Do NOT Blame Chan Gailey for Chiefs' Loss to Tampa Bay

Home of the Chiefs

November 3, 2008

Do NOT Blame Chan Gailey for Chiefs' Loss to Tampa Bay

6 Comments

Recommended (0) | Share

I'm writing this because I know exactly how people are going to respond to the Chiefs' loss to Tampa Bay. The fans are angry and they should be. But make sure you direct your anger at the appropriate goats. I can guarantee that the #1 scapegoat for Sunday's loss will be the Chiefs' second half offensive playcalling. That couldn't be further from the truth. The playcalling in the second half was rock solid and I will prove that to you in very explicit detail.

There are much bigger goats in this game. There is no excuse for Herm to call a timeout that late in the game with a running clock. The defense was an embarrassment yet again and Gunther Cunningham has all but signed his release papers. The special teams unit is embarrassingly bad. But I won't blame the offense. I won't blame the second half playcalling. Here's why:

A lot of people are going to ask why we ran the ball so much in the second half. For the same reason we ran a lot in the first half: because it was working. The Chiefs got to a 3rd and 3 or shorter on every single second half possession. You cannot ask for a much better outcome. But when you look at the reasons WHY we failed to convert first downs, it's very clear that playcalling was not the culprit.

On one series, we get to a 3rd and 1. The refs call a phantom false start on Mike Cox and a very easy 3rd and short suddenly turns into a 3rd and 6. On 3rd and 6, the right playcall is sent in, Thigpen throws a poor pass to Gonzalez, Gonzalez bobbles the ball, and a sure first down turns into a completed pass that was a few yards short of the first down. That was a combination of poor officiating and poor execution by the players
On another series, Jamaal Charles fumbled the ball and practically handed the Bucs a touchdown
On the final series, the Chiefs got to 3rd and 3, completed a pass, and then got tagged on an extremely borderline offensive pass interference call

My only contention was calling a screen pass on 3rd and short in the red zone. However, we did end up with three points on that drive. There is nothing Gailey can do as a playcaller if he calls the right plays and the Chiefs completely fail to execute. I don't want to hear this talk about the Chiefs running the ball too much in the second half. Jamaal Charles ended up with over 100 yards and the Chiefs were getting to 3rd and shorts all second half long. Once they got to 3rd and shorts, they had good playcalls that were poorly executed.

Consider this a pre-emptive strike. You are going to hear a lot about how Herm handcuffed Gailey into an overly conservative second half gameplan. That couldn't be further from the truth.

I have questions about Herm's game management after the 4th quarter timeout. I question whether Herm is conditioning his players properly, which is why players keep getting injured. I think Gunther Cunningham and Mike Priefer are completely worthless. I question whether the Chiefs' stupid mistakes are the result of young inexperience, or poor coaching. These are all questions or concerns I have after Sunday's game.

Offensive playcalling, surprisingly, is not one of my questions or concerns. I thought Gailey called a mostly excellent game from start to finish. This is one of those times where I believe that most of the blame for any second half offensive woes are completely ill-founded. Gailey was coaching against one of the best defensive minds in the NFL and he managed to put up a very impressive 27 points. In the second half, no doubt Monte Kiffin made several defensive adjustments and I highly doubt the Chiefs could have gotten away with some of the gimmick plays they made in the first half. It's quite simple: the players have to execute the plays that are called in and there is simply no excuse for any team who puts up 27 points against the Tampa defense to lose against Jeff Garcia.

Plenty of goats in this game. Just make sure not to include Chan Gailey in that mix.

Tags: Chan Gailey, Chiefs, Herm Edwards, Kansas City Chiefs, Monte Kiffin, NFL, playcalling, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Discussion

6 Comments on "Do NOT Blame Chan Gailey for Chiefs' Loss to Tampa Bay"

Posted by Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame, November 3, 2008 4:49 PM

