HappyDays

This is from Joe Buscaglia's review of the Ravens game:. More man coverage this week, please. Elite QBs tear up our zone defense annually in the playoffs. KC's receivers are pretty average overall. Don't be afraid to man them up and don't be afraid to blitz Mahomes. The book on stopping their offense has changed.

Bills 24 Chiefs 23 This game will flip the script of our previous playoff matchups and become a defensive struggle. Chiefs kick a FG to get within 1 point and kick off with 5 minutes remaining. We then methodically run out the clock with a few clutch plays from Allen and finally slay the dragon.

Censor? I hardly know her

See I never bought the mismatch thing. Everyone just looked at the stats of their run offense compared to our run defense and surmised there was an insurmountable gap there. Me, I believe run defense is about WILL from the players and INTENT from the coaches. I'm now fully convinced that Oliver and DQ were dogging it a bit early in the season, saving themselves for more important games. Their will showed up in this one. You saw it on tape and Henry's stat line proves it. I'm also convinced the coaching staff had the wrong game plan in week 4 - against Baltimore you have to shut down the run first and live with their production through the air. Otherwise you're on your heels the whole game. In this game the intent of the coaching staff was made clear on the very first play - 4-3 base defense and Henry was stuffed for a 1 yard gain. There was never a mismatch. The players and coaches just didn't have the right formula in week 4. Thankfully they corrected it when it mattered.

This really was the most Chiefs like win of the season for us. The more I think about it, it's uncanny. Chiefs always let their opponent make a game of it. They never put their opponent away early. Their opponent might outplay them but their opponent makes big mistakes and they don't. The end of the game in particular was as Chiefs as it gets. 4th and 2 from the goal line with a chance to go up by 8, the Chiefs would kick that FG every time and put all the pressure on their opponent to execute and go win the game. Because they know their opponent very likely can't hold up under the pressure, and if they can then Mahomes will just drive down for a game winning FG. They leave themselves multiple avenues for victory and trust that one of them will come through. This game was frustrating but also maybe the most impressive win of the McDermott era because it showed a championship ability that I've never seen from this team before. We beat Baltimore exactly like KC did in week 1, except this time the would-be game tying drive was quashed by a finger rather than a toe.

They drafted Hayden Hurst a few picks BEFORE they took Lamar Jackson. Any stories they've told after the fact to indicate that they were all in on him are not true. They decided a TE prospect was worth the risk of losing out on him entirely. The truth is nobody, including Baltimore, properly valued him.

FWIW so is WR production. In 2022 the top 10 WRs averaged 1,422 yards. In 2023 it was 1,451. This year it was 1,296. Passing production in general has gone down, as has scoring. Defenses have caught up to the high flying big play offenses, so offenses have responded by becoming more about ball control which is reducing the overall number of plays run. Keeping this discussion point on topic, a player like Kincaid should theoretically thrive in the new style. He was drafted to be a ball control type of player. Instead he's low efficiency and low production.

Yeah Ryan Van Demark did a steady job in that game but it's no coincidence we had our worst rushing efficiency of the season against KC. We just imposed our will against the two best run defenses in the league. I don't expect us to let up this weekend.

He was our best player against Baltimore IMO. Has been our 2nd best overall player this season. As a non-premium position I needed him to become an elite player to live up to that contract. Well, he got there. In fact he's a legit difference maker. Kromer is a miracle worker.

That's fine but this year he hasn't been that guy, clearly. It isn't just scheme. There have been plays where he's the designed primary read but can't separate - last week against Denver, the broken play that ended with a missed throw to Knox in the endzone was actually schemed up for Kincaid to get open on an angle route but he lost the rep. Him and Allen often are not on the same page. In general he was drafted to be a reliable pass catcher/chain mover and instead he has a 58.7% catch rate and only 6 yards per target. I say all of this as a huge Kincaid fan coming out of Utah. He was my draft crush and I couldn't believe it when he fell to us. But I have to be honest about his performance on the field. The traits that I fell in love with haven't translated to the NFL. At least not yet.

I mean how should we be using him? He doesn't do a particularly good job making himself available to his QB. He's often not where Josh expects him to be. He can't separate downfield consistently. His hands haven't been nearly as good as I thought coming out. There's a reason Knox has been out-snapping him - Kincaid just hasn't been good enough. I'm hoping the light turns on for him next year. He's very talented but the details aren't there.

It seems like he has a lot of trouble reading defensive leverage and making himself available to his QB. That skill is what makes Kelce the GOAT. Here's an example from the Ravens game, first play in this clip: So the debate I've seen on here is it a bad throw or a missed catch? To me it's more about Kincaid's route. I think he needs to flatten his route out and not drift upfield randomly. Allen throws it when he's made his cut and is at the 39, but Kincaid drifts and is at the 41 by the time the ball gets there. If he flattens his route I think the ball is right where it needs to be. This is an issue of understanding leverage IMO.

Hamlin was genuinely quite good in this game, he just had the one really bad play that jumped out. He had several great run stops including that almost home run you mention, and showed excellent technique to bring Lamar down in a disadvantageous 1v1 situation which led to a turnover. He gets all the criticism but he just keeps doing what he's supposed to.

I mean the easy response to this is that the "h8ers" were right when they begged McDermott to do these things and not do the same old crap we get trampled with year after year in the playoffs. Good on McDermott for making those adjustments, seriously. But the adjustments also prove that his defensive coaching in past playoff games has been subpar. Thankfully he recognized this and now we have a real shot at a Super Bowl.