Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Clark's contributions against the Raiders may not be reflected in sacks. Let's not forget that Khalil Mack had exactly ZERO sacks against the Raiders just a few weeks ago.
But if Clark can help limit Josh Jacobs efficiency, maybe defense some passes, and just not allow more than one big play to his side when he's on the field, that might be a very successful day for Frank.
Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping, based on what I saw in the first half, that he somehow manages to have a big day and throws Carr to the ground a couple times, but I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm with some realism. If Khalil couldn't get a sack with his incredible abilities and knowledge of how the Raiders OTs strengths and weaknesses, Frank might do any better in that regard.
Again - am not now, and have not EVER criticized Clark exclusively for his sack total. That's an idiotic strawman that was constructed when people were trying to circle wagons around Clark as early as week 2.
He simply has to be noticeable out there. And 'hey, they chipped him, what do you want him to do?!?!" does not qualify.
The Raiders throw quick so I'm not expecting a DE to wreak havoc against them. But if he plays a good game, we'll know it. We can see what's happening in front of us.
But don't try to put lipstick on a pig if he doesn't. Because we FINALLY saw a quick, powerful version of Frank Clark and that version will play. The guy we saw for 10 weeks prior - when many of you were trying to claim he was actually playing well (foolishly) - was NOT that guy. And if that version of Clark shows up again, we'll know it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!:
He played 86% of the defensive snaps. Fourth most on the team. The other 3 who played more were all safeties in HB Thornhill and Sorenson. I will not bash Clark at all. He was out of breath and rightfully so
I'm not bashing him dude. It is intergallactically stupid to play at an altitude like that.
But what was remarkable to me was after the play SNR referenced, he wrecked fools.
I'm quite obviously not a world class athlete, but any sport I've ever played where I was as spent as he looked, there was no wrecking shit the next play. That's all I was saying.
Now it's possible he has insane recovery, or its possible he was trying to conserve energy to catch his breath.
All I know is I thought we were done after seeing the play SNR referenced. Clark came through and wrecked fools after that.
That's really all there was to it. No need to suggest that I was bashing Clark. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
I'm not bashing him dude. It is intergallactically stupid to play at an altitude like that.
But what was remarkable to me was after the play SNR referenced, he wrecked fools.
I'm quite obviously not a world class athlete, but any sport I've ever played where I was as spent as he looked, there was no wrecking shit the next play. That's all I was saying.
Now it's possible he has insane recovery, or its possible he was trying to conserve energy to catch his breath.
All I know is I thought we were done after seeing the play SNR referenced. Clark came through and wrecked fools after that.
That's really all there was to it. No need to suggest that I was bashing Clark.
As a fellow 'not a world class athlete' I can vouch for the idea that sometimes a 90 second blow can make a huge difference.
It doesn't show up often in the sports I was actually okay at, but in basketball (and ultimate frisbee...because college), when you're near the end of the tank but not exactly on E, you start picking plays. You see a ball rotate away from you and think "okay, gonna have to half-ass this one..." because you know that the legs are damn near jelly and if you're going to be effective at all, you have to get that burn out of them.
So you can play 5 plays at 50% speed and make zero difference or you can play 2 plays at 25% and 3 at 80% and make an impact.
Seemed to me like a lot of guys were doing that. Honestly, I think that's where losing Hill hurt so badly. Think of how frequently we've heard guys in the secondary talk about how gassed they were after chasing Hill around. We see them with oxygen masks on in the 4th quarter.
Because Tyreek Hill has the most supernatural endurance I think I've ever seen from a football player. It isn't just the go routes, it's all the full-speed motion and loooooong drags. And I think Andy builds gameplans with that in mind. I think he absolutely expected to have big plays opening up in the 2nd half because guys would be chasing Hill around all day and have jelly legs by the 4th.
Because Hill's gonna last MUCH better than anyone else in that altitude - guy's a freak. And when he went down, the Chiefs lacked the depth and their top guy that would allow them to actually execute that plan. So they had to scrap it on the fly and their replacement plan...wasn't great. But they never are, really.
I think Hills absence hurt a lot more than people realize. Apart from losing the talent, I think it probably torched Andy's entire gameplan. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I think Hills absence hurt a lot more than people realize. Apart from losing the talent, I think it probably torched Andy's entire gameplan.
This.
It certainly explains the simplistic nature of the late-game offense, too.
It's hard to dial up a complicated protection scheme on the fly.
I think this game literally turned into "kelce over the middle or dump it in the flat" with whatever window dressing reid could cook up. [Reply]
It certainly explains the simplistic nature of the late-game offense, too.
