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Brodie Croyle’s Spectacular Play Overshadowed by Moronic Offensive Coordinator

By Jon Yoon | November 15th, 2007

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Okay, let me preface this blog by stating the obvious: Herm Edwards’ stubborn refusal to pull Damon Huard from a game he was single-handedly losing cost the Chiefs the Broncos game, and very well may have cost the Chiefs the season. I could go on and on about this, but Joe Posnanski summed it up about as perfectly as a writer could do. Either way, the crowd booed Huard on his last possession as a starter, as if they were almost expecting what would happen next: Damon Huard was about to fumble away a ball that was returned for a decisive touchdown.

Solari Needs to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which brings me to the second point: Mike Solari’s playcalling once again cost the Chiefs the game, which is strange, because I thought his playcalling was pretty sharp for most of the game. It was good to see the Chiefs use those exotic shifts before the snap again. It’s just a shame that those shifts were wasted on an ineffective quarterback (Huard). In spite of improved playcalling, he is a complete moron when it comes to third down situations. I’m sorry, if he hasn’t learned from his mistakes by now, he never will.

I’m not a football genius. I credit Solari for knowing a lot more football than I do. But at least I have the common sense to recognize that when a team needs 10 yards, you better get the ball 10 yards downfield. What would possess Solari to stop this drive by throwing a short wide receiver screen to Bowe on a 3rd and 7? Now, I know Bowe is a good receiver, but expecting him to gain 7 yards on a 3rd and 7 is absolutely ridiculous.

Maybe that was a one-time exception. But no, it sure wasn’t. The next drive, the Chiefs marched the ball all the way down from the 10-yard line all the way to the Denver 35-yard line. So after all this careful marching, what did Solari decide to do? You got it–he designed a short 4- or 5-yard play to Jeff Webb. Sure, Webb dropped the ball, but even if he caught the ball, he would have been well short of the chains.

I can accept the Chiefs taking a sack or perhaps mis-firing on a pass. I absolutely, positively cannot accept it when the offensive coordinator sends in a play designed to put the receiver well shy of the first down marker on a third down play. I just cannot accept it. It’s not like this is the first time. It’s every time. Every single drive seems to result in a punt because Solari called in a play that didn’t even try to get to the chains. Inexcusable.

There are plenty of reasons why the Chiefs are struggling on offense. Let me give you the biggest reason: they don’t convert on third downs and they can’t get the ball in the end zone. Note: it doesn’t have much to do with their inability to move the ball downfield; rather, it seems that the Chiefs’ biggest problem is figuring out what to do once they get downfield.

Once the Chiefs get downfield, Solari folds like a wet blanket. He becomes extremely risk-averse. Rather than aggressively pursue first downs, he instead attempts to salvage field goals. Quite simply, the Chiefs can’t put the ball in the end zone because the offensive coordinator has no desire to get it there.

Solari’s risk aversion forces the Chiefs to constantly settle for three points or less. That’s four or more points that the Chiefs are potentially missing out on several times per game. Multiply that across nine games and you see a pretty significant stockpile of opportunities lost.

In football, you can’t afford to squander that many opportunities. Solari has seven games to finally grow a pair. But after watching him operate in the 26 games he’s coordinated thusfar, I’m not holding my breath.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 12:13 am and is filed under mike solari, brodie croyle, Damon Huard, herm edwards, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Brodie Croyle’s Spectacular Play Overshadowed by Moronic Offensive Coordinator”

john says:

November 15th, 2007 at 9:44 am

you are an idiot
phil says:

November 15th, 2007 at 9:48 am

you should be happy with what we have, in every game, good defense that will only get better, we don’t have a o line, the 3 and 7 screens worked when you had good athletic linemen running down the field blocking, not now, when you do a 5 - 7 step drop you need time to get the ball downfield, are line doesn’t do that, let them draft and pick up some linemen then see what happens
Robert says:

November 15th, 2007 at 11:51 am

I agree with John and Phil. How is Croyle supposed to do any better than huard behind a horrid O-line? The one thing I agree with is Solari hasn’t been impressive but if KC had a deep threat, those passes underneath would work wonderfully. Unfortunatly the chiefs terrible line play doesn’t alloe for plays down the field, which defences know to crowd the line to take away any screens or slants. Huard got booed because chief’s fans are idiots. I was at that game and it made me ashamed to be one. I remeber when Will Shield used to pull block out in the open field on a screen to priest; first down. At least Brodie will get the ball out sooner, I just hope it’s to a chief not a DB.
Michael says:

November 15th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

Here’s the deal.

1.) Huard is a career backup.
2.) Brodie at least is young and has a chance to be great
3.) Solari is an Offensive line coach, always was, always will be. Move him back to O-Line at the end of this season, hire a new O-Coordinator (I heard qb coach Cam Cameron is going to be looking for an O-coord job this off-season…)
4.) Our offensive line is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and if our O-line coach was back at his usual job, it would go from being mediocre, to pretty good.
5.) Having Larry Johnson back (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) will make a big difference in KC just like getting Stephen Jackson back made a big difference in STL.
Brian says:

November 15th, 2007 at 6:15 pm

HEY PHIL, why should we be happy with a loss to DENVER and our pathetic home record this year?

ps. you said it your self the 3 and 7 screens worked with athletic lineman… we dont have athletic lineman! so you have to find something else that works thats how sports go, as herm said himself “you play to win the game” and calling a 3rd and 7 screen for no gain with the o line that we have is not getting it done.

i dont know what kind of chiefs fans you are but i personally dont want to wait and see i drather have a little hope for this year and solari is not getting it done period
Jon Yoon says:

November 15th, 2007 at 6:26 pm

Please elaborate, John. What is so stupid about what I am saying?

