2019 NFL Season

[jfish26]

How can the NFL "step up" if they genuinely cannot determine what happened and who was responsible?

I don't think Hill, or the union, would have raised an eyebrow at a 2-game suspension. He came into the league with a known issue. He obviously has not removed himself from a toxic relationship, that...caused? allowed?...things to happen to his son. He said words that, by their literal interpretation, are threatening/menacing.

I think there was enough there to support a modest suspension. I also think the Chiefs would be in a much better spot right now had a modest suspension been issued.

Huh? That's like saying you think Bill Self would OK with KU getting a postseason ban due to their relationship with bad actors at Adidas because they likely did "something" bad at some point. Sounds like Illy's support of that is rubbing off.

And the Chiefs are in a "worse spot" with their star re river being available right away? Yeah, OK. There will be 10 more NFL storylines between now and the start of the year. Any criticism of them right now is a big fat nothing burger compared to having Hill available when KC opens @ Jacksonville and @ Oakland.

That's a tortured analogy; an individual player's conduct in his private life is quite different from an organization's relationship with business partners.

And if you'd read what I wrote, one way the Chiefs are worse off, certainly, is in contract negotiations with Hill.

[twocoach]

The NFL interviewed the guy for 8+ hours and reviewed thousands of text and email communications between Hill and Espinal, but still message board sleuths know the details enough to say what was warranted.

Crazy.

[twocoach]

I don't think Hill, or the union, would have raised an eyebrow at a 2-game suspension. He came into the league with a known issue. He obviously has not removed himself from a toxic relationship, that...caused? allowed?...things to happen to his son. He said words that, by their literal interpretation, are threatening/menacing.

I think there was enough there to support a modest suspension. I also think the Chiefs would be in a much better spot right now had a modest suspension been issued.

Huh? That's like saying you think Bill Self would OK with KU getting a postseason ban due to their relationship with bad actors at Adidas because they likely did "something" bad at some point. Sounds like Illy's support of that is rubbing off.

And the Chiefs are in a "worse spot" with their star re river being available right away? Yeah, OK. There will be 10 more NFL storylines between now and the start of the year. Any criticism of them right now is a big fat nothing burger compared to having Hill available when KC opens @ Jacksonville and @ Oakland.

That's a tortured analogy; an individual player's conduct in his private life is quite different from an organization's relationship with business partners.

And if you'd read what I wrote, one way the Chiefs are worse off, certainly, is in contract negotiations with Hill.

I think the Chiefs are probably OK with being "worse off" there. I doubt anyone in the front office said, "damn, he got of punishment-free. Now we can't low ball him on a contract."

[pdub]

The Chiefs have to be very wise in whatever extension they make and have to be willing if that doesn't work, to walk away.

[jfish26]

Huh? That's like saying you think Bill Self would OK with KU getting a postseason ban due to their relationship with bad actors at Adidas because they likely did "something" bad at some point. Sounds like Illy's support of that is rubbing off.

And the Chiefs are in a "worse spot" with their star re river being available right away? Yeah, OK. There will be 10 more NFL storylines between now and the start of the year. Any criticism of them right now is a big fat nothing burger compared to having Hill available when KC opens @ Jacksonville and @ Oakland.

That's a tortured analogy; an individual player's conduct in his private life is quite different from an organization's relationship with business partners.

And if you'd read what I wrote, one way the Chiefs are worse off, certainly, is in contract negotiations with Hill.

I think the Chiefs are probably OK with being "worse off" there. I doubt anyone in the front office said, "damn, he got of punishment-free. Now we can't low ball him on a contract."

I would bet some people pretty high up the ladder have thought exactly that.

[pdub]

Speaking of big contracts, how well do we think Frank Clark will do on the Chiefs defense this year?

[NewtonHawk11]

Really well. He’s so good as a 4-3 DE. Can lineup inside as well. Get him on the same side as Chris Jones, and good luck to that side of the OL.

