The DL is more self-suffient.

[Direckshun]

Some factoids about our passrush:

The Chiefs ended the year 2nd in the league in sacks, with 55 total.

Jones had 15.5 -- ridiculous.
The next four top sack-rackers were our DEs, which I guess is good. Karlaftis 6, Clark 5, Danna 5, Dunlap 4.

Saunders/Wharton/Williams combined for 5 sacks on the season.

The blitzers put up 14.5 all year.

7 from the LBs.
7.5 from the DBs.

I noticed around the bye week that blitzers accounted for roughly a third of our sacks. I haven't looked up pressures, but I'm going to assume the numbers are similar there.

End of the season, they accounted for 26% of our sacks.

The number dropped exactly for the reason you think:

Week 12 vs. Rams: 3 total sacks, 1 from blitz
Week 13 vs Bengals: 1 total sack, 0 from blitz
Week 14 vs. Broncos: 6 total sacks, 1.5 from blitz
Week 15 vs. Texans: 1 total sack, 0 from blitz
Week 16 vs. Seahawks: 2 total sacks, 0 from blitz
Week 17 vs. Broncos: 4 total sacks, 1 from blitz
Week 18 vs. Raiders: 6 total sacks, 1 from blitz

The last seven games of the season, blitzes accounted for 4.5 out of 23 sacks, or 19%.

I don't know if Spags is blitzing less, or if the blitzes are getting less effective.

I think the biggest factor is that the DL is rushing somewhat more effectively, led by Jones and Karlaftis.
--> In that same 7 week timespan, Jones has put up 6.5 sacks, and Karlaftis has put up 5.5 sacks.

Considering how important it's going to be to beat Burrow (and maybe Allen?) without blitzing, that's a very big development for the defense.

[MahomesIsTheMVP]

I want 2019 playoff Frank Clark to show up.

Dude wrecked games singlehandedly.

[DenverChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Just get to Burrow.

The rest is masturbating.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this team cannot touch Joe Burrow. The rest of the league beats him like a rented mule when they send 3 and yet we can't even get his damn jersey dirty when we send 6.

I don't get it and at this point I don't even care what the cause is. Fix it. Go hit that MFer. The rest will sort itself out.

I still think the GP was to make Burrow "make the throws" and be patient, we know he wants to hit the deep throws to Chase and we really don't have anyone in the secondary that can cover him 1-1. So you sacrafice the blitz and make him be patient hope that he forces something. Kinda like how they tried to shut Patrick down and it almost worked against Burrow had TK not fumbled. Thats why we don't blitz him and hope a 4-man rush can get there - and with their starting RT and RG out for the season that is probably not out of the question anymore.

[Hammock Parties]

Danna basically getting 5 sacks from the DT position this year is underrated Spags genious

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by MahomesIsTheMVP

I want 2019 playoff Frank Clark to show up.

Dude wrecked games singlehandedly.

God damn, no. No he didnt. I swear the people that say this haven't actually went back and actually watched Rank in that playoff run. He didn't wreck shit.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Just get to Burrow.

The rest is masturbating.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this team cannot touch Joe Burrow. The rest of the league beats him like a rented mule when they send 3 and yet we can't even get his damn jersey dirty when we send 6.

I don't get it and at this point I don't even care what the cause is. Fix it. Go hit that MFer. The rest will sort itself out.

I hope it’s a KC vs Cinci AFCCG.

4th meeting. Entire right side of his OL is out. It’s time to finally take one from them.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

God damn, no. No he didnt. I swear the people that say this haven't actually went back and actually watched Rank in that playoff run. He didn't wreck shit.

Yeah, he wrecked so much shit that we had to make a bunch of double digit comebacks.

Sent from my moto g stylus 5G using Tapatalk

[crispystl]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I hope it’s a KC vs Cinci AFCCG.

4th meeting. Entire right side of his OL is out. It’s time to finally take one from them.

This. No way those mofos are beating us a 4th time in a row. Let alone a 2nd time in AFC championship game at Arrowhead

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I hope it’s a KC vs Cinci AFCCG.

4th meeting. Entire right side of his OL is out. It’s time to finally take one from them.

So it's essentially the same OL that fisted us in the AFCCG last season.

Like I said, I don't even care about the Why of it. Largely because I'm flummoxed by it. But it just can't happen again. Those WRs are just too good to give Burrow that kind of time.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by O.city

I think this is basically defenses in a nutshell though.

They're good until they play elite offenses.

Look at what our offense did to the 49ers elite D. 44 points, our highest scoring output of the year.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by DenverChief

I still think the GP was to make Burrow "make the throws" and be patient, we know he wants to hit the deep throws to Chase and we really don't have anyone in the secondary that can cover him 1-1. So you sacrafice the blitz and make him be patient hope that he forces something. Kinda like how they tried to shut Patrick down and it almost worked against Burrow had TK not fumbled. Thats why we don't blitz him and hope a 4-man rush can get there - and with their starting RT and RG out for the season that is probably not out of the question anymore.

