Boy it really feels like they're gearing up for a SB run this year.
 

I know, technically they're doing it every year. But this year really seems different.

They've got Mahomes on the horizon. They've got cuts in a year in which Alex Smith, Tamba Hali, and Derrick Johnson probably won't be on this team. They know they're on the verge of a mini-rebuild around Mahomes.

As a result, they've padded the back end of the roster with some trades, and it really does seem the team is going all in on 2017 as Alex Smith's final push for a SB berth. It seems like they're all in for 2017.

If it doesn't work out, which with Brady in the AFC, it probably won't, they'll retool, sell some used parts, and start to build around Mahomes.

IMO, it all hinges on Justin Houston. If he can be his dominant 22 sack self, then watch out. If he can't, we're likely a 10-6 team with "possibly" a wild card win.

The Chiefs need Houston to be Houston, strong or at least decent CB play behind Peters and a strong year from Smith for his standards. If they can get two out of three of these elements for the whole season and playoffs, I would think they have a good chance of going deep into the playoffs.

We'll know a lot more by Friday. Here's hoping Houston and Berry not only play but play well.

Oh yeah. They're really going all out with Kelce and Hill as the only two credible receiving threats.

Yep. And it can be a very QUICK task...

ROFL

This!!

Defense is going to have to ball out like gods.

I'm not holding my breath.

wow

this is mind blowing

are you related in any way to Walter Mercado or a member of the psychic friends network?

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...in-Obvious.jpg

http://wjbq.com/files/2015/07/Debbie...1&s=0&a=t&q=89

Every receiver ever needs that first season, right?

Don't underestimate DAT13

What? Not even close. They had a meh offseason. Money was tight and they didn't push it.

Stop this trolling. If they really thought they had a shot at a SB they'd have kept Maclin.

If KC is going to the SB this yr, these people need to stay healthy.

Alex Smith
While it might currently be an unpopular choice, and as much as the hype for Mahomes is, and how real it appears to be, he's just a rookie and most likely wouldn't lead this team to a SB this year. But you watch in a couple years...this team has a good chance to really make a serious run..hell maybe next year.
**(Not saying playing him would ruin him. I think he'd be the type of player that plays w/ more confidence once he has better talent around him. But Alex has (right now) better command of the offense. Wait til' next year when Mahomes has all the reps in OTA's camp etc, and get on the same page w/ Hill, Hunt, Kelce, OL etc.)**

Eric Berry
Dude is a game changer, a playmaker...this team may have not been a playoff team last year if not for him, most noticeably the CAR and ATL games.

Justin Houston
I haven't seen any pass rush from the starters all preseason. I just hope Houston is back healthy and he's the Justin Houston of old. If not you're looking at a horrible contract on the Chiefs hands. It'd be nice if Ford can come into his own and not disappear for half a season. But Houston is proven. He's expected to play at an All-Pro level. He played that way for half of the @DEN game...needs to play the entire season like that if this defense wants to be an elite SB defense.

Eric Fisher
This team's OL depth is pure hot garbage. I'm not sure if Cameron Erving is going to solve any of that. I know it was a guy the Chiefs were high on coming into that draft. He never did shit in CLE, but maybe that's just part of being w/ the Browns franchise, everyone there fails, and maybe a change of scenery where there's a winning atmosphere is just what he needs, that's about all you can hope for w/ that addition at the moment. It would be nice to see him improve more. He was manhandled by James Harrison. He still gets beaten like a drum at times. Needs to be more consistent.

Peters Hill and Kelce
CB depth behind Peters is very suspect. Would have been nice to land Haden but I was thinking "theres just no way the Chiefs would pull off something like that"...and what happened, happened and now he's a ****ing Steeler (**** that team btw). Hill and Kelce are going to be 65-70% of this offense and it should be. But there's just not a lot (if any) depth at either position. If Hill goes down, I mean does anyone think AS and Chris Conley are going to scare anyone? Same w/ Kelce....the dropoff from 1st to 2nd string is a lot.

And I'd say Derrick Johnson, however I don't think the drop off would be as severe as the other positions mentioned. Chiefs look to have some ascending depth in that area. Hopefully that continues to improve.

In addition to this, the Chiefs MUST run the ball better. Their short passing game is an extension to the running game, and if the running game doesn't work the whole god damn philosophy goes to shit and Alex Smith is tasked w/ converting 3rd n long, not a strong suit of his. If the Chiefs can run the ball considerably better than last season, and if Smith uses his legs to move the chains rather than going 3 n out (he stopped running after getting whacked vs Indy), then the Chiefs can be a efficient offense. Just have to turn the 3 n outs into points. They can do it, but they have to run the ball better. This OL in short yard running situations is not good. They have to improve in that area if Smith wants to play in between the chains.

Oh, so that's why the Pats, Seahawks, Broncos, and Ravens won it in recent years!

The only way this team will go to the SB is if they buy the tickets

oooo ouch

You have a point with the Ravens, but not with the other three. The Pats have Brady; it doesn't seem to matter what slapdick they trot out as a WR. The Broncos had Thomas and Sanders which still made a punchless Manning effective, the Hawks had one SB appearance with Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin and had the other with Baldwin and Kearse.

