Oliver was the guy in the last game that gave us issues BUT IT WAS AGAINST TREY SMITH.

Feels like Oliver has routinely dog-walked Trey Smith.

THAT may be the most important matchup of the entire game. Smith can't just get his ass kicked by Oliver the way he has the last several matchups against t hem.

And there's no reason he should. Oliver is a good player but he ain't Aaron Donald or Chris Jones out there. He's a slightly better version of Tank Wharton. That sort of player shouldn't be eviscerating Trey Smith the way he has.

Smith needs to come to play Sunday or we're gonna have a bad time, regardless of who's at LT.

I thought Hunt looked outstanding last game. How he converted that 4th and 1 out of shotgun (oh Andy bless your heart) was a game winning play. Pacheco gets stuffed there.

What’s hilarious is that BWillie thinks interior OL don’t matter when Ed Oliver absolutely raped Trey Smith and got in Mahomes face quickly last game. Literally ruined multiple key drives.

Pacheco has lost some of his violence after the injury which covered up his lack of vision, hunt looks better for what we do right now.

Teams are also playing with heavier boxes against us than they did when Pacheco was at his most dangerous.

Pacheco needs a clear hole/seam into the second level to put the violence and better explosion to good use. He's not terribly dissimilar from Knile Davis in that regard.

But when teams are attacking the run lanes and/or putting another defender in the box because we haven't had the deep ball chemistry to force them out of it, Pacheco is essentially a non-factor.

It's just to muddled for him to be able to blast through. And no amount of 'violence' in his running style is going to have him blasting through 2-3 NFL defenders.

He's gotta slip around them and he just seems ill-equipped to do so.

It's Andy Reid and the running game. The BIGGEST contribution we need from the RBs right now is no negative plays. No 2-yard losses, no missed blocks, no dropped passes. For better or worse, that's Kareem Hunt.

And the playoffs have shown the importance of ball security. That's another check in Kareem's favor.

He's just the right guy at this time. Sucks for Pop, but it is what it is. Kareem Hunt fits what this team needs from its RB right now much better than Pacheco. Have Pacheco in there to deliver an impact or two early if you must. His energy probably helps get guys going especially in that first drive or two.

But man, we can't be dicking around waiting for him to discover how to set up blocks. He's had several weeks to get back to what we hoped he might become and it hasn't happen.

It's nut cutting time. Hunt should be the primary ballcarrier even if you decide that Pacheco is still the 'starter'.

Third and 4th and short.

Kareem is the man

If you would have read my earlier posts this week I said I would not have an issue with moving Thuney to guard vs Oliver. I just don't think they will do it.

FYP

Yup. For whatever reason Trey has always had issues with him, more than almost anyone. Why, as you said, I don't know. But he tends to cook Trey pretty hard most downs.

He's a good player, but not an elite d tackle so it's always frustrating to watch.

Oliver wins by jumping through gaps. If you get your hands on him he's done.

I know Smith's had a couple of rough games against Oliver, but he was also excellent against the Bills in the playoffs, if I remember correctly. Not saying it isn't a potential weakness, but I think it's just as likely he handles him fine. The left side of that OL is still, imo, the weak link.

If I'm Buffalo I wouldn't have Oliver line up against Trey Smith. He'd be across from Caliendo.