Chiefs 5 things we learned as the Chiefs collapsed in the AFC Championship - Page 4

LongSufferingToady · 02-01-2022, 02:18 PM

1. Patrick Mahomes can come up short in a big moment

Prior to Sunday, the Mahomes-led Chiefs have only lost twice in the postseason: once in a 37-31 shootout against the New England Patriots — and last season’s 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. You can point to the nine points scored in last year’s championship game and put it on Mahomes — but having no help from his reserve offensive line and his pass catchers prevented his high level of effort from mattering.

In this epic collapse, however, blame can be placed on Mahomes.

At the end of the first half, a risky decision to throw short of the end zone without any timeouts cost his team the chance at scoring at least a field goal; after the play, Mahomes also signaled for a timeout the team didn’t have.

All four of the sacks he took came in the second half — three of them on third down — including two plays in a row at the end of regulation that nearly ruined Kansas City’s chance to tie.

It really was remarkable to see Mahomes play that uncomfortably in a big moment — especially one week after the calm demeanor he displayed as he came back to win against the Buffalo Bills.

2. The Chiefs can’t win by relying on the defense

It’s hard to ask much more from the Chiefs’ defense, which didn’t make anything easy for the Bengals’ offense. It held Cincinnati to field goals on two red-zone trips, created a turnover in the fourth quarter and held quarterback Joe Burrow to 250 passing yards and an 86.5 passer rating.

But the defense couldn’t hold down the Bengals all day. It allowed them to creep back from a 21-3 deficit to eventually take a 24-21 lead. Ideally, the defense would have swarmed the Bengals and dominated them all game — but that’s just unrealistic. This unit wasn’t meant to perform that way; they need to create a turnover or two and get some stops. That’s what they did.

It shows you that in terms of how this team succeeds, the defense can only be a complement to the offense. After the second half of the regular season might have convinced some people that the defense could carry the Chiefs to a Super Bowl, this performance confirms that it will always depend more on the offense’s output.

3. The 2021 Chiefs did not want to lean on the running game

Between running backs Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, there were 101 rushing yards on 18 attempts on Sunday — an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

Yet even as it was performing so efficiently, it never felt like the Chiefs trusted the offense to rely on a rushing attack. Starting the second half with the ball (and up two possessions), you’d think the ground game would be a great way to safely maintain that lead — especially if it was manufacturing 5-7 yards on what seemed like every carry.

With how the Chiefs’ offensive line is now constructed, the running game could be a bigger part of the offense. No... you don’t want to take the ball out of Mahomes’ hands. But when there’s a two-score lead to protect, trusting an efficient running game can make things easier on the rest of the offense.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Chiefs make their ground attack a bigger part of the offense in 2022.

4. The Chiefs’ pass rush isn’t as dominant as we perceived

Last week, the Tennessee Titans played the Bengals in front of their home crowd; they managed to sack quarterback Joe Burrow nine times.

This week, the Chiefs were in a similar situation — but they mustered only one sack all afternoon. There was some pressure — three quarterback hits outside of the sack — but Burrow escaped pass rushers’ grasp multiple times, leading to some of the game’s most important plays.

Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Melvin Ingram really heated up during the regular season — but in the playoffs, only Ingram made plays of any importance. Jones has flashed and is always tightening the pocket — but his postseason resume is not what you’d expect from an All-Pro.

The Chiefs have invested a lot of capital in the defensive line — and in past playoff runs, it worked — but this year, its impact didn’t match its talent.

5. It’s extremely hard to be an NFL dynasty — and the Chiefs missed a great shot at becoming one

Sunday’s loss means the Chiefs have won a single Super Bowl in four of Mahomes’ seasons as a starter. No one’s saying that’s a failure, but the team has loved to talk about the potential of a dynasty — and deservedly so.

Kansas City hosted four straight AFC Championships. That puts a team in a favorable position to play in four Super Bowls — which opens the opportunity to win multiple rings. The team was on the doorstep of creating a legitimate dynasty — but it’s about the end results. The Chiefs are just an ordinarily elite team, rather than a team on a historic stretch of NFL domination.

