Originally Posted by :
Orlando Brown pointed out two benefits to Mahomes playing hobbled. “When something like that happens,” said Brown, KC’s left tackle, “it forces us up front to play even harder to make sure he doesn’t get hit. That’s one thing about it—you get motivated to up your game even more.” This is corny, and I’m not sure how much it actually improves the quality of play of the other 10 players. But Brown said seeing the leader of the team fight with coaches to stay in the game and insist on playing through an injury many would not play with does something in the alpha-male world of football. “We have a ton of grit instilled in us here, and we love the sport and love each other. I don’t know how to explain it, but we just want to rally behind 15. He’s the epitome of what our team is.” It’s not the same as Mahomes being completely healthy, of course, but other factors may make the other 10 play better.
That crossed my mind, the general mentality of the rest of the team "playing for Mahomes" so to speak.... granted, I think a lot of those narratives can be silly "they were focused before, but now they're super duper focused!!", but there might be some truth to that this week in practice while scheming around Mahomes' lack of mobility.
As I believe people around here have said before, that 'extra' focus and motivation comes in the form of prep, not necessarily play. [Reply]
Yep. Said this before…it galvanized the rest of the team, especially the OL. Mahomes wasn’t touched in the second half. We’ve seen what this line can do when they’re extra motivated (Tampa Bay game stands out). Could be a huge factor and help to mitigate the impact of the injury. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
That crossed my mind, the general mentality of the rest of the team "playing for Mahomes" so to speak.... granted, I think a lot of those narratives can be silly "they were focused before, but now they're super duper focused!!", but there might be some truth to that this week in practice while scheming around Mahomes' lack of mobility.
As I believe people around here have said before, that 'extra' focus and motivation comes in the form of prep, not necessarily play.
It’s not easy to legitimately give it your all on every play, especially vs an opponent that you feel superior to (like Jax). There’s almost always an extra gear. I think we already saw that. The pass protection was far better after the injury.
If (and a big if) Mahomes is close to being himself this weekend, this situation could really work in KC’s favor. They already have the added motivation of playing a cocky team that’s beaten them in three straight and ruined a golden opportunity last year. They’re going to be lazer focused and full of adrenaline. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Everything coming out lately about OBJ and how he's a leader and such.
Get the check book ready.
I think I’m fine with that, as long as they don’t give in to an absurd deal. We don’t really want to be starting over at LT next year. It’s far from guaranteed that they’d be able to improve there. [Reply]
I think the idea is, while you may not improve, you could get similar play and results for alot less money. Which, as much as we as fans can look at the "spread sheet" stuff of it, there's alot of other things that go into that. [Reply]
We have Pro Bowlers on the OL(Thanks Veach!). The talent is there. Someone needs to find or help them find a HOF level for our OL this Sunday.
Without a QB playing at an elite level in 2023, you're not winning championship games. We have the best. But, if Mahomes goes down with a reaggravated high ankle in the 1st quarter, we are ****ed.
Lets start a GoFundMe for the OL's Charites. You keep Mahome's upright, money goes to the charity of your choice. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
That crossed my mind, the general mentality of the rest of the team "playing for Mahomes" so to speak.... granted, I think a lot of those narratives can be silly "they were focused before, but now they're super duper focused!!", but there might be some truth to that this week in practice while scheming around Mahomes' lack of mobility.
As I believe people around here have said before, that 'extra' focus and motivation comes in the form of prep, not necessarily play.
Right.
The Chiefs are not going to win because they are extremely motivated. Their preparation and hard work during the week will be the reason they win. It is the AFCCG, I'm sure they would have been motivated regardless of the injury to Mahomes.
However, reality is these guys are human and not everyone is extremely competitive like Mahomes. Hopefully with Mahomes being a little banged up some of those guys are going to give that little extra effort during the week and during the game. Since they know without it, Chiefs may get their ass kicked just like what happened to the Bills.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this team does with a banged up Mahomes on Sunday. It will be interesting. [Reply]
I think we'd all better prepare for more of the same in this coming matchup concerning pressuring Burrow.
Their offensive line has been a weakness every time we've played them and we've never once dominated them in the trenches the way we were supposed to. [Reply]