Chiefs = Paper Tigers

[beebe]

Chiefs fan here. Congrats on the win. I am not at all surprised Buffalo beat KC. The Bills are simply the better, more complete team right now, and are possibly a better version of the Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. 

 

Buffalo has been building toward this for a few years now. And with this cakewalk schedule — this is not a knock, the Bills are outperforming expectations in their last four games by every measure regardless — it is allowing them to save their best stuff for when it matters. I have little doubt the Bills were strategically hiding stuff the last two weeks as they steamrolled overmatched opponents. And in the end, everything the Bills did worked on the biggest stage against the Chiefs. 

 

"KC is too talented to stay down for long." That's what everybody keeps saying. And while I tend to agree with that, the schedule outside of this week's game at Washington and the MNF game vs the Giants is unrelenting hell. At Titans. Vs Packers. At Chargers. Vs Cowboys. Two games against the Raiders. Two games against the Broncos. The "easy" games late are a home date with the Steelers and a late-season trip to Cincinnati. The Chiefs look exhausted. They are taking every team's best shot, and every team — Buffalo included — is showing them stuff they've never seen before. Meanwhile, the Bills are likely to coast to the #1 seed in the AFC (the Ravens have the most realistic chance to compete with them for it.) 

 

I think the Bills have built a team that matches up well with KC. I thought that last year too. As traumatized as Buffalo fans were last year after the regular season defeat vs KC, I viewed it as a positive. The Chiefs "dominated" the game, and yet the possession count was super low, and as a result the Bills were able to stay close enough to give themselves a chance. A late Chiefs fumble that they got back nearly proved the difference. 

 

The playoff game, I felt the Bills were in trouble as soon as I saw the ref assignments. The Vinovich crew doesn't throw flags. That played right into the Chiefs' hands. Oppositely, when I saw the Cheffers crew was doing the SNF game, I felt like it played into Buffalo's hands—as they are the anti-Vinovich crew. (As it turns out, they were terrible both ways.) 

 

Anyway, I was at the game and had a few Buffalo friends with me. It was one of the most miserable losses I've ever endured as a fan in that stadium. Between the beat down, the weather delay, the Chiefs falling to 2-3, the Bills looking like clear AFC favorites, on and on — it was not fun. But I don't think the Chiefs are paper tigers just yet. They'll get a little healthier on D, the offense hopefully will get a few leads and won't have to press as much, and in the end we just might have an AFC title game rematch, but in a different stadium. Good luck!

[Scott7975]

4 minutes ago, beebe said:

Chiefs fan here. Congrats on the win. I am not at all surprised Buffalo beat KC. The Bills are simply the better, more complete team right now, and are possibly a better version of the Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. 

 

Buffalo has been building toward this for a few years now. And with this cakewalk schedule — this is not a knock, the Bills are outperforming expectations in their last four games by every measure regardless — it is allowing them to save their best stuff for when it matters. I have little doubt the Bills were strategically hiding stuff the last two weeks as they steamrolled overmatched opponents. And in the end, everything the Bills did worked on the biggest stage against the Chiefs. 

 

"KC is too talented to stay down for long." That's what everybody keeps saying. And while I tend to agree with that, the schedule outside of this week's game at Washington and the MNF game vs the Giants is unrelenting hell. At Titans. Vs Packers. At Chargers. Vs Cowboys. Two games against the Raiders. Two games against the Broncos. The "easy" games late are a home date with the Steelers and a late-season trip to Cincinnati. The Chiefs look exhausted. They are taking every team's best shot, and every team — Buffalo included — is showing them stuff they've never seen before. Meanwhile, the Bills are likely to coast to the #1 seed in the AFC (the Ravens have the most realistic chance to compete with them for it.) 

 

I think the Bills have built a team that matches up well with KC. I thought that last year too. As traumatized as Buffalo fans were last year after the regular season defeat vs KC, I viewed it as a positive. The Chiefs "dominated" the game, and yet the possession count was super low, and as a result the Bills were able to stay close enough to give themselves a chance. A late Chiefs fumble that they got back nearly proved the difference. 

 

The playoff game, I felt the Bills were in trouble as soon as I saw the ref assignments. The Vinovich crew doesn't throw flags. That played right into the Chiefs' hands. Oppositely, when I saw the Cheffers crew was doing the SNF game, I felt like it played into Buffalo's hands—as they are the anti-Vinovich crew. (As it turns out, they were terrible both ways.) 