Conley and Hill aren't on the level of four of the five receivers mentioned above. Hill has a decent likelihood of proving better than Kearse in the short term (this season and the next; Kearse became a 500 yard type of guy in his third season) and the others in the longer run.

Conley might look like a bonafide #2 receiver that starts on a dozen or more other teams, but I think it's homerism to immediately assume this is the case.

Being honest here:

-They got worse at WR losing Maclin.
Maclin>Conley
-They got better at DL
Logan>Poe as a run defender
-They got MUCH better at QB overall, depth wise
Mahomes>Foles
-They got MUCH better at ILB overall, depth wide
KPL=DJ on ST's, better at ILB
Ragland>JML, T. Smith & Mauga
Eligwe>JML, T. Smith & Mauga
-They got better at OLB overall, depth wise
Tanoh>Zombo....be honest Zombo sucks
-They got MUCH better at RB
Hunt>West,K. Davis

They are getting key guys like Houston and Bailey back so that's TBD.

Chiefs probably have the 3rd best team overall in the AFC as they took a completely broken defense and were kept PIT to the wire. They are a bit ahead of right now.
NE is the best by a wide margin this year.

I really think we just need to get another solid CB and WR next offseason while keeping this team intact and we'll be rolling with Mahomes.

So, with two viable receiving threats? Isn't that what your bagging on the Chiefs for?

I still believe that Conley is the one player on offense that would benefit the most from Mahomes.

He's tall, has great hands, has an elite vertical and elite caliber straight line speed.

That's a perfect fit for Mahomes.

Mahomes won't play enough for that to matter.

You complained that Hill and Kelce are the only viable threats, then gave the Seahawks credit for Baldwin and Kearse. Seems off to me. Sorry, I stopped reading after the first paragraph.

I also think people overstate Maclin's actual value.

I don't think we lost much if anything there. He was a non-factor all year. I'd rather throw ball to kids who cann turn in to something.

I think Conley is kind of a tease. People always expect more out of him because he's bright, he's big, he's fast, and he can jump.

But at no point in college or as an NFL player has he really shown any sort of ability to leverage those skills for consistent success.

I think Mahomes is the type of QB who can elevate the WRs around him, but just not sure how much Conley can be elevated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When you have a qb who throws 15 td's a season it doesn't really matter!

DT and Sanders > Kelce and Hill

If their stars stay healthy and show up, sure

Well Conley's vertical jump at the combine was 45 inches, so I think he can be elevated almost 4 feet.

seahawks had golden tate, and baldwin -- both had more yards than zach miller

ravens had boldin, torrey smith who actually both had more yards than pitta

in the pats case, edelman was the clear leader (1100ish yds) and while a TE was second (700 yds) a WR was a close 3rd (hogan 680 yards)

But brady threw about 2500 yards to WRs.....he just spread the ball out more

so I do think that all of those teams had more receiving threats than we do..

Its pretty clear our biggest every down threat is Kelce , which doesn't bode well for WR once again for us this year. I like hill, dont get me wrong..I just am gonna wait and see if the kid can hold his own for a hole season before I will be confident in him as a number one type guy.

If we didnt have smith at QB, of course things might be different...

We played Pittsburgh twice last year, and in both games they dominated the line on both sides of the ball. Don't let the score of the second game fool you -- we were ****ing abused up front. For all of the excitement around a new season, if we don't pressure the opposing QB more consistently, there will be no SB. And our o-line has to show up in big games, too.

Oh ok so we really lost 35-16 not 18-16.

Sorry some of us missed those hidden TD's. Thanks for not letting the fake score fool us.

"it was a close game"

the moral victory of true fans in the playoffs since lenny d

Who said it was a moral victory for anybody?

You're really ****ing stupid sometimes.

If you want to assume that our playoff opponent will continually self-destruct in the Red Zone again this year, go ahead.

Plenty of people have been making plenty of excuses and claiming moral victories with regards to ALex 'All I do is win' Smith...and this team. For years.

If you can't see that, then perhaps you might want to re-think calling others stupid.

"Self-destruct"? LMAO

This teams been good defensively in the red zone for pretty much Sutton's entire tenure. Bend but don't break.That's what we do.

Except this year our front 7 looks capable of being really good against the run. Making your post even more irrelevant.

Oh good ****ing god

:facepalm:

First thought when we cut Maclin: "We're all in."

This sounds like hyperbole but I've seen more from Marcus Kemp in preseason than I've seen in two seasons of Conley during the regular season.

Kemp looks like what Conley should have looked like his rookie preseason.

his point was that despite the score, pittsburgh beat us soundly

they punted ONE time

they controlled the game and ran all over us

we couldnt do shit aganst them

What % of this in your mind is attributed to the guy throwing the ball though?

I don't know I will take giving up 18 points every playoff game and like my chances.
If as an O you cant score 21 points you cant win a sb.

I live in Arkansas and the best victory they have ever had was a one point loss to Alabama.

They sure did. Defense did not perform well

Good thing we are healthier and stronger up front this year

Zero.