It's hard to dial up a complicated protection scheme on the fly.
I think this game literally turned into "kelce over the middle or dump it in the flat" with whatever window dressing reid could cook up.
Exactly.
That was the kind of Game 4 of the Preseason gameplan you use when you are simply trying to go to brass tacks and survive. There was nothing even moderately creative.
And Reid is NOTHING if not creative on offense. Even his detractors, wrongheaded as they may be, will acknowledge that the guy is a very bright offensive mind. And for the first quarter+ the Chiefs were still looking to get the ball deep.
Because that was the plan - work the ball downfield, send Hill and sprinkle in Watkins/Hardman on long developing plays that force DBs to run all over the place and simply take their legs from them by the 3rd quarter. But when Hill went down and the Chiefs offense was well on its way to murdering its own defense, Andy knew he had to change things around completely.
So he scripts 15 plays at halftime and the Chiefs pop off 2 touchdowns on their first 2 drives. Because those are the ones Andy had a chance to sit down and plan. From there, it was him doing everything he could to make chicken salad from a gameplan that came apart when Hill went down. They had a 2 score lead and he was going bare-bones because I'd imagine everything they'd worked on that week fell apart on him.
I think the criticism of Reid in this one is WAY off base. I think he had a plan at that altitude that would've gutted the Chargers. And then the key component went out like 4 plays into the game and he had to adapt on the fly.
I really do hate this interior line, though. I mean I !@#$ing loathe it. This team cannot run the football in between the tackles and that's just an awful sign going forward. They're not even a credible threat to do it against 7 man fronts. I simply do not understand it.
So many of Andy Reid's teams have been unfairly maligned for being soft but this one truly is. I wish Reiter would've stayed hurt and Wisnewski could've played more C because right now that LG-C-RG trio is destroying this run game and making the squad so one-dimensional that it makes a Plan B for Reid awfully damn tough to come up with. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hammock Parties:
and then there's the element of the turf....
it's like asking the 99 rams to maintain status quo without faulk playing in mud
and no orlando pace....
If the turf tripped 'em up, I won't give Reid a pass for that. He should've expected it. Did ANYONE expect that place to be any good? Hell, I thought it was better than I expected.
I just think that there is no better way destroy a defense at altitude then send an impossible jackrabbit out there to gas them. And man, it would've been glorious; teams can't hang with Hill at sea level.
And then your jackrabbit pulled up lame and all hell broke loose. [Reply]
That was the kind of Game 4 of the Preseason gameplan you use when you are simply trying to go to brass tacks and survive. There was nothing even moderately creative.
And Reid is NOTHING if not creative on offense. Even his detractors, wrongheaded as they may be, will acknowledge that the guy is a very bright offensive mind. And for the first quarter+ the Chiefs were still looking to get the ball deep.
Because that was the plan - work the ball downfield, send Hill and sprinkle in Watkins/Hardman on long developing plays that force DBs to run all over the place and simply take their legs from them by the 3rd quarter. But when Hill went down and the Chiefs offense was well on its way to murdering its own defense, Andy knew he had to change things around completely.
So he scripts 15 plays at halftime and the Chiefs pop off 2 touchdowns on their first 2 drives. Because those are the ones Andy had a chance to sit down and plan. From there, it was him doing everything he could to make chicken salad from a gameplan that came apart when Hill went down. They had a 2 score lead and he was going bare-bones because I'd imagine everything they'd worked on that week fell apart on him.
I think the criticism of Reid in this one is WAY off base. I think he had a plan at that altitude that would've gutted the Chargers. And then the key component went out like 4 plays into the game and he had to adapt on the fly.
I really do hate this interior line, though. I mean I !@#$ing loathe it. This team cannot run the football in between the tackles and that's just an awful sign going forward. They're not even a credible threat to do it against 7 man fronts. I simply do not understand it.
So many of Andy Reid's teams have been unfairly maligned for being soft but this one truly is. I wish Reiter would've stayed hurt and Wisnewski could've played more C because right now that LG-C-RG trio is destroying this run game and making the squad so one-dimensional that it makes a Plan B for Reid awfully damn tough to come up with.
Man, the G-C-G trio here just sucks fucking shit. It's awful.
The 3rd and 2 we all hated last week, well, if you look back, if Reiter isn't out there thumbing his asshole and blocks who he's supposed to, it's a 12 yard gain and the game is over.
They've gotta invest some early picks up there. Shit, take a 1st rounder and a 3rd, i don't care. [Reply]