Who do you MOST blame for the team's issues?

[DaFace]

Do we need another thread to gripe about last night? Of course we do! So here's one more.

Pick an option or add your own.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

No.

Obviously not. I wanted to grab a pass-rusher the year we took CEH but if we had gotten a real weapon there no one would be complaining.

I actually wanted CEH after watching him play great in the CFB playoffs. Thought he would be a perfect fit but it obviously hasn't worked out that way.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I actually wanted CEH after watching him play great in the CFB playoffs. Thought he would be a perfect fit but it obviously hasn't worked out that way.

I just don't understand why he gets virtually no looks in the passing game. I thought that was one of the main reasons we drafted him. And yet he's getting 2 targets a game.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Lack of a pass rush is the main problem. Most of the defense problems is caused by this.

But again - how do we even know?

I cite Wharton again for my point - Wharton's actually winning a lot of pass rush reps. He's getting free fairly quickly. And the coverage is so bad that nobody has noticed it an in fact many are criticizing his play thus far (fair in the run game, but not so much as a rusher).

Watch the Eagles game again, Jones was actually doing a nice job of beating his man. He just couldn't get home because the ball came out so quickly.

Now that's not to say that I think this is a premier pass rush or will be. It's to say that I don't think it's as bad as it appears at first glance. But back to where I started - when the rush gets home, the coverage fails. When the coverage holds up, the rush fails. It's just been a series of complementary failures on seemingly every drive.

They need consistency somewhere and if they get it, it will help everywhere.

[Marcellus]

Read this before you vote, its pretty jaw dropping.

Kansas City has now lost four of its past six games with Patrick Mahomes in the lineup, after winning 12 in a row and 25 of its previous 26. How is that possible? Here is how: As a general rule, the Chiefs lose when their defense is not just bad, but off-the-charts bad. Bad, as in Allen completing 15 passes for 315 yards on the night.

By the way, Joe Namath holds the record for yardage in a game on 15 or fewer passes, because of course he does. Broadway Joe completed 15 for 496 yards and six touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts in 1972. Johnny Unitas passed for 376 yards, leading the New York Daily News to report that “Joe and old master John Unitas put on an aerial display that hasn’t been matched in this city since Francis Scott Key blew his mind over the rockets’ red glare.”

Are the Chiefs history, too?

If we stack all 59 Mahomes starts according to the Chiefs’ defensive EPA in those games, we see that Kansas City is 22-0 when its defense is average or better, according to TruMedia. The rest of the league is 586-262-5 (.690) in those games. Advantage, Chiefs.

We see that Kansas City is 15-2 in games when its defense is below average, but not off-the-charts bad. The rest of the league is 202-346-2 (.371) in those games. Advantage, Chiefs.

Finally, we see that Kansas City is 9-11 in the games when its defense is at its worst. The rest of the league is 70-281-1 (.200) in those games. Big, huge, Tier 1 quarterback advantage, Chiefs, except that 9-11 is not a good record in isolation. Unfortunately for Kansas City, all five Chiefs games this season fall into the “worst defensive games” category. That is reflected in the team’s record, which might not improve unless the defense does.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I just don't understand why he gets virtually no looks in the passing game. I thought that was one of the main reasons we drafted him. And yet he's getting 2 targets a game.

Me either. Same with McKinnon, he should be getting some looks as well as he can break it for a TD. Maybe Mahomes doesn't like throwing to the RB's..I don't know.

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It just depends on what version you're thinking about.

Has it improved over the atrophy riddled pile of smashed assholes that ended the season? Oh hell yes - by orders of magnitude.

Is it obviously better than the Fisher - Osemele - Reiter - Wylie - Schwartz? No, not really. It's different, but I wouldn't say it's clearly better either.

But it's early. The OL is well down my list of concerns. The talent is there, the mindset is there. That can be a good line and potentially even a great one.

The IOL is, I think, definitely better, the OTs worse. For all the talk of the incredible job Veach has done on OL I think at present you're right - it's not that much improved. I still probably have more faith it it's improvement than any level of the defence.

It does feel like getting average across the OL and looking to improve at DE and CB, or even another WR, might have been the better overall strategy. But in fairness I've no idea what that might have looked like. Plus it's hard to feel bad about the Creed and Smith picks or the focus on protecting Mahomes first and foremost.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I just don't understand why he gets virtually no looks in the passing game. I thought that was one of the main reasons we drafted him. And yet he's getting 2 targets a game.

Who knows. Seemingly none of the traits have translated to the NFL, injury has robbed him of what little speed he had, and Reid seems absolutely determined to use him as nothing but an early down churner. Why in the **** would you draft CEH to have him do that?

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I actually wanted CEH after watching him play great in the CFB playoffs. Thought he would be a perfect fit but it obviously hasn't worked out that way.

I liked him a lot too coming out of college and also thought he would be a good fit.

I did like Swift better but with CEH I thought his pass pro was better than it appears now in the NFL.

