Report: Chiefs HC Andy Reid’s face shield to be equipped with defogging product

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid will actually be able to see his play sheet this week.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid should have a bit more success following the NFL’s protocols related to wearing masks on the sideline this week.

Reid was the talk of the town following the Week 1 tilt with the Houston Texans, but it wasn’t because he coached a clinic around Bill O’Brien. Instead, folks were talking about Reid’s foggy face shield and wondering how he called plays all night long wearing that thing.

“I actually saw it but didn’t notice until after the game,” Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said. “You see it but you’re so into the game that you’re not really focused on it. I had already said something when we had a practice in the rain, and I said he needed the windshield wipers. He laughed about it, but it actually could’ve come into play the other day.”

Reid won’t be getting windshield wipers this week, but he’ll be getting some help from a different type of technology. According to a new report from ESPN, Chiefs equipment manager Allen Wright has secured and installed a defogging product for Reid’s face shield. It’s something that is commonly used to defog hockey masks, so it should work in this situation too.

They’ll give it a go this week and see if it provides some relief for Reid. There might not be the same cold and wet conditions that are conducive to fog at SoFi Stadium in Week 2.

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5 key things to know about Chargers’ Week 2 battle with Chiefs

Here are five things to know about the Chargers’ Week 2 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs from SoFi Stadium.

The Chargers will be playing their first game at SoFi Stadium against the Chiefs on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1:25 p.m. PT.

Los Angeles and Kansas City both look to stay undefeated.

Here are five things to know about the Week 2 battle:

Offense still dynamic as ever

The Chargers’ defense did a fine job in Week 1, stifling the Bengals’ offense. However, Los Angeles is in for a tougher task as they’re set to face the Chiefs’ offense, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In Week 1, Kansas City totaled 34 points against the Texans. Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown while Mahomes completed 75 percent of his passes and threw for three scores, one each to his top targets, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins.

Chargers have held their own

While the Chiefs boast one of the top offenses in the NFL, the Chargers managed to make it difficult for them last season. Los Angeles held Mahomes to under 200 passing yards, plus a combined two touchdowns and two interceptions. L.A. still lost both games due to losing the turnover battle. The Chargers, who only allowed 13 points last weekend, will look to build off of last season. They look to do so without key defenders, safety Derwin James and linebacker Drue Tranquill.

Life without Pouncey

The Chargers lost another starter after center Mike Pouncey was placed on the injured reserve Thursday. Despite the loss, Los Angeles will send out Dan Feeney to replace Pouncey while starting Forrest Lamp at left guard, both of whom played well in the season opener. Feeney and Lamp will have their hands full against defensive tackle Chris Jones. Jones was a dominant force in Week 1, posting 1.5 sacks and six total pressures.

Key contributor along offensive line

The Chargers’ interior part of the defensive line was stout against Cincinnati. They will have to keep it up facing a familiar face. Kelechi Osemele was signed by the Chiefs this offseason after spending a few seasons with the Raiders (2016-18). Osemele anchored an offensive line that dominated Houston’s defensive line in the run game. According to Pro Football Focus, the Chiefs rushed behind Osemele five times, gaining 60 yards — including three rushes of 10 yards or more and the only rushing touchdown of the game. Defensive tackles Linval Joseph, Jerry Tillery, Justin Jones and Damion Square will have to be on their A-game.

Hot streak

The reigning Super Bowl champions have won their last 10 games, including the postseason. In the last 10 matchups between the Chargers and Chiefs, Kansas City is 9-1.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid wants to continue being aggressive on fourth down

The Chiefs converted a big fourth-down in Week 1 and that could be the new normal in Kansas City.

In the past, we might have seen a more tentative Andy Reid when faced with a fourth-down situation. Now, he appears to be letting it all hang out.

When the Kansas City Chiefs faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 34-yard line in the first quarter against the Houston Texans, what did Reid do? Uncharacteristically, he kept his offense out on the field and went for it. The results were a successful conversion for his football team. The drive would lead to the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the game and things just snowballed from there.

