A Level Headed Review Week 1 2023

[DenverChief]

1. WR's - Specifically Kadarius Toney - you can tell missing training camp has hurt him. Timing is off for the WR's and Patrick. Several throws behind receivers and just route confusion (James running in front of Toney causing him to lose the ball). This is the part about not playing starters more in the pre-season that concerns me. Have got to get a rhythm down on offense. Missing in action was Richie James (1 Catch on 2 Targets), Skyy Moore (0 for 3), Toney (1 for 5). MVS was 2 for 2 but disappeared after halftime. Somebody has to step up and be the guy when Kelce can't.

2. Jawaan Taylor and that early jump finally got called. Gotta figure that out - that is going to bite us hard later in the season. The OL did a decent job protecting Patrick but there were a few drives Hutchinson was just terrorizing the OL. Trey Smith looked completely overmatched by Hutchinson a few times.

3. The Defense only gave up 14 points - quite an accomplishment missing Chris Jones. I would argue the bigger missing factor was Kelce. The defense was gassed by the end of the game because the offense couldn't stay on the field. I was impressed by FAU, Bolton and Danna. Less impressive was tackling lots of guys trying to arm tackle instead of wrapping up - gotta get that cleaned up. Some of the open over the middle stuff was because we had to stack the box to stop the run. Without Jones able to clog it up the linebackers have to play closer to the line and that opens the middle window up.

4. Patrick lost his first season opener - was bound to happen sometime - glad it's just the first game of 16 more to be played.

5. The Pick 6 was all on Toney - ball just bricked in his hands. Gotta hit the jugs machine and make those hands soft again.

6. Running Backs - never gave McKinnon the chance to run the ball and CEH was once again 2-3 yards running the ball. Incredibly frustrating. Pacheco was the lone bright spot - don't understand why they don't feed him the ball more when It's working. He was ripping off 4,5,6,7 yard runs. Then there was the trick play on 3rd and 1 late in the game. Just give it to Pacheco - they read the ****ery before we even snapped the ball (and should have snapped it when they jumped offsides).

7. I firmly believe all of this is correctable. There isn't one thing that can't be ironed out with repetition and timing. I am not worried one bit this will be a season long trend. I am just frustrated there isn't more focus on letting the starters gel. I know the 3rd pre-season game is to help the bubble players but what does it hurt to give the starters a full quarter to play and feel things out.

8. I know Noah Grey is a fan favorite but I wonder how Bushman would have fared - he seemed to be really good at finding the holes in the D in the preseason. TE needs to be more productive.

9. Patrick was frustrated - you could see it in his face all night, if it wasn't receivers dropping balls it was being harassed in the pocket - by one guy. I thought for sure he would turn that frustration into focus and get the team on the same page and it seemed like it worked for a while but it fell apart in the 4th quarter. Maybe more conditioning is needed, seemed like a very hot a humid night in KC.

10. Next week at Jacksonville isn't going to get any easier - gotta turn this loss into focus and motivation. IF it goes how I think it will - there will be no mercy on JAX.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by DenverChief

Where do you watch the all-22?

NFL+

[Hammock Parties]

[Hammock Parties]

And if you want to draw another parallel they didn’t have pippen to start the season due to a contract dispute

[Chiefshrink]

The tackles sucked at protecting Pat all night and hopefully that will be remedied but how much remains to be seen. Pat was running for his life all night it seemed. Like watching SBLV. You could tell it caught Pat off guard as well because I'm sure he was expecting much better protection from the edges. Just one more thing on his plate to deal with on top of knowing you don't have your "BINKY"(Kelce) to throw to expecting your young WR group to step up and get separation and bail you out but rather instead proving they 'are not ready for prime time' not making easy clutch catches.

Right now Veach and his 2 tackles acquisition and not acquiring a legit FA WR looks foolish. Smith has a holding problem coming in here and Taylor sucks at run blocking to begin with but now looks like he sucks at pass blocking against good talent as well. I realize creating a new game plan without Kelce less than 48hrs to game time IS a challenge BUT you have to at least be able to pass block and catch the ball regardless. You know the fundamentals?! Hopefully chemistry in due time and good coaching fix the o-line issues(thus Pat would have time to attack the deep routes with MVS and Ross) and our young WRs pursue redemption with a passion with some humility(speaking about Toney i.e. to humility-kid deserved to be humbled IMO).

I know it's only one game and I will just chalk this up to SB hangover, unexpected Kelce injury, playing the Lions, nervous young WRs and tackles with no chemistry for now. This will be our Ooops game getting it out of the way early in the season. Last year it was the Colts game that was our Ooops game.

What my gut tells me is.......I don't want to go there for now.

[Hammock Parties]

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

you are wrong. Check the QB school vid that’s posted on here in many spots. It walks you through way more than your 3 times you see on the all-22.

So I just watched JT's analysis (i like JT's QB school, refer to it all the time) and we've got 5, possibly 6 times, when a Chief got open deep (beyond 15 yards). Mostly, possibly all, in the 2nd half.

