MVN: Most Valuable Network

But the Chiefs are going to have look beyond the spread offense and the pistol formation if they are going to start tying together wins. Last week, we caught a glimpse of that. The Chiefs were ultra-effective in marching toward the red zone. Once we got there, our offense was completely non-existent. Why?

I'm sure there are many who will quickly point the finger at LJ. I think that's an unfair accusation. LJ is trapped behind an offensive system that simply is not effective when defenses tighten up and have to cover a short field. We saw how quickly the Saints' defense collapsed on LJ the minute he touched the ball. There are several reasons for this: 1) there is no fullback paving the way for LJ; 2) the pistol offense starts several yards back, which buys the defense a few yards; 3) It's difficult to get LJ a running start prior to the handoff. In a goal line stand, defenses stack the line and can get pretty immediate penetration in the backfield, which means that a RB cannot afford to get the ball so late and so far back. The Chiefs need to revise their goal line offense. I would say that at least within the 10-yard line, the spread offense needs to be scrapped entirely. Tyler Thigpen is going to have to learn to take some snaps under center rather than from the shotgun. 

I feel pretty comfortable saying that the Chiefs' shotgun spread offense is a decent offensive approach and that it could be utilized pretty regularly, but they will need to be creative about finding ways to get LJ the ball. The pistol formation was a pretty brilliant idea by Gailey and you saw the Chiefs run a few misdirections, but not nearly as many times as I would have hoped. The Chiefs also need to continue giving Jamaal Charles looks--because of his ability to accelerate, he is a perfect fit for the shotgun offense. With the Chiefs squaring off against a battered Bills secondary, I think the Chiefs should be able to move the ball regularly on offense. 

On defense, once again, the Chiefs are going to have to be good enough to not lose the game. That's the unfortunately reality until Gun is gone. Trent Edwards is a QB who has been making a lot of mistakes lately and the turnover-hungry Chiefs must capitalize. I think this is one of those games where you can afford  to stack the box to stop Marshawn Lynch and keep your defensive backs on an island. 

The place the Chiefs can beat is if they let Marshawn Lynch run all over them, which is most definitely a possibility. The Chiefs will need to tackle better, but I'm not holding my breath.

All in all, this looks to be a pretty good matchup for the Chiefs. I didn't feel comfortable with the New Orleans or San Diego games, but for some reason, I feel really good about the Chiefs' chances against the Bills. But they'll need to continue to innovate on offense if they expect to win.