Takeaways from KC

[CurBeatElite]

We beat a very good team in a very difficult stadium in spite of the refs making several questionable calls which were unfavorable to us.  It was a very good team win and it was a very good morale booster for this team (they won w/ several key players out due to injury, beat one of the best teams in the NFL on the road, and kept Mahommes in check for the most part).  This win should really help our team's spirits and confidence going into the bye week and then coming back into the real meat of our schedule (5 of our 6 division games remain -- we also got lucky w/ Jax and Tenn losing, so we're tied at 3-2 with HOU).

 

Some takeaways from me:

 

Offense

-Our OL was very, very good with the run today and Mack and Wilkins capitalized on the holes they were opening up.  It's very nice to see both our RBs really seeming to trust the OL (the outside run on 4th and 2 when Mack followed Smith's block to get the 1st really epitomized that to me, I thought for sure we were getting stuffed and Mack showed great patience and ran behind Smith's lead).  That is the best run blocking game from our OL which I can remember -- and it was cool to see Mack had his 5th 125+ yard game since last year, making him and McCaffery the NFL's only two guys to have done that.

-Although we didn't give up any sacks, KC still brought a lot of pressure to Jacoby, often times flushing him out of the pocket or getting him to the ground as he was getting the ball out.  I hope we can make some adjustments and pick up some blitz packages better as the year goes on, while no sacks is good there were a few hits on Jacoby that made me cringe.

-Jacoby makes very few mental mistakes and is very careful with the ball.  I like the fact he isn't afraid to throw the ball away when he gets out of the pocket.  There was a throw or two where he threw it over Ali-Cox's head when Cox was about a yard or two past the LOS -- I think these were intentional by Jacoby to avoid intentional grounding but to also avoid Ali-Cox getting crushed and not really making a gain anyway.   A few other plays when Jacoby threw the ball away, I was thinking 'if Luck was in the game, he probably would've forced a few of those balls with high risk of interception.'  Jacoby also showed us he's got a heck of an arm (the deep ball to Cain which we picked up a PI penalty on was a very well thrown ball), I'm hoping we add some more deep routes more frequently after the bye (hopefully when Funchess returns this will open up some more options in the offense).

-Hines was very impressive in the receiving game today and made a few very nice moves when he was out in space.  I was bummed by the Rogers holding penalty on the one screen, but IMO, this was the best game I've seen Hines play and it seems like he and Jacoby are really starting to develop chemistry.

-Ebron had another pretty bad drop today... I hope he patches things up as the year goes on, as he caused a few drives to stop last week and the drop he had today would've put us in a 4th and ~1 position.

-Our 4th down O was tremendous, Reich made very good calls and we executed very well (I think I saw a stat that we've been successful on our last 8 4th down conversions).  I am happy to see Reich has that must trust in his players.

-While Cain only had 1 reception, it was a very impressive one and he ran a nice route and did a nice job selling the PI on the deep attempt from Brissett -- I was kind of critical of him last week, but think he improved this week.

-Overall, I think this was a very well coached game and very well executed by the players.  It ought to help going into the rest of the season, as we've seen this O can throw for over 300 if needed but have also shown we can really control the clock and run the ball... we'll be more difficult to game plan against if we can continue to show that we can be successful week in and week out with totally different offensive game plans.

-Our time of possession was fantastic, this is a wonderful formula to win games.

-The major negative I had from our O today was our inability to get the ball into the endzone more often (I believe all of Vinny's FGs were 32 yards or less, meaning we got into the red zone and settled for FGs on 4 different occasions).  I know they put some emphasis on locking down Ebron, but we've gotta get 7 more frequently in the red zone.  Hopefully, when Funchess returns our red zone O will improve from what we saw today.

 

STs

-Vinny made his XP and went 4-4 on FGs.  Granted they were all short field goals, it was still nice to see Vinny have a perfect day.  He looked very loose on the sidelines (laughing, cracking jokes, etc.), which IMO is a very good sign.  It also seemed like our snaps/holds this week were the cleanest of the year to date.

-Dulin made a very, very good play as a gunner on punt coverage.  I assume that's a major reason he got brought up to the 53 man roster, as I didn't really see him on O much, if at all.

-Thought this was Sanchez's best game of the season, hopefully he keeps it up.  

-Pascal was OK as a KR, but I think it's obvious he is not as dangerous as Campbell.

 

Defense

-Very good game plan and execution.  New England showed an effective way to slow KC/Mahommes is to keep guys in coverage and apply pressure with the front 4 and Detroit played them similarly last week.  I am not sure we would have been as effective had they had Hill or Watkins in the game, or if Mahommes didn't tweak his ankle... but this was by far our best executed game by the D of the season.

-Our front 4 played (IMO) the best game of the year so far and was constantly bothering Mahommes.  I think Sheard's presence was really felt today.  Feel awful for Turay, he was having himself a very nice game and I think has been developing very nicely... he'll be missed as the year goes on and I imagine we're going to try to bring another rush DE to the 53 man squad.  Houston had himself by far his best game as a Colt.  Grover Stewart I also thought had his best game as a Colt.  We didn't blitz often, but we were effective when we did -- Moore II's move to get around the T on his sack was excellent.

-I thought Wilson had a very, very nice game.  Kelce had only 4 receptions on 10 targets and Wilson was very effective against him.  I think this is what Ballard had in mind when he initially drafted Wilson and he showed up today.

-I thought Ya-Sin had his best game yet, even though they called that nonsense interference on him.  He seems to be a very sure tackler and (IMO) is showing signs of improving his overall game each week.

-Desir (IMO) was the weakest link on D today.  Not sure if he's still nursing the hamstring injury, but he seemed a step slow on several plays (got lucky a couple times that Mahommes overthrew his target who had Desir beaten).

