It's so weird to have a SB where there really aren't any what-ifs because it was such a beat down. Maybe what-if Humphries in at LT? But frankly, I'm not sure that if the Chiefs had lined up with 7 linemen they could have stopped pressure from the Eagles front four because one of the rushers would still have been 1-on-1
No doubt that putting Humphries in at LT would have been better than what we saw last night. They were able to push Thuney with ease and Caliendo couldn't handle the rush or the twists up front. They would have been much better strengthening the interior and dealing with one weak LT, vs two weak OL for the entire left side.
I couldn't figure that out either. It was obvious early that the left side especially was getting WORKED. What would've been the harm in putting a natural LT in and moving Thuney back to LG? It couldn't have gone much worse. I mean, I get cohesion and all that, but Caliendo looked like he'd never seen a defensive lineman in his entire life.
I'm not saying anything about replacing any coach. I knew I was getting the hopeful blindness in the lead up to TB debacle. I'm beyond frustrated and angry. I expected this would be a problem again, but thought we had the option to adapt THIS time...because we DID have options. That was the definition of insanity by never going to plan B. The entire world knew this was going to be an issue. It was shown in the Browns game and fatally highlighted in the Texans playoff game. Week after week was Thuney did "amazing for a guard", but ranked very low and below for an average LT and Mike was bottom of the barrel at LG. 40% of the line was bad going in and we had barely worked around it. This was not high level coaching by Fangio and definitely not for Andy. Games are won and lost in the trenches. Especially when it is that bad. I don't know jack compared to these coaches, but I have eyes. I also know when to try something different. I sure as hell would have given them a chance. Even IF it was worse, the result would have been the same. I am not saying they would have won, but feel there were good odds to not get hammered. You can't coach 30-40 pounds on to Joe's frame in a week.
And the Chiefs saw you and raised you by taking Kingsley at #63 and expected him to flourish as starting LOT with no Plan B. I believe Webster has now inserted this as their definition of “hubris”.
If I had a nickle each time my team lost a SB with issues at OL against a team that can win with 4 DL, I'd have two nickles. Which isn't much, but it's weird it happened twice.
If you had a nickle for each time they lost the SB by 3 scores where the OL got murdered, after beating the Bills in the AFCCG, after a 2 loss season with the second loss being a game played by backups you'd still have 2 nickles.
Thanks Seth. Yes Chiefs were totally outcoached, outplayed, and out GM'ed. (Take a bow, Howie Roseman). This feels like the Tampa loss. WE NEED TWO TACKLES. AGAIN!
I'm a Chiefs fan in KC, and I predicted a 10 point Chiefs loss. Not tooting my horn here, just that if you took off the sunglasses, there was too much roster disparity.
Gonna be tough to fix going forward.
P.S. Loved your questions about the play calls. Love to get answers although we probably won't.
It feels like this may be a two season project to get back. Obviously with Mahomes as QB, it's not impossible to be right there again next year, but even if he was Superman yesterday, I'm not sure it would have been enough.
Great article Seth. The chiefs are the greatest distraction for someone who hates the post holiday winter season. The fact that they keep us excited in February so many years is amazing.
This was really well written. Thanks for all the write-ups this season. Can't wait for the "If I were Brett Veach Pt.1" or "Know your draft crush" series coming soon
Thank you, Seth. This was EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning. If you've been a fan since the days of DeBerg, it's in your DNA to expect heartbreak. It took three seasons with Mahomes to finally cleanse that dread from my soul. And even during that nightmare of a game last night, it never come back. It was a surprise to lose that way, not an expectation.
Maybe there will be a 10 year gap before the next SB, who knows. It certainly couldn't hurt to move up the draft order for a year or two. But when you're building around Mahomes, a trophy is always possible. We (hopefully) have another decade with this wizard behind center. Keep enjoying the ride.
This is what it feels like?? As a Chiefs fan since 1982 i can attest to what it feels like to be a fan who has seen the depths of loss. To have a group of guys who didn't have any pride whatsoever playing in the biggest game in the national spotlight. The coaching was non existent. Andy Reid did not have his guys ready. They truly had no business representing the afc in this game. I'm to disappointed to be on here.
I’m sad that I wasn’t able to enjoy this amazing run more. The stretch between the 1990 season (my first as a Chiefs fan) and the 2012 season (my worst as a Chiefs fan) had so many disappointing moments in big games that I never expected the Chiefs to win. Well, maybe sometimes in those giddy early-Mahomes years.
