Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
I think BB will understand that the cost of trying to shut down Hill will just be too great. Instead he needs to bank on the fact that the biggest homerun plays to Hill are also the hardest ones to simply execute well. Play him as you would most other WRs and hope that Mahomes just misses.
Because if you throw a shitload of capital at trying to stop Hill, you're ceding far easier throws to Watkins and Kelce. Hell, Williams out of the backfield could go crazy. And all of those throws will be simple pitches and catches for 8 yards here, 14 yards there. Low degree of difficulty, high margin for error throws that will bleed them out.
If I'm the Patriots I think I do the opposite of what everyone else is saying - I MAKE them beat me with big plays and hope they can't. I look to shut down the underneath routes to Watkins and Kelce that Mahomes can make (literally) with his eyes closed. I go out there and hope that he simply misses on a few of those, get them behind the sticks, gets them punting and the offense can answer to the tune of a 10-14 point lead that gets that crowd real nervous, real fast.
If the Patriots win this game it will be because the Chiefs didn't execute at their best. If both teams play A games, the Chiefs will win it. So they have to operate under the assumption that the way to force a B game will be a combination of higher level throws and unforced errors.
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This is exactly how my thinking has evolved this week. Mahomes has been missing Hill lately. I think they gamble that he continues that -- and in a big game, if he misses Hill early, he might become a bit frustrated and miss him more, or try to go back to him too often looking for redemption.
But if Mahomes and Hill are clicking ... lights out.