sven233

See you at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Josh! I hear that place can clear up even the worst wrist injuries in record time!

Who Can We Win With? (A long breakdown of our roster and organization as it stands today) We came up short, again. Why? Was it the coaching? Was it the players? Was it the refs? The answer to all of those questions in one way or another is yes. So, the question then becomes the same as it is every year we come up short and waste yet another year of perhaps the best QB’s career that we may possibly ever have. What can we do to get over the hump and get that “One Before I Die?” So, I thought it would be good to delve into each of these questions individually and see where we stand, what we can improve on, and see who in the team/organization we can win with. Before we get into the team itself, I want to address the elephant in the room and the one thing that we really have no control over. The refs, and the league. Whether people want to admit it or not, it has become increasingly obvious that the refs are affecting the games more than any of us would like. Bad calls. Terrible spots. Phantom penalties. The list goes on and on and they all, in the end, do seem to favor the Chiefs, especially in big moments. It’s one thing for fans of an opposing team to see these things and point them out. Usually, it’s because we are trying to justify a tough, close loss or whatever. It’s an entirely different thing, though, to see the entire national media start to see it and point it out and to see the actual proof and numbers that back up that bias. It is happening whether people want to admit it or not and it has become increasingly obvious as this Chiefs run has gone along. Here’s the thing…….IT STINKS. Of course it does. Are the refs entirely to blame for our loss? No. Of course not. Could one make an argument saying this? Well, considering the first downs that were taken away from us in the crucial moments of that game, yes……the refs could have absolutely played a factor in us not winning that game. That said, I am choosing to ignore the refs impact on the game. Why? Because going into the game I repeatedly said that we were going to see every questionable call or decision go against us in the crucial moments. We knew that going in. Is it fair? Of course not. But it is what it is. I said the best thing we could do to take the refs out of the game was to be so good, that we can leave no doubt and not even give the refs a chance to impact the game. We did not do this. We were not good enough to leave no doubt. Did we get bad spots? Absolutely. But we should have executed better and made sure we got a full yard when needing a foot. We didn’t do that. When the game’s on the line and our “star” TE has a chance to catch a fairly easy ball that any NFL player should catch with absolutely nobody around him on the biggest play of the game, he didn’t. We left doubt and we were the ones that left the gate wide open for the refs to have the impact they did. That’s on us. So, how do we get to the point where we are good enough to leave no doubt? It starts with examining the team and seeing who we have, who we should bring back, and who we should let go. In this breakdown I am going to be talking about the starting positions only. Depth is depth and we will always want as much as we can get, but this breakdown is about which starters are good enough to win a Super Bowl with. COACHING Are we good enough with the head coach and the assistant coaches we have to win the Super Bowl? This is a tough question, and it may not be as cut and dry as it will be with the individual players. I will say this. I am not the biggest McDermott fan in the world. I really do question whether he will ever be able to win a coaching match-up against the other great coaches in this league, especially Andy Reid. He has shown that he is a good coach. He seems to be respected by his players and, at times, has had the occasional great game plan to win a tough game. But, in the biggest games, he always seems to come up short. How many times do we have to come out in the Playoffs and immediately spot the opponent 7-10 points before we settle in? If we determine that he's not good enough to win with, though, who replaces him at this point in the offseason? It’s like QB purgatory but with coaches. So, here’s where I’m at with this. Yes, we can win with McDermott. HOWEVER, it is truly time for him and the other defensive coaches to sit down and be honest with themselves and realize that the scheme they have been running since arriving is not getting it done and we need a completely different and fresh approach in terms of the scheme. I trust that these guys in the building are smart enough to sit down and study the best defenses in the league and see what they are doing and then create a hybrid scheme that is better suited to slowing down the better offenses in the league. I’m willing to roll with McDermott and his staff through next season…..except for one guy. Matthew Smiley. How that guy still has a job is beyond me. Our special tams is a disaster and they give up at least one bad play a game that hurts this team. Find a new ST coordinator. OFFENSE QB Allen Of course he’s good enough. For my money, he’s the best in the world and if he gets a great scheme and some actual weapons, he will be as great as he always is for a long time. RB Cook Davis Johnson This may have been the best overall RB room we have had in many year. Yes, we can win with these guys. WR WR1 - ? WR2 - ? Shakir Coleman Hollins Samuel Shakir is one of the best slots in the league. We can absolutely win with him. Coleman, while just a rookie, has shown me nothing to make me believe that my pre-draft grade on him was wrong. I had him as a late 3rd round pick at best. He has unique size that can help in certain situations, but I have serious doubts about him being anything more than a WR4 at best in this league. If he proves me wrong, great, but I have never seen it and I don’t think we ever will. Hollins was great for us this year and the perfect WR5 to have on this team. We can win with that guy. Samuel was battling all sorts of injuries this season and I am not sure we ever saw his best, but as a WR6, he is just fine. Where we are not good enough is at the top of the depth chart. We need 2 WRs with some explosiveness to their games. We have no speed and no WRs aside from Shakir that create constant separation. We need 2 guys that can win off the line and