It’s been two straight weeks that Doug Pederson and the Kansas City Chiefs faced some adversity. He didn’t hit it out of the park like he had the week prior, but it was still a solid performance by Big Red’s protege.

Alex Smith tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Jeremy Maclin and the Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 34-20 in Week 13 to win their sixth straight game.

Prior to his introductory press conference in January there were reports saying that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid allowed Pederson to call plays, but nobody knew how often. During the presser, Pederson explained how much latitude he was granted.

His answer may have raised a few eyebrows.

“I was able to call plays since the Pittsburgh game on,” he said. “Coach Reid and I had a great understanding and great feel for the game. He allowed me to call the second half of every football game from that game on.” That Steelers game was the start of Kansas City’s stunning turnaround in 2015. The Chiefs were in the midst of a five-game losing streak and 1-5 heading into that Week 7 contest, but their 23-13 triumph was the beginning of their 10-game winning streak to close the regular season. The victory over the Raiders moved Kansas City to 7-5. The Chiefs held a lead at the break in nine of the 12 games Pederson called plays and six were by 10-or-more points, so he was usually put in positive circumstances. Week 13 was the second of three instances that Kansas City trailed heading into the locker room while Pederson was in charge of the play calling. In the games I’ve covered so far that Pederson had a lead at the break, Kansas City held advantages of six, 21, 19 and nine points. Pederson’s Chiefs trailed by two in Week 12 to the Buffalo Bills in a tightly-contested matchup with playoff implications and Pederson found Kansas City trailing by seven in this one. Let’s go possession by possession. How the grading works: To put it simply a (+) is a win for the offense, a (-) is a win for the defense and a (/) is a tie. For example, if a team has a 1st and 10 and the offense picks up five-or-more yards it’s a win for them. It’s a victory for the defense if they hold the offense to three yards or fewer. A four-yard gain is a tie. An offensive touchdown results into (+++), but a turnover forced by the defense gets (- – -). A field goal is (++) and a safety (- -). (++)- Offense gains 15-29 yards past the original line of scrimmage. If the offense commits a holding penalty and they pick up 15 yards on a 1st and 20, the offense gets just one (+) instead of two. (+++)- 30-49 yards (++++)- 50-74 yards (+++++)- 75-or-more yards Other notes: A 75-yard TD gets (++++++++) and any pick-six/fumble recovery for a score results into (- – – – – – – -). Another example, if the defense forces a turnover and returns it for 50 yards, they will receive (- – – – – – -). If the defense forces a three-and-out they get a bonus of (- -). KC 1st drive of second half: 15:00 left in the third quarter, ball at own 20 trailing 14-7 1+10 (20)- 11 personnel- Charcandrick West picks up 18 yards off left tackle on a zone read play (++)

1+10 (38)- 11 personnel- Khalil Mack and Dan Williams sack Smith for a loss of three yards (-)

2+13 (35)- 11 personnel- Albert Wilson gains 17 yards on a stop route (++)

1+10 (47)- 21 personnel- West left guard two yards (-)

2+8 (45)- 12 personnel- Swing pass West for two yards (-)

3+6 (43)- 10 personnel- Travis Kelce beats Malcolm Smith with an inside move and picks up 26 yards on the reception (++)

1+10 (18)- 21 personnel- Spencer Ware right guard one yard (-)

2+9 (17)- 03 personnel- False start

2+14 (22)- 11 personnel- Maclin quick slant 12 yards (+)

3+2 (10)- 11 personnel- Ware left guard 10-yard touchdown (+++)

10-4 KC on drive

A. Smith read the defensive end Mario Edwards on the 18-yard first down run and he didn’t collapse down to stop West, so A. Smith put the ball in West’s belly and he scampered for 18 yards. Left tackle Eric Fisher completely washed defensive tackle Denico Autry out of the play, which opened up a huge hole for West.

This is one of the few instances I can remember Pederson calling a zone read run. With the sneaky mobility of Smith, you’d think he’d go to it a little bit more often.

Matched one on one against the overmatched right tackle Jah Reid, Mack bullied him with a bull rush and forced A. Smith to step up in the pocket. Mack, who had 1 1/2 sacks in the first half, was credited with half of one here along with Dan Williams. Pederson had his struggles trying to figure out how to limit Von Miller a few games ago and Mack is another exceptional pass rusher. He’s also been lining up on both the left and right sides. This will be something to keep an eye on as the game progresses.

A play later, some shoddy tackling by the Oakland secondary allowed the Chiefs to move the chains. Wilson ran a simple five-yard stop route and broke tackles from cornerback David Amerson and safety Travis Carrie along the right sideline. Pederson also used Charcandrick West to chip Mack and help the left tackle Fisher.

Lined up in the slot right after motioning there on 3rd-and-6, Kelce beat linebacker M. Smith with a quick inside move off the line of scrimmage, hauled in the reception over the middle and rumbled for 26 yards. Kansas City lucked out because Mack lined up as a nose tackle and from an upright position he beat center Mitch Morse. A. Smith got the ball out very quickly, however, and Mack was unable to get to him in time.

Smith was called for a false start on the 2nd-and-9 and it was a shame because the Chiefs lined up in a unique personnel package and I was curious to see what they were about to run. Ware motioned out as a receiver, which left Smith in an empty set with two wideouts, one being a running back, and three tight ends — two lined up to the right side of the offensive line and one to the left.

Kansas City screwed up the timing of the jet sweep fake with Wilson when he motioned from left to right, but Ware scored from 10 yards out anyway. Left guard Donald Stephenson paved the way for Ware with a nice seal block, but it was safety Nate Allen’s missed tackle which allowed Ware to hit paydirt.

