Fitz - If you feel good about the Chiefs, you’re in denial

[beebe]

2 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

The Chiefs are simply not playing well ... and it's not because they've lost a bunch of key players to injury.   They've been playing this way the entire season. 

 

All the media analysts expected that losing to the Bills would spark the Chiefs to come out and rout the Panthers.   I think they were favored by 9 points over Carolina, and they barely escaped ... again ... looking like "the same old Chiefs" they've been all season, winning by luck rather than their own play.  Fast forward to yesterday, and the Chiefs won the game against the Raiders only because the Raiders' FG kicker's foot hit the dirt before the ball on their last long FG attempt.

 

When they get to the playoffs, the Chiefs are going to be going against good teams that are fully capable of not only sticking with them but of making their own luck with their own top personnel and excellent coaching.  Somebody is going to knock them out before they get to the Super Bowl.  Depending on the final seeding, the Chiefs might very well be 1 and done in this years playoffs. 

 

the chiefs have the best interior offensive line in football. they have kelce who remains a top 3 tight end, and noah gray, who is a starter level caliber te backing him up. with mahomes as qb, they can get by with avg receivers, and i'd argue when hollywood brown returns next month a wr corps of hollywood, hopkins, worthy and juju is actually pretty strong. in the backfield, they have pacheco and kareem hunt. 

 

but the chiefs are atrocious at tackle, specifically at left tackle. what the chiefs have shown us beyond doubt is that if you are league worst at left tackle, your offense can look rather inoperable. every bad snap the chiefs play on offense can pretty much be attributed to their tackles getting smoked. the chiefs will get humphries in at left tackle starting next week. if he solidifies mahomes' blind side in a real way, i think the chiefs offense will look better than it has the prior two years come playoff time. they always step up the play calling and take it to another level when it matters most anyway.

 

but the defense looks like a very real concern. which i don't totally get. other than the departure of sneed - and losing his replacement, jaylen watson, to midseason injury - it's the exact same defense as last year. except now they've got uche as an extra pass rusher, and just added omenihu back into the fold. there's really no reason why this D should be looking as bad as it has. 

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

 

 

I am convinced those touting the chiefs magic and winning “aura” as the reason they’ve narrowly escaped with all of these games are doing so as a defense mechanism to prepare themself in the event we cannot overcome the hurdle. It is BBFS at its finest! 

 

I have the opposite mindset actually. Our win over the Chiefs this year was our most impressive regular season win in the Allen era. Allen did to them what the Chiefs usually do to everyone else, which is miraculously pull out a win while facing certain defeat. I guess if they're just a mediocre lucky team we have to discount that win and that play. I don't. No defense mechanisms here. I believe we are the only team that has what it takes to stop them from three-peating.

[FireChans]

17 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

HAHA!

 

I mean how many other teams can claim that two days after Thanksgiving?!? You don't have to look it up. It's just the Bills. I'm actually surprised the Bucs can't claim the same. But Lions have not yet locked up a playoff spot.

 

Admit it FireChans, you forgot the AFC West existed. I'll cut you some slack though because that entire division is down but the first and second place teams in that division have winning records and the Bills beat both. 

 

We played the Chargers? Am I blanking?

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

Just now, FireChans said:

We played the Chargers? Am I blanking?

 I meant NFC West. 

But thanks for pointing out the Bills are the only team in the entire NFL to beat a playoff team this year.

[HappyDays]

20 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

Their problem right now is that they have shown that EVERY game is going to be a dogfight. No easy wins for them.

 

Every playoff game is a dogfight and there are no easy wins. If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, this is why the Chiefs are an elite team this year. For 55 minutes they play like maybe the 12th best team in football. And then for 5 minutes they're far and away the best. Their goal in every game is to get to that 5 minutes either leading or within one score, and then it's a sure win. It doesn't matter if their opponent is the worst team in the league or the Super Bowl runner up - that is how all of their games have gone since the playoffs last year. In that time they are 12-0 in one score games and only the Bills have beaten them. When we beat them in the playoffs it will be even sweeter because we'll have beaten an all time team with a one of a kind ability.

