Clark had 3 pressures to Jones' 6, and one of them was being doubled or tripled. DJ is right. Glad he wasn't completely dog ****, but that was the bar he hurdled.
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This is the deal:

In 2018 we had a pair of top-tier EDGEs that compiled 21 sacks over the regular season, and the Chiefs were the best pass-rushing team in the NFL.

But in the 2018 playoffs they managed just 3 total sacks, 4 TFLs, and a mere 4 QB hits between them, and basically were invisible except for penalties they were flagged for in the AFCCG.

On the other hand, we have Frank who has not been a regular season star as a Chief, but in just the 2019 playoffs he garnered 5 sacks, 9 tackles, and 5 TFLs, and 7 QB hits, among other ticks in boxes. Including a sack, a TFL and a pair of QB hits in the Super Bowl. So 'The Shark' singlehandedly outperformed our previous 'Star' EDGEs combined performances.

Never mind the fact that he got sacks/TFLs and otherwise consistently put up solid EDGE numbers throughout that playoffs, and again to a certain degree in 2020. Only in 2021 was he as invisible as Ford/Houston in a playoff run.

So skipping all the "if onlys," and just going by actual facts, which is better? EDGEs that give you great regular season numbers but disappear in the playoffs, a la Houston and Ford? Or an EDGE that doesn't give you star numbers in the regular season, but is pretty consistently giving you solid measurable production in the playoffs?

That's what happened with Frank, like it or not.

Personally, given how unbelievably frustrating it was to watch our All-Pro EDGEs vaporize into thin air in 2018, not to mention every other playoff run pre-Mahomes and Frank Clark, I'll take playoff Frank, with his below-average regular season performances, 100%, every single time, and twice on playoff Sundays. Weekends, whatever. It literally helped KC win SB LIV.
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Odd that you cite our DL 'vaporizing' in 2018 but hand-waive the DL's performance against an OL that was quite possibly the worst in NFL post-season history last season against Cincy as "Mahomes fault".

We lost both games in overtime and our defense had multiple opportunities in the 2nd half of both games to earn us a W but didn't. And at least the Patriots DL was victim to Brady simply getting the ball out immediately. Against Cincy, Burrow was getting murdered every game before and after that one yet when the DL no-shows you see "mahomes fault".

Again, you're just seeing what you so desperately want to see to salvage this guy. Frank Clark has taken as much off the table in the postseason than he has brought to it in his time year. And that's to say nothing of the multiple seasons worth of no-shows in the regular season.
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Dude, this is not a good take. In general, your takes are pretty good, but come on now with this.

It's the defense's fault that KC didn't beat CIN in the AFCCG now?

Which unit is responsible for scoring points, the defense or the offense?

The defense held CIN's offense to under their season scoring average in the AFCCG. To their average in this year's regular season game, though Boyd flat dropped a TD, so it can be argued that the defense didn't really perform to their average in 2022 vs. CIN, fine. But really what else were they supposed to do? In either case, CIN didn't score 30 points, they only scored 24 and 27 points respectively.

Meanwhile the offense literally scored just 3 points in the entire 2nd half of the AFCCG game, and they scored a TD less than their season average. In this year's game, after the 5 minute mark or whatever of the 3rd quarter, the offense again did diddly squat, except turn it over and struggle to even get into FG range for the rest of the game.

Where's all the vitriol and general recriminations for Mahomes and the offense literally underperforming below just minimum expectations?

To somehow blame the defense for those losses is just . . . irrational. The defense isn't responsible for scoring points, last time I checked. They're tasked with preventing the other team from scoring more points than our offense can put on the board, and they did that both times.

The offense shit the bed, period. That's not even debatable.
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And the defense had a 17 point lead against a catastrophically bad OL when they knew the opponent was throwing and did...nothing.

They cratered just as badly as the offense. You're just grading them on a curve because it helps you prop up Frank Clark.
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Yeah, that's jsut weird. How many points was the defense supposed to score? obviously a rhetorical question.

