Postseason thoughts and looking ahead to the future

[pugsnotdrugs19]

For those who care, I'm just gonna write this up to give some general thoughts about where things stand and where they are headed as we approach the offseason... feel free discuss and add your own thoughts.

1. We watched a movie Sunday evening that we already saw 4 times previously in 2018. Every loss, so much like the others that go with it. Offense had to be perfect to stay in so many games. The stat that represents this best to me? 43:59 to 20:53. Yes, that is the time of possession comparison. New England possessed the football for approximately 67% of this game. That is inexcusable, and that is this football team's problem in a vacuum. Which brings me to.....

2. FIRE BOB SUTTON. Or he can retire, whatever, but just be gone. The same problems that have plagued this team for 6 years now remain. They won't change either as long as he is here running the show. They aren't aggressive. They are as predictable as any defense in football. They rarely ever show a killer instinct in the key moments. And the bottom line is, any time they run into a great offensive team (whether it be via talent or coaching), they get whooped. This is step one of the offseason. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out, Bobby.

3. Will we be back? Well, probably. In fact, if I was a betting man, I would say we will probably be back next year and more times beyond that. But make no mistake, there is nothing guaranteed. No where does it say that we absolutely have to get back to the AFCCG or to a SB because we have Mahomes. But here is a silver lining if you will about yesterday: it is an uncomfortable slap in the face to Reid and Veach that says they had better not **** around or they WILL waste this grand opportunity. They know now that Mahomes is even more special than they could have ever imagined this early in his career, and at 23, they must pull out all the stops starting right now to make sure this team is positioned to contend on a year to year basis.

4. About Mahomes… wow. Was he perfect in this game? Far from it. But guess what? He still put up 31 POINTS on a Bill Belichick lead defense. IN A HALF. Which just goes to show that even on his so-so days, it is typically plenty good enough to win football games. Not just football games, but an AFCCG. But the defense just let him down again and again when it mattered most.

5. Again, nothing is guaranteed for the future. We shouldn't assume that the Chiefs are about to rip off 5+ Super Bowl appearances just because they have Mahomes. But what we do know is that the odds of it are far greater BECAUSE of Mahomes. In his first season as a starter, with a 31st ranked defense that was about as bad as it can get, he lead us to the conference championship game. I mean, think about that. I'm not sure that he will ever have a worse defense supporting him than this one again in his entire career, and he still got them this far. So if you're asking me, yes, I firmly believe the future is extremely bright for KC. It isn't even homerism, its just common sense to see it that way. But Andy and Veach have to bust their ass and make some serious moves year after year to get over the big hump and stay there.

6. Now, to the offseason. I typically am not as active on here up until FA starts, and I'm sure that will be no different this year. I may not even watch the Super Bowl, because who the **** wants to see those two teams go at it? But I'll leave you all with this: the Chiefs are going to have some money to work with this offseason. They have a very decent set of draft picks to make use of. And they now have great playoff experience under their MVP quarterback that if handled properly, can help to propel them to greater heights. I look forward to seeing where this team goes from here, who they add, who they get rid of, and most importantly... getting that new DC. Its really tough to handle right now, but there's a ton to be excited about regarding the future of this franchise under their young superstar QB.

Lastly, don't forget this: this season was not all lost. We finally ended that playoff curse at Arrowhead. And now, we go back into the shop and build. Replace, heal, and add those last few pieces to get us that Lamar Hunt Trophy, and then finally the almighty Lombardi.

[EMAW24]

Go rebuild the interior OL and keep trying to get talent into that Defense. Have to hit on the Draft this year and add a couple impact Free Agents. I loved the Sammy Watkins idea and think we should do something that would have a similar impact on defense. I'm thinking Earl Thomas.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by EMAW24

Go rebuild the interior OL and keep trying to get talent into that Defense. Have to hit on the Draft this year and add a couple impact Free Agents. I loved the Sammy Watkins idea and think we should do something that would have a similar impact on defense. I'm thinking Earl Thomas.