 

Anyway, I was at the game and had a few Buffalo friends with me. It was one of the most miserable losses I've ever endured as a fan in that stadium. Between the beat down, the weather delay, the Chiefs falling to 2-3, the Bills looking like clear AFC favorites, on and on — it was not fun. But I don't think the Chiefs are paper tigers just yet. They'll get a little healthier on D, the offense hopefully will get a few leads and won't have to press as much, and in the end we just might have an AFC title game rematch, but in a different stadium. Good luck!

 

Your team is still great and will be competitive for years to come.  They just aren't as dominant anymore because other teams, not just the Bills, have caught up.  I think the main problem with your team right now is Reid is still focused on trying to make an already top offense better and left the defense in shambles.  An offense can only be so good and yours is/was already at its peak.  Your team really needs to focus on making that defense better.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

That’s true, but I think KC’s concern should be other teams figuring out how to play that perfect game. Everything has a formula in this world, and although the Chiefs are a strong team, the book on how to beat them has been written. You still need the right personnel and good coaching to do so, we certainly have all of that. 

 

I think KC's concern should be Minding Their Own Store.

2 turnovers against the Ravens

4 turnovers against the Chargers

4 turnovers against us

Last season the Chiefs D was good enough (or maybe those specific opponents bad enough) that they could turn the ball over 4x a game and still win.  But it's not sustainable, a good team will burn you for it.  The Chiefs need to clean that up to turn things around.

 

Didn't see the Ravens and Chargers games, but against us, those were "man whupping man" turnovers.  It's not like their players are just being super-careless, but they are setting them up with their play.

 

Pringle tried to get too much, Neal helmeted it hard.  Mahomes made some risky throws that to him, haven't been risky, and we took advantage.  The fumbled snap at the end of the game, I think was fatigue and frustration making Mahomes try to look ahead instead of securing the ball before trying to throw it. 

 

JMO.  KC's second concern should be their D which is not "meeting expectations" in any way. 

I wrote some stuff about my concerns on their FA losses and how they replaced them (or didn't) on it pre-season

 

[JESSEFEFFER]

9 minutes ago, beebe said:

Chiefs fan here. Congrats on the win. I am not at all surprised Buffalo beat KC. The Bills are simply the better, more complete team right now, and are possibly a better version of the Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. 

 

Buffalo has been building toward this for a few years now. And with this cakewalk schedule — this is not a knock, the Bills are outperforming expectations in their last four games by every measure regardless — it is allowing them to save their best stuff for when it matters. I have little doubt the Bills were strategically hiding stuff the last two weeks as they steamrolled overmatched opponents. And in the end, everything the Bills did worked on the biggest stage against the Chiefs. 

 

"KC is too talented to stay down for long." That's what everybody keeps saying. And while I tend to agree with that, the schedule outside of this week's game at Washington and the MNF game vs the Giants is unrelenting hell. At Titans. Vs Packers. At Chargers. Vs Cowboys. Two games against the Raiders. Two games against the Broncos. The "easy" games late are a home date with the Steelers and a late-season trip to Cincinnati. The Chiefs look exhausted. They are taking every team's best shot, and every team — Buffalo included — is showing them stuff they've never seen before. Meanwhile, the Bills are likely to coast to the #1 seed in the AFC (the Ravens have the most realistic chance to compete with them for it.) 

 

I think the Bills have built a team that matches up well with KC. I thought that last year too. As traumatized as Buffalo fans were last year after the regular season defeat vs KC, I viewed it as a positive. The Chiefs "dominated" the game, and yet the possession count was super low, and as a result the Bills were able to stay close enough to give themselves a chance. A late Chiefs fumble that they got back nearly proved the difference. 

 

The playoff game, I felt the Bills were in trouble as soon as I saw the ref assignments. The Vinovich crew doesn't throw flags. That played right into the Chiefs' hands. Oppositely, when I saw the Cheffers crew was doing the SNF game, I felt like it played into Buffalo's hands—as they are the anti-Vinovich crew. (As it turns out, they were terrible both ways.) 

 

Anyway, I was at the game and had a few Buffalo friends with me. It was one of the most miserable losses I've ever endured as a fan in that stadium. Between the beat down, the weather delay, the Chiefs falling to 2-3, the Bills looking like clear AFC favorites, on and on — it was not fun. But I don't think the Chiefs are paper tigers just yet. They'll get a little healthier on D, the offense hopefully will get a few leads and won't have to press as much, and in the end we just might have an AFC title game rematch, but in a different stadium. Good luck!