Reid’s decision drew universal praise and he spoke about the fourth down call on Wednesday.

“Well, listen, that’s one that could go either way and you know that,” Reid said. “So, if you don’t get it then you don’t look so good, but I just felt like we needed to do that there and I thought we had a good play, so we ended up doing it. I’m not going to tell you that we’d do that every week, but we’re going to try to stay as aggressive as we can on fourth downs. We’ve been pretty good at that over the years, but anyway, I just felt that was a subjective decision on my part, right or wrong. If you talk to stats people, analytics people, they’d tell you it’s the right thing. If you talk to other people, they might tell you something different, but I just felt in my gut that was the right thing to do.”

Reid is right, had the play gone sideways and cost Kansas City the game, the headlines would have probably read, “Baffling fourth-down call costs the Chiefs.” But it didn’t, and now he’s getting every bit of credit for his gutsy call. It was something that no team had done during the first quarter throughout the entire 2019 season.

From the sound of it, Reid will continue to be aggressive on fourth down calls throughout the 2020 season. But what has changed for Reid? Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes probably has something to do with it.

Mahomes has always maintained an aggressve approach on fourth down. He reiterated his stance from last season, that he’d go for it every single time if it were up to him. Perhaps Mahomes’ aggressive nature is rubbing off on Reid?

“I think the conversation happens during the week,” Mahomes said. “We prepare for those situations during the week and in training camp. Coach puts us in those situations so that when he calls the plays, we know exactly what we need to do and go out there and execute. If it’s up to me, I would want to go for it every single time. I just try to stay out there as long as possible. If it gives us the chance to go out there and make it happen, we’ve got to make it happen so that we get more chances later on in the year.”

Maybe this paradigm shift for Reid has something to do with his first Super Bowl win. He doesn’t have to chase perfection in pursuit of his first title any longer. He can afford to be a little more loose and gutsy with the play-calling in situations where there might be risk, but a greater reward. Whatever the case, an aggressive head coach is good for this offense and a welcome departure from what Kansas City has seen in previous seasons.

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WATCH: NFL Films short celebrates Chiefs HC Andy Reid and his love of cheeseburgers

A quick look at Andy Reid’s 39 years of coaching and his love for cheeseburgers.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is the subject of a new “NFL Films Presents” short.

The short film details Reid’s 39-year coaching career, dating back to his days with the Green Bay Packers when he coached Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre. It goes over his time with the Philadelphia Eagles and all that he achieved as the head coach of that team. Then it shifts focus to the Chiefs and everything leading up to the milestone of his career, his first Lombardi Trophy won as a head coach in Super Bowl LIV.

It doesn’t just cover Reid’s achievements, but it also spends some time on the quality of his character. Things like the commitment as a teacher that Reid has to his coaches and players. The short also covers a character trait that Reid is well known for, his love of cheeseburgers. It includes a great story from former assistant coaches Jim Harbaugh and Sean McDermott on the line he always ended his pregame meetings with.

Check out the short in the tweet at the top of the page and let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid praises LG Kelechi Osemele for aggressive playstyle

Andy Reid likes the aggressive, play-through-the-whistle style that Kelechi Osemele brings to the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Kansas City Chiefs starting LG Kelechi Osemele stood out in a big way during his debut with his new team. Clyde Edwards-Helaire may have landed all the headlines, but Osemele had an equally impressive game, paving the way for the rookie sensation.

Following the game, Andy Reid gave credit to the offensive line for keeping Patrick Mahomes clean and blocking up a big game for Edwards-Helaire. During his Monday press conference, Reid was asked about Osemle’s performance. Reporters wanted to know if Reid thought that Osemele brought a different type of physicality compared to previous guards they’ve employed.

