Just watched a good piece with Whitworth giving his opinion on our defensive strategy vs the Chiefs.  Andrew was asked, "If he thinks we are going to throw blitz packages at Maholmes early to test his ankle and then adapt from there, or will we rush 3 and drop 8?"

He felt we will just put a ton of pressure packages with Hendrickson and Sam and hope Maholms gets frustrated and starts making bad decisions, but he sees us coming after him with Hilton off the edge.

I agree, but I do think we will test Maholmes early to see where he's at with his mobility.

What are your Thoughts?

Lou told the world the other day what the defensive strategy was..."whatever else they do for God's sake guard Kelce"

My thoughts are they want him to finish the game. They will run the ball with 2 TE’s and short passing game. We can adapt better than any defense in the league. As the game proceeds they will change to more of an open attack.

Stick to the rush 3 and drop 8 plan. Don't let them burn you with the big play early. If they try to go run heavy, adjust as needed. They still have too many weapons to account for. I feel like Jacksonville made a major mistake sending too much pressure. Much like Burrow, it's not a great strategy with Mahomes, but for slightly different reasons. Both escape well and have elite pocket awareness, but it's a bigger part of Patrick's game IMO. If he has diminished mobility, 3 or 4 will eventually get home.

if they run it a lot early, it's a solid tell that the ankle is probably not all that okay.

(01-27-2023, 04:16 PM)BIGDADDYFROMCINCINNATI Wrote: Just watched a good piece with Whitworth giving his opinion on our defensive strategy vs the Chiefs.  Andrew was asked, "If he thinks we are going to throw blitz packages at Maholmes early to test his ankle and then adapt from there, or will we rush 3 and drop 8?"

He felt we will just put a ton of pressure packages with Hendrickson and Sam and hope Maholms gets frustrated and starts making bad decisions, but he sees us coming after him with Hilton off the edge.

I agree, but I do think we will test Maholmes early to see where he's at with his mobility.

What are your Thoughts?

I keep him in the pocket and don't let him get comfortable which is exactly what he does when he breaks contain.I think they can put pressure on him with 3-4 guys. Keep my back 7 back there and keep everything in front of them. I've never watched Maholmes in all his years just beat a team staying in the pocket. He's not even use to making some of those deeper out throws/angular throws, etc. as he is when he's on the run making broken plays.

(01-27-2023, 04:16 PM)BIGDADDYFROMCINCINNATI Wrote: Just watched a good piece with Whitworth giving his opinion on our defensive strategy vs the Chiefs.  Andrew was asked, "If he thinks we are going to throw blitz packages at Maholmes early to test his ankle and then adapt from there, or will we rush 3 and drop 8?"

He felt we will just put a ton of pressure packages with Hendrickson and Sam and hope Maholms gets frustrated and starts making bad decisions, but he sees us coming after him with Hilton off the edge.

I agree, but I do think we will test Maholmes early to see where he's at with his mobility.

What are your Thoughts?

Whit also said Mike Hiton is the "very best in the league" at the nickel corner spot. 

(01-27-2023, 04:26 PM)higgy100 Wrote: I keep him in the pocket and don't let him get comfortable which is exactly what he does when he breaks contain.I think they can put pressure on him with 3-4 guys. Keep my back 7 back there and keep everything in front of them. I've never watched Maholmes in all his years just beat a team staying in the pocket. He's not even use to making some of those deeper out throws/angular throws, etc. as he is when he's on the run making broken plays.

Well, the key would be to get the pressure up the middle to make him move-----then Hilton, Sam, and/or Hendrickson will eat his lunch.  BJ and DJ will be key.  We usually blitz with Pratt straight up the middle, but I think we should also get ADG into some of that action coming off the edge with Hilton along with Pratt coming into A or B gap..

(01-27-2023, 04:16 PM)BIGDADDYFROMCINCINNATI Wrote: Just watched a good piece with Whitworth giving his opinion on our defensive strategy vs the Chiefs.  Andrew was asked, "If he thinks we are going to throw blitz packages at Maholmes early to test his ankle and then adapt from there, or will we rush 3 and drop 8?"

He felt we will just put a ton of pressure packages with Hendrickson and Sam and hope Maholms gets frustrated and starts making bad decisions, but he sees us coming after him with Hilton off the edge.

I agree, but I do think we will test Maholmes early to see where he's at with his mobility.

