Its pretty simple. If Im a 6 or 7 seed I absolutely want Humphries in there.

But if you are the two time defending champion who went 15-1 and looked the best they have all season with Thuney in...you roll with the guys who brought you there and what you know works.

Lucky for us our receivers are significantly better this year and it’s going to help Mahomes/Kelce so much.

Last year it was basically Kelce/Rice. This year it’s Kelce/Hopkins/Worthy/Hollywood.

Texans have a really good set of corners in Stingley/Lassiter. I think you’re gonna see Andy exploit the LB’s through manipulation like last time as well as destroy their CB3.

No offense, but I think that could be projection. I'm easy on who they play. I think, from what we've seen, Thuney makes more sense at this point, and I think that's who they'll go with.

Could just as easily say people calling for DJ are scared about Caliendo at guard.

That's dumb as ****. Seeding shouldn't matter you make the best choice no matter what. Guys jobs are on the line. You think last year Reid said well we didn't get a bye. Let's just do whatever the **** we want? Hell no.


Anyway I'm on the humphries side and have been. But none of it really matters if we keep getting the ball out like we have the last 2 games with starters. It negates so much pressure.

So what’s the story on the 7 games prior to those 3 games. Thuney at guard. We rushed for 82, 124, 57, 78, 165, 63, and 96 yards. Surely Mahomes and a Wr had some of those yards as well?

I believe in the Kansas City Chiefs and not the need of an outsider who has barely been on the team. Limiting the floor is better for us than increasing the ceiling. We run this league.

How many DJ supporters have you seen say they're scared of a whiff or Pat getting hurt? None.

Some people are scared of starting DJ, as demonstrated right here in this thread.

LMAO

That’s true and yet a leap to assume right now too.

We’ll see what Andy rolls with Saturday, I don’t think it’s gonna matter as it pertains to where this team is going.

Random thought...

What if the best offensive line configuration against the Texans - who have a great set of DEs but are just OK in the middle - is Thuney-Caliendo. But against the Ravens, Bills, Eagles... teams with a good internal pass rusher... does it make more sense to move Thuney back in and roll with a LT who is better at LT than Caliendo is at LG, even if a little step back at LT comes with that?

You can make the case...

A leap for what?

When they've had the chance they've had actual LT's play LT. If they wanted THuney out there, he'd have been out there the whole time.

It's a leap for any of us to think the staff believes Humphries is ready to start in the playoffs at LT. They might, they might not.

If Humphries goes out there and is ass and we lose, I would be sick to my stomach upset.

If Thuney goes out there and is ass and we lose, I could handle it because we lost with the players when the offense looked its best.

Thats just how my brain works.

I understand the other side of the equation and I think there's value there, but my brain just doesn't see it that way.

TEAM TOONIE RUNS THE SHOW

If he's not ready to start, they won't start him.

That's not what the discussion here is though.

What is the discussion then? Feels like that's it.

It's nice to have options. If one configuration doesn't work, they can change it up during the game. Before Humphries, they were limited in depth because Morris/Kingsley are both JAGs at LT. We have the personnel as long as they stay healthy. I'm not too worried about the O-line seeing how they didn't struggle against Houston in the first meeting. I'd be more concerned if they faced Denver's pass rush.

Seems quite a few are worried about Caliendo or the prospect of not playing DJ. Which, again, i don't really get given we actually won with Thuney

I'm not even sure it's how people view risk and reward, it's just what have people seen and how they have evaluated that. If you've watched DJ and thought "yeah, he's just a bit rusty, he's close" then he makes sense. If you watched him and thought "He looks worse than Thuney" you go with Thuney, surely

Team Toonie!!!!

Think that's the best way to think about it. If they start Thuney and Caliendo is abused, we can switch it up, and ditto the other way. Far better position than pre-DJ

I had thought about this. Both the bills and the ravens are more dangerous to us from the interior. I also wondered if there’s a chance Kingsley was a better option a guard than caliendo but I doubt he’s got the strength. I did like what I saw on the broadcast though.

