The Shovel Pass To Travis Kelce Is A Cheat Code

[Direckshun]

Awesome.

http://deadspin.com/the-shovel-pass-...ode-1818505910

The Shovel Pass To Travis Kelce Is A Cheat Code
Tom Ley
Monday 11:24am



Two weeks into the season, the Kansas City Chiefs have the most entertaining offense in the league. They shoved 42 points right into the Patriots’ faces by using a read-option scheme, letting Alex Smith sling it, and deploying rookie running back Kareem Hunt like prime-era LaDainian Tomlinson. Yesterday was more of the same: a 27-20 win over the Eagles that included tight end Travis Kelce catching a shovel pass at the 15-yard line and then leaping into the endzone from the five.

.@TKelce just jumped 5 yard line...
And landed in the END ZONE.

WOWOWOWOWOW. #ChiefsKingdom #PHIvsKC pic.twitter.com/TasZHdfqNS

— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2017

The read-option shovel pass to Kelce is a play that the Chiefs have brought out periodically in the past, and so far this season it’s worked to great effect. Kelce rumbled for a few positive gains after taking shovel passes against the Patriots, and yesterday’s game showed off the full potential of the play.

It’s a fun play to watch because it is the perfect marriage of scheme and personnel. Kelce is a running back in a tight end’s body, and Andy Reid has always shown a willingness to get Kelce the ball in the parts of the field where he’s most dangerous. But it’s not just Kelce’s strength and elusiveness that makes the play deadly, it’s also the quality of the decoys.
The Chiefs run the shovel pass to Kelce out of a variety of formations, but they always involve Tyreek Hill sprinting across the backfield to fake a sweep. The sweep might be a long-shot play for a lot of teams, but Hill is one of the fastest players in the league, and his ability to destroy a defense when he gets in space gives him a remarkable gravitational pull when he’s in motion. Watch this version of the shovel pass play from Week 1 against the Pats, and notice how hard the two Pats defenders on the right side of the formation sell out in order to keep Hill from getting to the edge:



The Chiefs added another wrinkle to the play yesterday, faking a handoff to the left side after using Hill to get the defense leaning to the right side with a fake jet sweep. With the defensive formation stretched in two different directions, the middle of the field was left wide open for Kelce. Look at where cornerback Patrick Robinson (No. 21) and middle linebacker Jordan Hicks (No. 58) are when Kelce receives the ball:



Both guys let Hill move them left, and Nigel Bradham’s (No. 53) momentum is carrying him away from Kelce because he’s following the run fake. To be fair to Hicks, he recognizes the play fairly quickly, and perhaps would have been able to fill the hole and make the tackle if it had been a normal tight end taking the shovel pass. Travis Kelce is not normal, though, and by the time Hicks got back to the middle of the field, Kelce had blown by him:



Conventional NFL wisdom says that defenses will eventually learn to sniff this play out and come up with ways to keep Kelce from rampaging up the middle of the field. But what happens when the Chiefs respond by giving the ball to Hill on the jet sweep and letting him terrorize the edge while the defense keys in on Kelce? And then what happens when Kareem Hunt starts getting that handoff on the opposite side? (He got a toss out of the same formation in Week 1 that went for a touchdown.) There aren’t any easy answers to those questions, which is all the evidence you need that the Chiefs have one of the coolest plays in the NFL in their pocket.

[RunKC]

There are more than 30 of these RPO's and shovel pass concepts Andy can run. You just know there's plays that Andy is saving for when we play elite defenses.

I can't wait to see what else he pulls out of his playbook.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by KranzDictum

Props to Reid finding a way to get the ball to his TE who struggles catching down field.

Not sure why more teams don't run this play though, especially against upfield pass rushers.

Broncos ran it in the 80's and Dallas ran in it the 70's.

Reid had a play last year where he had 3 TE's in the game and then split Ware wide and Ware would stand in the zone vacated by the OLB/DE rushing up field. I would think they would use that more as it seemed to be perfect to slow down a great pass rush.

Reid is a smart play designer. Doesn't seem to like to go downfield on high percentage plays though. Even when you backup was playing in the PS, he didn't take a lot of shots downfield. Everything was a basketball type O geared at the LOS.

Troll post is troll post

[O.city]

It's all about angles and missteps. Creates space.

Look at the top one. You know they'll run that same motion with smith keeping it and optioning the corner and dat

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Just wait until Hill throws a TD to Kelce out of that play...it's coming.

