Adrian Fedkiw
Picture the nightmare.
Sam Bradford lay on the field writhing in pain and clutching his knee. Minutes later he’s loaded onto a cart and taken back to the locker room. The diagnosis is the worst possible outcome.
Torn ACL, out for the season.
In steps Chase Daniel, a quarterback with just two career starts and 77 pass attempts.
Oh boy!
During Daniel’s introductory press conference last week, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson emphasized the importance of having “two quality starting quarterbacks” on the roster.
But can Daniel be a quality starter?
Can he keep the Eagles afloat in a potential playoff chase (sorry, couldn’t help myself) if Bradford goes down for an extended period of time?
Pederson believes so.
“He had a couple starts against San Diego and played extremely well,” he said. “If he has an opportunity to get into a football game, we know he can act and play like a starter.”
Interesting quote, but just how well did Daniel play in those two Week 17 starts against the Chargers.
Let’s find out.
The undrafted Missouri product’s first career start came in 2013 when the Kansas City Chiefs had already locked up the AFC’s No. 5 seed. They rested 20-of-22 starters that day, but with the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins both losing earlier in the afternoon, a San Diego win would lock up the final playoff spot in the conference.
Daniel was playing the spoiler role.
The second start for the 29-year-old came in 2014 when he was filling in for an injured Alex Smith. This time it was Kansas City playing for its playoff lives. The Chiefs needed to hit on a three-team parlay to make the postseason as they needed a win coupled with losses by the Ravens and Houston Texans.
Let’s dig in.
Daniel’s first career throw as a starter almost went for six … for the Chargers!
But how he rebounded from that near-costly interception was impressive. Undeterred, he connected with A.J. Jenkins down the right sideline for 48 yards on a go route a play later. The ball was placed 12 inches in front of the numbers like legendary head coach Bill Walsh used to preach, hitting Jenkins pretty much in stride. If the pass had a bit more trajectory, however, it would’ve been a touchdown.
Still a great response. Knile Davis scampered in from 17 yards out on the next snap for the game’s first points.
San Diego answered with a touchdown on its ensuing possession before the Chiefs went three-and-out. Daniel held onto the ball too long on a 2nd-and-5 and was sacked for a loss of six yards. Head coach Andy Reid didn’t allow his inexperienced quarterback an opportunity to convert the 3rd-and-11, calling a screen pass.
Safety Ron Parker set the Chiefs up with prime field position at the San Diego 23 after intercepting Philip Rivers. Daniel began Kansas City’s third possession by double clutching and sailing a pass a bit too high for a crossing Junior Hemingway. He came back to Hemingway two plays later on a 3rd-and-7, connecting with him over the middle to move the chains. Dexter McCluster hauled in a simple swing pass from Daniel for a score, giving Kansas City a 14-7 lead to complete the six-play march.
San Diego countered again with another touchdown to make it 14-14 and the Chiefs began their fourth drive early in the second quarter. Daniel threw low and wide of Jenkins on a quick out route to begin the possession. He then completed a pair of short throws and wisely threw the ball into the dirt on a 3rd-and-4 when the Chargers sniffed out a screen.
Whether it was nerves or not, Daniel’s ball placement early on should’ve been better, but it improved as the game went on.
One thing Pederson said about Daniel which caught my attention during the press conference last week was his athleticism.
“Chase is athletic … can move, can scramble,” he said.
We saw two examples of this on Kansas City’s fifth trek. Check out this 29-yard scramble on a 3rd-and-5.
He can scoot!
He took off for nine yards two snaps later using the good old pump-fake-five-yards-past-the line-of-scrimmage trick to freeze a defender. Davis concluded the 11-play sequence with a two-yard plunge off the right side to make it 21-14 with just over a minute remaining in the opening half. With 32 ticks left on the clock on their sixth possession, the Chiefs played it conservatively and headed into the locker room with their seven-point advantage.
There wasn’t much noteworthy in the third quarter. Daniel threw behind Hemingway on a 3rd-and-4 crossing route on Kansas City’s opening touch of the second half. It also settled for a 46-yard Ryan Succop field goal to make it 24-14 after McCluster’s 32-yard punt return put the ball at the San Diego 35 on the Chiefs’ eighth trek.
San Diego trimmed the gap to 24-21 when Daniel took the field again. He showcased some ability of throwing on the move, hitting Hemingway for six yards on a stop route sprinting to his right on a 3rd-and-5. Faced with a 3rd-and-15, Daniel dumped it off to his check-down receiver, Cyrus Gray, instead of forcing a pass beyond the first-down marker.
Not trying to fit the ball into tight windows on 3rd-and-long is starting to become a trend for Daniel in this game and an encouraging sign. Too many times we saw Mark Sanchez try to play the role of hero, attempting to make something out of nothing. Sometimes the best outcome is to cut your losses and punt the ball. If Bradford were to go down for a few games, relying on the defense is and playing conservatively on offense is a convenient strategy.
A short 22-yard field goal by Nick Novak leveled the score at 24-24 with 3:21 to go. Daniel moved the ball 57 yards in 10 plays to put Succop in field-goal range, but he missed a 41-yarder with four seconds on the clock.
With the ball at the 20, Daniel quickly matriculated the Chiefs to the San Diego 31 with a trio of first-down tosses. He connected with McCluster and Seth McGrath for 14 and 11 yards, respectively, before firing this laser to Hemingway for 24 yards.
