Rubes

With Chris Jones back in all-pro form, not many offenses will have a chance at Arrowhead.

Good post, I agree with just about everything. My only comment is that I think Benford would look even stronger out there if he wasn't wearing a number in the 40s.

Holy smokes, I come here every day, multiple times a day, and I just noticed now that you're back. Good to see you again!

Don't worry, I'm sure by some quirk of the NFL schedule we'll get to play them in Cincinnati every year for the next 6 years.

I say this all the time to my friend, a Browns fan, and he gives it right back to me. That's one fan base that could easily equal us in terms of torture.

Shaw, this was an outstanding post, I agree with everything you said. I couldn't have said it better myself. With regard to the quote above, I think you nailed it here: McD's defense, especially with the injuries, has played reasonably well. This isn't a D designed to dominate other teams; this is a D designed to keep teams to 25 points or less. That's what this team needs, when you have the QB and the offense we (should) have. As long as the O does what it knows it can do—score 30 or more with relative ease—then the D is more than enough to carry them to victory. It's when games are tight at the end when you see the weaknesses of the D show up and occasionally get exploited, but this team was designed to have a big enough lead at the end of games to make that a non-factor. The offense wasn't doing its job, plain and simple. McD held the defense together and had them performing admirably, I would say well enough, but the offense was the one letting us down game after game. Dorsey couldn't adjust and find the answer.

Not to mention getting screwed by the refs on the 2nd half kickoff that should have been a touchdown. Instead, the refs interpreted the kick returner's intention, despite the rules, and then the league changed the rules so nothing like that could happen again. Bastards.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that it can always be worse.

I hated the call, but I’ll also admit that the defense balled out in that game. At least until the final drive.

Well I guess I'm going to assume that Dorsey was the one to make the call to go to London on Thursday.

He was totally engaged in the 13 second game, trying to fire everybody up, especially on defense. Fat lot of good that did.

Makes you wonder if Allen's running, and the threat of him running, basically overshadowed the lack of a true running game, and kept defenses out of Cover 2 more. Now, without the threat of him running, and without any semblance of a running game, defenses can now make life as difficult for us as they want.

Can't wait to see Siemian step in and light up our defense.

FWIW, Oliver said he's playing with a pretty significant toe injury, which is limiting him.

Harty was on the field for 3 plays in the Bengals game. 3 snaps.

I remember when the Bills led the league in fewest punts.

Holy smokes, dude.

I think you expect too much from a guy who is still less than a year out from an ACL. People complained all last year about White and his performance. Didn't hear too much of that this year.

I highly doubt that.

You definitely have a good point there, it sure does seem that way at times.

Definitely not good. At the same time, I’m eager to see how that changes once the new guys acclimate and start playing more. Maybe we’ll even see Miller start getting back to form before it’s too late. Holding the Bengals to 3 points in the second half last night could be a sign of things to come.

I definitely think Dorsey is the main problem, but I’ll also add that I’m deeply disappointed with the performance of the offensive line, which at times looks confused and overmatched despite upgrades at multiple positions. Sure, Brown has continued to suck, but I’m starting to think the OL coach is not all he’s cracked up to be.

He was infuriating but also exciting, and you could see the potential just bursting at the seams. Now he just seems on edge, ready to make a head scratching play at any moment.

Josh used to be exciting to watch every week. Must see TV. Now I have no idea what will happen on any drive or play and I’m mostly holding my breath he doesn’t throw an ugly INT or get sacked by someone who blew by one of our OL.

Loved the acquisitions. The proof will be in their performance. Many of us were optimistic about Settle and Ford, too.