High level fandom in this post.

[billsfan89]

KC will still be a factor in the AFC. In their own division the Broncos and Raider while not bad teams aren't the powerhouses their 3-0 starts indicate. The Chargers are trouble but they already ate one loss to them. KC in my opinion will adjust their game plan to the soft zone no blitz bang up Kelce contain Hill defense. For one I think their O-line is going to feast on less D-lines and provide them with a ground game and a play action passing attack that will add more to their offense. I also wouldn't be shocked if they try to pull of a trade for a WR2 if they can make it work cap wise. 

 

But KC's defense is going to be an issue one that even an acquisition will not fix. But if KC can get Clark and Jones going at the same time on the D-line and maybe find someone to help their secondary just a bit they might claw their way back to being a less bad defense. In the end KC is going to be able to make the playoffs due to the fact that they should be able to beat up on bad and mid-level teams with their offense and win some games against better teams in shoot outs. 

 

I see 6 more wins on their schedule against the WFT, NYG, PIT and 3 out of 4 wins against their division games against the Broncos and Raiders. That gets them to 8 wins and I think they should be able to win 2-3 shootouts against their tougher remaining opponents (The Titans, Packers, Cowboys, Chargers and possibly Bengals). That is going to get them to about 10-11 wins which I think should be good enough for one of three wildcard spots (and the Colts and Fins slow starts are making the AFC less deep this year.) 

 

But in the playoffs without a bye or home field they just won't be able to consistently win close shootouts on the road. They may win a game in the playoffs but they aren't winning multiple games on the road in shoot outs. 

[Don Otreply]

On 10/2/2021 at 6:03 AM, JaCrispy said:

You still have to play a perfect game to beat them...

Not this season, three team have already beat them, and none of them played a perfect game, just sayin, 

 

The Chiefs are feeling the weight of their own expectations, 

[atlbillsfan1975]

Anyone seen @Zerovoltz? Now I’m kinda getting worried, he usually lives on this board. 

[SirAndrew]

34 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think KC's concern should be Minding Their Own Store.

2 turnovers against the Ravens

4 turnovers against the Chargers

4 turnovers against us

Last season the Chiefs D was good enough (or maybe those specific opponents bad enough) that they could turn the ball over 4x a game and still win.  But it's not sustainable, a good team will burn you for it.  The Chiefs need to clean that up to turn things around.

 

Didn't see the Ravens and Chargers games, but against us, those were "man whupping man" turnovers.  It's not like their players are just being super-careless, but they are setting them up with their play.

 

Pringle tried to get too much, Neal helmeted it hard.  Mahomes made some risky throws that to him, haven't been risky, and we took advantage.  The fumbled snap at the end of the game, I think was fatigue and frustration making Mahomes try to look ahead instead of securing the ball before trying to throw it. 

 

JMO.  KC's second concern should be their D which is not "meeting expectations" in any way. 

I wrote some stuff about my concerns on their FA losses and how they replaced them (or didn't) on it pre-season

 

That’s a good take, but I could also make an argument that regardless of QB, it matters who’s catching the ball. The Chiefs don’t have great receiving depth behind Kelce and Hill. We can put Diggs, Sanders, Beasley, Davis, Knox, and even McKenzie out there. When Mahomes is up against other great QB’s, in many ways his offense is often at a disadvantage. Those risky throws are often catches with better receivers, and turnovers from guys like Pringle don’t happen as frequently with better depth at that position. 

Edited October 13, 2021 by SirAndrew

[billsfan_34]

On 8/17/2021 at 9:18 AM, Dr. K said:

I get it that the Chiefs are the favorites in the AFC, and probably should be. But they also went into the Super Bowl favored to win. I said before the game that they would lose, and lose by double figures. 

 

Why? If you look at their play last season, especially in the second half of the season, they barely squeaked out eight of their wins. They lost to the Raiders and Chargers, and in other games:

 

beat the Chargers by 3 in OT

beat the Panthers by 2

beat the Raiders by 4

beat the Bucks by 3

beat the Broncos by 6

beat the Dolphins by 6

beat the Saints by 3

beat the Falcons by 3

 

A good team will win many close games, but when a team wins that many games by less than a touchdown you can expect a regression to the mean. Despite  Mahomes and Kelce and Hill, and the fact they beat the Bills twice last year, I don't see any reason the Bills should be quaking in their boots about playing them. 

