HappyDays

Sigh not looking good for Cooper to play. Maybe not Samuel either. We can get past Indy with this motley crue but hopefully Cooper at least is back for KC.

I don't know how much stock you put in PFF (frankly I don't know how much stock I put it in either). This season they have Rapp and Hamlin graded as 66.3 and 61.4. They have Reid and Cook graded as 66.2 and 59.2. I'm sure Reid and Cook are given more difficult assignments which puts their grades on a higher curve. Still it is not a stark difference IMO. Since safety and LB are devalued positions, there would need to be a massive talent gap there for me to give anything more than a slight advantage to either side. The post I responded to said the Chiefs defense is "much much more talented" than the Bills defense. I don't agree with that characterization. They have a 1 of 1 talent which gives them a distinct advantage automatically. Other than him I would say the rest of the units are of fairly even talent. If you took Chris Jones away and asked every defensive coach which roster they'd rather have I'm not sure either side would win in a rout. Spagnuolo's scheme is the other distinct advantage that they have IMO. His blitz packages have given our offense fits. I can't remember a time that we did the same to them.

Penalties that take TDs or 3rd down conversions off the board (or create 3rd down conversion) should be reviewable. That would be one simple way of removing the most frustrating calls without completely slowing the game down.

Meh. DT is the one spot I say they have a massive advantage, obviously. In my eyes EDGE is a wash, LB and safety I'll give them a slight advantage, CBs I would probably take our entire tandem over theirs but it's close. On the whole I'd say they have more talent if for no other reason than they have one Hall of Famer in his prime and we don't, but it's not "much much more talented." Where their defense really wins is with scheme. They're willing to play more man and Spagnuolo's blitz packages are for my money the best in the league.

Sure it does, but KC lost their two starting outside WRs early on and found a way to remain undefeated before they traded for Hopkins. Indy at the very least we should still be able to beat, no excuses against an opponent like that. KC is a tough out even in the best of scenarios, so I will give the team some leeway there if they lose a close one with Cooper and Coleman both out. If however KC just marches up and down the field against us and we don't even make a game out it, that would be a disappointing result and not bode well for the playoffs.

Coleman officially out, Cooper I would bet will also be out based on how McDermott talked about him this morning. Didn't sound very hopeful. Honestly I would be surprised if either of them suited up for KC too, although I'm more hopeful for Cooper on that front. Time for our defense to step up and carry the team for a couple weeks. Flacco sucks and the Colts offense has injuries of their own. The Chiefs offense is no juggernaut. We have a defensive head coach and a ton of investments on the DL. No reason that side of the ball shouldn't be able to keep both opponents below 24 points, and then the offense has to do just enough to eke out a win.

Yeah don't forget about Higgins. All those pointless deep shots to Burton will go to a real WR whose specialty is downfield catches if we face them in the playoffs. That offense is a complete nightmare to defend with our scheme/philosophy. I want no part of it.

It's a matchup league. Our defense versus their offense is a huge mismatch IMO. Maybe we could beat them in a shootout but I want no part of that in the freaking wildcard round, with tougher opponents still to come after. Give me LA or Denver in the wildcard.

We still control our destiny for the 2 seed. Baltimore isn't going to run the table and we already have a 1 game lead on them. My main objective tonight was to avoid seeing Cincy in the wildcard round. That's the nightmare scenario IMO.

Hopefully this knocks Cincy out of the playoffs when all is said and done. I can't believe any Bills fan rooted for them tonight. Imagine a playoff gauntlet of Cincy, Baltimore, KC, Detroit. That is genuinely a possibility if Cincy makes it in as the 7th seed.

Ja'Marr Chase has QB stats tonight. Unbelievable.

Yeah he landed with his full weight after driving him to the ground. Easy call

To me it looks a centimeter short but not enough to overturn

I think Baltimore should go for 2 here. You know if Cincy scores they'll go for 2 to win the game

Bengals should have let him run into the endzone there. This is like the end of our Miami game where I was rooting for them to score as quickly as possible to give our offense a shot.

My fantasy opponent has Chase

4th and short and you throw an inaccurate deep shot to the rookie that skipped practice. Sure.

Shut down the run and you shut down the Ravens. It really is that simple.

Bengals have a poor run defense but they're making a point not to let Henry take over the game.

Specifically against our defensive scheme. That's the matchup that worries me.

Cooper not catching passes is a big concern, obviously... I worry Mack Hollins will be our #1 outside WR against Indy.

Seems to me like he'll definitely be out against Indy since he can't catch, but hopefully back by KC. If not seems like he'll definitely be back after the bye. So it appears we averted a complete disaster.

No we already have enough situational pass rushers.

Ravens for sure. Anybody that's watched Burrow against McDermott's defense should know that we want Cincy out of the playoffs entirely. Burrow is probably the best QB in the league at dissecting zone defense. McDermott has never shown a willingness to adjust his scheme against him, so I want no part of that in the 1st round.

Bills 27 Colts 13 I'm feeling a redux of the Seahawks game but with a bit less scoring because of injuries to Coleman and Cooper. Pittman feels unlikely to play and Flacco is a statue so on defense we can sell out to stop the run like we did against Seattle. Flacco is the worst QB we've faced this year, even worse than Mason Rudolph IMO. He was terrible last week. McDermott doesn't lose to terrible QBs with mediocre coaching staffs. I struggle to find anything to be concerned about in this one.