What makes the 2024 version of Humphries better than a healthy Wanya Morris at LT?

What was Humphries stats against SD before he got hurt?

Here's the only question that matters for this decision that the coaches already have made:

Can we execute the same offensive output as we showed vs. HOU and PIT if Humphries plays exactly as we've seen so far? Or in other words, how much credit is the staff giving Thuney for that?

Cause I wouldn't plan for Hump to be a lot better than whatever they graded him out vs. Denver. So based on that performance as the expectation, can you still get the same production as what we've done with Joe.

From what Andy was saying, it looks like DJ is the plan and Thuney is the backup plan in case DJ struggles

I found this interesting little nugget in Arrowhead Addict.

Regardless of the game planning, the numbers for Thuney are still average at best. He's yielded 14 pressures in his 3 starts and is averaging 58.4 PFF pass-blocking grade. Looking at the tape, you can see Thuney brings a high floor to the tackle position, but he plays tackle like a guard. The lack of length can show from time to time. He's also a fluid mover in space, especially for a guard, but he still is vulnerable up the arc.

The biggest problem with Thuney at tackle is what you lose at left guard. Mike Caliendo is averaging a 28.1 PFF pass block grade in his 3 starts credited with 7 pressures. He's also a big step back as a run blocker, something the Chiefs offense has struggled with in the last quarter of the season.

Yep that's probably right

I don't think its fair to make the comparison because the situations each player was put in were completely different. Thuney was playing with all of the starters and benefited from playing in games that Andy knew they had to win. That's not even mentioning the biggest advantage which was Patrick Mahomes getting rid of the ball faster than he ever has. Thuney didn't look good against Cleveland when Mahomes wasn't getting rid of the ball as fast as he ever has.

There is no way Andy doesn't realize all of this.

I'm no PFF guy but 28.1 has to be some awful output no matter what your system is. Like can't imagine the coaches graded him out well at all.

The rushed for an average of 108 yards per game the 3 games with Caliendo at guard. And the previous 7 games we rushed for an average of 95 yards a game. Those 7 games only had two games above 100 yards, and an outlier type of game with 165 yards. It’s not appearing like Caleindo caused our rushing game to take a giant step back.

Yeah, I just don't think that way at all.

None of us have used the word "scared."

The other side has, though.

For me, it's that I saw a neutered offense starting a guy at LT while he wasn't a disaster, he wasn't good either. I watch all the games more than once and watch All 22. People thinking Thuney was good are working off the idea he's better than Wanya and Kingsley who are straight bad.

Better than bad does not equal good.

Guard is easier to replace. They could slot Morris or Kingsley at guard short-term if need arose. Not ideal, but it's better than playing those guys at LT.

I'd argue he's got better lateral movement and hands than Wanya has had at any point in his life. Now the question for me is the anchor. Does he trust his knee enough to set and recover? Wanya had one pass set and once DEs figured that out it was game over. "It's the same ****ing move"-Patrick Mahomes.

One side is pro Caliendo out of fear, the other is pro Humphries out of hope. Its a glass half full vs empty deal imo. I see it as Humphries is better up the arc than Thuney and Thuney is better at everything than Caliendo. They see it as oh my God holy ****ing shit what if Humphries loses?

Bonnito's as good a speed rusher as he is going to see these playoffs and I wouldn't say he abused him in any way shape or form

What if Humphries loses us this game is a very real fear when we don't know what we're getting with him.

Which is why Humphries isn’t a very good solution either. The one game he started and played 80% of the game, the offense struggled. It came down to a game winning drive to score a whopping 19 points on a last second doink. And, he wasn’t even in the game on that last drive.

Sadly, if the regular season play continues, the LT is going to come down to who hurts the team the least, as opposed to who helps the most.

There's a very real possibility that Andy doesn't even know what he's going to do yet. His philosophy has always been to put the five best dudes on the field as much as possible, that's why he likes versatility so much. If he sticks to those guns, obviously Humphries is a far superior player to Caliendo. However, he also loves familiarity, so I'm sure he's having an internal battle with himself over this just as much as we are on this board.