[Coach Tuesday]

5 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Every playoff game is a dogfight and there are no easy wins. If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, this is why the Chiefs are an elite team this year. For 55 minutes they play like maybe the 12th best team in football. And then for 5 minutes they're far and away the best. Their goal in every game is to get to that 5 minutes either leading or within one score, and then it's a sure win. It doesn't matter if their opponent is the worst team in the league or the Super Bowl runner up - that is how all of their games have gone since the playoffs last year. In that time they are 12-0 in one score games and only the Bills have beaten them. When we beat them in the playoffs it will be even sweeter because we'll have beaten an all time team with a one of a kind ability.

They’ve got hold of you man - we need to get an exorcist up in here.

[Unforgiven]

10 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Props to Fitz for calling it like he sees it instead of saying the Chiefs are just “playing with their food” or are just “disinterested” right now.

 

It’s unreal how they’ve won some of their games this year.

 

While it would’ve been nice for them to have more losses at this point, I’m glad we beat them.

 

Go Fitz! Go Bills!!

 

 

They are a shoo in for 3rd straight. The home office wants it.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

6 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Every playoff game is a dogfight and there are no easy wins. If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, this is why the Chiefs are an elite team this year. For 55 minutes they play like maybe the 12th best team in football. And then for 5 minutes they're far and away the best. Their goal in every game is to get to that 5 minutes either leading or within one score, and then it's a sure win. It doesn't matter if their opponent is the worst team in the league or the Super Bowl runner up - that is how all of their games have gone since the playoffs last year. In that time they are 12-0 in one score games and only the Bills have beaten them. When we beat them in the playoffs it will be even sweeter because we'll have beaten an all time team with a one of a kind ability.

 

The Chiefs vs. Dolphins game last year was not a dog fight. Plenty of playoff games are never dog fights. 

 

Bills vs. Pats WC.

Bills vs. Steelers WC

[Beck Water]

10 hours ago, Warcodered said:

Yeah in back to back weeks they've barely escaped defeat against teams competing for the #1 pick.

 

Just Win baby.  They all count the same.

 

What's the saying, between "lucky" and "good", take "lucky"?
 

13 minutes ago, Unforgiven said:

They are a shoo in for 3rd straight. The home office wants it.

 

They do seem to get a lot of breaks with calls and no-calls (on DPI especially)

Edited Saturday at 04:12 PM by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

34 minutes ago, beebe said:

 

the chiefs have the best interior offensive line in football. they have kelce who remains a top 3 tight end, and noah gray, who is a starter level caliber te backing him up. with mahomes as qb, they can get by with avg receivers, and i'd argue when hollywood brown returns next month a wr corps of hollywood, hopkins, worthy and juju is actually pretty strong. in the backfield, they have pacheco and kareem hunt. 

 

but the chiefs are atrocious at tackle, specifically at left tackle. what the chiefs have shown us beyond doubt is that if you are league worst at left tackle, your offense can look rather inoperable. every bad snap the chiefs play on offense can pretty much be attributed to their tackles getting smoked. the chiefs will get humphries in at left tackle starting next week. if he solidifies mahomes' blind side in a real way, i think the chiefs offense will look better than it has the prior two years come playoff time. they always step up the play calling and take it to another level when it matters most anyway.

 

but the defense looks like a very real concern. which i don't totally get. other than the departure of sneed - and losing his replacement, jaylen watson, to midseason injury - it's the exact same defense as last year. except now they've got uche as an extra pass rusher, and just added omenihu back into the fold. there's really no reason why this D should be looking as bad as it has. 

 

Losing your two CBs is a significant loss.  It's not quite "well, except for THAT Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play?" level, but it's close.

Chris Jones has been the heart and soul of the KC defense.  Now age 30.  I could be wrong but I do wonder if Cyborg successfully handles the Chris Jones of 2 years ago or even a year ago.

[HappyDays]

14 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

They’ve got hold of you man - we need to get an exorcist up in here.

