The mighty Bills from Buffalo will take the AFC this year.
For two decades I watched people say the Patriots window was closed, that their time was dwindling, that it was all over… seemingly every time those predictions happened, the Patriots went and won another Super Bowl.
A lot of doom talk simply because we lost to the Bengals in the playoffs. Let us not forget that the Bills watched their brother DIE on the field just a few weeks prior. Their heart was simply not in it. If it had been, the Bills would have captured the AFC last year.
The Bills have won 2 of their last 3 in Arrowhead and they’re ready to make it 3 of the last 4.
I’m still floored that Spags did not put a spy on Josh Allen this time like he did both times last season.
I’m also floored that Spags rarely blitzed Bo Nix 2 weeks ago, especially on the money play that was converted to Sutton.
Idk man. Not at all saying they are not trying to win. I think they are trying to work through different shit on offense (showcasing Worthy) while also holding back some things on defense and see what they have at corner (since they have no choice).
I think shit it going to be way different with the gameplan on both sides of the ball in the playoffs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RedinTexas:
Link? I wanna see that.
ETA - Nevermind, found it.
Those people were triggered by the simplest of gesture. It was a funny read. Some really do hate Travis. Weird because he’s always classy when talking about other teams and players. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
I’m still floored that Spags did not put a spy on Josh Allen this time like he did both times last season.
I’m also floored that Spags rarely blitzed Bo Nix 2 weeks ago, especially on the money play that was converted to Sutton.
Idk man. Not at all saying they are not trying to win. I think they are trying to work through different shit on offense (showcasing Worthy) while also holding back some things on defense and see what they have at corner (since they have no choice).
I think shit it going to be way different with the gameplan on both sides of the ball in the playoffs.
Regular season games are effectively practice for this franchise at this point. Has been a noticeable difference the past few years from the earlier years of the Mahomes era. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCBlitz:
Those people were triggered by the simplest of gesture. It was a funny read. Some really do hate Travis. Weird because he’s always classy when talking about other teams and players.
Yep. That was why I wanted to see what they were saying. In fairness, a lot of those posters were saying very similar things to what you're saying here. There's always the ones that gotta see a nazi/communist behind every tree though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
Regular season games are effectively practice for this franchise at this point. Has been a noticeable difference the past few years from the earlier years of the Mahomes era.
It's because the team got less explosive and more ball control starting in 2022.
When you are winning with less talent and more guile you better save some of that guile for the postseason.
More ball control is harder to sustain over 20 games, too. Can't always bring the same intensity every week.
I think it's part of the reason the team, at times, looked worn down and tired in '23.
'22 was a fucking grind. They literally ground JuJu into dust.
I think Andy is acutely aware of the stars all playing a full season's worth of extra games at this point and has been careful to load manage. A big part of the reason the Niners and Cowboys never threepeated was fatigue. Probably Patriots too.
I expect to see a different team in the postseason. In the meantime we will just have to endure having the best record in the NFL. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hammock Parties:
It's because the team got less explosive and more ball control starting in 2022.
When you are winning with less talent and more guile you better save some of that guile for the postseason.
More ball control is harder to sustain over 20 games, too. Can't always bring the same intensity every week.
I think it's part of the reason the team, at times, looked worn down and tired in '23.
'22 was a fucking grind. They literally ground JuJu into dust.
I think Andy is acutely aware of the stars all playing a full season's worth of extra games at this point and has been careful to load manage. A big part of the reason the Niners and Cowboys never threepeated was fatigue. Probably Patriots too.
I expect to see a different team in the postseason. In the meantime we will just have to endure having the best record in the NFL. :-)
Yeah - with young Kelce, Hill, Watkins, a younger Hunt and pro-bowl caliber bookend tackles, those early Mahomes teams could just go out there, play a vanilla gameplan and simply win on talent.
They had guys that would just go out there and smoke the dude on the other side.
We just don't have that anymore. Kelce's older, Hill and Watkins are gone. Hopkins and JJSS aren't guys that are going to just beat their guy anymore. Worthy can but comes with warts of his own. The running game has zero explosion (and not a lot more even with Pacheco around; he has no wiggle to speak of).
It's just a team that has to be creative and precise in its execution.
That's HARD to do for 17 games. Some days they just won't.
But maybe when it's win or go home for everyone in the post-season, they can be counted on to simply turn that level of execution up to 11.
But no, it's just not the sort of team that has the raw talent to go beat guys on ability. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Yeah - with young Kelce, Hill, Watkins, a younger Hunt and pro-bowl caliber bookend tackles, those early Mahomes teams could just go out there, play a vanilla gameplan and simply win on talent.
They had guys that would just go out there and smoke the dude on the other side.
We just don't have that anymore. Kelce's older, Hill and Watkins are gone. Hopkins and JJSS aren't guys that are going to just beat their guy anymore. Worthy can but comes with warts of his own. The running game has zero explosion (and not a lot more even with Pacheco around; he has no wiggle to speak of).
It's just a team that has to be creative and precise in its execution.
That's HARD to do for 17 games. Some days they just won't.
But maybe when it's win or go home for everyone in the post-season, they can be counted on to simply turn that level of execution up to 11.
But no, it's just not the sort of team that has the raw talent to go beat guys on ability.
You don't always realize at the time what you've got but those 18/19 offenses were just unreal talent wise. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
You don't always realize at the time what you've got but those 18/19 offenses were just unreal talent wise.
They also had to score more because the defense was going to be giving up a lot of points. Andy can play the offense a lot more conservatively now because the defense is not going to be giving up nearly as much. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RedinTexas:
They also had to score more because the defense was going to be giving up a lot of points. Andy can play the offense a lot more conservatively now because the defense is not going to be giving up nearly as much.
If the defense is better, why wouldn't the offense take more risks? This always makes no sense to me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
If the defense is better, why wouldn't the offense take more risks? This always makes no sense to me.
The defense isn't great at forcing turnovers or splash plays.
They're the evolutionary version of the Greg Robinson "bend but don't break" defenses. When the defense is working, it makes teams execute at a high level to work its way down the field one first down at a time.
And ultimately the idea is that with a long field to march down, they'll force 2 or 3 third down chances prior to the opponent getting into the red zone and they'll manage to get a stop on ONE of those.
So the offense knows that teams MIGHT be able to get 40 yards on our defense, but probably can't get 80. In that case, it's important to avoid giving the opposing offense a short field.
If we had a defense that was racking up sacks or turnovers, I'd agree with you. But we don't. Even when this defense was at its best, it was a defense that just ground teams into dust making them try to work their way down the field. So as an offense, you know that you're going to hold the opposition below 17 if you just don't give them short fields to work with. And that we can score 21 without taking chances. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
The defense isn't great at forcing turnovers or splash plays.
They're the evolutionary version of the Greg Robinson "bend but don't break" defenses. When the defense is working, it makes teams execute at a high level to work its way down the field one first down at a time.
And ultimately the idea is that with a long field to march down, they'll force 2 or 3 third down chances prior to the opponent getting into the red zone and they'll manage to get a stop on ONE of those.
So the offense knows that teams MIGHT be able to get 40 yards on our defense, but probably can't get 80. In that case, it's important to avoid giving the opposing offense a short field.
If we had a defense that was racking up sacks or turnovers, I'd agree with you. But we don't. Even when this defense was at its best, it was a defense that just ground teams into dust making them try to work their way down the field. So as an offense, you know that you're going to hold the opposition below 17 if you just don't give them short fields to work with. And that we can score 21 without taking chances.
Yes, makes sense.
I've just always thought the axiom is backwards. If I have a great defense, I'd be more aggressive. [Reply]