“Yeah, Larry (Laurent Duvernay-Tardif) was a little bit that way too and (Andrew) Wylie’s got some of that in him too but it’s good to add it,” Reid told reporters. “It’s good to be able to put another guy in there with his experience I think and his attitude about playing. I mean he plays, and he plays aggressive and you have to love that. I’m not saying we haven’t had it before, but what an addition to be able to put it in there, and I think his thing that’s followed him throughout his career has been, you play against him, you better strap it on because he’s going to bring it to you every down and it’s going to be aggressive and he’s going to do it to the whistle and that whole thing. So, I appreciate that. I think you’ve got to have that upfront and it’s a good tempo setter.”

Reid knows a good offensive lineman when he sees one, having played and coached the position himself in the past. Osemele set the tone for the offensive line in Week 1. It’s something they’ve lacked to an extent in the past, especially in the running game. The numbers and the tape tend to agree with Reid’s assessment too. On the first play of the game, Osemele had a pancake block, taking a Texans linebacker to the turf.

Following the game, Pro Football Focus said that Osemele had the third-most positively graded run blocks that he’s ever had in a single game in his entire nine-year NFL career. His 72.6 overall grade was the fifth-highest grade on the entire team.

Edwards-Helaire also had a ton of his success running behind Osemele. According to PFF, five attempts by Edwards-Helaire went in the direction of Osemele’s blocking, totaling in 60 yards and a touchdown. Three of those five runs went for 10 or more yards.

As Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar said, “Osemele was a battering ram” in Week 1. He’ll continue to pave the way for Edwards-Helaire for the rest of the season in Kansas City, bringing with him the aggressive play-through-the-whistle mentality that the team so desperately needed.

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Chiefs usage of RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire in Week 1 a planned aberration

Chiefs HC Andy Reid intended to get the run game going in Week 1 and ended up feeding Edwards-Helaire.

The Kansas City Chiefs had a departure from the norm during Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. The Chiefs are typically known as a pass-first team, as they should be with star QB Patrick Mahomes at the helm. But in Week 1 things were a little different for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Kansas City handed the ball off a whopping 25 times to Rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who rushed 138 yards and a touchdown. The last time a single running back had 25 carries in the Chiefs’ offense was over a year ago when Damien Williams had 25 carries in the 2018 AFC divisional playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts.

When Andy Reid spoke to the media this week, he confirmed that he planned this aberration and wanted to get Edwards-Helaire and the run game going against the Texans.

“We wanted to kind of get the run game going, is what we wanted to do,” Reid told reporters. “Especially with a younger back (Clyde Edwards-Helaire), I think that was important to get him used to the speed of the game. But at the same time, you want production. You’re striving to put points on the board. So, a little bit of everything there that you mentioned—yeah, part of it was we got in there and it was working so we stuck to it. On the other hand, it was also good to get our young back some carries and experience, which I thought was important. That’s kind of the answer to it.”

Reid first and foremost intended to get Edwards-Helaire his carries and acclimated to the speed of the NFL game. Once the run game found some success, Reid didn’t want to take the ball out of his hands. He was riding the hot hand, so to speak.

Reid didn’t exactly give Edwards-Helaire carries at the expense of neglecting the passing game either. Mahomes still threw the ball 32 times, completing 75% of his passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s what you do as a head coach,” Reid continued. “You’re trying to manage the whole thing. So, we felt like we were still able to get people touches on the ball, or at least opportunities on the ball, and that’s important for everybody. It’s important for the team and it’s important for success on offense. And at the same time, we were able to get our young guys involved, really on both sides of the ball, which I thought was important. In the case you’re talking about, Clyde got some carries and there are a whole lot of things that go into that. How are you going to recover for the next week? There’s a way of doing that in the National Football League to get yourself right for a Wednesday practice. How do you manage yourself up to that point and get yourself ready throughout the week for the game? So, all of these things he has to learn as he goes forward here.”

A lot went into the decision to give Edwards-Helaire a boatload of carries in Week 1, but it began with Reid wanting to give the rookie a lot of carries. Even in their Super Bowl-winning season, this team struggled to find a good balance between the run game and the pass game. Edwards-Helaire seems to be providing that balance, at least through the first week of the season.

