Offensive Improvement? … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

The last time the Chiefs and Chargers played each other was not a good day for the Kansas City offense.

In fact, October 25 was the worst day of the season so far for Todd Haley’s offensive group. They had just 10 first downs, fewest of any game on the schedule. They gained 203 yards, the third weakest game of the season for the offense and 82 passing yards, its fewest of the season. QB Matt Cassel threw three interceptions, more than in any other game and he was sacked five times, which is tied for one of the worst pass protection afternoons in the 2009 season.

That’s why the Chiefs were hammered 37-7, their worst loss of the season and their worst loss at Arrowhead Stadium since 1976, when they were beaten 45-0 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Subsequent events have shown us that ugly offensive performance may have been the bottom of the barrel. As the Chiefs head to San Diego for game No. 2 of their ‘09 set against the Chargers they are not exactly an offensive juggernaut. But they have become more consistent, especially in throwing the ball. They have come up with big plays and they had two games over 300 yards in total offense.

Most of all they have two consecutive victories.

“I would say we’re making progress,” head coach Todd Haley said on Friday, after completing the practice week in preparation for the Chargers. “I think each week that we’re all together I feel like we’ve made progress, sometimes it’s shown sometimes it hasn’t.

“I would say that last week after a little slower start – even though we actually started fast and converted a third down fairly early – we never really quite got going. Then, as the game progressed I thought we got into a good rhythm and were able to have some success in some critical situations which told me we’re making progress.”

Haley has to hold on to those few signs of improvement, because right now they are not showing up in the offensive statistics. Here’s where the Chiefs rank among the league’s 32 offenses and it’s not a pretty picture:

• 30th in offensive yards per game, averaging 268.1 yards. The worst offense in the league belongs to Oakland at 227.3 yards per game. The best offense is New Orleans at 416.1 yards per game. The NFL average is 335 yards per game.
• 26th in rushing yards per game, averaging 96.8 yards. The worst running game is Seattle, averaging 84.4 yards per game. The best rushing offense belongs to Tennessee at 168.4 yards per game. The NFL average is 116.1 yards per game.
• 26th in passing yards per game, with an average of 171.3 yards. That worst passing game is Oakland at 125 yards per game. The best pass offense is in Indianapolis at 313.5 yards per game. The league average is 218.9 yards.
• 31st in pass protection, with 37 sacks on the season. The team that’s allowed the most sacks is Green Bay with 43. The fewest sacks so far have happened in Tennessee with seven. The NFL average is 22.1 sacks.
• 32nd in rushing touchdowns with one. The league average is 8.4 rushing touchdowns. The most rushing TDs are 18 by New Orleans.
• 32nd in third down conversions at 22.4 percent hitting 32 of 143. The best third-down conversion rate belongs to Indianapolis at 50.4 percent. The league average is 38.7 percent.

The numbers add up to marginal improvement since the first San Diego game. They have not scored more than two offensive touchdowns in any of their 10 games. The running game has had two games in the last three where it produced less than 70 yards. The passing game continues to limp along, and sacks are up over the last five games compared to the first five (20 to 17).

But there is no question the passing attack got the Chiefs close in the fourth quarter against Jacksonville as Cassel hooked up with WR Chris Chambers for two scores. And, the passing game tied up and the won the Pittsburgh game in overtime.

Those slivers of success have Haley and Cassel thinking about bigger things.

“I think this offense is looking to really build on what we’ve been able to do the last few weeks,” said Cassel. “We’ve started to come together a little bit as a unit, we’ve been better on third down and we’ve made some big plays offensively. So, as we move forward, we definitely want to build on that.

“A lot of it you can contribute to the fact we’ve been around each other a little bit longer, we’ve been in the system a little bit longer, we’re starting to understand terminology and route-calling steps and so forth. It just takes time.”

