What went wrong? Looking at all 31 of the Chiefs' failed offensive plays
What went wrong? Looking at all 31 of the Chiefs' failed offensive plays
Was it scheme? Protection? Receivers? Mahomes? Trying to piece together one of the worst offensive outputs of the last 4 seasons.
To paraphrase a famous line, if you’re looking for fun you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if you’re looking for some answers, I think I can help you out with that a little. One bad play at a time.
Following the Chiefs frustrating letdown to the Colts Sunday (one that I characterized as “gross.” I stand by that), we were left with a lot of questions as to how Patrick Mahomes and company managed a paltry 17 points against an Indianapolis defense that wasn’t considered terribly dangerous.
I had theories of my own, and heard many of yours. Maybe the play calling stunk. Maybe the offensive line couldn’t get push and/or protect long enough for the offense to run. Maybe the receivers weren’t getting open. Maybe the runners weren’t seeing lanes. Maybe Mahomes had an off day. Maybe the entire group looked out of sync and not on the same page. Shoot, maybe all of it.
I started off the week with the intention of looking at Orlando Brown Jr.’s snaps (and we’ll do that at some point), but after reviewing the first half-dozen or so offensive snaps by the Chiefs (there’s a joke here somewhere about how truly offensive they were) I realized that there was a lot more going on (and going wrong) than just one player or one issue.
And so, I decided to look at every “failed” play by the offense to try and find what the biggest factor was in each play failing (letting you know. In doing so, I looked for a few patterns to see if we can figure out what precisely was the biggest issue against the Colts.
31 snaps later (THIRTY ONE FAILED SNAPS), I think I have some answers as to what went so wrong for the Chiefs. And in doing so, I found some bad news, but also some good news when thinking about the long-term prospects for the offense. For purposes of laying this out for you I’m going to just go in order with failed plays, 1 through 31. I’ll give the rough time stamp of each play (as the clock appears on the all-22) as well as the down and distance.
Like I said, this may not be fun. But it definitely fills in some gaps from a mystifying day for the offense. And with the time stamps you should be able to search out whatever play you have the most questions about.
All right, let’s do this.