As a result, I’m miserable if a game is close. That’s the reason I always predict blowout wins for the Chiefs- I want to relax during the game. I’m like the jerk football star from Mr. Deeds: “No, Daddy! No!” cowering with my hands held up in defense.
After the Eagles stuck the knife in and twisted with that long bomb TD, my first thought was that under Andy Reid the Chiefs have rarely shown that type of killer instinct. He’s too nice and doesn’t want to show people up, maybe? If the Chiefs want to stop playing in games with low win probabilities, they need to take a page from the Eagles and press their advantage. I know I’d be a lot happier.
About an hour after the game ended, I started getting sick fast. Coughed about every 2-3 minutes all night. Pretty sure those no good Eagles gave me COVID. See? They know I’m down and depressed and are trying to finish me off.
And, is that not why folks started rooting for sports teams in the first place?
As a certain barbarian put it, when asked what is best in life: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.”
It is indeed odd but also don't forget still a great time to be a Chief's fan. It's the journey. We have gotten to experience one of the greatest rides in sports history. I say the best 7 year stretch in NFL history for sure. Yah it sucks to lose that way but damn what a ride it's been! And it's not over. We get to see the retool and come back to annoy the hell out of rest of the fanbases next year again!
My initial prediction: Mahomes revenge tour. They will shore up line and have an explosive offense again. MVP for Patrick next year. Defense will not be as good but will still be decent. Let's drive the rest of the teams and their fans crazy and win again next year!
What made this one hurt so badly was that the fatal flaw of this team had been looming in plain sight all season long. We signed a $2.5M contract with a former Pro Bowl LT to try to patch up our line vulnerability, he hurt his hamstring in his first appearance, and we ended up kicking our All-Pro LG out to LT to solve the problem. And what should have been a temporary patch became a permanent solution for reasons that are still baffling to me. In what universe is a Mike Caliendo/Thuney combo better than a Thuney/DJ Humphries combo?
I know we got through the first two rounds of the playoffs with Thuney playing out of position. But it never made sense, if Humphries was healthy, to use this configuration any longer than absolutely necessary.
It's like we got a flat tire at mid season, bought a used replacement tire, which immediately went flat, and then repaired the replacement tire, but continued to drive around on the donut for 3 more weeks out of sheer stubbornness, until it blew out on the highway, because it was a fucking donut, not a tire! You limp to the shop on a donut, you don't drive on it and forget about it. What a fucking waste of a special season...
We'll never know how Humphries would've handled himself, but we know this much - our diminished interior offensive line meant we had no push in the run game, and the Eagles took advantage and teed off on us every single drive. And that hurts, because we were one adjustment away from having a credible run game again. Fuck.
We had an incredible 2yr + 19 out of 20 run (let alone the past 7+ years)... but you're right. Last night falls on Andy, just like the ass-kicking from the Tampa SB. I don't know why he refuses to run the ball when confronted with a team that can pass rush like that. Of all people, Mark Schlereth on Breakfast Ball showed some tape earlier this winter about that SB loss and showed play after play where it was 100% on Andy since KC was averaging over 6yds a run against the Bucs yet he kept passing when it was obvious the O-line couldn't hold up. Exact same thing last night. Seth was extremely prescient when he warned us that just by the physics of it Thuney was going to be in trouble because of his lack of size / short arms and that Calliendo was a major downgrade.
Oh well, hindsight... Veach hit a home run fixing the line last time, so I / we should have faith he does it again. Unfortunately, some of this team will "graduate" and we'll lose some of our favorites as is the nature of this sport. BUT... who would bet against us winning the AFC next year; I wouldn't.
I put a lot of it on Nagy. Have never liked his play calling. They tried running the first 2 series and got stuffed so I don’t blame them there I blame them for not rolling out or hitting the short quick throws. The D played well in my opinion especially the run game.
It was nice to see Mahomes hit worthy in the end and question Why we didn’t do that earlier. Maybe they didn’t rush so hard because they knew it was out of reach.
I don’t think Nagy is calling plays, he has no more than input on the plays that Andy picks and the gameplan Andy creates. Now is the time for real refle ction, and not finger-pointing.
