AFC Stock Up / Stock Down, Post-Free Agency

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Let's discuss how we think each AFC team has done so far this offseason and if they project as better, worse, or about the same entering the draft (where the champion of the conference will ultimately be determined)

AFC West

Chiefs: Better. My main reason actually has a lot to do with how much bad luck the offense had last year - it would be hard not to improve based on that alone. But it appears LT has some stability, although I'm not sure they're done adding there. The WR trio is one of the best in all of football, though they've yet to play a game together. The Fulton signing is my favorite because it's a force multiplier, allowing Trent to go back to the Star/Nickel role where he can impact games at an elite level and Connor plays Safety. We're a Charles Omenihu away from being in a really great spot entering the draft.

Chargers: Same. Feels like much the same team with the same limitations that will get them bounced in January. They're trying to do it the right way though, building through the draft. May be some short term pain for some long term gain. They need more speed on O.

Broncos: Better. Hate to say that I largely really like what Payton has done so far. They're rolling the dice on some ex-49ers with health question marks, but the defense is set up to be top-five once again. Nix and how he handles the sophomore year is critical, but this looks like a sure-fire playoff team.

Raiders: Better. This is only about the QB, by getting Geno they HAVE to be better. Still not ready to compete at the highest level and won't be for awhile.

AFC East

Bills: Slightly better. This one could easily be "worse" once Joey Bosa has his inevitable long-term injury. Beane did his normal thing, kept his own guys on reasonable contracts. I don't love switching Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins out for Josh Palmer, but maybe I'm stupid. Overall they're betting that their core guys can finally get it done in Jan. Must have a great draft.

Patriots: Much better. Look, they've paid out the nose and a lot of these deals won't age well. But they are much better on paper with these new players. They will win at minimum three more games this yr under Vrabel. If Maye is legit, they are wild card contenders.

Dolphins: Worse. A lot of bad contracts are finally catching up to them. Mike McDaniels days are numbered, just like Tyreek's.

Jets: Worse. Coaching may get them further along this year, but the roster is not any better. I'm not a Justin Fields believer. This team won't be in the playoffs, AGAIN.

AFC North

Ravens: Same. Their only addition is Hopkins, but they kept the Left Tackle. Haven't lost anyone of consequence. This is as same as same gets. Great organization will probably have a nice draft and be right back in the playoffs.

Steelers: Better. Rodgers will be an improvement when he inevitably signs here. Love the Metcalf addition, knocks Pickens down a peg. They'll still struggle to win a playoff game however, if they make it.

Bengals Worse. I'm dying on the hill that they're using the wrong scape goats. Lou Anarumo was the biggest reason for their deep playoff runs, and they didn't continue to give him the requisite talent to succeed. Now, they're putting all their eggs into the same basket that hasn't got it done yet. Burrow will get his stats, but this defense will stink. If Hendrickson walks, they miss the playoffs again.

Browns Better. Kept Myles Garrett and will most definitely improve at QB. Could contend for playoffs as they seem so unpredictable year to year.

AFC South

Texans: Worse. Traded away Tunsil, that alone makes it this for now. I do like the depth they've added on DL, as they will need to draft offense if they want to fix last year's woes and get Stroud back on track.

Jaguars Same. Nothing really to note here. Still a lacking roster that will bank on coaching to maximize Trevor and contend in the worst AFC division.

Titans Same. Dan Moore was an overpay, but does raise the floor of the offense. QB is the ?. I foresee this being the last year of Brian Callahan before Mike Borgonzi might just try to pluck Steve Spagnuolo from us.

Colts Slightly better. I like the adds of Charvarius Ward and Cam Bynum in a secondary that really needed some dogs back there. QB is still going to hold them back and finally end the Chris Ballard era next January.

[RunKC]

It’s incredible seeing these talking points when the personnel issues limiting playcalling were as clear as ever before as well as the QB missing wide open Worthy deep all year long.

It’s like someone walking outside and saying the sky is red.

There’s a reason the offense was composed of short passes. Bc the personnel outside of Worthy was ****ing horrific 90% of the season.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

There were shots to be taken that weren't all game long. Opportunities missed.

The o-line in particular was bad, but there were guys open down field quite often.

Just a bad day to have a bad game.

Have you watched any QB videos where they covered the SB?


Universally people who know the NFL way better than you or me said Mahomes was not good but that the scheme and game plan was AWFUL.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

No, I get it. The play calling isn't always great. It looked good against Buffalo but struggled against the better defenses like Houston and Philadelphia. The complete lack of a run game makes it harder unless you have Hill/Watkins/prime Kelce as your targets with good tackles blocking to boot.

The Eagles let up in the 4th quarter, otherwise the garbage points wouldn't have been scored. I mean, it's hard to concentrate when you're up 34-0 and know you're about to win a SB.

Buffalo is our get out of jail free card.


Their defense is so shitty we could run anything on them and it would work.

Houston and Philly made us look awful on offense even with wide receivers that were good enough.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

There were shots to be taken that weren't all game long. Opportunities missed.

The o-line in particular was bad, but there were guys open down field quite often.

Just a bad day to have a bad game.

The OL giving up historic amount of pressure with no blitzing ruined everything.

It’s insane that people blame any coach and bitch that we had to throw short passes. The OL got Mahomes killed a lot the last 2 years.

