced to play catch-up and throw the ball. Still, it reeks of the same old song and dance from the Chiefs coaching staff, which has made it a point—Pederson being the third such instance—to mention his less-than-ideal workload following three of their fives losses this season: * “Not giving [No.] 25 the ball more than seven times is negligence on my part, also. This offense is best when there’s balance. I’ve got to make sure I maintain that and continue to give your best player, or one of your best players, the football.” —Head coach Andy Reid said, via Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star following the Chiefs’ 26-10 Week 1 loss vs. Tennessee. * “We could’ve done a better job of giving him more carries. If I had to do it all over again, and this is hindsight, I’d probably come back and hand it to him and given him an opportunity to make a play.” —Reid said, via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith, referencing one of three third-and-1 passes following a 22-17 loss at San Francisco. Notice in the chart below how the Chiefs’ five losses have come in the games they have run the ball the least. There are obvious stipulations here, in that teams are more prone to running the ball with a lead and forced to throw when trailing. The fact remains the Chiefs’ blueprint is establishing the ground game with Charles: Chiefs Offensive Breakdown Wk. Opp. Result Rush Att. Pass Att. Sacked Run % 1 TEN L 10-26 17 35 4 32.7 2 @DEN L 17-24 31 42 2 42.5 3 @MIA W 34-15 41 25 5 62.1 4 NE W 41-14 38 26 2 59.4 5 @SF L 17-22 20 30 0 40.0 7 @SD W 23-20 39 28 3 58.2 8 STL W 34-7 33 29 2 53.2 9 NYJ W 24-10 24 31 1 43.6 10 @BUF W 17-13 24 29 6 45.3 11 @SEA W 24-20 30 16 0 65.2 12 @OAK L 20-24 24 36 2 40.0 13 DEN L 16-29 15 23 6 39.5 This season, Charles has averaged 18.9 touches in 10 games—a figure which excludes Week 2 (two rushes, one reception) due to leaving with an ankle injury. That number is down from a season ago, when Charles averaged 21.9 touches and set career highs in touchdowns, receptions and receiving yards. Adding fuel to the fire is that the coaching staff continues to underutilize Charles, and the Chiefs have likely lost games this season by doing so. The Chiefs—and Pederson—have the opportunity to be true to their word this week in a road matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in what projects as a low-scoring affair. The Cardinals have the NFL’s sixth-ranked rushing defense, but the Chiefs have the opportunity to control the tempo and will likely avoid falling behind early against an offense starting backups Drew Stanton at quarterback and Stepfan Taylor at running back. Meanwhile, Kansas City still must work in some deeper passes—similar to what they tried on the first play from scrimmage last week—to counter opposing defenses from blitzing and stacking the box. The bread and butter of the Chiefs’ passing game is dink-and-dunk plays with screens, slants and quick outs, which defenses game plan for and exploit. Establishing any semblance of a deep threat creates greater opportunities for chunk yards on the ground and yards after the catch on short passes. However, if this same narrative holds true next week—with Reid or Pederson publicly expressing regret for a fourth time about not getting Charles the ball more—the Chiefs’ playoff window will have likely already slammed shut. Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #AFCWest #KansasCityChiefs
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 22:32:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015