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.

I would.

If for no other reason than Oliver has historically had Smith's number and you don't NEED someone as good as Oliver to torment Caliendo.

Pressure from 2 spots on the interior is far more damaging than pressure from 1, as we've seen when Jones is getting complementary pass rush around him.

Little off topic here but, if we get into a 4th and inches situation, it's time to bring back the QB sneak.

Pacheco also sends a good portion of his own momentum directly into the ground with the way he runs so, as you stated, he needs space to build up and get going.

That's one thing that makes Pacheco frustrating to watch. He should have "shot out of a cannon" type explosiveness similar to Bijan Robinson but his 'angry at the ground' run style saps his burst, allowing defenders who might've taken bad angles initially a chance to recover and gain ground.

Say it all day -- we ain't gonna do it.

We'll get Mahomes ripped on a rollout from the 1 yard line before we just let him get shoved in a pile.

The amount of punishment we've subjected him to BECAUSE we're unwilling to sneak the ball is bizarre to me.

If Pacheco had Hunt's vision and balance he'd be a 1500+ yard back. But he has really really terrible vision overall. Kareem can always find at least a sliver of some yards on just about any play.

His vision is how a guy who ran a 4.3 at 210lbs was a 7th round pick.

Pretty much

Yep.

100%!!!

True that.

And to my earlier point about his running style, this from his rookie scouting report...

Link - https://www.nfl.com/prospects/isiah-...1-d5a8938af2e4

I’m not sure why they don’t run Wentz out there, he was pretty efficient running those as a starter and is obviously much more of a threat to keep the defense honest for a pass than Noah Gray.

Well they nailed him on this assessment didn't they?

I never understood why we didn't feature it with Blake Bell.

College QB - he can make a 1 read throw on a play action or hand it to an up back. They wouldn't be able to COMPLETELY sell out on it. And he's disposable. And a damn tank so he could push the pile.

We had a genuine competitive advantage there we didn't use.

But whatev. Alls well that ends well.

That's my biggest worry, considering how bad Smith played last week too. DaQuan Jones is kind of a load for Caliendo which might impact how much help Creed can consistently provide Smith too. Not a great combination for the interior run game and definitely could impact the passing game, though Buffalo does a lot of 3-man fronts against QBs that can move.

Man.

If only we had a HoF caliber guard we could put on that left side so that Creed could help out Trey...

SEE HERE YOU GO AGAIN

THE CHIEFS AVERAGED 4.3 YPC SATURDAY

STOP DOOMING

Cool. Then who do you put at left tackle that has shown on a consistent basis that he can protect Pat's blind side?

****ing no one. So give it a ****in rest

If only we had starting LT we could rely on.

God damn, I'm still pissed that Humphries couldn't go against the Texans or Steelers.

The Chiefs are averaging 26.3 PPG and 252 yards passing per game with Thuney at LT in the last three games.

Mahomes has zero interceptions and the Chiefs have allowed 4 sacks.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop acting Joe Thuney is some kind of franchise-killing shit machine.

D.J. Humphries in the lineup is a disaster waiting to happen. IT'S ON FILM.

Absolutely. It almost bit us last game where we ran shotgun on 4th and 1. Hunt actually got stuffed and ran into the back of a lineman but had the wherewithal to spin and fall backward. Pacheco wouldn't have got it. And if we just QB sneak the god damn thing its even easier.

LMAO

*Chiefs run a play that goes well*

"NEXT TIME IT WILL GO WRONG!!!!"

We continually complicate things on short yardage when the simplest solutions work best. The difference is we now have Hunt who is freaking ELITE in short yardage.

don't understand the finger pointing at mahomes. texans have two great corners and ran a bunch of quarters. i thought it was pretty evident we were making a concerted effort to not throw outside the numbers and work the middle. yeah the offense wasn't as sharp as i'd hoped but they have a damn good defense tbh.

only gripe to this point is humphries not getting the opportunity to start. texans were actively abusing thuney's lack of length and having anderson rush wide. this is a problem you cannot simply close your eyes and wish away unfortunately.

No they did not. Where'd you come up with that number?

Throwing out kneeldowns and punters running, our running game produced 78 yards on 18 carries.