[Sparko]

It just struck me how much Mahomes looks like young Len Dawson. Especially in his helmet.

[holidaysmore]

Really well. He’s so good as a 4-3 DE. Can lineup inside as well. Get him on the same side as Chris Jones, and good luck to that side of the OL.

That is if you know, Chris Jones shows up. Which I believe he will.

But yes, I agree Frank Clark is going to be a beast. His physicality and 'dawg' attitude is going to be a much needed addition to a very soft and vanilla defense the Chiefs have had for the last few years.

[NewtonHawk11]

Yeah if Jones doesn't show up by a certain point (Early August), he loses an accrued season, which will forfeit a year of service for him. He'll show up. Just depends on when and how happy he will be.

I don't think people in general realize how different this team, specifically defense, is for the better.

And I'll go on a lengthy breakdown here

Spagnuolo believes in an aggressive D. Not an umbrella coverage sit back while rushing 4 like Sutton did. Leads to more turnovers, more chaos for the opposing offense and a defense that will be well-rounded, not just great at rushing the passer and crappy at everything else like they did last year. They should be able to stop the run much better this year.

The defensive staff is incredible. You get the Kentucky DC from last year on staff as a LB coach. You get the Patriots DL coach for the last 4 years as the DL coach in KC. A longtime Spagnuolo staffer from the Giants days (They won a SB) is on the staff as the DB coach.

All of the LB are back in natural positions. Not many of the guys they brought in over the last few years are meant for the 3-4, but Chiefs thought they could make it work.

Mathieu as a versatile safety will be huge. Sure beats what they had last year with Berry on the bench, Sorensen, Ron Parker (who was cut from a bad Falcons team) and Jordan Lucas.

Offensively, this is the first year in a while that they've had the exact same staff carryover from the previous season. That is huge for Mahomes, because as great as he is, he still needs that consistent coaching. But all their main guys on offense are back and in their prime still. OL is all fairly the same and the RB core is decent enough.

[holidaysmore]

It is Super Bowl or bust for the next two years. What a time to be alive.

[jfish26]

Two years?

[pdub]

I think holiday is thinking about contracts situation ( including Mahomes at a rookie contract ) we are in.
Keeping Mahomes in KC gives us a longer timeline than 2 years.

[jfish26]

Yeah. Realistically, though, if he's the type of quarterback who's going to end up with at least a couple of the next dozen MVP awards, you should expect to contend every year he's healthy.

"But Aaron Rodgers," you might say. Well, Mike McCarthy is the Weber to Andy Reid's Bill Self in this example,* and yet, in Rodgers' ten healthy seasons as a starter, they've had two (2) losing seasons. One was Rodgers' first year as a starter, and one was last year (when he was 35, and the McCarthy era finally melted down).

* There's SO much symmetry among Reid, Self and Peter Vermes, and their respective programs.

[pdub]

[jfish26]

Eh. There will never be a better Madden player than Madden 2004's Mike Vick.

[pdub]

We'll see.
It would be very easy for a developer/group of developers to make a better player than Vick.
Now would it pass up the line of game designers/testers? Probably not.

[NewtonHawk11]

Jones will be there today to report on time. I think they'll get an extension done. It just depends on when. Chiefs want it to start in 2020, Jones wants it to start this year. I think that's their biggest hang up.

[jfish26]

Today? Why would he come today?

[NewtonHawk11]

If he didn't show, I'd imagine Chiefs start fining him. And right now, he still isn't making much money in terms of base salary ($1.1M) and fining him will hurt his pockets.

By reporting on time, he doesn't get fined, can talk with Chiefs more directly about salary and wants, even though I know the agent does 99% of that.

He's probably worth $17M a year with another solid year of production. Right below Frank Clark.

According to Terez Paylor who said this a few weeks ago. The Chiefs think a lot of his sacks and plays were improvised and more for individual gain then team gain. They want him to have one more year of production before they pay him.