Spags and coaches continue their magic with young and unheralded D-backs. They’ve been super in the first 2 games, except for Fenton who thinks he’s hot shit but has actually been playing like a pile of hot shit.

Actually, I rewatched the game the other night and Fenton played pretty well overall. He was consistently pretty sticky with Mike Williams; Mike just had one of those monster days a good WR will have now and again. Add in the fact that he's 6'4" and Fenton is just 5' 10" and these things just happen.

And Williams actually committed OPI making that circus one-handed TD grab. Check the tape; he's got a handful of the back of Fenton's jersey as they both leave their feet. And think about the fact that Fenton was so tight to him that he was forced to make that spectacular catch.

But I agree with everything else you said.

Pretty sure that was Sneed on that circus catch

Fenton did not play well.

At times he didn't... I remembered that TC vid that surfaced in which Mahomes said that Fenton holds on every play.

I think as the season goes on, we'll see more Watson and Williams and less Fenton.

At least Fenton appears to have stopped clapping after giving up a catch or getting called for a penalty

:doh!: True!!!

Yeah Fenton has been pretty solid in prior years but has been a week spot this year. I think sometimes he's mentally not there.

Only rushing 4 and not blitzing to put pressure on an injured QB in a crucial part of the game was coach maleficence.

No Niemann, No Hitchens, No Sorenson, No Badger. Flushed those turds and now we can stop 3rd down. Incredible!

You can't lump HB in with those clowns. Cmon

I think Mathieu got injured worse than is known sometime early in the season last year. He didn't play like himself through '21 even a little after the first few games.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rtxn1Gwy5IE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Maybe the contract was on his mind and he was playing to avoid injury?

Seemed to me like he lost his will. Bet the Saints cut his ass after this year.

Another dumbass take

Do you think HB was playing at the same level as Sorensen or Niemann? He was off, he wasn't a guy immediately and frequently targeted.

I guess the rest of the NFL GMs are clowns too.

Salaries
Mathieu 3-years 33 million. 18M GTD
Niemann 1yr 1M
Hitchens So bad he couldn't get a team to sign him
Sorenson 2Yr, 930k contract

Yeah. These guys are all the same.

Five defensive linemen hit Herbert on Thursday.

FIVE.

We are going to murder some teams this year. Matt Ryan can't move, and I expect blood.

I can’t wait to play the Bengals

How many hits before 2 of their starting OL went out with injury?

Who gives a shit? When they're all healthy, that's a top notch OL.

We're not going to be facing OLs like that all year or even all that often.

I think we picked a really good time to have spags. His specialty has always been DBs at a time when WRs are king. His scheme may have been a little out of place as teams adapted to the spread but it seems to have gone back to more of Jim Johnson roots.

What I think we’ve discovered is that we can spend all our money in a front 4. Like Philly we can keep churning and burning quality LBs. At DB we bring the best young, cheap talent available knowing spags can coach them up. That’s why we started to pass on guys like honey badger and ward. For the time being this all seems to work.

Funny how the league adapts. Defenses became so obsessed with stopping athletic qbs that they targeted running QBs. Then guys like Herbert and burrow emerged and it seems like the league has been more focused on constant pressure, while more mobile qbs seem to be thriving so far. It’s crazy to see how much burrow has regressed from last year as schemes adapted to him. Mahomes and Allen are more of the unicorns that can both pass and move.

We're so much faster and more athletic. It really pops off the screen.

I'd totally rather live with some mistakes due to the youth and have the speed and athleticism to make up for it than have the slow, shitty, but allegedly smart guys we replaced.

HB sucked all yr about all he did was run around flailing his arms in the air acting a fool..pointing out that the saint’s signed him don’t mean jack. I’d have signed Hitchens before I signed any of the other slugs on that list.

This all day. The team speed is noticeable

It really is.

They're just better. And getting better every week.

spags is doing to elite qbs what they did to mahomes last year

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Honestly, I&#39;ve been super critical of Spags in terms of adjusting and how long that takes at times. In the second half, he started mixing up his looks including this Cover 2 with &quot;Nascar&quot; look. Drops Mike Danna instead of rushing him and Herbert checks it down <a href="https://t.co/xI06ydRnBm">pic.twitter.com/xI06ydRnBm</a></p>&mdash; Daniel Harms�� (@InHarmsWay19) <a href="https://twitter.com/InHarmsWay19/status/1571825693289226242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I am encouraged that our defense has looked ok at the start of the season. But I wont be truly excited till I see how we do with McDuffy back on the scene.