-Khari Willis is looking to be the real deal, he's improved every week and impressed every week.  I sort of expect he's going to be taking significant time away from Geathers when he returns, and think he and Hooker will be a fine S duo.

-I was very unimpressed by Odum on the KC TD pass... I get we were in a zone, but when a play breaks down like that, there has to be some instincts to go cover the wide-open guy that's 3 yards away from you in the end zone.  He made up for it though with a terrific tackle late in the game when KC almost converted on 3rd and 28 (that tackle, which resulted in a 4th and 1 which Houston stuffed was a game-changer, for sure).  I thought that PI call on him late in the game was a garbage call, he had himself in good position and got screwed by some good acting on the WR's part.

-None of our LBs really stuck out to me (in a good way, or a bad way), which is fine.  I thought they played pretty consistent and didn't see any major mistakes.  Wish that Okerere interception stuck, and glad to see he's got some ball awareness and potentially some play-making ability, he had a really nice run back.

-Overall, I think we had a very solid game.  The young guys all seem to be improving each week and are getting better playing with each other.  I think the return of Hooker and Leonard will undoubtedly make this group better.  It's nice to know we've got some depth though and that we should be able to count on some of our young guys if we need to as the season goes on.  I did not really notice Hunt or Banganou tonight, which kind of surprised me, but we played the best game of the season by far.  Big credit to the O for keeping KC's O of the field, but big credit to our D for limiting them when they did have the ball.  

-The only major concern I have with our D after this game is the injury to Turay.. he had 0.5 sacks tonight, but had 3 clean hits on Mahommes and was disruptive all night.  A bit nervous moving forward without him, as I don't know if we have another guy who can get to the QB consistently on our DL outside of Houston.

[lollygagger8]

Pros: 

O-Line imposed their will and it was amazing to watch. 

I saw that stat they showed that Castanzo was #1 among LT's, and Nelson was #2 among guards?! That's amazing!! (but seriously who is better than Nelson? lol) 

The front 4 turned it up last night, wooowee! Great to have Sheard back. 

That fake throw then draw run play was sweet! 

When you get Hines in space, he's great. (between tackles not so much) 

Khari Willis is a stud. He has an excellent knack for sniffing out plays. 

Odum had a great punch out of the ball. 

Desir smacked it out of Kelce's hands too. 

Houston's 4th and 1 stuff of the run

 

Cons: 

I like his patience sometimes, but Mack has got to quit dancing around. If he would've just ran and hit the hole, he could've had 200 yards! (Wilkins hits it and gets 8 when the play doesn't get blown up) 

Quincy Wilson needs to practice with his arms tied to his sides. His holding/PI calls are ridiculous

Brissett is holding the ball too long and staring down receivers STILL. 

Brissett deep ball timing is just not there. He's underthrown every deep pass this year. Work on that in practice please. 

Did Turay break his ankle!?  He was doing great too. 

The refs!!!!!!

[DougDew]

Well, we learned that our backups can beat KCs backups in a game where the officiating must have been conducted by backup officials.

 

Other than that, I'm not sure what to take away.

[csmopar]

40 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Well, we learned that our backups can beat KCs backups in a game where the officiating must have been conducted by backup officials.

 

Other than that, I'm not sure what to take away.

And there’s the ball of negativity.  Beat their back ups? Are you kidding me?!

[will426]

i agree on mack dancing too much granted he was easily breaking their tackles when he did...if he just ran full speed through the whole a couple times he would’ve been gone they didn’t want to take on Kelly Ac and Nelson in the trenches 

[MikeCurtis]

7 hours ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

-Khari Willis is looking to be the real deal, he's improved every week and impressed every week.  I sort of expect he's going to be taking significant time away from Geathers when he returns, and think he and Hooker will be a fine S duo.

 

-The only major concern I have with our D after this game is the injury to Turay.. 

 

Nice writeup

 

I think Geathers may have lost his starting role to Willis, last night (Even though Geathers didnt play)

 

Its going to be hard to keep Willis off the field

 

 

Any news from anyone on Turay?

 

[CurBeatElite]

1 hour ago, lollygagger8 said:

Pros: 

O-Line imposed their will and it was amazing to watch. 

I saw that stat they showed that Castanzo was #1 among LT's, and Nelson was #2 among guards?! That's amazing!! (but seriously who is better than Nelson? lol) 

The front 4 turned it up last night, wooowee! Great to have Sheard back. 

That fake throw then draw run play was sweet! 

When you get Hines in space, he's great. (between tackles not so much) 

Khari Willis is a stud. He has an excellent knack for sniffing out plays. 

Odum had a great punch out of the ball. 

Desir smacked it out of Kelce's hands too. 

Houston's 4th and 1 stuff of the run

 

Cons: 

I like his patience sometimes, but Mack has got to quit dancing around. If he would've just ran and hit the hole, he could've had 200 yards! (Wilkins hits it and gets 8 when the play doesn't get blown up) 

Quincy Wilson needs to practice with his arms tied to his sides. His holding/PI calls are ridiculous

Brissett is holding the ball too long and staring down receivers STILL. 

Brissett deep ball timing is just not there. He's underthrown every deep pass this year. Work on that in practice please. 

Did Turay break his ankle!?  He was doing great too. 

The refs!!!!!!

 

I don't recall any PI calls against Wilson last night (I know Kelce got called for offensive PI when he pushed off of Wilson at one point).  I thought the PI calls on Odum and Ya-Sin were very questionable, and recall penalties for D holding on Desir and Ya-Sin, but do not recall any flags on Quincy.

 

TBH, I thought Desir looked like the weak link on our D last night -- I'm hoping that is a sign of him being slowed a bit by his hamstring injury and he will improve after the bye.  He got very lucky at least once where he got beat and Mahommes overthrew the ball.  After a very solid year last year, Desir has looked a step slow a few times this year -- but overall our D  played very well.  I would like to think the ability of our front 4 to put pressure on Mahommes consistently all night helped out the secondary and hope we can keep that up.

