Late night bullshit: Solving the impossible problem of how to replace Chris Owens.

[Direckshun]

I'm guessing we're not seeing Owens for a while, after his unfortunate injury.

Owens has been a big win for Dorsey and this team. He's played good, fundamentally sound football in the slot.

Losing Owens for a few weeks normally wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it is with us because the next guy on the depth is Phillip ****ing Gaines, a guy who allowed 5 TDs this preseason.

Five. In four games. To 2nd and 3rd string QBs.

So, assuming Eric Berry returns, what do you do?

Poll forthcoming. Edit: Alright, I screwed up the poll some.

Here's the options, as I attempted to list them:

a. Play Gaines at NCB, play Berry/Abdullah/Parker at safety
b. Play Parker at NCB, play Berry/Abdullah/Coleman at safety
c. Play Berry at NCB, play Abdullah/Parker/Coleman at safety

[ThaVirus]

After watching Gaines get burned by a 4' tall, white scrub on a double move in preseason I don't think I'm ready to see him get any meaningful playing time.

[Exoter175]

This is a Direkshun poll about "not good news", so the only true answer is, Cut them all.

Gaines in the nickel, durr.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Bah, I screwed up the poll.

This impossible problem must be solved! Your poll has been edited to reflect your whore of a mother...I dunno. But she's reflected!

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

After watching Gaines get burned by a 4' tall, white scrub on a double move in preseason I don't think I'm ready to see him get any meaningful playing time.

Man, you really hate white/caucasian football players, don't you?

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I'm plenty familiar with what an elite SS looks like. If Berry was truly an elite SS, you would notice an appreciable difference when he left. We haven't seen that. Polamalu had that kind of impact on the Steelers defense. Berry has elite physical skills at SS. He's physical, great tackler, can explode in the run game, versatility to play LB, cover TEs, SS, single-high, sometimes nickel. He also has the rare skill set to blitz. I get all of that.

What I'm not sold on is his instincts. Because his reads not only impact his ability to make plays, they impact the entire defense. If he stays at Strong Safety, he has to show noticeable improvement there. I'll give him a 1 year pass because he was learning a new defense, but I think the reason you don't see as much of a dropoff is that maybe Abdullah is the more cerebral SS of the two.

I like Berry at either position. I originally advocated for him to play SS. But we're in a different situation where I think we're finding we actually have a pretty good SS in Abdullah, and we have a Safety in Berry who most people believe has elite abilities to play either Safety position. Combine with the benefit of hopefully saving Berry's body a bit and I'm thinking this looking like a better idea.

I think what Abdullah's progress in this defense provides is the ability to really utilize Berry's versatility.

Depending on opponent, down and distance, and any other number of situations, you can move Berry all around, inside the box, at high safety, in the slot, or man on the TE.

What this defense is lacking right now, is that playmaker that has to be accounted for in the secondary, a guy that can force and create turnovers, and Berry, used properly, is that guy.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by milkman

I think what Abdullah's progress in this defense provides is the ability to really utilize Berry's versatility.

Depending on opponent, down and distance, and any other number of situations, you can move Berry all around, inside the box, at high safety, in the slot, or man on the TE.

What this defense is lacking right now, is that playmaker that has to be accounted for in the secondary, a guy that can force and create turnovers, and Berry, used properly, is that guy.

I'd agree with you about Abdullah's immersion into this defense giving the Chiefs greater flexibility, but Berry, at least to this point, has been less than effective in a man cover role.

He's really struggled with that so far in his career and while everyone continues to throw out hypotheticals about his potential at free safety, mainly due to his perceived athleticism and speed, there's a reason why you haven't seen him implemented in this role with regularity.

He's an excellent box safety with sideline to sideline speed and knives through the line exceptionally well. He is not good in man coverage or deep zone.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Man, you really hate white/caucasian football players, don't you?

Nooooo, that's just a running joke since you guys took such offense to it in the past.

Gaines got burned for more than a couple TDs in the preseason. He looked like absolute filth every game.. So I'd hope he doesn't see the field too much just yet.