The offense didn't score even the minimum of expected points. In the AFCCG, Mahomes had multiple opportunities to pass for TDs, but didn't pull the trigger on at least a pair of pretty easy short tosses, either of which would've won the game. Threw a terrible INT in this season's matchup that lost the game for us.

I mean, was Frank supposed to get under center and throw those passes? Spags maybe? Again, obviously not.

Clark hunt is paying Pat Mahomes half a billion dollars to make those throws in the biggest of moments, and he did not. I'm not blaming him, because I really don't know what he saw or was thinking. it just happened.

But Frank Clark and the defense had nothing to do with any of that. Again, hardly debatable.
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They weren't losing.

The Chiefs didn't need to score again. You're acting like the defense was even marginally adequate in that second half despite an idea game script for them. They weren't. That shit all down their legs. Frank Clark most of all.
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Good point. Mahomes was awful in the 2nd half of that game.
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I already said all that. Frank Clark didn't do anything in the AFCCG; I said as much after the game, and at least twice since. Three times; I said it today as well, somewhere on this page. He didn't do anything in 2021.

That said, the offense can't, just can't score a measly 3 points in the 2nd half of ANY game, much less a playoff game, much less the AFCCG against a team as good as CIN. The only time that's remotely a thing is if they score their game average in the first half. So, fine, if Mahomes comes out and scores 30 points in the first 30 minutes, and only 3 in the 2nd, and the Chiefs lose, yeah, that's almost definitely on the defense.

But to score a mere 24 points in an entire game? That's literally NFL average, which is just awful for the league's highest scoring team.

How anyone can defend a team scoring just 3 points in an entire half, with 7 opportunities, is beyond me. 5 consecutive drives in the 2nd half before we could even get a FG, 6 total drives including the one in OT with just 3 points to show for it, is inexcusable for ANY offense in the NFL.

The entire philosophy of the team as it's constructed is that the offense needs to score more than 28 points, the defense needs to hold teams to about their scoring average. The defense just isn't built to stonewall teams for three quarters. They're built to slow teams down, trade FGs instead of TDs, and attack when opposing offenses have to get pass-happy because they're down. And you know that better than most.

So again, did the defense dominate CIN in either game? Obviously not. But they didn't let them run roughshod over them either. 24 or 27 points is perfectly acceptable when you have Andy/Mahomes/Kelce/Hill (AFCCG). They didn't get it done, and it doesn't matter that they built a three-score lead in the first half of the AFCCG, because 3 points in the 2nd is not enough in this league. Ever.

And that's not just this team; it's every team. We've seen it now multiple times just this season, in this playoffs already. Score 3 points in the 2nd half, and you're going to lose.
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Someone PLEASE explain to me how this play, the Frank Clark sack, doesn't say FAR more about the dominance and the impact of Chris Jones than it does the 're-emergence' of Frank Clark...



I don't care what the box score says - Chris Jones made that play. I don't know that he would've even gotten credited with a pressure there, but Clark was busy getting stood up on the edge again until Jones flushed Lawrence directly into Clark's path after turning the guard sideways that would've gotten in Clark's way on any kind of inside move.

Chris Jones is the guy that makes this work - ALL of it. Clark's just along for the ride. And all of you patting yourselves on the back for that sack - "Oh sure, like a 3rd day pick could've made that play..." - tell me how one couldn't. Clark cleaned up the havoc created by Chris Jones and yes, a guy like Mike Danna can make that play every time.
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in fairness, the D was on the field most of the 2nd half because of the O's inability to get a first down.
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Look all I know is I need SHARK to come back and fuck Joe Burrow up.
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We should all be happy that Frank plays great in the playoffs. Each year he has been under contract, we have hosted the AFC Championship game, despite his marginal play during the regular season. If "playoff" Clark continues the next two games then that contract was worth it, no matter how frustrating it was at times.
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He's. Not. Playing. Great.

Chris Jones is.

This has to be trolling, right? Because we hosted the AFC Championship game in the only year we had Mahomes, Kelce and Jones but DIDN'T have Frank Clark, fellas.

Nothing will make that contract 'worth it' - absolutely nothing. He's been a massive waste of capital.

The only thing he can do is salvage some pride after stealing checks for 4 years.
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