The AFC Has Had Enough of Mahomes and KC

[Bowser]

Never have I ever seen teams in the AFC (much less just the West) load up like they are with the players that they are with the express intent of stopping one team. This is amazing to watch, honestly. Everyone is trying to get the fifth generation 46 defense to stop precisely ONE guy - Patrick Mahomes. Get as many high caliber ends and defensive backs in an attempt to keep Mahomes in the pocket all uncomfortable and throw picks to the above average DB's back there double teaming Hill and Kelce.

I'm really looking forward to what ideas Andy and Patrick come up with to counter all these moves contenders are making Conference wide, and I am super pumped to see who we bring in throughout the rest of free agency and the draft. I'll admit I haven't felt much of anything towards the Chiefs since the Bengals loss, but watching all this mayhem go down, my blood is pumping again for this team.

[DTVietnam]

i say we sacrafice Rasputin the the football Gods and ask for the Chiefs to aquire Kareem Hunt in return. .

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Why is everyone tits up already?

Teams are going to try to improve... duh.

The only move that has given me much pause is Mack to the Chargers. They are a good overall team to begin with and Mack opposite Bosa is a huge upgrade for them. They still have to replace 50% of their IDL with Jones, Covington, and Joseph all UFAs.

The same goes for the Raiders. Sure, they added Adams but losing those picks doesn't help them replace their SLB or the 5 IDL they lost. They got nice pickups in Nichols and Jones but Jones is 32 so his best days may be behind him. Raiders may get better but they aren't anywhere near competing with KC yet, IMO.

The Broncos gave up a haul for Wilson, which doesn't help them fix all the holes in that defense. Yes, Wilson helps them win games, no doubt about it. Gregory is good when he's available, which isn't often. The same goes for Chubb. He had a great rookie year but hasn't been much since. The Broncos, honestly, worry me about as much as the Raiders in terms of real threat to the division.

To me it's still between KC and LA.

Veach is playing it smart and not overspending right out of the gate. There are plenty of good players that will be had for good deals yet.

Think it's fine to say you expect it to still be between KC and LA, but the upgrades for the others are significant. The Broncos don't have a ton of holes in their defence that i can see, and given everyone was saying "come back when you've got a QB" well, now they have. That was the major hole and difference.

There's a long way to go but there's a crazy amount of homers pretending like nothing has changed. This is now comfortably the toughest division and every game is going to be a slog. At this point every team has imprroved more than KC. It's going to be interesting to see who now comes in.

[Bump]

all these teams making huge moves trying to beat us.

Does anyone remember what happened with the Eagles during Reid's last year (or close to it)? The year that they went out and signed a bunch of high profile free agents and because of that they were instant favorites to win it all and then disappointed and didn't even make the playoffs?

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin

It’s kind of flattering to see all these teams in the AFC making these moves to try and de-throne the Chiefs.

What’s gonna be even funnier is when we end up in the AFC Title Game next year, yet again.

Gonna be some really upset people about that one . . . . .

Chiefs are a good team but they are not like way up here and all the rest are way down there. Some of you guys act like there is no stopping you no matter what any team does. Chiefs are 2 games a year out of 16 or 17 and of course division rivals want to beat them but it's not the end of the world if they don't. Chiefs were exposed last year and that great QB WR and TE was shut the **** down hard. PM is not the same guy when he is being chased, of course he has made some great throws on the run but the pressure will be coming hard next year, he won't just be sitting in that pocket going through his reads as slowly as before. Raiders will suffer the same problem , the edge rushers have really upgraded this year and you can't double team but so many rushers.

[milkshock]

Originally Posted by R8RFAN

Chiefs are a good team but they are not like way up here and all the rest are way down there. Some of you guys act like there is no stopping you no matter what any team does. Chiefs are 2 games a year out of 16 or 17 and of course division rivals want to beat them but it's not the end of the world if they don't. Chiefs were exposed last year and that great QB WR and TE was shut the **** down hard. PM is not the same guy when he is being chased, of course he has made some great throws on the run but the pressure will be coming hard next year, he won't just be sitting in that pocket going through his reads as slowly as before. Raiders will suffer the same problem , the edge rushers have really upgraded this year and you can't double team but so many rushers.