1) I haven't seen anyone blame Chan Gailey's playcalling. That's a lot of wasted indignation on your part
2) While you were looking right about Gun earlier, I don't think it applies in this game. The Bucs couldn't move the ball until both Flowers and DJ were out of the game. Even then it took blown KR coverage and Charles fumble to give the Bucs 14 points, NOT our defense. And aside from that, it was clear that stupid individual execution by young players (McBride roughing the passer) to keep drives alive that contributed. Sure, a DefCoord should teach them to not make stupid blunders...but that's what youth is all about, and they are clearly making less youthful mistakes than 2-3 weeks ago. That tells me Gunther *is* doing a good job, but it just takes time.
3) What Timeout with a running clock?
I didn't remember one in the game, and went back and looked at the logs. The only TO Herm took with a running clock was in overtime with 11 minutes left. Time was not a factor at that point. All the other TOs were:
1st half:
-DJ's injury (required by NFL rules)
-following a TB timeout (clock already stopped)
2nd half:
-following a TB penalty (clock already stopped)
-following TB TD (clock already stopped)

Posted by Big Lee, November 4, 2008 3:55 AM

Jon

I agree about Gailey. He's turning a nobody 3rd-stringer into a competitive QB by adjusting the offense to what the QB does well, not some damn offensive philosophy. Also agree that Herm doesn't manage end of game issues well. I thought there was a screwy timeout, too, but maybe I remembering some other game.

Still disagree about Gun. Is it his fault Dorsey has not produced like an early 1st-rounder should? If it's his fault about Dorsey, then he should get the credit for the young DBs development, especially the corners. Injuries have been a factor on defense. And whose idea was it to sign Nap Harris, who stunted the development of the LB corps? If the latter was Gun's idea, then maybe you're right.

Posted by Chris Webb, November 4, 2008 5:24 AM

I wouldn't necessarily point the finger at Gailey, but I don't think that our offense was as aggressive in the second. I understand with the lead you "play to win the game," but the team became lax on multiple fronts, and I do think that must include the coaches. With that being said, Gaily has cojones to call that Thiggy pass, and I couldn't be more excited to see what's in store for San Di-ahhhh-go (which, in German, means...).

-cw

Posted by Jared, November 4, 2008 4:11 PM

This is not the game to point fingers at Gun. Our run defense held them to ~80 yards. We caused 4 turnovers. And we had two of our best starters injured early. Not to mention two touchdowns basically had nothing to do with the defense with the kick return and the fumble on the 3 yard line right after the defense got off the field with a fumble of their own.

Posted by Jon Yoon, November 4, 2008 11:13 PM

Nathan, the Chiefs called a timeout in the 4th quarter with 0:25 seconds left. The Bucs had a false start plus a 10-second run-off plus a moving clock. As the refs deliberated, the Chiefs had plenty of time to bring the right personnel on the field and see what Tampa was doing. There is no excuse for Herm to have called a timeout in that situation. Had the Chiefs not called a timeout, had their players set, then Garcia would had to have rushed to the line and called a quick play. Instead, the Bucs had a full timeout to craft a play that ultimately worked.

On Gunther Cunningham, keep in mind that Tampa also has one of the worst offenses in the NFL. I realize that losing key players is a good excuse, but there is still no excuse for giving up that many points to Tampa. The LBs that Gun coaches are playing worse, and that includes DJ who has all-world talent. Our players continue to miss tackles, which is on the defensive coordinator. Frankly, the only reason the defense has looked good at all this season is because they force turnovers. In this game, the Bucs swallowed the ball with stupid mistakes in the red zone in key situations that probably annulled 2 scores. Had the Bucs held onto the ball, the Chiefs could have given up well over 30 points against a pretty lousy offense.

Posted by Dr. Paine, November 5, 2008 9:06 PM

Any of you LJ fantasy owners out there pick up Jamaal Charles off the waiver wire? Even if you don't have LJ, do it. I think with Charles as our feature back against SD, whose D has been suspect this year, we can run the ball again. On the road, that's what needs to happen for us to have a chance to win the game and for Thiggy Smalls to play well again.

The D scares me. There's so much inexperience consistently showing up. Fundamental tackling and block shedding is lacking, even from highly touted players like Dorsey. However, I think it takes a young D line snaps and repetition to gel and get a feel for each other. Dorsey will dominate in this league, there is no doubt in my mind. It won't happen overnight. I think last game he became more visible, don't you guys? The LB's are nonexistant. I wish we had Scott Fujita now, and I thought I would EVER say that!

Is it time to change the D coordinator? Maybe, but it won't happen until the season is over and a whole coaching staff will be evaluated with a fine tooth comb for the ENTIRE season.

MVN: Most Valuable Network

Home of the Chiefs

Do NOT Blame Chan Gailey for Chiefs' Loss to Tampa Bay

Discussion

Leave a comment