The #Chiefs are hiring Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator, sources say. The former #Giants DC and interim HC/#Rams HC began his NFL coaching career as an #Eagles assistant under Andy Reid. Now rejoins Big Red in KC.
Originally Posted by O.city:
There's something to the "elite offenses and bad defenses" talk. When the offense was struggling and going slowly, the defense was playing better. I don't understand why, or what was happening, but they did.
This year, the offense has just put the defense in some bad spots, specifically lately.
But they also demolished the Raiders 41-14 and 48-9. Plus a 36-10 win vs Pittsburgh.
Do you think this defense would shut down last year's Raiders offense? Or Cowboys? I doubt it. [Reply]
Btw, the argument that Mahomes put the defense in a bad spot vs Denver doesn't hold much water. The turnovers gave them field position at the KC 40, Denver 40 and Denver 20. That's no excuse for allowing that offense to score 4 TDs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic:
THIS IS FN STUPID BECAUSE SPAGS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHIEFS BEING IN THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES.
MAHOMES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING US TO THOSE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES.
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This is absurd.
The offense, not the defense, is largely responsible for spags’ only chiefs playoff exits. And a huge part of our Super Bowl run where we pretty much shut down 2 elite running games.
Playoff spags has done reasonably well. Not dominant but more than enough to win every game except buffalo where that was purely an offense win. [Reply]
I don’t necessarily think the chiefs hold everything back but there’s a case to be made that they tighten everything up when they get to the playoffs. Spags has a complicated scheme that takes time to learn. And he doesn’t seem afraid to try lots of players out regardless of inexperience.
We’re in an ideal spot for our defense to make mistakes. With our schedule and the division pretty much locked up. And even trying to get the #1 seed we have the schedule advantage. If our secondary is bad at zone it’s games like last week that are great opportunities to get real uncomfortable. Not sure what we can for pass rush but at the very least there’s tremendous upside for our secondary to improve a ton. Way more opps to do that then a team desperately clinging to every single snap at this point in the season [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Last years Raiders? Probably. They weren't what they are this year and Pitt sucked.
I dunno that they'd have held them to that though.
I think Charvarious was a bigger loss than we all thought he'd be at CB. As good as the rookies have been, Ward was really good.
I don't know man. I feel like this defense should be better than they are, personnel issues be damned.
I was worried at the time that Ward would be missed, and I think he has been.
The Raiders obviously didn't have a weapon like Adams last year, but they still had Waller, Jacobs, Renfrow, etc. This defense might struggle to hold them to 3 TDs in one game, let alone across two games.
I think this defense should be better than it is. Seemed like they were taking a step forward before the Cincinnati game. Then again, they were playing well before going to Cincinnati last year too and the result was similar. They're obviously a pretty bad matchup.
Like I said, my issue is with the double standard. There's no way anyone can make a rational argument that this year's defense is playing much better than last year's at this time. Just no way. And that's not a knock. I think last year's defense was good enough to win a SB. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar:
I was worried at the time that Ward would be missed, and I think he has been.
The Raiders obviously didn't have a weapon like Adams last year, but they still had Waller, Jacobs, Renfrow, etc. This defense might struggle to hold them to 3 TDs in one game, let alone across two games.
I think this defense should be better than it is. Seemed like they were taking a step forward before the Cincinnati game. Then again, they were playing well before going to Cincinnati last year too and the result was similar. They're obviously a pretty bad matchup.
Like I said, my issue is with the double standard. There's no way anyone can make a rational argument that this year's defense is playing much better than last year's at this time. Just no way. And that's not a knock. I think last year's defense was good enough to win a SB.
For sure. Last years defense was plenty good enough.
The defense here isn't asked to nor should it be asked to be great or elite. The money and allocations are on the offensive side.
They've swung some of that to the defensive side for sure, but that's gonna take a bit to materialize.
When the defense holds a team to 24 or less here, it's done it's job. Sure, hold them to 10 would be great, but that's just not the way this team is currently constructed.
Make the other team punt 2 or 3 times, get a turnover etc. Losses at that point are on the offense. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
For sure. Last years defense was plenty good enough.
The defense here isn't asked to nor should it be asked to be great or elite. The money and allocations are on the offensive side.
