Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
I don’t even read that guy’s posts but that’s hilarious.
Reminds me of Stephen A. Smith talking about an upcoming Chiefs vs Cowboys game. He’s talking about how Derrick Johnson needs to bring his A game to defend Jason Witten. Whole time Derrick Johnson is on IR and Witten is retired lol
It's was Hunter Henry and the Chargers, but still hilarious [Reply]
Originally Posted by Direckshun:
Well, who wants to hear a ghastly, unpopular opinion?
Trap game.
The Bucs defense is still very good, and while they are missing two fantastic receivers, Baker is playing at an MVP level right now.
I don't think Kareem is going to do much of anything on the ground. Vita Vea is a Hall of Fame caliber run stuffer, and Kareem has slowed down each of the following weeks. The Chiefs have to rotate RBs this week, or they're going to face the consequences of Kareem collapsing before Pacheco can return. Because I'm envisioning Kareem running the ball like 14 times for 20 yards.
As a result, Mahomes is going to have to air it out to win this game. I think his odds of doing that are better -- I like the Bucs interior passrush more than their outside rush, and our interior line is where KC is strongest. But the Bucs still field a really talented back seven, that's also extremely intelligent. Lavonte Davis has the ability to man up Kelce, and the Winfield/Whitehead reunion has again given the Bucs one of the best safety tandems in the league.
On the other side of the ball, I think it's doubtful that White/Irving/Tucker can get much going on the ground, but they don't need to. They only need to get a little going on the ground, to give Baker some breathing room. The Bucs' second-string receiving corps is underrated, however, and they'll give the Chiefs' depleted CB room some issues occasionally.
Get ready to see Josh Williams on the screen a ton. If he plays well, the Bucs are going to have a lot of problems scoring. If he doesn't, well...
Mayfield is well protected on the edges, so can Jones/Wharton disturb the pocket a ton from the interior? The Bucs have a good interior, but I'd bet on Jones/Wharton.
There's a lot of factors going into this being the best chance of an upset we've had in a while: the Chiefs will have no running game, their passing game will be contained by an intelligent/talented Todd Bowles back seven, Baker is arguably a Top 4 QB right now, and the Bucs are an NFC team that the Chiefs don't really care about with the Broncos coming up on a short week. I think this game will come down to turnovers, and Mahomes is giving the ball away a lot right now. Baker, not so much.
It's MNF, and the Chiefs should win this one? But it has the feel of an upset to me. All the things you need for an upset are there, and if it happens, it'll be some ugly one at like 16-13, something like that.
Direckshun actually makes some good points. A big part of the reason TB's defense has been so bad for most of the season has been injury related. Kancy their other starting DT got hurt in TC, and they only got him back a couple games ago.
They lost B. Hall in Week 1 to a broken leg/ankle, and he was their third-best CB, and he was also their NB, iirc.
Then a couple weeks later, they were without both Winfield and Whitehead and were forced to put Izzy (can't remember his real name), who is a good DB, but had never played S before.
Vea sprained his MCL vs. DET, and missed the DEN game, but returned after that, but has been playing in that dinged up wheel since. He does seem to be trending towards being fully healthy though.
The worst issues coverage-wise for them have been the loss of a couple LBs, Denis and another guy I can't remember his name. But those two were balling until they got hurt vs. DEN and DET. And now they can't cover TEs, except LVD, but he's lost a step, and they're asking him to try and defend the run as well as blitz on occasion. It hasn't worked very well so far.
In short, the defense hasn't been together almost the entire season. And if we're honest, no NFC teams do well vs. BAL, so you almost throw that game out.
But in the couple games they were relatively healthy, they were good against the run. And last season, with almost the exact same group, they were 7th vs. the run.
I think it's a real long shot, but if they play anything like they did vs. DET for example, where they played like it was a playoff game, our offense will have real trouble running. And they could get real pressure on Mahomes. I don't they they'll be able to pull it off, but it's possible.
And if Baker deals like he did in the DET game, he'll put up 20+ pts. I still think that was probably his best game of the season, not stats-wise, but his command of the offense and his pocket manipulation was Drew Brees-like, and when he plays like that, it doesn't really matter who he's throwing to. And for those that think he folds under pressure, go watch that game. He got sacked 5 times and got hit 12 or more times; it didn't faze him in the least. He threw dots and bombs all day.
Again, I don't expect it to happen, but it's not outside probability either.
As for his weapons, right now his best target is going to be Otton. Who isn't great, but he's reliable. Then it would have to be McMillan, a rook, but he can run some great routes. Sometimes he runs the wrong routes though, and one of those cost Baker an INT when he drew his defender right into the passing lane. He cost Baker another INT when he pulled a KT and let a perfect pass bounce through his hands and into a DB's stomach. And he's had a couple other drops. So he's got inconsistent hands. But when he's good, he's a tough cover.
After that, I'd guess it's Trey Palmer, who's their Worthy. A smallish burner that we'll have to cover deep. If he catches one in stride, we aren't catching him.
Shepard's been inconsistent. Don't think he'll be a big threat. Tucker and Irving are both good runners and good receivers. Irving is twitchy and has good vision, but Tucker is another burner. He can take it to the house from almost anywhere. But he's a rook, and not nearly as developed as Irving, so we won't see that much of him. He's kind of their gadget guy right now. [Reply]
I would be a lot more worried about this game obviously if Godwin and Evans were healthy. But they are not.
Baker has played incredibly well this year, even better than last year, I think.He did very well this week without top receivers and really utilized his tight end, Ottan. That’s a worry as we continue to have problems with TEs although we did better against Vegas in that area than I thought we would.
Tampa Bay defence has not been good this year and they’ve given up lots of points and were involved in several shootouts. With the addition of Hopkins and what I see as the continued improvement and confidence in worthy along with our running game, I don’t think they should be expected to stop us scoring our normal just below 30 points. I agree we need to give Hunt some rest, but steel seems to have overcome his fumbling problems and Perine can and should contribute more until Pacheco comes back.
Our defence should have no problems with their running game or with their receivers although we will have to pay special attention to tight end. they won’t score more than 20 against us and probably less.
So I am pretty confident we will win this game.
My biggest worry is that I think it will be a trap game. But maybe not, because the chiefs hopefully will still remember the Super Bowl we lost to Brady.
I’m also worried by the fact that even when we solidly beat opponents, like we did with the Raiders, we still don’t put them away and we keep it exciting to near the end.
But this should be just another steppingstone towards our 3 peat. [Reply]
This isn't a cake walk. I don't know how anyone could even think that. Baker is playing yes at some kind of weird MVP type level and everyone gets up for us.
These next two games really decide the whole undefeated talk. If we get past the bucs and bills it is truly possible. [Reply]
How is a team gonna score on the Chiefs with no receivers? :-)
Bucs are walking into a classic NFC beatdown at Arrowhead. We're talking doomsday. Armageddon. Chiefs might put in their ginger backup QB midway through the fourth quarter. [Reply]
