Dropping The Ball … Friday Cup O’Chiefs
Over his 13-year NFL career, linebacker has been Mike Vrabel’s football home.
But every once in awhile, Vrabel gets to play tight end; it started in 2002 with the Patriots and has continued through this season. He has caught 11 passes over his career, all for touchdowns. He was thrown a 12th pass. Vrabel actually made that catch, but officials ruled he was out of bounds at the back of the end zone.
A dozen passes to a linebacker and he caught them all. Not a single dropped pass.
Maybe it’s time to have Vrabel start working with the Chiefs receivers. At this point, Todd Haley would welcome any help.
The Chiefs are leading the NFL in dropped passes with 37 in 12 games.
Over the last dozen seasons, Haley has made his bones in the NFL coaching profession handling receivers. With the Jets, Bears and Cowboys he was the wide receivers coach. With the Cardinals, he worked closely with the pass catchers in his role as offensive coordinator.
Not much rankles Haley more than dropped passes. “I hate them,” Haley snarled. “Hate’em.”
So if you want to know what Haley and WR Bobby Wade were yelling at each other about last Sunday on the sidelines, now you know. Haley thought Wade should have caught that third down pass on the Chiefs first possession. Wade disagreed, or was frustrated that his failure was thrown in his face. After the game, he wouldn’t explain his anger.
At this point it doesn’t matter. It was one of seven drops in the game and 37 dropped passes in the season.
“I count drops; I always have,” said Haley. “I’ve been a pretty critical judge in that area. I do feel like if a receiver is able to get his hands on it, he should be able to come up with. That’s what they get paid for.
“We’ve had way too many; 37 drops is way too many.”
While the Chiefs as a team lead the league in drops, Wade is tied for the individual lead with nine drops. WR Mark Bradley and Dwayne Bowe are in the top 10 with seven drops each.
Here are the Chiefs’ droppers so far this season:
- 9 – WR Bobby Wade.
- 7 – WR Mark Bradley, WR Dwayne Bowe.
- 5 – TE Sean Ryan.
- 3 – WR Lance Long.
- 2 – RB Dantrell Savage.
- 1 – RB Jamaal Charles, TE Leonard Pope, WR Bobby Engram, TE Brad Cottam.
The drops are even more significant because the talent-deficient Chiefs play with a razor thin margin of error each week. Any lost opportunity gets magnified by a team that doesn’t have the players to produce many big play chances.
“This young team can’t overcome those, we can’t overcome dropped balls,” said Haley. “The games where we’ve done a good job catching the ball, we’ve been pretty competitive. When we haven’t, it’s an additional thing that’s too hard for us to overcome. We have to be opportunistic and make the most of every chance we get.
“Those are first and 10 plays that might be another first and 10, but instead they are second and 10s,” said Haley. “They come on third downs, so instead of keeping the ball, we are punting it. We’ve got to do a better job catching the ball.”
So why does a receiver drop a ball? There are three elements: physical, mental and for lack of a better word, emotional:
PHYSICAL – the best receivers in pro football are able to manipulate their bodies, usually on the run, so they can grab a football. Not all receivers are able to do so. They may put themselves in a position to get a hand on the ball, but they lack balance, or height on their jump, or speed on their route to secure the ball. Getting their hands on the ball is one thing; they may not have the physical gifts to pull the ball in for the catch.
MENTAL – a lack of focus can make a receiver prone to drops; if a receiver is trying to run before he makes the catch, he’ll drop the ball; lack of understanding of the pass route and the overall play can put a receiver in a position where grabbing a catchable ball is difficult.
EMOTIONAL – drops can come from a player who is worried about getting smacked by a defensive player. In football they call it “hearing the footsteps.”
“There are a lot of different things,” said Haley when asked if there were any common denominators in his team’s healthy dose of drops. “They come in streaks too. You’ve got to keep teaching them the technique and how you want them to catch it. You’ve got to work at it. It’s before practice, after practice, during practice, guys that catch the ball well, they work at it all the time.
“There’s no trick to it,” Haley added. “You’ve got to get on the (ball) machine. You’ve got to catch before practice, after practice, you can’t catch enough balls and practice your craft. It’s tight ends, backs and receivers; all those groups have had a hand in what’s happened.”
For the most part the drops turn up only as incomplete passes in a quarterback’s statistics. So how does Matt Cassel try to help fix the problem.
“As a quarterback, you just keep doing your job,” Cassel said. “That’s all you can do, and you try to build that relationship with those receivers and continue to work with them consistently and hard during practice. If there are things that are glaring when you watch the film, we try to point it out, make corrections, and try to make those improvements as we go forward during the week.”
It all comes back down to this: if a linebacker can do it, then a guy who makes his living catching the ball should not be having passes bounce off his hands.