 

32 minutes ago, MikeCurtis said:

 

Nice writeup

 

I think Geathers may have lost his starting role to Willis, last night (Even though Geathers didnt play)

 

Its going to be hard to keep Willis off the field

 

 

Any news from anyone on Turay?

 

 

Yes, I think Geathers will still play significantly as a hybrid type in certain packages, but I'm hoping we see Hooker and Willis as the deep safeties when Hooker returns... won't be shocked if Odum also takes some time away from Geathers as the season goes on.  He's our captain and all, but he's on a 'prove it' deal and so far (even when healthy) he doesn't seem to really be 'proving' that he should be our long-term solution as a starting safety.

 

I don't see anything on Turay other than a few articles from last night 'Turay carted off w/ gruesome leg injury.'  The way his ankle was completely sideways and essentially limp leads me to believe he broke something... I hope it's not too bad.  I was really rooting for the kid, he put in a lot of work this off-season and you could tell he really made some solid improvements from last year.  I'm expecting he's gone for the year based on what I saw, but I imagine Reich/Ballard will discuss in today's presser what they've learned from doctors.  His loss may be significant, as he was really starting to get consistent pressure on the opposing QB and I thought he and Houston were shaping up to form a nice pass-rushing duo... not sure we have anyone on the current roster who can fill his role.

[DougDew]

1 hour ago, csmopar said:

And there’s the ball of negativity.  Beat their back ups? Are you kidding me?!

Isn't beating their backups with our backups a positive thing?  We only scored 19 points, three of them because they went for 4th down in their own territory.  Its usually not enough to beat KC.

 

Would you rather me say that we held KC to 13 points because our backup Ss are better overall players than our starters, and that not having Leonard isn't that big of a deal because he wouldn't have been assigned to cover their only playmaker anyway?  I'd probably get into trouble for that.  

 

Reality check is that KC isn't the same without Hill, Hunt, and a hobbled Mahomes; and they don't have a very good LT.  They aren't the same team this year as last, and haven't blown away anybody.  They almost lost to DET. 

 

They have no precision on offense, and a poor LT, so when they waive Hunt and don't find a replacement playmaker, don't have a decent LT or WRs, and our D can focus on covering Kelce; all they have is Mahomes and his sand-lot broken play conversion ability ( like Johnny Manzel in college, only sober), which isn't enough.   

 

Its tough to assess just how good we are when KC is in disarray. 

[BigQungus]

2 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Isn't beating their backups with our backups a positive thing? 

 

Would you rather me say that we held KC to 13 points because our backup Ss are better overall players than our starters, and that not having Leonard isn't that big of a deal because he wouldn't have been assigned to cover their only playmaker anyway?  I'd probably get into trouble for that.  

 

Reality check is that KC isn't the same without Hill, Hunt, and a hobbled Mahomes; and they don't have a very good LT.  They aren't the same team this year as last, and haven't blown away anybody.  They almost lost to DET. 

 

They have no precision on offense, and a poor LT, so when they waive Hunt and don't find a replacement playmaker, don't have a decent LT or WRs, and our D can focus on covering Kelce; all they have is Mahomes and his sand-lot broken play conversion ability ( like Johnny Mandel in college, only sober), which isn't enough.   

 

Its tough to assess just how good we are when KC is in disarray. 

 

They don't have Hunt, so why are you acting like Williams or Shady McCoy are backups? That's like saying Brissett is a backup. You can't be a backup to someone who isn't on the roster

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Isn't beating their backups with our backups a positive thing? 

 

Would you rather me say that we held KC to 13 points because our backup Ss are better overall players than our starters, and that not having Leonard isn't that big of a deal because he wouldn't have been assigned to cover their only playmaker anyway?  I'd probably get into trouble for that.  

 

Reality check is that KC isn't the same without Hill, Hunt, and a hobbled Mahomes; and they don't have a very good LT.  They aren't the same team this year as last, and haven't blown away anybody.  They almost lost to DET. 

 

They have no precision on offense, and a poor LT, so when they waive Hunt and don't find a replacement playmaker, don't have a decent LT or WRs, and our D can focus on covering Kelce; all they have is Mahomes and his sand-lot broken play conversion ability ( like Johnny Mandel in college, only sober), which isn't enough.   

 

Its tough to assess just how good we are when KC is in disarray. 

 

Mahomes wasn't really hobbled before. There's a reason he got hobbled: our pass rush

[DougDew]

13 minutes ago, BigQungus said:

 

They don't have Hunt, so why are you acting like Williams or Shady McCoy are backups? That's like saying Brissett is a backup. You can't be a backup to someone who isn't on the roster

 

Mahomes wasn't really hobbled before. There's a reason he got hobbled: our pass rush

I think the pre-game aura around KC is a result of their offense in the past.  Not the same team this year.  I don't think McCoy hardly played, and Chris Jones was out on D, where the D has been criticized for not being able to stop the inside run game even with Jones playing.  Were we that good with the run or KC that bad?

 

According to Collinsworth, Mahomes's left ankle has been injured all season so far (on the injury report I think).

 

I think our pass rush has done well against two poor LTs, Erving and the guy from LAC.  Against other teams, I've read a bunch of complaining about a lack of pass rush.  Although we did get one of our starters back for a lot of the game, Sheard.

 

And the officiating was all over the place. 

 

Good win, I'll take it. I just think it was a weird game to evaluate.

 

 

[Dingus McGirt]

6 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I think the pre-game aura around KC is a result of their offense in the past.  Not the same team this year.  I don't think McCoy hardly played, and Chris Jones was out on D, where the D has been criticized for not being able to stop the inside run game even with Jones playing.  Were we that good with the run or KC that bad?

