HappyDays

I think their defense is where they've been getting exposed, specifically the secondary. The two young safeties Cook and Hicks have really struggled. With Chris Jones not as elite as he once was the pass rush isn't as scary either so a combination of middling pass rush and out of sync secondary is leading to too many big plays downfield. And then on offense once they get past Andy Reid's scripted plays they don't have legit pass catchers that can create consistent production so the offense has been a bit all over the place. Yeah they have speed and they know how to use it but that's not enough in the NFL. Also Mahomes to my eyes still just isn't performing as well as we know he can on schedule. When he gets off script he's still elite but that pick six for example was an on schedule play where he just didn't see the undercutting LB, and he's missed a bunch of wide open deep throws that Andy Reid has schemed up for him. Off script is nice but eventually you have to just drop back and throw downfield to win games and they haven't been able to do that consistently enough.

Unfortunately I think that was the plan. He was getting 1st team reps from the start of camp and even before Hairston's injury he had reportedly locked down the starting job. I think they made a bad decision bringing him back and felt that way at the time. You need to be aware of your own bad habits so that you know to avoid them. They were always going to go with the culture fit veteran who knows the defense once they gave themselves that option. He had a solid training camp against what it turns out is a well below average group of outside WRs, and they used that to convince themselves he could still play. It turns out the tape from last year didn't lie - he simply is not physically capable of playing the position anymore. He'd be a nice emergency depth option since he knows the defense but it was a big mistake to enter the season with him as the starter. And now week over week it is getting worse because offenses are identifying him as an easy target.

I'll admit I don't pay a ton of attention to the Saints since they give me no reason to, but to me the bottom line is he very clearly comes in as the best WR on our team. Which goes without saying of course. Josh Palmer and Keon Coleman take a few plays off every game too, the only difference is they're actually trying on those plays. So if Olave comes in as the classic diva WR that occasionally frustrates you with his antics, I can easily live with that because of the plays he makes that no one else on the roster can. And now defenses can't simply sell out to the stop the run and shut down the middle of the field without facing some consequences. Merely having that caliber of WR on the field makes everything else so much easier. I don't worry about the concussion history because I'm thinking of him as a two year rental that maybe you extend in the 2027 offseason if everything goes well.

If there was ever a year to really go for it, it's this one. The AFC is more wide open than it's ever been. The best team in the conference has Daniel Jones as its QB. KC has lost its close game magic. Baltimore might miss the playoffs entirely. The path has never been clearer. I genuinely think we are one legit WR away from being easily the best team in the conference. Score 35 PPG and just make a few plays on defense, and who in this conference is beating us?

A real Mr. Magoo performance if I've ever seen one.

The best part about that walk off TD is he actually double flopped to declare himself down, then a lightbulb went on in his head and he realized the play was still live. An all time ending in my book.

That was the clumsiest gutsy QB performance I've ever seen

That rumblin stumblin son of a gun really did it

Ha they had to call that one

How do you have this many delay of game penalties in your own stadium

Ah crap they're gonna leave too much time on the clock. Run it at least once here

Wow

I think you just have to accept KC is getting in the endzone when they have 3 downs, maybe 4 downs, starting at your 5 yard line. The sooner they get in the better.

They wasted 1 of their timeouts by not letting them score a play sooner

Definitely should have let them score there

You forgot about it because they wanted you to. Like I said I don't believe the NFL rigs games. But I do believe that they refuse to fix the problem because all of the talk is just free marketing. Get the fans riled up enough and they're certain to tune in next week.

Oh you don't remember when the NFL instituted reviewable DPIs for a single season? Miraculously, exactly zero DPIs were overturned, even ones that looked like they should have been. The NFL used that outcome to declare it a wasted experiment and that was the end of that. So now they can always claim that they tried. And around and around we go...

Everyone on Twitter is talking about nothing but the missed DPI but none of it will matter. The officials will mumble off some comment after the game and everyone will forget about it by next week. A minimum 7 point swing in a tight game is just allowed to be decided by high school superintendents. Cool.

Honestly man I don't blame you for buying into it. The NFL never does anything to fix the problem.

Why does replay assist not call down the blatant DPI? They picked up a legit OPI earlier but they can't call that one down? I know I'm wasting my breath with this stuff but it's unbelievable how broken NFL officiating is. I don't buy any of the rigged conspiracy theories but the NFL sure invites that talk with this kind of crap.

Here's the replay and it absolutely should have been DPI but it is still a bad decision. There is a defender between the pass catcher and where he is throwing the ball.

I said one good thing about Lawrence in this thread and he does that. That is just crazy bad in this situation. Almost benchable.

Self inflicted wounds by their QB who has now thrown a pick six to a defender he didn't see and way overthrown a deep TD on their last two drives.

Stop putting him at CB. You're just exposing a legit offensive weapon that you need more on the other side of the ball.

Mahomes has overthrown a bunch of deep targets this year. That one wasn't even remotely close