Analyzing Andy Reid Play Calling
We'll be looking at the opening script of Big Red's offense all season
Andy Reid is quite simply one of the best play callers and play designers in the NFL. He’s a brilliant, creative mind that continually pushes boundaries and finds new ways to get his best players the ball.
A key component of play calling is the opening script — often called “The First 15.” These are the plays that set the table for the remainder of the game. There is so much that goes into these early plays and they’re a critical element of a successful gameplan.
The early script will have a variety of formations to help the play caller get an understanding of how the opponent will try to align against various looks. Shifts and motions are critical — Reid will often move some of his more important chess pieces to understand how the defense will adjust when they’re on the move.
Play callers are simultaneously trying to info gather in a short amount of time and move the football successfully. It’s an art that Reid has mastered. These plays are often rich with the information he wants to present defenses so that he can see how they will react. There are often shot plays, and special plays baked into these early scripts to help generate explosive plays and put pressure on defenses trying to info gather.
Throughout the season here at KC Sports Network we’ll be exploring the opening script of the Chiefs offense. We will look at key moments early in the game, identify tendencies that appear throughout the year, unique play calls, and look at how they were able to set teams up later in the game with what they established in “The First 15.”
To kick things off, we’ll look at the Chiefs’ opening script from their Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s a look at what went down in the first two series of the game.
The Vitals
The Chiefs passed on 11 of 18 plays in the first two series.
The run/pass ratio was 11/15 before the Chiefs got inside the five yard line and ran the final three plays
Travis Kelce was isolated on the backside of the formation eight times. When he wasn’t isolated, he was motioning — moving four different plays.
The Chiefs presented only two personnel groupings outside of the five yard line — 11 (one running back, one tight end) and 12 (one running back, two tight ends)
San Francisco brought more than four rushers only twice.
The first series
The Chiefs had a short-lived first series — going three and out to start the Super Bowl. They opened the game with a tendency breaker — faking an inside zone and running option to the boundary.
Mahomes was sped up a tad in the first series, missing on a couple throws to running back Damien Williams on second and third down. The second play was designed to get the ball to Williams against man coverage, and Mahomes didn’t set a good base with his feet to deliver the throw.
The full breakdown of the full series is in the video above.
Run-pass options
The second series saw the Chiefs dial up several run-pass options (or RPOs) in the second series to success. These play calls ask the offensive line to run block a concept, and select skill players to run pass concepts. The quarterback will often read a player who has run responsibility and is caught between playing the run and pass — attacking the defense based on the positioning of that defender.
The Chiefs ran four RPOs in the second series. Mahomes gave the ball twice and distributed two passes — one each to his two best skill players Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
Mahomes put his quick release and arm talent on a 1st and 10 seam pass to Kelce — with one of the best linebackers in football, Fred Warner, in conflict.
The full breakdown of both plays is in the video above.
Closing the series
Special situations like a 3rd and 18 or a 4th and 1 aren’t part of the usual opening script. The plan deviates when a play caller runs into special situations — you aren’t planning your opening script to include situations that might happen only a couple times in a game.
The infamous “Shift to Rose Bowl Right Parade” wasn’t likely in the opening script, but they needed something special to close their second series out. They executed a pair of plays to find pay dirt late in the first quarter.
More to come
Expect to see breakdowns of key sequences, great play calls, call-backs to plays/concepts from previous weeks, how the Chiefs used the intel they gained from the script later in the game, and more throughout the season. We’ll be looking for trends, appreciating creativity, and spectacular individual efforts.
I’m excited to learn what Reid and company are dialing up this year, and I hope you’ll enjoy following along with me. I look forward to seeing what we can find out as the season progresses.