Will Edwards-Helaire continue to be utilized this heavily in the run game moving forward? As Reid seems to suggest, it all depends on how he responds mentally and physically to the workload of Week 1 as the team gets ready for their next challenge.

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Chiefs C Austin Reiter dealing with sore knee ahead of Week 2 practices

A new addition to the injury report for Kansas City and an update on an existing injury from Andy Reid.

The Kansas City Chiefs won’t be practicing until Wednesday, but head coach Andy Reid came in on Monday to speak with the media briefly. During Reid’s press conference he provided an injury update. He spoke on a new addition to the injury report first.

“Really the only injuries we have, well, we have a couple,” Reid began. “You know a couple of them and they’re making progress. Austin Reiter has a little bit of a sore knee, he’s working through that. You know we’ll just see how that goes for tomorrow.”

Reiter’s injury is new, but it doesn’t sound too serious compared to some of the other injuries that the Chiefs are dealing with. If Reiter couldn’t play in Week 2, replacing him would be veteran Daniel Kilgore, according to the Chiefs’ Week 1 depth chart. Kilgore was a late addition in training camp and hasn’t had much practice with the team. If he had to play it could limit some things the Chiefs are able to do on offense, thankfully they’ll likely have some repetitions to get him coached up and practicing with Patrick Mahome this week.

Reid also had an update on CB Charvarius Ward, who left Thursday’s game with a hand injury. NFL Network later reported that Ward would have surgery on his hand, but would have a chance to play. Andy Reid wouldn’t commit to Ward missing any time or playing in Week 2.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “He had some work done on it and we’ll just see where he’s at by game time. We’ll see — we’ve just got to see how it feels.”

This one could go either way, it all just depends on how the injury heals and how Ward feels heading into the game. I wouldn’t expect him to practice much this week and if he does it’ll be in a limited capacity, with the chance of a full practice later in the week.

Reid didn’t provide any updates on Khalen Saunders who suffered a dislocated elbow and Alex Okafor who tweaked his hamstring in Thursday’s win over the Texans. You can monitor the injury status of Reiter, Ward, Saunders and Okafor right here on Chiefs Wire with our daily injury reports beginning Wednesday this week.

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Chiefs unsatisfied with Week 1 win over Texans

There won’t be any celebration over a win in Week 1 for Kansas City. They’ve got more work to do.

There was a time when winning the season opener would have been a big deal for the Kansas City Chiefs. It would have been the type of thing that warranted some celebration and perhaps distractions throughout the locker room.

Now things are different.

You’ve got coaches, who are proud, but unsatisfied with the product on the field. You’ve got players who are pissed off because winning isn’t good enough. You’ve got others who know that there are areas they can clean up as they hit the road for the first time in Week 2. It’s a different culture in Kansas City, one that has sparked a new era of success.

Andy Reid kicked things off after the game and was the first to say that there is a lot this team can work on.

“Listen, I’m proud of our guys, but we have a ton of things we can work on, so that’s a plus,” Reid told reporters. “And these guys are willing to do that. They know that. And once they have a chance to look at the tape and see what they’ve got, they’ll hit the drawing board, as you’d say, and get busy on working on those things. The coaches likewise—we’re all knocking the rust off. But I’m proud of the guys. I don’t want to take away from that, I’m proud of how they handled this.”

For the players, defensive leader Tyrann Mathieu’s words rang the loudest. He wasn’t satisfied with the defensive performance, namely in the fourth quarter of play.

“I’m pissed off,” Mathieu said. “I felt like we played fairly decent up until the last couple of stretches in the fourth quarter. We started giving up big plays, big chunks, things that we weren’t necesarily doing throughout the game. So in my mind, we’ve got a lot more work to do. I felt like if we would have held those guys to seven points it would have been a much better feeling. I think those guys scoring 20 kind of leaves a bad taste in our mouth. So we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m looking forward to next week.”

Patrick Mahomes pointed to a few misfires, including one where he failed to identify a blitz pre-snap and make adjustments.

