Rank 'em!
1. Seabiscuit
2. Big Lebowski
3. True Grit
4. The Fisher King
5. TRON

Man, The Dude has lymphoma. He can't die yet damn it! Get well!

Interesting.

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Donte Whitner says AD “quit” late in 49ers game.

Wonder if AD will be motivated for the rematch

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Hi.

I just wanted to press fast forward and move onto the Bears game on MNF. Talking and thinking about the Niners game just pisses me off to no end and Im not sure theres anything positive to discuss regarding that game. We beat ourselves more than anything. Completely out of sync on both sides of the ball.
The Bears seem like their usual tough/blue collar/ lunch pail/strong defense and conservative offensive selves from the past couple years. I fear Foles at QB much more than Trubisky. They have some weapons outside in Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller and the resurgence of Jimmy Graham at TE. Their D is pretty loaded and close talent wise to their 2018 team that went 12-4. They hardly blitz and get pressure from their front and OLBs. Mack is a nightmare and their secondary is solid (Fuller and Jackson are studs). Robert Quinn whom we all know and love is coming on strong for them. I see this as a defensive battle coming down to time of possession and kicking game being real important. Gonna be a 20-17 game or something close. What are your thoughts?

Personally, I thought last night’s game was UGLY, DISGUSTING AND EMBARRASSING!!! BUT, IF, The RAMS, McVAY and the RAMS PLAYERS have the DRIVE, DETERMINATION & PRIDE that I think they have they will take last night’s game and learn from it and it will make them a Better Team for rest of the Season!!! With a Monday Night Game against the Chicago Bears coming up it won’t take long to see how our Rams respond to last night’s LOSS!! Personally, I think McVAY and the RAMS WILL BE READY!!!

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I keep reading about how the interception was a back breaker for the Rams.

In the context of the game it had no effect at all. The Rams would have still needed to score twice to take the lead if they kicked the fg.

21-9 at the time. Kicking the fg makes it 21-12. The whiners would have then taken a 24-12 lead with their fg.

Whichever way you look at it the Rams still needed to score 2 tds to win if they didn't score a td on that drive.

.

I mean really. Some people are ridiculous .

I know a lot of us have been super critical of McVay at times, last night was no exception. We saw what happened to this team in the Superbowl and a lot of that fell on the shoulders of McVay. Up until now he's shouldered the blame for a lot of our deficiencies and he's never bad mouthed any individual on this team. By no means am I football or coach guru but there were a few things I had to consider:

McVay is the youngest head coach in the NFL: To a lot of people this doesn't really mean anything but we have to talk about this. There are times that McVay seems to make inexplicable in game decisions - I don't need to write a list of these, we all know them. This is only his fourth season as an NFL head coach and he still has some growing to do in that capacity. We can't expect a 34 year old to come in and have Belichick level success with a team he's having to rebuild from the ground up. That's a huge undertaking and impressive where the team is currently at considering we had been bottom feeders for so long. You wouldn't have to look very hard to find so many promising coaches, of all ages, flame out of the NFL because they were in over their heads. Hell, the way he's handled some of the shit that's come his way is downright impressive: handling of Gurley, the negative press from the Saints game, the Superbowl loss. He isn't immune from criticism but he takes it on the chin and keeps moving forward. Some of that criticism stems from his coaching personnel choices; which brings me to my next point.

McVay is an offensive minded coach: Kind of piggy backing off of the first point, we have a young offensive minded coach. That's the side of the ball he knows damn well, one of the best in the game. It's not outside the realm of possibilities that he doesn't make the best decisions with respect to who runs the defensive side of the ball. Not to bring up bad memories but Fisher absolutely SUCKED at picking offensive coordinators that fit his personnel. The huge difference is that Fisher had been coaching long enough to know; McVay is young and has committed most of his studies to the offensive side of the ball. He picked Wade initially because he didn't want to have to worry about defense but we just never had the personnel to run Wade's style of defense; it happens. I don't think we can really fault a guy for wanting to reduce how thin he's spread by hiring a top tier DC to take care of that side of the ball. At this point we don't know how well McVay is at identifying coaching talent on the defensive side of the ball - that's just the reality of things. I'm sure he'll learn more about that side of the ball as he continues to grow as a head coach and if things don't work out with Staley, he'll be better equipped in choosing his next DC.

