Just how do you beat this Chiefs team? Play ball control seems to be the most common answer but just how much do you need to control it? Let’s have a look at the season so far.
. KC OPPO
Games 5 5
Mins possession 152 148
Points 175 129
Drives 53 53
Plays 327 361
The biggest problem teams face is the speed at which this Chiefs team scores in comparison to how quickly it concedes. A common theory seems to be play the time of possession game, but how much possession do you need?
. KC OPPO
Points per minute 1.15 0.87
KC scores so fast you would need to win the time of possession battle 35 mins to 25 mins before you outscore this Chiefs offence. So far nobody has managed this with the Chargers coming closest.
Just running a few really long drives then to keep the ball away?
. KC OPPO
Points per play 0.54 0.35
You would need to run 89 plays to the Chiefs 56 before you outscored them. Jacksonville managed 83, that didn’t work out too well for them did it?
So how do you achieve 89 plays to 56 and 35 mins to 25? Turnovers.
. KC OPPO
Drives per game 11 11
Points per drive 3.3 2.4
If you can be +2 in the turnover battle and give KC 9 drives while you have 13, you’ll probably keep the ball 35 mins to 25 and you’ll probably run 89 plays to 56.
That would be enough to give you a 31-30 win. Good luck with that…
And there’s the rub across the board for an opposition, in trying to ‘slow down’ The Chief’s offense you have to defend 80 yards of the field in each play; the Jags found that impossible; so for other lesser teams’ defense slowing the Chief’s down, well as Neil says “Good Luck with That!”