What are your Thoughts?

100% lets test that ankle.

First time defense is on the field, do the 46 alignment and show the house is coming, then rush only 4 and drop everyone else back.

Using Hilton to test Mahomes ankle early is not a bad idea and also think stopping KC's rushing attack will be crucial.

IMO the whole key to the Bengals defense is to tackle good. I'm tired of seeing runners or receivers get extra yardage due to poor tackling. I'm pleased most of the time.

(01-27-2023, 04:20 PM)pally Wrote: Lou told the world the other day what the defensive strategy was..."whatever else they do for God's sake guard Kelce"

That is like saying guard Chase don't you think, you can guard them and they will make plays,  I like the idea of contain him on first tackle, you know he is going to get the ball but limit the Yac...

We know how to stop the Chiefs on passing downs with the 3 man rush and doubling Kelce, which should be easier in theory with a less then 100% Maholmes. I think we need to stop the run make them one dimensional. Andy Reid seems to never commit to the run enough and the Chiefs have one of the best lines in the league in my opinion and have been able to run on us.

Gotta test than ankle early and often. Even if they aren’t getting home, make him move. If his ankle is messed up it won’t matter how much crap he’s on it will affect his game.

You do It as often as the offense allows. Adjust if it’s not working. No easy outs to McKinnon

Like Burrow said, we’ve played them 3 (tomorrow 4) times in the last year. They know us. We know them.

Maybe a play or two we may not have seen. But, for the most part, we know what they do. They know what we do.

Personally? I think they are going to try to run it early and often. Pacheco is no joke. He’s a good RB. I don’t buy Mahomes’ injury severity.

For us? The same. If it’s close in the 2nd half, that ball is flying all over the place, by both teams.

If Mahomes is limited (which I don’t think he will be), they’ll be able to keep him in the pocket, blitz a little more and bracket Kelce.

Obviously, they’re going to test our OL. Burrow will do the quick outs. I doubt there will be much over the top, at least in the 1st half. Boyd in the slot and Hurst finding creases. I’m sure we’ll even see Chase in the slot some.

Mixon/Perine really don’t do their damage until later in the game after the opposing DL is a little tired. Bengals will try. But, figure them to be Burrow’s outlet and check down options.

Rush no more than 4, have a spy on him, make him hold the ball longer with a blanket pass coverage, that way he will be forced to move his feet and use that knee/ankle more than he wants to. It will grind him down. If you blitz him, he will see it and you just made a quick decision for him to get the ball out of his hands fast and on to the next down.

I’m on record. Mahomes won’t be 100%. Doesn’t mean he won’t be effective. I think as have others in the national media have said I think KC does a lot of 12 & 13 personnel. Early to test Patrick’s mobility and effectiveness. That’s to protect him to finish the game. If they can get by the Bengals he’s got 2 weeks to heal. But I expect KC to go heavy off tackle and wide in the run game early.

Frankly the Chiefs have to have 2 game plans as do the Bengals.

(01-28-2023, 11:39 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: I’m on record. Mahomes won’t be 100%. Doesn’t mean he won’t be effective. I think as have others in the national media have said I think KC does a lot of 12 & 13 personnel. Early to test Patrick’s mobility and effectiveness. That’s to protect him to finish the game. If they can get by the Bengals he’s got 2 weeks to heal. But I expect KC to go heavy off tackle and wide in the run game early.

Frankly the Chiefs have to have 2 game plans as do the Bengals.

If they find some success running off tackle, we may see more of Cam Sample like we did against Baltimore. Great move by Lou.

(01-27-2023, 04:49 PM)BIGDADDYFROMCINCINNATI Wrote: Whit also said Mike Hiton is the "very best in the league" at the nickel corner spot. 

I think Hilton is X factor on getting Mahomes to show his cards early on health of ankle...however we all know Chiefs will be expecting that so who else can be an effective blitzer that we can disguise and keep them guessing? My 1st thought was Dax or even CBT. 

(01-28-2023, 12:10 PM)kalibengal Wrote: I think Hilton is X factor on getting Mahomes to show his cards early on health of ankle...however we all know Chiefs will be expecting that so who else can be an effective blitzer that we can disguise and keep them guessing? My 1st thought was Dax or even CBT. 

CTB definitely doesn't shy away from contact. But as much as I like Hilton, he does have trouble keeping up with the faster receivers if the play lasts too long.