 

According to Collinsworth, Mahomes's left ankle has been injured all season so far (on the injury report I think).

 

I think our pass rush has done well against two poor LTs, Erving and the guy from LAC.  Against other teams, I've read a bunch of complaining about a lack of pass rush.  Although we did get one of our starters back for a lot of the game, Sheard.

 

And the officiating was all over the place. 

 

Good win, I'll take it. I just think it was a weird game to evaluate.

 

 

Your last statement ought to have been the lead in your original post.  :^)

[IinD]

Colts are lucky.

KC isn't good anymore that's why we won.

 

Covers it I think?

 

 

[richard pallo]

IMO Sheard's return to the lineup has made a huge difference in our DL play.  Especially against the run.  Once Hooker and Leonard return and Willis starts our defense should be pretty good.  

[CurBeatElite]

21 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Isn't beating their backups with our backups a positive thing?  We only scored 19 points, three of them because they went for 4th down in their own territory.  Its usually not enough to beat KC.

 

Would you rather me say that we held KC to 13 points because our backup Ss are better overall players than our starters, and that not having Leonard isn't that big of a deal because he wouldn't have been assigned to cover their only playmaker anyway?  I'd probably get into trouble for that.  

 

Reality check is that KC isn't the same without Hill, Hunt, and a hobbled Mahomes; and they don't have a very good LT.  They aren't the same team this year as last, and haven't blown away anybody.  They almost lost to DET. 

 

They have no precision on offense, and a poor LT, so when they waive Hunt and don't find a replacement playmaker, don't have a decent LT or WRs, and our D can focus on covering Kelce; all they have is Mahomes and his sand-lot broken play conversion ability ( like Johnny Mandel in college, only sober), which isn't enough.   

 

Its tough to assess just how good we are when KC is in disarray. 

 

So far this year, they've scored 40, 28, 33, and 34 points prior to only putting 13 on us.

 

Hunt's on NFL suspension and joins the Browns when he returns.. no need to worry about him being in KC this year.  You're right, with Hill and Watkins in the game, they've got a more explosive offense... but still, we held a very good offense with an MVP-caliber QB in check.

 

Mahommes is light years better than Johnny Manziel.  He can make every throw on the field, he can pass in the pocket and he can extend plays if he has to... Manziel at a different level could extend plays, but has nowhere near the arm Mahommes has.  

 

Even without Hill and Watkins, they still have good WRs in Pringle, Hardman, and Robinson  plus they have an elite TE in Kelce... 

 

Our team put on a very good performance.  If we have to face them again in the playoffs and they've got Hill/Watkins in the line-up, I'm sure we'll have to make adjustments, but we had a very sound strategy going into this game and for the most part we executed on all 3 fronts.

[CurBeatElite]

 

4 minutes ago, IinD said:

Colts are lucky.

KC isn't good anymore that's why we won.

 

Covers it I think?

 

 

 

KC was one of 3 unbeaten teams in the NFL going into yesterday's game.  I hope you're being sarcastic.  I'd be pretty shocked if KC doesn't win the AFC West and come out in the top 3 overall in the AFC (if I had to bet, I'd say they'd wind up the 2 seed behind NE).

 

3 minutes ago, richard pallo said:

IMO Sheard's return to the lineup has made a huge difference in our DL play.  Especially against the run.  Once Hooker and Leonard return and Willis starts our defense should be pretty good.  

 

Agreed... he (IMO) is our best overall DL and he's very good against the run.  How upsetting to see Turay go down?  That was by far the best our front 4 has played all year and  I was really hoping to see Turay continue development throughout this season... oh, well.

[IinD]

@CurBeatElite

Sarcasm. Was more poking fun at how we can't get much credit for a solid win.

[luv_pony_express]

2 hours ago, lollygagger8 said:

Cons: 

I like his patience sometimes, but Mack has got to quit dancing around. If he would've just ran and hit the hole, he could've had 200 yards! (Wilkins hits it and gets 8 when the play doesn't get blown up)

 

Brissett is holding the ball too long and staring down receivers STILL. 

 

 

I find it exceedingly difficult to complain about anything Marlon Mack is doing.  Yes, there's no question that our run game is made possible by what can fairly be described as a phenomenal offensive line.  But you have to have the backs to find holes, read blocks, protect the ball, etc.  And I think we may be witnessing Marlon Mack playing his way into the elite class of NFL running backs.

 

I generally agree about Brissett holding the ball too long.  But (a) he's been getting such good pass protection that it's not been a huge problem, and (b) I think KC's secondary had a lot to do with that.

[DougDew]

14 minutes ago, CurBeatElite said:

 

So far this year, they've scored 40, 28, 33, and 34 points prior to only putting 13 on us.

 

Hunt's on NFL suspension and joins the Browns when he returns.. no need to worry about him being in KC this year.  You're right, with Hill and Watkins in the game, they've got a more explosive offense... but still, we held a very good offense with an MVP-caliber QB in check.

 

Mahommes is light years better than Johnny Manziel.  He can make every throw on the field, he can pass in the pocket and he can extend plays if he has to... Manziel at a different level could extend plays, but has nowhere near the arm Mahommes has.  

 

Even without Hill and Watkins, they still have good WRs in Pringle, Hardman, and Robinson  plus they have an elite TE in Kelce... 

 

Our team put on a very good performance.  If we have to face them again in the playoffs and they've got Hill/Watkins in the line-up, I'm sure we'll have to make adjustments, but we had a very sound strategy going into this game and for the most part we executed on all 3 fronts.

They've played some pretty close games though.  They have had trouble stopping the inside run and that is probably our best attribute on O.  We had a ball control game plan that worked, and I'm not sure other teams did.  JAX lost Foles early in that first game I think.

