Chiefs Beat Colts: Inside The Numbers
Each and every week we take you Inside the Numbers of the previous Chiefs game by breaking down the team’s significant grades from Pro Football Focus.
We’ve been doing this for a while but just in case you are new, PFF grades every player on every play of every game all season long. They assign players a grade for each play, from -2.0 (the worst) to +2.0 (the best). Keep in mind that to get a positive grade, a player has to do something extra or more than he is expected to do. To get a negative grade, a player has to fail at his assigned task. Thus, most players grade at a 0.0 for each play. Only when they do something good or bad, do they get a + or -. This is why PFF is a really great barometer for measuring how good a player is because it measures consistency.You might remember a player for making one big play and thus conclude that he had a great game. But what about the other 60 or 70 plays? That is where PFF comes in.
How did Tyson Jackson follow up on his solid effort a week ago? How good was Jackie Battle?
Let’s go Inside the Numbers!
The Offense:
It was evident from watching this game that this was the best outing the offense has had all season. In a performance like this, it is the players who played poorly that really stand out.
Here are your offensive goats:
Barry Richardson -6.3
Leonard Pope -1.6
That was it. Pretty much every other offensive player had either a very good grade or an average one.
But what are the Chiefs going to do with Barry Richardson? How long can Todd Haley leave this guy out there. His -6.3 rating for one game is absolutely atrocious. He graded -3.5 in pass blocking and -2.2 blocking for the run. he allowed four QB pressures and one sack.
Here are the high marks:
Breaston +1.8
O’Connel +1.8
Lilja +2.3
Asamoah +1.8
Wiegmann+3.1
Bowe +2.8
Cassel +3.6
Battle +3.3
After the game, one of our readers commented that he though Battle was just ok and did not get very many yards after contact. I disagreed and promised to let him know how many yards after contact Battle got when the PFF grades came out.Well here it is.
76.
Good blocking or not, Battle made his own luck Sunday.
Offensive Notes:
-Branden Albert graded out at -0.8. He allowed one sack and one QB hit. He struggled a bit in the run game, grading out at -1.2.
-Jackie Battle caused three missed tackles for Colts defenders.
-Dwayne Bowe broke four tackles.
-The team gave up two sacks and six pressures on the day. A sack each came from Albert and Richardson. Four of th six pressures were also on B-Rich.
The Defense:
Not a good day overall for the D but they fought back a bit in the second half. It was a mixed bag and a mixed performance is what we got.
Here are your goats:
Belcher: -1.7
Flowers: -3.2
Lewis -1.3
Gilberry -1.2
Arenas -1.4
Flowers got absolutely victimized by Pierre Garcon. Flowers was targeted six times and all six of those times he was on Garcon. Pierre caught five of those targets for 125 yards and two TDs. The other goats played poorly but Flowers takes the cake.
Here are the high marks:
Gregg +4.3
Dorsey +2.3
Studebaker +1.4
DJ +3.2
Quick Draw +1.2
That is it for the high scores. Everyone else was pretty much average.
But how about that Kelly Gregg? I mean, he caught a man in mid-air and threw him down. That alone deserves a good grade. Gregg appears to still have something left in the tank, and he is having an obvious effect on the running game. The Chiefs are doing a good job keeping him fresh by having him split time with my boy Amon Gordon. Gregg played 33 snaps and Gordon 17.
Defensive Notes:
-Where is Tamba Hali’s grade you ask? Where indeed. Tamba graded out at +0.9. He recorded one pressure and no sacks.
Until somebody else on the KC defense figures out how to rush the passer, Tamba is going to continue to have up and down games. Teams are putting multiple bodies on him because they know nobody else is a threat.
-With Tamba being taken out of the game, the Chiefs mustered a pathetic two pressures, one QB hit and zero sacks.
-I saw people in the game thread complaining about Studi’s play but I think PFF has the right of it here. Studi did fail to seal the edge on a couple of plays in run D but he was doing a damn fine better job than Justin Houston or Cameron Sheffield have this season. He was near enough to get an arm on the ball carrier a few times and at one point he drew a holding penalty. At this point he plays with better leverage than Houston. Houston had been getting thrown backwards way too much. Studebaker may never be a stud but the Chiefs are lucky to have him while Sheffield and Houston improve. Studebaker may also get a bit better now that he is being given extended playing time.
-The Chiefs finally started using Justin Houston as a pass rusher in sub-packages. The Colts were getting the ball out pretty fast but Houston managed a QB hit on one of his 10 pass rushing opportunities. He played 20 snaps in all.
-We need to throw a little love at John McGraw. He can’t cover but he is doing a really nice job in run support this season. He misses a tackle here and there but with Eric Berry gone and nothing standing between ball carriers and the endzone but Sabby Piscitelli, McGraw is a huge asset. Quick Draw played all 57 defensive snaps at SS.
-Speaking of Shabby, the Chiefs have finally realized what I could have told them in the preseason. Shabby sucks. He played only one snap Sunday.
-When the Chiefs have needed an extra FS, they have been using Donnie Washington. To his credit, Washington hasn’t f’ed anything up in a couple of weeks.
-The defense missed 4 tackles Sunday.
-Last but not least, Tin Man had another good day against the run (+1.4) but graded out at +0.8 overall because he couldn’t generate pressure.
That is all I’ve got this week. Really hope you guys enjoy these break downs and I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the game now that you’ve gone Inside the Numbers.
Next week, I’ll have a breakdown on how each player has been doing through five games.