Stripes

That's surprising. He was pretty good. Perhaps there's some roster wizardry at work I'm unaware of.

Yeah. Way too many cooks. Let the offensive coordinator coordinate the offense.

That'd be nice! I'm more indicating that even great teams with Hall of Fame coaches have struggled with some of the same things that this team currently faces. Zac Taylor's play calling can rightly be questioned, but I believe the offensive struggles are symptomatic of larger league-wide trends (that we don't see as clearly as we see ourselves). The Chiefs overcame it last year and found their stride. So that's the standard, Zac.

The 2021 Kansas City Chiefs, the very same team we met in the AFC Championship Game: ~ Started 2-3 (and 3-4) ~ Struggled early in the season against constant cover two defensive looks; big plays were hard to come by ~ Had a top-flight quarterback throwing inordinately many interceptions Does any of this sound familiar? After that 3-4 start they didn’t lose another game except for the two they lost to the Bengals.

Better team on paper than all of them, particularly while it's still Brissett in Cleveland. Really need to lose no more than one of those if this season is going to be special. 4-2 would be gross, but I guess it'd leave the door open. The run defense is concerning as we move forward without Reader. All of those teams outside the Steelers present some kind of threat on the ground.

Even that Browns game was decided by 5 points.

Zero problem with going for it on 4th down. That's a pretty ordinary decision anyway. The playcall was weak. That's a frustrating trend too (goofy 4th down playcalls that get cute). If the old Zac Taylor specter from before 2021 returns, as in losing one-score games, it's a bad omen. There were some clutch moments where they came up short on both sides of the ball.

8

Unfortunate. Good division battle. Go beat the bad NFC South teams up next.

ZAC CALL TIMEOUT

Need you now, defense. Give us your best for two minutes.

Joe has led a game tying or "winning" (sans longsnapper) drive late in the 4th/OT repeatedly this year (twice against Pittsburgh and once against Dallas). Plenty of opportunity still in front of them.

Thank god they're kicking.

Defense has to respond better when they open a drive at the 2.

Perhaps, but take that up with the entire league.

I'm not thrilled with the 4th down playcall though. It reduces Joe Burrow's agency over the play. Let him throw a proper pass.

I understand the conventional wisdom about taking the points, but this is the NFL now. Zac Taylor is one of about 28 coaches that make the same decision there. Teams don't kick field goals inside the three yard line very often, even when there's a chance to tie. It was very surprising when Taylor did it last week, but that was to take the lead.

I don't blame Zac for going for it. Every analytic tool will tell you a FG there is dumb.

The pick play to Hurst and that shovel pass were both just way out of sync. Gotta play tight defense while they're backed up.

Boyd has got to throw that ball away.

Joe's chemistry with Hurst is looking good.

The AFC North kicker arms race is going to be juicy as this game closes out.

Consecutive huge plays by Bell.

Fuck

Good chance Jackson's timing is off with these guys, since Rashod Bateman is his deep ball guy.