fergie's ire

I'd love to see a return to rookie Gabe: Mr. Toe Drag Swag. He was great at those out routes.

I remember a few years ago, when Beane was asked about doing nothing at the deadline and he said something about being burned in the past for making a panic move and didn't want to do that again. He was clearly referring to Kelvin Benjamin. Last year, he went ahead and pulled the trigger and gave up a third for a whole lotta nothin'. I still hope he does something in the next hour...but I would not be surprised if it's a while before we see Beane make one of these deadline trades again.

I agree. I think that they brought Hoecht in to fill this niche role for what they wanted to do on defense and his loss is a killer. If they can't find someone on the market to fill that role, some have suggested Jackson...but I'm wondering if AJ could do it. Seems he has always been a bit of tweener. Not quick enough to be great rushing DE and not powerful enough to be a DT...but maybe his weakness could be his strength in this role?

Ha, funny. I almost added a line about knowing the Dolphins suck, but decided it would be bad juju during Dolphins week. Also, even they went out and crushed the Falcons in between getting destroyed by the Ravens and Browns.

Agree 100%, but I think what frustrates the OP and certainly frustrates me is why can't people ever learn this? The NFL is weird...so to act like you know something for certain in terms of who is good or bad is a bit crazy. A few weeks ago, the Chiefs were terrible and might not make the playoffs, then they were a juggernaut headed for another Super Bowl...and now people are again questioning whether they'll make the playoffs. The Packers were great...but then they weren't...but then they were...and now, not so much again. Detroit, same thing. Chargers. Bo Nix had come down to earth and was a bad quarterback who, 3/4 through the Giants game had only managed to put up 13 points total in almost 2 games against the Jersey teams. Then he puts up 33 in a quarter...and 44 the next week. And yet people love to say with certainty that team X is great and is a lock to make the Super Bowl and team Y sucks and doesn't stand a chance of making the playoffs.

I saw the Chiefs player go by him...taking himself out of the play, so Knox steps through and puts his arm against him on the side...but didn't even really push, let alone hold. It looked a bit like a D lineman doing a swim move. I think it's one of those plays where the official looks up and sees an arm outside the frame and assumes he is holding. It's a lot like the calls against Dawkins several times last year where he would chop down on the D lineman's hands so violently that the lineman would fall to the ground. The official sees Dawkins' hands go to a players chest and sees the player falls and ASSUMES that he pulled him down.

I think "numb mind" is a perfect description, because I think the Chiefs played on Bosa's experience...got him to do something out of habit without thinking. Situational football, even if it IS a screen, you trust players downfield to rally to the ball in that situation. However, I think when a DE is given a free pass like that, particularly someone with as much experience as Bosa, the DE's mind screams TRAP without even really thinking. That feeling of being allowed to rush caused Bosa to pause for just a second which is what Mahomes needed. It is one of those plays that has the potential to go horribly wrong, but when it works it's brilliant.

Yeah, that hit made me happy. Mahomes like to run toward the sideline and then when defenders pull up to avoid hitting him late, he'll stop and make a throw (like he did here) or even run forward for an extra yard or two. Liked to see him get punished for F'ing around.

Agreed.

They only converted 3 of 13 third downs....so couldn't have been too many. I think they have been taking some chances and sometimes get burned...but overall, I like this defense much more than previous versions.

I'm seeing a lot of criticism of McD's time outs. I kind of get it because those are timeouts that might have been needed for a Josh drive late. However, I think in the particular circumstance, I think the timeouts were really smart. The D is still learning the more aggressive style and they are moving a lot of players around which is tough when the crowd noise is super loud. Yeah...ideally you don't want to be confusion on D pre-snap, but there was. When that happened pre-snap against Baltimore, Derrick Henry was dribbling Bishop post-snap. If Mahomes snapped it with the D out of position, bad things would probably have happened....and I think it was smart for McD to call time out and avoid disaster.

Put another way, the ONLY times teams have stopped them from getting to the Superbowl they first beat them in the regular season.

Tackling was the major concern about him when drafted. Though it is the smallest of sample sizes, I did find it encouraging that Hairston had the best tackle that anyone in the back 7 has seemingly had in games (stuck the guy, stopped him, AND wrapped up).

That had crossed my mind. I remember a few years ago he took a shot against the Packers that people suspected was concussion causing...and did not seem right for a few games after. However, I would think that, since it wasn't severe enough that he got pulled from the came, that if that were the case, he'd be better by now...but who knows.

Yeah. Something seems off. There were a couple of passes in the first half, with open receivers, that Josh missed BADLY.

One of the reasons that people always cite for wanting a big one tech is that he will require double teams and free up Ed. However, you can also draw double teams through penetration. That's exactly what happened on the first sack of the game by Ed. Hoecht drew a double team and Ed was easily able to get in on Dalton.

Hey!! It's Franklin.

There's been talk about Poyer and Hancock stepping in at safety. What about Franklin? Anybody know if he can actually play safety or is he a safety like Codrington is a corner?

I think that is what it best about the Rapp injury. I've heard the coaching staff LOVES Rapp. The fan base thinks he is a big part of the problem. Well, whether it is Poyer or Hancock or someone else, at least fans and coaches will get to see how it looks with another option.

It DID and I think that was the one silver lining of that game. If not for Tre leaving his man wide open who a desperate Penix was able to hit for a big play, it would've been a very good second half. They gave the offense plenty of chances to take back the lead. I hope it also showed that even though the Bills were down to backup corners, they could stick with ATL receivers long enough. The D Line HAS been getting pressure and have to trust that and risk the corners playing tight. Sure, the ATL receivers are not the KC receivers...but still.

It is common for these McDermott teams to have a two game losing streak which everyone (here and in the media) seem to be pointing out. In an earlier thread, someone commented that McDermott's teams go on a tear after a loss, but someone pointed out that's not true and they often drop a second game. However, what IS true, which I don't see people mentioning is that McDermott teams DO go on a tear after the second loss. Here's the Bills record after a two game losing streak from 2020 on: 9-1, 4-0, 7-0, 6-1, 10-2 (and the second loss was the giveaway to NE).

Yes, I heard a lot of "Look out for the Jets. Things are going to change because the Jets got a guy from a well run organization who is going to bring about a culture change." At the time, I thought "Isn't that EXACTLY what they said when Salah was hired?"

Remember the Titans? At least for the #1 pick...they probably think they already have a quarterback.

In the immortal words of NSYNC: bye bye bye

I almost wonder if that's been the plan all along. If they activate him just before the bye he can get some coaching and practices that are less game plan focused. Seems like a good week to work on getting him up to speed.