Adrian Fedkiw
Playing simultaneously with the Denver Broncos and the AFC West crown hanging in the balance made for some great drama in Week 17.
The Kansas City Chiefs at one point looked like they might take the title, until Peyton Manning replaced Brock Osweiler and saved the day for the Broncos.
Nonetheless, the Chiefs still took care of business and beat the Oakland Raiders 23-10 to win their 10th straight game.
Osweiler had started the previous six games and was 4-2, but the Broncos turned the ball over five times on their first nine possessions and trailed 13-7 before head coach Gary Kubiak made the switch and inserted Manning midway through the third quarter. Manning led a touchdown march on his initial series and Denver wound up winning 27-20.
Manning then started all three Denver playoff games, which resulted into a Super Bowl title.
Meanwhile in Kansas City, it turned out to be great play calling experience for Pederson, who saw his Chiefs take a 14-10 advantage into the locker room with major playoff implications on the line.
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.
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: 14:04 left in the third quarter, ball at own 24 leading 14-10
1+10 (24)- 11 personnel- Pass interference by David Amerson on a pass intended for Jeremy Maclin (+)
1+10 (33)- 21 personnel- Jason Avant right flat eight yards on a play-action bootleg to the right (+)
2+2 (41)- 12 personnel- Charcandrick West right guard three yards (+)
1+10 (44)- 30 personnel- Alex Smith throws it away (-)
2+10 (44)- 11 personnel- Avant seven yards on stop route (+)
3+3 (49)- 21 personnel- Ware loses two yards (-)
4-2 KC on drive
Pederson had a really tough time dealing with Mack the first time Kansas City and Oakland squared off. He used some quick three-step drops and a bootleg on his opening drive to offset the pass rushing prowess of Mack, who eventually made an impact on the 3rd-and-3. This was a play I had seen before from Pederson, motioning Albert Wilson into the backfield to set up an offset I-formation. Oakland had clearly been doing its homework, unfazed by the trickery and Mack hit Ware immediately for a loss of two.
Mack had originally been on Avant in the slot, but the wily veteran Charles Woodson motioned Mack inside to the edge and took over coverage duties once he saw Wilson motioning into the backfield. Right tackle Donald Stephenson blocked down on the play and Mack had a free run to the running back.
KC 2nd drive of second half: 9:01 left in the third quarter, ball at own 47 leading 16-10
1+10 (47)- 11 personnel- Stephenson false start (/)
1+15 (42)- 11 personnel- West left tackle six yards (-)
2+9 (48)- 10 personnel- Smith scrambles for five yards (/)
3+4 (47)- 12 personnel- Maclin 17 yards on hook pattern plus 15 yards for a roughing the quarterback (+++)
1+10 (15)- 12 personnel- Demetrius Harris 15-yard touchdown on a seam pattern (++++)
7-1 KC on drive, 11-3 KC in second half
The Chiefs blocked a Marquette King punt and put two more points on the board after the ball rolled out of the end zone before the offense took the field again.
I’ve noticed in this game so far how much Mack is dropping back in coverage, which is confusing because of how effective he was getting after the quarterback in the first meeting. He lined up all over the place along the line, even as a nose tackle on a few snaps. Mack is a freak of nature and has no problem dropping back on a zone blitz, but he was making mincemeat of the Kansas City offensive linemen on seemingly every snap last time out.
On the 3rd-and-5, Maclin motioned from the slot left to out wide right. Oakland was in a single-high safety look and on its heels when Travis Carrie passed Maclin off to David Amerson. Kelce ran a crossing route over the middle and once Smith saw safety Taylor Mays trail him, he knew he had a wide open window to throw the ball to Maclin, who ran a hook. The quick three-step drop again allowed Smith to get the ball out before Mack got into the backfield. Mack easily beat Stephenson with an inside move and Smith tossed his pass to Maclin right before Mack closed in on him. Mack was called for a roughing the quarterback penalty on the play.
The touchdown came a play later out of a two tight end look with Harris and Kelce running seam patterns to go along with Wilson and Maclin, who also ran vertical routes. Malcolm Smith initially showed like he was going to blitz before backing off and that split-second allowed Harris to get a step on him. Smith did a pretty good job of recovering, but Smith put the ball where only Harris could get it and he went up and snatched it. Woodson was the single-high safety on the play, but was late to get there as Smith beat him with his eyes, staring down the right side of the field before coming back left.
I LOVED this drive from the Chiefs, who had all of the momentum following the blocked-punt safety. I wanted to see Pederson go for the kill and that’s exactly what he did.
