Playoffs, 2021-22 Season

[Velo]

Just one more thing. I love the fact that Burrow and Herbert are 3-1 against Mahomes this season. It could have/should have been 4-0, if not for iffy coaching decisions.

[Velo]

OK, just one more last thing. I hope Brandon Staley takes careful note of how Zac Taylor got his Bengals to the Super Bowl, and that he learns a few things from it. The Bengals are not more talented than the Chargers, just better coached.

[Xenos]

I'm with you. Burrow did Charger Nation a large. I'm always going to be a fan of his. He and Herbert are going to have a friendly rivalry for a long time. I think they are pretty evenly matched. Herbert has some strengths Burrow doesn't have and vice versa. Burrow has great touch but Herbert has the rocket arm.

We want Herbert to be like Burrow in the mental processing game as well. Kurt Warner actually spoke highly of Burrow in this regard and how he was even further along than athletic freaks like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.

https://www.golongtd.com/p/joe-burrow-is-the-most-dangerous

Start with the brain, with how Burrow sees the game.

When Hall-of-Fame quarterback Kurt Warner dissects the position, it can seem like he’s being too critical when, truthfully, he’s watching the position through a much different lens than other ex-players. He’s watching it as someone who won the MVP award twice with a surgical mind. Thus, he doesn’t allow himself to get too hyped over Lamar Jackson’s speed or Kyler Murray’s improvisation or even Josh Allen’s cartoonish arm. When we first chatted one year ago, Warner even noted that Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson were two quarterbacks who’ve freelanced outside the confines of the X’s and O’s most of their career, thus, it’s no coincidence they only have one ring apiece.

To win a Super Bowl, he believes a quarterback must hit his layups with numbing efficiency for one… two… three… four games in a row.

That’s extremely difficult to pull off and that’s why Brady is running out of fingers for his rings.

So, when pressed then who he actually likesother than Brady, Warner didn’t hesitate. It was Burrow. And that was back when Burrow went 2-7-1 as a rookie. Warner saw a quarterback processing a fast game at an even faster speed.

Last week, Warner assured he has only grown fonder of Burrow since.

“If you’re an athletic guy, it doesn’t mean you can’t play,” Warner says. “You’ll play a different way. But I just know most guys aren’t Lamar Jackson. So, you can be athletic to a degree but you’re not athletic enough to survive that way. That’s the way it is for most people, so know what you’re looking at. Know how to get through your reads and how to get it to the right guy at the right time. That’s what Joe does. That’s what I always thought separated him. The confidence to believe you can make every play and then the knowledge to know exactly how to do that and to do it quickly and to get your eyes in the right spot as opposed to guessing is 3/4ths of the battle of playing in the National Football League.

“That’s what separates him, even back to LSU, from other guys. He’s got that confidence and understanding that’s just rare.”

[Xenos]

OK, just one more last thing. I hope Brandon Staley takes careful note of how Zac Taylor got his Bengals to the Super Bowl, and that he learns a few things from it. The Bengals are not more talented than the Chargers, just better coached.

Going to disagree. I hope Staley takes nothing from Zac Taylor actually.

[floydefisher]

The Bengals made a defensive adjustment in the 2nd half that shut down Mahomes and the Chiefs' passing attack. Basically, the dropped 8 men into coverage on a majority of passing plays in the 2nd half. It worked. Mahomes was running around in circles trying to find an opening to throw into and that led to a few of the Bengals' sacks. But it still seemed like Mahomes was shy about trying to make a play in the 2nd half, less willing to throw downfield and take a gamble.

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbe...chiefs-offense

LOL, I'm looking more like a genius than ever.

Last year, I told everyone here there was a blueprint to beating the Chiefs.

Shut down Hill and Kelsey, shut down the Chiefs.

What you're seeing out of Mahomes, is what happens when you get rid of the only receivers he has any confidence throwing to. Not a knock on Mahomes, it's just that the rest of KC's offense is utter trash. It's one dimensional, and now the rest of the league seeing it and adapting.

This is now on Andy Reid. He saw what happened in the Super Bowl last year, he's failed to fix it, and now KC is starting to come back to earth. A little slower than I predicted, but it's happening.

Go look it up. I did say this.

[Guest]

We want Herbert to be like Burrow in the mental processing game as well. Kurt Warner actually spoke highly of Burrow in this regard and how he was even further along than athletic freaks like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson.

https://www.golongtd.com/p/joe-burrow-is-the-most-dangerous

Why would we want Herbert to regress to Burrow's level? Burrow's problem has been holding the ball too long and decision making. Herbert is the more intelligent QB and, frankly, is better than Burrow at going through his progressions.

Burrow's team has had success in these playoffs in its last two games in spite of Burrow, not because of him.

[richpjr]

OK, just one more last thing. I hope Brandon Staley takes careful note of how Zac Taylor got his Bengals to the Super Bowl, and that he learns a few things from it. The Bengals are not more talented than the Chargers, just better coached.