 

They brought in Shady because they need a RB like Hunt, not Williams.  If they don't have Hill or Jackson (Hunt) they rely upon Kelce.  Pringle stepped up for a while but I'm not sure we can call him anything but a part time player until he steps up in more than a few games.  He was an UDFA.

 

My comparison to Manziel was broad, no doubt.  I think Mahommes earns his cred because of his ability to make great broken plays, like the TD pass.  But he can't do that with a bad leg.

 

Sorry, I think if they had all of their weapons healthy, they beat us pretty easily.  Even with us having Hooker and Leonard back, because those two aren't really assigned to cover any of their playmakers anyway.  But our run game would always be a threat to eat clock and limit their possessions on offense and keep the score down.

[CurBeatElite]

9 minutes ago, IinD said:

@CurBeatElite

Sarcasm. Was more poking fun at how we can't get much credit for a solid win.

That's what I figured, but never sure on this board.

[BigQungus]

33 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I think the pre-game aura around KC is a result of their offense in the past.  Not the same team this year.  I don't think McCoy hardly played, and Chris Jones was out on D, where the D has been criticized for not being able to stop the inside run game even with Jones playing.  Were we that good with the run or KC that bad?

 

According to Collinsworth, Mahomes's left ankle has been injured all season so far (on the injury report I think).

 

I think our pass rush has done well against two poor LTs, Erving and the guy from LAC.  Against other teams, I've read a bunch of complaining about a lack of pass rush.  Although we did get one of our starters back for a lot of the game, Sheard.

 

And the officiating was all over the place. 

 

Good win, I'll take it. I just think it was a weird game to evaluate.

 

 

 

Yeah he was a little limited in practice early in the season, but against us he clearly got hurt because we kept on battering him. I don't know how you could interpret it any other way.

 

We were dominating even before Chris Jones went out. Yes, when he did, it helped, but being that running was the catalyst to our gameplan I have to think we worked on it a lot, and therefore we took it to them.

 

The Chiefs O line had only allowed 3 sacks up to that point, so you can't turn around and call them bad. If we didn't have pass rush against other teams but got it against KC, that doesn't necessarily mean their O line was bad, it just means we got pass rush. There were many factors to that. One being that we practiced and played gritty and physical. You can really tell that we practiced hard leading up to that game just by watching. The other factor is that they were 1 dimensional. This allowed us to not worry about them rushing and just go get the QB. This also allows us to batter the offensive line, because it gets hard on an O line to keep on doing pass protect. The third factor was more Turay. He gets less playing time cause he's very bad against the run, but he's good on pass rush. I was actually clamoring for more Turay throughout the week. He is very good in the limited snaps that he played throughout the season, leading the NFL in PFF's pass rush win rate metric coming into the game. Since we didn't have to worry about the run, we could keep unleashing Turay, with lots of results. 

 

The officiating seemingly went against both teams. But that shouldn't really stop us from evaluating this game.

[shasta519]

50 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Isn't beating their backups with our backups a positive thing?  We only scored 19 points, three of them because they went for 4th down in their own territory.  Its usually not enough to beat KC.

 

Would you rather me say that we held KC to 13 points because our backup Ss are better overall players than our starters, and that not having Leonard isn't that big of a deal because he wouldn't have been assigned to cover their only playmaker anyway?  I'd probably get into trouble for that.  

 

Reality check is that KC isn't the same without Hill, Hunt, and a hobbled Mahomes; and they don't have a very good LT.  They aren't the same team this year as last, and haven't blown away anybody.  They almost lost to DET. 

 

They have no precision on offense, and a poor LT, so when they waive Hunt and don't find a replacement playmaker, don't have a decent LT or WRs, and our D can focus on covering Kelce; all they have is Mahomes and his sand-lot broken play conversion ability ( like Johnny Manzel in college, only sober), which isn't enough.   

 

Its tough to assess just how good we are when KC is in disarray. 

 

Yeah...that won’t be the same KC team they would face in January. But that doesn’t matter right now.

 

This was a weird game...outside of the injuries on both sides. KC didn’t run the ball...at all...against a team who had been one of the worst in the league at stopping it. It almost seemed like arrogance on their part...as if they were showing off Mahomes on prime time. This let the Colts DL pin their ears back again a weak OL...and constantly pressure Mahomes.

 

Colts got a great win. I will say this...the Colts dominated that game...and KC was still in position to win that game had they been able to score on that drive...and had they not stupidly gone for it in their own territory. That’s the style the Colts are playing now...which can definitely work as we saw...but can also be a coin flip. 

[VaAllDay757]

48 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I think the pre-game aura around KC is a result of their offense in the past.  Not the same team this year.  I don't think McCoy hardly played, and Chris Jones was out on D, where the D has been criticized for not being able to stop the inside run game even with Jones playing.  Were we that good with the run or KC that bad?

 

According to Collinsworth, Mahomes's left ankle has been injured all season so far (on the injury report I think).

 

I think our pass rush has done well against two poor LTs, Erving and the guy from LAC.  Against other teams, I've read a bunch of complaining about a lack of pass rush.  Although we did get one of our starters back for a lot of the game, Sheard.

 

And the officiating was all over the place. 

 

Good win, I'll take it. I just think it was a weird game to evaluate.

 

 

We was running the ball on their defense when jones was playing before he got hurt so him getting sidelined didn't make much of a difference 

[throwing BBZ]

3 hours ago, lollygagger8 said:

Pros: 

O-Line imposed their will and it was amazing to watch. 

I saw that stat they showed that Castanzo was #1 among LT's, and Nelson was #2 among guards?! That's amazing!! (but seriously who is better than Nelson? lol) 

The front 4 turned it up last night, wooowee! Great to have Sheard back. 

That fake throw then draw run play was sweet! 

When you get Hines in space, he's great. (between tackles not so much) 

Khari Willis is a stud. He has an excellent knack for sniffing out plays. 