“We’ve just got to get better,” said Wade, who last year had only six drops with a limited number of chances in the Minnesota offense. “We all have to get better.”
FROM INSIDE THE T.O. CIRCUS
It was four years ago that Haley spent a season under the Big Top circus tent that is the daily life of WR Terrell Owens.
Owens was in his first of three seasons with the Cowboys and Haley was in the third of his three seasons in Dallas as the team’s wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
Sunday, Haley sees T.O. again, this time as the Chiefs head coach and the receiver is with the Buffalo Bills.
“He looks like he’s playing at a high level to me,” said Haley. “He’s always a threat and he’s always a threat to score anywhere on the field. He’s up close to around 700 yards receiving and it looks like he’s running with the football very well. He’s got a complementary receiver on the other side (Lee Evans) that I think creates some problems of which guy do you deal with on a down-to-down basis. ”
Owens has caught 43 passes for 690 yards and three touchdowns, including a 98-yard scoring play three weeks ago against Jacksonville. He had nine catches for 197 yards in that game and the 98-yarder is the longest play in 50 seasons of Bills football.
He needs six catches to reach 1,000 for his career. He would be only the sixth receiver in NFL history to reach that mark. He will join Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, Isaac Bruce and Tim Brown as 1,000-catch receivers.
Haley was not of the mind to recount his days in the circle with T.O.
“I hate to go back into all that,” said Haley. “As I’ve said, I’m grateful for my experiences in being a receiver coach for a long time and getting to be around and coached some of these guys you’ve got to be on your game all the time.”
SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE
- DOLPHINS – placed OT Lydon Murtha on the injured-reserve list (ankle); re-signed CB Evan Oglesby.
- 49ERS – LB Jeff Ulbrich retired.
- JETS – placed LB Lary Izzo on the injured-reserve list (neck).
- RAIDERS – lost G Robert Gallery for the season after he underwent surgery on his back.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY
On December 11, 1960, the Dallas Texans beat the Boston Patriots 34-0 before 12,000 fans at the Cotton Bowl. More details later this afternoon.
On December 11, 1966, the Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 19-18 at the Orange Bowl. Two fourth quarter touchdowns by the Kansas City offense pulled this victory out on the road in south Florida. Down 11-6, RB Curtis McClinton scored on a 49-yard run with 11 minutes 16 seconds left in the game. Mike Mercer hit the PAT kick and the Chiefs led 13-11. Miami came right back and scored a touchdown, going back up 18-13. But the Chiefs answered and went 12 plays and 72 yards for the winning score, a 25-yard pass from QB Len Dawson to WR Chris Burford.
On December 11, 1977, the Chiefs lost to the Seattle Seahawks 34-31 in front of 22,262 fans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs led this game 20-0 in the first quarter, trailed at half-time 34-21 and never caught the second-year Seahawks. FS Gary Barbaro returned an interception of a Jim Zorn pass 102 yards for a touchdown, establishing an NFL record at that time for longest INT return. TE Walter White caught a 30-yard scoring pass from QB Mike Livingston and they had one-yard scoring runs by RBs Ed Podolak and Mark Bailey. Podolak had 92 yards on 21 carries. Both teams turned the ball over five times.
On December 11, 1983, the Chiefs lost to the Chargers 41-38 at San Diego Stadium. It was a 28-yard FG by San Diego’s Rolf Benirschke with two seconds left that gave the Chargers the victory. The Chiefs had tied the game with 1:32 to play when QB Bill Kenney (right) connected with TE Willie Scott on a three-yard TD pass. It was one of four scoring passes that Kenney threw on the afternoon, finding Scott, WR Stephone Paige twice from 20 and 16 yards and WR Carlos Carson for 50 yards. San Diego QB Dan Fouts hooked up for three TD passes with TE Kellen Winslow, going for five, 18 and 37 yards. Fouts also scored on a one-yard TD run but had to leave the game with a shoulder injury. Backup Ed Luther threw a 44-yard scoring pass to WR Wes Chandler. Kenney was 31 of 41 for 411 yards. RB Theotis Brown ran eight times for 94 yards and Carson caught seven passes for 165 yards. The Chiefs defense had interceptions from S Durwood Roquemore and CB Gary Green.
On December 11, 1988, the Chiefs lost to the New York Giants 28-12 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. The Giants used a strong running game and an overpowering defense to win this game going away. RB Joe Morris ran for 140 yards on 31 carries and the Giants offense scored four touchdowns. QB Phil Simms and TE Mark Bavaro hooked up for a pair of touchdowns of 12 and 24 yards. RBs Ottis Anderson and Maurice Carthon also added TD runs. The Chiefs got only four FGs from Nick Lowery, including a 51-yarder. LB Lawrence Taylor had two sacks of Chiefs QB Steve DeBerg, who was 15 of 35 for 174 yards. Simms was six of 15 for just 93 yards, but had the two TD passes to Bavaro.