It especially takes time when the head coach changes offensive coordinators just days before the regular season and alters the whole offensive system. This offense had 11 weeks (10 games and a bye week) to get up and running, not an entire off-season, training camp and pre-season. Should anybody have expected anything less than slow going?

“We knew it was a major change and there was going to be some pain involved with that change,” said Haley. “Would I have liked it to hurry up? Yes, but we also added some people to the mix that have kind of helped the process and have had to deal with injuries like everybody else, and a suspension now. But I think we all kind of knew that it would be a pretty big deal. But the thought process was we’ll be ahead of it here once we get through it, and be further along as a team and as a staff.”

Whether Haley and Cassel are correct that the offense has improved will be on display against the Chargers. Just four weeks ago the San Diego defense slapped around the Chiefs offense; if things are different we should see that on the field at Qualcomm Stadium.

“You really watch that (first) game get out of hand in the second half when we’re trying to make some plays and we need to do a better job of managing the game early, keeping it close and then putting ourselves in a position to win at the end,” said Cassel.

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• BEARS – LB Pisa Tinoisamoa will not play in Sunday’s game against the Vikings.
• BILLS – out of Sunday’s game against the Dolphins are OT Demetrius Bell, DT John McCargo and CB Ashton Youboty.
• CARDINALS – LB Will Davis is out of Sunday’s game against the Titans.
• COLTS – announced promotion of Chris Polian to the position of vice-president-general manager. He is the heir apparent to replace his father Bill, who remains as president of the Colts; ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Texans were DE Keyunta Dawson, CB Aaron Francisco, WR Anthony Gonzalez and K Adam Vinatieri.
• EAGLES – ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Redskins are LB Akeem Jordan, WR Kevin Curtis and RB Brian Westbrook.
• FALCONS – WR Brian Finneran is out of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
• 49ERS – CB Nate Clements and OT Joe Staley were ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Jaguars.
• JAGUARS – ruled out of Sunday’s game against the 49ers was CB Rashean Mathis.
• JETS – out of Sunday’s game against the Panthers are CB Dwight Lowery and CB Donald Strickland.
• LIONS – have lost TE Brandon Pettigrew for the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered in Thanksgiving game against Green Bay.
• RAMS – QB Marc Bulger has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.
• REDSKINS – out of Sunday’s game against the Eagles are TE Chris Cooley, CB DeAngelo Hall and RB Clinton Portis.
• STEELERS – QB Charlie Batch, G Chris Kemoeatu and SS Troy Polamalu will not play on Sunday night against the Ravens.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On November 28, 1965, the Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers 52-21 at Municipal Stadium with a crowd of 16,459 watching on a cold, breezy Kansas City afternoon. The Chiefs offense racked up 510 yards, as QB Len Dawson threw three touchdown passes and scored on a one-yard run. Dawson found WR Otis Taylor for a 45-yard score, TE Fred Arbanas for a seven-yard TD and WR Frank Jackson (right) for 22 yards and a touchdown. QB Pete Beathard came in for mop up duty in the fourth quarter and threw a 27-yard TD pass to Arbanas, while also scoring on a seven-yard run. The biggest offensive play of the game for the Chiefs was RB Mack Lee Hill’s 66-yard TD run. Hill finished with 119 rushing yards, while Jackson had five catches for 118 yards. LB Bobby Bell led the Chiefs defense with 10 tackles and an interception of Houston QB George Blanda.

On November 28, 1968, the Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers 24-10 on a cold and snowy Thanksgiving Day at Municipal Stadium. A crowd of 48,493 watched as Chiefs QB Len Dawson threw three TD passes, two of those to WR Frank Pitts of 33 and 43 yards and a 37-yard throw to RB Mike Garrett. Pitts finished the game with seven catches for 124 yards. Dawson was 17 of 23 for 253 yards. The Chiefs defense picked off a pair of passes by Houston QB Pete Beathard, as LB Jim Lynch and FS Johnny Robinson grabbed the picks. DEs Jerry Mays and Aaron Brown had sacks.