Odum had a great punch out of the ball. 

Desir smacked it out of Kelce's hands too. 

Houston's 4th and 1 stuff of the run

 

Cons: 

I like his patience sometimes, but Mack has got to quit dancing around. If he would've just ran and hit the hole, he could've had 200 yards! (Wilkins hits it and gets 8 when the play doesn't get blown up) 

Quincy Wilson needs to practice with his arms tied to his sides. His holding/PI calls are ridiculous

Brissett is holding the ball too long and staring down receivers STILL. 

Brissett deep ball timing is just not there. He's underthrown every deep pass this year. Work on that in practice please. 

Did Turay break his ankle!?  He was doing great too. 

The refs!!!!!!

 

 Chuckle. Mack isn't dancing around.
 He is actually patiently Waiting for your Mythical holes to open up.
 And he is showing a real burst when the opportunity arises.

[runthepost]

Wouldn’t surprise me if KC traded for Williams in Washington now after we embarrassed their left tackle. Or trade for a quality defensive line man or linebacker

[runthepost]

Just now, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Chuckle. Mack isn't dancing around.
 He is actually patiently Waiting for your Mythical holes to open up.
 And he is showing a real burst when the opportunity arises.

He runs like Bell and a lot of colts fans wanted Bell. He’s never gonna be a Barkley or a Gurley maybe even CMC type of guy but he imitates Bell does a good job of being patient and gaining yards

[shasta519]

7 minutes ago, BigQungus said:

 

Yeah he was a little limited in practice early in the season, but against us he clearly got hurt because we kept on battering him. I don't know how you could interpret it any other way.

 

We were dominating even before Chris Jones went out. Yes, when he did, it helped, but being that running was the catalyst to our gameplan I have to think we worked on it a lot, and therefore we took it to them.

 

The Chiefs O line had only allowed 3 sacks up to that point, so you can't turn around and call them bad. If we didn't have pass rush against other teams but got it against KC, that doesn't necessarily mean their O line was bad, it just means we got pass rush. There were many factors to that. One being that we practiced and played gritty and physical. You can really tell that we practiced hard leading up to that game just by watching. The other factor is that they were 1 dimensional. This allowed us to not worry about them rushing and just go get the QB. This also allows us to batter the offensive line, because it gets hard on an O line to keep on doing pass protect. The third factor was more Turay. He gets less playing time cause he's very bad against the run, but he's good on pass rush. I was actually clamoring for more Turay throughout the week. He is very good in the limited snaps that he played throughout the season, leading the NFL in PFF's pass rush win rate metric coming into the game. Since we didn't have to worry about the run, we could keep unleashing Turay, with lots of results. 

 

The officiating seemingly went against both teams. But that shouldn't really stop us from evaluating this game.

 

Agree. Reid had a very bad game plan. But I guess both McCoy and Williams were somewhat hobbled. Refusing to run the ball played right into the Colts hands...and they made them pay.

 

The officiating was pretty neutral...outside of the questionable TY call. KC was flagged for 4 more penalties and 75 yards...so I think it’s a stretch to say Colts were getting screwed. The INT was incomplete...and I would have been furious if that stood if the sides were reversed. Hardman did step out...but he had already been interfered with...so it didn’t matter.

[aaron11]

1 minute ago, runthepost said:

He runs like Bell and a lot of colts fans wanted Bell. He’s never gonna be a Barkley or a Gurley maybe even CMC type of guy but he imitates Bell does a good job of being patient and gaining yards

i was hoping we would sign bell. hell i was hoping we would draft him too, i said it a lot that year leading up to the draft

 

i think that was the year we took werner in the first and bell went in the second 

[DougDew]

15 minutes ago, BigQungus said:

 

Yeah he was a little limited in practice early in the season, but against us he clearly got hurt because we kept on battering him. I don't know how you could interpret it any other way.

 

We were dominating even before Chris Jones went out. Yes, when he did, it helped, but being that running was the catalyst to our gameplan I have to think we worked on it a lot, and therefore we took it to them.

 

The Chiefs O line had only allowed 3 sacks up to that point, so you can't turn around and call them bad. If we didn't have pass rush against other teams but got it against KC, that doesn't necessarily mean their O line was bad, it just means we got pass rush. There were many factors to that. One being that we practiced and played gritty and physical. You can really tell that we practiced hard leading up to that game just by watching. The other factor is that they were 1 dimensional. This allowed us to not worry about them rushing and just go get the QB. This also allows us to batter the offensive line, because it gets hard on an O line to keep on doing pass protect. The third factor was more Turay. He gets less playing time cause he's very bad against the run, but he's good on pass rush. I was actually clamoring for more Turay throughout the week. He is very good in the limited snaps that he played throughout the season, leading the NFL in PFF's pass rush win rate metric coming into the game. Since we didn't have to worry about the run, we could keep unleashing Turay, with lots of results. 

 

The officiating seemingly went against both teams. But that shouldn't really stop us from evaluating this game.

He got stepped on by his crappy LT who got pushed into him.  We had a pass rush at LAC, who also has a crappy LT.  

 

The Turay injury was a non factor for us.  So if we meet in the playoffs, we'll have Funchess, Hooker, and Leonard back.  They'll have Hill, Watkins, Shady, and Jones; assuming a healthy Mahommes.  I think their returning players mean more to them than ours do to us.

[Myles]

Brissett got outplayed.

Our lines got dominated on both sides of the ball.

Reich got outcoached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lollygagger8]

Colts should get another W for beating the refs as well 

[Imgrandojji]

In one game we redeemed ourselves from last week's loss to the Raiders and last year's playoff defeat.  Not bad.

