One more time before the Bye.  

Last week, I went through & watched both the previous Raider games before they came to town to get made to look like a high school JV team. This week I had thought about doing all 3 Chiefs games before heading off to KC, however due to time constraints I’ll be skipping their Week 1 upset of the Patriots and Week 3 against the Chargers. So, on the docket we’ve got their Week 2 matchup which had the same storyline as the Redskins’ Week 2 game. Skins had Gruden vs McCoy & this one has Reid vs his former Assistant Coach in Doug Pederson. Reid was 8-3 against former assistant coaches going into this game. Here we go….

First thing that comes across is this Arrowhead crowd is effing LOUD already & they haven’t even kicked off yet. Eagles kick it off into the end zone where Thomas brings it out. Jeez he hits a hole & looks like he might take it all the way, then gets tripped up. Thirty yard return gets flagged for Offensive Holding so they’ll start at their own 21.

In their opening drive, KC gets 4 yards on the ground up the middle with Hunt, converts that 2nd Down with a pass to their TE Kelce for 12 yards, then goes with a 3 TE set & a short pass to the right sideline to Conley for 7 yards. Alex Smith takes his deep shot downfield to the right to Kelce for a gain of 44 yards- about half of that was YAC. 

This was their fourth play & was set up nicely by the last three out routes. It reminds me of when Reid was in Philly coaching against a revolving door of Redskins coaches. He’d usually have a shot deep in his opening drive that the other team wasn’t ready for & he was usually successful. Reid tends to script his first 15 offensive plays, running different plays out of the same formations. Occasionally he’ll throw in something you haven’t seen on tape or haven’t seen in a long time. And if you don’t or can’t adjust to it, he’ll keep on going to it. That’s how they upset the Patriots in Week 1.

Anyways, back to their opening drive. They follow up the 44 yard game with an incomplete pass, a 6 yard run by Hill off the LG, & another incomplete short pass to the right. Cue the FG kick for 3. Eight plays for 73 yards. Every play this drive was out of the Shotgun. 

Chiefs take the next drive after an Eagles Field Goal & a touchback at their 25. It’s a seven play drive, which gets us to the end of Reid’s 15 scripted plays, all from the Shotgun. The drive starts, like the opening drive, with a run. However this time it’s to the left side for 1 yard. The opening run was up the middle. It’s back to Kelce to the right for 3, a pass to Hill to the left for 14, short pass to the right to Hunt (Hunt made four guys miss, he had to be gang tackled to get him down) for 16, then an incomplete pass to Hill deep down the left side into the end zone . Smith overthrew him by a hair. Hunt off the Right Tackle picks up 2 on the ground, Smith with another incomplete pass this one intended for Kelce, & the Chiefs punt it away for 39 yards into the end zone for the touchback. So, that’s Reid’s 15 scripted plays. In each drive he started with a run, took a shot deep downfield, ran everything out of the Shotgun, and didn’t pull any trick plays out of his bag of tricks. That’s their offense for the First Quarter that resulted in a 3-3 tie.

Chiefs start their third offensive drive, now in the second quarter, with an incomplete pass over the middle to Harris but Philly is called for Offsides so they pick up 5 yards the easy way. Hunt runs to the right on a stretch play for a loss of 1. Pass to Hill for 4 yards. He gets blown up by Douglas immediately. On 3rd & 2 the Chiefs switch it up & run Wilson up the middle for a gain of 4. KC used a lot of misdirection on that play to try to spring him through the hole so he could burst it downfield. They even hd a WR come back around to fake an end a round. The more you go back & watch it, the more impressive that play gets.  Next snap, KC takes a loss of 5 on a False Start. Still in the shotgun, Alex Smith scrambles up the middle until he gets pushed out at the KC 45 for 8 yards. Doesn’t matter as there’s offsetting penalties so they’re still at their own 37 with a 1st & 15. Smith picks up 4 yards on the right side &. Alex Smith gets sacked on the next snap for a loss of 5 yards. Two steps forward, two steps back. Smith keeps it again, this time he picks up 4. 2nd & 11 & for the first time all. Game Smith is under center & not back in the Shotgun. 2WR/2TE set Smith back to pass looking for a screen to the running back as the pocket collapses like a cheap tailgating tent in the wind. Sack costs them 5 yards so at 3rd & 16 Smith is back in the Shotgun, he dumps it off on Wilson at the right. Eagles D was guarding the 1st Down marker. They rushed 3 & dropped everyone else back to the marker line. Chiefs have to punt. Still 3-3.