Yes... in the coming years, the team could change that narrative by winning multiple titles — but it’s not easy to get to this point every season; the Chiefs’ streak of postseason home-field advantage is bound to run out. The team blew one of their best opportunities to add a title in the Mahomes era — and there’s no guarantee it will ever again be set up as well as it was in 2021.

https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2022/...city-collapsed

Chiefshrink · 02-01-2022, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

7. **** off

Jesus loves you !!

Abba-Dabba · 02-01-2022, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc

The offense was a big part of that, too. Hold onto the ball some, give the defense a breather. But they stopped trying to run the ball, kept endung drives with punts and didn't take advantage of goal to go opportunities.

Can't lay that loss on the defense. Particularly when your team is built around offense and they disappear for half the game
And holding the opponent to 24 points in regulation should be a win for this team. Every single time

And we won the ****ing coin toss in overtime to boot

No reason at all to lose that game. The defense did enough the offense blew it

I am not going to sit here and say that the offense did not have it's fair share of issues. They certainly did. The defense had their as well.

But it is not just this about this one game with the defense. The first half of the season they were historically bad. Sure, the overall picture was cleaned up with facing likes of the juggernauts known as the Giants, a Packers team without Rodgers, the Broncos x2, The Mehboys and a ageless Big Ben led Squealers.

No. Not having it that the offense is the issue. The defense is the bigger issue, and has been for the majority of the year.

Thinking this team can go on with the same scheme and DC is just pounding your head against the wall.

LongSufferingToady · 02-01-2022, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

The fact that you made it that high on someone's hate list with only 470 posts is quite an accomplishment. I'm impressed.

Thank you! (I think!)

ReynardMuldrake · 02-02-2022, 12:30 AM

I'm telling you guys, Mahomes was concussed by that knee to the head. His decision making just wasn't the same after that, he didn't make proper reads, and his accuracy was terrible. He didn't tell the coaches so they never tried to adjust.

Just like Jimmy G was concussed by that Niemann hit in the 4th Q of the superbowl. He threw wobbly ducks the rest of the game and clearly shouldn't have been playing.

**Bugeater** · 02-02-2022, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RubberSponge

I am not going to sit here and say that the offense did not have it's fair share of issues. They certainly did. The defense had their as well.

But it is not just this about this one game with the defense. The first half of the season they were historically bad. Sure, the overall picture was cleaned up with facing likes of the juggernauts known as the Giants, a Packers team without Rodgers, the Broncos x2, The Mehboys and a ageless Big Ben led Squealers.

No. Not having it that the offense is the issue. The defense is the bigger issue, and has been for the majority of the year.

Thinking this team can go on with the same scheme and DC is just pounding your head against the wall.

Yep. When the defense is so shaky that it's affecting how you run the offense i.e. we can't leave any time on the clock, need touchdowns not FGs etc, that's a problem. Especially when you're in the redzone at the end of the conference championship and your QB passes up chances at a touchdown to send you to the Super Bowl because he feels like he needs to use up the clock because your defense can't be trusted to keep the other team out of the end zone.

Yeah, that's a big ****ing problem.

BigChiefTN · 02-02-2022, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Chiefs can still be a ****ing dynasty we get Patrick next 10 years and another extension and we can win more Super Bowls with Patrick ****ing Mahomes.

If only it were that easy…. We blew 2 opportunities with home field advantage- those are NOT easy to come by. Wasted , Wasted , Wasted….. It just sucks …

BigChiefTN · 02-02-2022, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

I'm telling you guys, Mahomes was concussed by that knee to the head. His decision making just wasn't the same after that, he didn't make proper reads, and his accuracy was terrible. He didn't tell the coaches so they never tried to adjust.

Just like Jimmy G was concussed by that Niemann hit in the 4th Q of the superbowl. He threw wobbly ducks the rest of the game and clearly shouldn't have been playing.

That’s an interesting point… It’s certainly more logical than the idiots that say he “threw” the game…. It really is a mystery what happened to him (pretty much starting the last drive of the first half)

rabblerouser · 02-02-2022, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigChiefTN

That’s an interesting point… It’s certainly more logical than the idiots that say he “threw” the game…. It really is a mystery what happened to him (pretty much starting the last drive of the first half)

Keep thinking it's a ****ing "mystery" then.

