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 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.

The “what if” game can be played both directions, but it certainly looked like the Bengals were having an easier time moving the ball. No pressure on the QB, wide open receivers, poor tackling, etc. The Kelce fumble kind of sums it up. Even on a play that seemed positive for KC, the Bengal defenders were physical and found a way to rip the ball out.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by DRM08

The “what if” game can be played both directions, but it certainly looked like the Bengals were having an easier time moving the ball. No pressure on the QB, wide open receivers, poor tackling, etc. The Kelce fumble kind of sums it up. Even on a play that seemed positive for KC, the Bengal defenders were physical and found a way to rip the ball out.

They key in your post is: No pressure.

They doubled Jones and nobody else could win 1 on 1.

[farmerchief]

Originally Posted by 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..

Yep, when in these type of games, the teams with the most turnovers normally lose. I believe that was the only turnover by both teams, unfortunatly the Chiefs had it. Sure, there were a lot of play calls that I questioned, but overall, when you play good teams, you've got to play mistake free football. It is what it is, on to the next opponent.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by 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..

This guy gets it.

[KC_Lee]

The most concerning thing for me; we have gone 1 - 2 against teams we will likely face in the playoffs, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Tennessee. That ain't good math for a playoff run.

[TwistedChief]

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..

Counterpoint: you thought the Chiefs would lose 7 games this year during the regular season with a middling offense so have been down on and wrong about them all year long.

[mr. tegu]

The defense gets unfairly punished when the offense fails. The defense wasn’t great but they made just enough plays to put the team in position to win and the offense failed. Now the offense does bail out the defense plenty but the dirty little secret is that in the majority of games we lose the offense has the lions share of responsibility. I put our last four losses much more on the offense than the defense and that is a big problem given Reid is an offensively focused coach.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

The defense gets unfairly punished when the offense fails. The defense wasn’t great but they made just enough plays to put the team in position to win and the offense failed. Now the offense does bail out the defense plenty but the dirty little secret is that in the majority of games we lose the offense has the lions share of responsibility. I put our last four losses much more on the offense than the defense and that is a big problem given Reid is an offensively focused coach.

I think we can put this one on the defense although I mostly agree the offense deserves plenty of blame. But it’s hard to put our two recent playoff exits on the defense. Our offense clearly lost us the Super Bowl. And our defense was actually pretty solid against cincy in the last playoffs. Until we see differently the D has done more than enough in crucial playoff games.

[Wallcrawler]

In general, if you can't get to the qb, your team will have a hard time winning against ANY qb, let alone a good one.

When your d coordinator sends pressure, but puts nobody on the safety valve back at such a rate that your defense surrenders the most yards to backs out if the backfield in football, you have to question wtf he's doing, oh and again, you're gonna have a hard time winning.

It's games like these, where ONE mistake by the offense costs you the game that you just can't have from the defense. We're bottom of the league in takeaways, our special teams are shaky as ****, and we have to rely on the offense to be spectacular with revolving doors at tackle.

Its a tough ask, and definitely ice skating uphill when it comes to playoff teams.

Only the stupidity of the Bengals on the part of their coach and wide open receiver that dropped the td kept that game anywhere close to watchable.

Cue the rigged WWE reeruns.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

The defense gets unfairly punished when the offense fails. The defense wasn’t great but they made just enough plays to put the team in position to win and the offense failed. Now the offense does bail out the defense plenty but the dirty little secret is that in the majority of games we lose the offense has the lions share of responsibility. I put our last four losses much more on the offense than the defense and that is a big problem given Reid is an offensively focused coach.

The offense was fine yesterday. They needed more possessions.

[chiefzilla1501]

It’s always losses like these where Andy Reid gets aggressive about changes. With a softer schedule down the stretch I feel like we’ll see quite a bit.

We need to test prince wanagho out at RT. If not, then niang.
Brandon Williams needs to get ready to play significant playoff minutes
Make sure Toney is good enough to stay consistently healthy for the playoff stretch
Work melvin Gordon over and over again on ball security and begin testing him out on short yardage and red zone
Skyy Moore needs more reps the next few weeks
We need lots of reps from josh Williams and Bryan cook. These guys have plenty of time and upside to play better by the playoffs.
We need hammer over and over and over again getting gay ready to play spy. He becomes a crucial piece to playing josh Allen and burrow
There is still time to explore more depth. Particularly on the DL.

Trust in veach and Reid. And much as I grit my teeth until spags messes up in the playoffs (he hasn’t yet) trust that he will be better too. Including playing way better vs cincy in last years playoffs than he did regular season.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by O.city

The offense was fine yesterday. They needed more possessions.

Fine is clearly not good enough against the Bills and Bengals. And that’s the problem. They far too often let these teams and the Titans also dictate how are offense plays and it’s always to their advantage instead of us taking advantage of what they are doing. Reid needs to figure it out or we won’t be winning the AFC.

[Pepe Silvia]

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 agree. It sucks but it is what it is.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Fine is clearly not good enough against the Bills and Bengals. And that’s the problem. They far too often let these teams and the Titans also dictate how are offense plays and it’s always to their advantage instead of us taking advantage of what they are doing. Reid needs to figure it out or we won’t be winning the AFC.

Ok, they were really good, not fine.

They scored on 50% of their possessions. That's in pretty elite territory.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by O.city

Ok, they were really good, not fine.

They scored on 50% of their possessions. That's in pretty elite territory.

They definitely were not really good. Your first inclination was accurate. And the point remains that if in shortened games to other contenders we routinely lose then our offense is not playing good enough in those games and needs to figure things out.