Mike Solari Must Go: Colts Game is the Last Straw
I’ve had it. I’m fed up with this abomination of an offensive coaching staff. How can you explain a team losing a game that they completely dominated on defense? How do you explain the Chiefs’ complete inability to score points on offense, considering that everybody looked pretty sharp on offense? What is the excuse for not throwing the ball downfield in a game where the pass protection was pretty outstanding?
I imagine that every Chiefs’ fan that watched Sunday’s game is asking these same exact questions and is struggling to find a response. I have a response to those questions and they’re the same responses that made me look “idiotic” just a short week ago. The answer is simple: the Chiefs continue to lose games because their offensive coordinator cannot call a game to save his life.
What makes this whole thing so frustrating is that Solari has been doing some great things in terms of his creativity. I loved the designed quarterback rollouts and I loved some of the crafty delayed screens they ran. But he continues to make the same mistakes week after week after week after week and has done absolutely nothing to learn from them. And, in the past three weeks, these mistakes have cost the Chiefs three consecutive football games. Allow me to dissect:
- Third down inefficiency: Sigh… I guess we re-visit this yet AGAIN. It’s not rocket science. If you need ten yards on third down, then design a play for 10 yards. Solari once again continues to design plays that are short of the chains. On virtually every third down situation in which the Chiefs need ten yards or more to go, the Chiefs either run the ball or throw a short slant or screen pass. That is just plain pathetic. It is laughable that the Chiefs throw their hands up in the air and surrender every time they have a third down situation.
- Predictability: The Chiefs’ offense was predictable. Not convinced? The Colts’ defense, in the second half, shut the Chiefs’ first down offense down as if they had cue cards telling them what play the Chiefs were going to run. Predictably, the Chiefs will run the ball or throw a quick wide receiver screen on first down. On third down, they will run the ball nine times out of ten when they have three yards or less to go, and run a very short pattern on third and 10+ yards. When more than half of your offense is predictable, it’s a very, very bad thing.
Stats that prove that Solari sucks
For those that would rather see my argument in numbers rather than opinions, consider the following stats:
- On first down situations, the Chiefs ran the ball in 7 of the last 9 situations (not counting the final drive, which was an obvious passing situation).
- Out of all the 3-down sequences the Chiefs had all game, the Chiefs forced a third down situation in all but two series. Easily the most concerning–Mike Solari was trying to figure out why they were so inefficient at third downs. Perhaps he should spend more of that time figuring out why they continually force third down situations in the first place.
- I can’t get an actual figure on how many plays Solari designed on third down that were short of the chains. I certainly hope that all of you read my column last week and paid closer attention to this problem. Even on a handful of third downs the Chiefs completed, the runner had to work hard to gain the few extra yards necessary to get a first down.
The Chiefs scored the touchdown on only one drive today. Let’s consider why they scored. 1) they actually threw the ball on first down and, by the way, Indianapolis was so surprised that Bowe almost took a short pass all the way to the house because there was almost nobody on defense providing deep help. 2) Here’s another funny statistic. The Chiefs only gained more than 10 yards in the air on three plays. Not so coincidentally, three of those plays occurred on the touchdown drive.
Solari hasn’t learned his lesson yet and it is pretty much a no-brainer that he never will. As long as Solari is behind the headset calling the plays, expect the same exact result as today: a talented group of players that plays their hearts out, but completely fails to score points because of offensive playcalling that does nothing to get the team even remotely close to the end zone.
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4 Responses to “Mike Solari Must Go: Colts Game is the Last Straw”
November 19th, 2007 at 3:26 am
1. Can you explain the absurdity of an effing screen pass on the last play, instead of unleashing Croyle’s cannon? We’ve got DWAYNE BOWE AND TONY GONZALES. They’re like the all-hands team.
2. Croyle played shockingly well. He overthrew a couple, misjudged a touch pass in the flat, and was able to avoid the pass rush (yes, sans Freeny, but still) so well I wondered if it was the same line. He also knew when to take the sack, throw it away, and made other encouraging decisions. I’m honestly excited.
3. Priest freaking Holmes. 50+ yards on 20ish carries, but held back by horrible play calling. He looked tough out there, which is a change from his previously ginger outings in previous years. I loved the ‘get-off-me’ shove he gave that guy. He also made some moves that, just like he said, made the line look good. So good, in fact, that it makes me wonder wtf LJ was doing. No bounce, no pep, no spring.
4. The OLINE. Not a horrible job today. They weren’t given a lot of chances to look bad though, with all the slants, draws, swing passes, and quick outs. And honestly, I think we’re a right guard and a right tackle (and a legitimate RBBC) from being a SuperBowl team. Seriously. Okay, maybe a young cover corner and a new OC, too.
5. DEFENSE: they played their freakin hearts out, stopping one of the best offenses of all time in their tracks, keeping them to 13 points, acknowledging to FG misses on both sides (and injuries on the other team). Jarred Allen is gonna get PAID. DJ had a great game as well. Unspoken hero in a losing effort: Ty Law? I don’t think Manning through in his direction ONCE. That’s game changing. Also, am I the only one that thinks that every time the opponent punts or kicks, that we have a legitimate shot at blocking it? When’s the last time that was the case? Yup…as far back as when DT and Neil Smith were on the team. That says a lot. Our defense has arrived.
6. Kicker - Holy cow Rayner. I know you’re a waiver pickup but c’mon.
7. On Strategy, Play Calling, and Herm Edwards - I actually love Herm and believe his is a strategy that can win championships, if he is able to learn that it takes a certain amount of boldness to win it all. When he was first hired, and again this season, he haughtily described the “circus act” of an offense as a detriment to the defense. “Scoring so quickly and stopping the clock with so many passes leaves the defense on the field too long and they’ll wear down,” we’ve been led to believe. The problem is that we get the same exact result with a horrendous play calling effort, except this time we don’t have any points so it doesn’t matter if our defense is tired or not. 3-and-out, 3-and-out, etc etc. Same result, less points.
8. It’s time to start thinking about replacements for Solari. Who will be available, who will be a good fit for our strategy, and how likely is it that we can get a quality guy in here that is bold enough to stand up to Herm? Our current OC is so god-damned afraid of throwing it down field, HE WONT CALL A HAIL MARY ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME AND INSTEAD CALLS A GOD DAMNED SCREEN PASS. Infuriating.
Lots of great signs though after all is said and done, and even worse for our hearts, the Chargers lost today and the Broncos could easily lose tomorrow (and are a worse team than the Chiefs). We could go 8-8/9-7 and make the playoffs. Ugh.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:40 am
I like Herm Edwards and though he makes some poor decisions in terms of game managment and going for it on 4th downs, he is a good defensive coach and drafts well.
His weakness is he has no clue about offense, so he picked a guy who was coaching the best offensive line in the league as O-Coordinator.
I’m all for giving guys that are new to their job a chance to get settled in and learn.
Solari has been there a year and a half and already knew the playbook from working as the Offensive Line coach and is the achilles heel of this team.
Herm needs to find someone who already has experience as an offensive coordinator. Solari has proved himself incapable and the Chiefs dont have time to continue to run the Coordinator version of Damon Huard.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Is it not too soon to start campaigning for Cam Cameron for O.C.? (or heck, what about Norv Turner? Hey, a boy can dream, right?).
November 24th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
The bottom line is that Mike Solari is incompetent and the fact that Herm leaves him at the OC spot makes Herm incompetent. Then theres Carl Peterson…..gigantic idiot. Substandard O line and weak place kicking. Shore those up and we’re playoff bound, but not with the upper echalon we have now. Fire Herm the worm, Solari, and CP
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