UK_Chief · 02-02-2022, 02:59 AM

Patrick Mahomes is 26 years old

Flying High D · 02-02-2022, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

I'm telling you guys, Mahomes was concussed by that knee to the head. His decision making just wasn't the same after that, he didn't make proper reads, and his accuracy was terrible. He didn't tell the coaches so they never tried to adjust.

Just like Jimmy G was concussed by that Niemann hit in the 4th Q of the superbowl. He threw wobbly ducks the rest of the game and clearly shouldn't have been playing.

He might not of got concussed, but when they gave him a couple of aspirin at halftime that were actually Quaaludes, he might as well of been concussed.

rabblerouser · 02-02-2022, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RubberSponge

Then how can one say Spags defensive scheme is designed to operate best when the offense has the lead. But yet, they continually lose double digit leads and then act like the scheme isn't a huge problem.

Defense was NOT the problem last Sunday.

18 point lead in the second half, hitting 5.7 yards per carry...you RUN THE ****ING BALL and let your defense rest, so that when they go out there, they can pin their ears back and get the passer, because after stringing some first downs together and scoring, the lead has increased and time decreased, so they're going to pass the ball.

That's only what you do if you wanted to win the ****ing game though.

I don't know what the **** Andy Reid was doing on the sideline last Sunday...

Flying High D · 02-02-2022, 05:11 AM

Andy was thinking get this damn game over so he can go to a buffet.

rabblerouser · 02-02-2022, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flying High D

Andy was thinking get this damn game over so he can go to a buffet.

Get this damn game over so he can get away from Patrick, who now hates his fat complicit ass for throwing the game on Sunday...

Red Dawg · 02-02-2022, 07:13 AM

We lost because Andy thinks you just keep throwing with Mahomes and you eventually will win. We had a big lead and they were dropping 8 so you run the ****ing ball. Every coach knows Andy will never commit to the run so they have zero fear of dropping guys in coverage. Andy needs to go. His mentality and ignorance to following basic football sucks. Why not take the 3 before the half/ We have Mahomes. Why not run against a 3 man rush? We have Mahomes. It's ****ing stupid.

ARROW2 · 02-02-2022, 08:43 AM

We took a dive. Simple as that. If millionaires are nonchalant about it, why should I invest any emotional energy into this shit?