 

I think we're missing some pieces to really contend but the team looked really good last night against a contender. That might even be the sort of win that pushes Ballard toward buying at the deadline,

[2006Coltsbestever]

This was such a huge win, felt like a playoff win against a very good opponent on the road. Going into the BYE week this feels so great as a Colts fan. I did not know what to expect coming into this season with Luck leaving, I haven't been disappointed at all so far. OK we should've beat Oakland  but hey they even beat the mighty Bears  

[jameszeigler834]

10 hours ago, CurBeatElite said:

We beat a very good team in a very difficult stadium in spite of the refs making several questionable calls which were unfavorable to us.  It was a very good team win and it was a very good morale booster for this team (they won w/ several key players out due to injury, beat one of the best teams in the NFL on the road, and kept Mahommes in check for the most part).  This win should really help our team's spirits and confidence going into the bye week and then coming back into the real meat of our schedule (5 of our 6 division games remain -- we also got lucky w/ Jax and Tenn losing, so we're tied at 3-2 with HOU).

 

Some takeaways from me:

 

Offense

-Our OL was very, very good with the run today and Mack and Wilkins capitalized on the holes they were opening up.  It's very nice to see both our RBs really seeming to trust the OL (the outside run on 4th and 2 when Mack followed Smith's block to get the 1st really epitomized that to me, I thought for sure we were getting stuffed and Mack showed great patience and ran behind Smith's lead).  That is the best run blocking game from our OL which I can remember -- and it was cool to see Mack had his 5th 125+ yard game since last year, making him and McCaffery the NFL's only two guys to have done that.

-Although we didn't give up any sacks, KC still brought a lot of pressure to Jacoby, often times flushing him out of the pocket or getting him to the ground as he was getting the ball out.  I hope we can make some adjustments and pick up some blitz packages better as the year goes on, while no sacks is good there were a few hits on Jacoby that made me cringe.

-Jacoby makes very few mental mistakes and is very careful with the ball.  I like the fact he isn't afraid to throw the ball away when he gets out of the pocket.  There was a throw or two where he threw it over Ali-Cox's head when Cox was about a yard or two past the LOS -- I think these were intentional by Jacoby to avoid intentional grounding but to also avoid Ali-Cox getting crushed and not really making a gain anyway.   A few other plays when Jacoby threw the ball away, I was thinking 'if Luck was in the game, he probably would've forced a few of those balls with high risk of interception.'  Jacoby also showed us he's got a heck of an arm (the deep ball to Cain which we picked up a PI penalty on was a very well thrown ball), I'm hoping we add some more deep routes more frequently after the bye (hopefully when Funchess returns this will open up some more options in the offense).

-Hines was very impressive in the receiving game today and made a few very nice moves when he was out in space.  I was bummed by the Rogers holding penalty on the one screen, but IMO, this was the best game I've seen Hines play and it seems like he and Jacoby are really starting to develop chemistry.

-Ebron had another pretty bad drop today... I hope he patches things up as the year goes on, as he caused a few drives to stop last week and the drop he had today would've put us in a 4th and ~1 position.

-Our 4th down O was tremendous, Reich made very good calls and we executed very well (I think I saw a stat that we've been successful on our last 8 4th down conversions).  I am happy to see Reich has that must trust in his players.

-While Cain only had 1 reception, it was a very impressive one and he ran a nice route and did a nice job selling the PI on the deep attempt from Brissett -- I was kind of critical of him last week, but think he improved this week.

-Overall, I think this was a very well coached game and very well executed by the players.  It ought to help going into the rest of the season, as we've seen this O can throw for over 300 if needed but have also shown we can really control the clock and run the ball... we'll be more difficult to game plan against if we can continue to show that we can be successful week in and week out with totally different offensive game plans.

-Our time of possession was fantastic, this is a wonderful formula to win games.

-The major negative I had from our O today was our inability to get the ball into the endzone more often (I believe all of Vinny's FGs were 32 yards or less, meaning we got into the red zone and settled for FGs on 4 different occasions).  I know they put some emphasis on locking down Ebron, but we've gotta get 7 more frequently in the red zone.  Hopefully, when Funchess returns our red zone O will improve from what we saw today.

 

STs

-Vinny made his XP and went 4-4 on FGs.  Granted they were all short field goals, it was still nice to see Vinny have a perfect day.  He looked very loose on the sidelines (laughing, cracking jokes, etc.), which IMO is a very good sign.  It also seemed like our snaps/holds this week were the cleanest of the year to date.

-Dulin made a very, very good play as a gunner on punt coverage.  I assume that's a major reason he got brought up to the 53 man roster, as I didn't really see him on O much, if at all.

-Thought this was Sanchez's best game of the season, hopefully he keeps it up.  

-Pascal was OK as a KR, but I think it's obvious he is not as dangerous as Campbell.

 

Defense

-Very good game plan and execution.  New England showed an effective way to slow KC/Mahommes is to keep guys in coverage and apply pressure with the front 4 and Detroit played them similarly last week.  I am not sure we would have been as effective had they had Hill or Watkins in the game, or if Mahommes didn't tweak his ankle... but this was by far our best executed game by the D of the season.

-Our front 4 played (IMO) the best game of the year so far and was constantly bothering Mahommes.  I think Sheard's presence was really felt today.  Feel awful for Turay, he was having himself a very nice game and I think has been developing very nicely... he'll be missed as the year goes on and I imagine we're going to try to bring another rush DE to the 53 man squad.  Houston had himself by far his best game as a Colt.  Grover Stewart I also thought had his best game as a Colt.  We didn't blitz often, but we were effective when we did -- Moore II's move to get around the T on his sack was excellent.

-I thought Wilson had a very, very nice game.  Kelce had only 4 receptions on 10 targets and Wilson was very effective against him.  I think this is what Ballard had in mind when he initially drafted Wilson and he showed up today.

-I thought Ya-Sin had his best game yet, even though they called that nonsense interference on him.  He seems to be a very sure tackler and (IMO) is showing signs of improving his overall game each week.

