HappyDays

They literally blew us out in our first playoff matchup. 38-24 and it was only that close because we scored a garbage time TD. Get out of here with "they don't try to score points unless the game is close." That's patently ridiculous and you know it.

Ok but this is just a thing you said. It has no basis in reality and isn't a convincing argument. I didn't get that sense at all last year. If anything there were times where I wanted us to open up the passing game more. The Rams game would have been a blowout loss if Allen didn't start throwing lasers downfield. Two big completions to Amari Cooper are what won us the KC regular season game. Two big completions to Mack Hollins are what kept us in the AFCCG. Reverting to low % chance passing attempts didn't lose us that game. Quite the opposite - we did so many short yardage plays the game came down to a referee spot. On the final drive we tried dinking and dunking our way down, this failed and put us in a 4th down situation, and then when we absolutely needed a long completion our pass catcher failed in the clutch and that was game over.

Okay but it isn't just homers saying it. It's become somewhat the trend lately amongst national analysts to not have Mahomes ranked #1. Chris Simms, Kyle Brandt, even some of the NFL coaches and executives interviewed by the Athletic for their annual QB ranking. I'm not saying any of these people's word is law. But it is a legitimate conversation/debate. If you've decided game winning drives and total championship wins is your deciding marker, cool I respect that. A lot of analysts are ranking based on other factors and it is not as clear cut as you seem to think. I suspect Mahomes is aware of the chatter around his play dropping off and he will have a bounce back season this year. Especially with the addition of a legit LT and his best passing target returning in week 7. I don't expect them to go 15-1 again but I expect their offense to be significantly better than last year.

You've manufactured a binary choice. The correct answer which you decided not to include is that Andy Reid has had McDermott's number big time. We run our normal defense that they already saw in the regular season, while they add new wrinkles that we are woefully unprepared for. It's as big a coaching mismatch as I've ever seen between two supposed rival teams. FWIW I think McDermott is a good coach. But he needs to get his nemesis figured out and start performing at even an average level against him - hell I'd take slightly below average - or the result will never change. I'm optimistic that some of the defensive additions on both the roster and coaching staff mean there are real changes coming. But I need to see it happen when it counts.

Every fanbase of those 4 teams has an argument for why their QB is the best. Lamar unfortunately has a lot of bad playoff performances on his record and unlike Allen and Burrow he has an excellent roster, so he probably has the least excuses for why he hasn't gotten his Super Bowl yet. But like I said the differences in play are negligible. When you're playing at the level those 4 guys are over the course of a season, the ranking comes down to any given week. If you want to say Mahomes has been the most clutch out of all of them, I think that narrative is slightly overblown but I won't fight it. I'd add the context that the team around him has also been more clutch than the other 3 teams. Also game winning drives has never in history been used as a bulletproof argument for ranking QBs. It's for sure the stat that more than anything else makes him a tier 1 QB, but just plugging your ears and ignoring what happens over the first 55 minutes of the game isn't a sound process. So I default to my original stance that there are 4 elite QBs and each fanbase should feel comfortable proclaiming that theirs is the best one.

Baltimore and Cincy wouldn't. None of those 4 teams would trade their QB for one of the others because they've built their teams around their own QBs and the difference in play between them is negligible. Now if you gave those teams the opportunity to swap coaching staffs, every last one would take KC's. Rosters outside of QB, they'd all take Baltimore.

Allen and Cook, yeah. Not sure if you watched the game but KC's offense looked like it was facing a scout team in the 1st half. Four drives with exactly zero resistance. Mahomes felt bad and gave us the ball for free on one of those drives, which was nice of him. Our offense on the other hand was scratching and clawing for every yard and TD. Oh well. Last year is last year. Hopefully all the investments and coaching additions we made on that side of the ball this offseason make a difference. I expect KC's offense to get back on track this year with the addition of Josh Simmons and Rashee Rice after his suspension ends.

Turns out it's to the PS:

Good point. The Bills defense carried them to the Super Bowl is a more accurate statement.

Officially suspended for 6 weeks to start the season: They have a brutal schedule to start so hopefully they rack up a few losses while he's out.

That's my guess as well. Teams can only add 2 players to IR on cutdown day. We used our spots on Grable and Hairston. Adding Hancock today and using his spot on another safety who plays special teams makes the most sense.

Looks like someone who made the team, didn't.

Sorry. In my defense Sal and Eric look very similar.

He was a roster lock. Sal Capaccio reported that Kromer told him Hawes is the best blocking TE he's ever worked with. I'm expecting us to punish defenses in the run game, even moreso than last year.

A whole thread of people complaining about a move that didn't happen. 12 days to go.

Also worth noting that Tre White is NOT on IR so now we know the injury is not long term. Doesn't mean for sure he'll be ready for week 1 though. We'll see.

Only real surprise to me is that they kept 6 WRs. The last time they did that it was for Andre Roberts who was as much a WR as Brandon Codrington is a CB. I'm thinking Elijah Moore may be a mainstay on the gameday inactive list as the last WR on the depth chart and no special teams contribution. I think he'll be here as Samuel and Shakir's backup.

Woah Bradyn Swinson was a high 5th round pick this year. I know some draft analysts really liked him. Wonder what happened there.

Glad he made it, he earned it over Moore. I wonder if we are going to keep 6 WRs though, hasn't been this regime's MO but maybe they decide Moore is a better player than like Chase Lundt.

Look at Kenneth Grant at just 4.3%... I know it's very early but that was the concern for him coming out, we know he can plug gaps and stuff the run but can he get after the QB? I was happy Miami made that mistake before we had a chance to.

Bryan Cook abandoning his zone is the reason Kincaid was high school wide open on the infamous 4th down in the AFCCG. You know how their coaches made up for it? With an awesome play call. Replacement level safety is a flaw but not a fatal one. I expect a great defense this year even if Hamlin starts every game (and I don't think he will). That should be the expectation of the entire fanbase given the coaching staff and the investments made this offseason. No defense in the league is starting above average players at every position.

KC started Bryan Cook at safety the past two years. He's no better than Hamlin. He has given up a 110.5 passer rating in coverage since becoming a starter. They've had a great defense in spite of that. Safety is not going to be the problem with the defense this year. If there is one, it will be coaching/play calling like it was for much of last year. Or maybe CB2. A defense heavy coaching staff needs to be able to make up for replacement level safety play. If KC can do it, so can we. I don't want that to become the excuse if the defense disappoints yet again this season.

Hamlin is a replacement level player, nothing more, nothing less. Every team has replacement level players at the bottom of their roster. It is better than having a player who is a complete liability, and it's just the safety position so not a huge deal. Seems like Bishop has won the job which is great but if we have to go back to Hamlin for any reason we'll manage.