 

They've got a hold of everyone. Their supposed drop off is dominating the national conversation right now. Everybody across the NFL is whistling past the graveyard not understanding who this team is and how they win. I've come fully around to the idea that in the NFL the quality of your opponent doesn't matter nearly as much as people say. Panthers, Raiders, it doesn't matter. Every team is going to give you its best shot and you have to find a way to overcome them. The game script could veer off in weird and unexpected directions, and you have to adjust on the fly and find a way to win within that game script. The team that can do that at a near perfect level is in my mind vastly superior to a team that is more talented on paper but can only win 50% of one score games. Turning coin flips into sure victories is the ultimate superpower in the NFL. The Chiefs have been great at that for a while now but since the playoffs last year they've perfected the art. All the other talk about the "quality" of their wins is just fluff.

[Coach Tuesday]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

They've got a hold of everyone. Their supposed drop off is dominating the national conversation right now. Everybody across the NFL is whistling past the graveyard not understanding who this team is and how they win. I've come fully around to the idea that in the NFL the quality of your opponent doesn't matter nearly as much as people say. Panthers, Raiders, it doesn't matter. Every team is going to give you its best shot and you have to find a way to overcome them. The game script could veer off in weird and unexpected directions, and you have to adjust on the fly and find a way to win within that game script. The team that can do that at a near perfect level is in my mind vastly superior to a team that is more talented on paper but can only win 50% of one score games. Turning coin flips into sure victories is the ultimate superpower in the NFL. The Chiefs have been great at that for a while now but since the playoffs last year they've perfected the art. All the other talk about the "quality" of their wins is just fluff.

I think you’re over-selling it just a bit.  Most teams play hard every week, sure, but their defense is having trouble stopping bad offenses in the fourth quarter, not during the first few drives when teams can sleepwalk a bit.  Their D is not playing well.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Right now they are VERY fortunate not to be sitting at 6 or 7 wins. Yes, they have found a backdoor way to win several times this year...but that is not sustainable. Once the playoffs hit it only takes one game against a good team to send them home. The only "positive" I have seen from them is that their TE2 Noah Grey seems to be emerging as a legit TE1 threat. 

 

I don't think they make it back to the Super Bowl unless something drastically happens. 

 

I think Fitz nailed it. The vibe is definitely off in KC. I don't know if it's some hidden locker room drama or what but something is definitely off there 

[SaulGoodman]

10 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Props to Fitz for calling it like he sees it instead of saying the Chiefs are just “playing with their food” or are just “disinterested” right now.

 

It’s unreal how they’ve won some of their games this year.

 

While it would’ve been nice for them to have more losses at this point, I’m glad we beat them.

 

Go Fitz! Go Bills!!

 

 

 

The comparisons to the Eagles/2020 Steelers, etc, might hold water if KC didn't have a history of fixing their ailments in time for the postseason every single year. 

 

It's like people already forgot last season. 

[Mikie2times]

8 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I haven't seen or known one person who said that.  We learned our lesson last year.  What's a little different this year is their defense isn't as good.  The pass rush isn't what is was last year and losing Sneed and Ward definitely stresses their pass defense.  If you ignored the name and history of this specific team though and just looked at the metrics we'd call them a fraudulent 11-1 team. 

I mean, most people ARE calling them a fraudulent team. This thread is about getting on the KC is fraudulent bandwagon comparing them to a team that was blown out in the wild card round last year. Do you not recall this exact same narrative playing out with the Patriots multiple times or even the Chiefs last year? Now hopefully it goes nowhere near that direction but wow, you would think people would show a degree of restraint and historical perspective. Actually, never mind. Why would I think that. 🤣

 

4 hours ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

Go climb back under your rock.

it’s a warm place where logical things reside. 
 

3 hours ago, eball said:

 

Please point out these people.  Any of them.  One of them.

 

Newsflash — it is ok for football fans to comment on what they are seeing out of the KC Chiefs right now.  They look pretty mediocre and have gotten a preponderance of ridiculously fortuitous bounces to win football games.

 

The entire board saying they’re fraudulent. We just got done playing a rock fight game with them?  See where this is really confusing? If we catch them in the playoffs it should be another battle as usual. 

Edited Saturday at 04:32 PM by Mikie2times

[HappyDays]

11 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

I think you’re over-selling it just a bit.  Most teams play hard every week, sure, but their defense is having trouble stopping bad offenses in the fourth quarter, not during the first few drives when teams can sleepwalk a bit.  Their D is not playing well.

