Some fun here. Edwards-Helaire rushed for 1,415 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior .. all-purpose yards -- receiving (55 receptions, 453 yards) and kick returner (KEY) 10 returns, 214 yards pic.twitter.com/3Duq1jjy6J
Holy offense Bat Man. I love Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He is best Rb in the draft. Watkins and Hill deep. Kelce in the middle. And Edwards-Helaire underneath. Good Luck defenses.
Brett Veach told Andy Reid to watch some Clyde Edwards-Helaire film and told Reid you’ll see Brian Westbrook. Reid watched. Then got back to Veach and said he’s better than Westbrook.
Originally Posted by JPH83:
Bills have competent LBs that can play the run and cover, that's the biggest question for us. I reckon it'll be much harder to have a balanced game and run on them. But if we DO manage to run on them and CEH gets a ton of yardage I think this offence is absolutely set.
ummm. do they?
Edmunds is pretty good against the run when allowed to run and chase. Milano has a rep as a good pass defender.
Neither one showed a hint of slowing down Kelce last season. Milano was healthy for the AFC title game and had no effect on the Chiefs' ability to get the ball to Kelce.
I'm interested to see how the Bills approach this one. They tried playing light box/deep zone in the first matchup last year and got absolutely demolished, in the rain, by the Chiefs ground game (which is showing signs of being far superior this year).
The second matchup, the box wasn't as light, and Hill and Kelce absolutely roasted them.
They do have Stat Lotuleilei back after his COVID opt-out last year, and he has traditionally been a pretty good interior run defender. They've added Greg Rousseau and Carlos Bashem to the DL unit.
Are those changes enough for them to run a light box and still contain the run? That seems unlikely. [Reply]
The Bills have one thing that very few teams have - A #1 Corner who can genuinely hang with Hill.
Most teams, even those with 'shut down CBs' like Ramsey and Humphrey, still don't have guy with the athleticism to run with 'reek. White comes close. Gilmour was a guy at his peak who could do it and NE did give Hill trouble at times.
So if Buffalo wanted to try it, they could do so. I wouldn't recommend doing it every play, but as something they do when they blitz, they can manage it better than most. It is fair to point out that man coverage will exhaust defensive backs and NOBODY has the kind of stamina Hill has. If the Bills ask White to do that too often, he'll be exhausted by the 4th and you could see some HR balls over top of him.
Milano's gotten a step slower and as noted, Edmunds is more of a run defender. He's athletic but doesn't seem to have the awareness in space to be an asset in pass defense. Perhaps he's gotten better in that regard as he's gotten more experience. Milano is also nursing a sore hamstring so even if he's available, he's probably not going to be at full speed.
I don't think Basham is ready yet and while I like Rousseau a lot, he didn't play in 2020 (and only had one year as a starter in college) and he's just awfully green. He may be a difference-maker, but its awfully early to rely on it.
If he doesn't have a big day, the Bills will have the same trouble every team that isn't able to get pressure with 4 has. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
A more productive, though perhaps less definitive approach, is to try to evaluate someone in relation to what the team's expectations of him are/were.
That's where I take umbrage to guys not giving CEH credit for his game today. Look - maybe you wanted him to be a game-breaker to take him in the 1st round. In which case your complaint is as to the front office.
But Veach flat out said it when we drafted CEH - the front office was frustrated by runs that were blocked up for 4-6 yards that were going for 1 and getting them behind the sticks. The Chiefs wanted a guy who was going to secure the yardage in front of him and allow the rest of the team to do its job.
Clyde did exactly what was expected of him today. The OL dominated and Clyde took advantage of that. If he does what the team expected of him, he did his job. If someone thinks those expectations were too modest for a 1st round pick, then you can grouse about the front office but not the player.
This is bs. I heard nothing but how he was a ++ player in the passing game. He is a nonfactor and the defenses know it. They play him as if he doesn't exist. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hammock Parties:
It's not about homeruns. It's about getting TDs in the red zone. A little more burst at RB, like Damien had, would help us out immensely there.
It was a problem last year, and is a problem this year. Mahomes can't shovel every TD in.
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Edwards-Helaire has looked strong both of the past 2 weeks. If he keeps performing at this level, I don't see anything to be concerned about re: him or the running game.
Two things stand out to me as different in these games:
1) The OL and RB are getting more on the same page. He seems to have a better feel for where a lineman is going to take his guy, and is doing a better job managing the holes.
2) The playcalling has adjusted. They aren't trying to go sideline-to-sideline with Edwards-Helaire on the outside zone stretches. They're running inside zone, primarily, and he's thriving.
I still don't understand why he isn't more of a factor in the passing game... and would still like to see him used more there (especially since they've been going empty a lot, anyway), but no real complaints here.
The Chiefs needed an offensive line and running back combo that could punish light boxes. It's finding that combination and making teams pay for it (even when they have good DL personnel. That Eagles unit would have been been able to handle the run while still dropping 6-7 into coverage every down against last season's OL).
Originally Posted by srvy:
This is bs. I heard nothing but how he was a ++ player in the passing game. He is a nonfactor and the defenses know it. They play him as if he doesn't exist.
They literally don't trust him at blitz pickup so that's why he's a non factor. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TEX:
And far too small for the NFL. Small and slow is not a good combination. Never liked the pick and like it even less now.
Yeah I was pissed when we took an RB that high with how much help I felt we need on defense. I mean Kareem Hunt is better than this dude. There's no need to take an RB that high you can almost always find a good one in the later rounds.
Originally Posted by TEX:
And far too small for the NFL. Small and slow is not a good combination. Never liked the pick and like it even less now.
They're paying the price for the way they've drafted. The majority of our high picks play devalued positions but the real issue is the lack of top end athletes.
Helaire and Bolton are not elite level athletes. [Reply]
Edmunds is pretty good against the run when allowed to run and chase. Milano has a rep as a good pass defender.
Neither one showed a hint of slowing down Kelce last season. Milano was healthy for the AFC title game and had no effect on the Chiefs' ability to get the ball to Kelce.
I'm interested to see how the Bills approach this one. They tried playing light box/deep zone in the first matchup last year and got absolutely demolished, in the rain, by the Chiefs ground game (which is showing signs of being far superior this year).
The second matchup, the box wasn't as light, and Hill and Kelce absolutely roasted them.
They do have Stat Lotuleilei back after his COVID opt-out last year, and he has traditionally been a pretty good interior run defender. They've added Greg Rousseau and Carlos Bashem to the DL unit.
Are those changes enough for them to run a light box and still contain the run? That seems unlikely.
Yes, their LBs are good and I reckon they contained the run pretty well. Not being smug after the event, I think it was fair to assume we'd see more of the same as you said. [Reply]
