The Kansas City Chiefs were able to beat the New England Patriots because of an offensive explosion. Is it repeatable? The film tells us.
What the hell happened in Foxborough last week? Everybody was waiting for the Patriots to beat up on the Chiefs, a good team with a penchant for falling shy of the elites.
Kansas City was supposed to be a sacrificial lamb on Thursday. Somebody had to be, and since the Chiefs have reached the playoffs in three of the past four seasons, they would be enough of a draw. It’s no fun watching an unfair fight, so the NFL put a team good enough to compete against the Patriots, even if it wasn’t good enough to win.
Instead, the tables were turned in stunning fashion. The Chiefs racked up 42 points and 537 yards of offense, both records against teams coached by Bill Belichick. This despite taking 15 penalties and losing the turnover battle. Three times, Kansas City started inside its own 10-yard line on a drive and scored seven points.
Moving forward, the question is whether the Chiefs can continue to be an explosive offense with Alex Smith at the helm. After watching the film, I’ve picked out three plays that represented the game well. Here are the results:
Play #1
The Chiefs are at midfield in the first quarter with 6:34 remaining. New England is leading 7-0, but Kansas City is driving. On this play, we see the Chiefs in 12 personnel (RB, 2 TE). After starting split to the outside, rookie running back Kareem Hunt motions into the backfield behind Alex Smith in the pistol formation. The formation is balanced with Travis Kelce to the left and Demetrius Harris play-side.
New England is playing nickel, treating Kelce as a wide receiver. Because of this, the Patriots only have six traditional run defenders on the field, while Kansas City has seven blockers. In essence, Kelce’s dual-abilities as both catcher and blocker set this play up.
On the snap, Hunt starts right toward the A gap. On the left side, Travis Kelce seals off Trey Flowers, while Eric Fisher (#72) and Bryan Witzmann (#70) get a double team on Malcom Brown. Witzmann then disengages and moves to the second level. However, the key block is made by center Mitch Morse (#61).
Morse gives a hard shove to Alan Branch while right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif gets a great drive block. Morse is going to assist here before peeling off to clear the path, getting a seal on linebacker Kyle Van Noy. Finally, we see right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (#71) driving Dont’a Hightower toward the sideline, while Harris (#84) scoots to force safety Patrick Chung out of the play.
The lane created is massive. Hunt has the choice to cut either left or right off of Morse, who has completely neutralized Van Noy. Duvernay-Tardif has finished off the pancake block on Branch, the best interior linemen on New England.
The end result is a terrific open-field stop by Duron Harmon, who holds up Hunt long enough to limit him to a gain of nine yards. Kansas City would go on to score on this drive, tying the game at 7-7.