Sorry, I forgot to ask what HR did veach hit with our o line? Sumi? Taylor? Humphries? I don’t see it. He tried but struck out except for Creed and Trey and Thuney. But that is only 3 of 5.
He "only" got the best center in football Creed in round 2, a guard in Trey Smith that's going to reset the market for his next deal in the 6th round, signed perennial all-pro Thuney as a free agent and traded for Orlando Brown Jr. All during the off season after the Tampa SB loss. Yes; Home Run.
Look at what Veach has done by completely rebuilding the defense even though we've had to let guys like Sneed, Thornhill, etc "graduate". How can anyone complain about being a Chief's fan these past 7 years.... And to address the Tackle situation, stud LT's don't grow on trees and the ones who hit the market are usually at a cost we can't afford due to Mahomes, Chris Jones etc's money.
Jason did you read what I wrote? 3 of 5. No tackles! I like Veach, just feel we concentrate on playmakers instead of line play . I love creed trey and thuney but unfortunately we will only be keeping 2 of them. Tackles do not grow on trees but Philly found one on a rugby field. Mr Veach has a tough job picking last and trying to land talent every year. Earlier this year on this site I said give Sumi time as Eric Fisher had growing problems when he first played. So I am optimistic about the future but it sure will be awful tough to afford an oline.
Listened to Schlereth to today on the radio just hammering Reid for not running the ball. He really irritated me but I guess he had a point. Only 3 runs?
We hardly ran any plays in the first half, so there weren't going to be many runs. If you are in 2nd and long and 3rd and long you aren't going to run. If you are down 2 or 3 scores late in the half you aren't going to run too much.
Lack of first downs contributed a lot to the lack of running plays.
Hunt couldn't get anywhere aginst that fabulous Eagles D line. And the Chiefs O line couldn't open gaps for him, so I don't fault Reid for staying away from it.
Ditto on why not make the change at half time -- but that change should have happened for the Pittsburgh game. I guess he didn't have a great game against Denver but they were playing for a whole lot more than we were on that one. He never saw the field again.
You're echoing a lo of the frustrations I've felt. Thuney on the interior is a way, way better pass blocker than Caliendo. And he was getting MAULED by the Eagles' DEs, which was a predictable outcome. So IDK what you lose with Humphries at LT. That's one of the decisions I was referencing when I said it felt like hubris.
I thought they might notice this and make the change at the half. I was disappointed to see they had played so poorly to that point and still did not make the change.
I'm not saying anything about replacing any coach. I knew I was getting the hopeful blindness in the lead up to TB debacle. I'm beyond frustrated and angry. I expected this would be a problem again, but thought we had the option to adapt THIS time...because we DID have options. That was the definition of insanity by never going to plan B. The entire world knew this was going to be an issue. It was shown in the Browns game and fatally highlighted in the Texans playoff game. Week after week was Thuney did "amazing for a guard", but ranked very low and below for an average LT and Mike was bottom of the barrel at LG. 40% of the line was bad going in and we had barely worked around it. This was not high level coaching by Fangio and definitely not for Andy. Games are won and lost in the trenches. Especially when it is that bad. I don't know jack compared to these coaches, but I have eyes. I also know when to try something different. I sure as hell would have given them a chance. Even IF it was worse, the result would have been the same. I am not saying they would have won, but feel there were good odds to not get hammered. You can't coach 30-40 pounds on to Joe's frame in a week.
I suspect Kelce was diastraught because 1. he isn't used to losing 2. he might have considered retiring to his honey's private jet had they 3-peated and 3. he dumped $11K on cigars and $200K on champagne asssuming a victory.
Good point :)....but I'm not so sure. They only comp when they will get publicity out of it, and the report suggested it was cash. But between Mahomes and Kelce, you're looking at $67,000,000 a year, so they could probably scrape up enough for it. Besides, with Swift as his girlfriend, Kelce does'nt pay airfare anymore:)
They knew it was so bad that they desperately rushed him into the fray. Much more likely to get injured that way after a big injury recovery. Then couldn't figure out it was still an issue and never give him a shot???
As always, this was the right article at the right time.
After the TB game, I remember not wanting to re-live any part of that game. It was the O-line, it was obvious and I just needed a break after losing to Brady AGAIN.
