Let's talk about the Bengals [and Hamburger Helper]

[TLO]

This one is huge as far as the #1 seed goes.

Let's talk about it.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

I don’t think I’ve thought about hamburger helper in twenty years since last eating it growing up. I’ve seen them cook their gross chili spaghetti on cooking shows and never once has it looked good.

I've never actually made it, but probably ate it hundreds of times as a kid.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by mililo4cpa

That would have been me that made that claim a few days ago, after watching the clipped down versions of their games....

Very vanilla both on offense and defense.... they obviously motion some, and they blitz some, but not a lot at all. It's pretty much line up and beat you on both sides of the ball.....

One thing I also mentioned prior, but would like add more flavor to: Their offense is explosive because of the talented WRs they have + a QB that can get it to them (obviously!)

But the "more flavor" part of it is that, with the 3 excellent WRs + a TE that can run, it seems Burrow has mastered the art of finding the single coverage and throwing it up to them.....and they are talented enough to come down with it.

Much like other teams can try to double Kelce and Hill and take their chances with everyone else, the Gals have the same thing going here.

Burrow is very comfortable just chucking it up and letting his guys make plays. He does occasionally make a "wow" throw (i.e. into a tight windows), but those really aren't that common with him.

The "wow" throws are usually a result of the WRs making the plays on the other end of Burrow's toss ups. I think it's paramount that the rush get to him before that happens.

The rush don't have to sack him per se, but interrupt him enough to where those 50/50 balls are long, short, offline, etc. to minimize the risk of those WRs coming down with it.....My guess, and seeing that Burrow likes to hold the ball, the sacks will come if the rush can come home. But the most important thing is to limit the long ball (BTW, the Gals are 39.5% on third downs, which is very average to below average for the league)

Don't get me wrong: Burrow is a very good QB, but he gets bailed out a ton by the WR talent they have. But it is very feast/famine for the Gals, so if the explosive plays can be limited, that is a huge plus for the Chiefs.

NOTE: I do expect the Gals to hit on some explosive plays along the way, particularly since the Chiefs are bend but don't break. If the Chiefs can keep those long plays from being scoring plays, then that will neuter the Gals offense


EDIT:
P.S. I also mentioned before that I don't understand the lack of motion by teams (but I'm not a coach, so who knows!).....so I've been wondering why the Gals don't motion a lot at all.....the only thing I could come up with is that, when they line up, each route assigned is in combination with the others, and Burrow is reading the Defense in conjunction with those combinations, and somehow, a motion would make that read more difficult.....

That is a weak theory I admit, but for the life of me I can't think of anything better.....would be curious of an answer to that from more knowledgable people!

Well, I’m a big burrow fan so I think there’s a lot to be said for a guy who can execute the offense. He has tremendous touch and accuracy. The guy I’m less sure of is zac taylor. How much does talent vs scheme drive their success? And what happens when you can check talent and have to rely on scheme? May get a good check on that this weekend. And that team runs really hot and cold at times.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by mililo4cpa

Burrow is very comfortable just chucking it up and letting his guys make plays. He does occasionally make a "wow" throw (i.e. into a tight windows), but those really aren't that common with him.

The "wow" throws are usually a result of the WRs making the plays on the other end of Burrow's toss ups. I think it's paramount that the rush get to him before that happens.

The rush don't have to sack him per se, but interrupt him enough to where those 50/50 balls are long, short, offline, etc. to minimize the risk of those WRs coming down with it.....My guess, and seeing that Burrow likes to hold the ball, the sacks will come if the rush can come home. But the most important thing is to limit the long ball (BTW, the Gals are 39.5% on third downs, which is very average to below average for the league)

Don't get me wrong: Burrow is a very good QB, but he gets bailed out a ton by the WR talent they have. But it is very feast/famine for the Gals, so if the explosive plays can be limited, that is a huge plus for the Chiefs.

And that lends itself to the Brady-esque DPI calls, too, which I'm sure he's betting on sometimes... whether it's an intentional underthrow or hoping for incidental contact.

