Yeah, I doubt it has anything to do with injury, otherwise they wouldn't have played him for 32 snaps the week before.

Maybe it's just a planned rotation thing and they'll work him in a lot more this week? Maybe they were just giving White a chance to show his stuff against the Rams and will give Russell his shot this week.

I hope that Gaines is healthy enough to go tomorrow. I want to see what he looks like after he tore his ACL.

A slight step back until our rookies and second year guys get their sea legs under them... but by the time Houston gets back for the last 4 games, those young guys (especially Jones) will be tuned up and well oiled

At that point we're going to take a big step forward and start ripping some jokers heads off

lets play a real game first.

Meh, nothing wrong with a little speculation, thats 75% of what we do around here

Worse

It has a chance to be a steaming pile of shit this year.

I think it depends on a number of factors. Will the young secondary gel? Does Houston come back late in the year? Can Ford hold up against the run? I just can't see this unit improving from last year. I'm guessing they take a step back, I just hope it's not a big step back.

Dude, please explain yourself here...

Interesting. One vote for better. I hope whoever voted that is right, and maybe towards the end of the season, assuming Houston is back and the young guys have improved, he will be right. But right now, no way.

Every year with this team (and in particular the defense) has guys unexpectedly step up and grow into good players. Why should this year be any different?

Jones, Ford, Gaines, Nelson, March, White, Murray.

A couple of those guys will exceed expectations this year. Guaranteed.

I think we are obviously going to be worse early on, but as the season goes on, and when/if we get Houston back, it could be just as good.

This.

We have had such a small sample size with the starters out there. Based on the camp reports- the defense has held its own against a much improved O-line. Except for Hill torching everyone that is.

Good thing Hill is on the Chiefs. :)

sure!! :D

1. When does Houston come back ... how healthy? How long before he's his impact self?
2. When is Hali going to breakdown completely because of age?
3. Dee Ford is a major piece this year, what does he do? Has looked terrible thus far ... T.E.R.R.B.L.E.
4. Young secondary is a mess, does anyone step-up? Get/stay healthy?
5. If 1 or more of the above does not turn out well, is Sutton able to adapt?

I'll be brutally honest here, in spite of the pitchforks and torches that will result.

I don't trust Sutton.

He needs too many things for his defense to be good(Goonther Cunninham anyone?) You can measure his adjustment by the week, if not months ... when good DC's adjust by the Half, if not by the drive. Anyone think that Sutton will know how to deal with an Edelmann situation yet? I don't. If he can't just assign a man to the Edelmann's of the league and move on, he's lost. If Sutton doesn't have a ready-made pass rush he is almost incapable of generating pressure through scheme.

Theoritical defensive breakdown by steps:

1. Houston is gone and Hali has finally lost that last step that doesn't let him turn the corner anymore. Our automatic pass rush is all but gone.

Result: Sutton goes into a shell, rushes 4 and drops everyone else DEEP in coverage to prevent the big play. Our corners our 15+ yrds off LoS. Our MLBs are bailing hard back into pass coverage at the snap. Sutton has done all this before, it's not speculation to think he will do it again.

2. Our young cornerbacks struggle in their initial NFL playing time.

Result: Sutton can't go man-to-man on the outside except for with Peters. Teams just throw away from Peters all game long until he gets frustrated and tries to do too much. To adjust Sutton throws more and more safeties out there on the field in an umbrella zone coverage. Again, Sutton has reacted similarly in the past.

3. Because of 1 and 2, teams just decide to wear us out on defense. Dink/dunk passes and run the ball against our outnumbered Dline. With everyone pulled back in coverage our front 4 will be going against 5 Oline, a TE and RB chip blocks. We will be dying by a 1000 cuts. By the 4th quarter our defense will be worn out especially if Sutton continues to refuse to rotate his Dlineman.

4. Because of 1,2 and 3, our conservative offense will be forced to try to score 35+ points a game without benefit of defensive turnovers or scores. That means Uber Conservative Reid will need to stop throwing sideways. Alex Smith will have to start taking hit,taking chances and air it out. That will almost certainly result in a few more turnovers, if not a bunch. That leaves our defense in a short field situation more than normal.


All theoretical, but if that snowball begins to roll down hill it COULD get really ugly. There is precedence ... Sutton had done it before, Reid has done it before.

A full year of bend-don't-break defense that allows offenses to go the length of the field almost every drive. Counting on giving up field goals instead of touchdowns once they get to the red zone.

:(

(ps i typed this really fast so forgive my many typos and slip-ups please)

Dadi Nicolas is going to gain 45% strength in season and take the starting job from Ford

How has he looked in games? I forgot that we had drafted an OLB prospect.

First off, that was a joke. Chiefshrink said that Ehinger would gain 45% strength in season.

LMAO

Nicolas looked really good against Seattle.

I haven't watched the 2nd half of the Rams game yet and IIRC, Nicolas didn't get any first half snaps.

Teams don't game plan in the pre-season. They are very vanilla with their play calling defensively. It's more of a look at what guys can do in a variety of situations than it is anything else. Don't put so much damn stock into pre-season. The defense might regress slightly without Houston, but I wouldn't count on the wheels falling off.