HappyDays

I think Vegas probably expects us to go all in on offensive talent this offseason, which even though that shouldn't matter to a solo player award it will help Allen get the season long stats he needs to win it at the end.

From a talent perspective the Eagles are more talented than the Chiefs. I don't think the Chiefs could have really done anything to stop them. Maybe the Chiefs versus the Bengals is a better analog. They took some chances and slowed them down. But the Eagles gameplan against the Chiefs I will stand by my assertion that it was a historically bad defensive game plan in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles have apparently been susceptible to pre-snap motions all year long and Andy Reid clearly knew that. On that and the TD to Toney, whoever was supposed to cover them got confused and abandoned their man. I don't think the blitz had anything to do with it. They went into man coverage which they had barely done the rest of the game and got confused.

No I get that, but they weren't going to stop them no matter what they did. The Eagles offense is much more talented than the Chiefs defense. So they blitzed a lot and took some chances. They got some hits in on Hurts, made him as uncomfortable as possible, and when the moment came for a game changing play they were there for it. Compared to what the Eagles did where they let Mahomes on a bad ankle stand there comfortable the whole game and pick them apart. I know which game plan I prefer.

My takeaway isn't that defense doesn't matter in the playoffs, it's that you have to take chances on defense. The Eagles didn't take chances. They dropped their CBs back instead of pressing which gave plenty of space for the Chiefs pass catchers to get open. It was like us against the Bengals. I saw a stat that Mahomes got the ball out of his hands in under 2.5 seconds 56% of the time last night. It's easy to get the ball out fast when your receivers are given a free release, and this helps to neutralize a great pass rushs. In the playoffs against great offenses with experienced players and coaches that style of defensive play makes it way too easy. It was an awful defensive game plan on the biggest stage. The Chiefs under Spagnuolo have been willing to take chances. It burns them sometimes, but it's that or let the championship caliber offense you're playing kill you slowly. Take chances and when the QB inexplicably drops the ball your guy is there to pick it up and run it back for a TD instead of being 10 yards away from the play. The Bills when healthy are plenty talented enough to slow down some of the better offenses. We've seen them do it in the regular season. But can McDermott and Frazier adjust their philosophy for playoff football when simple and safe doesn't get it done?

It isn't just me. Eagles fans on Twitter sound like Bills fans, angry at their team for never pressing KC's receivers and playing vanilla defense most of the game. They did go to man right at the end and whoever was supposed to cover Toney and Moore on those TDs got confused by the pre-snap motion. But when the Chiefs were moving the ball at will all 2nd half it's because they were taking advantage of an easy to dissect defense.

I think the Eagles defense played the Chiefs all wrong. They played them like the 2021 Chiefs where you had to drop everyone back into deep zones because of the threat of Tyreek Hill. This year they don't have a player like that so defenses have learned you can cheat more towards the short and intermediate areas without getting burned too often. The Eagles instead called an extremely vanilla and easy to dissect defense. Always rush 4 and drop everyone into their zone. Reminded me of our plan against the Bengals. That's way too easy for an elite QB and play caller, especially with an offensive line as good as the Chiefs. Because of this vanilla defense the Chiefs kept winning on 1st and 2nd down which made it difficult for the Eagles pass rush to ever find a rhythm. Andy Reid schooled his former team.

For sure. That pass protection and so many schemed up wide open throws, and he only needs 182 passing yards? Yeah I think Allen could find a way to match that production. Whereas if Allen passed for 182 yards against the Eagles as a Bill we would lose the game by at least two scores. This is what I've been saying. Allen has to play at the top of his game and make several magical plays for us to have a chance against other good teams. The Chiefs score 38 points against a Super Bowl caliber team without Mahomes breaking a sweat. Just because your QB is great doesn't mean you're not allowed to make it easy for him.

I know what was said, and it was not constructive criticism. Diggs said "what's your excuse now, Josh?" Allen intentionally didn't engage because he didn't want to escalate the situation. They got in a spat after the game and then Diggs hurriedly left the facility instead of going to be with his teammates after a tough loss. And now he's going on a media tour fanning the flames. It isn't a good look no matter how you slice it. I hope he calms down and makes up with Allen. We have enough problems to worry about this offseason without also worrying about our #1 WR being happy.

I generally agree but the Chiefs defense was actually a problem for them for most of the season. They snuck out a lot of wins by the skin of their teeth often because of luck. Tonight was no different. A false start and then a flukey fumble returned for a TD plus a big punt return led to 14 points. If not for those plays the Chiefs lose by two scores IMO. The Eagles defense got confused multiple times tonight which left KC pass catchers high school wide open at times. That doesn't mean defense doesn't matter, it was just a bad night for them. I think their defense is a lot like ours, they play vanilla most of the time which is good enough to collect gaudy stats against bad teams, but then the good QBs and offenses exploit it easily. Maybe we should have paid more attention when they gave up 40 points to the Cowboys. I would let Edmunds walk for the reasons you stated. We have to transfer some of our resources from defense to offense, and a good but not elite LB is a great place to start. Hopefully we head into the playoffs next year much healthier on defense because I think the defensive line we started the year with could be a force. White will be one more season removed from his injury and Elam will have more experience. Defense still matters but we don't have to invest anything new into the defense to take it to another level. Just mix up the scheme and trust that the players we have will be good enough to get it done.

It is. Carl Cheffer's parents must be so proud.

He's in the photo, you just can't see him because he's laying on the ground.

Less than an hour after the Super Bowl and we're already deep into offseason speculation mode. I love this forum.

What are our thoughts after the Super Bowl? Nothing special from Mahomes today, just standing back with zero pressure and tossing the ball to completely wide open targets. We've seen him in a Super Bowl with the kind of OL Allen had this past season. It didn't end well. I stand by my claim that Allen is more valuable to his offense than any other player in the league.

I'm sorry man but that is a hatchet job. The ball was totally uncatchable.

That dumb timeout the Eagles took earlier to prevent a delay of game looms large now...

Yeah, well, we don't have 30 years to wait. I hate that we will have wasted a year (or more) of Allen's prime with an inexperienced play caller.

I hate them worse. The Pats were never a threat to our success, our own incompetence was. The Chiefs are in the way of our Super Bowl window and from talent evaluation to coaching they are doing it better than we are.

Like I said, nobody can defend this highly talented group of pass catchers.

Like I said, nobody can defend this highly talented group of pass catchers.

How is the Chiefs young secondary managing to defend Philly's highly talented group of pass catchers? Coaching.

I wasn't talking about who they give the award to, I was talking about who is actually responsible for most of their offense's success. I still say Allen. The Chiefs have been moving the ball like this all year, great pass protection and simple pass and catch. Mahomes is obviously elite so when they need him to make magic happen he can do it. But he has it a lot easier than Allen does on a play to play basis.

There's the MVP of football!

We are nowhere near the Eagles in talent evaluation and nowhere near the Chiefs in coaching. Depressing but true.

And see this is what I was saying in the MVP thread. Say what you about Mahomes' weapons, his pass protection and play calling is in a different league. That whole drive he didn't make any magic happen. Just stood back calmly and threw to the most wide open receivers you'll ever see. With Allen it's oh no better dodge that free rusher and then throw a 12 yard pass while sprinting to the right, and do this 10 times a game just to keep drives going.