If he can develop into lock down CB we have off chance at being top 10. Now I just wanna see pass rush get home more often.

Also Frank Clark has to be cut after the season... I'm still not impressed by him at all.

SPAGS

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdR_pB-W...png&name=large

Buffalo! Good lord, are the O-Lines they've played terrible or are they really that good?

Spags has two SB rings as a DC with two different teams. He knows what he's
doing.

GDT morans will call for him to be fired in the second quarter this week when the Colts score a TD

He does the best he can with what he has. If we had the Chargers talent level on defense we would be a SB lock with him calling it.

FUUUUUUCK Frank Clark. But credit where credit is due. He did hit Herbert. I believe it was his hit that ****ed up his ribs.

A little bit of both.

They're really good, but the Rams and the Titans OLs aren't good at all. The Titans also lost their starting LT early in that game.

Some of you guys need to give Joe Cullen his damn due. He’s done a GREAT job so far

bit of both but their front 4 is really scary

I tried to tell people that he alone would have an impact.

He's as good as it gets, definitely one of the best in the business.

I don't wanna hear that shit. Football isn't perfect, you will always have to use back up players. Media gave JH a pass because he lost a couple of OL during our game and didn't have Allen. So ****ing what? I though he was a stud? He shouldn't need a perfect team every week. They don't give Mahomes a pass ever for any loss no matter who is on the filed and no matter what the circumstances are. Media constantly bitch and wo-wish-me every time Brady loses anyone. If the pack win they will blame it on Evans, Godwin not playing and Gronk retiring.

:rolleyes:

Nobody is making excuses. It's just context, dumbass.

PUT SOME RESPECT ON THIS MANS NAME GODDAMNIT

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">But here&#39;s what&#39;s wild. Strip out garbage time (drives in 4th quarter with KC up double digits) and these are the numbers and where they&#39;d rank...<br><br>Yards per play: 4.7 (5th)<br>Points allowed per game: 17.0 (5th)<br>Yards per drive: 27.2 (7th)<br>Points per drive: 1.84 (14th)</p>&mdash; Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattVerderame/status/1577323571021774848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:spock:

That doesn't FEEL right, but I bet it is. There is a ton of "well the defense blows" residual bias creosoted up in my dome.

Seemed like in the Chargers game they got whatever they wanted, but the stats really weren't bad. They were excellent in the Indy and Cards games and Brady put up some points, but we got some really good stops and ****hole Brady got a lot of posessions because they couldn't stop us (LOL)

Hat tip to the defense.

Get Gay and McDuffie back and see how it goes.

I still would like to add another pass rusher and or DL but they may feel differently.

Everybody keeps forgetting about Danna, but he's clearly been missed the last couple of weeks.

And he doesn't even mention that the Chiefs are currently 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards per carry.

Allowed?

Who gives a shit. Running yields way less EPA than passing.

Because forcing a running team to abandon the run, like Tampa, makes them one dimensional and easier to defend.

Run defense is FAR more important to winning a Super Bowl than pass defense. Everybody gives up passing yards in this league. It's designed that way on purpose.

We just ran the ball 37 times for 189 yds and scored 40 pts against one of the best rushing defenses in the league. So not buying the ‘rushing doesn’t generate enough points’ thing.

We ran because 1) the Bucs D was giving up huge chunks and 2) to protect the lead.

In general, it’s still a passing league.

They were forced to abandon the run after we went up 21-3.

You sound like BWillie.

And that's not a compliment.

Feels weird to say it but yeah, he's looked a fair bit more than a rotational piece. Really didn't see that coming but it would be massive if it continued.

football is still football, and the principles that have stood for decades still apply.

If you can make an offense one dimensional, it's easier to defend.

Period.

If you can force a defense to play both run and pass, and defend every blade of grass, your chances of winning are much greater than if you're predictable.

It's that simple. No matter who you have at QB, this is all still true.

The Chiefs have decided that teams will not run on them, and that puts immense pressure on the opposing offense, as KC is going to score a lot. Pretty soon, they will have to abandon the run, which makes the defense's job easier.

Right. Everyone wants to go buy into all the advanced metrics and whatnot. And that's fine, but like you said, the principles have not changed. You still have to run the ball and stop the run.

Does everyone forget that 2019 Chiefs defense that shut down Derrick Henry? That was huge in getting that W and advancing to the SB.

