Kansas City Chiefs - GRETZ: What Happened to Old Reliable?

GRETZ: What Happened to Old Reliable?

Oct 10, 2007, 1:29:05 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

Let’s make this clear from the start: the Chiefs rushing performance this past Sunday against Jacksonville was the worst in franchise history.

I know the record book says the 10 yards the Chiefs managed against the Jags ranks second for lack of production, behind the zero yards the offense gained against Denver in December of 1965.

But there’s something you must know about that zero gain game against the Donkeys some 42 years ago: the biggest play of the game was a fumble by Len Dawson as he dropped back to throw the ball. The Chiefs eventually recovered, but they lost 31 yards on the plays. That minus-31 yards went into the rushing column, hardly fair since he was attempting to throw the ball, but that’s how it was accounted for in the day.

Eliminate that play and the Chiefs ran for 31 net yards. Certainly not a great day, but far better than what the Chiefs put up this past Sunday.

It used to be one of the most predictable things around Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs were always able to run the ball. Oh, there would be a game or two where they would have their struggles, but in this decade a Kansas City fan knew his team would always be able to pick up yardage on the ground.

Until now.

After five weeks of the 2007 season, the Chiefs are the worst offensive rushing team in the league. That’s right, they rank 32 out of 32 NFL teams, despite the presence of one of the league’s most productive running backs over the last two seasons.

It is a stunning reversal of how things have been around the team’s offense. Right now they are averaging exactly half the rushing yardage per game that they offense rang up through the last seven seasons. Take a look:

rungame

This isn’t just a pothole; this is falling off a cliff. There have been 713 regular season games in franchise history and no matter what the record book says, what happened against the Jaguars was the worst rushing day any red and gold team has experienced.

So what’s up? Why has the Chiefs running game become so ineffective? As with most things, there’s more than one factor. In this case, the problem can be tied to one major culprit and several accomplices. Here are the factors:

OPPONENTS: Yes, Chiefs opponents are loading up the so-called box with bodies on first down plays. Remarkably, of their most recent foes, Jacksonville did less of this, generally keeping their safeties off the line of scrimmage. There’s nothing unusual about what defenses are doing; the Chiefs saw many of the same things last year. Yes, it makes running the ball tougher, but it doesn’t mean a team can’t gain yardage.

GAME SITUATIONS: When a team is down by 10 points or more at halftime for five consecutive weeks, there figures to be fewer running plays in the second half of the game. Last year after five games the Chiefs had the same 2-3 record and averaged 28 carries per game. Over the entire season in 2006, they averaged 32 carries per game.

This year after five games they are averaging 22 carries per game.

PLAY CALLING: When you run for 10 yards and have the troubles the Chiefs have had this year, nobody escapes blame and the coaching staff must share. Certainly there could have been more creativity and unpredictability in the play calling against Minnesota more than two weeks ago. But since then, the play selection hasn’t been as obvious, and the Chiefs have thrown more on first downs, trying to move defenses off the line of scrimmage.

LARRY JOHNSON: We are seeing the effects of Johnson missing the training camp and all but a few carries in the pre-season because of his contract holdout. Had he been there from the first day, Johnson would have gotten only 25 to 30 carries in the preseason games. But he would have had hundreds in training camp practices and that’s vital in building the consistency of a running game. Take a veteran back and an established offensive line and they don’t need that much work; but the Chiefs did not have that in the pre-season. They had new starters at two positions, and then one went down with an injury.

There’s also no question that Johnson is running differently. The explosion that was so much a part of his game is seen only in fleeting glances these days. Some of that is because there’s nowhere to run. Some of that is because he’s trying too hard to hit home runs when there might be a crack in the defensive wall.

L.J. needs to remember that he’s not a home run hitter. He’s a doubles guy. It’s five yards here, seven yards there, crack one for 20 yards every once in awhile and maybe every third game or so, spring free for 40-plus yards. Since he became a factor in the Chiefs offense near the end of the 2004 season, Johnson has carried the ball 935 times; only six of those have gone for 40 or more yards.

That Johnson is frustrated is understandable and readily apparent. That he needs to do a better job of channeling that frustration is also readily apparent. Right now he’s part of the problem, not the solution.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Here’s the biggest problem in the Chiefs running game and we aren’t talking physical size either. The Chiefs front five, make it front six since Jason Dunn gets plenty of playing time, is not getting the job done.

The performance against Jacksonville was a combination of this group getting physically dominated and making assignment errors. It provided clear evidence of the major problems this team has: the offensive line is too old, too slow and while their veteran status should make them less prone to mental mistakes, apparently that’s not the case either.

Right now, there’s not a single member of the Chiefs offensive line that’s performing consistently in the running game. The mentality of the group of McIntosh-Waters-Wiegmann-Welbourn-Turley-Terry indicated before the season started that they should be good blocking for the run, but struggle in pass protection. Instead, this group has actually done a better than expected job in protecting the quarterback (one sack every 14 passing plays), while failing miserably in the run game.

All of the major contributors are 30-plus in age and all began their careers with a team other than the Chiefs; only Waters developed as a lineman in Kansas City, after he was released as a rookie tight end by Dallas. It’s just another sign of the team’s poor drafting record in the early part of the decade. In the last eight drafts, the Chiefs have taken just nine offensive linemen, none on the first day (rounds one through three.) Only two are still with the team: Will Svitek (2005-6th round) and Herb Taylor (’07-6th). Tre Stallings (’06-6th) is on the practice squad.

Here’s the Chiefs big obstacle right now: the answer to this problem must come from the guys who are the problem. The Chiefs have three backup linemen: Svitek, who has a handful of regular season snaps; Rudy Niswanger, who has even fewer regular season snaps and rookie Taylor, who has yet to see the field on game day.

So the improvement must come from the men on the field. They’ll be helped because they won’t see many defenses as physical as Jacksonville. Cincinnati comes in this Sunday with the 28th ranked rushing defense, allowing an average of 137 yards per game.

Right now, they need all the help they can get.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.

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