State of the AFCW 2023 edition

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I think the Chiefs are going to be the best team in the AFC by the end of the season unless the Bengals figure themselves out, but at this point, in Week 3, you have to conclude the Dolphins are probably the #1 team in the AFC.

I dunno....

Dolphins beat the now 1-2 Chargers by 2 on a last minute TD.
Chiefs lose by a point to the now 2-1 Lions

Dolphins underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre (at best) Patriots team.
Chiefs underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre Jags team.

Dolphins demolish the Broncos.
Chiefs demolish the Bears.

The Dolphins were far more in sync on offense in week 1, but their defense also looked terrible. Chiefs defense has of course been a major strength.

It's hard to ignore 70 points of course, even if the Chiefs probably put up a couple more TDs yesterday if Mahomes stays in... not that those games tell us anything about anything.

If we're talking an ESPN attention grabbing power ranking of the feels right this very moment... sure, give it to the Phins this week. They clearly wanted that prize.

[DrunkBassGuitar]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I dunno....

Dolphins beat the now 1-2 Chargers by 2 on a last minute TD.
Chiefs lose by a point to the now 2-1 Lions

Dolphins underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre (at best) Patriots team.
Chiefs underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre Jags team.

Dolphins demolish the Broncos.
Chiefs demolish the Bears.

The Dolphins were far more in sync on offense in week 1, but their defense also looked terrible. Chiefs defense has of course been a major strength.

It's hard to ignore 70 points of course, even if the Chiefs probably put up a couple more TDs yesterday if Mahomes stays in... not that those games tell us anything about anything.

If we're talking an ESPN attention grabbing power ranking of the feels right this very moment... sure, give it to the Phins this week. They clearly wanted that prize.

I mean yeah if I'm being objective 70 points (and the dolphins were trying to give denver a break by just running and not kicking a field goal when they could have scored more) puts them over the chiefs in week 3. but hey it's week 3

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I dunno....

Dolphins beat the now 1-2 Chargers by 2 on a last minute TD.
Chiefs lose by a point to the now 2-1 Lions

Dolphins underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre (at best) Patriots team.
Chiefs underwhelmingly take care of a mediocre Jags team.

Dolphins demolish the Broncos.
Chiefs demolish the Bears.

The Dolphins were far more in sync on offense in week 1, but their defense also looked terrible. Chiefs defense has of course been a major strength.

It's hard to ignore 70 points of course, even if the Chiefs probably put up a couple more TDs yesterday if Mahomes stays in... not that those games tell us anything about anything.

If we're talking an ESPN attention grabbing power ranking of the feels right this very moment... sure, give it to the Phins this week. They clearly wanted that prize.

All fair.

Two things are true: that Dolphins defense is really, really talented, but also, I love Andy Reid against a Vic Fangio defense. Few people can navigate Fangio's system defense better. I'd bet on the Chiefs to drop 30 on them.

The problem of course is that Dolphins offense. It is literally without weakness so long as Tua is upright.

The Chiefs defense, and I can't believe I am saying this out loud, looks like a Top 5 unit in the NFL right now and Spags is on a heater. So I'll be fascinated by what they do to slow them down.

Right now, it's shaping up to be the best game of the season.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

All fair.

Two things are true: that Dolphins defense is really, really talented, but also, I love Andy Reid against a Vic Fangio defense. Few people can navigate Fangio's system defense better. I'd bet on the Chiefs to drop 30 on them.

The problem of course is that Dolphins offense. It is literally without weakness so long as Tua is upright.

The Chiefs defense, and I can't believe I am saying this out loud, looks like a Top 5 unit in the NFL right now and Spags is on a heater. So I'll be fascinated by what they do to slow them down.

Right now, it's shaping up to be the best game of the season.

They'll pressure Tua.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

All fair.

Two things are true: that Dolphins defense is really, really talented, but also, I love Andy Reid against a Vic Fangio defense. Few people can navigate Fangio's system defense better. I'd bet on the Chiefs to drop 30 on them.

The problem of course is that Dolphins offense. It is literally without weakness so long as Tua is upright.

The Chiefs defense, and I can't believe I am saying this out loud, looks like a Top 5 unit in the NFL right now and Spags is on a heater. So I'll be fascinated by what they do to slow them down.

Right now, it's shaping up to be the best game of the season.

Re: the Dolphins, the only things I see is that the offensive line is not really special. They scheme well and get the ball out quick, but a good DL/pressure group could give them some trouble. The Chiefs seem to have that this year.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Re: the Dolphins, the only things I see is that the offensive line is not really special. They scheme well and get the ball out quick, but a good DL/pressure group could give them some trouble. The Chiefs seem to have that this year.

I can't believe the pressure we're seeing from the DL. Their play against the run has been so fundamentally sound as well.

It's incredible what the DL is doing. I expected the linebackers to ball out, and the secondary looks as amazing as we hoped it would.

But the DL really, really looked problematic to me to start the season. I worried they'd struggle to apply consistent pressure and that you could roll them over in the run game.

And yet, we've applied constant pressure, lodged 7 sacks in the two Jones games, and nobody's run effectively on us.

Veach, Spags, and Cullen all deserve heaping amounts of credit for what they're doing at that position. I seriously cannot believe how good they are at the start of the season.

[LagunaSWana]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I can't believe the pressure we're seeing from the DL. Their play against the run has been so fundamentally sound as well.

It's incredible what the DL is doing. I expected the linebackers to ball out, and the secondary looks as amazing as we hoped it would.

But the DL really, really looked problematic to me to start the season. I worried they'd struggle to apply consistent pressure and that you could roll them over in the run game.

And yet, we've applied constant pressure, lodged 7 sacks in the two Jones games, and nobody's run effectively on us.

Veach, Spags, and Cullen all deserve heaping amounts of credit for what they're doing at that position. I seriously cannot believe how good they are at the start of the season.

And then we get Omenihu back in week 7.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I can't believe the pressure we're seeing from the DL. Their play against the run has been so fundamentally sound as well.

It's incredible what the DL is doing. I expected the linebackers to ball out, and the secondary looks as amazing as we hoped it would.

But the DL really, really looked problematic to me to start the season. I worried they'd struggle to apply consistent pressure and that you could roll them over in the run game.

And yet, we've applied constant pressure, lodged 7 sacks in the two Jones games, and nobody's run effectively on us.

Veach, Spags, and Cullen all deserve heaping amounts of credit for what they're doing at that position. I seriously cannot believe how good they are at the start of the season.

Agree.

Also, re: the Dolphins, I still question Tagavailoa's arm strength. I didn't watch all of the game yesterday (yet, but I will, to relish the beatdown), but everything I've seen him do so far this year is a short throw or an intermediate/deeper throw between the hashes.

I think Spagnuolo will have some ideas ready for how to deal with that, and play some games to compact that part of the field. I think we'll see a decent amount of doubling on Hill and Waddle and daring the Dolphins to win consistently with Cracraft and secondary weapons.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I can't believe the pressure we're seeing from the DL. Their play against the run has been so fundamentally sound as well.

It's incredible what the DL is doing. I expected the linebackers to ball out, and the secondary looks as amazing as we hoped it would.

But the DL really, really looked problematic to me to start the season. I worried they'd struggle to apply consistent pressure and that you could roll them over in the run game.

And yet, we've applied constant pressure, lodged 7 sacks in the two Jones games, and nobody's run effectively on us.

Veach, Spags, and Cullen all deserve heaping amounts of credit for what they're doing at that position. I seriously cannot believe how good they are at the start of the season.

Completely agree.