Going into the game, my biggest personal points of emphasis were the following. I thought we'd need Brandon Stephens and John Simpson to get past their recent struggles. I thought if Stephens finished the game with 6+ catches allowed, it would have spelled trouble for our attempts to contain Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice. I hoped we'd need mint performances from our true-edges Jadeveon Clowney and Odafe Oweh against the OTs, with immediate wins, and that our crowd noise could force Jawaan Taylor into possibly multiple false starts. It was a shaky start out of the game, with Simpson shed by Leo Chenal to force a 1 yard gain. Stephens would concede a catches of 10 and 13 on the following drive, including on a 4th and 2, with Clowney netting an unblocked pressure from the backside.
Collectively, for the sake of the POEs, the first half went arguably as poorly as it could. Some absolutely turned positively. Stephens fared noticeably better in the 2nd half when we switched to more man coverage. Taylor was forced into a holding call. Sadly, it was the only one of the contest, with 0 pre-snap penalties across the board. Credit to the Chiefs for limiting us. It does feel like we beat ourselves in large part. And I can't put the entire result on the penalties, and the lack thereof. But it had to have been dissuading to be unable to set the tone with physicality not equalized. These were the clearest examples I saw live (Link and link), both on the same drive. And on their second drive after, you have the Kyle Van Noy bump that extends the drive (Link). You could argue that it was because a second player was involved. But Geno Stone flying across the screen and not drawing a penalty at least implies that they're letting players player beyond the whistle. The crew working the game was criticized days in advance, so I can't say that I'm shocked at the discrepancy. But it's still disappointing.
Collectively, for the sake of the POEs, the first half went arguably as poorly as it could. Some absolutely turned positively. Stephens fared noticeably better in the 2nd half when we switched to more man coverage. Taylor was forced into a holding call. Sadly, it was the only one of the contest, with 0 pre-snap penalties across the board. Credit to the Chiefs for limiting us. It does feel like we beat ourselves in large part. And I can't put the entire result on the penalties, and the lack thereof. But it had to have been dissuading to be unable to set the tone with physicality not equalized. These were the clearest examples I saw live (Link and link), both on the same drive. And on their second drive after, you have the Kyle Van Noy bump that extends the drive (Link). You could argue that it was because a second player was involved. But Geno Stone flying across the screen and not drawing a penalty at least implies that they're letting players player beyond the whistle. The crew working the game was criticized days in advance, so I can't say that I'm shocked at the discrepancy. But it's still disappointing.
