Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey (12.12.24)
If David’s (Njoku) not able to go this week, I know he’s dealing with that hamstring, how do you adjust, especially when he’s been getting so many targets recently?
“Yeah, I mean, obviously Dave’s a big part of what we do, but I think we got a lot of faith in that room and guys step up and that’s part of this league and part of what you have to go through throughout the course of the league. If there’s a problem with somebody and they can’t go, then somebody has to step up. And obviously it’s a by-committee approach when it’s somebody like Dave who does so many different things and that’s okay. And then we’ve got guys who can fill those roles and do different things and be able to block and get out and run routes and whatnot. So, we’ll kind of see how the week goes here and continue to plan. But I think that’s part of the nature of the league is just guys need to step up and be ready to go.”
What are the challenges of calling a game against (Patrick) Mahomes? Especially a close game and giving him time with the ball. When do you start thinking about that in a close game?
“No, it’s a great question and been in this position before against Kansas City a couple years ago and we went down, had a two-minute drive and were able to go up, and they had some time left and fortunately on that one we were able to hold them. Obviously, they’ve got a great team, a great offense and one of a lot of close games. It’s definitely a balancing act to where you don’t want to be detrimental to what you’re doing on offense to where you’re not doing something where you can’t go out and execute or you put yourself in a bad situation because you’re trying to conserve or run down the clock. So, keeping the main thing, the main thing is we got to go out and score points and if you’re in those situations, then obviously you take those things into account. But at the same time, you got to be able to go out and score and go up to give your defense that chance to then stop him.”
How do you try coaching up Jameis (Winston) with the picks versus not taking the ball out of his hands in those situations?
“I mean, the thing I respect about Jameis is that you know who he is, and you know that he’s going to go out and hey, if something bad happens, he’s not going to go in a shell, which is what you want from your quarterback. You want your quarterback to still be able to go out and have the confidence to keep firing and keep playing and play confident. I think you’ve seen that from him. That being said, obviously, our main objective is to play smart, not conservative in the quarterback room and protect the football. And so, we’re going to constantly coach that and preach it and make sure we’re doing the right things in that regard to continue to improve there, because we need to. And I think Jameis knows that and us as an offense, we know that because it takes everybody. It’s not just Jameis, it’s not just one thing, there’s an execution piece with all 11 involved in those scenarios. ”
I know they’re not high in the league in sacks, but pressure wise, is this going to be one of the more aggressive defenses that you face in terms of pressure?
“Yeah, I mean, obviously they do a great job creating pressures, whether it’s through blitzing or through getting elite players matched up one-on-one. And obviously they’ve got some really good players on their side. Obviously, Chris Jones is an elite player on the inside who moves around, and they do a good job trying to create matchups for him. So, those are all things that make it tough. You got to be on top of it in terms of picking things up, and protecting, and the quarterback having a good time clocking his head and being decisive with it, and guys going and getting open. Because those presser packages, they give you different looks and I’m sure they’ll have un-scouted things that they haven’t shown, and you got to have base rules that will hold up and be able to protect those things because they are aggressive, and they do a good job with it.”
The Chiefs run defense; they’re third in the league in stopping the run. So how do you game plan in the sense of knowing that they excel in stopping the run but still being able to use the run and the pass game?
“Yeah, I mean, we got to be able to do both. We got to be able to run the football and we got to be able to throw it and protect and I mean, that’s the key. You do want to stay balanced, and some games take on a life of their own where you’re throwing it more than you’re running, or you’re running more than you’re throwing it. But you want to make sure to constantly give yourself that ability to stay balanced and play in the green, play in positive scenarios and be able to use the sticks to your advantage. So, we got to be able to do that, both run and pass, and be efficient on first and second down, which is going to help you on third down and then hopefully skip some of those third downs. So, whether it’s running the ball or throwing the ball, obviously they do a good job. They’ve got a tough front to run against and then they do a good job with getting in your face and disrupting the pass game. So, execution is definitely at a premium and that’s through knowing what to do, how to do it with great technique.”
I know there’s reasons why you’ve thrown it as much as you have as a team this year, but a couple of the linemen were saying, ‘Hey, when you throw as much as we have, it’s hard to get better in the run game when you only run it at whatever percentage of the time.’ Do you think that’s been a factor in why the run game hasn’t been as successful just because you haven’t done it as much?