Pass defense is more important in today's NFL. You can't get gashed vs the run, but as long as you're decent against the run you're fine.

Lockdown pass defense is a myth. SITUATIONAL pass defense is important but volume pass defense simply isn't.

A team can give up thousands of yards through the air and still win a Super Bowl. A team that can't stop the run won't make it through the playoffs 9 times out of 10.

Any lock down "defense"is a myth these days. Yards dont' really matter.

Red zone defense and turnovers are two big keys, pressure and sacks as well IMO.

Teams that can't stop the run dont' make the playoffs unless they just outscore everyone. A team can give up thousands of yards on the ground and still win the SB. Same with the pass.

Except a team that gives up thousands of yards on the ground don't win Super Bowls. There's been two or 3 teams in the last 30 years that went on to win a Super Bowl with a bottom 3rd run defense.

Why?

Because if you're giving up tons of yards on the ground, you're also more than likely giving up chunk yards on the ground. Teams run the ball more when it's successful and if you give up 5-6 yards a pop, you can't get the other team off the field. That leads to situational issues - 3rd down efficiency goes down, red zone efficiency goes down, TOP problems, and so on.

That being said, it's still not about total yards. It's about yards per play.

Getting chunk plays on the ground is just more difficult though.

Look at rushing teams in the postseason. They don't usually win many Sb's either.

Super Bowls are ultimately won by QB's. That's why stopping the run is so damn important. One of the easiest ways to overcome opposing QB play is to simply keep them off the field. And if you don't have one of THOSE QB's, it's the ONLY way to win.

Yup. The Titans playoff game is full proof of that.

If you are simply a good team without an elite game changing QB then you need to be able to run to help him win.

Making teams without an elite QB one dimensional is a huge advantage

you can no further than Sunday night around 10:30pm for proof.

Brady threw for 386,000 yards Sunday night. All it did was make the final score look closer than it was.

The story of the game is essentially zero yards rushing.

You can still look at the leader lines each week and it's still pretty reliable.

Passing leaders are a couple elite QBs and a bunch of losing teams
Rushing leaders are a bunch of nobody RBs with wins.

3rd and long: likely a pass
3rd and short: could be anything

Defending the run competently creates more third and longs.

It’s really that simple.

Exactly.

And in the case of the Chiefs, those 3rd and longs have been the key to generating what few turnovers we've generated.

It's super important.

Found this:

“Back in our 2019 research, we found that Super Bowl-winning defenses all ranked in the top 15 in opponent completion percentage, dating back to 2009.

Since 2019, Kansas City won the Super Bowl after ranking fifth in opponent completion percentage (60.98), but last year's champion, Tampa Bay, was a huge outlier.

The Bucs averaged the 11th worst opponent completion percentage (66.96%) and still won a Super Bowl. But the defense also buckled down in the postseason and kept opposing quarterbacks to a 59.85% completion percentage in their final three playoff games. “

For sure, efficiency is a valuable data point. Completion percentage against is much more indicative of a good defense than total yards.

And for the record, right now, I believe the Chiefs are near the worst in the league in opponent completion percentage.

It's pretty exciting that when this team is jacked up, they've shut down two very good/great passing offenses.

I think it'll stay this way all season. Teams will get a better read on what we like to do defensively with all of our newer pieces, but our young guys will also get better by the end of the year. I think that will be a wash.

I think this is a very good defense, and can be a top 3 defense in the next couple years if they beef up that passrush.

we can stop splitting hairs at this point

mahomes + a top 5 run defense = super bowl

no qb is keeping up with mahomes without a running game

We need to boost the pass rush though. Danna coming back will help, but I still think they could add another guy by the deadline for the stretch run.

Seeing who we're gonna have to beat in the playoffs, you can never have enough pass rush.

It's weird because eye test watching games I don't feel like they're bad.

They've blown out a couple teams and given up some garbage yards.

It's weird no?

Yep.

Chiefs have the number 1 run defense but 27th pass defense. Complete opposite of last year

Brady just threw the ball 55+ times playing catch up.

We had a shoot out with the chargers.

We are missing our top corner and coverage linebacker.

We good

It's not all roses. As I've said before, raw yardage doesn't matter much. However, the Chiefs also have one of this highest completion percentages against and they're near the bottom of the league in turnovers (they've only generated 4).

They've gotta be able to get after the passer more with 4 and not have to blitz as much.

The Bucs completely abandoned the run and we couldn't get to Brady enough.