1. You can't trot Ammendola out again. You just can't. It'd be mutiny. I don't care what you do, you have to cut him and sign someone else. I'd go for two every time and have Reid kick off before I did that again.
2. Justin Watson needs way more snaps. Yes, he could've caught that one ball today, but he's big, he's fast, hes a physical match-up problem, and he usually catches the ball. He was inches away from another big TD today. Play him.
3. It's time to get Pacheco more touches. The midget squad isn't getting it done. It's not all their fault, but at least Pacheco is big and strong enough to maybe break some tackles.
4. It's time to bench Wylie. Wanegho can't be worse, and might have upside. Just do it, for accountability's sake if nothing else.
5. I think it's time to force feed more snaps to Moore. I don't want him returning punts anymore. Put Hardman there, you know what Hardman is, and he's not a route running WR. At least he might break a PR. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JPH83:
It's normally been on the other side of the ball but it's not like this coaching staff hasn't somewhat of a history of baffling personnel choices.
My real concern, as demonstrated most obviously with Clark and Hitchens, is that they're doubly sketchy about that stuff when the people in question are 'splash' signings.
I don't know that MVS qualifies, but I'm betting JuJu does given our flirtation with him the year prior.
Again - I really hope they get Moore out there sooner rather than later. And as we discussed in the other thread, I'd start him with Watson as well. I hope they don't hold on too long w/ MVS and JJSS because I'm just not seeing anything impressive out of them. JuJu's catch and run was nice because Pat did put the ball a little too far into his body and he did a nice job concentrating and gathering for YAC yards, but then on the pick that ended the game he just drifted through his cut and let that DB dive under him for the deflection. That just can't happen for a 'physical, possession WR' like him.
Not at that point in the game where you KNOW they're going to be diving on underneath routes and you've been brought in specifically to fight through that kind of contact and get that catch. That was a JJSS moment and he just didn't fight for the ball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TEX:
True, and I felt the same way, but it worked...:-)
Then we went back to the grab bag and shot ourselves squarely in the foot.
The problem with trick plays isn't that they never work. It's that relatively speaking they don't work that often and when they fail it's a REAL clusterfuck.
If you could win games without ever running a single trick play, you'd do it. Running a flea-flicker against an also-ran sure tells me the coaches aren't sure if they're a team that can do that right now. [Reply]
This is from a recent Nate Taylor piece on Mahomes and his new WR's. It is long but I thought this was interesting and might help explain some things and why there maybe some early struggles especially with Skyy. He will need to be on the same page as Pat.
Originally Posted by :
Mahomes’ lieutenants for the drills were star tight end Travis Kelce and speedy receiver Mecole Hardman, the two skill-position players with the most experience with Mahomes and who know what he prefers on certain routes.
Unlike other playbooks, Kelce explained, the Chiefs’ routes are meant to start a discussion between the quarterback and receivers so both parties can solve that play’s equation. In fact, Mahomes encouraged the receivers to not always run the routes as they are exactly drawn, explaining the spacing needed between pass-catchers to gain proper leverage against defenders.
If the far-side safety darted toward the line of scrimmage, Valdes-Scantling learned to take an intermediate route a little higher to either open himself more for a deeper pass or create a bigger yards-after-catch opportunity for a teammate on an underneath route. If the nickel cornerback pushes for an outside release on a slot receiver, Mahomes told Watson and Smith-Schuster to use the defender’s leverage to their advantage with shorter routes that call for completions toward the middle of the field.
A few weeks before training camp started, Mahomes spent an afternoon at a high school field in Dallas with Skyy Moore, the receiver the Chiefs’ selected out of Western Michigan with a second-round pick. Mahomes’ biggest lesson for the rookie that day was to maintain his top speed after reaching the top of the Chiefs’ various deep routes. In camp, Moore realized why: to better manipulate a safety in the middle of the field to execute one of Mahomes’ signature highlights, a no-look pass.
“I’m running down the field and he’s looking at me the whole way,” Moore said. “He has no intention of throwing me the ball, but he’s making sure the defender is staying with me. That’s why he’s great.”
In a red zone period during camp, Moore didn’t finish his stop route the way Mahomes wanted, and the pass was disrupted at the goal line by safety Justin Reid. Prior to the next repetition, Mahomes sprinted from the pocket to Moore, showing the rookie how to better break out of his route and shield the defender from the incoming ball in one fluid motion.
Moore sat behind Mahomes in the film sessions. The rookie who loves running deep routes said his strategy is to stay close to Mahomes so he can take detailed notes and learn how the quarterback recognizes coverages and pre-snap tendencies from opposing defenders. When the meetings ended, Moore was in a perfect position to ask Mahomes more questions.
“He’s got the keys to the car, that’s how I look at that,” Moore said. “He wants it done this way, I’m going to do it that way.”
Reid believed the easiest way for the new receivers to strengthen their connection with Mahomes came through a lofty number of repetitions. It’s part of the reason why the Chiefs have one of the league’s most grueling camps, especially for receivers. The fast-tempo practices mean each receiver runs a plethora of routes from numerous spots on the field while Reid evaluates the team through several game-like scenarios.