02-01-2022, 02:18 PM
LongSufferingToady Old, not Dead Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Where the Buffalo Roam... Casino cash: $9160400	5 things we learned as the Chiefs collapsed in the AFC Championship 1. Patrick Mahomes can come up short in a big moment Prior to Sunday, the Mahomes-led Chiefs have only lost twice in the postseason: once in a 37-31 shootout against the New England Patriots — and last season’s 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. You can point to the nine points scored in last year’s championship game and put it on Mahomes — but having no help from his reserve offensive line and his pass catchers prevented his high level of effort from mattering. In this epic collapse, however, blame can be placed on Mahomes. At the end of the first half, a risky decision to throw short of the end zone without any timeouts cost his team the chance at scoring at least a field goal; after the play, Mahomes also signaled for a timeout the team didn’t have. All four of the sacks he took came in the second half — three of them on third down — including two plays in a row at the end of regulation that nearly ruined Kansas City’s chance to tie. It really was remarkable to see Mahomes play that uncomfortably in a big moment — especially one week after the calm demeanor he displayed as he came back to win against the Buffalo Bills. 2. The Chiefs can’t win by relying on the defense It’s hard to ask much more from the Chiefs’ defense, which didn’t make anything easy for the Bengals’ offense. It held Cincinnati to field goals on two red-zone trips, created a turnover in the fourth quarter and held quarterback Joe Burrow to 250 passing yards and an 86.5 passer rating. But the defense couldn’t hold down the Bengals all day. It allowed them to creep back from a 21-3 deficit to eventually take a 24-21 lead. Ideally, the defense would have swarmed the Bengals and dominated them all game — but that’s just unrealistic. This unit wasn’t meant to perform that way; they need to create a turnover or two and get some stops. That’s what they did. It shows you that in terms of how this team succeeds, the defense can only be a complement to the offense. After the second half of the regular season might have convinced some people that the defense could carry the Chiefs to a Super Bowl, this performance confirms that it will always depend more on the offense’s output. 3. The 2021 Chiefs did not want to lean on the running game Between running backs Jerick McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, there were 101 rushing yards on 18 attempts on Sunday — an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Yet even as it was performing so efficiently, it never felt like the Chiefs trusted the offense to rely on a rushing attack. Starting the second half with the ball (and up two possessions), you’d think the ground game would be a great way to safely maintain that lead — especially if it was manufacturing 5-7 yards on what seemed like every carry. With how the Chiefs’ offensive line is now constructed, the running game could be a bigger part of the offense. No... you don’t want to take the ball out of Mahomes’ hands. But when there’s a two-score lead to protect, trusting an efficient running game can make things easier on the rest of the offense. It’ll be interesting to see if the Chiefs make their ground attack a bigger part of the offense in 2022. 4. The Chiefs’ pass rush isn’t as dominant as we perceived Last week, the Tennessee Titans played the Bengals in front of their home crowd; they managed to sack quarterback Joe Burrow nine times. This week, the Chiefs were in a similar situation — but they mustered only one sack all afternoon. There was some pressure — three quarterback hits outside of the sack — but Burrow escaped pass rushers’ grasp multiple times, leading to some of the game’s most important plays. Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Melvin Ingram really heated up during the regular season — but in the playoffs, only Ingram made plays of any importance. Jones has flashed and is always tightening the pocket — but his postseason resume is not what you’d expect from an All-Pro. The Chiefs have invested a lot of capital in the defensive line — and in past playoff runs, it worked — but this year, its impact didn’t match its talent. 5. It’s extremely hard to be an NFL dynasty — and the Chiefs missed a great shot at becoming one Sunday’s loss means the Chiefs have won a single Super Bowl in four of Mahomes’ seasons as a starter. No one’s saying that’s a failure, but the team has loved to talk about the potential of a dynasty — and deservedly so. Kansas City hosted four straight AFC Championships. That puts a team in a favorable position to play in four Super Bowls — which opens the opportunity to win multiple rings. The team was on the doorstep of creating a legitimate dynasty — but it’s about the end results. The Chiefs are just an ordinarily elite team, rather than a team on a historic stretch of NFL domination. Yes... in the coming years, the team could change that narrative by winning multiple titles — but it’s not easy to get to this point every season; the Chiefs’ streak of postseason home-field advantage is bound to run out. The team blew one of their best opportunities to add a title in the Mahomes era — and there’s no guarantee it will ever again be set up as well as it was in 2021. https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2022/...city-collapsed
Posts: 817

02-02-2022, 12:30 AM	#49
ReynardMuldrake 2 Legit 2 Colquitt Join Date: Sep 2010 Casino cash: $2335754	I'm telling you guys, Mahomes was concussed by that knee to the head. His decision making just wasn't the same after that, he didn't make proper reads, and his accuracy was terrible. He didn't tell the coaches so they never tried to adjust. Just like Jimmy G was concussed by that Niemann hit in the 4th Q of the superbowl. He threw wobbly ducks the rest of the game and clearly shouldn't have been playing.
Posts: 4,886	1 0

02-02-2022, 02:59 AM	#54
UK_Chief Veteran Join Date: Nov 2012 Casino cash: $6836512	Patrick Mahomes is 26 years old
Posts: 1,723

02-02-2022, 05:11 AM	#57
Flying High D MVP Join Date: Feb 2017 Casino cash: $1890400	Andy was thinking get this damn game over so he can go to a buffet.
Posts: 7,461

02-02-2022, 07:13 AM	#59
Red Dawg Going home eventually Join Date: Dec 2002 Casino cash: $1422858	We lost because Andy thinks you just keep throwing with Mahomes and you eventually will win. We had a big lead and they were dropping 8 so you run the **ing ball. Every coach knows Andy will never commit to the run so they have zero fear of dropping guys in coverage. Andy needs to go. His mentality and ignorance to following basic football sucks. Why not take the 3 before the half/ We have Mahomes. Why not run against a 3 man rush? We have Mahomes. It's **ing stupid. __________________ If you're not first you're last!
Posts: 33,105

02-02-2022, 08:43 AM	#60
ARROW2 MVP Join Date: Mar 2002 Casino cash: $9154329	We took a dive. Simple as that. If millionaires are nonchalant about it, why should I invest any emotional energy into this shit?
Posts: 6,041