The Chiefs were down by 9 points, obviously needed at least one touchdown, and had a makeable 3rd and 7. The Chiefs needed to get at least a touchdown, and yet Solari designed two third down plays on consecutive drives that were basically at the line of scrimmage. When a team desperately needs a touchdown and runs a conservative play to save a field goal, that’s bad coaching. I don’t care if the Chiefs took a sack on either of those plays. At least go down swinging.

Phil, it doesn’t take much to see how much Croyle improves the pass protection. Do you think it’s fair to judge an o-line by their ability to protect a quarterback who does absolutely nothing to sidestep a pass rush? Huard is a lesser version of Drew Bledsoe and Kurt Warner. Interestingly, the same terrible offensive line in Dallas ended up being pretty terrific when Romo was taking snaps? Coincidence? I think not. Pass protection improves markedly when you have a quarterback that doesn’t have to operate in a small range of pocket space.

Like I said, I have never blamed Damon Huard for his play, but he was absolutely the wrong quarterback for an offense that doesn’t have an offensive line. Think about it. What is Damon Huard going to do from play to play? Take a snap, take a 5-7 step drop, and either step up two steps or plant and throw. As a defense, it’s easy to bullrush the pocket because you know exactly where the quarterback will be on every single play. Even worse when your entire running game revolves around interior running.

With Croyle, it becomes tougher to rush him. He has shown an ability to rollout and throw on the run. He gets rid of the ball a heck of a lot quicker, which is something he has always done since he’s been in Alabama. Suddenly, if you’re a defensive tackle, a bullrush could lead to overpursuit. Indy will be a tough benchmark to judge Croyle, but I guarantee you that in most games, the offensive line will look a heck of a lot better when they’re protecting Croyle.

Herm Edwards mentioned recently that he would really like to take full advantage of Croyle’s mobility by designing rollouts and moving him around the pocket anymore. Now, I’m not an offensive genius, but I think we can all agree that this is something that will really, really make it easier to protect the quarterback.

Still, plain and simple. This Chiefs’ offense has stalled many drives this season because, plain and simple, they can’t get into the end zone, even on drives where they had no problem moving the ball. And in a good chunk of those drives, they went down without a fight–an overconservative third down playcall left the team well short of the first down marker. I’m not sure how anyone can support the kind of strategy that refuses to at least make a play for the end zone on every single drive. Basically, the Chiefs are relying on one big play to make the end zone. If they manage to get into field goal range, they suddenly play for a field goal rather than trying to move the chains. This is a strategy that simply will not work and it is the main reason why the Chiefs have been atrocious in scoring offense.
Brian says:

November 15th, 2007 at 6:45 pm

Right on Jon Yoon
Brian in Denver says:

November 16th, 2007 at 11:05 am

I hate the Broncos. Im a lifelong Chiefs fan living in enemy territory. God help me. Anyway, I agree Solari needs to get back to the O-line, and Cam Cameron would be a great fit (same system). But lets not give up yet. Denver isnt going anywhere. Oakland isnt going anywhere. We currently hold the tie breaker with San Diego. This change at QB shoulda happened after the Chicago loss, in my opinion. I really think having Croyle under center will help the running game. Defenses wont be able to stack the box as much anymore, think about it. Nobody is scared of Huard. He’s not going to beat you deep. You’re not risking much using a safety to help stop the run. At least Croyle can throw the deep routes. I think one will help the other, as long as he makes the right checks at the line. Hey, he’s gonna throw some picks, but he’s gonna throw those pics now, or next year, or whenever he gets his chance. This is long overdue, and I bet the ground game picks up too.
JR Johnson says:

November 16th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

Here are some pluses to look forward to:

That slacking bum, John Welbourn is out of a starting job. His replacement may be young and inexperienced, but he’s hungary and will block downfield, unlike his worthless sack of a predecesor.

Jeff Webb may have a new position returning kick-offs, which has to be an improvement (can’t get any worse; hey, Edwards, here’s a tip: if Detroit’s cutting them, they’re NO GOOD! Frankly, I don’t see why they don’t put Sammy Parker back for punts.

Finally, we’re still in this in such a weak-a division w/ two road wins (and one home loss) w/in the division. Are we Super Bowl bound? Hell-no, but the more we get the play-off experience, the better; no matter how we get there (refer to last year.)
DJ says:

November 16th, 2007 at 5:40 pm

This has been my complaint about the playcalling on 3rd down ALL YEAR. Not just the Broncos game.

You need 10 yards and you throw a quick out to Kris Wilson at the line of scrimmage, or a dump off to Larry Johnson or Tony G on a crossing pattern 5 yards out.

How idiotic.

Once in a blue moon they’ll get out and make the 1st, but the fact that we have one of the worst records on 3rd downs this year shows its not working.

If you need 10 yards, the receiver youre throwing to damn well better be 11 yards down the field or youre wasting your chance.