It’s been a long NFL season, but the postseason is finally here. Now, you probably didn’t get to study the entire playoff field in-depth during the regular season. No worries. We’ve put together guides that will help you become an instant expert on all 12 teams making up the field.
These guides will tell you how each team uses its personnel on both sides of the ball, what its strategic tendencies are and how efficient the team is based on several advanced metrics.
In this guide, we’ll be looking at the Kansas City Chiefs, who earned a bye after winning the AFC West with a 12-4 record. Let’s get to know them…
CHIEFS OFFENSE
In the past, Andy Reid has been more diverse with his personnel usage but with all of the talent he has at receiver this season, it’s been mostly 11 personnel for the Chiefs in 2019. In Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman and DeMarcus Robinson, Kansas City has the fastest receiving corps in the league. Their tight end, Travis Kelce, has plenty of speed himself.
I’m not sure how to describe this Chiefs’ passing game because there’s a little bit of everything on Reid’s menu of play calls. There are quick passing concepts, there are deep shots off of play-action, there are plenty of rollouts (with play fakes and without) and Reid might have the best screen game in the entire league. On top of that, the Chiefs run more RPO than any team in the league. When you have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, anything is possible. At least from Kansas City’s perspective. Game-planning for this offense is basically impossible.
Kansas City’s run game hasn’t been nearly as efficient as it was a season ago and things don’t appear to be getting better as we head into the playoffs. That may be the reason the Chiefs run at a league-low rate. When Kansas City does run, it’s typically with some sort of zone scheme. Reid protects his runs with RPOs and QB options. Defenses have responded by playing more man coverage, which has paid dividends for the Chiefs passing game. In that regard, the run game has served its purpose this season.
CHIEFS DEFENSE
It’ll be interesting to see how these numbers change after a Week 17 injury ended rookie safety Juan Thornhill’s season. The Chiefs were putting a lot of defensive backs on the field before the injury but secondary depth is now a question mark.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will throw all sorts of pre-snap looks at an offense. The safeties do the most shifting, but, again, that might change with Thornhill out for the playoffs. He and Tyrann Mathieu had been the key to Kansas City’s match coverages. Those two have helped bracket inside receivers, effectively closing off the middle of the field, and forcing quarterbacks to make difficult throws to the perimeter. Will Spagnuolo adjust? That’s the biggest question facing the Chiefs this postseason.
One thing hasn’t changed about this Chiefs defense: It still can’t stop the run, which could be an issue with Baltimore standing in the way of a Super Bowl appearance. But the pass defense is much-improved thanks to Spagnuolo’s coverage schemes, which has more than made up for the step back the pass rush has taken after the offseason departures of Dee Ford and Justin Houston.
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