As he caught passes near the sideline, downfield and in between defenders in the middle of the field over and over again, Smith-Schuster acknowledged his first camp with the Chiefs was the hardest of his career.
“But it gets the best out of guys,” Mahomes said. “We had a corner route against a Cover-2 corner, and JuJu turned around and kind of throttled in that window. When I threw it to him, I didn’t know if he was going to do it, but I was hoping he was going to do it. He’s learned that, Hey, if that’s there, and I know what’s behind me in the rest of the concept, I can do this.”
Just heard the latest Chris Simms podcast and yeah, he is in fact ripping the playcalling. Stating that the Chiefs have been more or less arrogant and just calling plays they think are cool and just expecting them to work regardless of what the defense is doing. "No plan of attack" he says.
Couple that with McCoy's comments....EB's inability to land a job....i think things are becoming quite clear.
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Just heard the latest Chris Simms podcast and yeah, he is in fact ripping the playcalling. Stating that the Chiefs have been more or less been arrogant and just calling plays they think are cool and just expecting them to work regardless of what the defense is doing.
Couple that with McCoy's comments....EB's inability to land a job....i think things are becoming quite clear.
It goes all the way back to last year. There was some stat posted about Mahomes’ percentage of passes with air yards being beyond 20 yards in 2021 at 9.7% which was 30th in the NFL. This year that number is apparently down to 9.2% so far. Something isn’t right, even when we still had Hill. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
It goes all the way back to last year. There was some stat posted about Mahomes’ percentage of passes with air yards being beyond 20 yards in 2021 at 9.7% which was 30th in the NFL. This year that number is apparently down to 9.2% so far. Something isn’t right, even when we still had Hill.
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
Just heard the latest Chris Simms podcast and yeah, he is in fact ripping the playcalling. Stating that the Chiefs have been more or less arrogant and just calling plays they think are cool and just expecting them to work regardless of what the defense is doing. "No plan of attack" he says.
Couple that with McCoy's comments....EB's inability to land a job....i think things are becoming quite clear.
There's smoke developing here.
When you can’t run the ball and your left tackle is a turnstile what plays will work? I was hoping they’d let EB go but I think the line, specifically LT was the main issue yesterday.
I don't think Reid just hands him the keys. And if I had to guess, I'd say Nagy is more involved in the passing game than Bieniemy is anyway.
May just be a little organizational stasis. The fact that we had such a dominant IOL last year AND Tyreek Hill AND Wylie/OBJ were no worse than average as a T unit....it just doesn't check out.
I guess we just have to start stringing quality drives together with short passes and interior running to get those guys coming downhill before we can go over top of them again.
But I agree with you in that it's weird as hell. Andy has strong WCO roots and I wonder if he's not retreating back to them a bit in the face of all this shell bullshit. [Reply]
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
It goes all the way back to last year. There was some stat posted about Mahomes’ percentage of passes with air yards being beyond 20 yards in 2021 at 9.7% which was 30th in the NFL. This year that number is apparently down to 9.2% so far. Something isn’t right, even when we still had Hill.
When your tackles can't hold a block, you don't have time to throw downfield. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
My real concern, as demonstrated most obviously with Clark and Hitchens, is that they're doubly sketchy about that stuff when the people in question are 'splash' signings.
I don't know that MVS qualifies, but I'm betting JuJu does given our flirtation with him the year prior.
Again - I really hope they get Moore out there sooner rather than later. And as we discussed in the other thread, I'd start him with Watson as well. I hope they don't hold on too long w/ MVS and JJSS because I'm just not seeing anything impressive out of them. JuJu's catch and run was nice because Pat did put the ball a little too far into his body and he did a nice job concentrating and gathering for YAC yards, but then on the pick that ended the game he just drifted through his cut and let that DB dive under him for the deflection. That just can't happen for a 'physical, possession WR' like him.
Not at that point in the game where you KNOW they're going to be diving on underneath routes and you've been brought in specifically to fight through that kind of contact and get that catch. That was a JJSS moment and he just didn't fight for the ball.
Yeah couldn't agree more on JJSS and MVS. They're going to hang on too long. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
But I agree with you in that it's weird as hell. Andy has strong WCO roots and I wonder if he's not retreating back to them a bit in the face of all this shell bullshit.
Interesting thought. The WCO is predicated more on stretching the field horizontal rather than vertically. Maybe that's why he's so obsessed with the OZ running and all that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I just can't get there.
I don't think Reid just hands him the keys. And if I had to guess, I'd say Nagy is more involved in the passing game than Bieniemy is anyway.
May just be a little organizational stasis. The fact that we had such a dominant IOL last year AND Tyreek Hill AND Wylie/OBJ were no worse than average as a T unit....it just doesn't check out.
I guess we just have to start stringing quality drives together with short passes and interior running to get those guys coming downhill before we can go over top of them again.
But I agree with you in that it's weird as hell. Andy has strong WCO roots and I wonder if he's not retreating back to them a bit in the face of all this shell bullshit.
My thinking is that Reid plays a heavy hand in the scripts and pregame prep, and EB is calling the plays. [Reply]