also be threats to take the top off the defense. It’s not easy finding one of these guys, let alone 2. But that is the task we face. OFFENSIVE LINE This is an easy one and I am just going to group them all together. Yes, this group is good enough to win a Super Bowl with. This is perhaps the best collective OL we have had in years. They didn’t have their best performance on Sunday, but that was poor coaching and game plan, not for lack of talent. We’re good here for a few years to come. TE Kincaid Knox Whoever This position hurt us this season more than helped us on many occasions. With the investments that have been made in terms of contracts and draft capital, we have every right to expect and want more out of these guys than we got this season. However, as underwhelming as these guys were this season, I still believe in these guys. It may be false hope, but I am still very high on Kincaid’s potential. I liked him coming out of the draft a lot and I believe that he can create mismatches that we can take advantage of. There are a couple things that need happen, though. First, Kincaid…..PUT THE WORK IN THIS OFFSEASON to become the player we thought you would be this season, next season. The one thing I worry about this guy with is his work ethic. Does the guy want it enough or is he too reliant on his natural physical ability? I want to believe that what happened this season will serve as fuel to be better next season. Also, I am going to put a little of this on the coaching staff as well as there were too many times this season where I thought his skill set wasn’t being used properly. In college, he was dominant up the seams and on deep crossers. This season, especially early, all he was doing was catching screens and short stop routes. That is not why you draft a guy like him. Hopefully the coaches use him more of how he was used in college next season. That said, the game ended the other night with him running a deep over and dropping a pretty easy ball that would have kept our hopes alive. Make the play dude. I still believe we can with you. As for Knox, we all know what he is. While we all wish his contract wasn’t what it is, there is nothing we can do about that. But he is a solid player and we can absolutely win with him. DEFENSE DEFENSIVE LINE/ EDGE Groot Oliver This is probably the biggest question mark on this team right now. And that really hurts to have to say that because of the significant investments that have been made into this group over the years. To me, we have only a couple of guys that we can count on winning with and some might even argue that neither of these guys are good enough either. But you can’t have superstars at every position, so when you have guys that can make plays, you have to rely on them. I believe you can win the Super Bowl with Groot and Oliver playing key roles in this defense. And while I like some of the younger talent, it will be on them to make their mark. But I am not going into next season relying on them. So, what does this mean? It means I think we are severely undermanned on the line. It has been true for a while now, but we are in desperate need of a true dominant 1-tech. We have been run on and run over for far too long and it starts up front because we have been undersized for what seems like forever. And that is on the scheme and Beane. Their reliance on fast, quick, and undersized lineman has not worked and it’s time for a philosophy change and that starts by getting a dominant anchor in the middle of the defensive line to stop the run. And that brings us of course to pass rush. Groot flashes. Oliver, when motivated, is good. But there are too many times we just can’t create any pass rush at all and it is maddening. With Von aging and probably moving on, that is just another void to have to fill. This is perhaps Beane’s biggest offseason challenge. How are you going to get to the QB? Is it a big trade or 2? Are there free agents out there that can help? It’s going to be a challenge for sure. LB Bernard Milano Williams I think these guys are a good enough group to win with. HOWEVER, we have no depth. And with these guys being injury prone, that is not enough. Healthy? We’re fine. But we are in desperate need of quality depth. CB Benford…….Maybe?????? Johnson Wow…..how things can change in a hurry, Going into the year, we were pretty confident that this would be a strength for our team. But, as the season ends, there are more questions than answers. Douglas was not the player we thought was going to be for us this season. He’s getting older and is going to want more money than he’s worth. Time to get younger and better there. What we weren’t counting on was Benford and his concussion issues to close the season. He was great for us this season and looked to be a guy we would be able to rely on for years to come. Then, he gets 2 concussions in 2 weeks and the way he looked on that cart leaving the field, I think it is definitely at least plausible that he might never be the same player again. Even if he gets healthy and comes back, we’re talking about a head injury here. One more shot, and that could literally be it for the once promising corner. Again, if he is healthy, he’s good enough to win with, but can we rely on that being the case. I don’t know. And with no quality depth behind him, the boundary CB position is not good. S Rapp…….Maybe? This seems to be a trend in our secondary. Health is a major concern. He had an overall solid year when he played, but we know he is a reckless player and will always battle injuries. Hamlin, while a nice story, is not a starter in this league. And while Bishop got some important reps this season, and shows some promise, is he someone I am ready to bank on being good enough to win the Super Bowl with? Not yet. ST Just find a kicker and punter you want to roll with that won't kill you. So, there you have it. That is my assessment of where we are in terms of the starters on this team and who I am definitely comfortable enough with to say we can win the Super Bowl with. There are a ton for holes, particularly on defense that need to be addressed. I mean, if you stretched things a little bit, maybe we can plug a couple of the holes with current talent on the team, but in my opinion, we have some work to do this offseason. Hopefully some of the young depth guys can turn into some answers to help, but Beane and the front office have a lot to do over the next few months to put us in a better position talent wise heading into next season.

