Slingin Sammy 33's - Chiefs Game Review

For JC, it looks to me like he's locking on to the primary and then not going through his progressions to the 2nd, 3rd, checkdown. It's either force to primary, then checkdown.
For TC, he wasn't prepared to be in this game IMO, so his timing was definitely off.I've certainly caught instances of this happening with Campbell in there. The ball gets to the checkdown incredibly quickly.

Thing is, I think the very biggest change since the first two games of the season is the change in our attack plan from a team leaning to the spread end of the continuum to the power end of it. From base 3 WRs, what we were most of last year, to an I-formation team. Since Sellers dropped that pass in the end zone against St. Louis, we haven't used a RB combo route.

We've relied on a lot of play action, and two receiver routes with those built in check downs on first and second down. And Campbell, on the whole, simply hasn't been very good on these plays. It remains probable, in my mind, that our receivers are completely covered downfield. At least the X's and O's game suggests they are.

The big difference is that teams are really, really starting to jam Cooley off the line on our play action plays, and sometimes Moss is able to get behind the safeties, but usually he isn't. Campbell's efficiency on these PA passes is way, way down from his career average, and in my opinion, we need junk the power running team charade.

And I know that our three second round picks have been an utter disappointment to this point, but still, Sellers is getting way too much playing time in an offense that needs to get right soon.

Good breakdown SS.
Here's my take on JC's 1st half passing:


Examples:
1) 2nd possession. 2 & 8, This should be a quick pass to Moss, JC has a slight pump in his delivery, he's off-balance, the ball comes out late and way low. Incomplete.
2nd & 8-JC rolled his shoulder like he thought there was going to be pressure,it didn't look like a 'pump' to me.
The ball comes out late and the pass is low,probably good thing too because a defender was right on top of Moss, and the ball hits Moss in the hands.

The next play is 3 & 8, Zorn has on a Max Protect call and with 3 WRs vs. 7 DBs JC has to check-down to Cooley short of the first

Max protect 4 receivers vs 7 DB sounds like pretty good coverage.
When there are more DBs then receivers its likely that they're not open downfield.

JC threw short hoping that Cooley could pick up the YAC.

2) Next possession, JC misses an open DT for a TD. There was no help for Flowers, no Safety to worry about. JC just missed this throw, plain and simple.

Actually, not so plain and simple.
Devin was too close to the sideline its the receivers job to give the QB a place to throw ball.
Devin was too close to the sideline and the coverage was pretty tight.
JC could have thrown the ball more towards his inside shoulder but flowers is right in Devin's hip pocket.


3) Same possession 3 & 3, JC overthrows ARE on an open whip route.

JC was late on this throw.
ARE runs a short slant/out.
Rundell was open one the initial cut to the inside in the 1st window after he cleared the DB covering Betts, then he was still open after he settled down
JC's pass was high, but Rundell did get his hands on it.

4) Next possession 1 & 10. Post to Moss....TD missed.
Yep, JC missed this one.

5) Same possession, 3 & 4. KC is in Cover 2 Man, JC locks on to Cooley and forces the throw low and incomplete. ARE was open on a quick slant, Kelly was open on a dig behind ARE's slant also. JC had time.

JC had time but the receivers are all running short quick hitting routes and the their all covered, Devin(not Kelly) was open on the In cut behind ARE/Cooley.

JC threw to his goto guy.

6) The drive to end the first half was Zorn and Campbell. On 3 & 1 with :53 left, why does it take :22 seconds to run a 1 yd dive and then reset for the next play? Why weren't two plays called? Why not get to the line and spike on 1st down? Why on the next play throw a 5 yds pass in the middle of the field to Portis? Why not out of bounds?

That's on Zorn not JC you can clearly see Zorn calling the play in and Campbell looking to the sideline waiting.

7) Next play, why take off and run?

Because Moss was double covered and Betts isn't open either JC tried to pick up some yardage.

Where are the sideline routes? How about trying to isolate Kelly or Thomas and get a jump ball or pass interference?

Why not? Good question.

All these plays above (outside of playcalling issues at the end of the half)were flat out on JC, no one else. These plays alone were the difference in the game. Two missed TDs and three killed drives because of QB mistakes. Zorn was right to bench JC.

Imo there are some over-reaching issues:
1) JC wasn't comfortable because he was feeling phantom pressure (after getting hit early in the 2 previous games)
2) Zorn called a bunch of 3 step drop passes; which tacitly sends the message that he (Zorn) lacks faith in the pass pro
3) the Chiefs were sitting on the short passing game as Zorn called some basic route combinations

Some throws were on JC alone,
some were on JC and the receiver

You can't say Moss pass would have been a TD but it certainly would have been a big play.
The long pass to Devin was more Devin's fault the JC.

I'm a big Brett Favre fan since i was a kid.
And if you think JC deserved to benched for his 1st half of the Chiefs game then we have different philosophies on what it takes to get a QB benched.

Imo Zorn let the talk and pressure influence his choice to bench JC.