KC was fortunate the Bengals pissed away 11 points deep in KC territory. Burrow threw a perfect pass that a wide open receiver dropped in the end zone, which cost them 4 points. And of course the great play by Carlos Dunlap on 4th & 1 near KC’s goal line. Zach Taylor and Cincy staff probably should have kept the ball in Burrow’s hands instead of attempting the silly/cute reverse play. Either QB sneak it with Burrow or let him throw it.

Regardless, the Bengals punted 1 time the entire game and moved the ball at will. KC’s offense was the only solid defense against Cincy’s offense. Chiefs offense ran a lot of clock and kept Burrow/Chase on sidelines. Obviously the Bengals did the same thing to keep Mahomes on the sideline as much as possible. Both teams were using ball control approach, which helped keep the score below 30 for each team.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

God damn, no. No he didnt. I swear the people that say this haven't actually went back and actually watched Rank in that playoff run. He didn't wreck shit.

Same guys that question Chris Jones in the playoffs.

Pay them no nevermind.

If 'Playoff Frank' actually exists then **** that dude for taking his other 60 games off.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So it's essentially the same OL that foster us in the AFCCG last season.

Like I said, I don't even care about the Why of it. Largely because I'm flummoxed by it. But it just can't happen again. Those WRs are just too good to give Burrow that kind of time.

Agreed. Just get his ass on the ground. That’s it.

It was completely unacceptable to only manage 1 sack against that OL with that type of lead. The defense was alright overall, but that was an inexcusable performance from the pass rush.

Great time for Jones to have a dominant performance and leave no doubt that he’s one of the true stars of the league. He should be motivated for it.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Just get to Burrow.

The rest is masturbating.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this team cannot touch Joe Burrow. The rest of the league beats him like a rented mule when they send 3 and yet we can't even get his damn jersey dirty when we send 6.

I don't get it and at this point I don't even care what the cause is. Fix it. Go hit that MFer. The rest will sort itself out.

Last couple games we played against them, according to Orlovsky/some other QB analyst, I think, our LBs and safeties have been allowing him to get the ball out really quick. Like 2.7 seconds. He's been having receivers get open almost immediately because KC is pretty weak vs. RBs/TEs, and our safeties weren't making him hesitate/pay for deep passes down the sidelines. And Dan said that Burrow had been trying to push the ball downfield early in the season but had adjusted by week 5-6(?) and was taking what the defense would give him, i.e., throwing underneath to RBs mostly, and the TE.

There's other things as well, like the fact that his OL was pretty bad early in the season, but improved rapidly, so when we faced them they were gelling and not the same OL they were early.



But yeah, if we can't get consistent pressure, and cover much better than the last two times we faced him, it'll be a long day.

The issue, imo, is mostly about consistency. We have the athletes to be a top-10-12 defense, the players with the higher football IQ, etc., but we've really lacked consistency in communication, situational awareness and execution. Particularly at LB and S.

So, while the defense as improved statistically these last 5 weeks or so, it's also true that KC has faced a significantly lower quality of opponent over that stretch, making it tougher to read.

What's concerning is that while playing the likes of DEN/HOU, they allowed a very high scoring efficiency, mostly TDs vs. FGs. That's a big problem, especially when viewed through the lens of the QBs/offenses KC faced. In nearly every other statistical respect, the Chiefs defense played fairly well, but not in that one, which is obviously the most important one.

Of course, turnovers didn't help them, but at least twice against both DEN and HOU they allowed TDs that were just far too easy. Especially when the QBs that executed those scoring drives were guys like Wilson, Davis, etc.

However, they've been playing better over the last couple weeks. Just lacked consistency in the DEN game, and a couple ticky-tack penalties in the second half of the DEN game make it look a little worse than it was.

Anway, I don't entirely discount the edge that recent success/confidence can bring either. They could take that and run with it through the playoffs, but at the end of the day, the front 7 will have to play better and be more consistent to beat CIN, period.

It will help a ton if we don't have to face Cheffers in the playoffs as well.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I hope it’s a KC vs Cinci AFCCG.

4th meeting. Entire right side of his OL is out. It’s time to finally take one from them.

He didn't have shit for a line in the post season last year.

He was sacked 19 times in 4 post season games last year. Hell Pat went 14 games in the 2019 regular season and was only sacked 17 times.

Raiders - 2 times
Titans - 9! times
Chiefs - 1 time
Rams - 7 times

If we can't get to him, then it's gonna be a close game. I like our chances, because if Jones is getting double teamed I think Karlaftis can beat the 1 on 1 more now, since he looks to be getting better week after week.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

God damn, no. No he didnt. I swear the people that say this haven't actually went back and actually watched Rank in that playoff run. He didn't wreck shit.

He didn't wreck games singlehandedly, no. he made some plays, and helped close out each game, sure. Mostly, he made QBs do things they didn't want to do a lot more consistently than in the regular season. made them move off their spot, made them scramble instead of throw from the pocket, made them check down, throw it out of bounds, that kind of thing. And held up his side in the run game, mostly.

Frank's not a game-wrecker; never has been. Okay, maybe one year when he was still with SEA. But his career doesn't suggest he's ever been a game-wrecker.