Some fans will simply never escape the 90s.

They expect defenses to go out there and hold quality opponents to 13 points and just snuff out the opposing offense. That's simply not the way the rules are set up anymore. Moreover, teams are just orders of magnitude smarter on offense than they used to be.

Holding a team below 20 is pretty difficult these days. 2/3 of the league is averaging more than 20 PPG. And it's been that way for about a decade now. This is an easy league to score in.

I understand why everyone hates 'bend, don't break' - emotionally it was the G-Rob mantra and we hate that ****ing guy. But also, bend don't break keeps PM off the field.

But man, there's only so much you can do. Especially when you're a team that dedicates as much time, energy and capital to its offense.

If you have a defense that's making critical adjustments and key stops, that's all you can ask these days. And that's exactly what we're seeing.

Spags is doing a great job right now and its absolutely to be commended.

You mean a 2022 deal for Jerry Hughes?

Because that just makes WAY too much sense to not get done.

Losing Wharton hurts some.

Gay out hurts some. He's just such a freak athlete.

Mcduffie back will help, in my opinion. Fenton's okay, but just okay.

We are a pass rusher short, maybe two now.

What was funny about that game is that even when we were down 17-0, I was telling my buddy 'man, I just don't feel like they're playing that bad. This is just a couple of plays made/not made from being a tie ballgame...'

I was never as irritated as I was in the Chargers or Colts games where I just thought they were playing like shit. They just seemed right there on the edge of playing good ball.

Giving Fenton more help with Adams and then taking some steps to keep Wylie from getting face-raped on every snap was really all it took. Weirdly, in a game where the Raiders had a 17-0 lead, had they come back and won it I'd have felt like they 'stole' it. That game was getting away from them and the longer it went, the worse it would've gone for them.

I think the Chiefs had them figured out by the end.

Yeah, I brought that up in the other thread where I'm trying to trade picks so my idea.

But yeah, you'd think that's an easy deal to make. For what...a 5th? Conditional 5 that turns to a 4?

4 to a 3?

Taylor Stallworth can help replace Wharton; pretty similar styles of player.

Getting Danna back will help. And I wouldn't be surprised to see a Hughes kind of deal made.

They're good on 3rd down and they're pretty good in the RZ. Asking for more than that is simply asking a lot in this league with the rules the way there are.

I said before the season started and we saw that Watson can play that I thought this team would be REALLY good in the red zone.

They've just added so much speed and length. Mistakes in coverage are amplified between the 20s because guys have space/time to pull away. But in the red zone, you can take a false step and maybe still have the boundaries to bail you out.

Some stuff will fluctuate all year. I think the 3rd down percentage will equalize towards the mean a little, for example. Then again, I think we'll see the turnover rate climb a little to partially offset it. That said, I think the red zone performances are legit - this team simply appears built to be very good in that area.

They've been pretty good on 3rd down for a couple of years now. I think they're a top 5 3rd down defense so I wouldn't undersell that.

The defense only allowed 9 points in the second half, which under most circumstances is completely acceptable.

Much more concerning is that the defense wasn't that great vs. Jacobs run game, and that they only got 2 sacks, though they really got three, and they did seem to get some pressure as the game went on.

Adams was a problem, though the stats say he didn't necessarily have a great game. He was targeted 7 times, but only caught three balls. Unfortunately, two of them went for TDs, but he is an elite receiver, and we don't have an elite DB, so things are going to happen. But I have faith that Spags will find better ways to cover Adams next time and he won't have the same kind of success in January.

Also, our secondary is still very much a work in progress; I expect they'll be much better by mid-season, which is normal timing for a Spags defense.

just buckle in, i have a feeling the reidian run started early

Carolina is probably about to fire sale so Brian Burns could be out there.

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/u6EiPNT9dLDrU7ZQuF" width="480" height="259" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/the-godfather-coda-u6EiPNT9dLDrU7ZQuF">via GIPHY</a></p>

24 points given up
Bills were 2/4 in the redzone
Multiple 4th down stops

2 TD’s given up by a rookie corner starting in his first game. I don’t know what more you could have asked from Spags here.

Can’t wait to get back McDuffie and Gay

This defense is so bad with missed tackles, and poor coverage. We knew there would be some growing pains but when we’re 32nd in opponent passer rating that’s absolutely pathetic. Our offense is best in the league, our defense is bottom third. We’re averaging opponents passer rating at 107.5. That’s good for worst in the league. Faders are right ahead us at 106.7. Tied for worst in the league in missed tackles with 39, and also tied for worst with YAC. Same with our ST on kickoffs, worst in the league.

We haven't been able to cover premier WRs this year and I think that's the biggest problem. Whether you want to say it's lack of defensive pressure or secondary problems... it's a problem.

Pittman Jr, Evans, Williams, Adams, Davis, and Diggs combine for...

In those 5 games.... 55 targets, 40 receptions, 634 yards and 6 TD

Which if that was a player that would be T-10th in targets, 8th in receptions, 3rd in yards, T-2nd in touchdowns.

Only 6 other teams have more points scored against. The chiefs have the best offense in the league while being straight dragged by their terrible defense.

This defense and our tackles will ensure we get embarrassed in the playoffs.