Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
It’s a toss up whether Murray or KK is the biggest consideration going forward. Addressing the latter, the obvious KK question is how was year one? My review is fairly mixed.
The year started poorly for KK. His decision to keep his offense under wraps during the preseason was no doubt the dumbest decision of the year. His attempt to surprise other teams crashed when his offense sputtered likely due in part to no game condition seasoning. This was also a warning about ego size.
There is no question there were some creative plays but sadly they were more than offset by the failure of the offense to produce in common situations. The red zone package (if there was one) was almost laughable, though it improved somewhat as the year continued. On the other hand, the 2-minute drill was universally hideous. Closely related was the absence of a package for handling blitzes. I keep getting asked how someone could design an offense missing these elements. Perhaps the answer is ego again. Maybe he thought they’d just score from long range consistently. Then again maybe he thought that Murray was elusive enough to ad-lib scoring plays and elude blitzes. This offense looked more like a set of disjointed plays than a systemic attack. Again for some of this you have to again turn to the preseason. Running the offense sooner would have highlighted the deficiencies and provided more time to fix them.
Game management was another major concern. Aside from no idea how to work the clock, he seemed to let his ego tell him to go for it in totally inappropriate situations. Evening games where the defense was playing well KK did not seem to grasp the importance of field position. Add in calling “trick plays” when the standard offense was moving the ball fine and his ego continually showed an “I’m the smartest guy in the stadium” attitude. I know he spoke humbly but his game management didn’t manifest respect for the opponent.
Basic play selection also seemed odd. KK told us Murray had an extremely strong, accurate arm. Yet the Cards rarely threw deep or rolled out Murray to give his receivers time for double moves. They continually threw shorter than the sticks on third down, even when it was third and short. The season seemed to be nearly two-thirds old before they called QB runs.
All was not lost. As I mentioned before there were some cleverly imagined new plays. If properly integrated into the offense they could help sustain drives. KK seemed to be flexible about his offense. When TEs showed the ability to catch, KK made good use of them. When he got a RB that hit the hole quicker, KK changed the running patterns to use that skill. You had to admire KK’s media availability. He was sometimes political, but always available. He was also generally aggressive. I think fortune does favor the bold in the NFL.
Going forward Kingsbury seemed to grow some with the job. He’s not a sure thing to be a major asset, but he has a chance to be very good. He needs another offensive weapon or two. A better defense would considerably relieve the pressure on the offense. Next year should answer most of the concerns I have and give us a far more accurate estimate of his future.
The year started poorly for KK. His decision to keep his offense under wraps during the preseason was no doubt the dumbest decision of the year. His attempt to surprise other teams crashed when his offense sputtered likely due in part to no game condition seasoning. This was also a warning about ego size.
There is no question there were some creative plays but sadly they were more than offset by the failure of the offense to produce in common situations. The red zone package (if there was one) was almost laughable, though it improved somewhat as the year continued. On the other hand, the 2-minute drill was universally hideous. Closely related was the absence of a package for handling blitzes. I keep getting asked how someone could design an offense missing these elements. Perhaps the answer is ego again. Maybe he thought they’d just score from long range consistently. Then again maybe he thought that Murray was elusive enough to ad-lib scoring plays and elude blitzes. This offense looked more like a set of disjointed plays than a systemic attack. Again for some of this you have to again turn to the preseason. Running the offense sooner would have highlighted the deficiencies and provided more time to fix them.
Game management was another major concern. Aside from no idea how to work the clock, he seemed to let his ego tell him to go for it in totally inappropriate situations. Evening games where the defense was playing well KK did not seem to grasp the importance of field position. Add in calling “trick plays” when the standard offense was moving the ball fine and his ego continually showed an “I’m the smartest guy in the stadium” attitude. I know he spoke humbly but his game management didn’t manifest respect for the opponent.
Basic play selection also seemed odd. KK told us Murray had an extremely strong, accurate arm. Yet the Cards rarely threw deep or rolled out Murray to give his receivers time for double moves. They continually threw shorter than the sticks on third down, even when it was third and short. The season seemed to be nearly two-thirds old before they called QB runs.
All was not lost. As I mentioned before there were some cleverly imagined new plays. If properly integrated into the offense they could help sustain drives. KK seemed to be flexible about his offense. When TEs showed the ability to catch, KK made good use of them. When he got a RB that hit the hole quicker, KK changed the running patterns to use that skill. You had to admire KK’s media availability. He was sometimes political, but always available. He was also generally aggressive. I think fortune does favor the bold in the NFL.
Going forward Kingsbury seemed to grow some with the job. He’s not a sure thing to be a major asset, but he has a chance to be very good. He needs another offensive weapon or two. A better defense would considerably relieve the pressure on the offense. Next year should answer most of the concerns I have and give us a far more accurate estimate of his future.