Adrian Fedkiw
Any late-season win is pretty, especially when it clinches a playoff spot.
But this Kansas City Chiefs 17-13 Week 16 win over the Cleveland Browns was pretty freaking wretched. The Chiefs’ ninth straight victory wrapped up at least a wild-card berth after the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Baltimore Ravens moments after the conclusion of this game.
It’s crazy to think that Johnny Manziel was a starting quarterback just six months ago considering what he looks like and dealing with now. He was just 13-of-32 for 136 yards with an interception, but picked up a lot of crucial first downs in the second half using his legs. Manziel ran for 108 yards on 11 carries.
Prior to his introductory press conference in January there were reports saying that the Chiefs head coach Reid allowed Pederson to call plays, but nobody knew how often. During the presser, Pederson explained how much latitude he was granted.
His answer may have raised a few eyebrows.
“I was able to call plays since the Pittsburgh game on,” he said. “Coach Reid and I had a great understanding and great feel for the game. He allowed me to call the second half of every football game from that game on.”
That Steelers game was the start of Kansas City’s stunning turnaround in 2015. The Chiefs were in the midst of a five-game losing streak and 1-5 heading into that Week 7 contest, but their 23-13 triumph was the beginning of their 10-game winning streak to close the regular season.
The Chiefs held a lead at the break in nine of the 12 games Pederson called plays and six were by 10-or-more points, so he was usually put in positive circumstances. Week 16 was one of the six that Pederson had a double-digit advantage to work with.
Reid helped Kansas City race out to a 17-3 cushion heading into the locker room.
Let’s go possession by possession and see how Pederson fared.
How the grading works:
To put it simply a (+) is a win for the offense, a (-) is a win for the defense and a (/) is a tie. For example, if a team has a 1st and 10 and the offense picks up five-or-more yards it’s a win for them. It’s a victory for the defense if they hold the offense to three yards or fewer. A four-yard gain is a tie.
An offensive touchdown results into (+++), but a turnover forced by the defense gets (- – -). A field goal is (++) and a safety (- -).
(++)- Offense gains 15-29 yards past the original line of scrimmage. If the offense commits a holding penalty and they pick up 15 yards on a 1st and 20, the offense gets just one (+) instead of two.
(+++)- 30-49 yards
(++++)- 50-74 yards
(+++++)- 75-or-more yards
Other notes: A 75-yard TD gets (++++++++) and any pick-six/fumble recovery for a score results into (- – – – – – – -). Another example, if the defense forces a turnover and returns it for 50 yards, they will receive (- – – – – – -). If the defense forces a three-and-out they get a bonus of (- -).
KC 1st drive of second half: 9:10 left in the third quarter, ball at own 21 leading 17-10
1+10 (21)- 10 personnel- Chardcandrick West draw off left tackle 3 yards (-)
2+7 (24)- 13 personnel- Quick out Maclin nine yards (+)
1+10 (33)- 11 personnel- Albert Wilson quick slant 19 yards (++)
1+10 (48)- 11 personnel- Smith overshot Maclin on a go route down the right sideline (-)
2+10 (48)- 11 personnel- West draw left guard four yards (-)
3+6 (44)- 11 personnel- Smith sacked by Nate Orchard for a loss of three (-)
4-3 Cle on drive
One thing I’ve liked from covering all of these games is Pederson’s deception in his 13 personnel packages. And when passes are called, they’re single-read options with a quick three-step drop. The timing between Smith and Maclin on the quick out was perfect, with the ball arriving before Maclin was coming out of his break.
Pederson is also a fan of calling the quick slant on first down following a nice pass play which moves the chains. Wilson beat Tramon Williams inside off the snap to give Smith an easy target and a 19-yard gain. Check out both of those plays below.
The Browns had an overload on third down off the right side, Dansby dropped back into a zone over the middle of the field and safety Donte Whitner blitzed off the left side. This caused confusion with right guard Laurent Duvarney-Smith, who basically let Cleveland nose tackle Danny Shelton have a free run to the quarterback. Smith had to step up in the pocket and was corralled by Orchard.
KC 2nd drive of second half: 8:26 left in the fourth quarter, ball at own 3 leading 17-13
1+10 (3)- 22 personnel- West right guard run four yards (/)
2+6 (7)- 11 personnel- Maclin comeback seven yards (+)
1+10 (14)- 10 personnel- West draw left guard three yards (/)
2+7 (17)- 11 personnel- West off left tackle six yards (+)
3+1 (23)- 11 personnel- West off left guard no gain (-)
2-1 KC on the drive, 5-5 in the second half
The Chiefs amazingly didn’t touch the ball for a second time until almost the midway point of the fourth quarter. Cleveland held the ball for 17:46 and ran 28 plays over its first two possessions, including a 21-play, 62-yard march which took 12:01 off the clock. Those two drives cut a 17-3 halftime deficit to 17-13.
Kansas City, meanwhile, was faced with a 3rd-and-1 at its own 23 on the fifth play of this series. Pederson is again using deception, motioning Wilson from right to left initially before he motioned back to the right. The Chiefs faked the jet sweep with him and gave the ball to West, who was stuffed for no gain. The play design was for West to go off left guard, which he did, but he had a huge lane to navigate through had he cut it to the right.
KC 3rd drive of second half: 2:55 left in the fourth quarter, ball at own 30 leading 17-13
1+10 (30)- 22 personnel- West off right tackle no gain (-)
2+10 (30)- 22 personnel- West off left tackle five yards (/)
3+5 (35)- 10 personnel- Kelce screen no gain (-)
2-0 Cle on drive, 7-5 Cle in the second half
The Browns weren’t able to convert a 4th-and-8 at Kansas City’s 30. They had a pair of timeouts and the two-minute warning clock stoppage and got the much-needed three-and-out to get the ball back. Pederson went for the first down on 3rd-and-5 instead of running more clock, but elected for a conservative approach by flipping the screen out to Kelce lined up in a bunch tight end set to the right. Orchard blew the play up immediately, powering through the attempted block of Brian Parker before wrapping Kelce up.
Overall Thoughts:
The Chiefs ran just 14 plays in the second half, there’s not much to judge, but out the plays there were to grade, Pederson had another lackluster performance. This was a lot like the game the week before against the Ravens. Kansas City had only three meaningful second half possessions in that one and scored just three points. The Chiefs didn’t score at all this time.
I talked last week about there being a point where being too conservative can bite you in the ass and it almost happened in Week 16. Kansas City nearly blew a 14-point halftime advantage and Cleveland penetrated inside the Chiefs’ 30 on each of its last two drives. I want to see more of a killer instinct. Instead, the offense looked stagnant and Manziel’s scrambling ability nearly helped Cleveland overcome that deficit.
Out of the games I’ve covered, Pederson has graded a lot better when involved in tightly contested affairs. He’s a lot more aggressive and mixes in different personnel packages. For this game, however, I gave Pederson a C-.
WEEK 9: BYE
BRONCOS WEEK 10 GAME GRADE: C-