BULLSHIT!!..Joe allowed two fecking sacks out of three and a 15% pressure rate and the whole line gave up a 40% pressure rate ffs. He was TERRIBLE last week and him being at LT is also hurting the rungame. There's no way DJ would have done worse than him last game. No chance.

You are looking at a small sample size.

We are not going to face the Texans DL every week.

My numbers are correct.

Some of you still have Wanya PTSD.

NO DEFENSE we face from here on out is that scary up front.

The offense has been piss poor in two of the four games Joe has played LT. Fact. His performance last week was no better than what Wayna has put up that's for sure.

Franchise-killing shit machine? No. A real improvement? Not really.

He played against Cleveland too.

Not counting the Denver game because it's moot and skews everything astronomically...
We scored 25.0 PPG with him at LT and 23.7 PPG with him at LG.
We averaged 321.75 YPG in the 4 games with him at LT and 338.2 YPG with Thuney at LG .

I'm going to cherry-pick a stat here, kind of like you have, to emphasize that in his 4 games at LT we gave up 2 of our top 6 worst outings in pressure % on the season.

stupid debate

If DJ didn’t shit the bed in the second half of the Denver game, or showed something in practice he’d be starting. The staff feels he’s a liability. It is what it is.

I feel like there's a lot loaded into that. Thuney was still riding a hot hand and after Houston he isn't anymore. Our running game definitely didn't look good.

So Why the second half failure? How much was it about conditioning and communication, something where an extra month would help tremendously? I know we'd all like an all pro but if hes adequate and it allows us to bump thuney from being adequate LT to a hall of fame guard that's all we need. Genuinely do not know and am not ruling out that maybe he won't ever be ready or dependable this year.

O-line needs to work as a unit. The second half was Humphries and scrubs

All of you that continue to advocate for DJ starting are just chasing a hunch at this point. I love the idea of coming out with a different (hopefully improved) line configuration but at this point it would all be based on speculation.

Shit at this point I think it’s more likely that Kingsley rolls out at LG than DJ.

Reid isn't going to do a major shuffle of multiple linemen. It backfired horrendously in the Tampa Super Bowl.

It isn't about humphries being better than thuney. It is more about knowing it's a big downgrade not to have thuney at LG. It's an adequate LT/adequate LG when we could have ?LT/hall of Fame LG

Except DJ shown he can be an adequate LT for an entire game. KC doesn’t blow people out anymore. They win close games. They need a player with a known floor for 4 quarters.

Wbf

He's literally not done this at all.

Insta-pressure QB wrecks loses playoff games.

Given his previous posts on the subject, I think he meant that DJ HASN'T shown it. Probably a typo.

ROFLROFLROFLROFL

You ****ers are unbelievable. Joe Thuney is an upgrade. PERIOD.

False. You are an idiot. The Chiefs offense has been good to elite in three of his games. The divisional round was a GOOD GAME for this offense.

Cleveland was the only effort that sucked and he STILL didn't give up a sack.

Upgrade over what?

It's pretty easy to be the best LT on the team when the team doesn't have an actual playable LT in the roster.

Sure it is no doubt a risk. I dont think it's an easy answer either way. I get it if we stick with thuney at LT. I'm just saying most people intrigued by a switch are more interested in returning thuney to LG versus saying humphries will be an upgrade over thuney

There are obviously some extenuating circumstances that makes this different. If it's conditioning and communication, time improves that way more predictably than just tossing kingsley out there as an unproven unknown.

The problem is there is now also risk with our safe option. Because some of those warts started to show against Houston. So the conversation this week is way different than last week.

Chiefs just averaged 7.1 yards per pass, 4.3 yards per rush, 0 turnovers, scored on 5 of 7 drives, against an elite defense.

JOE THUNEY, SAVIOR OF THE KCCHIEFS

Yeah, offense was far from perfect Saturday, but some lonnnnnng drives from Houston and the Chiefs themselves hurt the point total.

I mean the Texans had the ball for almost the entire third quarter.

BULLSHIT AGAIN BY THIS NOVICE!!. The offense last week was not "good". It let up three sacks, 40% pressure rate, were 4/11 on third down, 50 rush yards, less yards per play than Houston and had the ball for seven minutes less too. So please get real and stop sucking Joe's genitals ffs :evil: .

The Chiefs had 78 yards rushing on 18 carries.

You can't even get your facts straight. You have to take out kneel downs and punter runs.