Kemp doesn't drop balls and runs great routes. Conley improved upon his route running last year but he dropped too many balls.

I'm glad you thought it was a good performance....

:rolleyes:

This is the kind of flawed , moral victory type of thinking....did you even watch the game? They only had to punt ONE time. Our defense stopped them ONE time.

they had 35 minutes time of possession to our 25

they beat us soundly...

'holding them to 18 points' is meaningless if you just look at it with no context..... they ran all over us and ground the clock out....we couldnt stop them. Nor could we score on them.

That's actually Hercules from the Marvel universe.

I agree. How the NFL network ranks the Chiefs D as the No.1 fantasy Defense is beyond me.:hmmm:

ROFL

touche

well in fantasy its not usually about holding the team under yards or points...

sacks, ints, and TD's and special teams are what scores points. Chiefs had had a good fantasy defense a couple seasons in a row I think

Fair point.

**** Maclin.

The Chiefs won 12 games last year with him catching a measly 430 yards.

****ing overrated twat.

would you rather have maclin or wilson?

You seriously dont think maclin lining up on the other side helped kelce and hill?

I dunno man i hope you are right but i forsee problems with the receivers ...maybe i am overly worried but if we cant at least pretend we have a medium/deep passing game i think we are in big trouble in some games

Neither

No, I do not. Maclin is 29 years old and played like shit last year. His presence didn't affect Kelce or Hill.

Maclin wasn't a big play guy last year. Like Conley, he averaged 12 yards a catch.

Hill and Kelce will be the go to receivers this year, with Hunt being the 3rd option.

Conley and whomever is behind him become the 4th, 5th and 6th.

Thats why I said in one of the fantasy threads that TH is not really worth a high rd pick because he has no legit threat on the other side, he is no longer a secret weapon and DCs will specifically game plan for him. TH will be lethal once we get another legit WR on the other side and PM becomes QB.:thumb:

**** Maclin. He let the team down when the needed him badly.

Bye.

I hate to break this to you but tyreek's yards per catch was 9.7

maclin beat them both (conley and hill) in yards per catch, and yards per game last season....despite battling a groin

I thoroughly disagree. DCs are not going to not game plan for Maclin. Regardless of Maclin's lack of production just his presence alone definitely helped Kelce and Hill.

agree 100% , I think this will become pretty obvious soon

This year we are spending 33.1m on pass rushers compared to 9.4m on cornerbacks. The pass rush just has to get there.

Chiefs are 7th in league spending on defense and 26th for offense. The defense needs to carry the team.

Let's hope one of our other WRs really steps up soon or we pick up a decent vet.

Chiefs still need a possession sure handed third down WR. Been needing that for years actually

Agreed.

LMAO

No, dude.

Just. No.

Don't you think that Kemp and Jones are those types of receivers?

For whatever it's worth, Baltimore news has reported Maclin claims he played with a torn groin last year.

Doubt it but only way to find out is through fire

Play Alex the first 10 games, until November 26th vs the Bills.

Start Mahomes from there so he's prepared for the playoffs.

The Bills & Jets would be fantastic warmups for him.

It doesn't really feel any different than the past few years other than we are deeper at QB obviously.

11-5

Depends on our offensive line. If our Oline and WRs gel and look solid then i think we go to Mahomes earlier. If Smith gets pressured quickly all the time then I think they wait.

That is very stupid.

defenses can't take both Hill and Kielce out of the game. Even the great Belecheck can only take one player out of the game.

As long as Peters and Berry remain healthy, it's a potential Super Bowl worthy defense.

Guess we will see in 6 days. The time for speculation and talk is about over.

I think Mahomes has the chance to be really good. But he needs to be groomed a little.

If he can sponge up Reid/Nagy tutelage and pointers from AS, once he gets all the reps at OTA's and camp next year he's going to be just fine.

This is the first time the Chiefs have been in this position...probably ever. A playoff ready team that's gonna be led by a gunslingin playmaking QB with tons of upside. Now that's REALLY exciting, gives us all here at CP massive Chiefs kingdom boners, But no need to blow our load early. Mahomes wouldn't guide this team to a SB this year even if he had all of the reps at camp and was named starter back in July.

Mahomes starts only if AS gets injured, or if the Chiefs are out of playoff contention...(or if AS is really stinking up the joint, at which point the Chiefs are probably not in the playoff picture anyway).

Patience young (and old) CP'ers.......paaaaaaaaaatience.

IF the defense plays like the 85 Bears or 2000 Ravens...

AND Alex Smith puts up a 4000/25/10 season (lol)...

AND those performances continue in January...

Then they have a chance.

Which means they don't. Calling another 1-and-done in January.

They don't need THAT level of defense but the defense needs to play well and Alex needs to have that kind of year.

I think they both can do that, will they is different.

They lost 4 of their 5 games last year with the defense giving up 19 or less.

I'm gonna say they need a ridiculously elite defense to truly compete for a SB.

Thats what I mean, I think the defense as a whole was good enough last year. If you have a healthy Houston and the run d improves , the defense is plenty sturdy.

It's all gonna come down to offensive improvement. Basically, Alex has to put up his best year as a pro