Chiefs are now on their fourth drive with 2:25 left in the first half.  Smith is back in the gun & hands it off to Hunt who picks up 2 up the middle. And it’s the 2 Minute Warning. Smith unloads over the middle for Kelce. Smith barely avoided another sack there. It’s a 3 yard gain & KC burns a timeout. It’s 3rd & 5 with 1:26 to go until Half Time. Smith back in the shotgun, can’t find an open receiver as the pocket collapses again & he eats a sack. Loss of 3 yards & KC is forced to punt it away again. But first the Eagles take a time out. Chiefs punt it away & on the return, Sproles makes a few guys miss then the ball get popped out of his hands & the Chiefs recover the fumble. Sproles was nailed by the long snapper who had a textbook tackle, put his shoulder on the ball to cause it to pop out of Sproles’ hands. GREAT Special Teams play. Chiefs ball at the Philly 24 with 1:06 on the clock. Smith back in the shotgun takes yet another sack this one for a loss of 6. 31 seconds left, Smith passes complete to Kelce for a 9 yard gain. KC takes their second time out. 3rd & 7 with 26 seconds left.Smith rolls left & is run down at the sideline. He throws this one away. Barely. Eagles had him dead to rights. Chiefs are held to another Field Goal. It’s 6-3 with 17 seconds left in the half. Eagles missed a 30 yard field goal to end the half.

So far in the First Half, it’s been more of a Defensive game as the score indicates. The Eagles have held Hill in check, which has stopped some of KC’s explosiveness. A deep shot to Kelce on the opening drive & the turnover on Special Teams have been their two best plays. Let’s get to the Second Half offensive drives….

Philly runs 6 plays to open the 2nd half before having to punt so the Chiefs take over at the 13 after a fair catch by Hill. From the Shotgun it’s a 12 yard pass to Wilson, 18 yards to Hill, 11 yards to Hunt, then Hunt up the middle for 1, a pass 1 yard pass to hunt, and then Smith takes another sack. This one is for a loss of 5. Chiefs to punt. Again. Hunt has been held to 6 yards on 9 attempts. 

Next drive starts after the Eagles get it in the End Zone for the game’s first touchdown. Smith, on a keeper, picks up 12 yards. Though he needs to learn how to slide instead of going down head first. It’s Smith to Conley for a gain of seven, then Hunt losses a yard on the left side. Smith connects with his favorite target again & Kelce gains 12 yards. 1st & 10 at the 47. Chiefs are now 3-9 on 3rd downs. Still in the shotgun, Hunt takes the handoff & EXPLODES though Philadelphia like a hot knife through cream cheese. 53 yard touchdown run. Hunt finally got to show off his speed. It’s 13-10 Chiefs. 

Chiefs take the field back after Philly answered with a Field Goal making it tied at 13 & into the 4th Quarter. Chiefs Special Teams take a 71 yard kickoff  and return it for 40 yards.  The Eagles Defense steps up & holds them to a three & out this drive. Chiefs only gained 6 yards on one play. So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right? Because as the Eagles street moving down the field, the Chiefs get a turnover by picking off Wentz. KC takes back over at the Philly 31. Smith to Hill for 7 yards, then another Smith scramble to the left where he’s pushed out of bounds at the 20. Gain of 5. Smith connects with Kelce for another 5 yards. 2nd & 5, Smith feeds Kelce again, this time it’s for 15 yards & a touchdown. 20-13 Chiefs. The touchdown pass was another play where they had an obscene amount of motion/misdirection. It was similar to a play they ran in Week 1 against the Patriots.

Now with the momentum, the Chiefs Defense holds Wentz & the Eagles to a three & out. After the 8 yard punt return, KC takes over at the 44. Smith starts this drive with another keeper but it’s a loss of 1. Putting the pedal down, Smith goes deep to Conley down the right sideline for a gain of 35. Chiefs are already in Field Goal range & it’s 1st & 10 at the Philly 21 as KC takes a time out. 4:36 on the clock.  KC comes out of the timeout with Smith under center, hands off to Hunt who runs to the right for 4 yards. Back in the Shotgun, Hunt takes it up the middle for 3 more yards, then picks 12 yards on a run to the left side. Ball at the 2 yard line. Hunt up the middle for the score. Kick’s good & it’s 27-13 KC. 

Philly takes a little over two minutes to go 75 yards in 13 plays for their final touchdown. Philly recovers their own insides kick, KC burns their last two time outs & Wentz’s final pass is incomplete as the clock runs out.

Even though the Chiefs are undefeated, they’re still beatable. I think had Philly not had the turnover on Special Teams they could have had the win here. The keys here are similar as to what the Redskins Defense did to Oakland last week. Get constant pressure on Smith, contain Hunt- do not let him rip off a big 50+ yard gain, and flow to Kelce when he gets the ball. Also don’t let KC’s motion/misdirection turn into a learning lesson for a young secondary.

If you’ve enjoyed these weekly reviews of the upcoming enemy of the week, drop a comment below. If you’re not a fan of them, say so below as well. Doing these are ~ahem~ extremely time consuming so if enough of you dig it, I’ll try to keep doing them. And if not, I’ll free up at least two days time during the week.