“Yeah, I mean there’s just some missed opportunities here and there,” Mahomes said. “I mean, obviously the D Rob (Demarcus Robinson) touchdown, he made a heck of a play and just didn’t finish it off at the end of the thing. We had another drive where I didn’t pick up a blitz the right way. I had to throw it hot and flat to Darrel (Williams) and if I had it picked up, we had guys open downfield. I mean you want to score every single time you’re out there, but I think the good thing about the game today is it was a good game, offense, defense and special teams and we were able to go out there and play off of each other. We chewed up some clock, gave the defense a rest and they went out there and made a lot of stuff happened.”

Even the rookies, fresh off their first NFL game, spent the postgame talking about the ways they could get better for next week. L’Jarius Sneed already had one thing in mind that he wanted to work on.

“My leverage, you know when you get splits with two wide receivers, I want my leverage inside to outside,” Sneed said. “We’ll watch the film tonight – as soon as I leave tonight – learning from my mistakes that I made and keep going on to the next opponent.”

Edwards-Helaire didn’t have anything specific in mind, but he knows that getting better week-to-week is what football is all about.

“Oh yeah, no doubt, that’s football,” Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire said. “That’s part of it. You can’t be 100 percent perfect on everything. Everybody is going to have something to go back and look at. As far as right off the jump, I really can’t pinpoint. But I’m going to go home, look at the film, literally go through every play. Write some things down. Probably shoot a couple of texts to Deland (McCullough). Other than that, prepare for next weekend and whatever adjustments I need to make, make sure I don’t have those same things show up on film.”

It’s as clear as day that this team has their mind right after a Week 1 win. This was just one step in a season-long journey to Super Bowl LV. The Chiefs are off to a solid start, but they know there are things that they can tighten to ensure their success lasts throughout the year.

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Emotions in Motion: Why almost everything in the NFL happens before the snap

More and more, NFL offenses are using pre-snap motion to set defenses on edge. Here’s how it works.

In Part 1 of the “Emotions in Motion” series, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar takes an in-depth look at the NFL’s increasing use of pre-snap motion, and how it’s changing the ways in which offensive and defensive football are played. 

One of the biggest plays in the 49ers’ 26-21 Week 17 win over the Seahawks last season was a 49-yard pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to fullback Kyle Juszczyk. On the play, tight end George Kittle motioned from left to right pre-snap, which gave Garoppolo the indicator that Seattle was playing zone defense in its usual base (three-linebacker) alignment. Juszczyk was aligned in the right slot — fullback displacement has been a hallmark of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s playbooks for years — and as the ball was snapped and Kittle moved back to the left side for a backside blocking assignment.

Garoppolo was able to spot a weakness in Seattle’s defense that he could exploit — Juszczyk covered by linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who was preoccupied to a point by Kittle’s presence aligned to the right side of the formation. Because of that preoccupation, Juszczyk had a free release to head upfield, and though he certainly wasn’t going to challenge Tyreek Hill in any footraces, he was able to run free against a defense that had been forced to react late as a result of Shanahan’s ability to design and implement motion and displacement concepts to the detriment of every defense he faces. Kendricks followed Juszczyk outside, but it looks as if the intention was for Kendricks to cover the flat, while the 49ers extended Juszczyk downfield. Kittle motioning back to the left side also took linebacker Bobby Wagner out of the picture — as a hook/curl defender, he had nothing to defend. Whenever you can remove your opponent’s best defensive player from the equation, you have an obvious advantage.

“I would say that Kyle’s the best at that right now,” former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky recently told me. “Kyle takes people out of the play without doing anything other than motion and alignment. I’ve said this – Kyle’s the best mathematician in the NFL.”

Of course, the 49ers took Shanahan’s brilliant offense and Robert Saleh’s radically re-energized defense all the way to Super Bowl LIV, where they lost in late-game fashion to Andy Reid’s Chiefs on this particular play.

