KC ended up playing a good counter to that.

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.

Replies:

The Ravens never led. * - LoungeTroll 2024-03-01 08:12:19
- right it only felt that way to me. - OITLinebacker 2024-03-05 10:20:44
- no they didn't * - irishrock 2024-03-01 11:09:40