t96

Sure they’ve had some games where calls go more in their favor but also plenty of games where calls don’t go in their favor, just like all teams. I think there is a slight bias towards bigger markets (which KC is not) but otherwise it’s just random and refs not being good/consistent in general. Specifically with roughing the passer, it’s just the reality these days that franchise QBs get those calls. The league is so offense/passing dependent these days for betting, fantasy, what your average fan wants, etc. that they are over the top with trying to keep those 1st/2nd tier QBs healthy. But this isn’t all that new at all. Brady, Manning, Big Ben, Brees, Rodgers, etc. have always gotten those calls too. And today it’s true for Lamar, Allen, Burrow, etc. In fact I saw a stat recently that Allen has benefitted more from penalties than Mahomes this year, and yet nobody talks about that — because it’s the Chiefs beating them all the time. I can’t stand the modern NFL dependence on passing and protecting QBs/not letting teams play defense, but it’s the reality and it’s fair across the board. Well unless your QB is a scrub, but then you’re not winning anyways most likely.

People love to hate the Chiefs because of their success but reality is they are just flat out better than every other team lately. Refs have had zero impact on them winning, this year or in previous years. Mahomes is the best QB since prime Rodgers (arguably better), Reid is the best coach ever and they’ve got an elite D. Any given Sunday and all, but a three peat seems inevitable. In the NFC, wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Commanders/Rams fighting next week to represent in the SB. Commanders were really underrated coming into these playoffs and the Lions this year remind me of the Titans several years ago when they had the 1 seed and fell flat on their faces in the divisional. Rams are also legit with a SB winning QB and coach.

It's encouraging. I'm still not totally convinced he can be the guy for us. There are very real limitations there that were not improved on down the final stretch. Honestly I think his absolute best case scenario for us would be Jared Goff level -- which could be fine, but Goff has had his limitations show up in the playoffs too even with his resurgence in Detroit, and Bryce still has a long way to go to get to that level. We don't really have any other options right now (maybe Cam Ward in the draft, but unlikely for many reasons) so Bryce it is for next year and then we'll have more information but I still do think we need to work to find a guy who has potential to be more of a true elite franchise QB like a Mahomes/Allen/Lamar/Burrow, not the potential to be Jared Goff. But next year will tell us a lot more.

Honestly I’m amazed by his fall from grace. On the field he was great for us when healthy for a while. Dude was getting open at will, and had surprising YAC ability too. But clearly shows how much behind the scenes stuff matter and we never know about

I liked Darnold here, feel bad for him. Some of it is definitely on the OL but he's definitely back to seeing ghosts too. What's most crazy to me is on plenty of these plays receivers just haven't been remotely open -- and the Vikings are absolutely stacked at pass catcher. Darnold needs to throw it away rather than getting sacked/stripsacked, but this disaster class from the Vikings is not only on Sam. All that said, I won't lie, makes me feel a bit happy to see Baker and Sam fall flat on their faces in the playoffs after having to hear about them all year and how we made such a mistake letting them go. Lol

Completely agree but there are a handful of notable exceptions here. Greg Olsen being exhibit A.

Ehh, Daniels has looked much better than any of those guys you mentioned other than Herbert. Of course nothing in this league is guaranteed but Daniels absolutely looks like the real deal. Dude is just outrageously poised and calm for a rookie in all situations, not to mention the mobility and a hell of an arm and great accuracy. Washington got a really good one.

lol stroud has been terrible, should have like 3 or 4 picks so far

Depends how you define "believe in." He improved a ton post-benching but that improvement still did not yield franchise QB level play in my eyes. I certainly "believe" he could continue to develop and improve and maybe get to being a franchise QB. But as it sits right now I still don't think it's super likely that he will be our answer at QB long term. I hope he does and am rooting for him. But I do believe there are physical and skill limitations that could hold him back, and as much as he did improve he still has a long way to go to actually being a top QB. He's shown enough that I am ok going into next year with him as our QB, but we should still evaluate other opportunities to get a franchise QB if they are there. Although really unlikely for various reasons I would consider drafting Ward and trading Bryce away. Otherwise I don't like the QBs in the draft or FA/trade options so Bryce it is for another year anyways.

not terrible all things considered. sucks to still not have our own 2nd though. please no more trading up or trading away premium picks for scrubs

I'd do that straight up without hesitation. Think the Jets would prefer pick(s) though.

Fair I just don’t see it personally but he certainly could prove me wrong. Good call, for some reason I thought he was interim the year before but that was way back in 2020.

Well Morris is a defensive guy and Canales isn't so that's kinda a significant difference there. I'm glad they're keeping Morris around. He's got a decent size sample size as a HC at this point and just isn't very good. But the Falcons are kinda in limbo regardless of coach -- not sure I totally agree Penix will be good. He's been pretty underwhelming in his limited action except vs. us but we were literally the worst D in NFL history this year lol so I wouldn't read too much into that game. And even if Penix is ok, that Cousins deal and cap hit totally hamstrings them the next few years while he's on his rookie deal anyways. Just a stupid offseason from them last year, including keeping Morris as HC.

I hope he proves me wrong but I didn't want him last year either and nothing changed for me. This year was historically bad but even before that he was never really anything better than average at best, and that was with some talented defenses in Denver.

Mara has 2 Super Bowls to show for his ownership tenure, I think he deserves a pass despite how absurd it is to keep the crew from this year around. Tepper has a pair of 7 win seasons to show for his ownership in 7 years. But yeah I'd be pretty pissed if I was a Giants fan.

I found a bit more info on it and he ran 3-3-5 like 18% of the time -- largely on obvious passing downs. Rest of the time was a combination of 4-3, 4-2-5, 4-1-6, with a tiny amount of 3-2-6. His base was 4 down linemen and he never had 4 linebackers on the field. Yeah he adapted a ton but it was very much based around a 4-3, NOT a 3-4.

Well that's a massive stain on Canales' promising finish to year 1. Terrible, terrible decision.

lol how did we finish 3rd in division and still pick ahead of the Aints? love it

I could see 10-11 wins with this schedule if we can fix the D a bit and the offense continues to build on the momentum from the last month or so. Those are somewhat big "ifs" though.

Fun to go to Jacksonville again; missed out on going there in the pool with the riot the last few times, hopefully it finally works out this year.

Probably goes back to KC and they get their elite numbers-compiling passing offense back to go with their elite defense and situational coaching, etc.

Victor Cruz 2.0. Hope he can stay healthy unlike Cruz. I think he can be a long term starter for us, but ideally as a #2 not our top guy. Maybe Legette can develop into that top guy but not a good rookie season.

Incredibly the only NFC team ahead of us is the Giants. Glad we're picking ahead of the Aints.

Shaq was healthy but honestly I don't think he was any better that year than Jewell this year. Chinn was a rookie and Snow got a ton out of him but yeah he was talented (I'm still pissed about how we wasted that dude's career). No Chinn this year but Evero had him last year and had absolutely zero clue how to use him so Snow getting a lot out of Chinn that year doesn't exactly help Evero's case. Horn is the only truly elite talent across both of these defenses I would say, and puts this year ahead of 2020. Brown became elite last year but in 2020 he was still very raw as a rookie.

4-3 base with most of the snaps having 4 down linemen. But yeah he ran a ton of different sets to change things up, kinda like Belichick did in New England all those years. Definitely a fair amount of 3-3-5, a lot of 4-2-5, some 4-1-6 even. Don't think he ever really had 4 LBers on the field -- if he was taking out a down lineman he was putting the replacement in the secondary.