I predict the Chiefs will have a fall off this season and would not be at all surprised if they fail to make the playoffs. They lived on the edge last season and when you do that, you are in danger of falling off. 

 

The Chiefs will have a fall because: Their D stinks. teams have learned cover  2 works against them, and the AFC West is much better. My guess, Chargers win the division and KC goes on the road or doesn’t make it in.

[beebe]

The Chiefs have had their fair share of schedule luck through the years, while the Bills essentially had to compete for one of two Wild Card spots every year for nearly two decades due to NE's dominance. So I'm not complaining. But...we've reached the point where schedule matters just as much as team ability.

 

Buffalo's schedule looked historically easy when it came out. That was when the Texans were presumed to have Watson at QB and when the Dolphins seemed competent. Now the Texans are a dumpster fire while the Dolphins are lost at sea. 

 

It is absurd that the Bills and Chiefs are competing for playoff positioning with schedules this drastically different. I thought the Chiefs were the best team in the AFC in preseason (I no longer think that, I think the Bills are the best), and yet, I never at any point gave the Chiefs a real chance of winning the #1 seed. The Bills' schedule, matched with their talent, was going to be impossible to topple. As an NFL fan, not just a Chiefs fan, I think that sucks. 

 

While 2-3 is an underachieve for the Chiefs, few teams who open with Browns, at Ravens, Chargers, at Eagles, Bills were going to start 4-1 or 5-0. As bad as the Chiefs have been this year, I am near certain they would have entered the Buffalo game at 4-0 had schedules been reversed. I think it's time for the NFL to re-think the four-team division structure. In fact, I'd scrap divisions entirely. Each AFC team should play each other once per year round robin style — alternating home and away each year — and then play three games per year vs NFC teams (18-game schedule, one fewer NFLx game, add in an extra bye week.) Isn't that better? Are Colts fans really clamoring to play two games every year vs the Jaguars? Would the Bills' playoff drought have ever reached what it was had they not been dealt two auto losses every year vs the Pats dynasty? Is it fun for a fanbase to travel to the same city four straight years as the Bills did when they played at KC in '08, '09, '10, '11? Everything about the NFL's approach to scheduling is stupid and inequitable and always has been. 

 

No idea what compelled me to go on a scheduling rant, sorry about that! 

[TheBrownBear]

Dr. K - come clean, you're actually Miss Cleo, right?

[Niagara Bill]

51 minutes ago, beebe said:

Chiefs fan here. Congrats on the win. I am not at all surprised Buffalo beat KC. The Bills are simply the better, more complete team right now, and are possibly a better version of the Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. 

 

Buffalo has been building toward this for a few years now. And with this cakewalk schedule — this is not a knock, the Bills are outperforming expectations in their last four games by every measure regardless — it is allowing them to save their best stuff for when it matters. I have little doubt the Bills were strategically hiding stuff the last two weeks as they steamrolled overmatched opponents. And in the end, everything the Bills did worked on the biggest stage against the Chiefs. 

 

"KC is too talented to stay down for long." That's what everybody keeps saying. And while I tend to agree with that, the schedule outside of this week's game at Washington and the MNF game vs the Giants is unrelenting hell. At Titans. Vs Packers. At Chargers. Vs Cowboys. Two games against the Raiders. Two games against the Broncos. The "easy" games late are a home date with the Steelers and a late-season trip to Cincinnati. The Chiefs look exhausted. They are taking every team's best shot, and every team — Buffalo included — is showing them stuff they've never seen before. Meanwhile, the Bills are likely to coast to the #1 seed in the AFC (the Ravens have the most realistic chance to compete with them for it.) 

 

I think the Bills have built a team that matches up well with KC. I thought that last year too. As traumatized as Buffalo fans were last year after the regular season defeat vs KC, I viewed it as a positive. The Chiefs "dominated" the game, and yet the possession count was super low, and as a result the Bills were able to stay close enough to give themselves a chance. A late Chiefs fumble that they got back nearly proved the difference. 

 

The playoff game, I felt the Bills were in trouble as soon as I saw the ref assignments. The Vinovich crew doesn't throw flags. That played right into the Chiefs' hands. Oppositely, when I saw the Cheffers crew was doing the SNF game, I felt like it played into Buffalo's hands—as they are the anti-Vinovich crew. (As it turns out, they were terrible both ways.) 

