Observations at 9-3

[Wallcrawler]

The Chiefs are 9-3 with a cupcake schedule coming up. The Chiefs just got spanked in a playoff atmosphere game where we really wanted the game, did a lot of trash talking, and lost the football game, and now we have some subpar teams to get the bullshit worked out before shit gets real.

1. Harrison Butker right now is not that clutch guy that you can rely on. Arguably, he never has been. 13 seconds doesn't happen if the guy doesn't leave 4 points on the field in the first place, and we were just very fortunate he made good on the 49 yarder to tie. Andy is going to have to understand when it's better to just put the ball in 15s hands, and let the chips fall where they may. Watching this dude kick in big moments this year is giving me serious 90s vibes.

2. Justin Reid should never open his mouth about an opponent again. What an embarrassment.

3. If this is the effort we are going to get from Chris Jones and the d line against the NFL playoff teams, then we're in some deep shit right now. The leagues most sacked qb, and we can't lay a finger on him. In the biggest games, 95 disappears entirely.

4. Seminars should be held for the o line on knowing where the line of scrimmage is at all times, and keeping your ass within one yard. Countless HUGE plays taken off the board this season by this ineligible downfield idiocy. It's basic football.

5. Gotta stop blaming the refs for everything. The Chiefs are one of the least penalized teams in football, and screeching for penalties on the opposition every play is just blood belching vagina league. If we need the refs to help us get stops, then we aren't playing well enough to win. Period. The interception only happened because of the PI. The big first down got called back because Allegretti and Wylie didn't know their assholes from their elbows.

6. The redzone is not the place for experimentation. Second time in as many weeks we see Andy waste a down on some hare brained stupid bullshit that goes utterly nowhere. Redzone is serious business, not ****ing mad scientist playtime. If your play design has Mahomes lined up at wide receiver, please delete this formation, because you are a dumbass.

7. Steve Spagnuolo needs to get the NFL rulebook and read the part in there where running backs can legally catch the ball. Nobody gives up more passing yards to backs than Steve Spagnuolo.

8. Steve Spagnuolo needs to commit to stopping the oppositions best player. Not come out in base sets and allow Chase to line up against whoever he wants. At no time should this guy have been singled up, but we played this guy as if he were just another offensive player.

9. Kelce is a beast. But hero ball right there wasn't needed. We had a huge gain, the first down, just get down. Don't plow into 3 guys like you're on the goal line and keep chugging to eliminate forward progress saving you as you get held up and stripped. We weren't anywhere near that type of desperation big dog.

10. In games that come down to the wire like this every situation has to be handled correctly. Lot of situational football scenarios, the coaches and players simply had the wrong answer. That's how you lose football games.


As I said near the end of the game, this is the best thing for them. A game that's gonna hurt, and leave a bad taste, and motivate the coaches and players to get out of this sleepwalking mode they've been in.

One seed is gone, you've been spanked a third time by the team that beat your ass twice and stole a superbowl trip from you in your own house.

It's a reality check that says "Hey, assholes. You're not as good as you ****ing think you are. Hold this hot, flaming L."

In a perfect world, this is the herd of Clydesdales pulling the collective heads out of the asses of the Kansas City Chiefs that will ignite a new work ethic, leading to a new winning streak rolling into the playoffs and culminating in a superbowl win.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by TEX

All of this is correct. KC will not beat Cin as long as they can't get to Burrow. Nothing has changed since last season in that regard. Meanwhile, Cin can seemingly get to Mahomes with ease. KC will not beat Cin as long as that is the case. Nothing has changed since last last season in that regard. Cin beating KC is no fluke. It's a thing now and there are consistent reasons for that.

The "good" thing is the reasons are identifiable. If KC wants to win another Super Bowl, they need to find a way to fix them. Otherwise, the results are not going to change.

Unlikely to see the type of changes required, at least not anytime soon. Reid, Veach, & Spags have not shown an ability to find pass rushers in the market. The Frank Clark deal is evidence of their inability to figure out this aspect of the roster. Maybe they can find a DC with better instincts on this stuff to help them find better players in the market, but what are the odds of Reid dumping Spags?

[TEX]

KC looks the part of a team that will lose in the Divisional round of the playoffs. They'll beat the bad playoff teams, with no QB. But when matched up against a team with a good QB, that's where they'll lose. The defense is still bad. No pass rush with the down 4 will kill them. Just my opinion..

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by TEX

KC looks the part of a team that will lose in the Divisional round of the playoffs. They'll beat the bad playoff teams, with no QB. But when matched up against a team with a good QB, that's where they'll lose. The defense is still bad. No pass rush with the down 4 will kill them. Just my opinion..

I think we can beat anyone, including the Bengals and Bills, IF our offense is humming as well as the SF game and the play-calling is on-point. It's harder to see us beating 2 teams like that back-to-back and then a team like Philly or SF when they're fit. It's just a lot of perfect execution and "game of their lives" type stuff from some of our weaker links, and a lot of shootouts. Possible but I'd say not probable.

[Abba-Dabba]

Spags will have his ball gobblers come out in force to defend him. Conversely though, if the offense had an en equal body of work they would be calling for OC head. Oh wait, they already do that when the offense is better prepared, execute better and have better results week in and week out.

Until Spags is gone we will always have trouble beating teams with a great downfield passing games like the Bills and Bengals. The exact teams we will face deep in the playoffs. Unless Andy gets a hold of his guy by the throat, I would expect more of the same of this defense to not be able to hold a lead when push comes to shove.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by RubberSponge

Spags will have his ball gobblers come out in force to defend him. Conversely though, if the offense had an en equal body of work they would be calling for OC head. Oh wait, they already do that when the offense is better prepared, execute better and have better results week in and week out.