-Desir (IMO) was the weakest link on D today.  Not sure if he's still nursing the hamstring injury, but he seemed a step slow on several plays (got lucky a couple times that Mahommes overthrew his target who had Desir beaten).

-Khari Willis is looking to be the real deal, he's improved every week and impressed every week.  I sort of expect he's going to be taking significant time away from Geathers when he returns, and think he and Hooker will be a fine S duo.

-I was very unimpressed by Odum on the KC TD pass... I get we were in a zone, but when a play breaks down like that, there has to be some instincts to go cover the wide-open guy that's 3 yards away from you in the end zone.  He made up for it though with a terrific tackle late in the game when KC almost converted on 3rd and 28 (that tackle, which resulted in a 4th and 1 which Houston stuffed was a game-changer, for sure).  I thought that PI call on him late in the game was a garbage call, he had himself in good position and got screwed by some good acting on the WR's part.

-None of our LBs really stuck out to me (in a good way, or a bad way), which is fine.  I thought they played pretty consistent and didn't see any major mistakes.  Wish that Okerere interception stuck, and glad to see he's got some ball awareness and potentially some play-making ability, he had a really nice run back.

-Overall, I think we had a very solid game.  The young guys all seem to be improving each week and are getting better playing with each other.  I think the return of Hooker and Leonard will undoubtedly make this group better.  It's nice to know we've got some depth though and that we should be able to count on some of our young guys if we need to as the season goes on.  I did not really notice Hunt or Banganou tonight, which kind of surprised me, but we played the best game of the season by far.  Big credit to the O for keeping KC's O of the field, but big credit to our D for limiting them when they did have the ball.  

-The only major concern I have with our D after this game is the injury to Turay.. he had 0.5 sacks tonight, but had 3 clean hits on Mahommes and was disruptive all night.  A bit nervous moving forward without him, as I don't know if we have another guy who can get to the QB consistently on our DL outside of Houston.

Now next week i'm a chiefs fan cause they play Houston come on chiefs inflict as much damage as possible to those Texans.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, jameszeigler834 said:

Now next week i'm a chiefs fan cause they play Houston come on chiefs inflict as much damage as possible to those Texans.

Chiefs/Mahomes will not lose 2 in a row, we will be in 1st place after next Sunday 

[jameszeigler834]

2 minutes ago, jameszeigler834 said:

Now next week i'm a chiefs fan cause they play Houston come on chiefs inflict as much damage as possible to those Texans.

The toss play to wilkins that lost 8 yards late in the game I hated that play call that was a horrible play call.

[csmopar]

https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=325676

This game day thread was hilarious to read. I thought we had some overracting fans, but they even have fans hoping our players die. Incredible read

[BigQungus]

1 hour ago, shastamasta said:

 

Agree. Reid had a very bad game plan. But I guess both McCoy and Williams were somewhat hobbled. Refusing to run the ball played right into the Colts hands...and they made them pay.

 

The officiating was pretty neutral...outside of the questionable TY call. KC was flagged for 4 more penalties and 75 yards...so I think it’s a stretch to say Colts were getting screwed. The INT was incomplete...and I would have been furious if that stood if the sides were reversed. Hardman did step out...but he had already been interfered with...so it didn’t matter.

 

Honestly, regarding the INT, I changed my mind every time they showed a new angle or even just another replay. It wasn't clear and obvious to me. But it seems like based on that game, the officiating crew didn't give much importance to the call on the field

[CurBeatElite]

1 minute ago, jameszeigler834 said:

Now next week i'm a chiefs fan cause they play Houston come on chiefs inflict as much damage as possible to those Texans.

 

Yes, we can use all the help we can get against other AFC South teams... I have a feeling it's going to be a tight race to get the AFC South crown and it looks as though we have the easiest remaining schedule in terms of non-divisional games.  

 

I think KC gets a few players (e.g., Hill) back next week and Reid is too good of a coach to get beaten like that again.

 

3 minutes ago, BigQungus said:

 

Honestly, regarding the INT, I changed my mind every time they showed a new angle or even just another replay. It wasn't clear and obvious to me. But it seems like based on that game, the officiating crew didn't give much importance to the call on the field

I was the same way -- I didn't think there was 'clear, indisputable evidence' to overturn that call.... but whatever, we won the game.  At least they had a 4th and 17 after that and had to punt, it would have been much more frustrating if they converted a first down the next play or something.

[BigQungus]

1 hour ago, DougDew said:

He got stepped on by his crappy LT who got pushed into him.  We had a pass rush at LAC, who also has a crappy LT.  

 

The Turay injury was a non factor for us.  So if we meet in the playoffs, we'll have Funchess, Hooker, and Leonard back.  They'll have Hill, Watkins, Shady, and Jones; assuming a healthy Mahommes.  I think their returning players mean more to them than ours do to us.

 

Is your reading comprehension really that bad? Where did I mention the Turay injury at all? And I never said we'll beat them 10/10 times. I don't think we'll beat even some bad teams 10/10. But that's not an excuse to take away credit for the win. Yes, we were helped by injuries, but our injuries definitely offset that more than enough to not use that as an excuse to not give us credit. Yes, I realize there's a lot of negatives in that statement which makes it hard to read.

 

Also, I consider Mahomes' injury to be cause by our pass rush, so you can't really use that as an excuse

[TrueBlue4ever]

You have to see McAfee’s piece on the Colts this morning!! Instant classic. I’m going to enjoy these next 2 weeks so much. Truly loving our Colt’s nation banter after a huge regular season win. One of the best ever as a Colt’s fan. 

Yes the Raider’s loss stunk, but Carr was not sacked at all by the vaunted Bear’s defense yesterday. We can all argue we should be undefeated. 

Go Blue! Get healthy and enjoy your bye week.