So, still not what I'd call "bunches."

Though I like his assessment that a couple times Pat predetermined who he was going to throw to, because watching the A-22 that's what a couple of them looked like to me. Like that one where 83 is just standing there in front of him, but Pat throws the deep post to Watson instead. That pass during the broadcast just seemed ill-advised, especially when gray's standing there not 15 yards away right in front of him.

Anyway, glad JT cleared up the crosser with Toney. Though not sure waiting longer was going to help much with that safety (or LB?) driving on Toney from the right. I mean maybe, if you waited three or four strides past the mesh? I don't know. The timing of that play seemed odd live.

Also agree that some of the spacing was just weird. Guessing some people ran some bad routes and created some of those.

Also glad he explained that "dressed up" counter play on the GL with Toney. That one was just strange looking live. Couldn't figure out why both Jerrick and Bell were out there leading blocking no one, while Toney was expected to juke two dudes in the slot.

Weirdly, watching JT's QB School made me feel better about the game. I mean, a lot of the issues I thought I saw during the game, even the A-22, now seem easier to fix. Like the pass pro; some of those pressures were really just the result of brainfarts, not physical problems.

Our LT though . . . he had some bad reps. At least one wildly bad rep. The one where he gets bowled back and he throws his right leg up and out to hook the DE as he's falling to the ground? yikes. Hilarious that he didn't get called for holding though.

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

So I just watched JT's analysis (i like JT's QB school, refer to it all the time) and we've got 5, possibly 6 times, when a Chief got open deep (beyond 15 yards). Mostly, possibly all, in the 2nd half.

So, still not what I'd call "bunches."

Though I like his assessment that a couple times Pat predetermined who he was going to throw to, because watching the A-22 that's what a couple of them looked like to me. Like that one where 83 is just standing there in front of him, but Pat throws the deep post to Watson instead. That pass during the broadcast just seemed ill-advised, especially when gray's standing there not 15 yards away right in front of him.

Anyway, glad JT cleared up the crosser with Toney. Though not sure waiting longer was going to help much with that safety (or LB?) driving on Toney from the right. I mean maybe, if you waited three or four strides past the mesh? I don't know. The timing of that play seemed odd live.

Also agree that some of the spacing was just weird. Guessing some people ran some bad routes and created some of those.

Also glad he explained that "dressed up" counter play on the GL with Toney. That one was just strange looking live. Couldn't figure out why both Jerrick and Bell were out there leading blocking no one, while Toney was expected to juke two dudes in the slot.

Weirdly, watching JT's QB School made me feel better about the game. I mean, a lot of the issues I thought I saw during the game, even the A-22, now seem easier to fix. Like the pass pro; some of those pressures were really just the result of brainfarts, not physical problems.

Our LT though . . . he had some bad reps. At least one wildly bad rep. The one where he gets bowled back and he throws his right leg up and out to hook the DE as he's falling to the ground? yikes. Hilarious that he didn't get called for holding though.

That LT rep was one I was referencing elsewhere, ugly. I think Smith is going to need a fair bit of help this year

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

So I just watched JT's analysis (i like JT's QB school, refer to it all the time) and we've got 5, possibly 6 times, when a Chief got open deep (beyond 15 yards). Mostly, possibly all, in the 2nd half.

So, still not what I'd call "bunches."

Though I like his assessment that a couple times Pat predetermined who he was going to throw to, because watching the A-22 that's what a couple of them looked like to me. Like that one where 83 is just standing there in front of him, but Pat throws the deep post to Watson instead. That pass during the broadcast just seemed ill-advised, especially when gray's standing there not 15 yards away right in front of him.

Anyway, glad JT cleared up the crosser with Toney. Though not sure waiting longer was going to help much with that safety (or LB?) driving on Toney from the right. I mean maybe, if you waited three or four strides past the mesh? I don't know. The timing of that play seemed odd live.

Also agree that some of the spacing was just weird. Guessing some people ran some bad routes and created some of those.

Also glad he explained that "dressed up" counter play on the GL with Toney. That one was just strange looking live. Couldn't figure out why both Jerrick and Bell were out there leading blocking no one, while Toney was expected to juke two dudes in the slot.

Weirdly, watching JT's QB School made me feel better about the game. I mean, a lot of the issues I thought I saw during the game, even the A-22, now seem easier to fix. Like the pass pro; some of those pressures were really just the result of brainfarts, not physical problems.

Our LT though . . . he had some bad reps. At least one wildly bad rep. The one where he gets bowled back and he throws his right leg up and out to hook the DE as he's falling to the ground? yikes. Hilarious that he didn't get called for holding though.

In a one point loss, 5 or 6 opportunities to win the game is pretty significant.

A lot of things were just a little off. No Kelce, Toney had no camp, and those two things alone more than likely were enough to lose. Add in some routes being a tad off in timing or depth, and it looked bad.