 

That's what is different about the Chiefs now - because neither their offense nor their defense are performing at an elite level they are not going to blow teams out. Out of their 11 wins only 2 have been by more than one score. So I understand why the common belief now is that they aren't championship caliber. Because for 55 minutes they look ordinary. The thing with them is that one phase of the ball, some player or two, is always going to step up in the last 5 minutes. Or the coaching staff is going to make the exact right decision for the game that they are in. Yesterday is a great example - they've watched the Raiders miss three kicks of 50+ yards. So they play the odds. Instead of going for it on 4th and 2, they dare the Raiders and their joke of a QB and their joke of a coach to execute a long drive to get within a manageable kicking distance. They put all of the pressure on their opponent knowing they are almost certain to come out on top. In a different game script against a different opponent, they would have made different decisions to win the game. They don't care what happens for the first 55 minutes. They don't expect to dominate their opponent, they expect to win and they always do. Josh Allen is the only person in the NFL that's managed to beat them at their own game this year. I suspect he is the only one that can.

 

Edited Saturday at 04:37 PM by HappyDays

[Maynard]

1 hour ago, T master said:

The Chiefs have it all on their side . Not only do they have talent but they have luck too ! It's going to take the Bills playing their best mistake free or at the very best a game with the least amount of mistakes as they can play & have a little bit of luck on their side to beat them .

 

I believe McD & company have learned from past mistakes and have become the better of the two teams the only thing they do have now is much more experience on their coaching staffs when it comes to coordinators but there is always the new guy on the block and lets hope McD & this team can make it happen ! 

 

I Billeve this is the year !! GO BILLS !!!! 

They have the refs! Single-handedly the most important aspect. 

[Ecmic82]

12 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

I think you’re over-selling it just a bit.  Most teams play hard every week, sure, but their defense is having trouble stopping bad offenses in the fourth quarter, not during the first few drives when teams can sleepwalk a bit.  Their D is not playing well.

Yeah, it’s a hard sell that the Chiefs were the better team in the final 5 minutes of yesterday’s game.

 

Didn’t sense a flipped switch, or an activated superpower. The Raiders, through no influence or imposed-will of the Chiefs, shot themselves in the foot on one play (I’d argue two plays going back to the end of their previous drive) during a crunch-time scenario in which they otherwise thoroughly outplayed the Chiefs.

Edited Saturday at 04:38 PM by Ecmic82

[SaulGoodman]

7 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

That's what is different about the Chiefs now - because neither their offense nor their defense are performing at an elite level they are not going to blow teams out. Out of their 11 wins only 2 have been by more than one score. So I understand why the common belief now is that they aren't championship caliber. Because for 55 minutes they look ordinary. The thing with them is that one phase of the ball, some player or two, is always going to step up in the last 5 minutes. Or the coaching staff is going to make the exact right decision for the game that they are in. Yesterday is a great example - they've watched the Raiders miss three kicks of 50+ yards. So they play the odds. Instead of going for it on 4th and 2, they dare the Raiders and their joke of a QB and their joke of a coach to execute a long drive to get within a manageable kicking distance. They put all of the pressure on their opponent knowing they are almost certain to come out on top. In a different game script against a different opponent, they would have made different decisions to win the game. They don't care what happens for the first 55 minutes. They don't expect to dominate their opponent, they expect to win and they always do. Josh Allen is the only person in the NFL that's managed to beat them at their own game this year. I suspect he is the only one that can.

 

 

The coaching staff is the reason some of these games have finished in the way they have. Attempting a low-percentage deep pass on 3rd and 2, when a 1st down ices the game? Just mind-numbing idiocy. Reid's late-game decisions have always left a lot to be desired. Mahomes has just covered up that weakness the last several years. 

[FireChans]

10 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 I meant NFC West. 

But thanks for pointing out the Bills are the only team in the entire NFL to beat a playoff team this year.

They have.

 

By the end of the season? I don’t know.

Right now, it’s KC and MAYBE the NFCW winner of AZ/Seattle and pending Niners game (only one of those teams will make it). I think Ravens/Texans will both make the playoffs too. Only Detroit is left as a playoff team on our schedule.

 

So yeah, I don’t understand talking down a victory over the two time defending champ who was undefeated until they faced us. KC is and was arguably the toughest game on our schedule and they are definitely a playoff team.