Until Spags is gone we will always have trouble beating teams with a great downfield passing games like the Bills and Bengals. The exact teams we will face deep in the playoffs. Unless Andy gets a hold of his guy by the throat, I would expect more of the same of this defense to not be able to hold a lead when push comes to shove.

People have been saying the same thing about Sean McDermott. We are getting a taste of what mahomes does to defenses that are way higher rated than we are. They just find ways to win. So far in the playoffs I’m not pinning any of those losses to spags. In fact apart from the buffalo game we won, the defense has been more than adequate. It’s been our offense that let us down in Cincinnati and Tampa. It was the defense that largely kept us in the game for the Super Bowl.

Last year we followed a defensive disaster in cincy up with a more than good enough defensive performance to win in the playoffs. We gifted them a td with an offensive interception. Then we intercepted burrow and made nothing of it. We even won the OT coin toss and didn’t score.

[crayzkirk]

Coaches coach and player play. At the end of the day, it's up to the players to make the plays on the field. The Bengals coached their players to take advantage of the Chiefs tendencies and weaknesses. There seems to be a little of that Belichick in the Bengals coaching staff; they seem better able to put their players in position to succeed. Too many times, it looks like the defense is playing a scheme instead of the strength of the players.

The price of success means not drafting early enough to get the star players. The Bengals have drafted consistently at the top of rounds for years, their average players are better than the Chiefs average players and their skill players, outside of QB and TE, are also better.

Their coaching staff seems to know how to put their players in positions where they fit instead of forcing them into a scheme.

[Chris Meck]

The results are the results, but there's a ton of hyperbole and misguided rage in this post.

[Kman34]

The game was lost on the Kelce fumble.. Shit happens.. I for one will only be happy if we do play these ****ers again in the playoffs… Sending them home would make me so happy..

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

The results are the results, but there's a ton of hyperbole and misguided rage in this post.

While we did score the TD on a 4th down scramble by Mohomes, I do agree with the OP on having Mahomes playing WR on 2nd and goal.

We have the best QB in football. And a RB in Pacheco who is asserting himself to be legit.

Instead of cute crap at the goal line, play action could now be a solid part of the equation inside the 5. Having a RB who can bang it in from the 3 might just be the ticket to getting receivers open down there without having to go to the bag of tricks it took in the past to score. Everybody seems to be on to that now, and the success rate of those plays is plummeting as a result.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by TEX

KC looks the part of a team that will lose in the Divisional round of the playoffs. They'll beat the bad playoff teams, with no QB. But when matched up against a team with a good QB, that's where they'll lose. The defense is still bad. No pass rush with the down 4 will kill them. Just my opinion..

We look like the Green Bay Packers a few years ago.

Top seed that prays they don't draw the 49ers.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Coogs

While we did score the TD on a 4th down scramble by Mohomes, I do agree with the OP on having Mahomes playing WR on 2nd and goal.

We have the best QB in football. And a RB in Pacheco who is asserting himself to be legit.

Instead of cute crap at the goal line, play action could now be a solid part of the equation inside the 5. Having a RB who can bang it in from the 3 might just be the ticket to getting receivers open down there without having to go to the bag of tricks it took in the past to score. Everybody seems to be on to that now, and the success rate of those plays is plummeting as a result.

I agree.

I think having Thuney out, and Wylie and Alegretti in gave Andy pause.

[Lzen]

It's funny the people that say we got spanked by saying the Bengals should have scored more. Well, the Chiefs missed a FG and Kelce fumbled. That's possibly 10 more points.

I agree with a lot of what the thread header says but let's try to be rational.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

Coaches coach and player play. At the end of the day, it's up to the players to make the plays on the field. The Bengals coached their players to take advantage of the Chiefs tendencies and weaknesses. There seems to be a little of that Belichick in the Bengals coaching staff; they seem better able to put their players in position to succeed. Too many times, it looks like the defense is playing a scheme instead of the strength of the players.

The price of success means not drafting early enough to get the star players. The Bengals have drafted consistently at the top of rounds for years, their average players are better than the Chiefs average players and their skill players, outside of QB and TE, are also better.

Their coaching staff seems to know how to put their players in positions where they fit instead of forcing them into a scheme.

I think you nailed it with the tendencies. When KC got down by the goal line, and ran the ball on first down, the next two plays the Bengals showed a base D front and then dropped everybody back into coverage. They knew that Kansas City was going to pass near the goal line. I was screaming at the TV to just run it three times and they would score, but instead, they played right into the Bengals hands and ran two two pass plays, got stopped, and had to settle for a short FG. A TD there and a successful point after would have netted four more points....

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Coogs

While we did score the TD on a 4th down scramble by Mohomes, I do agree with the OP on having Mahomes playing WR on 2nd and goal.

We have the best QB in football. And a RB in Pacheco who is asserting himself to be legit.

Instead of cute crap at the goal line, play action could now be a solid part of the equation inside the 5. Having a RB who can bang it in from the 3 might just be the ticket to getting receivers open down there without having to go to the bag of tricks it took in the past to score. Everybody seems to be on to that now, and the success rate of those plays is plummeting as a result.

I’ll say the uncomfortable thing… but if we can get Melvin Gordon to two hands the ball like his life depended on it he’s a short yardage option we really really need. We all know it because our running in a td on 3rd and 4 was such a surprise even though other teams run on this down and distance routinely. We have to claw our way through every third and short and that’s not a good spot to be. Love Pacheco and McKinnon but I haven’t seen them be consistent options here.

[RunKC]

CP just bleeds everywhere when we lose. It’s hillarious