On December 11, 1995, the Chiefs lost to the Miami Dolphins 13-6 in a Monday night game at Joe Robbie Stadium. The Miami defense simply dominated this game, as the Chiefs did not get on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter when QB Steve Bono (left) combined with WR Webster Slaughter for a five-yard TD pass. The PAT kick failed. Miami managed only a pair of Pete Stoyanovich FGs and a three-yard TD pass from QB Dan Marino to WR O.J. McDuffie. The Chiefs turned the ball over three times. Defensively, Neil Smith had a sack of Marino, while safety William White had an interception.
On December 11, 2005, the Chiefs lost to the Dallas Cowboys 31-28 at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win this game. WR Terry Glenn (right) scored on a six-yard run and Dallas took the lead. But QB Trent Green and WR Eddie Kennison hooked up on a 47-yard TD pass to put the Chiefs back in front 28-24. The Cowboys won the game with less than a minute to play on a one-yard touchdown pass from QB Drew Bledsoe to TE Dan Campbell. The Chiefs had three earlier scoring runs by RB Larry Johnson of one, 11 and 21 yards. Johnson finished with 143 yards on 26 carries. Green hit 20 of 32 passes for 340 yards. Bledsoe ended up throwing three TD passes, finding Glenn for 71 yards and TE Jason Witten for 26 yards. The Chiefs defense had four sacks, including two by DE Jared Allen.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …
Born on December 11, 1958 in Wilmington, Delaware was OL Rick Donnalley. He joined the Chiefs in 1986 after spending two years with the Steelers (1982-83) and two seasons with the Redskins (1984-85). Donnalley spent two years with the Chiefs, appearing and starting in 22 games at center. His time with the Chiefs was his last in the NFL.
Born on December 11, 1970 in Bayonne, New Jersey was WR Danan Hughes (left). He was selected in the seventh-round of the 1993 NFL Draft out of the University of Iowa. Hughes played six seasons (1993-98) with the Chiefs, appearing in 85 games with five starts. While he did most of his work on special teams, Hughes did catch 46 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw two passes, completing both for a total of 55 yards. Hughes returned 35 punts for an average of 7.4 yards and 27 kickoffs for an average of 19.9 yareds.
Born on December 11, 1975 in Camden, South Carolina was DE Vonnie Holliday. He joined the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent in 2003 after five seasons with the Packers, where he was selected in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft. Holliday spent two seasons with the Chiefs (2003-04), appearing in 25 games, with 19 starts on the defensive line. He had 5.5 sacks during his time in Kansas City. Holliday left and spent four seasons with the Dolphins. He’s playing this year with the Broncos.
I’ve been reading this website for a long time and have never commented but after reading the articles from the past two days, I finally feel compelled to respond. It amazes me how two people can watch the same play and see two entirely different results. But the receivers for the Chiefs have to be getting frustrated with how much blame they are getting for dropped balls when a huge majority have been poorly thrown. I don’t care who your receivers are, they are going to continue to “drop” balls as long as the quarterback keeps throwing the ball behind them.
as someone who happens to have pretty good hands, I can tell you diving catches in front of you aren’t that difficult. High leaping catches are easy. A ball thrown behind you on a full speed crossing route is nearly impossible. This is one of the most frequent “drops” the Chiefs receivers have. The blame is never totally on one side or the other, but right now it is about 70/30 on Cassel. In other words, until he starts throwing a more catchable pass, the
chiefs will always lead the league in drops.
With that many drops how in the world can anyone point the finger at Cassell and blame him for how poorly this offense is being ran. That number along 37 drops is totally ridculous. Outside of Pioli fixing the o-line and getting another pass rusher at outside line backer with the first 3 picks. Once we get to the 3rd and 4th round of the draft we need to take a receiver. Heck if Dez Bryant is there in the first round when its our turn to pick we need to get him. We got to 2nd round picks we can use both of those on lineman.
He’s about the only wideout I would sacrifice getting an o-lineman in the 2nd round for. Only because his upside to me is greater than Crabtree. Either way no matter how things shake out we need to make wide receiver a priority in the offseason.
That bs wayne. I’ve watched every game this season majority of Cassell passes have been catchable and receivers just dropped them. This is the NFL you get paid millions to catch it that is what you need to do no matter the difficulty. Most of all these amazing catches we see Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson guys like that make are not perfectly thrown balls but they make the catch and that what makes it looks so good. So spare me the whinnning for the receivers who are you TO? That sounds like something he’ll say.
..”Now, that’s CONCENTRATION Elliot!”
That’s the quote and it came from which NFL football movie? (Apt scene to depict for this thread, by the way).
