2. Just 18 offensive snaps for Travis Kelce.
Kansas City had 56 offensive plays in Week 1. Their young tight end, who proved to be dangerous in the preseason, was only on the field for about a third of them. I mentioned earlier that Dwayne Bowe was suspended for the opener, right? Reid knew his best pass-catcher wouldn’t play, so why wasn’t Kelce a bigger part of the gameplan on Sunday? Donnie Avery was targeted 13 times in the game. Avery’s a serviceable receiver, who admittedly played well, but he was never going to fill the void all by his lonesome.
Reid has to put Kelce’s blend of ability and pure athleticism to good use if this offense is to take another step forward in 2014. He’s gotten off to a bad start by failing to get him involved in an offense starved for help in the passing game. The former Bearcat was only targeted five times in the matchup with the Titans. He proved that he can be a nightmare for opposing defenses with two touchdowns and 111 yards after catch in the preseason. Reid’s forgotten more about calling offensive plays that I’ll ever know, but it doesn’t take a 15-year coaching career in the NFL to know that you put the ball in the hands of your playmakers. Kelce is undoubtedly one of them and should be a high-priority in this offense.
3. The playcall that turned into a late first half pick and three Tennessee points.
With 45 seconds to go in the first half, Frankie Hammond inexplicably fielded a punt, inside the 5-yard line, that was headed out of bounds. That was Reid’s cue to get out of an unimpressive half of football that only left him trailing Tennessee by four points, but he had something very different in mind. Pinned against his own end zone, he curiously called a deep pass play for Donnie Avery. Jason McCourty intercepted the Alex Smith pass and Tennessee quickly turned that opportunity into a 36-yard Ryan Succop field goal. Remember, Tennessee won the toss and opted to defer so the Chiefs went into the half down 7 points and set to kickoff to start the third quarter.
The Titans pushed their lead to 14 following a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive and they never looked back. Those kinds of gaffes, in the closing moments of a half, can swing a football game. I won’t argue that it sunk the Chiefs on Sunday, but it certainly added undue pressure when play resumed. Offensively, the Chiefs started pressing once they fell behind by two touchdowns. A passing game where Smith consistently has to make risky throws to mount a comeback isn’t ideal for anyone involved.
Calling a pass play in that situation makes sense. The Chiefs started the drive on their own 2-yard line and couldn’t afford to be stuffed for a safety on a run play. That said, I’m sure there were a number of safer, shorter pass plays Reid could’ve called. There’s no good reason to try and hit the homerun ball in that situation. Give Dustin Colquitt enough breathing room to safely punt the ball away and thank your lucky stars that you’re only down four points.
Follow the jump to see the remaining items on my list.