JC really had some happy feet in this one probably due to not trusting the OL and who can blame him. Still, I admit I've lost a lot of faith in him the last few weeks. It's probably best for both sides to move on after the season.

He does a lot of things an experienced NFL QB should not be doing.
AND, no doubt he'll want BIG $$$ on his new deal. At the moment anyway, he's deserving of.......something less

Nice breakdown and insight ! I fail to see why anyone would think we do not have the best OL in the NFL however :) I still say we .... BEAT DALLAS this year !

2nd & 8-JC rolled his shoulder like he thought there was going to be pressure,it didn't look like a 'pump' to me.
The ball comes out late and the pass is low,probably good thing too because a defender was right on top of Moss, and the ball hits Moss in the hands.Thanks for the kind words. You've got some good points, I went back and looked at the plays you mentioned again.

On the pump, I can't clearly say why. He had a good pocket, even though Monty gets knocked on his hind-quarters. The CB gave Moss almost a 10 yd cushion and even with the late delivery the ball still gets there. Moss should've made the catch, but JC certainly made a 5 yd curl a lot harder than it should've been.


Max protect 4 receivers vs 7 DB sounds like pretty good coverage.
When there are more DBs then receivers its likely that they're not open downfield.

JC threw short hoping that Cooley could pick up the YAC.JC made the correct decision to check to Cooley, but had he completed the easy 5 yd curl to Moss, we would've been in 3rd & 3, not 3rd & 8. much better probability of picking up the 1st.


Actually, not so plain and simple.
Devin was too close to the sideline its the receivers job to give the QB a place to throw ball.
Devin was too close to the sideline and the coverage was pretty tight.
JC could have thrown the ball more towards his inside shoulder but flowers is right in Devin's hip pocket.We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. DT had a full step on Flowers and it appeared Flowers was about to lose his feet trying to keep up. If JC aims for the 10 yd line, just in bounds, and lets it fly this is a TD. A starting NFL QB needs to make this throw. I can live with an overthrow, but give the WR a chance.

JC was late on this throw.
ARE runs a short slant/out.
Rundell was open one the initial cut to the inside in the 1st window after he cleared the DB covering Betts, then he was still open after he settled down
JC's pass was high, but Rundell did get his hands on it.The route for ARE is designed to go in first then out, JC can't throw on the in move. JC's pass was way high, ARE barely got his hands on it when he jumped. If this pass is placed accurately, it's an easy 1st.


JC had time but the receivers are all running short quick hitting routes and the their all covered, Devin(not Kelly) was open on the In cut behind ARE/Cooley.

JC threw to his goto guy.ARE is possibly open quick, but not a safe throw. DT (you're correct) though is very open in his dig behind ARE. IF JC went through his progressions properly, this is another easy 1st.

That's on Zorn not JC you can clearly see Zorn calling the play in and Campbell looking to the sideline waiting.It is on Zorn as well, but JC needs to have the presence of mind to get everyone to the line quickly and spike the ball. If he gets an earful from Zorn about it, then Zorn's even more of an idiot. This is JC's team and he's not taking control in a critical situation like this. Not good leadership on the field.

The decision to throw the dump to Portis was a bad decision and cost us the final timeout. Why not throw the ball away out of bounds? It was 1st down.

Because Moss was double covered and Betts isn't open either JC tried to pick up some yardage.It's 2nd down, we have no timeouts. No one's open, throw the ball into the dirt at Moss' feet. Time is FAR more important than 3-4 yds in this case. Again, another poor case of game/clock management. And while blame is also on Zorn, JC is a 5 year vet, this is rookie mistake stuff.


Imo there are some over-reaching issues:
1) JC wasn't comfortable because he was feeling phantom pressure (after getting hit early in the 2 previous games)
2) Zorn called a bunch of 3 step drop passes; which tacitly sends the message that he (Zorn) lacks faith in the pass pro
3) the Chiefs were sitting on the short passing game as Zorn called some basic route combinations
1) If this is true, JC isn't cut out to be an NFL QB.
2) The WCO normally uses a bunch of 3 step, it doesn't indicate doubt in pass pro. There were some breakdowns, but overall for JC pass-pro was acceptable. Pass pro in the second half was worse than the first.
3) Playcalling wasn't great, but when opportunities are there they have to be capitalized on. We are not a team that can afford a bunch of missed opportunities by the QB. JC is making too many mistakes.

And if you think JC deserved to benched for his 1st half of the Chiefs game then we have different philosophies on what it takes to get a QB benched.Prior to the Lions game, I had supported/defended JC against what I felt was unfounded criticism of his play in the second half last year. This year his play has definitely regressed, I wish I could tell you why. It's certainly not what I wanted to see. It puts the Skins in a terrible position of not only needing to rebuild the OL, but now needing a QB as well. All I can say is what I'm seeing on DVR over the last four weeks and this is not a case of a "bad game" or a "throw he'd like back". JC has had opportunities and not taken advantage of them. He hasn't earned a new contract. I don't think putting him in against Philly is the correct thing to do, but I can understand wanting to give him one last chance to redeem himself. Unfortunately I don't think that will happen and we will see some major changes shortly after MNF.