HappyDays

At least we know they are trying. They are not sitting back watching Mack Hollins running downfield routes.

Something actually happened!!

The defense did the bare minimum. They held a bad offense to 20 points which realistically should have been 26 points. Even with that if Josh hadn't performed several miracles we would have lost by two scores. So obviously he was not 100% the reason that we won, and you know that's not what we're saying, but he was absolutely the main reason. Even moreso than usual.

Actually I think the problem is that Kincaid does keep running. He needs to take advantage of all that open space and cut off his route to present himself to Josh, instead he just runs into the safety and takes himself out of the play. I really liked Kincaid as a prospect because I thought he showed an innate understanding of how to read leverage and space to make himself available to his QB. That mental game combined with his hip fluidity made me think he could be a real problem in the NFL. But the mental game just hasn't been there at all. Kelce's physical traits are obviously great but his mental traits are what make him the GOAT. I was hoping we could have a relationship similar to that for Josh. Hasn't worked out.

After the first drive it was all Allen. Look at our final two TD drives. The first one the play to Davis downfield is all him making magic happen. Second one he vanishes and then re-appears to throw a TD to Knox. Quite literally we won this game because of Allen. Without those two impossible plays we lose by two scores.

Cooper would not solve all of our problems but he would absolutely open up our vertical passing offense, and that alone would have a snowball effect on all of our other problems. Scare defenses vertically and we'll pull them out of cover 1. Then all the underneath stuff theoretically will open up again.

It is some of both I am sure. Brady obviously is not Andy Reid. But the players just need to be better too. On that first play I posted, Kincaid if he was playing smarter would cut off his route in that giant hole of space and make an easy target for his QB. That's what Kelce would do. Instead he keeps running all the way into the safety and basically gives himself up to the coverage. I'm willing to lay some of the blame on the coaching for not having the players understand these little nuances. So it is a combination of players not executing, uncreative scheme and play calling, and a lack of coaching the fine details. Only one of those issues is fixable in-season so hopefully Beane does what's necessary.

Two consecutive plays from last night that sum up this group of pass catchers: Nobody is even close to open on at least half of our pass plays. Beane failed his QB and owes it to his team to find a solution.

I'm worried about the Bills. I'm not worried about the Jets.

Well there you go, we had no chance of matching this deal. Stupid teams ruin it for everyone else. Go get Cooper or Hopkins.

There is no easy stuff in this offense. That's just a thing people say.

He also called his own play to ice the game:

I'm glad we won but there are some very serious fundamental problems with the team that were very much on display in this one. Poor coaching in critical moments, uncreative play calling, complete nothings at the WR position, soft defensive players, and an unreliable kicker. I don't consider this loss a slump buster or a get right game. I consider it a win that helps us get to the playoffs, while also underlining some pretty serious changes that need to be made if we want to actually progress once we get there. And truthfully I'm not sure if those changes are coming in-season. It is getting hard to ignore that larger changes probably need to be made starting at the top if this team ever wants to reach its ultimate goal.

Having watched Ty Johnson and Ray Davis both run the ball this year, the two are mostly indistinguishable from each other to my eyes. Johnson is a replacement level RB, and so I place Davis in the same tier until he distinguishes himself. A lot of replacement level RBs are able to have great production. Look at Jordan Mason in San Fran. That's the nature of the position. But hey Davis stepped up for an injured player in a big game, executed the plays that were there, made a huge catch downfield, and kept the offense on schedule while making no mistakes. I'm not hating on him. He did what we needed him to do.

I like the way he always seems to fall forward for an extra 2 yards at the end of every run. Underrated trait in a RB. However on the whole I thought he was the definition of a replacement level RB and I attribute his production to good blocking more than anything special that he did with his own ability. I know this will be an unpopular post but nothing he did on the ground really impressed me.

His play tonight will be overshadowed by, well, everything else that happened. I hope it doesn't go unnoticed that he had to overcome about a million mistakes from his teammates, his defense, his coaches, and his kicker to almost singlehandedly drag his team into the division lead.

Tyler Bass officially had the game winning kick in this one.

It's rare to come away from a game feeling equally that we should have won it going away, and also that we surely should have lost.

It cannot be overstated how close we came to losing this game

Allen Johnson Rapp The entire IOL

I mean we weren't outcoached but we certainly weren't well coached either. We just made one less bumbling error than the other team.

This game made me miss Ed Hochuli.

Are we actually going to win one of these insane games that both teams tried to give away?

No freaking way!!!