Followers of my work, whether here at Touchdown Wire or at some of the other outlets where I cover football, are familiar with my penchant for working in movie references in articles or podcasts.
As someone who was in essence a quad-major in history, government, philosophy and economics, I have a soft spot for politics. Even political movies. “The American President” is one such movie. There is a moment in that film when President Andrew Shepard (portrayed by Michael Douglas) is arguing with one of his advisors Lewis Rothschild (played by Michael J. Fox). They’re debating a potential opponent in Shepard’s upcoming reelection campaign:
Lewis Rothschild : They don’t have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd : Lewis, we’ve had presidents who were beloved, who couldn’t find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know the difference.
It has been a long offseason in the NFL, and a strange one at that. For a while we wondered if we would even see a regular season due to COVID-19. But at the end of this long and strange offseason, and drinking a lot of sand, we have arrived.
Football is back, and we have actual games to talk about.
The season kicks off on Thursday night when the Houston Texans visit Arrowhead Stadium and take on the defending Super Bowl Champions in the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a rematch of last year’s Divisional Round game which saw the Chiefs storm back after falling down 24 points early. Here are some of the scheme aspects of this rematch that are worth highlighting before this game kicks off.
When the Chiefs have the football
As mentioned before, the Chiefs’ victory back in January came via a huge second quarter comeback. That rally, and the four unanswered touchdowns scored by Kansas City in the second quarter, illustrate just how difficult it is to defend this Chiefs’ offense.
The Chiefs finally got on the board with a touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to running back Damien Williams. Facing a 1st and 10 on the Texans’ 17-yard line, the Chiefs align with Mahomes alone in the shotgun:
The RB is flexed outside towards the right sideline, and across from him is linebacker Zach Cunningham. At this point, Mahomes has a good indication that the Texans are in man coverage. That is confirmed when Williams shifts back into the backfield, and the linebacker trails him:
Here is the route concept the Chiefs employ:
Vertical routes stress the defense along each boundary, but the meat of this play is inside, with a shallow/curl concept paired with the seam route from Williams out of the backfield.
Remember, Mahomes knows the Texans are in man coverage, so he knows that the shallow/curl routes are going to create traffic for the defender trying to run with Williams on the seam. Which is exactly what happens:
A similar process played out on the Chiefs’ next touchdown. Kansas City face a 2nd and goal on the Houston 5-yard line, and once more Mahomes aligns in the shotgun. This time, the Chiefs use a Y-Iso alignment, with Travis Kelce the single receiver on the left side of the formation:
Houston disguises their intentions a bit on this play, as the defender aligned across from Kelce is a cornerback, Lonnie Johnson Jr. Mahomes cannot be positive the Texans are in man coverage here, as he would be if the defense put a safety or a linebacker across from the tight end. But given the alignment of Johnson – feet parallel to the line of scrimmage, eyes trained on Kelce and not the QB – he can assume man coverage once more. He’ll still need to confirm that after the snap.
Here is what the Chiefs run on the play:
They run mesh underneath, with Kelce and Tyreek Hill running the crossing routes, with a three-level read to the right side of the play. Mahomes expects man coverage here – although again he cannot be positive before the play – so he will look to the crossers first and confirm the coverage.
He sees man, so works the mesh concept, finding Kelce for the score:
On both of these plays, Mahomes has a good indication presnap of the coverage, and then is able to quickly confirm the coverage and attack the man scheme once the play begins. Eric Bieniemy and Andy Reid give their QB information through the use of alignment and movement, and an informed quarterback is a dangerous quarterback.
The third touchdown from Kansas City? More of the same. Presnap information for Mahomes due to movement, and then a decision to exploit man coverage:
Kelce comes in motion before the play and a defender trails him, telling Mahomes that man coverage is in effect. The Chiefs move the pocket, rolling the quarterback to the right, and he has a flat route from Kelce and a curl route from Demarcus Robinson, which works as a rub for Kelce’s release to the flat.
The Texans actually “banjo” this, switching the man coverage when the receivers cross. That has the defender over Kelce passing him off the the cornerback and then carrying Robinson on his vertical release. The switch comes late, and when the CB overplays Kelce to the outside the tight end just sits down in space, making himself available for Mahomes for the score.
So…three touchdowns, three examples of the Chiefs attacking man coverage. Time to try something new if you are Houston. Maybe some zone?
The problem is, Mahomes and this offense are still too talented and creative:
This is virtually the mirror image of the previous play. Kelce comes in motion presnap – notice the defensive response, or lack thereof – and he runs a flat route to the left paired with a curl route that works as a rub. This time, the Texans drop into zone coverage, which Mahomes knows is coming given how Houston responds to the motion from Kelce. The zone coverage works to constrict the throwing late available, but Mahomes manages to extend time by pushing the edge as he rolls to the left. That puts the curl/flat defender in a bind, and when he is forced to step up and protect against the QB running the ball, Mahomes then flips to Kelce for the score.
Lost in the hoopla over Kansas City’s big comeback was how the Chiefs were able to exploit the Houston defense due to getting information to their quarterback presnap through movement and shifting. That played a pivotal role on all four touchdowns in the second quarter. How well the Texans respond – and mask their coverage intentions – will be crucial to how Thursday night unfolds. If nothing else, these plays illustrate how tough it is to defend Kansas City with man coverage, particularly in the red zone. When the Texans switched to zone, it took some creativity from Mahomes for the Chiefs to get into the end zone. So, at least make it harder on them?