On November 28, 1976, the Chiefs beat the Chargers 23-20 at San Diego Stadium. RB Ed Podolak’s five-yard TD run with less than six minutes to play gave Kansas City the victory over San Diego. Podolak had an earlier five-yard TD run and finished the game with 127 yards on 25 carries. Defensively, the Chiefs picked off three Dan Fouts passes, as S Gary Barbaro (left) had two and CB Tim Gray had the other. They also had three sacks, two by DE Bob Maddox.

On Thanksgiving, November 28, 1996, the Chiefs beat the Detroit Lions 28-24 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. It was a record breaking day for RB Marcus Allen (right). In front of a national TV audience and 75,079 fans, Allen had two touchdown runs of one-yard. That allowed him to set a new NFL record for career rushing TDs with 112. That passed the previous record holder, Chicago’s Walter Payton who had 110 over his career. Allen set the record in the first quarter and then added to it with a scoring run in the fourth quarter. They were two of four offensive TDs that day for the Chiefs, as QB Rich Gannon had scoring throws to WR Chris Penn for 17 yards and nine yards to TE Derrick Walker. RB Greg Hill ran 17 times for 103 yards and Gannon completed 15 of 18 passes for 120 yards and those two TDs. Defensively, the Chiefs had three interceptions, as LB Donnie Edwards, CB Tony Stargell and S Mark Collins all picked off passes. Edwards also had half-a-sack in the game.

On November 28, 1999, the Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 37-34 at the Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland. K Pete Stoyanovich hit a 44-yard FG that proved to be the winning points in what was a 17-point fourth quarter for the Chiefs in a big comeback victory. Oakland led 34-20 at the start of the fourth quarter. RB Donnell Bennett had a two-yard run for a TD in the second quarter and CB Cris Dishman returned an interception 47 yards for a score in the third quarter. But Raiders QB Rich Gannon threw a pair of TD passes and ran one in on his own, while CB Charles Woodson returned an interception for a score. In the fourth quarter, QB Elvis Grbac hooked up with TE Tony Gonzalez on a 73-yard TD pass. Then, Dishman picked up a fumble and went 40 yards for a score. Stoyanovich’s FG then won it for the Chiefs. The KC defense had five sacks of Gannon and two interceptions.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on November 28, 1938 in Rayvill, Louisiana was DT Ernie Ladd (left). Known as the Big Cat, he joined the Chiefs in 1967 after six seasons with the Chargers and Oilers. Ladd spent three years with the Chiefs (1967-69), playing in the first two seasons. He appeared in 28 games. Ladd spent the ‘69 season on the injured-reserve list. He was a huge man, standing 6-9 and weighing 315 pounds. He had a 52-inch chest, 39-inch waist and size 18D shoes. Ladd wrestled for 25 years and was one of the bigger draws in the squared circle. He passed away on March 10, 2007 after a four year battle with cancer.

Born on November 28, 1969 in Covington, Georgia was CB Dale Carter (right). He was selected in the first round of the 1992 NFL Draft out of the University of Tennessee. Carter played seven seasons with the Chiefs (1992-98), appearing in 104 games, with 88 starts. He had 21 interceptions, returned 183 yards and one TD. Carter also returned punts early in his career, averaging 9.5 yards on 83 returns and two touchdowns. He caught six passes for 89 yards and a 46-yard TD catch, returned 11 kickoffs for 190 yards and ran the ball twice for five yards. He was the 1992 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, as he had seven interceptions, including one for a TD that first season. Carter was selected for four Pro Bowls. He left the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent in 1999 and played one year in Denver, one year in Minnesota, two seasons in New Orleans and a final year in Baltimore.

Born on November 28, 1984 in Memphis, Tennessee was TE Brad Cottam. He was selected in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of the University of Tennessee. Cottam played in 16 games as a rookie, catching seven passes for 63 yards. So far in the ‘09 season, he’s played in four games, with one start and has one catch for 11 yards.