Superduperboltman's D-Line Analysis: Chargers vs Chiefs

The Chiefs showed up with no Matt Cassel, and therefore, no offense to show getting stopped by the Bolts. So here's a picture of a dude who totally made up for leaving halfway through the second quarter. via nfl.com

A shutout is always good. It makes it seem as if one team was so dominant the other team just decided to give the ball back because they didn't feel worthy. The truth is, the Chiefs managed a lot of failure offensively speaking.

• Fewer 1st downs in 4 quarters than the average NFL team in 4 drives. 
• 5, if you were wondering.
• Fewer total net yards in 4 quarters than the average team's touchdown drive.
• 67, if you were wondering.
• More yards lost trying to pass than when actually completing passes. 
• 29 yards lost on sacks, 19 net yards gained passing, if you were wondering.

More? I can tell you like those. Bullet points are awesome.

• The Chiefs had more punts than first downs, points, penalties, and turnovers combined
• No plays longer than 16 yards. The 16 yarder being the only play longer than 10 yards.
• Only 6 plays went longer than 5 yards. 
• The Chiefs would have kept the game closer had they run the ball more.  
• Finally, more negative yardage plays than first down producing plays. 

The last time the Charger defense was this dominant, they were facing the winless Buccaneers about 35 years ago. Those of you who watched the game were witnesses to a once in a lifetime defensive performance (If you're under 40 or so). Remember it. Call it "The Shutout" or something. It takes more than a team with desire. It takes great coaching as well (more on that later). Pretty much every player had a great game. Vaughn Martin looked very good, as did Larry English. Check out his score, comment on it. Even though his sack came in the coverage variety, he got pressure throughout the game, and hopefully, he keeps up his game in the future.

 
Click here for the Analysis

Interesting observation: Ron Rivera brought pressure all game. This was one of my favorite blitzes. Since he constantly calls for a defensive back to creep to the line to blitz or fake blitz, Croyle probably wasn't expecting Weddle to blitz. Naturally, he bails out of the pocket after realizing his first read, the TE wasn't covered by Cooper, who blitzed, but covered by Phillips. Ron Rivera needs a nick name. I started thinking about it. Like me, Coach Ron Rivera is half Mexican and Puerto Rican. A rare mix indeed, so he deserves a spanish sounding nick name. How about  EL JEFE. The Boss, for those of you who need translating. Why the boss? Because he runs the defense Like a Boss. In a good way. You don't question it, you just execute. If you mess up, he stares you down like a starving lion stares down a zebra with 4 broken legs. When you do good, you get a nod of approval. I really like that guy, and hope he's here until he decides to retire. This team's defense has far exceeded anyone's expectations this year, and things are looking up once again.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the analysis. Rec's are appreciated if you appreciated the work. 

PS- some of you may have noticed that one of the new featured introduced a few segments ago, the "Figure 1", etc is missing, that's because Orz will now handle them by way of #reelinacertaintypeofway video dumps, and I don't mind at all, so thanx for the assistance there, hombre.