Kansas City proceeded to run six straight running plays and Succop sailed his kick wide to the right.
Reid was rather conservative with his play-calling all afternoon, but let Daniel rip it on the Chiefs’ final drive of regulation and he put them in position to win the game. His three completions totaled 49 yards.
Novak capped a 16-play drive with a 35-yard field goal on San Diego’s initial possession of overtime to give it a 27-24 lead. Daniel hit McCluster in stride to allow for maximum yards after the catch and a gain of 28 on a 2nd-and-7 to get the ball into San Diego territory. Watch the feet also as Daniel slid ever so slightly to his left to avoid the defensive lineman.
The Chiefs, however, eventually stalled. Davis lost five yards on a toss to the right and three straight Daniel incompletions ended the game. He was heavily pressured on second down, threw the ball into a trio of defenders on third down and let go of a pass across the line of scrimmage on fourth down to end it.
Overall it was an acceptable performance, not spectacular. Daniel was iffy with his ball placement over the first three quarters, but I really liked how he put Kansas City in position to win the game in regulation. He didn’t force anything in the opening three frames, didn’t turn the ball over, and scrambled when he needed to. Daniel finished 21-of-30 for 200 yards and a touchdown, pretty indicative of how conservative he was in the first 45 minutes. He also added 59 yards on the ground.
Now onto the second game.
Daniel completed all five of his throws for 25 yards on Kansas City’s opening drive of the game. He squeezed the ball confidently into a trio of white shirts to Dwayne Bowe on a curl route for a gain of 12, but flipping to ball behind De’Anthony Thomas and not to the proper shoulder on a wide receiver screen resulted in a loss of five. It also didn’t help that San Diego safety Marcus Gilchrist sniffed out the play immediately. Daniel’s eight-yard hookup with Travis Kelce was short of the chains on 3rd-and-14 and the Chiefs settled for a 43-yard Cairo Santos field goal.
Following a Chargers punt, Daniel rectified his earlier inaccuracy on a screen to the outside. This time he placed the ball perfectly in front of Kelce, allowing the big man to gain of head of steam and churn for 20 yards. Check out the difference between the two throws.
Daniel followed it up by hitting Kelce again, this time for 14 yards and found Bowe for a 13-yard hook route. Bowe fumbled the ball near the goal line, but Kelce was in the right place at the right time in the end zone to stake Kansas City to a 10-0 advantage.
The Chargers answered with a touchdown, but the Chiefs were unable to pick up a first down on their third and fourth possessions, although Santos split the uprights from 21 yards out for a 13-7 margin after Thomas put them inside the 10 with a 41-yard punt return.
Daniel slightly overthrew Bowe on a corner route and threw behind Avant on a 3rd-and-12 to conclude the third trek. He took a sack on a 2nd-and-goal for a loss of six on Kansas City’s next possession.
The Chiefs added three more points before the conclusion of the first half, mainly because of his reliable rapport with his tight end Kelce. Three consecutive tosses went to the burly tight end, including the first two which you can see below. Pay attention to the ball placement on the second throw along the left sideline. If Daniel puts it even slightly behind Kelce that’s a pass breakup for the San Diego safety Jaheel Addae.
A drop on second down and throwaway on third down preceded Santos’ 27-yard kick, which increased the lead to 16-7.
The second half was ugly from a production standpoint, but with the nine-point cushion and a solid defense, Daniel didn’t do anything to sway momentum and allow San Diego to creep back in it.
He managed the game.
Three of Kansas City’s six second-half touches were three-and-outs, while the first one was lasted just four plays. The Chiefs extended the margin to 19-7 midway through the third after taking advantage of a San Diego fumble inside its own 20. Daniel did take a calculated risk by firing a pass into the end zone for Avant over the middle on a 3rd-and-goal from the 13, but it sailed a bit high.
One of those three-and-outs came on Kansas City’s next possession as Daniel took a sack on third down. He had a chance to put the game away early in the fourth on a deep wheel route to Thomas in the slot, but underthrew the speedster. Thomas did, however, adjust to ball and the play went for 30 yards.
Santos hooked a 50-yard try and a pair of three-and-outs followed. Daniel threw behind Kelce on a 3rd-and-3 stick route and because they were up by two scores late in the fourth, three runs followed on Kansas City’s ensuing sequence. With just 2:23 left, however, San Diego didn’t have enough time to mount a comeback.
Daniel concluded the contest 16-of-27 for 157 yards. The numbers were clearly uglier than the result. His first start was better, but the encouraging sign out of the two outings was his ability to play with a lead.
If defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz plans on turning the Eagles’ defense around, Daniel may be able to manage a game if Bradford misses time.
That in itself is already an improvement from Sanchez.
What we didn’t see was Daniel’s ability to play from behind, so there wasn’t much pressure on him besides the final drive in regulation and lone possession in overtime during that 2013 Week 17 game. How will he fare when he has to take a few extra chances and fit passes into tighter windows?
So did Daniel play “extremely well” as Pederson eluded to?
No.
Is he capable of winning a few games if Bradford misses time?
Yes.
If Bradford misses a significant stretch it’ll be worrisome, but the same holds true for every team when their starter goes down.
Would I take him over Sanchez?
Hell yeah!
Chase daniel sux he knows it