KC 3rd drive of second half: 3:26 left in the third quarter, ball at own 29 leading 23-10
1+10 (29)- 12 personnel- Deep crossing pattern to Maclin incomplete (-)
2+10 (29)- 22 personnel- Ware right guard six yards (+)
3+4 (35)- 12 personnel- Conley hook route six yards (+)
1+10 (41)- 11 personnel- Smith incomplete to Conley on a deep crossing pattern (-)
2+10 (41)- 11 personnel- Offsides on Denico Autry (/)
2+5 (46)- 11 personnel- Ware left tackle two yards (+)
3+2 (49)- 11 personnel- Ben Heeney sacks Smith for a loss of nine yards (-)
3-3 on drive, 14-6 KC in second half
The opening play of a new series is always a good time to take a shot down the field and I liked the call, but Smith threw the ball into triple coverage to Maclin running a deep crossing pattern. Mack easily beat Stephenson off his outside shoulder and again Smith was able to get rid of the ball before Mack barreled in on him.
Pederson called a similar type of play on 3rd-and-4 to the one he ran for Maclin on the same down and distance a possession earlier. Conley motioned from the slight right to out wide left and hauled in a low toss on a hook pattern, with both tight ends running crossing routes. The linebacker Heeney timed his blitz through the A-gap perfectly on the ensuing third down and took Smith down for a loss of nine yards.
KC 4th drive of second half: 12:05 left in the fourth quarter, ball at own 19 leading 23-10
1+10 (20)- 22 personnel- Ware bounces it off the left edge for seven yards (+)
2+3 (27)- 10 personnel- Ware draw right guard 14 yards (+)
1+10 (41)- 11 personnel- Ware stretch right nine yards (+)
2+1 (50)- 12 personnel- West four yards right tackle (+)
1+10 (46)- 22 personnel- West cutback right guard four yards (/)
2+6 (42)- 12 personnel- Smith 11-yard scramble off the right side (+)
1+10 (31)- 21 personnel- Ware right tackle six yards (+)
2+4 (25)- 21 personnel- Ware toss left three yards (/)
3+1 (22)- 22 personnel- Ware right guard two yards (+)
1+10 (20)- 22 personnel- West lost one yard attempting to bounce the run off the right edge (-)
2+11 (21)- 11 personnel- Ware left guard two yards (-)
3+9 (19)- 11 personnel- West swing pass left flat loss of two yards (-)
39-yard field goal nullified by penalty and the 49-yard attempt was no good because the holder bobbled the snap (-)
7-4 KC on drive, 21-10 KC in second half
This was an exceptional series taking the clock down and leaving Oakland as little as possible being two scores down. Eleven of the first 12 plays were runs and Pederson mixed up his personnel packages and calls. We saw power plays, draws, stretches and tosses and best of all, Pederson didn’t get cute on the 3rd-and-short like his teacher tends to do.
In all the sequence lasted 13 plays and took 8:50 off the clock.
KC 5th drive of second half: 1:58 left in the fourth quarter, ball at Oakland 47 leading 23-10
1+10 (47)- 22 personnel- Ware left guard three yards (/)
2+7 (44)- 22 personnel- Ware left guard loss of a yard (-)
3+6 (43)- 10 personnel- Smith two yards on the scramble (-)
2-0 Oak on drive, 21-12 KC in second half
Maclin lined up in the backfield on third down and cut inside on D.J. Hayden, but Woodson read the play all the way, which forced Smith to take off up the middle.
Overall Thoughts:
With a division title on the line and the Raiders only four points down going into the second half, I thought Pederson did a great job of mixing up his personnel packages and play calling. Pederson tends to get ultra conservative over the final 30 minutes when Reid hands him a double-digit advantage, but it’s a bit of the opposite when he’s in a closer contest or trailing at the break. That’s a good sign.
Pederson’s two drives which stood out were the touchdown right after Kansas City recorded two points on a safety and the one where the Chiefs took eight-plus minutes off the clock. He mixed everything up beautifully.
He didn’t help out his offensive linemen as much on Mack as he did in the first game, but was able to get away with it due to a three-step passing game a majority of the time and Smith getting the ball out quickly.
I was impressed by Pederson, he gets an A from me.
WEEK 9: BYE
BRONCOS WEEK 10 GAME GRADE: C-
Jesus Christ man how do you expect people to read that entire summary?? And no typos either. I fell asleep after the first paragraph. On my parents hammock in the back yard of their massive shore property. Check put CB.COM for new content……..on Tuesday pf course.