The Chiefs offense played an effective, productive game against an elite defense. You don't score on 5 of 7 drives without good LT play.

The Texans were moving the ball and gaining yards easier on our defence than vice versa. But we came up with opportunistic stops and sacks to end drives. As well, our offence struggled more than expected, facing this team. Hopefully we play a better game against Buffalo, especially on offence.

:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:

Chiefs scored on 5 of 7 drives. 3.3 points per drive.

First meeting they scored on 5 of 9. 3 points per drive.

The Chiefs OUTPERFORMED relative to the first game.

1st game

4.8 YPC
6.3 YPP

2nd game

4.3 YPC
7.1 YPP

LMAO

I dunno, stats are stats. The first drive we had -1 yard, but got 3 pts strictly due to field position, skewing EPA per drive. Just based on the eye test, they had challenges. Maybe Houston improved late season, as they also held the Chargers on offence.

Now it's the ****ing eye test LMAO

RESULTS are all that matters.

Thuney's pressure rate is not good. Against a more athletic DE like Houston's, he's fine.

It's going to be interesting to see how he deals with the length and strength of a guy like Rousseau. It's a bad matchup for a guy that depends on technique to win because he doesn't play like a traditional LT.

You keep saying it was good enough. Some us don't care about good enough, we want better. Unfortunately, we don't have a better LT. But let's not sit here and pretend playing Thuney at LT is some kind of panacea.

It's GOOD ENOUGH for us to average MORE points per drive in the 2nd meeting.

It's GOOD ENOUGH that we aren't giving up drive-killing insta-sacks like Wanya and DJ.

Some of you gotta WAKE UP. Thuney is the LT and the results are GOOD right now. DAMN GOOD.

ROUSSEAU? Not even in the same stratosphere as what we just faced. LMAO

THE MIGHTY GREG ROUSSEAU is 6-6 266

Danielle Hunter is 6-5 263

LMAO

You sound like a Patriots fan.

ROUSSEAU!!!

Maybe you could bleat about AJ Espenesa next. SCARY

The Chiefs have got to get it together. We will need at least 30 points I would think to beat Buffalo, they can score at will. The offense struggled a bit too much for the liking against the Texans and I understand their defense is 100% legit. I think the 'Arrowhead Advantage' is worth about 10 pts. in any given game and that difference allowed the Chiefs to get by the Texans. The Chiefs OL has got to ball out vs. the Bills, Mahomes needs time to throw and only 45 yards to WR's just isn't going to cut it for victory here on out. We have too many good WR's running around for that kind of garbage statistic in a game.

3.3 points per drive.

I GUARANTEE YOU that also beats the Buffalo Bills and their scary #17 defense.

Disagree. I think it’s a better matchup.

Anderson and Hunter are way harder bc they can use speed to power more efficiently than Rousseau

There you go using that word again.

The ONLY time I've used that word is to respond to you and others like you that are absolutely terrified that the Chiefs will put someone at LT other than Thuney.

Nice try Junior, but you're no match for me.

All the bleating is NONSENSE. This is not a more difficult matchup for us, at ALL.

Is it expected that they're playing Thuney at LT? Is the Humphries experiment over & merely a depth piece at this point?

There's very little chance, if any, they change things now.

Saw an article where the Bills have been running jumbo sets (6 lineman) more and more frequently. It is something that was discussed here several times even before they signed DJ.

I doubt Andy would do it, but I could see us really benefiting from using it on some drives to run it down their throats, with play action off of it. Kareem would be perfect in that set up.

You guys are ****ing nuts for pissing on Thuney. This is currently a legendary thing he's doing.

ROUSSEAU!!!

You're such a dishonest bitch. You're subtracting the end of half and end of game drives for the last game, but not the first one. The Chiefs had 52 seconds at the end of the half to score and actually got a FG, so take those points away and both the end of half drives.

So game one they scored on 4/7 drives. 3.4 points per drive

Leave the end of half drive and it's 5/8 and 3.4 ppd still.

Also if they needed it in game one they score a TD at the end there.

The offensive performance wasn't better at all.

We dont need or want to run the ball against the Bills. Their secondary is suspect at best. We will win passing the ball, not running the ball.

Pissing on Thuney? LMAO

The mods should change your name to Hyperbole Parties.