That is limiting his chances to make a difference as a receiver.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by JPH83

The IOL is, I think, definitely better, the OTs worse. For all the talk of the incredible job Veach has done on OL I think at present you're right - it's not that much improved. I still probably have more faith it it's improvement than any level of the defence.

It does feel like getting average across the OL and looking to improve at DE and CB, or even another WR, might have been the better overall strategy. But in fairness I've no idea what that might have looked like. Plus it's hard to feel bad about the Creed and Smith picks or the focus on protecting Mahomes first and foremost.

I think ultimately it's not terribly fair to judge the job he did in the offseason based on the 'starting' line from 2020 to now. Because Osemele, Fisher and Schwartz broke and they just weren't available in 2021.

So a fair point of comparison given the severity of the injuries to 3 key starters probably is the attrition riddled pile of smashed assholes we ended the season with. Fair or not, that was our throughput and it wasn't of Veach's doing.

And yeah, Veach did a great job with that rebuild, IMO. I just think we got a little ahead of ourselves (and said so) when we talked about how awful the 2020 line was - it really wasn't THAT bad until the end. So our memory of what the line WAS is clouded and that colored our perceived impact of the new line.

I never really expected this OL to be a massive upgrade over the regular season 2020 line. But I respect what Veach was able to to in really tough circumstance to ensure that there would be no real decline and a real possibility of substantial improvement over time.

I'll still shit on a great deal many things Veach has done, but I think he handled the OL rebuild as well as it could have possibly been handled.

[dirk digler]

As far as the offense goes Reid talked about the coverage comment Mahomes made last night.

Reid described how defenses are currently playing the Chiefs offense — and how it might overcome the change in looks.

As to be expected, defenses have made adjustments in 2021 to counteract the Chiefs' explosive offense.

"When Pat was on his first few years, we saw a lot of man coverage," remembered Reid. “They challenged us with man, and then we started to get pretty good with that. But we went through a phase where — like we are now, man — we struggled with a little bit. We pounded through that, and now we're seeing zone. We're seeing the shell zone, whether it's two-deep, or whether it's quarters, palms, which is kind of a mixture of Cover-4 — the quarters look and 2."

By playing more zone, teams are doing a better job eliminating the explosive plays we had become used to seeing from the Chiefs offense.

"They're making you kind of work your way down the field, so we're putting these drives together," said Reid. "We're having hiccups within the drive, where you're having turnovers or penalties, and those things — they kill you. So it's not that you're not racking up the yards. It's not that you're not moving the ball. You just got to be more consistent with it and be able to sustain these drives. They're not going to give up the big shot there necessarily."

Still, the Chiefs won't abandon the deep shots completely. But they do need to build to them.

"There's a time and a place for that," said Reid. "You got to be able to run the ball. You got to be able to throw the ball. You got to have a short-to-intermediate game. You've got to have the whole package. You've got to be able to move the quarterback around, but most of all, you've got to be able to sustain that. So does it take a certain concentration level to do that? Yeah, it's tough to drive the length of the field. But we've done it before and been successful with it.

"We did it the week before this week (against the Eagles) and were very successful with it. So it's a matter of letting everything play for you as you go, sometimes you got to pump the brakes a little bit, and just take what's given and you roll with it. It doesn't matter if it's the run game or the pass game. It's the same thing, and it's not just one position. It's everybody. It's everybody doing their job, coaches included, all got a part of it."

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

As far as the offense goes Reid talked about the coverage comment Mahomes made last night.

Yea when you look at his comment about the longer drives and more plays there are more chances for error., its exactly what's happening.

1st INT, off the hands of Hill, never should have happened.

2ND INT- Niang doesn't hold his block well enough and the DE makes an just incredible play to knock the ball up and catch it. Very very rare play.

Then you have Hill dropping a pass on 3rd down that him in the facemask and Mahomes missing Kelce on a TD. Its just errors compounded by the limited number of drives the defense is giving them on top of the pressure mounting because the defense keeps giving up TD's.

Big old snowball.

[Fat Elvis]

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I actually wanted CEH after watching him play great in the CFB playoffs. Thought he would be a perfect fit but it obviously hasn't worked out that way.

Unless it's a designed RB pass, the back has to figure out if they need to stay in for blitz pickup or release if no one's coming...the Chiefs do not trust Helaire to pickup a blitz at all.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Yea when you look at his comment about the longer drives and more plays there are more chances for error., its exactly what's happening.

1st INT, off the hands of Hill, never should have happened.

2ND INT- Niang doesn't hold his block well enough and the DE makes an just incredible play to knock the ball up and catch it. Very very rare play.

Then you have Hill dropping a pass on 3rd down that him in the facemask and Mahomes missing Kelce on a TD. Its just errors compounded by the limited number of drives the defense is giving them on top of the pressure mounting because the defense keeps giving up TD's.

Big old snowball.

Yep. Lack of running game is really hurting us.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Yep. Lack of running game is really hurting us.

There probably isn't a team with a worse RB group.