 

Anyway, I was at the game and had a few Buffalo friends with me. It was one of the most miserable losses I've ever endured as a fan in that stadium. Between the beat down, the weather delay, the Chiefs falling to 2-3, the Bills looking like clear AFC favorites, on and on — it was not fun. But I don't think the Chiefs are paper tigers just yet. They'll get a little healthier on D, the offense hopefully will get a few leads and won't have to press as much, and in the end we just might have an AFC title game rematch, but in a different stadium. Good luck!

Nice post, good perspective, BUT I think you have missed one particular perspective. That is....your head coach, who has a history of taling off. Maybe his message gets sour, maybe his work ethic changes, maybe he loses assistants that are not replaced with equal talent...who knows, but I think the Chiefs are destined to be a second rate team, regardless of having some truly incredible players.

[Rochesterfan]

 

I think the difference with KC is multi fold.

 

1) Many teams - Buffalo, Baltimore, and LA Chargers in specific have gotten young and talented QBs of their own - and that mixed with those teams improving - have reduced/eliminated any significant advantage KC had for a couple of years.

 

2.) KC has done a very poor job at acquiring talent on the offensive side of the ball.  Hill and Kelce are both elite, but they are desperate for a couple more play makers in the passing game and that is evident by the signing of Gordon.  Hardman - although not a bust - has not become anything on the offensive side and without additional targets - Teams are doubling Hill deep and trying to manhandle Kelce.

 

3.) KC’s defense has to many weak spots.  They have a boatload of talent and showed they can still make coverages work, but in trying to flood the middle depth zones 10-25 yards downfield - they allowed themselves to get beat deep and also get beat short.  The Bills lost their Bread and Butter plays, but still had more than enough other places to make plays.  
 

All of these things have become evident, but they are still a really good team - they are just in a bad place with a very tough division and then tough out of division games.  I still think they have maybe a few more loses on this schedule - so it is really going to be an uphill battle from here.  I don’t think they can afford many (or any) let down games and make the playoffs.  They have lost to 3 teams above them and that puts them in a very tough spot for tie breakers.  It might come down to does Baltimore or Cleveland win the North as a determining factor in seeding and making the playoffs.

 

 

[ColoradoBills]

38 minutes ago, Rochesterfan said:

I think the difference with KC is multi fold.

 

I "liked" your post and you hit on a lot of current issue with KC.  I want to add one more point.

 

All offseason on this board a lot has been made about KC acquiring talent during FA and the Bills not keeping up the "arms race".

All these current problems with KC are happening in spite of a ton of money spent (the vast amount pushed down the road).

KC did a lot of restructuring of contracts to signed a bunch of 1 year contracts resulting in a slew of FAs next year.

 

I don't know how much more they can keep doing this.  Next year as it stands the top 7 players (Mahomes, Jones, Clark, Hill, Thuney, Hitchens

and Kelce) eats up $150M+ in cap of a $208M team cap.  They will have some tough decisions this offseason and I want to see what they do

about it.  Not saying Cap Hell or anything like that but things don't get easier they get tougher.

They seem to have a huge "middle starter depth" issue.

 

I'm interested so much in how they go forward with this to compare that with how Beane handles these things in the Bills near future.

FWIW.

[beebe]

1 hour ago, Niagara Bill said:

Nice post, good perspective, BUT I think you have missed one particular perspective. That is....your head coach, who has a history of taling off. Maybe his message gets sour, maybe his work ethic changes, maybe he loses assistants that are not replaced with equal talent...who knows, but I think the Chiefs are destined to be a second rate team, regardless of having some truly incredible players.

 

I don't think Andy has a history of 'tailing off.' He endured personal tragedy at the end of an otherwise brilliant Eagles tenure and had a tough QB situation where guys like Kolb and Foles were thrown into the mix. His Chiefs tenure so far has been a winning season every season, and one of the fastest coaches in history to 100 wins with a given team, and now coming off B2B Super Bowl appearances. I do think the situation with his son last year was an unwanted distraction before the Super Bowl, and I think it continues to linger in the back of his mind even now. But I don't think we're seeing a massive erosion in quality here (KC's offense still ranks #1 in DVOA and is on an epic pace in terms of points per drive; better than any year before it.) Few teams would be above .500 against the schedule KC has played so far. Five new offensive line starters — that was always going to be a process. The defense, as bad as it has been, would undoubtedly look better if they hadn't played arguably the top four offenses in the AFC to open the year. Fact is, the Bills, Browns, Ravens and Chargers are going to make lots of defenses look stupid. Particularly one that's been missing some of its best pieces. 

