Dealing With Negative Plays
Todd Haley made his thoughts very plain on Wednesday about what his offense needs to get accomplished if the Chiefs are going to pull out of the tailspin that has them 0-4 with the Dallas Cowboys coming to town.
Even before improving the team’s horrid third down conversion rate and ahead of scoring more points, Haley says the Chiefs offense has to quit being so negative.
As in negative plays.
“Right now, our number one (problem) putting everything else aside is we need to eliminate minus plays whether that’s a penalty, a minus yardage run or a sack,” Haley said. “We need to eliminate that. I’m looking for the stat right now but we’re probably last.”
You are coach. When it comes to negative rushing and passing plays and penalties on offense, the Chiefs lead the league in that category with 51 negative plays for minus-269 yards.
Here’s the top five in the league when it comes to negative offensive plays:
| Team |
Negative Rushing |
Negative Passing |
Offensive Penalties |
Total Negative Plays/Yards |
| CHIEFS |
16/-40 |
15/-89 |
20/-140 |
51/-269 |
| Buffalo |
12/-30 |
18/-107 |
15/-103 |
45/-240 |
| San Francisco |
21/-50 |
12/-76 |
10/-79 |
43/-205 |
| Green Bay |
12/-17 |
22/-138 |
9/-65 |
43/-220 |
| Detroit |
17/-42 |
10/-79 |
16/-132 |
43/-253 |
“We’re doing some good things. We’re number one on punt, number one kickoff, net average punt we’re number one. There are some good things going on, but right now minus yardage plays ain’t one of them.
“When you have a minus yardage play in a drive your chances of getting a first down go down dramatically. So, forget running down in the Red Zone. Forget all that stuff and concentrate on minus yardage plays and eliminating those and those other things will take care of themselves. Period.”
It’s relatively easy to identify problems…but not so easy to correct them. Good luck, Coach.
I can’t remember the last time I saw as many 4th down conversions in a game as the Giants
Those numbers are only interesting if you also report how many total offensive plays had been ran, or give a percentage of total plays that were negative.
As it stands, maybe Green Bay has ran 5 times the number of plays on offense as the Chiefs.. which would make this category unfair to them.
I’m better the chiefs are pretty low on the total amount of offensive snaps taken as well… so their stats really suck.
I guess that is why he is the HC, I might of been worried that Pioli had not done enough before the season started to protect our QB. Or How I was going to survive with Chan as OC and not have to fire him before season started. Or If I am losing my team with the rotating/inactive roster. But what do I know?
Simplify and execute the revised playbook. Say it again: Simplify and execute the revised playbook.
Especially the execute part. By now, Haley and the position coaches should have a good clue as to what their players can and cannot do.
NOT A PANACEA but a humble change of direction: Simplify and execute, then we’ll see.
Wow, 20 offensive penalties for 140 yds. I guess all those penalty gassers haven’t paid off yet.
ThunderChief says:
“Simplify and execute”
Good point. I agree. Right now the Chiefs are making too many mistakes. You have to be able to do the basics…and then slowly build on that. The old “walk before you can run” idea.
True Red & Gold says:
“Wow, 20 offensive penalties for 140 yds. I guess all those penalty gassers haven’t paid off yet.”
True. My personal feeling is that a lot of the players are uptight, and tired of losing. Simplified – trying too hard. You can’t force it, or worry too much about it. At some point, you have to relax and just play the game. I could say the same for Haley.
Mad, that may be why the team seems so SLOW. The players are thinking to much while they learn the new play book, worry if they will be inactive next week, or who will be standing on either side of them sunday. All this falls to Haley and his fear tactics.
el cid says:
“All this falls to Haley and his fear tactics.”
I disagree. I think it all falls to losing games. When the team finally gets a win under their belt, I believe you’ll see a lot of guys finally exhale and say “Whew!” And I think Haley will be one of them. Then, you see some guys start relaxing a little…and just playing some football.
lol.. Wow haley sounded enthusiastic when he said “We’re doing some good things. We’re number one on punt, number one kickoff, net average punt we’re number one.” its great to be number 1 on some things but if your punting is the best part of your game thats not a good thing…
The chiefs really screwed up, they should have let Herm finish out this year and then grabbed Haley and Pioli earlier in the offseason. No one else wanted Haley so it wasn’t like it was a big rush on him, they could have had a longer offseason to prepare. No one else wanted Haley as HC and it’s not like the Cardinals are going to the superbowl again this year, let alone the playoffs.
I agree with mad,
Professional players have to see the situation than respond. There is no time for thinking “where do I go”. Not one player in the NFL could make it that way, we cant make excuses for the players, they just need to do there job,
I have the answer …….just call QB sneak every time That would be a positive play 1or2 yrds per play until we get a better team to go with this Great QB This is a pun ……no response required. PnS
lol… He might be able to break a 5 or 6 yarder every once in awhile to get a first down or at least give him a better chance of getting a first down…
Arrowhead 1978 letting Herm finish out the year would not have been the best thing because they had been developing bad habits and their confidence was gone. I agree with that the Chiefs got a late start with coaches but let this play itself out. The Chiefs will be better than last year’s team and it will be a learning experience for everyone involved.