Chiefs 25 Bengals 17

[futurecoach]

Just now, 16thBBall Fan said:

Secondary has rookie Battle and 2nd year Hill, but the other two Hilton is in his 7th year and Awuzie is in his 5th season. I will give you the secondary is somewhat young, but there is no reason with our d-line and linebackers that teams should dominate us and run the ball the way they have. The d-line and linebackers average over 5 years of experience. The defense now through 16 games are averaging 382 of total offense, 127 yards rushing and 22 first downs a game. Like today going into to today's game Pacheco was averaging 4.2 yards per carry he averaged 7.2 today.

Secondary as you mentioned Hill and Battle at safeties. A rookie in Battle and a second year guy in Dax getting his first play time after not getting to play really as a rookie. At corner DJ Turner a rookie has been basically a starter at corner for a lot of this season, and CTB in his second year. So 4 guys in the secondary that were either a rookie or a second year player. Awuzie and Hilton both played too obviously, but Awuzie seems to have lost a step after his ACL and won’t be back next year. So yeah like it or not the young secondary from safety to corners did play a big role in all of a sudden giving up many big plays this year. 
 

Now completely agree with you on the D line. They must get better up front. Besides Hendrickson they don’t have anyone who can get after the passer, and no one on the interior of the DL besides Reader was really good against the run. Hill was ok, but he needs to be more of a rotational piece guy at the 3T. Linebacker player wasn’t great either, but I contribute that some to the d line not being good and given driven back in the run game. 
 

Both sides of the ball they got to get better up front. Then try to add some more speed at WR. I would not sign Boyd back, and I would franchise tag Higgins and try to get a first for him if possible. Focus on the line on both sides and adding some speed at WR. That is the areas at least where I would focus on this off season. 

[16thBBall Fan]

I knew it was bad on offense but when I went back and looked at the stats a little deeper. In the first 24 minutes we ran 33 plays for 158 yards for 4.8 yards per play for 17 points. Then from the 6 minute mark of the 2nd quarter until the end of the game they ran 38 plays for 105 yards or 2.7 per play and 0 points. 

The Chiefs scored 25 points and only ran 53 plays (really only 51 the last 2 were kneel downs) so the Bengals actually ran 20 more plays had the ball for almost 9 more minutes. The Chiefs gained 6 yards per carry for the game their highest average of the season by almost 2 yards.   

[burreaux]

1 hour ago, futurecoach said:

 

 

The last two years no one was saying they were out . In fact the bengals coached last two years was one of the best with in game and halftime adjustments. This year no so much. 
 

I’m not a fan of Taylor the play caller, but as a head coach I am fine with. Which while people will say it’s just excuses, it’s also facts. Defensively they were very young in the secondary, which showed. I expect that to be much better next year. D line needs work though. Then offensively when you maybe only had a healthy Burrow for maybe 4 games, it does make a difference. 
 

This year was very disappointing, but let’s not overreact and act these coaches didn’t do a good job and our coach many other last two years. 
 

Teams started to figure them out this year, and now they need to show they can answer and put the right pieces together to bounce back. 

I've said it before and I think it's proving to be true on some level. Joe Burrow masks a lot of problems with this team and is what makes us a true contender. Pretty much everyone in the NFL world agreed that Cincy had a top 3 group of skill players and yet our offense looks inept after the first quarter in almost every game, even the ones with Burrow rarely looked great for a full 4 quarters. So how is it that our offense can have such a great collection of talent but still make everything look difficult? That goes to coaching. Imagine if McVay, Tomlin, Harbaugh, or Reid had the type of weapons that we do. All things equal, I think their seasons would have been more successful than ours.

[Tranquility Base]

3 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Final. No points in the 2nd half. Just a pitiful 2nd half offensively. With that we are officially eliminated from the playoffs. Oh well it was a long shot anyway, but this was a very winnable game I don't care what anyone says if the Raiders can beat them at home we could have as well.

Looks like may January/February weekends just opened up.

[Randy Parker]

3 hours ago, mcpapa said:

I thought that there were two plays that completely changed the momentum of the game.   

Bengals getting nothing deep in KC territory by eschewing a chip shot FG. 

Mahomes getting a yard and a half on 4th and 1 late in the game. 

The failed 4th & 1 completely changed the momentum.  Cincinnati was done after that.

[futurecoach]

10 hours ago, burreaux said:

I've said it before and I think it's proving to be true on some level. Joe Burrow masks a lot of problems with this team and is what makes us a true contender. Pretty much everyone in the NFL world agreed that Cincy had a top 3 group of skill players and yet our offense looks inept after the first quarter in almost every game, even the ones with Burrow rarely looked great for a full 4 quarters. So how is it that our offense can have such a great collection of talent but still make everything look difficult? That goes to coaching. Imagine if McVay, Tomlin, Harbaugh, or Reid had the type of weapons that we do. All things equal, I think their seasons would have been more successful than ours.

As I have stated I am not a fan of Taylor the play caller and I agree they were more out coached at times this year, especially in division. The division teams figured them out. All I’m saying is let’s not act like that has always been the case. The post I replied to acts like they have always been out coached. Which simply isn’t true. As states before this year, the bengals coaching staff was actually one of the best one in the NFL with in game and half time adjustments. Which were huge parts in them being successful and making playoff runs. This year they simply didn’t make it because I do agree they were out coached in the division. I do feel like this staff has shown they are willing to make adjustments when needed. So I do think they also see they have to be better in the division and should trust that they make the right changes in the off season to address that. 
 

To add to that Harbaugh wasn’t getting it done when his QB was getting hurt at the end of the year last two years. McVay on offense does have the weapons on offense that is comparable to the Bengals with Kupp and Puka at WR and Williams at RB. Tomlin looks like had what may have been his best QB on the team in Rudolph as his 3rd string QB all year. So it was more dumb luck now that Rudolph is even getting to play and jump starting that offense. 

[hrcarrier]

It was going to be a big stretch for them to make the wild card, even if yesterday was a win and if they beat Cleveland. I do agree that yesterday was a very winnable game and that Kansas City might have their weakest team of the Mahomes era or since he very first began.