[Red Dawg]

Andy is very loyal to his plans but I really pray he changes his shit or we will lose again. CEH had zero business being anything but a 3. His plan was shit and if we have another day where the WRs have drops and run the wrong patterns we will lose again. Jax will beat us.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Chiefshrink

The tackles sucked at protecting Pat all night and hopefully that will be remedied but how much remains to be seen. Pat was running for his life all night it seemed. Like watching SBLV. You could tell it caught Pat off guard as well because I'm sure he was expecting much better protection from the edges. Just one more thing on his plate to deal with on top of knowing you don't have your "BINKY"(Kelce) to throw to expecting your young WR group to step up and get separation and bail you out but rather instead proving they 'are not ready for prime time' not making easy clutch catches.

Right now Veach and his 2 tackles acquisition and not acquiring a legit FA WR looks foolish. Smith has a holding problem coming in here and Taylor sucks at run blocking to begin with but now looks like he sucks at pass blocking against good talent as well. I realize creating a new game plan without Kelce less than 48hrs to game time IS a challenge BUT you have to at least be able to pass block and catch the ball regardless. You know the fundamentals?! Hopefully chemistry in due time and good coaching fix the o-line issues(thus Pat would have time to attack the deep routes with MVS and Ross) and our young WRs pursue redemption with a passion with some humility(speaking about Toney i.e. to humility-kid deserved to be humbled IMO).

I know it's only one game and I will just chalk this up to SB hangover, unexpected Kelce injury, playing the Lions, nervous young WRs and tackles with no chemistry for now. This will be our Ooops game getting it out of the way early in the season. Last year it was the Colts game that was our Ooops game.

What my gut tells me is.......I don't want to go there for now.

I don't think that's an accurate representation of the offensive tackle play. Hutchinson was a pain in the ass all game long, but they were lining him up over guard most of the game. Houston wasn't a factor.

There were a couple reps here and there that weren't great, but that's normal - the other guys get paid, too

If anything, I thought Trey had a pretty poor game by his standards.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I don't think that's an accurate representation of the offensive tackle play. Hutchinson was a pain in the ass all game long, but they were lining him up over guard most of the game. Houston wasn't a factor.

There were a couple reps here and there that weren't great, but that's normal - the other guys get paid, too

If anything, I thought Trey had a pretty poor game by his standards.

I completely agree with you...for the first game I was happy with what I saw from the tackles. Taylor will fix his lining up issues although what he was doing happens all the time on other teams and is never called.

Hutchinson was a beast...although there were a couple of times he hit Pat that should have been called.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

In a one point loss, 5 or 6 opportunities to win the game is pretty significant.

A lot of things were just a little off. No Kelce, Toney had no camp, and those two things alone more than likely were enough to lose. Add in some routes being a tad off in timing or depth, and it looked bad.

Not disagreeing at all with you.

I just disagree with the idea that our WRs were running around out there completely uncovered most of the time. Several times, yes, not all or most of the time. That’s all. Semantics maybe. Just stuck in my head.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Not disagreeing at all with you.

I just disagree with the idea that our WRs were running around out there completely uncovered most of the time. Several times, yes, not all or most of the time. That’s all. Semantics maybe. Just stuck in my head.

There were lots of opportunities to win the game, we just didn't do it

[scho63]

I'll put in my review after looking at things for the last 4 days.

Positives:
* Defense-Mike Danna and Nick Bolton came to play. They look stronger than before and Nick Bolton may be the BEST LB in football. This guy is money. All the D kept jumping, knocking down balls and were quick to tackle. Impressive w/o Jones. Although no sacks, we had pressure all night.
* DB's - they played tight, no real penalties and really started off on a good foot. Hope for the season.
* Tackling - After the first two drives, the D looked sharp on tackling. Didn't find any real whiffs.
* Offense - what more can you say about Mahomes. The guy is beyond belief. Our top rusher, hit guys in the hands all night and should have had an easy W.
* Rushing- Pacheco didn't gain a ton but he had some big runs when needed. McKinnon blocking saved at least 2 sacks and he is a great backup. His catch from Mahomes was money.

Negatives:
* WRs - Wow, what more can I add to what may be the WORST receiving performance in the Mahomes Era. Guys with drops, struggled to get open all night and the two guys with the best performance, Watson and MVS got lost or weren't in when needed in the 2nd half.
* Play calling - that was some of the shittiest play calling in Andy's time here. OK you try a razzle dazzle play and it fails, I can live with that. But WTF is with about 4-5 horrible calls in 3rd and 1 or 2nd and 3 or 2nd and goal. Teams know what we are doing and Andy is getting too cute for his own good.
* Special Teams - while overall a positive, why oh why is every team able to convert a 4th down sneak since Sorensen left? It's like 4 of 4 or 5 of 5. It's a ****ing mess and that should never happen. Play for a fake EVERY time and you will never get surprised.
* Our Oline - that was a hot mess as Mahomes spent too much time taking the snap and scrambling. We looked bad, couldn't block for the run and got away with some really sloppy play. This needs a big improvement.

Yes, they only scored 14 on offense and it should have been a W but this is important to see what happens when Kelce retires. We looked like a hot mess without him.