I have no idea how anyone who watched what we trotted out on D and ST compared to what the Bengals did could reach this conclusion. Also remember that Taylor won 2 games his first year and 4 games his second year. Staley at least won 9 games and had a shot at the playoffs the last game of the season in his first year. He is WAY ahead of where Taylor was his first year.

[Xenos]

Why would we want Herbert to regress to Burrow's level? Burrow's problem has been holding the ball too long and decision making. Herbert is the more intelligent QB and, frankly, is better than Burrow at going through his progressions.

Burrow's team has had success in these playoffs in its last two games in spite of Burrow, not because of him.

Herbert’s getting better because of Lombardi and the offensive scheme, and he may eventually be at Burrow’s level next season. But he’s not quite there. Additionally, at the end of the day I think I trust someone like Warner than someone who knows as little about football as you.

[Velo]

Going to disagree. I hope Staley takes nothing from Zac Taylor actually.

Zac Taylor has his team in the Super Bowl, and you think Staley can't learn nothing from him? Seriously? Think about what you are saying.

[Velo]

I have no idea how anyone who watched what we trotted out on D and ST compared to what the Bengals did could reach this conclusion. Also remember that Taylor won 2 games his first year and 4 games his second year. Staley at least won 9 games and had a shot at the playoffs the last game of the season in his first year. He is WAY ahead of where Taylor was his first year.

If you ask any halfway knowledgeable football person who is not a Chargers or Bengals fan, who has a completely objective point of view, I am 100 percent confident they will say the Chargers have the more talented roster. And the reason the Bengals got into the playoffs and have gotten this far, while the Chargers missed the playoffs altogether, is because the Bengals are better-coached. I guarantee it. And I offer as proof the fact the Chargers sent six players to the Pro Bowl (including two players from the supposedly talentless defense) while the Bengals sent half that many. The Chargers' defense was atrocious this season. But the personnel package is not as bad as the defense performed, the defense under-performed because of bad coaching.

[Guest]

LOL, I'm looking more like a genius than ever.

Last year, I told everyone here there was a blueprint to beating the Chiefs.

Shut down Hill and Kelsey, shut down the Chiefs.

What you're seeing out of Mahomes, is what happens when you get rid of the only receivers he has any confidence throwing to. Not a knock on Mahomes, it's just that the rest of KC's offense is utter trash. It's one dimensional, and now the rest of the league seeing it and adapting.

This is now on Andy Reid. He saw what happened in the Super Bowl last year, he's failed to fix it, and now KC is starting to come back to earth. A little slower than I predicted, but it's happening.

Go look it up. I did say this.

I see it differently than you.

Pringle and Hardman accounted for over 100 combined receptions with a combined completion rate when targeted in excess of 70%. They just look like trash compared to Hill and Kelce, who are both arguably the top players at their respective positions. They easily outproduced Guyton and Palmer. I wish we could have that kind of "trash".

Reid is arguably the best HC in the NFL. I would take him over Staley by a wide margin.

Throughout his time in KC, Mahomes has had the best offensive supporting cast in the NFL. At various times, he has had arguably the best WR, TE, RB, and HC to go with great OL play. To me, it is amazing that that always seems to be overlooked by people proclaiming the greatness of Mahomes. The offensive unit has been loaded.

The Chiefs lost yesterday because Mahomes choked. He brain cramped on the play at the end of the first half, even failing to know his team's timeout situation. And he sucked mightily in the second half and OT. It was not really anything that the Bengals were doing either. Mahomes was missing open receivers all over the place and threw 2 INT, the second taking place immediately after Apple dropped what should have been an easy game winning pick 6. Mahomes was terrible. He sucked the Chiefs right out of the playoffs. Even the Mahomes homers on the KC forums admit that. Heck, they lost even though Burrow gave them one INT and tried to give them a second, but the LB refused to accept it.

In last year's Super Bowl, we all saw that Mahomes sucked when under pressure, which he had largely avoided until his OL sustained injuries late last year. And Veach did correct the OL situation in the offseason from last year. They traded for Brown, signed Thuney as a free agent, and drafted Humphrey and Smith.

[Xenos]

If you ask any halfway knowledgeable football person who is not a Chargers or Bengals fan, who has a completely objective point of view, I am 100 percent confident they will say the Chargers have the more talented roster. And the reason the Bengals got into the playoffs and have gotten this far, while the Chargers missed the playoffs altogether, is because the Bengals are better-coached. I guarantee it. And I offer as proof the fact the Chargers sent six players to the Pro Bowl (including two players from the supposedly talentless defense) while the Bengals sent half that many. The Chargers' defense was atrocious this season. But the personnel package is not as bad as the defense performed, the defense under-performed because of bad coaching.

It just means that our roster build was too heavily leaned towards one side, while the Bengals had a more balanced roster despite the lack of pro bowls. Granted it took them two seasons to build the roster up but good for them. Luck also plays into things. They survived Covid for the most part until their last meaningless game of the season against the Browns.