This time was different. It was equally surreal, but somehow it wasn't as painful. Now, reading this article, I am moving on from the disappointment, and getting interested to understand more deeply everything that went wrong. There's plenty of fodder in this game for analysis. I'm looking forward to a deeper understanding of what really happened, and what we can learn from it.
Think the worst part right now is that the future isn't as bright as it once was. After the Bucs stomping, we still had Jones, Hill, and Kelce in their primes. And Mahomes was still very young. Hill was converted into that 2022 draft class. Now? Not as much draft capital. Jones and Kelce have maybe 1-2: good years. LT is an absolute mess. Cap space is not looking great. And there are tons of key FAs this year or next (Smith, Bolton, Reid, Omenihu, McD, Karlaftis, Cook, Watsons, Thuney, Hopkins, Brown, Wharton, Pennel, Hunt, Chenal)!!!
It is rough that we might lose some key players. But those players were what made this run the best ever in NFL history! So, even if it is a rebuild, no one can say that we didn't get the most out of what we drafted and picked up. The last three years were incredible.
Without a doubt, which is what makes it harder. Lots of these core guys are going to get paid and individually none of them are really worth what they might get paid on the open market (except McDuffie). Mahomes is still the guy that stirs the drink. Need to invest in OL/DL heavily
Agree. The one silver lining is that the probable loss of so many contributors is that we should begin harvesting multiple comp picks. This became a significant part of the continuous successful remaking of the Patriots roster.
not an nfl draft offensive tackle preview? not reading.
It's so weird to have a SB where there really aren't any what-ifs because it was such a beat down. Maybe what-if Humphries in at LT? But frankly, I'm not sure that if the Chiefs had lined up with 7 linemen they could have stopped pressure from the Eagles front four because one of the rushers would still have been 1-on-1
No doubt that putting Humphries in at LT would have been better than what we saw last night. They were able to push Thuney with ease and Caliendo couldn't handle the rush or the twists up front. They would have been much better strengthening the interior and dealing with one weak LT, vs two weak OL for the entire left side.
I couldn't figure that out either. It was obvious early that the left side especially was getting WORKED. What would've been the harm in putting a natural LT in and moving Thuney back to LG? It couldn't have gone much worse. I mean, I get cohesion and all that, but Caliendo looked like he'd never seen a defensive lineman in his entire life.
hahahahaha.
Based on years of experience... it's impossible to get a high-level LT prospect at 31.
I'm not saying anything about replacing any coach. I knew I was getting the hopeful blindness in the lead up to TB debacle. I'm beyond frustrated and angry. I expected this would be a problem again, but thought we had the option to adapt THIS time...because we DID have options. That was the definition of insanity by never going to plan B. The entire world knew this was going to be an issue. It was shown in the Browns game and fatally highlighted in the Texans playoff game. Week after week was Thuney did "amazing for a guard", but ranked very low and below for an average LT and Mike was bottom of the barrel at LG. 40% of the line was bad going in and we had barely worked around it. This was not high level coaching by Fangio and definitely not for Andy. Games are won and lost in the trenches. Especially when it is that bad. I don't know jack compared to these coaches, but I have eyes. I also know when to try something different. I sure as hell would have given them a chance. Even IF it was worse, the result would have been the same. I am not saying they would have won, but feel there were good odds to not get hammered. You can't coach 30-40 pounds on to Joe's frame in a week.
I have not read the article because I am not in the mindset to do so right now.
I can understand that!
Any feedback on the long comment above or an "it's in the article" would help...
And the Chiefs saw you and raised you by taking Kingsley at #63 and expected him to flourish as starting LOT with no Plan B. I believe Webster has now inserted this as their definition of “hubris”.
Maybe just maybe they can Trade up in first round high enough to get a really good LT Seth, do you think that’s even possible to trade up I mean
Seth prefers WRs
I enjoyed the voice over work. Thank you for your work this season!
Glad you enjoyed it! It's something I might tinker with, IDK. It depends on how many people like it.
If I had a nickle each time my team lost a SB with issues at OL against a team that can win with 4 DL, I'd have two nickles. Which isn't much, but it's weird it happened twice.
If you had a nickle for each time they lost the SB by 3 scores where the OL got murdered, after beating the Bills in the AFCCG, after a 2 loss season with the second loss being a game played by backups you'd still have 2 nickles.
One of my favorite jokes!