All 18 plays where Raiders Had Pressure vs Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs

Charting:
Wanya Morris had 5 Quick Losses; 3 Late Losses for Pressures allowed
Jawaan Taylor had 1 Quick Loss (to Crosby); 5 Late Losses (4 to Maxx)
Blitz/Other OL had 6 pressures allowed (1 by LT Thuney) pic.twitter.com/vj46XdZ6fN

— DMac Wake (@DMacWake316) November 30, 2024

People want to go bombs away but won’t accept the playcalling for that can’t happen bc the LT gets Mahomes killed before the play can develop.

[Gary Cooper]

We know the O-line doesn't allow for deep passes. The question is, why is the coaching staff not doing a better job of creating other routes that can actually work?

The SB gameplan was devoid of ideas. Not enough screen passes, RPO, slants, etc. Too many routes that never had a chance because of pass protection. It's like the coaching staff wanted to run what they wanted and dared Thuney/Caliendo to block their man.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

You think our offensive play calling has been good the last two years?!

Just watch other NFL games like Coen last year with Tampa and Baker. Baker is a good QB but he ain’t Mahomes. Just easy wins over and over.

Our offense hasn’t done this since Nagy arrived.

The SB everyone including Mahomes sucked.

But the play calling wasn’t good. Philly knew our plays better than we did.


We need a reboot.

Then fire Andy. He is the offense. Simple as that.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

Have you watched any QB videos where they covered the SB?


Universally people who know the NFL way better than you or me said Mahomes was not good but that the scheme and game plan was AWFUL.

The scheme and play calling starts and stops with Andy. How long do you want to beat this dead horse and how far are you willing to take it?

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Then fire Andy. He is the offense. Simple as that.

It is Andy ultimately.


My personal theory is that he has delegated a lot more to Nagy than people realize but if he hasn't, then Andy has lost his fastball.


Our offensive play calling and game prep is no longer an advantage.



Andy is close to retirement. My hope is he has one last push to reinvent the offense before he exits.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

We know the O-line doesn't allow for deep passes. The question is, why is the coaching staff not doing a better job of creating other routes that can actually work?

The SB gameplan was devoid of ideas. Not enough screen passes, RPO, slants, etc. Too many routes that never had a chance because of pass protection. It's like the coaching staff wanted to run what they wanted and dared Thuney/Caliendo to block their man.

Least explosive RB room in the league. Only 17 explosive plays of 10+ yards all year.

Hopkins is washed and can’t separate. Kareem is washed and can’t turn a 2 yard run into 10+, Kelce is washed and isn’t explosive anymore, Justin Watson isn’t explosive and can only run deep or corner routes.

Look at what Rashee gave this offense before he got hurt compared to what Juju/Hopkins and Watson gave us after?

We need more speed. Andy runs the WCO and it relies on speed and YAC. That’s why I firmly believe we are drafting a WR and RB with 2 of our first 3 picks next month

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Nick Wright said something interesting about Hopkins yesterday that sounded like it came from inside the building based on his wording

Said he was running his own routes and the staff started to feel like they couldn’t play him as much because it negatively impacted the offense too many times

Maybe there’s only room for one guy (Kelce) to get away with that stuff

[RunKC]

Andy needs to get back to what worked before. The offense was amazing because he had force multipliers in Tyreek, Kelce and Kareem.

Worthy is the new Tyreek, Rice was the new Kelce intermediate middle of the field chess piece before injury. Go get another big time weapon at RB.

People forget that even the 2018 offense struggled at times. They leaned on Kareem and he put the team on his back through stretches. Mahomes didn’t have this the last 2 years.



We ran the ball only 16.5X/game with Kareem that year but each of those runs were respected bc they knew Kareem could bust a long run at any time. We need that back. Badly

[MahomesMagic]

I would love Andy to call Frank Reich in as an offensive assistant.


Reich/ Pederson (Reid offense)

made Carson Wentz play at an MVP level. When Reich left Philly Pederson's offense went to shit.


Reid's 2022 reboot seemed to borrow a bunch of Reich concepts. Why not bring in Reich himself to get some juice going into this offense?

[RunKC]

1. Chiefs
2. Bills
3. Ravens
4. Texans
5. Chargers
6. Steelers (with Rodgers)
7. Broncos
8. Bengals
9. Patriots
10. Raiders
11. Dolphins
12. Colts
13. Jags
14. Titans (assuming they draft Ward)
15. Jets
16. Browns

Yeah that sounds about right

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by RunKC

1. Chiefs
2. Bills
3. Ravens
4. Texans
5. Chargers
6. Steelers (with Rodgers)
7. Broncos
8. Bengals
9. Patriots
10. Raiders
11. Dolphins
12. Colts
13. Jags
14. Titans (assuming they draft Ward)
15. Jets
16. Browns

Yeah that sounds about right

Mostly agree

I’m probably higher on the Broncos and lower on the Chargers.

Top 3 should always be as you have it until one of these other teams kicks the door down. Every other team needs to prove it before being anointed.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Andy needs to get back to what worked before. The offense was amazing because he had force multipliers in Tyreek, Kelce and Kareem.

Worthy is the new Tyreek, Rice was the new Kelce intermediate middle of the field chess piece before injury. Go get another big time weapon at RB.

People forget that even the 2018 offense struggled at times. They leaned on Kareem and he put the team on his back through stretches. Mahomes didn’t have this the last 2 years.



We ran the ball only 16.5X/game with Kareem that year but each of those runs were respected bc they knew Kareem could bust a long run at any time. We need that back. Badly

Yep, I've been saying this for months. Kareem has as many games with less than 10 carries as he did games with more than 20. Even with him, we didn't run the ball consistently. But they made every rush count. That's what we need now more than ever.