Second Look: Oakland Drive

When the Chiefs went 91 yards on 16 plays and chewed 9 minutes, 24 seconds off the second-half clock last Sunday, it was the team’s longest, most impressive possession of the season.

Given the status of the game – the score was 10-10 at the time – and the fact they were playing on the road in a hostile environment, it was a memorable possession in a season filled with so many failed chances with the football.

But get this: on second look it was not a drive of great efficiency or performance. In fact, the Chiefs made multiple mistakes during the possession. A sure interception was dropped and several throws were forced by QB Tyler Thigpen. Two guards pulled on a play and ran into each other. Even on Larry Johnson’s two-yard TD run, the Raiders got great penetration between center and left guard; Johnson went between center and right guard.

Yet, the Chiefs were able to overcome their own mistakes and pump home a TD that proved to be the winning points over Oakland.

Here’s how they did it.

Play #1: 1st-and-10 at the Chiefs 9.

The offense came out with a 1-2-2 offensive set: one back, two tight ends and two wide receivers. After Brad Cottam went in motion to his left, there were three receivers on that side of the formation, with Tony Gonzalez on the right. Thigpen took the shotgun snap, held the ball for 2.32 seconds and hit Gonzalez on the right side of the field. Gonzalez got away from CB Nnamdi Asomugha. The play went for 23 yards and a first down.

Play #2: 1st-and-10 at the Chiefs 32.

Operating without a huddle, the Chiefs were again in the 1-2-2, with two receivers left and two receivers right. Thigpen went in motion to his right and Johnson took a direct snap. He ran to his right, cut outside and gained seven yards before he was tackled.

Play #3: 2nd-and-3 at the Chiefs 39.

With no huddle, the Chiefs were in the 1-2-2, with two receivers left and two right. Cottam went in motion to his left and then shifted to the backfield. C Rudy Niswanger’s snap was low, the Raiders were blitzing and Thigpen fell on the ground with the ball, losing seven yards. The officials missed Raiders DT Terdell Sands being offsides on the play.

Play #4: 3rd-and-10 at the Chiefs 32.

The Chiefs huddled up before this snap and had a 1-1-3 with RB Jamaal Charles stationed to the right of Thigpen and 3 receivers left and one to the right. Looking left the whole time and falling backwards under pressure from DE Kalimba Edwards, Thigpen made a shaky throw to Gonzalez who pulled the ball in for a 16-yard gain and a first down.

Play #5: 1st-and-10 at the Chiefs 48.

Again working without a huddle and a 2-1-2 group of eligible receivers, Johnson ran right and worked hard to get two yards out of what looked like a negative run.

Play #6: 2nd-and-8 at the 50-yard line.

Without a huddle, with three receivers left and one to the right and Johnson in the backfield, Thigpen dropped back to pass, gave it 2.94 seconds from the snap and then made the decision to take off running. He gained six yards.

Play #7: 3rd-and-2 at the Raiders 44.

Without a huddle and a 2-1-2 setup, Johnson took a handoff and ran left. LG Brian Waters pulled and Johnson followed him. FB Mike Cox got in the way of outside linebacker John Alston and Johnson gained three yards and got the first down.

Play #8: 1st –and-10 at the Raiders 41.

Operating without a huddle and with 2-1-2, Cox ran left at the snap and Thigpen faked a handoff to Johnson, who was also running left. Thigpen then ran a bootleg to his right. DE Derrick Burgess stayed at home and forced the Chiefs QB to release the ball quickly and while falling backwards. Safety Gibril Wilson had the ball in his hands for an interception, but dropped it. The pass was overthrown and intended for Gonzalez. By all rights, the drive should have ended there.

Play #9: 2nd-and-10 at the Raiders 41.

Without a huddle, the Chiefs had 2-1-2 available receivers. Thigpen dropped back to pass and 2.47 seconds after the snap; he took off on a scramble up the middle. DT Tom Kelly flushed him out of the pocket, beating RG Wade Smith’s block. Thigpen was able to get back to the line of scrimmage and pick up one yard.

Play #10: 3rd–and-9 at the Raiders 40.

Working without a huddle the offense had one back, one tight end and three wide receivers. Charles lined up to the right of Thigpen. With pressure from Kelly coming up the middle, the Chiefs QB double pumped and then threw to Gonzalez on a play where the tight end pushed off and was not called. Thigpen held the ball 2.78 seconds and the play gained 12 yards.

Play #11: 1st-and-10 at the Raiders 28.

Back to their basic set of 1-2-2 and working without a huddle, Johnson took the handoff from Thipgen and ran at the gap between center and left guard. The left side of the Chiefs line handled their men, but RT Damion McIntosh couldn’t keep Kalimba Edwards from crashing down the line and filling the hole. Johnson made a nice decision and bounced the run to the right and outside, gaining nine yards.

Play #12: 2nd-and-1 at the Raiders 19.

Running hard at right guard, Johnson picked up two tough yards and moved the sticks.

Play #13: 1st-and-10 at the Raiders 17.

On the final play of the third quarter and again out of the no huddle, Thigpen faked a pitch to the right and then handed off to Johnson. Both Waters and Wade Smith pulled from their guard spots, with Waters going right and Smith left. They ran into each other as Johnson was pulled down for a loss of two yards.

Play #14: 2nd-and-12 at the Raiders 19.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs came out with Gonzalez and four wide receivers, leaving Thigpen alone in the backfield. On the snap, Thigpen held the ball for just over two seconds and took off running to his left. WR Devard Darling got a nice block and Thigpen ran for eight yards before going out of bounds.

Play #15: 3rd-and-4 at the Raiders 11.

In the no huddle with a 1-1-3 set of available receivers, Thigpen ran a quarterback draw. With Charles provide a block, there was a huge hole between center and left guard. Had Thigpen continued running forward, he would have scored, but he cut left and was tackled for a nine-yard gain.

Play #16: 1st-and-goal at the Raiders 2.

With three backs and two tight ends, Johnson took the handoff from Thigpen and scored despite good penetration in the middle of the offensive line by Kelly.

The key to this drive was the running game led by Johnson and the scrambling of Thigpen who ran four times for 24 yards. Only the quarterback draw was planned. Johnson ran seven times for 23 yards. Thigpen was three of four passing for 51 yards.

The most amazing number however, is this: they ran 16 plays in 564 seconds of the game clock. That’s a snap every 35 seconds. For a team like the Chiefs, that wants to limit snaps for the opponent and chew the clock, it was very impressive.

It wasn’t exactly a text book drive, but it was effective and the best Chiefs possession of the year.