Thanks Seth. Yes Chiefs were totally outcoached, outplayed, and out GM'ed. (Take a bow, Howie Roseman). This feels like the Tampa loss. WE NEED TWO TACKLES. AGAIN!
I'm a Chiefs fan in KC, and I predicted a 10 point Chiefs loss. Not tooting my horn here, just that if you took off the sunglasses, there was too much roster disparity.
Gonna be tough to fix going forward.
P.S. Loved your questions about the play calls. Love to get answers although we probably won't.
It feels like this may be a two season project to get back. Obviously with Mahomes as QB, it's not impossible to be right there again next year, but even if he was Superman yesterday, I'm not sure it would have been enough.
Love that the audio is actually Seth and not just a monotone bot. Also the content is good.
Great article Seth. The chiefs are the greatest distraction for someone who hates the post holiday winter season. The fact that they keep us excited in February so many years is amazing.
Thank you, I needed that!
This was really well written. Thanks for all the write-ups this season. Can't wait for the "If I were Brett Veach Pt.1" or "Know your draft crush" series coming soon
Thank you, Seth. This was EXACTLY what I needed to read this morning. If you've been a fan since the days of DeBerg, it's in your DNA to expect heartbreak. It took three seasons with Mahomes to finally cleanse that dread from my soul. And even during that nightmare of a game last night, it never come back. It was a surprise to lose that way, not an expectation.
Maybe there will be a 10 year gap before the next SB, who knows. It certainly couldn't hurt to move up the draft order for a year or two. But when you're building around Mahomes, a trophy is always possible. We (hopefully) have another decade with this wizard behind center. Keep enjoying the ride.
This is what it feels like?? As a Chiefs fan since 1982 i can attest to what it feels like to be a fan who has seen the depths of loss. To have a group of guys who didn't have any pride whatsoever playing in the biggest game in the national spotlight. The coaching was non existent. Andy Reid did not have his guys ready. They truly had no business representing the afc in this game. I'm to disappointed to be on here.
I’m sad that I wasn’t able to enjoy this amazing run more. The stretch between the 1990 season (my first as a Chiefs fan) and the 2012 season (my worst as a Chiefs fan) had so many disappointing moments in big games that I never expected the Chiefs to win. Well, maybe sometimes in those giddy early-Mahomes years.
As a result, I’m miserable if a game is close. That’s the reason I always predict blowout wins for the Chiefs- I want to relax during the game. I’m like the jerk football star from Mr. Deeds: “No, Daddy! No!” cowering with my hands held up in defense.
After the Eagles stuck the knife in and twisted with that long bomb TD, my first thought was that under Andy Reid the Chiefs have rarely shown that type of killer instinct. He’s too nice and doesn’t want to show people up, maybe? If the Chiefs want to stop playing in games with low win probabilities, they need to take a page from the Eagles and press their advantage. I know I’d be a lot happier.
About an hour after the game ended, I started getting sick fast. Coughed about every 2-3 minutes all night. Pretty sure those no good Eagles gave me COVID. See? They know I’m down and depressed and are trying to finish me off.
And, is that not why folks started rooting for sports teams in the first place?
As a certain barbarian put it, when asked what is best in life: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.”
It is indeed odd but also don't forget still a great time to be a Chief's fan. It's the journey. We have gotten to experience one of the greatest rides in sports history. I say the best 7 year stretch in NFL history for sure. Yah it sucks to lose that way but damn what a ride it's been! And it's not over. We get to see the retool and come back to annoy the hell out of rest of the fanbases next year again!
My initial prediction: Mahomes revenge tour. They will shore up line and have an explosive offense again. MVP for Patrick next year. Defense will not be as good but will still be decent. Let's drive the rest of the teams and their fans crazy and win again next year!
This is just so, so good, Seth.
What made this one hurt so badly was that the fatal flaw of this team had been looming in plain sight all season long. We signed a $2.5M contract with a former Pro Bowl LT to try to patch up our line vulnerability, he hurt his hamstring in his first appearance, and we ended up kicking our All-Pro LG out to LT to solve the problem. And what should have been a temporary patch became a permanent solution for reasons that are still baffling to me. In what universe is a Mike Caliendo/Thuney combo better than a Thuney/DJ Humphries combo?
I know we got through the first two rounds of the playoffs with Thuney playing out of position. But it never made sense, if Humphries was healthy, to use this configuration any longer than absolutely necessary.