[mililo4cpa]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

It's also worth pointing out the Cowboys started that game with CeeDee Lamb and did squat in the first half with him. His concussion came at the end of the half.

Don't forget the Lamb concussion came on a Dakception in the end zone as well.....

[Sam Hall]

The whole team is off Covid, but the line has remained at Chiefs -5. This line would look really good if I were a betting man.

[mililo4cpa]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

And that lends itself to the Brady-esque DPI calls, too, which I'm sure he's betting on sometimes... whether it's an intentional underthrow or hoping for incidental contact.

honestly, I don't recall seeing an aggrevious amounts of PI.....I'm sure it happened from time to time like it does for every team, but nothing that stood out to me.....

But I think the Bengals receivers (and Burrow) simply think they are that much better than everyone. On any given play, somebody is going to be one-on-one, so that's where the ball is going (and that's before mixing in the dynamic of the run game)

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by Sam Hall

The whole team is off Covid, but the line has remained at Chiefs -5. This line would look really good if I were a betting man.

Maybe, but Burrow can sling it around and avoids pressure pretty well. I think KC wins if they take care of the ball. If the mistakes of past weeks rear their head again, it could easily be an L.

[fan4ever]

I hope they don't take it wrong when we leave Mahomes in during the 4th quarter so he can get his 600 yards passing.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar

Maybe, but Burrow can sling it around and avoids pressure pretty well. I think KC wins if they take care of the ball. If the mistakes of past weeks rear their head again, it could easily be an L.

He's been sacked more than any QB in the NFL.

[BigRedChief]

The Bengals have played only 1 top-10 offense (PPG) this year, and lost 41-22 in that game (Chargers).

They played only 1 game against a top-10 defense (PPG), and scored 15 points in that game (Broncos).

They've played the easiest schedule in the league

[chiefzilla1501]

Curious to see the spags burrow chess match. Burrow started the season dominating man coverage then looked a lot less dominant against Denver (assume they played a lot of man?). They have a damn good secondary. Our secondary is good too but good enough for this challenge or is burrow nearly as flawless against man as he was pegged? Or do we fake aggressiveness and play safer like we stumped dak.

Feel like spags is gonna play this aggressive as hell. Attack burrow, play aggressive man and go for boom bust. We may give up some big plays but we have the offense to recover. The minute we get an edge spags gets more creative and more aggressive, and opposing offenses start feeling like they need to press. If the gap widens spags goes berzerk with his blitzes.

Feel like we’re giving burrow something he’s not used to. A lot of teams have been playing him safe. Since safe zone is en vogue this year. But spags is having success bucking that trend by being creative as hell with his blitz packages. Good test for our defense with burrow and a good test for burrow too. This matchup between our defense and burrow will be super interesting.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin

He's been sacked more than any QB in the NFL.

Imagine what those numbers would be if he didn't avoid pressure well!

[chiefzilla1501]

Gotta give Andy this. I know bob sutton gets a lot of shit. But Andy has been real creative with his defensive choices. He bucked the trend with Sutton going dime when everyone was blitzing. And now he’s bucking the trend by blitzing when everyone else is laying up. Gives other offenses something unique to look at. Who knows how long that lasts but for now it seems to suit us especially well this year with DPI being loosely enforced.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Not in this case. You could argue that neither team has a signature win. But there’s a clear difference in strength of schedule. The chiefs have played 4 top 10 teams. Bengals 1. Meanwhile the bengals have played the three worst teams and 4 in the bottom 10 (jags, jets, lions, bears). The chiefs only 1. Somehow the bengals going 2-2 in those games. The timing of the ravens and raiders games were practically layups. So we’re talking about one team that’s consistently played playoff contenders vs a team that’s played half of their schedule against bad teams. I don’t think there’s any argument the chiefs have had a tough schedule. And easy to make the argument the bengals schedule has not been.

That doesn’t mean either team has any advantage. But on paper we are way more proven even keeping prior seasons aside.

That, and the previous 3 years before this.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by notorious

That, and the previous 3 years before this.

Big yup