Reasons for Hope/Reasons for Concern
 

Today's game really highlighted reasons for hope and concern for KC.

Hope:

1. Mahomes. Duh. Who else would be reason #1 for hope? He's the best player in the league and as he matures, he is able to cover his mistakes better and better. Today, he threw three picks, although 2 were off deflections and 1 was an incredible one-handed interception. He took a sack for a 30 yard loss. Yet it never felt like we were out of it. And when Miami only got 10 points off our mistakes, you knew that was going to hurt them.

2. Kelce/Hill. This is the best pass receiving tandem in the league. Having these two with Mahomes means that as long as they are healthy and playing, we are never out of a game.

3. Playcalling/Coaching. Reid and company have done a great job of calling plays and putting our talent into position to win. Andy's time management issues have seemingly diminished when he's had the best quarterback in NFL history.

Concern:

1. O-Line. We saw it the last couple of weeks when we couldn't stuff in someone from the 1 yard line. We see it this week when our run game is anemic at best. I get that there have been injuries, including Mitchel Schwartz who is one of the best, if not the best, RTs in the league. And I expect our O-line to improve upon his return. LDT, while not great, knew the scheme and would have made a difference this year. I get there are reasons, but our O-line is a reason for concern.

2. Running game. This goes along with #1, but our run game is not in the same league as our passing game by a wide margin. We have not had a true threatening running game since Kareem Hunt left. CEH has had flashes of brilliance but he's had other games where he's disappeared. Based on play over this entire season, if we were down receivers or played in horrendous weather and had to rely upon our running game, that is cause for concern. Someone is inevitably going to say, "We beat Buffalo with our running game so you are a moron." We beat Buffalo because Buffalo determined they would not lose to the passing game. So the box was always light against the run. We ran numerous RPOs against Buffalo and given how Buffalo was keeping many defenders deep or ready to defend against the pass, PM went with the run. I admit we beat Buffalo on the ground but a large part of that was Buffalo saying that they were not going to let us beat them in the air.

3. We don't play a whole game. Time and time again I see this team do really well for a portion of a game and seemingly step off the gas. I see Reid call some plays showing that he is not letting off the gas, so it isn't just that Andy gets conservative. Rather, it seems that once we get up by enough points, execution just gets soft. Hardman had a great catch and run today and then fumbles it away. We go up by 18 and then suddenly we see Thompson a lot more. I know that if we have Mahomes, Kelce and Hill we are never out of it. And I know that this game wound up with a score that was closer than the game felt. I just think that playing against playoff-calibre opponents in a one-and-done system, that has the potential to catch us sleeping and then we are finished.

This sweet and sour balance makes for an interesting time watching the Chiefs. I also hope that we address some of these issues (*cough* OL *cough*) in the off season.

Pass protection and pass rush are the two main concerns. We've moved along with our mess of an oline, but if Remmers' injury is serious it's a real concern. And our ability to pressure without blitzing is a problem against good passing teams, it's why the Raiders abused us, they knew our blitzes and exposed them.


We don't need to run the ball against anything other than super light boxes, we just need Andy to stop calling a first down run on every possession once we get a lead.

Concern: Past 2 games we've had a ton of tipped passes on short dump-offs. Good news is, we adjusted. Notice how most of our RB passes in the 2nd quarter on were to the outside. I hope we have a better fix than this, but it's a good temporary fix for now.

The second is red zone offense. We did have a nice short yardage TD. But most of our TDs came again today on long yardage. I still feel like Andy has a few tricks up his sleeve that he's saving for the playoffs. Because we'll probably need some gadget plays on short yardage.

12-1 running it back just enjoy the ride

Bill I’d like to get you on your back

Pass rush and killer instinct are my only concerns and I think those will round into shape at playoff time. They’ve become a little complacent with all the winning so it looks like they’re just going through the motions. Not too worried though about a 12-1 team.

Interesting. 3 sentences of hope. 3 paragraphs of concerns.

Hope - we have the best team in football and the best player in football

Concern - the other team also wants to win and anything can happen in a one game playoff.


All teams have strengths and weaknesses. KC is looking better than these others. Why? Because we've won 21 of 22 games. Who is the last team to do that?

Yeah---I get the "concerns". They just don't really bother me.

And I think CP sometimes forgets that not only is the other team paid and has talent....but we as Champs we get their best shot. Teams are spending significantly more time preparing for us.

And we are 12-1---with a tough schedule.

In the salary cap age, every team is going to have areas of concern---we have our cap money spent in the right places.

Defense is what we wanted--top ten in points allowed and middle of the pack in yardage.

Offense can score from anywhere and is able to shut the door when needed.

Buttkicker appears back on track so special teams is good.

Just gotta run it back.

I am enjoying the hell out of this season.

Hope: These are the types of games the Chiefs would lose over the past few years....think Titans game last year (reg season not playoffs)

Hope: Most every team in the NFL would lose a game like that when they are minus three in TO and their QB throws 3 picks.....

Hope: Teams usually clean up these types of mistakes after a sloppy game like this.....

Hope: This was an 8-4 fringe playoff team with a very solid D.....and even with all the mistakes, were taking them to the woodshed in the 2nd half.

LMAO

Imagine needing to find hope in the defending champs that are sitting at 12-1 with by far the best shot at the bye and HFA.

Never change CP!

It's more than just the record or the stats. The Chiefs look like a better team than any other in the league right now. Even on defense, while they may not get all the gaudy stats of a unit like the Steelers or the Rams, when they're locked in they can play any offense and hold their own most of the time.

If it weren't for the fact that our OL is basically Eric Fisher and a quartet of JAGS. . . If we had the OL from the 2019 playoffs these last 7 or 8 weeks, we'd not only be undefeated, we'd score 45+ on everybody.

Right now we're playing on crutches.

Remember back in 2018, after the putrid D couldn't get a stop in OT of the AFCCG, the Chiefs canned Grandpa Bob.....the talk here was "we only need a D that gets a few stops a game....with our O, that's all we need"....

And here we are....We have a D that's more than capable of getting a few stops, and if our O plays the way they can and mostly do, it's more than sufficient most of the time, and in some instances even better.....

It's incredible to me that the chiefs have won 12 games this season, in spite of the fact that the IOL has been a trainwreck for most of that time, and without Schwartz for the last three weeks. Most teams would basically collapse on offense if you subbed in three 2nd/3rd string guys for 7 weeks or whatever.

ok