 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

4 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

I "liked" your post and you hit on a lot of current issue with KC.  I want to add one more point.

 

All offseason on this board a lot has been made about KC acquiring talent during FA and the Bills not keeping up the "arms race".

All these current problems with KC are happening in spite of a ton of money spent (the vast amount pushed down the road).

KC did a lot of restructuring of contracts to signed a bunch of 1 year contracts resulting in a slew of FAs next year.

 

I don't know how much more they can keep doing this.  Next year as it stands the top 7 players (Mahomes, Jones, Clark, Hill, Thuney, Hitchens

and Kelce) eats up $150M+ in cap of a $208M team cap.  They will have some tough decisions this offseason and I want to see what they do

about it.  Not saying Cap Hell or anything like that but things don't get easier they get tougher.

They seem to have a huge "middle starter depth" issue.

 

I'm interested so much in how they go forward with this to compare that with how Beane handles these things in the Bills near future.

FWIW.

we seem to get a lot more production out of average talent guys than the Chiefs do which is a testament to our coaching staff.  I think the chiefs have been skating by on the pure physical talent alone of a few offensive players which doesn't seem as sustainable for long term success.   Andy Reid just kind of goes out and calls the same sort of game every week to maximize that.  in prior seasons it has worked every game but defensive coordinators are starting to adapt to it 

[HappyDays]

Like any other team KC needs to draft and sign well to keep up with teams improving around them, and their acquisitions over the past couple years have just not worked out. Edwards-Helaire is not a 1st round talent. Thornhill is not getting into the starting lineup. They went all in on building an o-line and it is performing below expectations at this point. Jarran Reed has been a disappointment. Nick Bolton has been just fine. Their secondary was bad last year and they made no real attempt to improve it. They let Watkins walk and didn't try to replace him.

 

Like the Bills last year they are a little too one-dimensional to make a run. Their whole team is just Mahomes throwing the ball to Hill and Kelce. If a team can stop that trio - which is easier said than done - there is nothing else they can lean on to win games.

[Dr. K]

Having started this thread back in August, I'm grateful to have the Bills make me look like I might occasionally know what I am talking about. 

 

As for the Chiefs rest of the season, I don't think the personnel issues on their D are going to be easy to fix in mid-season. The defensive liabilities will make it hard for them to go on a winning streak, but with Mahomes at QB they are still going to win some games. 

2 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

Dr. K - come clean, you're actually Miss Cleo, right?

No. But I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Dr. K

[BuffaloBillyG]

My 2 cents.

 

The Chiefs have been chasing big name free agents for both sides of the ball. A couple have worked out but most have been iffy at best. This worked in the short term however this plan is never sustainable. In short, by not building for the long term they are closing the window on themselves.

 

While they were doing that other teams were drafting well. Signing free agents that may not have been as big of a name...but were better fits scheme and personality wise. Buffalo, Cleveland, the Chargers have caught and passed them by.

 

Sure, they have Mahomes and will be competitive. However they now also get to play Mahomes and try and rehaul a defense. This will take time. Meanwhile other teams have young talent on rookie deals and are pulling away. Mahomes is great. However you need more than a QB to compete. Ask the Packers.

[Motor26]

40 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Like any other team KC needs to draft and sign well to keep up with teams improving around them, and their acquisitions over the past couple years have just not worked out. Edwards-Helaire is not a 1st round talent. Thornhill is not getting into the starting lineup. They went all in on building an o-line and it is performing below expectations at this point. Jarran Reed has been a disappointment. Nick Bolton has been just fine. Their secondary was bad last year and they made no real attempt to improve it. They let Watkins walk and didn't try to replace him.

 

Like the Bills last year they are a little too one-dimensional to make a run. Their whole team is just Mahomes throwing the ball to Hill and Kelce. If a team can stop that trio - which is easier said than done - there is nothing else they can lean on to win games.

The lack of a Watkins replacement is one of their biggest issues offensively. Those 3 can easily take over a game, but are having a hard time doing so because teams know they can just key on them. Their lack of a run game also hurts them. They are still a good team and will be a factor in the playoffs.