They've swung some of that to the defensive side for sure, but that's gonna take a bit to materialize.
When the defense holds a team to 24 or less here, it's done it's job. Sure, hold them to 10 would be great, but that's just not the way this team is currently constructed.
Make the other team punt 2 or 3 times, get a turnover etc. Losses at that point are on the offense.
I'd just like to see more FGs. Tired of every trip to the red zone ending in a TD. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Titty Meat:
Which 1 of yall wrote an article about Spags DVOA on a fake ass SI website and is spamming it on Facebook? This fan base sucks :-)
Are you of the opinion that the defense is good? [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
They aren't holding shit back on defense. Defense is more about cohesion and responsibility and more so.....talent.
They give up too many points. They aren't good enough in the redzone. I don't know why specifically, but it has to get better.
I don’t think so either but as has been pointed out our secondary has struggled in zone. We can be more willing to experiment with different coverages and concepts now. But in the playoffs you have to accept your weaknesses and work around it or do less of it. Our gut instinct is to ask why we keep doing things if we’re bad at it, but we are in a spot right now where making mistakes isn’t always a bad thing. [Reply]
They struggle to play zone because of the front 4 IMO. They can't sit back in zone with 7 because the QB has too much time. You can't play zone forever, it breaks down. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar:
The Cincinnati game set off the alarm for me. There were warning signs before, but the dam broke that day. 3.85 points per drive blows away the 07 Patriots, and they blow away everybody else. Imagine if Boyd doesn't drop a wide open TD lob. And if Dunlap isn't left unblocked on that 4th down play. Then we're talking 5.4 points per drive. And on the drive that led to their only punt, what if that OPI isn't called? They had just made a big play and were driving again. Do we have any confidence that drive wouldn't have ended with a score?
As bad as it were, it could've easily been an all-time horrific defensive performance.
I'm not too down on the defense overall, and the young players still have some time to improve before the biggest games. What annoys me is people suggesting that this defense is much better than last year's. I don't see how anybody can say that. Sure, it's easy to point to doofuses like Sorenson and Niemann, but their snap counts went way down in the 2nd half of the season.
In Nov and Dec last year, the defense allowed UNDER 13 ppg. And they played some good offenses in that stretch. Not only that, but KC's offense wasn't exactly humming during a lot of that stretch, so they weren't keeping the defense off the field.
For a bit, everybody thought the defense was great. The nat'l media was even calling it dominant and claiming they were carrying the offense. But everybody turned on them quickly after they gave up 31 in Cincinnati and of course the famous 4th quarter vs Buffalo (even though losing Mathieu had a lot to do with that).
Where was all this "that's what happens vs good offenses" talk then? All I heard all offseason was that our defense sucked ass. Weird double standard.
If at any point this season, this defense allowed under 13 ppg for two full months, I'd be ecstatic.
Have mostly felt the same about the defense this season. And last, for that matter. Though, imo, the defense was good enough to win a Sb last season. The offense completely collapsed vs. CIN in the 2nd half, while the defense played more than well enough to win that game. But that's old, rehashed news.
The defense needed to get younger, faster and more athletic. Well, Veach/Spags have done that. But it aint Madden; it was always going to take some time for them to learn the playbook, adjust to the speed of the NFL, gel, etc. As is normal for human beings, some are adjusting and getting comfortable quicker than others.
Will say that the more i look into it, the more it looks like the secondary misses a HB-type safety. Only 1 INT between them, and 9 PDs. They don't make offenses pay at all for throwing between the numbers downfield.
Considering how often the DL gets pressure, those guys should be piling up a lot more stats than they have. The eyeball test suggests that they're late to the party, but also that they're not taking the right angles.
Saw one play a couple days ago from the DEN game that should've been an INT for Reid, but he takes a bad angle like he expects the ball to be underthrown by about 5 yards, but he also doesn't hustle; he kind of jogs over so he's short and he's late. Resulted in a big 3rd down conversion that never should've happened. you watch that play, and you have to think, "HB, even having lost a step, makes that INT." [Reply]
As much as I like him, I think Bolton hurts them against the pass playing zone. He's better but he just isn't the physical freak of a guy like Fred Warner or whoever.
He lets them do some much because he's just an insane freak in there. [Reply]