Not that any of this is new. Pre-snap motion has been around for decades — Tom Landry did as much as anyone to develop it with the Cowboys in the 1960s and 1970s, and Bill Walsh was not above availing himself of the concept with the 49ers back in the day. In a

If you want to see another play in which the quarterback heads right as the guards head left, leaving an open target against a confused defense, this is a good example (Thanks to John Tunney of the excellent Pro Football Journal blog for the highlight pull).

In an NFL where defensive front versatility is the order of the day and coverage schemes are more advanced than they’ve ever been, it behooves those who design offenses to bring to the table anything possible to plant their flags in the turf. Pre-snap motion, which is used to varying degrees throughout the league to varying degrees of effectiveness, has become a mandatory construct among many of the most effective offenses.

But none of the public subscription-based football metrics services — not Football Outsiders, not Pro Football Focus, and not Sports Info Solutions — make pre-snap motion charting-based stats available, and therefore, we as football fans and and football analysts have no way of knowing the exact effectiveness of the methodology. The first real reference I saw to pre-snap motion in an analytical sense was in Warren Sharp’s 2020 Football Preview, and Sharp laid it all out in compelling fashion.

Per Sharp’s charting, NFL teams used pre-snap motion in the first three quarters of games on 39% of passes, 49% of rushes, and 43% of all plays in the 2019 season. The 49ers led the league with pre-snap motion on 66% of their passes, followed by the Patriots (65%), the Titans (63%), the Ravens (57%), and the Chiefs (53%). Two of those teams made the Super Bowl, the Ravens were the AFC’s number-one seed, the Titans made it to the AFC Championship game, and the Patriots ranked 11th in Football Outsiders’ Offensive DVOA metrics despite a receiver group that couldn’t bust a grape.

However, they used pre-snap motion at below average rates, yet saw much more improvement when passing with pre-snap motion. Look at the comparison vs the league average with the advantage gained by using pre-snap motion prior to passes.

Per Sharp’s metrics, teams had 0.2 more yards per attempt, a 3% success rate increase, and 0.02 more EPA per attempt. The Vikings, who used the 20th-most pre-snap motion on passing plays last season, saw a bump of 1.6 in yards per attempt, a 6% success rate bump, and an increase in EPA per attempt of 0.25. The Buccaneers, who could have desperately used anything to make Jameis Winston more efficient in 2019, used pre-snap motion on just 37% of their plays, one of the lowest rates in the league. The league average was 40%.

With Tom Brady now on board in Bruce Arians’ offense, expect a big uptick. Brade has utilized pre-snap motion for years to help discern coverage concepts, to isolate and remove specific defenders, and to give his receivers an advantage that their physical gifts don’t always present. One the Bucs have a new sense of pre-snap trickeration and Brady has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to… well, things could get interesting.

When talking about the specific schematic advantages of pre-snap motion, most people will point to the ability of the quarterback to read man versus zone coverage based on the motion defender. If the defender follows the motion receiver through the formation, it’s generally man. If the defender stays put and hands the responsibility through the formation, it’s generally zone.

But defenses are starting to show dummy man/zone looks, and as Orlovsky told me, that’s not the ultimate advantage for quarterbacks — or, for that matter, anybody on the offensive side of the ball.

“Yeah, I think we’re all past man vs. zone,” he told me. “We’re kind of beyond that. The big thing was creating leverage on certain players. That’s a big deal. You could get certain guys – when you line up in your formation, and you’re moving your personnel, you can get certain [defenders] to move where you want them. When you use motion, and you kind of know how your opponent will respond, you will call certain plays to be run at certain guys.

“We’re seeing more coaches understand that… motion doesn’t have to be married to man/zone. It could be to try and get your run game to be run at certain people. Or, to try and get your passing game directed at certain people, whether it’s man or zone. Because if that nickel defender doesn’t kick over to trips, you can have your slot receiver working on a safety. So now, just off motion, even if it’s against a zone defense, you have really created an advantage. That safety really wants to play the run more than he wants to play the pass. So, it’s really about trying to create advantages, whether it’s via leverage, or via fits in the run game. I think we’ve seen great growth on that in the NFL.”

