Looking at first down tendencies for the Kansas City Chiefs offense

First Down Play Calls by Quarter

Here are the run and pass play call numbers for the Kansas City Chiefs by quarter for last season.

1st Quarter:

• 122 first down plays
• 47 run plays (38.5%)
• 75 pass plays (61.5%)

2nd Quarter:

• 161 first down plays
• 45 run plays (28%)
• 116 pass plays (72%)

3rd Quarter:

• 137 first down plays
• 63 run plays (46%)
• 74 pass plays (54%)

4th Quarter:

• 112 first down plays
• 74 run plays (66%)
• 38 pass plays (34%)

So when we compare the break down by quarter with the overall 57% pass / 43% run splits for the season, we see a couple of quarters stand out as much different than the season average. The 2nd quarter was by far the most pass heavy and the 4th quarter was by far the most run heavy.

The 4th quarter as the most run heavy makes perfect sense as the Chiefs often had the lead and were trying to work the clock. We’ll take a closer look at how the score affected the calls in a second.

What I found most interesting was how pass heavy the Chiefs were in the 2nd quarter. It appears to me that the Chiefs got a feel for what the pass defenses were doing in the first quarter and then attacked them with the pass more aggressively in the second quarter.

The overall splits by half definitely show a pattern of passing more in the first half to build a lead and running more in the second half to protect it. That’s not shocking by any means.

First down play calls by half.

1st Half

• Run Plays – 32.5%
• Pass Plays – 67.5%

2nd Half

• Run Plays – 55%
• Pass Plays – 45%

Now let’s take a look at how the score of the game effected the play call on first down.