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by milkshock

Laugh all you want but the Bangles shut you guys down hard and DC's all across the NFL have studied the tape...

[milkshock]

Originally Posted by R8RFAN

Laugh all you want but the Bangles shut you guys down hard and DC's all across the NFL have studied the tape...

'Exposed' is one second half meltdown at the end of a run of 11 wins in 12?

[Kman34]

Originally Posted by R8RFAN

Laugh all you want but the Bangles shut you guys down hard and DC's all across the NFL have studied the tape...

That loss was more of what we didn’t do rather than what the Bengals defense did to us..

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by Kman34

That loss was more of what we didn’t do rather than what the Bengals defense did to us..

Which Bengals loss are you guys discussing?

[milkshock]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

Which Bengals loss are you guys discussing?

The AFC Championship game.

I doubt if you even remember what the playoffs are, since its been 7 years since you've been there.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by milkshock

The AFC Championship game.

I doubt if you even remember what the playoffs are, since its been 7 years since you've been there.

Kinda.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by R8RFAN

Chiefs are a good team but they are not like way up here and all the rest are way down there. Some of you guys act like there is no stopping you no matter what any team does. Chiefs are 2 games a year out of 16 or 17 and of course division rivals want to beat them but it's not the end of the world if they don't. Chiefs were exposed last year and that great QB WR and TE was shut the **** down hard. PM is not the same guy when he is being chased, of course he has made some great throws on the run but the pressure will be coming hard next year, he won't just be sitting in that pocket going through his reads as slowly as before. Raiders will suffer the same problem , the edge rushers have really upgraded this year and you can't double team but so many rushers.

All that has to happen to get edge rushers on their heels, is for Reid to pull his head out of his ass and stick with the running game. Had he done that against the Bengals, with KC up a few scores and gashing them for over 5 yards a carry, KC wins the game easily.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by JPH83

Think it's fine to say you expect it to still be between KC and LA, but the upgrades for the others are significant. The Broncos don't have a ton of holes in their defence that i can see, and given everyone was saying "come back when you've got a QB" well, now they have. That was the major hole and difference.

There's a long way to go but there's a crazy amount of homers pretending like nothing has changed. This is now comfortably the toughest division and every game is going to be a slog. At this point every team has imprroved more than KC. It's going to be interesting to see who now comes in.

Improving more is relative. I expect the other teams in the division, who have been worse and have much more cap flexibility, to improve "more." The real question is whether or not you feel like they improved so much they will unseat KC.

The Chiefs have been to the AFC title game 4 straight years and no team has been significantly close in the division to matching them straight-up sans the Chargers last season. Sure, the Chiefs have laid an egg a couple of times and still came out on top, but you never got the feeling they were simply outmatched overall.

Do I think the division got a lot tougher? Absolutely. That doesn't mean I'm going to throw in the towel. The Chiefs can still do things in free agency (they haven't even touched restructuring Mahomes yet if they find a guy they really want). The Chiefs have 4 picks before day 3 comes. They can get more talent.

The Chargers, for me, are the team that added the most significant pieces. They were a pain in the Chiefs' ass and just got two big-time pieces on that defense in Mack and Jackson. Those are heavy hitters for an already really good defense. At this point, they are basically looking at just losing Kyzir White, across the board, and still have a full draft.

The Broncos are probably number two for me. I think they leap the Raiders at this point but they aren't on the same level with KC and LA yet, even with a QB (at least IMO). They lost a ton of depth in the secondary at this point. I don't think you can overlook losing Bryce Callahan at the nickel and Kareem Jackson at SS if they don't re-sign (which they might). I'm keeping my eye on what they do with the rest of free agency with keen eyes though.

