Nick Bolton struggled in Week 1, and not all of it was a one-off issue
Looking into some problems that cropped up with the Chiefs ILB against an opponent they'll likely see again, and how the discussion on him has become warped.
Two problems in modern sports (or any) discourse that consistently make conversations tough are very different but also very related: Absolutes and tunnel vision.
By absolutes, I mean the idea that we can pigeonhole concepts (and/or people, or things) into a camp of entirely this or entirely that, with no room for anything else. By tunnel vision, I mean the idea that we can’t talk about more than one thing being simultaneously true at once.
Anyways, let’s talk about Nick Bolton’s Week 1 performance against the Ravens, which was… well, it wasn’t ideal.
But before we talk about Bolton vs the Ravens and maybe a few broader ideas related to that performance, let’s acknowledge the fact that when it comes to Bolton, almost no one comes into the conversation without an axe to grind. As is typical for players whose abilities are (ahem) subject to dispute among fans, people often enter into any discussion or analysis on Bolton with some preconceived notions. And that tends to affect how one views and discusses ANY topic, and makes nuanced conversation difficult.
I’ve written about Bolton many times here, most of it focusing on the positive. There was his college film review following the draft. There was the piece I wrote about his growth over the course of his rookie season. As his 2nd year kicked off I noted his continued improvement in certain areas. Following the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII win over the Eagles I noted that Bolton (along with fellow LB’s Willie Gay and Leo Chenal) made some crucial plays that went unnoticed. And following last year’s Wild Card Round win over the Dolphins, I wrote about Bolton playing the best game of his career. In the middle of all of those (pretty positive) articles, I’ve also discussed his flaws as a player and his physical limitations, as well as challenged the idea that he’s as valuable to the defense as his reputation makes him out to be.
I say all that because each time I’ve written about Bolton’s film, there’s been a strong reaction one way or the other. And that’s due to the strong opinions on each “side” regarding him as a player (and then the reactions to those opinions, then the reactions to the reactions, and on and on it goes…). It has, on some occasions, made conversation tough to have in a way that’s balanced (and has resulted in some very fun mentions on Twitter/X the moment I bring him up in a way that’s remotely negative, which is always fun but is part of this amazing job) as people tend to bring every argument they’ve ever had into the discussion.
Once we’ve acknowledged those preconceived notions/biases affect the conversation (and are ready to watch out for that), it’s worth discussing that Bolton really struggled against the Ravens. More importantly, the manner in which he struggled at times is at least worth examining a bit in order to determine what the correct course of action is moving forward for legendary defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo (if any).
Let’s talk about where Bolton struggled physically and mentally on Thursday, what was just a one-off and what may be a bit more problematic, and what (if anything) can or should be done moving forward. And maybe, if we find time, we’ll be able to talk about why it’s not a choice between “dude is great” and “dude is terrible” when talking football.