Do not know who to blame for the “drops” but the NFL is full of benchwarmers who can occassionally make a sportscenter magnificent, awe inspiring once a season catch. What the Chiefs are missing are receivers who can “regularily” catch the garden variety type. Bowe is a perfect example.
Who to blame? WRs or QB or HC or OC or QB coach or the idiot who when thru OTAs and training camp and when to the street to get 5′7″ Long? I would suggest the problem is Pioli. He chose Haley and it looks like our HC is not equipped for this type of major rebuild. Haley “knows” offense, right, he was in a superbowl but to rebuild the remnants of the Chiefs, not so much.
Ed, you are going pretty hard to the mic. And I would agree, in the NFL, if a receiver gets even one full hand on it…he should catch it more than not.
With that said, most plays have exact timing to them. For example, receiver reaching a zone seam 30 yards away 3.8 seconds – QB drop/fake/throw in 2.6. So judging the receiver for not catching a ball that reaches either a different spot or the intended spot at the wrong time because he looked close – isn’t really valid.
And for the most part, the guy that alters timing to circumstances is the QB. In a case, where Bobby Wade is open by more than 14 yards, there was absolutely no reason to throw a bullet down the field.
On other plays, you can see by watching tape, the receiver comes open and then closed. Cassel either doesn’t get the ball out in time, or leads a DB to the receiver before throwing. Or worse yet, he throws behind a receiver who is on a full run. This is habit of Cassel, you can see in warm-ups before the game. And it is a YAC killer to receivers, requiring extreme athleticism just to catch a ball that is sometimes closer to the defensive player than himself.
Until Cassel quits patting the ball before he makes a long throw…he’ll continue to struggle having batted balls or to find open receivers in a 5 step drop.
It’s always difficult to decipher exactly who is to blame for drive killing mistakes. There is no realistic formula, especially for fans who want to throw in their 2 cents worth. Only the coaches & players can determine that. They know who, what, where & when every play is designed to do or go. Always 11 guys performing their assigned duty. Sure fumbles are a no brainer, we can see who is responsible, but if you think about it. If each of the 11 players did not block their man properly, there maybe would not be a fumble.
Dropped or poorly thrown balls can easily be blamed on any one individual. We easily disagree on who to blame everday @bobgretz.com… I have always admired the player that after a bad play he pats his chest or gestures to himself that he was at fault.
Owning your mistakes as well as your successes should never be debated. We as humble & passionate fans are always left with debatable plays that can directly lead to a win or loss. We have endured 9 such games so far this year. Our opinions are valid to some & not so much for others. Bob has given us a platform to present our views. For that I am grateful.
My whole point is, that football is a team sport, full of the best athletes that money can buy. Win, lose or draw we fans who buy tickets, merchandise or simply watch our favorite team on TV. We are, in essence, paying for these athletes. They make mistakes, lose some games & we rightfully, have the luxury of judging them every day. Is this a wonderful country or what.
Go Chiefs
Ah yes, dropped balls. Not only a painful-sounding medical condition…but a killer for our team this year.
Blame Cassel? Blame the receivers? It’s on both, really. An incomplete pass is an incomplete pass. Listen…there is not one single player on this Offense that should be looking in the mirror and thinking “Hey, I’m playing my best game…and there’s nothing I can do to improve”. Get with the program, guys. You’re professional football players. Start playing like it.
Wayne Says:
“as someone who happens to have pretty good hands,”
Wayne…as in Reggie Wayne?
Bob actually wrote an article recently talking about poorly thrown balls and how Cassel ranks higher than we’d like him to in that category.
Realistically we don’t have a great QB right now (and I’m a Cassel supporter)…and in my opinion we have even worse receivers. I’m not excusing Cassel’s bad passes, but let’s call a spade a spade…our receivers have been poor.
yes our receivers are poor as well as our QB… You can’t win if you can’t throw and catch. it’s everyones fault starting up front. If there is time then there would be catches…
The receivers aren’t great, but the qb has to make good throws to help the receivers. Agree with insider, Cassels timing is usually bad! When his timing is on the catches are more often than not made. That is why a lot of times our receivers seem surprised by the ball because Cassels timing is off. But also they are all guilty of showing lack of interest I think.
Thunder Chief, that movie was North Dallas 40. I took a class in college about sports in America and was requred to watch it. Great football movie with Nick Nolte, Mac Davis and John Matuzak. All Pro football fans should see this Movie.
Even if the timing is off or the pass is in the general direction it’s up to the receiver to make the play. Sure the QB can throw behind, over the head, or at the feet of the receivers but making catches is just like rebounding its all about desire and concentration. Sometimes a receiver has to steal the ball away from the DB. If Bowe hadn’t been ineligible for the last four games then he would be far and away leading the league in drops. Everybody just has to put in extra work Cassell and the receivers alike.