Pre-snap motion also creates specific advanatges in the run game — it’s a big reason the Ravens had the NFL’s most schematically evil rushing attack in the NFL last season.

Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman has been brilliant at cooking up different kinds of motion concepts, which is the next level of this — when offensive minds continue to realize that it’s the complexity of motion that really puts defenses on a string — as the Ravens, 49ers, and Chiefs already have — the advantages grow in an exponential sense.

“I don’t necessarily care if an offense motions,” Orlovsky said, putting his defensive coordinator hat on. “But when they have different motions, that’s when I’ve got a problem. [Remember when] Chip Kelly was the greatest thing in the world because he played with tempo? Well, defenses caught up and started playing with tempo. Then, the great coaches, Sean McVay being one of them, they’ve got all different kinds of tempo. They’ve got stupid-fast tempo, then the fast tempo, then the ‘okay no-huddle’ tempo, then the slow tempo. That’s what screws with defenses. Because then, you don’t know. You’ve got to be ready all the time. That’s when you’re on your heels, and you’re guessing rather than dictating. Those offenses that are constantly changing the way they’re doing the motion – for defenses, you can no longer feel confident in what you’re doing. You are always going to be a step slow.”

In part 2 of the “Emotions in Motion” series, we’ll get into more specific examples of run and pass motion concepts that have taken over the NFL. In Part 3, we’ll talk about what defenses need to do to put a cap on these particular innovations.

How Kelechi Osemele expands and perfects the Chiefs’ impossible offense

With all the work the Chiefs have done to maintain and improve their roster, the one-year deal with Kelechi Osemele is a sleeper win.

Last season, the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years, and had the NFL’s third-best offense per Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics. Not surprisingly, Kansas City ranked second in passing behind only the Cowboys, but they trailed a bit in rushing efficiency, ranking 16th.

Head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach conspired to improve that ranking this offseason with a couple of moves: They took LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the last pick in the first round. That worked out pretty well in the season opener, a 34-20 win over the Texans, as Edwards-Helaire took advantage of Houston’s decision to play two-high safeties to keep Patrick Mahomes in check. The rookie gained 138 yards and scored a 27-yard touchdown on 25 carries, making himself the star of the game and giving opposing defensive coordinators one more thing to worry about when facing Reid’s already formidable offense.

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The other move that could prove to pay great dividends is the July signing of guard Kelechi Osemele, a move made necessary when Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted out for the 2020 season. Osemele was released by the Jets last October following a dispute with the team regarding a shoulder injury, but he was healthy in the 2020 free agency frame, and the Chiefs were able to pick him up on a one-year, $2 million contract.

For all the things Veach has done to keep his roster core together this offseason, the Osemele signing might be the thing that puts him over the top for Executive of the Year when the season is done. Against the Texans, per Pro Football Focus, the veteran had the third-most positively graded run blocks he’s ever had in a single game in his NFL career.

Whether you agree with PFF’s grades or not, the tape shows the truth. Osemele was a battering ram, giving the Chiefs the ability to throw haymakers at the Texans when the Texans were expecting an aerial attack, and providing a new level of physicality. Defensive tackle Carlos Watkins would most assuredly agree.

What made the Osemele signing interesting, though, is that the Chiefs were a predominantly zone running team last season — per Sports Info Solutions, they incorporated zone blocking schemes on 66% of their run plays in 2019, as opposed to 27% gap runs. With Osemele on the field in 2019, the Jets increased their percentage of gap runs from 33% to 37%, and reduced their zone run rate from 62% to 55%. This makes sense in that, while Osemele can certainly make himself useful in zone stuff (you don’t really have just gap or zone blockers in the NFL), he’s a dominant, physical blocker in a defined space.

So, when the Chiefs gave Osemele a deal, my first thought was, “Well, how the heck is THAT going to work? Is this a case where a team signs a good player without a functional way in which to maximize his abilities?”

I should have known. And the rest of the NFL is about to discover that the Chiefs now have even more ways in which to turn your defense out.