Yep.

And none was worse than George on the last TD. He was literally a few inches from either stopping Allen or forcing a fumble. He just missed. Barely, but he missed.

Limit RAC and tackle. That's always been the key to slowing down these offenses.

He missed Hollywood on the first drive for a TD.

If we want a guy that's just gonna limit turnovers and not have explosives, Alex Smith is probably hanging around.

Not an issue anymore. He was forced to play in the slot due to Watson being injured. Verderame pointed out that McDuffie wasn’t on Shakir one time.

That will not be the case this time

Their OT's do that on purpose, watch Spencer Brown if he gets beat inside he literally just spins off the guy and immediately gets back outside. Pretty sure it's an intentional plan to get guys out of their lanes. Rushers see this and think oh damn look at all that room...you take that bait and next thing you know both your ends are out of their lanes and Josh Allen is 10 yards up the field.

You would hope. But Conner still played a bunch Saturday and he isn't gonna play boundary corner.

Alex couldn’t score a single TD against the Steelers elite defense when it mattered despite the Steelers FG driven offense in the playoffs.

Meanwhile in that same situation on 3rd down…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With these two, anything is possible 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/uH0JmWEUF5">pic.twitter.com/uH0JmWEUF5</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1881492404882006184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I don’t think that’s dooming. I think it’s just reality. Stopping them for those four yards if they run it twice is probably a 15% success rate for us considering their line and Allen running it.

Really no different than us having big advantages against their defense on third and medium or less. The Ravens were 70% on third down if I recall. I think we can do that as well.

You're 100% right, but that's why those guys can't be the ones doing it.

It has to be 3rd-and-long, DE or some other contain player on the edge, and a DB/LB running through the gap. Then Allen doesn't have an easy escape to the edge because you have a contain player.

I will be STUNNED if Joe Cullen and Chris Jones don't have our DL playing with the kind of discipline required to succeed Sunday. They did it last year in Buffalo, and they'll care enough about this game to do it again. It isn't about sacks whatsoever.

Dude, they need to confine you to RR for a couple of days. Posts like this shouldn't be made.

How ****ing dare you?

Sean McDermott is statistically the second most aggressive coach in the NFL (behind Dan Campbell). They will definitely not hesitate to go for it on fourth down- wouldn’t be surprised by a fake punt or kick either.

16/25 for 177 and a TD ain't cutting it this weeken.

Force the Bills to beat the Chiefs with Josh Allen contained in the pocket having to rely on his WR’s.

Take away Cook and their TE’s in the passing game.

They’d probably cut it against the numbers Allen put up a day later, tbh.

Probably not but you never know if there's turnovers, special teams mistakes, etc. If we can run the ball, that will also help though I doubt Andy wants to attack that way even if it works.

But yes, Buffalo will probably score more than the 12 points Houston scored.

The fake punt didn't work out well for them last year. I'm not saying they wouldn't try, but they know that the Chiefs already know they'd be willing.

With the OL being the way it is, this just may be the way they've gotta win games though.

Hasn't happened this year.

Lots of reasons for it, I guess. But I feel like those reasons have been resolved -- we have the weapons now. We have a LT "Pat trusts". We have a complementary running game.

We have no reason to keep a governor on the offense anymore if Andy is indeed "Saving the good plays"

Every justification for our scattershot offense should be gone this week. We have no reason for this offense not to put up 30+. And frankly, even 'if we need it' shouldn't be a real consideration.

Assume we will. Come out of the gates presuming you're going to get 9 possessions and in those 9 possessions you'll get 4 TDs and a FG.

That gives you a little margin for error -- you can have 4 drives fail and still hit your numbers.

But you have to execute in the red zone and you have to come out sharper than we have on occasion.

Just do what your talent and experience says you can do.

Didn't happen last year either.

Maybe the 22 Bucs game?

I dunno. They win. They always win so it sounds like just bitching to bitch, but the offense just has sputtered and puttered alot.

Then again, 100% of Bills fans would have said there's zero chance 16/22, 127, 0 passing TDs, and 20 yards rushing would get it done against the Ravens.

The Bills tried their hardest last season to limit possessions and the Texans last weelend took up almost the entire freakin' 3rd quarter on one drive... some of it is a chess match of whether you really want to try getting into a shootout with Josh Allen.

I get the basic point though... I was hyped up last weekend to FINALLY see the offense we should have been watching all season, then I'm grumbling under my breath when it's 6-3.

Anybody else concerned with the discourse of the officiating impacting this week's game?

Hopefully they just let em play and avoid the flags altogether.

I think it's more likely that they just stay away from subjective calls at a much higher rate than it is they hammer one team particularly hard.

