Chiefs run some excellent 4x1 concepts. They are very efficient in this area and have been for years under Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy.
What this means is they flood zones with 4 wide receivers often and have a few route concepts they run with it. This article looks at their post wheel series.
Post Wheel 4 man concept is one of their staple 4 man routes!
The first is when they run post wheel with the 2 outside guys and tag the inside route. They have a few different concepts which they like with the post wheel and they are below.
Sail
Mesh
Stick
RB Seam
Dover
Shallow
Shallow Sit
Sail Route
The Chief will run the sail route as discussed.
They read the flat defender for the wheel to the Sail and if not open will check it to the RB.
They get 2 man coverage. The. wheel is covered so Kelce has plenty of room to operate. Good route and execution as he’s open.
Kelce wins the 1x1 matchup in 2 man.
Mesh with Post Wheel
This is another excellent route concept that you will see from the 4x1 concept.
They have the #2 wr run a wheel and run mesh with the #3 TE and the #1 wr weak. If zone read the curl defender (wheel to mesh. RB is the check down.
Kelce sets a great pick as they see it’s man coverage. The WR becomes wide open.
Nice job with. the concept and excellent design by Reid and staff.
Great job on the mesh route
vs the Dolphins in the 23 wild card game.
Stick with the Post Wheel
Another route concept that stretches the OLB/curl defender and puts a defender in a bind underneath.
The hook defender is in limbo and it open up the TE.
23 playoffs vs Dolphins
RB Seem or Angle Route
The last route we will cover is the RB seem or angle route with the Post wheel. They have the post wheel concept with the RB down the seem. They will often run it with the jet action to freeze the curl/flat defender.
QB Read
1 Wheel
2 Seem
3 check down in the flat.
Nice route combo with the stretch vertically followed by the seem.
wheel is coming open vs cover 4 as well as the seem but Mahomes takes the check down.
Seem is open and the wheel but Mahomes takes the check down for good yardage.
Good play and excellent design.
Dover or Y cross
Most teams will run this out of 2x2 or 3x1 with the TE coming across.
Here its 2x2
The defense handles things vertically, and they hit the rb underneath.
Nice design and they take the under for a 15 yard gain.
Shallow
They combine the shallow with the OTB off the wheel. Have the shallow vs man and the OTB vs zone. Easy read for the qb.
Some other Concepts
Snag Route:
The Chiefs will run a variation of snake out of 3x1 and do an excellent job with the concept.
They run it 2 ways
Chiefs 3x1 spot/snag route concept
They run snag routes with #1 and #2, the RB still goes to the flat and the #3 WR runs the Corner. They did this a ton with Mahomes his rookie year because it’s an easy read for a young QB.
The key to their successs is they have a good man beater on the single side. You will often see them run some type of man route to the single side with Kelce or their #1 wr.
Here’s a few examples of the Chiefs play which becomes a 4 man flood concept. You can motion the RB out as well and run him down the sideline, further stretching the D.
Lastly, use the RB in the snag route like below. They run it from bunch and the RB runs the snag route with the TE releasing to the flat
A few clips of the concept below
Sail Route Flood Concept with a backside dig.
Here is the clip with the play.
Shallow Sit
2 examples of the Shallow Sit are below.
The Chiefs run the Shallow sit concept. It’s a good play in the red zone combined with the post wheel. Kelce is looking to sit with an otb. This opens up the shallow the other way.
I hope you enjoyed this post on the Chiefs offense and their post wheel series!
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