In the end, it just might be left up to Pat. What is going to make him feel the most comfortable? Mindset is so damn important for a QB, and he looked completely relaxed in every game Thuney started at LT. That's going to play into this as well.

Sadly, this is the long and short of it. We're not going to be getting elite play either way. It's really our one and only weakness headed into the postseason. It's all about making it work as much as we possibly can, and I'll trust these guys to make that happen.

Funny thing about all this is we might be in an equal position to what we were dealing with entering last year's playoffs.

How we quickly we forget that Donovan Smith just showed up in -29 degree wind chill against Miami and never looked back despite having a meh regular season in the games he did play. And to the points made above, it wasn't that he was dominant. He just was good enough to not cost us the goal.

Kind of. I will continue to hammer on the fact that this isn't Thuney vs. Humpries - it's Thuney and Caliendo vs. Humpries and Thuney. If Humphries plays, my expectation is that he's essentially equal to what we've been getting out of Thuney and maybe even a slight step back - no one expects him to be a huge upgrade.

However, if Humphries plays and isn't a dumpster fire, we would be "getting elite play" at LG from Thuney rather than "barely starter level" play from Caliendo. THAT's the upside.

Losing a game with Thuney at LT is inexcusable since we DO know what we are getting.

never understood why we didn't bring him back

I loved his baltimore locker room video after the win

HE SAD

As pointed out earlier that 108 includes a ton of yards from Mahomes and Worthy.

First 5 games of the year we averaged 117ypg while only gaining 79 week 1. In that time frame Pat had 1 game he ran for 33 and we racked up 149 total in that game.

Other than that they (Mahomes and Worthy) didn't do much of anything to contribute to the rushing stats averaging 117 a game start of the season. Games 2-4 we averaged 129 a game almost all from the RB's.

Pacheco got hurt and it didn't seem to slow things down initially, it almost seems we got away from the run in a bunch of games only rushing 14-20 times.

Probably a lot of factors to go with it along with the OL changes but I don't trust Caliendo playing RG in the playoffs. The overall stats prove out he is well well below average there.

That seems to be the better side

I think the misleading thing is that the offense performed BETTER with Thuney, but was it full bore the best offense? Or would an actual healthy tackle with tackle length and skill allow for some more varied drops allowing guys like Hollywood and X get open on deeper routes? You can only run the quick passing game so long before the modern NFL defense will shut it down.

Do you actually think this coaching staff will leave him in there if he's sucking shit? Now if its close in the 4th with 5 seconds to go and he whiffs....They shouldn't have been that ****ing close.

I personally believe switching him out in the Divisional round of the playoffs is us ****ing around at a time when we absolutely shouldn't be. We should know who our guy is now and ride him to the end.

Starting your LG at LT and playing a bad backup in his place is ****ing around too. ****ing around with inferior lineups is playing not to lose. That gets you best in the playoffs.

Mahomes played his best ball this year with that lineup, inferior as it may be. Enabling your best player to play his best ball is the opposite of playing not to lose.

Now if Humphries comes in and we get the same level of play, you won't hear a complaint from me. But ill be quite pissed off if we're losing at halftime and then swap back to Thuney.

They neutered the offense and changed the play calling to mask deficiencies in that lineup. Saying Pat played his best ball against Houston and Pittsburgh isn't being completely honest about the situation.

Correlation does not = Causation.

I mean, you could say the same thing about last year.

Sure, we benched Moore and Toney, but its not like we had any breakout players in the postseason, outside of MVS finally not dropping passes. We simplified our playbook and played mistake free football to mask our deficiencies. At the very least, we went into the postseason with a plan and knew our identity. Playing musical chairs at LT while we're in the playoffs isn't having a plan.

Pick a guy, be confident about him, and stick with him, is how I feel about this. If you feel you need to switch Humphries out mid-game, he shouldn't be the guy.