I mean, one can argue that Shakir should be the first read on that play. And, if he was, it probably is at least a 1st down. But you could tell by the way the play unfolded that he was not the first read so any comments of "just throw it to Shakir" are just garbage from the point Allen didn't take the snap and turn and fire it to Shakir immediately.

Yup.....Just pick someone and block them. Just a fraction of a second on a play like this could make all the difference in the world.

First time seeing it from this angle. A few things.... Those calling for Allen to hit the orbit motion to Shakir are just out of their minds. The only way that has a chance to remotely happen is if he is the only read on the play and he just fires the ball out there immediately. You can tell at the snap that just catching and firing to Shakir was not the first option. So, just forget about that. What in the blue hell is Torrence doing on this play? He throws both arms out the his sides and literally blocks nobody! Even if you are confused as to who you have, pick somebody and block them! And, I said this last night, but Brown had, BY FAR, his worst game of the season last night. He was getting beat like a drum all night and he was beaten bad here as well. Throw in the blitzing CB that Allen didn't expect to come and didn't see coming, the play was made almost impossible from the start. Whose fault was the protection? There is some on Allen for sure. But it is also on the linemen and the coaching staff as well. Regardless......it was a terrible protection and everyone is to blame. That said, the play isn't over because even when everything that could go wrong went wrong, but you still have an alien at QB so the play is never over. So, when Allen is counting on being able to look to his right to find someone and both the guys on your right side absolutely whiff on their blocks, the average QB is just toast. But Allen isn't your average QB. Staring at an all out jailbreak that gets to him in just over a 2nd, he is still able to fire a ball almost 40 yards down the field to a guy who is coming WIDE OPEN. Was it a perfect pass? Of course not, but considering the circumstances, it may as well be considered perfect. The fact of the matter is this. He is the only QB in the NFL that can make this throw. He is big and athletic enough to back up, jump off his back foot, and even get the ball to travel that far under that pressure. Did he lead his WR? No..... But who in their right mind could ever expect that. That said, the ball is in the air for 3-4 seconds and you can see Kincaid has eyes on it early. For a guy that is pretty athletic at the position, he completely misjudges the ball in the air. I mean, he saw that throw the entire way from the moment it left Allen's hand to the moment it bounces off his hands, he saw the ball. He just misjudged it in the air. There is literally nobody around him and he just overran the ball. If he judges that properly, he doesn't need to change directrions. He doesn't need to dive. The ball just hits him in the hands with him standing there and nobody within 3 yards of him and it's an easy completion. Not only is it a completion, but it is a completion into FG range with plenty of time on the clock and TOs to work with to potentially go get the game winning TD. So yeah.... Was Allen perfect last night? No. Of course not. But, in the moment of truth, with an all out jailbreak in his face, he basically drops a near perfect dime to his first round, highly touted TE who just makes the worst play on the ball possible in that situation. The catches Hollins had in this game, especially the TD, were much more difficult than this one. As great as he is, even Allen sometimes needs someone else to step up in a big moment and make a play. His "star" TE failed to do this in the moment.