What a jam-packed drive! This is by far the most words I’ve used to describe a possession since I started this series. This is also becoming a trend with Pederson and the Chiefs scoring on their initial second half touches.

KC 2nd drive of second half: 2:12 left in the third quarter, ball at own 20 trailing 20-14

1+10 (20)- 12 personnel- West loses five yards on a run off right tackle (-)

2+15 (15)- 20 personnel- West dump-off two yards (-)

3+13 (17)- 20 personnel- West loses three yards on a screen (-)

5-0 Oakland on the drive, 10-9 KC in 2nd half

Oakland answered Kansas City’s touchdown with one of their own, using a slow and methodical drive to do it. Sebastian Janikowski missed the extra point, though.

Let’s appreciate the greatness of Mack, who was in on every defensive play in this three-and-out series. First, he fights through a double team off the right edge to help out M. Smith converge on West for a loss of five. He then beats Fisher with an inside move, which flushes A. Smith to his right and into the arms of Autry, who had Smith in his grasp before he tossed it over to his check down. On third down, he took down Ware for a loss of four yards when he sniffed out a screen.

Wow!

KC 3rd drive of second half: 11:58 left in the fourth quarter, ball at Oak 2 trailing 20-14

1+GL (2)- 23 personnel- Ware left guard no gain (/)

2+GL (2)- 00 personnel- Maclin one-yard touchdown on a wide receiver screen (+++)

3-0 KC on the drive, 13-9 KC in the second half

The Chiefs capitalized on Derek Carr’s youth on Oakland’s next possession. The young signal-caller hung onto the ball too long, was hit from behind by Dee Ford and Josh Mauga returned the interception 66 yards to the two.

On the one-yard score to Maclin, the Chiefs were initially in 23 personnel, but shifted to an empty set with A. Smith under center. Two receivers lined up to the left and three were bunched to the right. A. Smith flipped the wide receiver screen to Maclin along the right side and he waltzed in for the touchdown.

Maybe I’m just more traditional, but this is the type of overthinking play calling that I’m not a fan of. It wound up working, but I’d prefer to line up in 23 personnel and pound the ball into the end zone with either your running back, fullback or sneak by the quarterback. With that being said, I have noticed that Pederson does call less pass plays on the 3rd-and-shorts and around the goal line than Big Red does. Unbelievably, Kansas City also missed its extra point.

KC 4th drive of second half: 8:08 left in the fourth quarter, ball at Oak 13 tied 20-20

1+10 (13)- 11 personnel- Screen pass incomplete (-)

2+10 (13)- 11 personnel- Maclin 13-yard touchdown on wide receiver screen (+++)

3-0 KC on drive, 16-9 KC in second half

Kansas City’s defense was back at it again when Oakland’s offense took the field on its ensuing drive. Carr’s intended receiver Michael Crabtree fell down, leading to an easy interception by cornerback Marcus Peters, who returned the pick 58 yards to the Oakland 13.

Check out the blocks by Wilson and Jason Avant on the wide receiver screen to Maclin.

KC 4th drive of second half: 8:08 left in the fourth quarter, ball at Oak 13 Chiefs leading 26-20

1+10 (39)- 21 personnel- West left guard two yards (-)

2+8 (41)- 11 personnel- Quick slant incomplete to Wilson (-)

3+8 (41)- 20 personnel- Maclin deep stop route incomplete (-)

5-0 Oak on drive, 16-14 KC in second half

Janikowski banged his 49-yard field goal attempt off the left upright on the Raiders’ next possession.

Faced with a 3rd-and-8, Pederson didn’t mess around with blocking Mack, double-teaming him with the right tackle J. Reid and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tarnif. Maclin got tangled up with Amerson on a deep stop route and the pass fell incomplete.

KC 5th drive of second half: 8:08 left in the fourth quarter, Chiefs leading 32-20

2-pt conversion- 11 personnel- Kelce hauls in the left seam route for two points (++)

2-0 KC on drive, 18-14 KC in second half

Former Raiders safety Tyvon Branch’s 38-yard pick six sealed the outcome.

KC 6th drive of second half: 1:18 left in the fourth quarter, ball at Oak 31 Chiefs leading 34-20

1+10 (31)- 23 personnel- Ware right guard three yards

2+7 (28)- kneel

The Chiefs are just running out the clock here, no need to grade with the outcome decided.

Overall Thoughts:

It’s becoming a bit of a trend for Pederson to start the second half with a touchdown. It’s the third time he’s done it in the six games I’ve covered, including doing so in consecutive weeks.

I also thought Pederson was alright in handling Mack, albeit not great. Pederson struggled containing Miller a few games ago, but the difference between Mack is that he lined up all over the place. Miller primarily lined up on the left side as the 3-4 outside linebacker and on occasion rushed from the right side as well. Mack not only flip-flopped on seemingly every play, he also lined up as a 4-3 defensive tackle and even a nose tackle from an upright position. This makes it more difficult for Pederson to keep him at bay.

Pederson only had three true possessions because of the interceptions and besides the touchdown, he recorded a pair of three-and-outs. He was, however, able to finish two drives following the turnovers.

I’m going to give Pederson a B for the opening march of the second half and punctuating two drives with scores following the two turnovers. The pair of three-and-outs prevents him from getting an A. Still a solid outing I thought.

STEELERS WEEK 7 GAME GRADE: B

LIONS WEEK 8 GAME GRADE: N/A

WEEK 9: BYE

BRONCOS WEEK 10 GAME GRADE: C-

CHARGERS WEEK 11 GAME GRADE: D+

BILLS WEEK 12 GRADE: A