“Yeah, it’s a good question. I think obviously there’s times where I think there’s multiple, — again, it takes all 11 guys. It takes the execution piece of it. I thought this past game, guys got in a good rhythm and were able to create some holes and do some really good things in the run game. So, I think there’s a balance there that you got to be able to strike and still be efficient running the ball while being able to throw it. And so, I think there’s always going to be that balance and tying together with some of the run game with the play action game and keeper game and all that stuff. But I do think that you work on it, and you stress it, and you’ve got to be able to execute at a high level each game because each game does take on a life of its own whether it is running the ball or throwing it. So, you always want to let those guys get in a rhythm and come off the ball and the more we could do that coming down the stretch here, I think the better off we’ll because we do good group up front who could do some really good things in the run game. Just continue to give them those opportunities and continue and try to stay as balanced as possible.”
The other night, I saw Joe Burrow throw the ball 17 times to Ja’Marr Chase. So how do you explain throwing to (Jerry) Jeudy only twice in the first half of the Pittsburgh (Steelers) game when he’s the hottest receiver in the league?
“Yeah, I mean, again, I think there’s a balance you got to strike there. Obviously, J.J. (Jerry Jeudy) is a big part of what we do, and we want to try to keep him involved as much as possible because we know how valuable he is to us as an offense and as a team. So, I think there’s always multiple factors there, whether it’s play calling, whether it’s what the defense is doing. There are factors there in terms of him only having the two targets. It’s something we’ll always look at to make sure we’re keeping him involved and at the same time forcing a defense to have to cover multiple targets.”
After Sunday’s game, did you see the stat at the halftime and did you say, “How did that happen? Let’s change that.”?
“Yeah, I mean, look, Jerry’s an important part of what we do, so we always want to make sure that he’s going to be involved. And again, I think there’s multiple reasons on why those things happen. And look, the more you’re on the field and the more you could have extended drives, the more opportunities J.J. is going to get, the more opportunities we’ll get in the run game. The key is just continue to stay on the field, have sustained drives, and guys are going to have more opportunities, whether it’s running the ball or throwing the ball. ”
When you go into a game, do you sort of anticipate trying to be as balanced as possible with the run and the pass? Or is it more like you would say at this point passing the ball is more your strength so you probably cater a little bit more towards that?
“I think you definitely go into it thinking — I always go into it saying, I want to be balanced. I don’t go into games saying I want to throw it 60 times. I always want to be able to attack in multiple different ways and I think that’s when you know you’re at your best. Even in games where you are throwing it more, you can’t throw it every down. You still got to run the ball. You still got to do those things. Look, I’m a proponent as anybody as being able to run the football and I want to be able to do that as much as possible. So, I don’t want to go into a game and just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to throw it every time,’ or anything like that. I want to go into each game saying, ‘Look, we’re going to attack with balance and when we have to pivot and we’re going to run the ball a little bit more, then we’re going to run the ball a little bit more.’ Like this past game, if we’re going to throw the ball a little bit more, then we’re going to throw the ball a little bit more based off of what we’re getting. But I always want to try to stay as balanced as possible to one, help those guys up out front because they do a good job. They work their tails off, they’ve done a great job in protection and in a lot of ways you want to give them those opportunities to come off the football, and I want to be able to give that to those guys. So, want to stay balanced as possible and when we have to pivot, then you got to pivot and adjust as the game goes.”
When you have a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, is Patrick so talented that he can be this good with whoever he’s paired with? Or is the Patrick-Andy (Reid) thing just so right? And if so, what have you learned from watching these two guys over the years?
“Yeah, it’s a good question. I mean, I wish I could give you answer. Obviously just haven’t been as focused on their side of the ball as much. Obviously, you do offseason studies and he’s a great coach and he’s a great player and they do a good job mixing it up and doing different things and continue to evolve as an offense. So, we are hands full defensively with them on the defensive side of the ball. So, haven’t been able to focus too much on the offensive side, but I just know obviously they got a good thing going over there on offense.”
Jameis said on that second interception, after the game, that he made a perfect throw. What did you see on that play? And was it a good throw or was there an issue with the route run by Elijah (Moore) there?
“No, I think that’s one of those where you’re in a situation where you’re trying to come back. You’re in the situation were in and we’re trying to get the ball downfield, and they got some depth right there, and it forced him to have to put it over the top. And so, you know, credit to them, they’ll make some good plays sometimes. Even when you make a good throw and a guy is in the spot, sometimes the defense is going to make a play. And so, we’ll constantly look at and evaluate those things and make sure that we’re doing the right things. But I think that’s a balancing act you got to have when you’re in those situations of seeing, ‘Hey, how much time do I have and do I have time to continue to be patient and continue to take the underneath, or do I need to push the ball downfield?’ So those are always things we’re going to evaluate and make sure that we’re educating our guys based off of situational football, which is huge.”