I did the calculations earlier this season, but I can't remember the exact number I came up with. But I remember thinking that with some releases and restructures, we can create around $40 million in cap space pretty easily. Now, of course some of that will have to go towards signing some of our own, but there will be money there. And, by all accounts, we are revisiting Allen's contract as well. So, that is going to make a huge difference on its own depending on how it is structured. If the new deal is backloaded heavily, that may help, but we'll have to see what their ideas are there. What's the length? Are we doing a new 8 year deal or something shorter? We will have to see what that looks like before we get to any real numbers as to what we have to spend. But we will have some money to work with to sign a legit player or 2. Just not sure who those guys are yet.

He's a perfect 5th WR on this team. Quite honestly, I am satisfied with the bottom of our WR corps. WR3 (Slot) - Shakir - Perfect slot guy and he may be one of the best slots in the entire league. WR4 - Coleman - I said it when we drafted him and, even though he just finished his rookie season, I don't see him ever being a go to guy. He just can't get open, but he can make the occassional big play and can fill a depth role for the team. Way overdrafted, though. WR5 - Hollins - Great dude, solid player, and a great teammate. Perfect depth WR to have on your roster WR6 - Samuel - Got better down the stretch, but battle injuries the entire year. With the way his contract is set, I think he's on this team for at least 1 more year. He's talented enough, though, and you can do much worse at depth WR. So, that leaves some glaring holes at WR1 and WR2. I know the Bills really wanted Coleman to be that dude for them, but I just don't ever see it happening. He never creates separation and jump balls are harder to win in the NFL. Even if he does improve, I don't see him as any better than a low end WR2 at best. But like I said above, he is a nice depth piece to have. Where do we find that WR1 and WR2? I have no idea. I mean, you have to start with the draft and see if there is a guy you can target there, but we are once again way down the draft board to probably add a top talent. But we are in desperate need of 2 guys with some speed and separation ability. Because, as of right now, we have nobody on this team, aside from maybe Shakir, that is going to win immediately off the line and we don't have a true downfield threat to take the top off of defenses. I mean, I am not the biggest fan of Worthy, but tonight was a great example why you take him over a guy like Coleman. You can manufacture so much with a guy like that. All he needs is a crease and he's running wide open. Even if he never improves, you can still count on him as a solid WR2 that will make some solid plays for you every game and use his speed to open up others on the field. Again, this is not about Worthy......it's more about finding a guy or 2 like that, preferably a little bigger, that add some speed and separation ability to this offense. As much as I like Cooper and his unselfishness, we need to get younger and faster outside and find a way to get Allen some explosive weapons.

The offensive line picked a lousy day to have their worst game of the season. Going into this game, that was one unit that never crossed my mind as being a primary reason we would lose this game. The group as a whole had their worst game of the year, but man.....Brown really let me down tonight. He was brutal out there.

