did not disappoint.
Patrick Mahomes played like a magician,
Bill Belichick put on an absolute master class against the Chargers,
Nick Foles made us believe for half a game and
C.J. Anderson proved that literally anyone can be an NFL running back.
These are the lessons learned from the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.
Frank Reich Is Not Ready Yet
What an absolute nightmare game plan the Colts had against the Chiefs. Honestly, it seemed like Reich thought the Colts were playing a college bowl game and not an NFL playoff game against the best offense in the NFL. He had quotes after the game which intimated that the Colts wanted to attack the Chiefs’ poor run defense, which belies a complete and total misunderstanding of how to win football games in 2019. The Colts ran the ball on first down four times in the first half to only five passing attempts despite the Chiefs continually marching down the field via the forward pass.
It is truly bizarre that a team built around protecting Andrew Luck and trusting his arm could have lost their way so completely in a playoff game. The Colts that played on Saturday in Arrowhead seemed like a bizarro version of the team, closer to the Tennessee Titans than the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are in one of the best salary cap situations in the NFL and Reich has shown an ability to be an above-average NFL coach in Indy and in his time in Philadelphia. But if he ever coaches like that in the playoffs again, I won’t feel bad about writing him off as just another guy who doesn’t get it.
Patrick Mahomes Is Not Alex Smith
Before the start of the Colts/Chiefs Divisional round game, there was a lot of talk about how bad the Chiefs were in the playoffs under Andy Reid. The Colts with Andrew Luck handed them one of the most embarrassing losses in NFL playoffs history and the Chiefs had never beaten the Colts in the playoffs before this game. However, that story did not play out on Saturday. Patrick Mahomes was electric, leading two immediate touchdown drives to start the game and getting another field goal before the Colts had even gotten past midfield. This game would have likely been even uglier had the Colts not gotten lucky on a punt block that was returned for a touchdown.
The largest difference between this year’s Chiefs and last season’s (that was also great on offense) is that they have a QB who will throw the ball 50 yards down the field on third and three. They have only the second quarterback ever to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in the same season, and he is the first QB to ever reach those passing achievements while adding over 200 rushing yards. The Alex Smith-led Chiefs did beat the Patriots in the regular season, where the Mahomes-led Chiefs failed (losing by three points in a 43-40 thriller in Foxboro) but K.C. will be the home team for the AFC Conference championship game. As of Monday morning, the Chiefs were three-point favorites over the Patriots and given how this offense looked, I want the home side.
Bill Belichick Knows How To Call Games
Are the Patriots a worse version of themselves than in years past? Yes, I am not sure if it is even arguable. Rob Gronkowski is barely catching the ball, the deep threat is a reject from the Colts (Phillip Dorsett) and Tom Brady is not near as accurate. All of those things being true, they still put up 41 points at home against a Top Five DVOA team in the Los Angeles Chargers due to a hyper-efficient game plan. Sony Michel had 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns while Rex Burkhead was efficient on his carries and James White had 17 targets. While the Patriots might not have the best cadre of weapons they ever did, they do play the right type of football.
Belichick went for it on fourth down on multiple occasions, including a spot where they were about to make it a four score differential on the scoreboard. Make no mistake, that is the right way to coach football. Fourth and short should be an automatic “go for it” play call pretty much everywhere on the field and no team embraces that mentality more than the New England Patriots. A lot of what makes this franchise so special is how much they have embraced math and analytics in their playcalling. The Patriots are underdogs for good reason against the Chiefs but this promises to be one of the better AFC Championships we’ve seen in some time.
Running Backs Don’t Matter
To me, this was probably the most joyful part of the weekend other than being all in on the Chiefs -5. The Rams had their former first-round pick Todd Gurley split work with C.J Anderson, who was on his third NFL team of the season. The Chiefs were using former practice squad player Damien Williams, the Colts got blown out with their highly drafted RB, the Patriots leading receiver was Melvin Gordon’s college backup, while Melvin Gordon couldn’t even gain 20 yards. More than any other playoff weekend in recent memory, these games proved why spending high draft capital on a running back is the epitome of idiocy.
Offensive lines matter far more than running backs do and finding an elite lineman is much more difficult than finding an elite running back. The Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots all got great performances from undrafted or Day Two running backs and dominated their games through passing the ball well. I hope that Dave Gettleman is watching at home and seeing what offenses that are based on throwing do in the playoffs.