It's like we got a flat tire at mid season, bought a used replacement tire, which immediately went flat, and then repaired the replacement tire, but continued to drive around on the donut for 3 more weeks out of sheer stubbornness, until it blew out on the highway, because it was a fucking donut, not a tire! You limp to the shop on a donut, you don't drive on it and forget about it. What a fucking waste of a special season...
We'll never know how Humphries would've handled himself, but we know this much - our diminished interior offensive line meant we had no push in the run game, and the Eagles took advantage and teed off on us every single drive. And that hurts, because we were one adjustment away from having a credible run game again. Fuck.
We had an incredible 2yr + 19 out of 20 run (let alone the past 7+ years)... but you're right. Last night falls on Andy, just like the ass-kicking from the Tampa SB. I don't know why he refuses to run the ball when confronted with a team that can pass rush like that. Of all people, Mark Schlereth on Breakfast Ball showed some tape earlier this winter about that SB loss and showed play after play where it was 100% on Andy since KC was averaging over 6yds a run against the Bucs yet he kept passing when it was obvious the O-line couldn't hold up. Exact same thing last night. Seth was extremely prescient when he warned us that just by the physics of it Thuney was going to be in trouble because of his lack of size / short arms and that Calliendo was a major downgrade.
Oh well, hindsight... Veach hit a home run fixing the line last time, so I / we should have faith he does it again. Unfortunately, some of this team will "graduate" and we'll lose some of our favorites as is the nature of this sport. BUT... who would bet against us winning the AFC next year; I wouldn't.
I put a lot of it on Nagy. Have never liked his play calling. They tried running the first 2 series and got stuffed so I don’t blame them there I blame them for not rolling out or hitting the short quick throws. The D played well in my opinion especially the run game.
It was nice to see Mahomes hit worthy in the end and question Why we didn’t do that earlier. Maybe they didn’t rush so hard because they knew it was out of reach.
The int’s killed the Defense.
I don’t think Nagy is calling plays, he has no more than input on the plays that Andy picks and the gameplan Andy creates. Now is the time for real refle ction, and not finger-pointing.
Nagy most definitely does not call the plays. He helps with game planning, running practices etc but the offense is Andy's.
I blame Nagy for a lot of issues with offense--but Andy calls the plays.
We can't say "it's Andy" when they win, and "it's Nagy" when they lose (not saying you are but I hear that a lot).
Sorry, I forgot to ask what HR did veach hit with our o line? Sumi? Taylor? Humphries? I don’t see it. He tried but struck out except for Creed and Trey and Thuney. But that is only 3 of 5.
He "only" got the best center in football Creed in round 2, a guard in Trey Smith that's going to reset the market for his next deal in the 6th round, signed perennial all-pro Thuney as a free agent and traded for Orlando Brown Jr. All during the off season after the Tampa SB loss. Yes; Home Run.
Look at what Veach has done by completely rebuilding the defense even though we've had to let guys like Sneed, Thornhill, etc "graduate". How can anyone complain about being a Chief's fan these past 7 years.... And to address the Tackle situation, stud LT's don't grow on trees and the ones who hit the market are usually at a cost we can't afford due to Mahomes, Chris Jones etc's money.
Jason did you read what I wrote? 3 of 5. No tackles! I like Veach, just feel we concentrate on playmakers instead of line play . I love creed trey and thuney but unfortunately we will only be keeping 2 of them. Tackles do not grow on trees but Philly found one on a rugby field. Mr Veach has a tough job picking last and trying to land talent every year. Earlier this year on this site I said give Sumi time as Eric Fisher had growing problems when he first played. So I am optimistic about the future but it sure will be awful tough to afford an oline.
Very good point on Philly's LT.
A team with Barkley isn't gonig to tremble at the prospect of Hunt running into a gap by Caliende.
Listened to Schlereth to today on the radio just hammering Reid for not running the ball. He really irritated me but I guess he had a point. Only 3 runs?
We hardly ran any plays in the first half, so there weren't going to be many runs. If you are in 2nd and long and 3rd and long you aren't going to run. If you are down 2 or 3 scores late in the half you aren't going to run too much.
Lack of first downs contributed a lot to the lack of running plays.
Hunt couldn't get anywhere aginst that fabulous Eagles D line. And the Chiefs O line couldn't open gaps for him, so I don't fault Reid for staying away from it.