Out-coached once again as McDermott proves once again he is not a big game coach. Outplayed for much of the game, yet, with the game on the line, and an all out jail break in his face, Allen puts a ball on the money only for Kincaid to drop the ball. Just once I want someone on this team to step up and make a play besides Allen. Allen wasn't perfect tonight as he obviously needed to be, but in the moment where he needed to be a miracle worker, he delivered an almost impossible ball only for his target to not make the play. Was it an easy catch? No. But I like Kincaid and I hold that guy to a high standard. That's a catch he needs to make and I am sure he would tell you the same. I have a lot of issues with this game. Some to do with coaching. Some to do with the players. And, of course as we all knew would happen, I have some major issues with the refs (there were at least 3 bogus spots that cost us big time. Who knows, that last one may have cost us the game). But man.....I just don't have it in me right now. There have been games I have absolutely thought we were the better team in and deserved to win. Tonight, with the way we played, and the way this game was coached, we were kind of lucky to even be in the game with a chance. It's frustrating and aggravating because going into this season, the expectations were not super high for us. We let 10 starters go and we had $70+ million in dead cap space. We couldn't sign anyone and couldn't improve the team at all. Heck, most didn't have us even making the Playoffs. But here we are again, one game away from the Super Bowl with an inferior roster in a lot of ways, and we are living and dying with this team. It's probably unfair to them in a lot of ways because by all accounts, we overachieved this season. Just watching them this year you could see how obvious it was that we need 2 WRs with some actual speed and separation ability (outside of Shakir, we have nobody that ever gets open consistently. Everything is tightly covered with pretty much every WR on this team. Get me some guys that can win off the line). We are in desperate need of a dominant 1-tech. Our safeties are a weak spot and we can't generate a consistent pass rush. We saw it all season and we saw it tonight. So we knew we were a flawed team all year, but they always found a way to hide those inadequacies just enough to keep winning. Unfortunately, that is no conciliation and it just really hurts. Will we have a better roster next season because we will actually have some money to spend? Probably.....but situations change and you never know what injuries you are going to have. That's why, when you are in this situation, whether you should be there or not, you have to take advantage of it. And we didn't tonight. Hopefully, we'll get another shot at it at some point. Most likely, if we stay healthy, we'll have a shot to be right back in this game next season, but nothing is guaranteed and I am just sick and tired of waiting for next year.

Allen will get the blame, but he put that ball on the money in the face of an all out jailbreak. Kincaid just dropped the ball.......

HE FREAKING DROPPED THE BALL........

Usually in these situations, we come out with the most uninspired play call ever. We need, not only our best play call, but we need the best execution.

Nice pick....

We've all been watching this game. The fact that we are tied with them is absolutely amazing. We have been outplayed and out coached the entire game, yet here we are once again. But these are the games we never seem to end up winning. Usually when we get out played like this but hang in there, we always come up short. I mean, we have all seen this movie and the ending never changes. It's time we get the director's cut. But it is going to be on the defense to hold them out of the endzone.

The game isn't over yet even though it kind of feels like it. But the same thing that has been true every time we play them has remained true today. They have Chris Jones and we don't...... That and Reid vs McDermott are the difference.

He got it, but they will mark him short. Would bet the house on it.

I know they have stopped in a couple times now, but I am still running the tush push here needing a foot......

Ugh..... we had the chance again on 2nd and short to try a play action and we run every single time. The defense at this point is just cheating up because we never throw in that situation.

We are really set up to take a play action shot at some point, but for whatever reason, Brady hates play action. It's the biggest problem I have with him. But hey....whatever gets us in end zone for a TD. That's what we need right now.

Whelp......the defense is giving the offense a chance. Gotta keep fighting!!!

We keep scratching and clawing........ Still seems like we are carrying a boulder up a mountain, though. I just don't know if we are going to have enough in the tank.

Beautiful play call

That was a terrible spot......

Tush push it 3 times if you need to......

Hit them with a play action shot!!!