The problem for the Chiefs in their slow starts? Coaches and players seem to agree
The one-liner was unexpected.
Chiefs linebacker Anthony Hitchens was answering a question about the San Francisco 49ers’ ground attack when he quickly diverted to a different point.
“Our mindset is to stop the run,” Hitchens said, smiling before leaning toward the microphone. “And for the third week in a row, try to get off to a better start.”
Many reporters laughed, as Hitchens was speaking to a truth.
It’s one, though, that will be much less funny for the Chiefs if it continues in next week’s Super Bowl.
Kansas City has managed to make it this far despite awful beginnings in its two playoff games. Against Houston, the Chiefs fell behind 24-0 before winning 51-31, while against Tennessee, they trailed 17-7 early before rallying for a 35-24 triumph.
“We’re preaching that (fast starts) right now. We’re trying different ways,” Hitchens said. “We’re going to probably throw some little different things to start the game.”
The consensus among KC’s players and coaches about the topic appears to be consistent: This is a matter of focus.
Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz spoke about coach Andy Reid’s reputation of being elite when it comes to crafting his team’s 15-play pregame script — that pregame shopping list created for the game’s opening possessions.
If the Chiefs’ offense is performing poorly in those settings, then? Schwartz believes the responsibility has to fall on the players.
“Are we blocking the right guys? Are we blocking them for long enough? Are we throwing the ball to the right spot? Are we catching it? All those things,” Schwartz said. “If we’re executing, we’ve known for 20 years (Reid) is the best ‘first 15 guy’ in the business. So I’d say the lack of early starts are way more on our inability to execute.”
There’s a human nature part of this that could possibly be at play too.
The Chiefs, in both home playoff games, might have been hurt by some over-anxiousness early, as even simple plays appeared more difficult because of the pressure involved.
“We just need to go out there and play,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “Everybody knows what to do. They know how to do it. Now it’s about being disciplined and just doing it when it’s called for them to do so.”
Chiefs coaches work throughout the week to make sure players are preparing in game-like conditions. Bieniemy said the team practices at full speed with a game clock, with an overall goal of having the players rehearse the type of situations they’ll see on Sundays.
“Like I always tell them, ‘I don’t need you to be anything out of the ordinary,’” Bieniemy said. “’Just be who you are.’”
On offense, Bieniemy points to small details that could help the Chiefs in first quarter situations. That includes subtleties like getting out of the huddle quickly, lining up correctly and communicating well once at the line of scrimmage.
From there, the only instruction for players is simply to give maximum effort.
“That’s all you can ask,” Bieniemy said, “but we obviously want our guys to go out there and have a faster start.”
Defensively, the Chiefs perhaps can take away some optimism from last week’s opening against the Titans.
Though the team allowed points on each of the first three drives — including two touchdowns — defensive lineman Chris Jones was quick to point out that the Chiefs were hurt on three crucial third-down plays by penalties. That included two offsides calls and also a defensive pass interference.
“I feel like we needed to stop beating ourselves ... making key adjustments on defense, stop beating yourself, and execute the scheme of the defense,” Jones said. “Once we started doing that, everything started working in our favor, because we’re not actually depending on the offense to score 30 and 40 points. But what we are depending on is that our defense holds up to keep our offense within the game.”
The other side of this is obviously a positive for the Chiefs. Even if the team does get behind, it has proven in the past month that is has an ability to respond.
Bieniemy says he repeats a mantra often with his guys: “Next play.” The goal is always to have the Chiefs thinking about the future instead of the past.
“So go out and play as hard as you can and as fast as you can that very next play, and we’ll let the chips roll,” Bieniemy said. “We’ll regroup, and we’ll go out and do it again.”
Ideally, however, the Chiefs would prefer to not have to dig out of another hole.
Hitchens says players, in the last few days, have continued to talk to each other about the importance of a strong first few minutes.
“Our job is to get three-and-outs and stop the run,” Hitchens said. “We need to do that for four quarters, not three and a half.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