Bullshit touch down. Shouldn't count.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DanT]

I remember the first time I saw a flea flicker. It was in 1976, when the Chiefs used it to get their first victory of the season, in their 5th game, against the Washington Redskins. "The Chiefs' winning score came shortly after John Riggins put the Redskins ahead 30-26 on a six-yard run with 2:50 remaining. The flea-flicker began when Livingston handed off to Woody Green, who gave the ball to Henry Marshall, who lateraled back to Livingston, who threw to Brunson."
http://www.ultimate70s.com/nflbox/19761010/KC/N

It was amazing. The Chiefs ended up going 5 and 5 after losing their first 4 games, and that ended up being only one of 4 losses for the Redskins that year.

I did not realize it until just now that the Chiefs are 8-1 against the Redskins. The only time we lost to them was in 1983, a year the Redskins won the NFC Championship.

[Sandy Vagina]

Originally Posted by O.city

Troll post is troll post

Yep. If Claynus wasn't such a butthurt chump, he'd have responded with that deep sideline Kelce catch early in the game... instead of crying about Smith getting easy TDs.

#with"fans"likethatwhoneedsdivisionrivals

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by KranzDictum

Props to Reid finding a way to get the ball to his TE who struggles catching down field.

Not sure why more teams don't run this play though, especially against upfield pass rushers.

Broncos ran it in the 80's and Dallas ran in it the 70's.

Reid had a play last year where he had 3 TE's in the game and then split Ware wide and Ware would stand in the zone vacated by the OLB/DE rushing up field. I would think they would use that more as it seemed to be perfect to slow down a great pass rush.

Reid is a smart play designer. Doesn't seem to like to go downfield on high percentage plays though. Even when you backup was playing in the PS, he didn't take a lot of shots downfield. Everything was a basketball type O geared at the LOS.

sure thing bud

[ReynardMuldrake]

"Everybody looks right, you go left. It's called the Kansas City Shovel."

[redfan]

Two weeks into the season, the Kansas City Chiefs have the most entertaining offense in the league. They shoved 42 points right into the Patriots’ faces by using a read-option scheme, letting Alex Smith sling it, and deploying rookie running back Kareem Hunt like prime-era LaDainian Tomlinson. Yesterday was more of the same: a 27-20 win over the Eagles that included tight end Travis Kelce catching a shovel pass at the 15-yard line and then leaping into the endzone from the five.

Look pal, I can only get so hard.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Unless it's blocked differently, that won't happen. Smith should be taking a hit on this play, essentially acting as a blocker.

That's exactly what teams are about to start doing.

It ended RGIII's career, pretty much.

I would hate for Smith to not get a chance to continue his comeuppance.

He's earned it IMO.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

That's exactly what teams are about to start doing.

It ended RGIII's career, pretty much.

I would hate for Smith to not get a chance to continue his comeuppance.

He's earned it IMO.

Let em. In today’s nfl, you have to be careful hitting a qb on a play like that. Smith will take some shots, but nothing too major without getting a pf flag.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I also wonder what kind of read Smith is making there.

You have to assume that when Hill is going in motion he's watching the DBs to see if they're giving up man/zone. Is he looking to the LB corps to see if they're showing a run blitz or something as well?

Is that a designed play from the jump or had the Eagles shown differently during the jet motion, does Smith give the handoff to Hill/Hunt or fake the handoff to Hunt and hit Hill wide?

I'm genuinely intrigued as to just how variable that play is. If that's a play that's being changed based on what the defense shows, the D would not only have to guess right, but they'd have to guess early and disguise their coverage/rush scheme to ensure they put themselves into a position to actually make the play. They'd have about 10 seconds to get from A to Z on that whole sequence.

Just a nasty, nasty package the Chiefs have at their disposal there.

*Takes deep breath*

First Alex and Morse will Identify the Mike and call out the protection then Alex will make a read on the defensive alignment and call out a play which identifies the player that will be the key read whose actions after the snap will determine where the ball is going.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Let em. In today’s nfl, you have to be careful hitting a qb on a play like that. Smith will take some shots, but nothing too major without getting a pf flag.

Hmmmmm

You do realize that Alex is yet another threat to run the ball out of that formation?

It's highly probable that he could get Burficted.

[Easy 6]

Great piece, it really underscores not only how talented we now are at the skill positions... but how well the Kool-Aid man is capable of using them

I'll gladly take a few patented Reid brainfarts per game, if he can keep cooking up wizardry like this

Thanks for posting it

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by beach tribe

Hmmmmm

You do realize that Alex is yet another threat to run the ball out of that formation?

It's highly probable that he could get Burficted.

Of course. I literally pointed that out earlier in the thread; he is supposed to occupy a defender on that play.