Ok, but to that point "they had it the whole 3rd quarter"......yes. But they whole first half when we were bumble ****ing around......I dunno.

I don't think there's a "they're saving the good plays" thing here. The offense just hasn't been in rhythm

Not really.

Worst case, the refs won't be swayed by public opinion, especially not the emotion-driven garbage we are seeing now.

Best case, the Chiefs are paying the refs and we win going away.

:D

In an era where sports are becoming less watched than ever simply due to how we watch our media, this Bills vs Chiefs game is going to break viewership records for an AFC Championship game....all the while from being a team from middle america vs a team from BFE western new york...where everyone claims to say they hate the chiefs, wont watch the chiefs, the chiefs are boring etc

We are Americas team.

We've gotten to a point where Warren Sharp's cherry picked bullshit was actually a graphic on ESPN. That's concerning.

The funny thing is, having watched enough of our offense this year, I think there's some cause to NOT be hyper aggressive on offense against us.

This isn't the 2018 Chiefs or even 2022 Chiefs were field position is irrelevant. If you're at the 50 and can bury us at the 10, you'd probably be wise to do so as we're unlikely to grind our way 90 yards down the field for a touchdown.

But we very well COULD get 50. Or get 20 and snag a 'free' field goal off a turnover that isn't technically a turnover (though a 4th down stop for all intents and purposes is a turnover).

I suspect McDermott will be aggressive, yes.

I'm not sure he needs to be or should be.

Nah.

It's all for show.

I've already seen it being talked about on some podcasts "The NFL always over corrects" basically thinking the Chiefs won't get any calls or Mahomes might get blasted and no flags come out.

Yep.

I can't....I just can't figure out what's happened as guys have come back from injury and such.

It's been weird.

ESPN is playing to the crowd, appealing to the masses.

I'd expect the crew to do the best job they can and make any and all clear and obvious calls. They don't wanna embarrass themselves any more or less this week than another.

That's typically what you see in the conference championship games and the SB.

You'll see fewer and fewer flags as the post-season progresses.

And yeah, that's certainly my hope as well. Flag the egregious shit - let the rest go.

My biggest concern is the Bills flopping on key downs with Jawaan Taylor. Their gameplan is gonna be to get in his chest and do everything to make it look like a hold, including throwing their hands up.

They did that last time too.

****ing Collinsworth man

espn is completely oriented around the northeast US. They'll have no love for a midwestern team like the Chiefs when we're up against a team from the northeast.

7 game winning drives. He’s paid to be the difference maker. He is and has been when it matters

That’s what the greats do

That's just the thing though.

They didn't overcorrect after the Bengals AFCCG, after the "bogus" OOB hit on Mahomes.

They didn't overcorrect after the Eagles Super Bowl, despite the "bogus" defensive holding.

Those are just two examples but there are many more. This started like 3 years ago and they've won 2 Super Bowls since then.

Don't start thinking with your emotions like all the crybabies on the Internet now. It's too close to the 3-peat.

I think by far the most annoying **** this week has been Mark Schlereth that dude is literally crying all over Fox sports at every turn.

That's fine, I agree.

But lets try to not need a GWD this weekend.

The biggest question is which they like better: wings or BBQ

Former Bronco and a confirmed cheater.

Yeah - this is just mob stuff.

I think the suspension of disbelief required is just remarkable to believe that the NFL is 'rigging' games. I mean set aside any of the data as it relates to Josh Allen's roughing calls. Or the 'my bad' pat that Allen got that would've set the internet ablaze had Mahomes gotten it.

To believe the NFL is rigging these games or that the officials are in some way influence requires two things:

1) That a pack of billionaires who own these teams are simply okay with it happening. Not just taking the loss but taking the MASSIVE risks associated with a rigging scandal. Rigging games would have ZERO benefit to the league and would cost them literally tens of billions, if not HUNDREDS of billions, now that they're in bed with sports gambling. Can you imagine the lawsuits? If it were proven that the league in any way influence games when there were billions on the line in gambling wins/losses every single week.

And the respective sports books who are hurling money at the NFL would also take a kick in the dick so they would pull their sponsorship (more billions) AND sue the league into the hinterlands.

2) It also assumes that the refs even CAN make those sort of bang/bang immediate judgment calls in real time. Good lord, can you imagine how difficult it would be for an official to put his thumb on the scale as the play is happening like that? I guess you could argue that they give it the Jawaan Taylor treatment and just lock onto certain players at critical moments hoping to find a reason the throw a flag, but you never know when 'critical' might be. The penalties against Houston were at pretty benign points of the game (y'know, until Aikman made them a national narrative).

It just makes very little sense.

