Once KC figured out they could handle man and 1 on 1 coverage with SF's WR and how to take Kittle away as a receiver, it freed them up to stack the box a bit more and start clogging the running lanes. I believe they also shifted the way they played on the DL in terms of punishing poor gap control/spacing by the OLine to the point of perhaps even over committing to the run.
Inexplicably, every playoff team that KC faced had a good rushing attack, but in the second half of their games, they barely ran the ball. It's not like they were playing catch up either, all but Miami had a lead in the second half. Some how KC managed to bait those teams into eschewing the run game that had helped those teams in the first half. I don't know if it was formations/matchups or what the OC's were seeing, but I know I was baffled by the drop off of the running game + play action. Not that I am complaining as a KC fan.
still can't figure out why they dropped the running game though.
Teams could no longer stack to the wide side of the field when playing defense and so rushing yards went up. The intent behind the hash mark change was to promote more passing but it had more of an impact on rushing initially. The 49ers rushing attack being successful due to a narrower formation seems somewhat similar in that it goes against conventional wisdom.
have all been very narrow. Running in those tight formations, especially up the middle, seemed to be counterintuitive. Now, running counter and getting outside a tight formation would seem to provide opportunities for speedy backs to make big plays.
which I believe the original article does, than there really is not much similarity between the foundation and what ND did under the previous 3 (at least) offensive coordinators.
Now, things can certainly change.
So, yes things can change, but they likely won’t.
I'm shocked.
When the hell will we ever stop rolling in the stink?