And to be fair to the other side, if you feel Calidendo is THAT much of a liability and you don't trust him at all, go with Humphries. But my main point remains. Pick a guy. Don't pull this musical chairs shit in the playoffs.

I trust the Chiefs to do the right thing with their O-line. The good news is we have options, and a "floor" that is known with Thuney at LT. From my armchair, know-nothing perspective, I want Thuney because I've seen it work. But they could be looking at film and practice reps and saying things can be even better with Humphries. When it gets scary is when there is no viable option, like SB 55. We'll be fine.

Our offense last year did just enough. They at one point went 15-16 drives without a TD in the AFC Championship and SB.


We need a higher level of performance this year and we have the weapons to do so.

?..

It be fine if we still had Allegretti

God I miss him. Now he's living it up in Washington. Oh well.

It is possible our defense is lights out again but if our offense does better this playoffs we will have much more of a margin for error.

Nah! First 6 games Mahomes rushed for 122 yards, or 20 yards a game. Next 7 games he rushed for 126 yards, or 18 yards a game. Last 3 games he rushed for 59 yards, or 20 yards a game.

As long it isn’t solely Andy Heck’s decision. I mean he gave the green light to Reid and Veach that we were good to go for the season with a Rookie and W morris.

Looks like DJ is definitely not starting now. ChiefsBlitz is Nick Athan.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">News out of KC is that the team is leaning towards starting Humphries at LT &amp; Thuney at LG this week vs the Texans. This is per a source given to <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiefsBlitz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChiefsBlitz</a><br><br>Feels risky. ��*♂️ <a href="https://t.co/c0MsEnCemA">pic.twitter.com/c0MsEnCemA</a></p>&mdash; All Chief&#39;d Up! (@AllChiefdUp) <a href="https://twitter.com/AllChiefdUp/status/1879644418237727091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thuney had a 43.5 pass block grade, allowed 10 pressures, 8 hurries, and 2 QB hits in his only game in which Mahomes wasn't throwing the ball faster than he ever has. Thats a 23% pressure rate. The next game he allowed 4 pressures (8% pressure rate) 3 hurries and 1 QB hit and that's when Mahomes was getting rid of it pretty much immediately.

Wanya allowed over an 8% pressure rate in 4/10 starts at LT, so 40%. Thuney allowed over 8% pressure rate in 2/3 starts at LT or 66%.

So the only conclusion I can come up with is that neither Thuney nor Humphries should be starting at LT and it should be Morris!

His source is himself and he's pretty much never right, so it's probably gonna be Thuney.

Welp, Thuney it is. I'm good with that.

If this turns out to be true, then it tells us CLEARLY that they have seen enough between the Chargers game, the Donkeys game, and practice, to know that Humphries isn't ready.

I mean, that's pretty clear at this point.

Look we can pick this apart all day, but like I said I don't trust Caliendo at RG for the playoffs run game or no run game convo.

I mean if Thuney starts at LT, it very clearly closes the book on Humphries as a starter. They absolutely will not make a change ahead of the AFCCG or SB.

That tweet says they are leaning towards Humphries playing so WTF did you come up with that opinion?

Yeah no sorry I was responding to the comment about how if this is what's being reported that it's actually the opposite.

I know, seems confusing.

My bad

I think just like the rest of us he's assuming that we can expect the opposite of the content of that tweet, because the person sending it is always 100% wrong about any story he "breaks".

Not really. thuney is exploitable.

Thank you

Ha. Forgot about that guy since the last time I said I forgot about that guy.

And again, I don't care what direction we go. I'm just waiting for someone to actually come up with some facts that back up their theory. So far, nobody has. None to the Thuney gets help on nearly every play. None to support we can't run the ball as well with Caliendo at guard.

Mahomes getting the ball out faster could have more to do with Brown than protecting Thuney. :shrug:

Eyeball test says our offense was pretty damn good the last 3 games that mattered. The 3 games in 11 days offense. Not the Denver game. That one doesn't count for anything.

We need to be able to run the football. This is why this is happening

LMAO