Even though we haven’t been explosive we again the ability to sustain long drives , he might be aggressive knowing their might not touch the ball again for 10 min .

It doesn't make any sense. There's a million leaps of logic in believing the NFL is rigged.

But we don't live in an era of logic. We live in an era of validating feelings.

Well our 22.6 points/gm says we aren't THAT great at sustaining long drives.

It's what we've been trying to do all season and with marginal success given that we have the baddest man on the planet at QB.

The offense has been fair to middling pretty much across the board. Long drives appears to be what we do best, but we haven't really done ANYTHING particularly well on offense this season.

That Bronco turd is still upset Travis Kelce banged his daughter on some dating show.

Again....what is it that's causing this?

Is it the LT spot? The Weapons? The thing we don't speak of?

I'm scratching my damn head.

I just say the YouTube video of that hypocrite Schlereth implying "Don’t Discount the Chiefs Because of Officiating".

And this coming from a guy that openly admitted to cheating. He has ZERO credibility.

This new generation sucks. Everything is victimhood.

These games are becoming about the refs more than the stars. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are playing each other. It’s THE biggest game of the year. Bigger than the SB.

And yet all we have heard all week is about the refs.

**** Collinsworth
**** Buck
**** Aikman
**** Sharp

**** these assholes.

Yup.

Then the question becomes what's causing that. And I truly have no damn idea.

I threw my hands up in that regard some time ago.

Now we only need 2 wins for immortality. All I can do, having not found ANY reliable baseline, is hope that he's locked in for 2 games. There's every reason to believe he can/should be.

Like I said - no more excuses. Just go play well.

Finishing the long drives and settling for FG has been the main issue for lack of scoring. We have in TOP most of the year , redzone has been rough

A former Bronco that used to spray his jersey to cheat to try and win a playoff game against the Chiefs (and likely others we didn't know about).

Can't imagine why he's buying in lock, stock and barrel to Chiefs ref conspiracy. :rolleyes:

Regardless of what anyone believes about the NFL and the refs, the Chiefs aren't cheating. They, in fact, have no control over what the refs choose or choose not to call.

You know who cheated? Mark Schlereth and the Broncos. It was caught on a live TV. And then there's the whole violating the salary cap during the Super Bowl years that the NFL fined and docked draft picks for.

Mark Schlereth is a known cheater. The other douche on that Fox Sports morning show, Craig Carlson(?) is a convicted felon. These are the two on Fox that are driving the 'ref conspiracy' shit. The only redeeming thing about that stupid morning show is Danny Parkins.

So FOX Sports is letting a known NFL cheater and a convicted felon drive the narrative at their network and the masses out there are lopping it up like Cousin Eddie at Christmas dinner.

So, in summary, **** Mark Schlereth, **** Craig Carlson and **** Fox Sports.

Rant over.

I typically like Greg Olsen but he's as bad as any of them when it comes to that. He just won't move on from a play without bitching about it.

Nantz typically doesn't do that sort of thing, but Romo's just lost in space often enough these days that his crew annoys me.

Can Harlan just do all the games? He's just so much better than the rest of these guys.

Some of you guys are gonna call me a nut, I think one of the biggest reasons for our issues is the same problem I even go through as a fan this year - it just feels like the vast majority of these games don't ****ing matter. No emotion behind them, nothing to lose, nothing to gain.

Why is it that they always answer the bell when they've had to and Patrick leads the league this year in game-winning drives? Cause there's something actually at stake, something to gain.

Going for three-peat comes at many costs, one being that there's really nothing great than can come from a regular season game. Even last week's playoff game - we've never lost a divisional and were favored by nearly 10 pts. Yay.

The Chiefs coulda gone 17-0, season would still be a failure if they don't pull off the three-peat. That's top of mind.

Sunday, my theory is tested.

It just makes no sense to me. I know these things happen to golf guys when they start having families and stuff but....is it just a focus thing?

Some of the play calling hasn’t been great, untimely penalties, Pat refusing to throw I tight windows , a bit of everything hard to explain going from most efficient redzone O 2 years ago to this version . I was hoping Dhop was the answer but he isn’t even in there most times .

That's my point.

When you have to execute 13 times to go 90 yards, that's a hell of a lot harder than needing to do it 8 times to go 50.

When you come up 30 yards short of the end zone, it stands to reason that needing to drive 55 yards instead of 75 yards might've made a substantial difference.

We're not as good at 'long drives' as we've spent all season convincing ourselves of. We're okay at starting with a long field and getting into scoring range - but that's not the same as saying we have some secret sauce for long drives.

