Ah a Chiefs super fan, welcome. They let you out on bail?
Hey, just thinking about Branch launching into him. Might happen. Check out his college tape if you haven’t seen his style of play. Just a rook, but he’s going to be a good one.
And, no, I wasn’t claiming he was going to cover him all night or anything. So keep your pants on.
Thx for the welcome!
Eh, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Lions since I was kid. My brother was a fan (beginning circa 1980?), and I’ve kind of kept my eye on them since.
honestly haven’t seen Branch play, but I’ll take your word for it that he’s pretty good. As DET is kind of my NFC team, that would make me happy.
I’m actually curious just how your DC, Aaron Glenn (?), plans to deal with Kelce. he’s a Fangio acolyte, right? Should I expect to see a ton of two-high shell?
no, AG will send 6 or 7 hoping to get to mahones, allowing single coverage on kelsey. he’ll be hopin mahones doesn’t have time to throw. but we know how that will work. we have to hope for a 51-48 game.
Branch was invited to attend the draft and fell out of the first round. The others that did split but he stuck around until he was picked at 45 and came out to meet Goodell. That’s when we started to see he was different.
He was expected to get snaps in the secondary mostly at safety. But he appears to have won the starting slot CB job from CJ Gardner-Johnson, one the Lions top free agents signings, who is moving back to safety. Excited to see him play, well both those guys.
The Lions, both Glenn and Campbell, are from the Bill Parcells tree. Glenn loves to man up in the secondary. But Kelce is quite an assignment. I couldn’t tell you what the plan is, but they’ve said they expect Kelce to get his.
Hmm. Interesting thoughts on how Glenn might try to cover Travis. Can’t imagine he’ll try singling up Travis very much. LAC has tried it at least a half dozen times with DBs, LBs, safeties, even put Derwin James on him for a whole game last year, and Travis went off, 6 catches for 115 yards, and 3 TDs.
On paper, a potential matchup could be rookie LB Jack Campbell, who is the same size and speed as Kelce.
Campbell has shown he can cover the deep middle of the field. But a rookie covering a savvy stud like Kelce is a real stretch. I have no idea what their plan might be. If they roll with base nickel, maybe they double him, say Branch and Kerby Joseph. They would give up a lot of size, but they’re both playmakers.
Honestly, I have no clue what their preference might be. They could break tendency and run a lot of zone concepts in the opener.
This was Branch’s welcome to the NFL moment. He was the one delivering it.
College highlights. We are hoping we just landed the next Honey Badger.
Yeah, it would be foolish to put a rookie on Travis. It’s been done a few times over the years. CLE did it kind of recently with Denzel Ward in 2020(?). Travis cooked him for about 100 yards and a pair of TDs.
Travis just requires a double-team at a minimum.
100 yards and a pair of TDs might be an acceptable outcome for DET if the rest of the offense is kept in check.
The Lions offense will not be easy to contain either.
True.
And without CJ, the DET offense will be a problem. probably. With CJ the KC defense was ranked in the top-12 last season. Without him, they’re in the bottom 8, iirc.
And if he doesn’t report by Monday morning . . . he probably won’t play anyway. Andy requires that players get at least a full week of practice before he’ll put them on the field.
And Gibbs scares me.
The NFL is a deadline-driven league.
I’d be surprised if Jones doesn’t play.
Andy’s pretty rigid about his “you have to practice to play” rules. If he doesn’t show up at next week’s first practice, I’d bet $$$ he doesn’t play.
If Jones is serious about his holdout, he only has 2 options.
Given our offensive line, I would be advising my client to skip week 1.
Well, he’s not going to agree to a monster deal and then hold his helmet on the sidelines. If the plan is for him to sign he’ll play.
I sure hope you are wrong brother. But I can tell you pay attention to the games because AG brings the house so often the last 2 years, putting his db’s on islands.
My hope is with upgraded corners and safeties, we might be able to get away with it more.
AG’s blitz rate last year I believe was highest in the nfl, could be wrong on that, but I think I read that.
I think John Fox might help keep him in check a bit more this year. AG is clearly a good mentor and coach for these young men, but not convinced he’s a good play caller at all yet. Being a good leader of men and being a good x’s and o’s guy are 2 very different skills.
The pressure is all on management.
It’s their party. He’s prepared to hold out financially. They are risking hoisting their banner and then suffering an opening day loss on national television.
Jones has made close to $70M in his career, is one of the most respected DTs in the league and he has 2 Super Bowl rings. IF HE IS SERIOUS about his holdout, there is simply NO reason for him to show up for week 1. Zero. None. We joke as Lions fans because we don’t want him to play. But in reality there is only one smart business decision here. The only people that should care about a week 1 game against the Lions are people not named Chris Jones.
Mahomes might run for 100 yards in the first half if AG doesn’t account for him.
Is there a stat for number of first downs QBs have run for against opposing defenses? We have to be one of the worst.
I dunno, apparently the Chiefs have offered him a deal that lands somewhere between Q. Williams and Aaron Donald and the sticking point is the guarantee. If Jones is willing to flush millions and waiting until week 8 to play, the math may not exactly be working in his favor at the end of the day. Only a few people know where the numbers really are, and I’m not one of them.
Both sides want to stay married, so I think a deal gets done sooner than later. In time to wreck the Lions hype train test? That is less clear to me. He is unlikely to be at his best on Thursday, if he does show up for work Monday.
Who knows, maybe this all gets really ugly and festers. I kinda doubt it, the Chiefs window is still wide open with Mahomes, Kelce and Jones still on top of their games.
Welcome to the board? Do you have any feeling as to whether Toney and Snead play?