Ditto on why not make the change at half time -- but that change should have happened for the Pittsburgh game. I guess he didn't have a great game against Denver but they were playing for a whole lot more than we were on that one. He never saw the field again.
You're echoing a lo of the frustrations I've felt. Thuney on the interior is a way, way better pass blocker than Caliendo. And he was getting MAULED by the Eagles' DEs, which was a predictable outcome. So IDK what you lose with Humphries at LT. That's one of the decisions I was referencing when I said it felt like hubris.
I thought they might notice this and make the change at the half. I was disappointed to see they had played so poorly to that point and still did not make the change.
I knew exactly what you meant. Some also call it false bravado
I agree with the diagnosis in large, but "hubris"? I don't see that.
I'll be writing about that tomorrow in terms of what I believe to be some hubris in terms of the game plan going in!
I'm not saying anything about replacing any coach. I knew I was getting the hopeful blindness in the lead up to TB debacle. I'm beyond frustrated and angry. I expected this would be a problem again, but thought we had the option to adapt THIS time...because we DID have options. That was the definition of insanity by never going to plan B. The entire world knew this was going to be an issue. It was shown in the Browns game and fatally highlighted in the Texans playoff game. Week after week was Thuney did "amazing for a guard", but ranked very low and below for an average LT and Mike was bottom of the barrel at LG. 40% of the line was bad going in and we had barely worked around it. This was not high level coaching by Fangio and definitely not for Andy. Games are won and lost in the trenches. Especially when it is that bad. I don't know jack compared to these coaches, but I have eyes. I also know when to try something different. I sure as hell would have given them a chance. Even IF it was worse, the result would have been the same. I am not saying they would have won, but feel there were good odds to not get hammered. You can't coach 30-40 pounds on to Joe's frame in a week.
Imagine how Humphries feels. I bet he is pissed. I think that might be why Kelce was distraught, and Creed was so upset.
I suspect Kelce was diastraught because 1. he isn't used to losing 2. he might have considered retiring to his honey's private jet had they 3-peated and 3. he dumped $11K on cigars and $200K on champagne asssuming a victory.
I'm sure any cigars and champagne were fully comped so it wasn't anything he was losing sleep over.
Good point :)....but I'm not so sure. They only comp when they will get publicity out of it, and the report suggested it was cash. But between Mahomes and Kelce, you're looking at $67,000,000 a year, so they could probably scrape up enough for it. Besides, with Swift as his girlfriend, Kelce does'nt pay airfare anymore:)
Donuts do better at LT than the two failures Veach has drafted the past few years.
They knew it was so bad that they desperately rushed him into the fray. Much more likely to get injured that way after a big injury recovery. Then couldn't figure out it was still an issue and never give him a shot???
As always, this was the right article at the right time.
After the TB game, I remember not wanting to re-live any part of that game. It was the O-line, it was obvious and I just needed a break after losing to Brady AGAIN.
This time was different. It was equally surreal, but somehow it wasn't as painful. Now, reading this article, I am moving on from the disappointment, and getting interested to understand more deeply everything that went wrong. There's plenty of fodder in this game for analysis. I'm looking forward to a deeper understanding of what really happened, and what we can learn from it.
Think the worst part right now is that the future isn't as bright as it once was. After the Bucs stomping, we still had Jones, Hill, and Kelce in their primes. And Mahomes was still very young. Hill was converted into that 2022 draft class. Now? Not as much draft capital. Jones and Kelce have maybe 1-2: good years. LT is an absolute mess. Cap space is not looking great. And there are tons of key FAs this year or next (Smith, Bolton, Reid, Omenihu, McD, Karlaftis, Cook, Watsons, Thuney, Hopkins, Brown, Wharton, Pennel, Hunt, Chenal)!!!
It is rough that we might lose some key players. But those players were what made this run the best ever in NFL history! So, even if it is a rebuild, no one can say that we didn't get the most out of what we drafted and picked up. The last three years were incredible.
Without a doubt, which is what makes it harder. Lots of these core guys are going to get paid and individually none of them are really worth what they might get paid on the open market (except McDuffie). Mahomes is still the guy that stirs the drink. Need to invest in OL/DL heavily
Agree. The one silver lining is that the probable loss of so many contributors is that we should begin harvesting multiple comp picks. This became a significant part of the continuous successful remaking of the Patriots roster.