DapperCam

It was Epenesa, Jefferson and Solomon in a dime. Epenesa and Solomon didn’t really rush the QB. I think they were instructed to contain him. Jefferson rushed and just looked silly. In hindsight it obviously would lead to him having 10 seconds to stand there.

I think on that play he can probably hand it off, keep it, or throw it. He called his own number, but probably should have thrown it (several receivers would have been wide open, Ravens sold out on the run stuff). It isn't a great play design IMO for the goal line, because he has to wait for the fake handoff which takes time, then starts running from a stand still after defenders are already in the backfield if they are run blitzing. It gives no chance to break a tackle or bounce off somebody into the end zone. Realistically you just have to break one tackle to score there. If they had to do shotgun I would have preferred he handed off, or no RPO and just a straight up QB dive. If he immediately ran from the snap and launched himself like a torpedo I bet he gets in.

I would say that the defense didn't play very well. I think the coaches knew that the defense couldn't hang, and that is part of why they went with an extreme version of ball control offense in the second half. I absolutely believe Allen could have connected with receivers down the field if we tried, but the coaches had no interest in getting into a shoot out with our defense. They instead opted to shorten the game (in terms of number of drives for each team), and were hoping the Ravens would make more mistakes (which they did). Ravens offense went 70% on 3rd down, had 416 yards, 7.3 yards per play, 5.9 yards per rush. We really only got one "stop" the entire game when we forced the FG. I'm glad we won, and I supposed the coaching strategy to try to protect the defense by limiting possessions worked. I have very little faith that our defense would get the stop in OT if it came to that. The Ravens marched down like a hot knife through butter on that last drive (to the point where they actually went 88 yards and scored too quickly). The good news is that the KC offense is not as good as the Ravens. I'm a little bit concerned about Pacheco and Hunt running it down our throats all day.

It's because the ref didn't see the infraction, just the aftermath and guessed that Dawkins pulled him down. When you have refs guessing based on the outcome, you're going to have phantom calls like this. It's BS.

I think the problem for him is that Shakir is playing his position, and he isn’t better than Shakir. He should be used as a big slot (and honestly Coleman would probably look best as a big slot too). He isn’t getting targets. It’s hard to read too much into anything after his injury too.

Before the season, I thought a good outcome would be winning the division, with a stretch goal of making the Divisional. So they’ve exceeded my expectations by a lot. But given where we are, and how the Chiefs have performed this year, it will still be a disappointment if we lose. How we lose would be important though. If we get blown out, or beat ourselves with dumb coaching decisions I’ll be really disappointed. If we give it our all and it just isn’t quite good enough in a close game, that’s just how it goes with football sometimes.

I’m preemptively annoyed about old man Kelce catching a 15 yard pass wide open. And I already know what I’m going to say, because it’s the same thing I yell at my TV every time, “How do you leave that guy so wide open?!?!”

I actually agree with OP, Taron Johnson has been worse this season than his usual self. Especially in coverage he’s getting beat. I’m going to chalk it up to suffering a bad injury in-season. Blame it on Rapp. Hopefully he’s back to his All-Pro self next season. Also, he’s wayyy better than Cam Lewis in the same position even if he isn’t playing up to his typical high standard.

Sure, but the Ravens were #1 against the run and #28 against the pass. And the play calling didn’t become ultra conservative until we got a 2 score lead. We went away from what got us the big lead in the first place. Sometimes you need to adjust your strategy for the opponent. We did the same thing against the Lions and gave them a chance to get back into the game too, so it’s a pattern.

Nobody on either team had a really outstanding stat line. If there were 3 stars of the game like hockey I think it would be: 1. Allen 2. Lamar 3. Bernard

He just seems unprepared for games the past couple of seasons. I think he took the job more seriously when he first started as a broadcaster. I find the fawning over individual players (even ours) annoying as well. Collinsworth does the same thing, and I can’t stand him either.

If the Bills were down 2 scores, I guarantee Allen would have been throwing it around too. Lamar got them into that situation in the first place.

I'm pretty much fine with not doing a tush push because it was 3rd and a full 2. That's not a gimme, and if they were going to kick the FG for sure on 4th down I understand not using that play there. I'm not sure I love the shotgun run for the same reason to not do the tush push. Ravens are in their goal line defense, and they are great against the run. Maybe spread them out a little bit. Maybe roll out. If they are all bunched up like that, don't run directly into it. Maybe that's a little bit on Allen, who I think is supposed to check in/out of plays based on the defense.

Sick of Tony Romo

Jefferson looked kind of silly on that TD pass, lol. These guys must have been absolutely gassed to have backups in like this. Surely Jefferson and Solomon aren't our typical guys in a dime? I noticed Benford didn't look like he was moving very well at the end there either. Barely even ran with Andrews on the 2 point try.

I'm just glad he's making kicks again. The 51 yarder was huge. Very clutch kick.

I don't hate it, since he swallowed the ball. If he was 50% less wrapped up, and Cook was on the same page it could have been a walk in TD.

I think that line is fair. Chiefs didn't have Pacheco last time, and were missing some DBs. Should be a close, good game.

This is my biggest problem. I understand the desire to control the clock and give our defense rest, but you need to mix in some intermediate passing game so you don't have short stalled out drives. It's like we intentionally played to the opponent's greatest strength and ignored their greatest weakness. Just a really strange game plan, and they got too conservative too early (like they always do).

A lot of talking heads in the media voted for Lamar as MVP and 1st team All Pro, so expect a lot of incoherent takes where they claim Lamar played well (even though it was mostly just the final drive). Their egos will be tied to how they voted, and it doesn't feel good to be wrong.

This game is just another piece of evidence that Lamar wasn't the MVP this season. He was struggling until Henry and Hill started ripping off runs in the second half. Another thing, was this game followed all of the games this season where Lamar is throwing to college wide open players. It's just crazy how these guys don't have anybody within 5-10 yards. This is while missing their #1 WR, and big plodding TEs are still getting this wide open. The OC for Baltimore should get a HC job or raise or something.

That was obviously the game plan, and it worked. Conditions were bad, so don't take unnecessary risks. Led to a 3-0 turnover ratio.

I'm more optimistic this year than last year because our defense was so injured.

Normally I would sort of understand the conservative shell on offense being up 2 scores in the second half, but it wasn't a good idea vs the Ravens. Their defensive line and run defense is too good. It will just lead to 3-and-outs (like we saw). The Ravens biggest weakness was intermediate to deep passes, which we attempted like 2 of the entire game. I just can't really wrap my head around the game plan there. I know the elements weren't great, but still...

Are people saying that Lamar is a playoff choker and had 2 bad turnovers that were the difference in the game? Is that low rent?