So it has seemed that the playcalling is off this year, no question. It has led a lot of people to speculate that Andy Reid is not making all of the calls.
I personally was not in those ranks; I didn't think there was any chance the Chiefs, who just signed a franchise QB to a half a billion dollar contract, would change up playcalling during a Super Bowl window.
But I do think the Mahomes/Bienemy spat on the sideline gave the game away (because why yell at Bienemy if you hate the playcalls?). And just so you don't think I started a thread based on only my intuition, my suspicions were echoed by extremely sharp Chiefs analysts Tod Palmer and Nick Jacobs on their "4th & 1" podcast. They don't think Reid is calling all the plays.
There is some circumstantial evidence to that. The Chiefs have been run-happier-than-usual on 2nd & longs for much of the season.
We've also seen Mahomes demand plays coming in repeatedly this year, which I've suspected was a kind of angst or anxiety but I think what's happening there is Bienemy's playcalling rhythms may be slower than Reid's, with whom Pat's synced up with for years.
I think I read Mahomes' lips during the sideline spat, saying "call the fucking play" and "call it." Which could very well be a dispute over the playcalling itself, or really just the rhythm.
Either way, that may account for some wonkiness in Mahomes' play this year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath15:
Not so much playcalling, but play design:
What the fuck is this? Whatever this is was never going to work. Why the rolling pocket?
You only have one realistic option on this play and it's the receiver coming over the middle - but your rolling pocket is bringing the defenders with him.
I'd have to see the all-22, but I don't see that much of an issue here.
Robinson's route would generally be a pretty good beater for certain cover 2 defenses, specifically if #2 ended up dropping low to cover the short zone. Most safeties won't be able to get to that sideline quick enough to defend a good throw over there.
It also looks like there is someone off-screen to the right that Pat looks at as his first read.
Most importantly the man running the crosser is wide open. I can't blame that on playcalling based on what I'm seeing here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath15:
Not so much playcalling, but play design:
What the fuck is this? Whatever this is was never going to work. Why the rolling pocket?
You only have one realistic option on this play and it's the receiver coming over the middle - but your rolling pocket is bringing the defenders with him.
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
I'd have to see the all-22, but I don't see that much of an issue here.
Robinson's route would generally be a pretty good beater for certain cover 2 defenses, specifically if #2 ended up dropping low to cover the short zone. Most safeties won't be able to get to that sideline quick enough to defend a good throw over there.
It also looks like there is someone off-screen to the right that Pat looks at as his first read.
Most importantly the man running the crosser is wide open. I can't blame that on playcalling based on what I'm seeing here.
You're seeing something I'm not, then. Robinson is double covered and if you pause at 9 seconds, I'm not sure how you think the crosser is open unless Mahomes floats one over 56's head and hope the crosser can run under it.
My biggest issue with the play is the designed roll out. You're cutting the field in half - or more and you've limited yourself to one place the ball can go. (the crosser)
Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath15:
You're seeing something I'm not, then. Robinson is double covered and if you pause at 9 seconds, I'm not sure how you think the crosser is open unless Mahomes floats one over 56's head and hope the crosser can run under it.
My biggest issue with the play is the designed roll out. You're cutting the field in half - or more and you've limited yourself to one place the ball can go. (the crosser)
Would love to see the All 22 on this.
Well, yeah. Robinson ends up being double covered but we don't know what defense they're going to run before they run it so that is standard. The fact that Robinson is double covered is a big reason why the crosser ends up with so much open field.
I've been doing this a lot lately, but I screenshotted what I'm seeing. This is a wide open throwing lane if Mahomes just floats it in that alley and lets the crosser run under it. There is not a Broncos defender in any position to make a play on that receiver if the pass is completed until he's gained probably 15-20 yards.
I understand concerns of the rolling pocket. If you've got a HoF QB, I don't like cutting the field in half for the defense. The big issue is, Mahomes is not playing like the HoF lock he has been so.. maybe it's not such a bad option every once in a while.
I don't understand the need for a max protect look against a four man front, though, I will say that. That's effectively a 5 or 6 man box and we had 7 guys blocking. On the surface, it seems like a waste of resources.
But the more I look at this play specifically, I think it turned out perfectly for us.
We got them to commit two defenders to cover Demarcus Robinson lol that's a win for us any day of the week.
Also, the combination of the rolling pocket (brought the ILB #56 out of his zone) and clear out route by Robinson resulted in a wide open middle of the field.
That is a huge throwing lane there for the QB. He's got his feet set and everything, yet he still tries to sidearm one in a tight window for no apparent reason. You can see the ball isn't even deflected by #56 on the defense- it bounces off of Wylie's arm!
I'd lay the blame for this failure purely at Mahomes' feet. He makes a normal ass pass there and that one goes for 20+. [Reply]
I'm not sure there's going to be a huge difference between what EB calls and what Reid calls.
The offense is designed by Reid. He creates the weekly game plan and selects the shortlist of plays and protections that will exploit an opponent's weakness. The laminated chart both Reid and EB have and the play design is Reid's genius. Playcalling is just implementing the game plan for the most part.
Execution (drops, penalties) is about 100x more impactful than whether Reid or EB is calling the plays. [Reply]
Originally Posted by wachashi:
I'm not sure there's going to be a huge difference between what EB calls and what Reid calls.
Disagree. Timing is essential. Context is essential. Understanding the other defense & what they are trying to do is essential. Any single play can succeed or fail based on these other criteria. [Reply]
Originally Posted by nychief:
I just think the rhythm is terrible... we stall out far too often, granted it is normally a dropped pass or some bad outlet pass to the flat, but it just seems like the run and the passing aren't helping one another... the run isn't setting up the pass nor the other way around - zero rhythm.... also we never take the Payton Manning/Tom Brady special shot down field and get the PI call... which i'm amazed by.
Yeah I saw a stat somewhere that said we were like bottom 5 in PI's forced in the last 3 or so years. Which is definitely surprising to me with a big armed QB like Mahomes. We don't even attempt anything downfield anymore and when we do it's rarely in a position for a PI to be called. Meanwhile I see downfield PIs called all the damn time throughout the rest of the league. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
I mean, dude was open. Mahomes has to hit him in the hole. Instead he tries to side arm the ball between two defenders instead of just attempting a normal pass.
That's clearly a throwaway - that pass would have bounced halfway to the WR. Whether he felt the backside pressure, hard to say - he's been quick to dirt the ball this season. [Reply]
It is amazing when you re-watch the AFC Championship Game vs Buffalo how much of that offensive game plan and play calls have not been consistently part of the Chiefs offense this season to-date.
Jet sweeps, reverses, a commitment to the short/quick passing game for the duration of an entire game and not just the first drive, etc.
That game featured basically the exact same personnel as the current offense... only now with a better offensive line (also remember no Sammy Watkins in that game). [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88:
It is amazing when you re-watch the AFC Championship Game vs Buffalo how much of that offensive game plan and play calls have not been consistently part of the Chiefs offense this season to-date.
Jet sweeps, reverses, a commitment to the short/quick passing game for the duration of an entire game and not just the first drive, etc.
That game featured basically the exact same personnel as the current offense... only now with a better offensive line (also remember no Sammy Watkins in that game).
Yeah, I went back and watched that. Baffling to me we don't see that now it just tore up the Bills. [Reply]