The Raiders improved the ability to rush the passer on their DLine, but I feel like Nichols is a lateral move to Quinton Jefferson and they still lost a ton of depth. Obviously, getting Chandler Jones is a huge boost if he continues to produce at the level we're used to seeing. Adams undoubtedly helps that offense. We're still talking about a team that couldn't stay within 30 points of KC last year though, so we'll see.


So the big question I have right now isn't what the division did but what can KC best do to counter these moves?

It may just mean getting much better at RT. All three teams have dual threats on the edge now, and so too do most of the contenders in the AFC.

I'd still sign Texans' free agent Geron Christian, who is adequate as a swing starter. I'd also look a little harder at improving earlier in the draft at RT. There are some okay options on day 2 and I don't know if I'd rule out Raimann at 30, especially if Veach goes and gets a guy like Za'Darius Smith on the edge yet in free agency.

Alot of time remains for the puzzle to come together yet, so I'll hold some judgement until we see what the pieces are.

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by Kman34

That loss was more of what we didn’t do rather than what the Bengals defense did to us..

Bangles FORCED the Chiefs into a one dimensional game, The one flaw the Chiefs have is they are greedy as hell, Won't take what the D gives them and tries to always forCE the play style, There are times when that is appropriate especially when playing against a shitty D like my Raiders but when a team decides to live and die by the sword and targets people they are going to REFUSE or severely reduce their production on the field you must adapt and gash that team in other ways to force them to loosen the coverages to protect closer to the line. Chiefs were cocky and use to getting their way but on this day that cockiness cost them another loss in the SB

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Improving more is relative. I expect the other teams in the division, who have been worse and have much more cap flexibility, to improve "more." The real question is whether or not you feel like they improved so much they will unseat KC.

The Chiefs have been to the AFC title game 4 straight years and no team has been significantly close in the division to matching them straight-up sans the Chargers last season. Sure, the Chiefs have laid an egg a couple of times and still came out on top, but you never got the feeling they were simply outmatched overall.

Do I think the division got a lot tougher? Absolutely. That doesn't mean I'm going to throw in the towel. The Chiefs can still do things in free agency (they haven't even touched restructuring Mahomes yet if they find a guy they really want). The Chiefs have 4 picks before day 3 comes. They can get more talent.

The Chargers, for me, are the team that added the most significant pieces. They were a pain in the Chiefs' ass and just got two big-time pieces on that defense in Mack and Jackson. Those are heavy hitters for an already really good defense. At this point, they are basically looking at just losing Kyzir White, across the board, and still have a full draft.

The Broncos are probably number two for me. I think they leap the Raiders at this point but they aren't on the same level with KC and LA yet, even with a QB (at least IMO). They lost a ton of depth in the secondary at this point. I don't think you can overlook losing Bryce Callahan at the nickel and Kareem Jackson at SS if they don't re-sign (which they might). I'm keeping my eye on what they do with the rest of free agency with keen eyes though.

The Raiders improved the ability to rush the passer on their DLine, but I feel like Nichols is a lateral move to Quinton Jefferson and they still lost a ton of depth. Obviously, getting Chandler Jones is a huge boost if he continues to produce at the level we're used to seeing. Adams undoubtedly helps that offense. We're still talking about a team that couldn't stay within 30 points of KC last year though, so we'll see.


So the big question I have right now isn't what the division did but what can KC best do to counter these moves?

It may just mean getting much better at RT. All three teams have dual threats on the edge now, and so too do most of the contenders in the AFC.

I'd still sign Texans' free agent Geron Christian, who is adequate as a swing starter. I'd also look a little harder at improving earlier in the draft at RT. There are some okay options on day 2 and I don't know if I'd rule out Raimann at 30, especially if Veach goes and gets a guy like Za'Darius Smith on the edge yet in free agency.

Alot of time remains for the puzzle to come together yet, so I'll hold some judgement until we see what the pieces are.

Great post.