If we start every drive with a 75 yard field in front of us, we're going to struggle to break 30. Because those drives tend to stall out on us due to a penalty or a run stuff or a missed ball or bad block. It's exactly what 'bend but don't break' is designed to do. And that's all this fairly average Buffalo defense CAN do.

What would let this game get away from Buffalo is giving us short fields. If they just pin us deep the whole game, it'll be an absolute dogfight.

I mean there is something to be said for complacency when you play in a bunch of SBs.

Not to beat a dead horse but....the first possession encapsulates the issues IMO.

They struggle to run the ball down there and Pat just seems to.....cautious?

The Hollywood throw is one he's made in his sleep. Yet he just overthrows it.

The more and more I watch this stuff the more I'm just a staunch "training camp and time together and actually playing" matters guy.

For what it's worth, and I had never heard this before until he said so, but Simms said starting a game in the red zone is a curse for an offense. He explained further but generally I think it's just so unexpected, doesn't line up with a script, etc. There's no rhythm. You just start in this tight area and have to execute near perfectly to score.

Or just....hit the guy open for a TD?

Why do we do this? What's wrong with saying "damn he missed a throw he shoulda made" or "why did he run into the back of the G and not in the massive hole there"

They don't play with urgency unless the situation calls for it. That's unfortunate and it's why all their games are close but that's their mentality.

When they were up 10 last week, I knew the defense would relax and let Houston get back in it. When Houston made it 13-12, I knew the offense would march down the field and respond with a TD.

We have few explosive plays. It's harder to sustain long drives. We don't get much YAC with Rice injured and Kelce being older and slower. The RBs are the slowest we've had since 1998 when Bam Morris shared the backfield with Donnell Bennett.

How many big plays has this offense generated this year from long runs or passes? Not many. Long drives require better execution, no sacks, penalties, drops, turnovers, etc. That's why the scoring is down.

Our fastest WR is Worthy and he and Mahomes have failed to connect on many of the biggest plays that were available. Lots of points taken off the board on those missed chances.

That's the point though. Maybe he doesn't miss the throw if it's not his first of the day.

This game will likely put to rest, one way or another, if the whole "holding things back" narrative holds water. There's no reason to hold back in the most challenging and important game of the year.

And DT missed the last sack (as sure a sack as you will ever see) that ended with Krieg throwing the game winning TD. :banghead:

Shrugs.

Mulligans for everyone.

Hey the theory came from one of the analysts I respect most. I wouldn't have ever thought of it.

If it were a "well shit no one got open, that didn't work" thing....maybe.

But they dialed up something that worked fine. Make the throw.

I've never understood that theory.

Don't opposing coaches also "hold things back" until the playoffs? Reid has many disciples coaching in the NFL, including McDermott and Harbaugh. It's hard to believe they wouldn't be doing the same things Andy taught them.

I don't think it's a conscious holding things back with this team.

I think it's subconscious, in that 80-90% of the roster is trying to win their third straight Super Bowl and that's literally all that has mattered this year. Until this weekend, that hasn't felt at stake.

Or it could be that.....It's really ****ing hard and the other guys get paid too.

He will have to Sunday, yeah.

Ask yourself how you felt after the Bills regular season loss this year compared to games we lost in the RS in 2018/19. Hell even 2022 before this back-to-back run began.

There's your answer.

I saw him on Rich Eisen and he seemed pretty respectful. He mentioned how he hates the Chiefs with "a white-hot passion" but said he had tons of respect for the Chiefs.

WTF? How does he think the Bills defense is going to accomplish this? They are not that good.

The first possession was completely improvised. They had a 15-play script prepared and then Remigio ripped off that return. They basically had to toss the script at that point. I'd be more worried about the 2nd drive myself.

I love it. Genuinely love it. They see this.

The most disrespected dynasty ever Dan. And you are part of why that is.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Genuinely unbelievable at this point. <a href="https://twitter.com/bobbystroupe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BobbyStroupe</a> <a href="https://t.co/KaPn3zSZRI">pic.twitter.com/KaPn3zSZRI</a></p>&mdash; Chiefs Blitz (@ChiefsBlitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiefsBlitz/status/1882458511835349205?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Harbaugh literally pads stats to get guys awards, it's how Lamar keeps getting MVPs.

What the Chiefs do isn't exactly "saving the good plays" it's that if they see something works they won't spam it. That during the course of the season they'll run a bunch of things to "break tendencies" to screw with teams that have to gameplan for them in the future, stuff like that.

In the Air Force we called it "tactical deception." Play to what the enemy expects and then fool them with something they didn't.

Exactly. DJLN said something like this a few days ago.

It's not that they're saving plays so much as they're switching up when they call them and how much.

"Tendency breakers"