|
Kudos to the D. Still too soft too often for my taste, but I actually saw some jamming at the line by the corners at times, and they got good pressure on Garcia, IMO. The 4-man pass rush DID generate some good pressure on their own, but I still think Robinson places too much reliance on the front 4 to finish plays, and should deploy his Ss and LBs more aggressively before the snap, blitzing most of the time, and threatening to blitz all the time.
Contrary to what the broadcasters were saying, Robinson DID find ways to disrupt the passing game in the offensive backfield, and that's the key to turning Bartee and Warfield into shut-down corners. They're physical enough to disrupt the timing routes, and with more confidence in the pass rush, they're able to play it closer to the line and start sniffing out the occasional running play and get involved in some big stops there, too.
BTW, a key tackle short of the 1st-down marker that the broadcast crew credited to #42 Shaunhard Harts was actually made by #24 William Bartee.
IMO, the last 2 weeks show how having Fujita, Harts and Wesley on the field make a big difference for the KC D. Didn't see much from #59 Glenn Cadrez. After the Oakland game, I wasn't that eager to, anyway.
Julian Peterson took on Gonzo 1-on-1 a lot of the time and NEVER let him off the LOS cleanly. THAT's the way you stop a pass-catching TE. Didn't look like Gonzo was very effective as a blocker, either. In a game like today, a franchise player like Gonzo SHOULD lift the team on his shoulders and carry 'em. He didn't. He's overpaid.
As I said a week or three ago, the key test of the KC offense was whether they could beat 8-in-the-box with the pass. This was the big bugaboo against the Chiefs under Schottenheimer and Cunningham. DV and Co. have done more to address this than previous coaching staffs, but they also failed to beat this strategy. It's not as heartrending to see it happen the way it did, though. I don't like it that the execution level wasn't high enough, but at least Saunders's strategy wasn't as bankrupt as
|