It isn’t getting mentioned but I think we missed LDT last night more than ever. He’s just a really solid pass protector. Wylie was very decent in replacing him this year, but LDT is for sure a better pass blocker. Morse is now going to be gone I would assume, so that spot is unresolved and I’d like to upgrade from Erving if possible...

The draft is the key to everything. We need impact players on the cheap.

[Chris Meck]

Agreed.

[siberian khatru]

Speaking of LDT, what was up with that? Practiced all week, then was inactive.

[Why Not?]

We’ll be back. We have a truly great QB. How many truly great(not good, not really good, but great)QB’s haven’t made a SB?

[Rain Man]

Why on earth would anybody want to watch this Super Bowl? It's just going to be the same garbage again.

[TwistedChief]

Agreed with all of this. One other thing: it's even more miraculous that we got where we did with our defense AND leading the league in penalties. The latter needs to be cleaned up and fast. Part of that could be solved by having DB that turn their heads. I had to chuckle when NE attempted their flea flicker: only reason it seemed to fail is that our DB (was it Nelson?) never had any eyes on the QB/ball and thus didn't bite.

But the penalties (Ford) bit us again last night. Gotta coach a more disciplined team.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

Speaking of LDT, what was up with that? Practiced all week, then was inactive.

He's soft, like the rest of the OL.

[RunKC]

Good points Pug. I agree with you. Coaching on the defense would make an enormous difference.

The priority has to be the run game on both sides of the ball.

I like Damien Williams, but he isn’t a good RB like Kareem running up the middle getting tough yards. I hope we sign Mark Ingram in FA.

[gold_and_red]

While I agree that the defense can't play worse it is a tall order for Mahomes to throw for 50/5000 again. I expect some dropoff in offensive production, so the D needs to jump to the middle of the pack at least.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

The Ford decision is going to be very interesting. That’s a lot of money to throw at the guy even for just one season against the cap. What if he does get injured like past years? Then you’ve really ****ed up. I am personally thinking a tag and trade for a 2nd round pick or better would be optimal but then there’s the Houston and Berry issues to figure out as well. We definitely don’t want to rid this roster of pass rushers ahead of 2019 as Speaks has not yet proven capable of handling a starting load.

We need a lot more speed on the back end of the defense, especially at corner. We need a new DC who will coach these guys, motivate them to perform at their highest level while instilling a killer instinct.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by gold_and_red

While I agree that the defense can't play worse it is a tall order for Mahomes to throw for 50/5000 again. I expect some dropoff in offensive production, so the D needs to jump to the middle of the pack at least.

True but with a better defense, we wouldn’t necessarily need 50/5000 from Mahomes... game flows would be different. We might see more productivity from running the football too.

Point is, Mahomes has proven capable of doing his part of the job, whatever may be required. Now we need the defense to do the same.

[MAHOMO 4 LIFE!]

Ward can stay but Nelson can go. I mean he’s decent as a backup but as a starter nope. We need to re sign Lucas. Berry can get ****ed. Bailey is probably gone. I know Watts is coming back and hopefully he will contribute. Sorensen was our MVP last night. He will stay at FS. Fuller will stay. It’s a scheme problem. When Romo knows the plays that the Pats are running before Sutton does then you have a DC issue

[kcclone]

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

True but with a better defense, we wouldn’t necessarily need 50/5000 from Mahomes... game flows would be different. We might see more productivity from running the football too.

Point is, Mahomes has proven capable of doing his part of the job, whatever may be required. Now we need the defense to do the same.

Yes, we absolutely have to plan for Mahomes NOT putting up 50/5000. The defensive formula is out there for how to contain him, a season's worth of film, etc. We will never have more offensive firepower than we had for the first half of the year (Sammy + Hunt + Hill + Kelce) because offensive salaries are going to skyrocket.

We need to find a DC and the player personnel that can produce a top 15 D.

Offensively we need to work on our short passing game and improve the interior of our OL (guards) who can control the LOS in the running game. You can't expect to throw 30+ yard bombs every drive to score in the playoffs.

D Williams is a solid back, but he's not an every down guy. We need to find someone that can run between the tackles and control the clock. Hunt was the total package obviously, and we need to find the complimentary guy to Williams to complete our RB package.