Alex Smith, Andy Reid Sinking Chiefs Offense with Conservative Approach

Run, dump off, screen pass, find the tight end in the flats. This was essentially the Kansas City Chiefs' plan of attack against a Green Bay Packers defense that, coming into Monday night, had allowed the ninth-fewest passing yards of any team in the NFL as well as a paltry quarterback rating of 78.5.

Unsurprisingly, the conservative approach on the part of Andy Reid and poor execution on the part of the Chiefs offense—namely Alex Smith, the offensive line and the receiving corps (save Jeremy Maclin)—sunk the team in its Monday Night Football matchup against the Packers, where they lost by a final score of 38-28.

This is nothing new for the Chiefs though, as NFL writer Scott Kacsmar noted back on Sept 24:

According to Kacsmar, in third-down passing situations, through the first two weeks of the 2015 season, Alex Smith's passes were being thrown an average of 10.2 yards behind the first-down marker.

This trend reared its ugly head again in Week 3, when the Chiefs' passing attack saw a number of third-down attempts fall well short of the markers. 

Kascmar wasn't the only one noticing the trend for the Chiefs; Mark Schlereth chimed in on the situation as well:

Over the course of the game, Smith and the offense averaged a paltry 5.5 yards per pass, but that number was driven up significantly in the fourth quarter.

In the first half, Smith mustered up just 45 yards on 3-of-7 passing and showed a complete lack of interest in throwing the ball downfield. Smith's first half was embodied perfectly by Twitter user Ken Smith:

Perhaps it stems from a lack of confidence in the Chiefs' offensive line, which allowed seven sacks for a total of 39 yards lost. Or, maybe it stems from a lack of confidence in their receiving corps, which as you probably know by now hadn't registered a touchdown since 2013.

Either way, the lack of passes thrown down the field in the first three quarters of play killed the Chiefs early on in this contest. That, along with predictable play-calling—as noted in the by the Brian Billick tweet below—set the Chiefs on a course that landed them with a 24-7 deficit at the half.

That, in turn, hurt the rushing attack, which registered just 75 yards on 18 attempts—Jamaal Charles did register three rushing touchdowns, though.

The fault can't lie totally on Reid and Smith though, as the offensive line consistently allowed pressure up the middle, causing Smith to rush into conservative, short passes. Because of those short passes, former Chiefs kicker Lawrence Tynes took to Twitter and roasted Smith for his ultra-conservative passing style:

The problem in KC is that as long as Smith is the quarterback and Reid is calling the shots, nothing in the way the Chiefs approach passing the ball will change. That's not good considering the Chiefs will run up against a Cincinnati Bengals defense that, prior to its Week 3 hiccup against the Baltimore Ravens, allowed an average of 203 yards per game through the air.

If they struggle to throw the ball again next week, the Chiefs might do well to take Tynes' advice and turn to someone who can get the ball down the field. Smith's performance against the Packers was abysmal, and until the Packers practically begged him to throw the ball deeper by dropping back into prevent-style coverage packages, he looked entirely lost throwing the football.

For now though, it appears as though Reid has no intentions of making a change, as he was mostly quiet during postgame interviews and repeatedly stated that the loss was "my responsibility," per Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star.

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