Benford injury killed us

[JerseyBills]

8 minutes ago, davefan66 said:

Looked like Benford had an ice pack on his right shoulder when in the cart. Wonder if he had more than just the concussion?

Didn't notice that,  I hope so but just his facial expression and reaction after the hit was brutal to see

[rm -rf /*]

I agree with the OP.

 

I was really hoping to see them try a base defense with Taron at CB2.  Get Dorian Williams on the field.  I am assuming not having Rapp made that an impossibility.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I am sure Elam is good at something -- football just ain't it.

[Einstein]

It certainly didn’t help.

 

Then again, Chiefs walked down the field and scored even with Benford on the field.

 

Elam is toast. I tried believing in him but he’s just bad.

[streetkings01]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

One of the biggest story lines not being talked about,  already down our S, and we lose our CB1 .

Essentially went from an advantage to Elam, who was a liability 

We were on our way to getting torched with or without Benford. They were gonna pick on Hamlin …..just so happened that when Benford got hurt it went from pick on Hamlin exclusively to take your pick now with Hamlin or Elam.

[T master]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

One of the biggest story lines not being talked about,  already down our S, and we lose our CB1 .

Essentially went from an advantage to Elam, who was a liability 

 

I agree ! I think it's time to cut the cord with Elam, he hasn't shown that he can play the way he is needed even in a back up role . His instincts just aren't good enough .

 

I think Bishop did a decent job for being a rookie in replacing Rapp but the back end needs to have a few up grades & i'm not even sure if Rapp is the answer he's hurt quite a bit and for that matter Benford is too .

[Mr. WEO]

Benford's a decent DB, but the rest?  All backup level guys.  They need to revamp that unit this off season. They are stuck with Elam: 4.4 against the cap next (final) year and he has no trade value.

[SoMAn]

1 hour ago, davefan66 said:

Elam better be outright released ASAP.

 

He will never be a quality NFL corner…ever.  Looked bewildered out there. Couple him with Damar on the field?? What did anyone expect.  
 

Rapp and Benford need to stay. Douglas didn’t look great but still believe he can be good.  Damar can hit the bricks also…done with him.  Need a new starting safety and better backups.

 

Problem is you need a quality pass rush to give the dbacks a chance.  Don’t get that from our line.

 

 

Hamlin, the honeymoon’s over. Glad you’re healthy, but no more kid gloves. Way to knock our top CB out of the game. Hamlin looks like he’s wearing double guardian caps on his helmet. A fitting nickname: jiffy pop 

Edited Monday at 02:51 PM by SoMAn

[skibum]

I actually think the D overall played better in the 2nd half, not that Elam had anything to do with it. But it's not like the whole unit fell apart when Benford left. 

[MasterStrategist]

Just now, Buffalo_Stampede said:

No, Elam stinks now. He wasn’t this bad before.

Some players regress for other reasons, isn't coaching IMO in this scenario.  

 

Elam has always been inconsistent, not sure we're seeing regression rather more inconsistency.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, davefan66 said:

Elam better be outright released ASAP.

 

He will never be a quality NFL corner…ever.  Looked bewildered out there. Couple him with Damar on the field?? What did anyone expect.  
 

Rapp and Benford need to stay. Douglas didn’t look great but still believe he can be good.  Damar can hit the bricks also…done with him.  Need a new starting safety and better backups.

 

Problem is you need a quality pass rush to give the dbacks a chance.  Don’t get that from our line.

 

 

We're never going to have a good enough pass rush to make these mediocre dbs look better than they really are.

[Freak-O]

1 hour ago, dma0034 said:

Injuries happen. In a week where Benford didn't practice much to have Elam not remotely ready is on coaching

They could have put me in there and I wouldn’t be ready either. That’s not on the coaches. Sometimes the player just isn’t good enough. You can’t have endless depth in every position unfortunately. 

[DapperCam]

I agree that his injured killed us. There is no way he plays as poorly as Elam. They picked on him all game. When McDermott said “Kaiir’s gonna step up for us” at the halftime interview I knew he didn’t believe his own words. Seen managers make similar comments all the time.

 

The only other game against a good team where we were missing so much of our defensive backfield was when we got steamrolled by the Ravens earlier this season. We just had no depth.

[Brand J]

37 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Part of it was the same fearful tactic we saw against Cincy in the playoffs. CBs way off the WRs while we blitz. Ridiculous, but we did bring the CBs up after they torched us for a bit. That bit was on the coaching. 

 

Elam spent his whole college career playing man coverage and grabbing receivers at the top of their routes. He still doesn’t have a good feel for zone and he can’t stick with agile receivers without grabbing them. I think he’s only still on the team because his whole contract is fully guaranteed. 

 

The only reason we drafted him is because Kansas City jumped us for McDuffie and we desperately needed a corner back. Thank goodness Beane was smart enough to double up and take Benford later in that draft. 

Desperation will always bite you. Off the top of my head, CBs to go after Elam were Kyle Gordon (2nd), Cam Taylor-Britt (2nd), Deron Bland (4th), Tyrique Woolen (5th), and Jaylen Watson (7th). McDuffie wasn’t the last good CB. Bet there’s more I’m missing too.

[Mr. WEO]

46 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

No, Elam stinks now. He wasn’t this bad before. He’s playing soft as charmin now.

 

Oh?  when didn't he stink?  McD hardly puts him in a game--had no choice without CB1 injuries. He was inactive for 4 games and saw zero snaps in 4 other games. 

 

He's no good.  McD understands this. He's a low backup level guy.

[Aussie Joe]

Trade Elam for a 7th… 

[davefan66]

12 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

We're never going to have a good enough pass rush to make these mediocre dbs look better than they really are.

Is it scheme? Why can’t we generate a consistent pass rush?  Epenesa has flashes, Groot looked to lose a step end of the season, Oliver had flashes. After them, what do we have?

Probably cutting Von this off-season. Looks to be a little over 8 million cap savings. Following year cut would open 17 million.

 

 

[MiracleAtRich1393]

1 hour ago, davefan66 said:

Elam better be outright released ASAP.

 

He will never be a quality NFL corner…ever.  Looked bewildered out there. Couple him with Damar on the field?? What did anyone expect.  
 

Rapp and Benford need to stay. Douglas didn’t look great but still believe he can be good.  Damar can hit the bricks also…done with him.  Need a new starting safety and better backups.

 

Problem is you need a quality pass rush to give the dbacks a chance.  Don’t get that from our line.

 

 

Agreed, DLine needs the overhaul, McDermott's strength is developing quality to elite d-backs. DLine can never get home when it matters, spend all the resources there.

[SunDSolar]

Why does Damar get so much hate?

 

Anytime they were in man Damar was asked to be one on one with Kelce.   And guess what?  Kelce was shut down last night

 

He was jamming Kelce at the line and Kelce was struggling to fight off the jams

 

[Spiderweb]

1 hour ago, K D said:

Elam is the worst draft pick I've ever seen. If he wasn't picked in round 1 he would have never made the team at any point. We have drafted and released late round and undrafted guys that are better. How can you miss THAT badly? 

Yet, might we late this year say the same thing about the Benjamin like Slouth named Coleman?

[BeastMaster]

Let's give an honorable mention to Damar Hamlin who just looks slow and small out there

 

Can't do anything to impact the game besides getting abused by the opposition