McVay is a winner and has a winner mentality: This is a great quality to have but it can bite you in the butt sometimes. McVay has proven to be a winner in this league and it could be argued that he fields a Superbowl contender every year. When things go wrong it would be silly to assume that McVay just shrugs off losses and moves onto the next game. He might not show it in public but I'm sure each and every loss stings and he feels ultimately responsible. Like I said earlier, this type of mentality isn't without its faults. When you focus so passionately on winning, sometimes things get away from you. You start thinking very binary, 1 or 0, and you start to outsmart yourself. Football isn't all X's and O's and, through growth, he'll come to understand that there are some subjective things he can improve on to benefit the objective.

There's more I wanted to write but I think this is long enough. I hope the take away is that as much as we (myself included) want to bag on McVay and his personnel at times, he's really doing a damn good job - all things considered. There are only a handful of coaches I'd say have more upside to McVay right now and we don't even know the ceiling that McVay can hit once this team irons out some of its issues. I think we've gotten spoiled by what McVay did his first two years in the league and we need to come back down to earth a little and cut the guy some slack. We're in good hands.

But now I find myself questioning a few of his decisions.

Let’s see...

Why not more Akers and less Brown in rotation with Hendy? Akers is a racehorse and Brown more of a plodder if you ask me.

Was Bonamego a good hire? Really? First McVay hire that I’ve questioned in 4 years.

Why keep sticking with Sloman? He’s a ticking time bomb.

Why have Kupp on PR duties still? He sucks at it, meanwhile Webster has been electric when given a chance.

Haven’t Higbee and Everett earned more targets? Those 12 sets give us a boost in running game threats. This might be nitpicky, but still...


While I’m at it, here’s a couple of questions for Staley. First, let me say that his overall D has been quite good except for that 1st half vs Bills and this 49er game last night.

Still, I would love to ask him a couple of questions.

Even with Obo out, we still have 4 edge players opposite Floyd. I applaud the rotation of all to try to find even one that can make a difference, but none have impressed other than the rare flash play here and there. Question. Do you think ANY of these players can step up sufficiently this season? Or do they simply lack the talent (my personal fear after 6 games)?

What is the reason for Burgess not getting snaps at either S in Fuller’s absence OR at deep safety over Rapp? Camp reports of Burgess’ play were quite complimentary, so I find it hard to understand that Burgess couldn’t be an upgrade at either nickel or ahead of Rapp at deep safety. At least for a few snaps to see if he can prove himself?

What are your plans to correct the sloppy tackling we saw vs the 49ers?

Do you consider edge or ILB to be the biggest offseason need for your D? And are you pushing Snead and McVay to try to execute a trade before the deadline for either position THIS year?


Okay, I’ve got just a couple for Bonamego.

WTH did you see in Sloman over the other 2 candidates? And what do you STILL see in him?

Whose brilliant idea was it to use Kupp as PR in the first damned place? And WTH do you still see in him over Webster?

You are responsible for 4 ST units. Why are 3 of them near the bottom of the league?

Oh, I would love to corner these 3 coaches and get their answers. Sigh...

I notice that the day after a Ram's loss, we all have different reactions, especially after a divisional loss. What do you do?

Yes a lot of the problems were on offense. Goff and both his primary receivers were totally out of sync. But no mention of Staley's prevent defense all game long. No mention of continuing problems tackling (a clear defensive coaching issue).

C'mon Man! Yes there were problems but the most serious lead back to McVay and Staley. McVay kept that kid kicker who has missed 5 kicks in 6 games. He released Greg for less reason. BTW I was all for releasing Greg it was the right thing to do. What about Staley's insane prevent defense all game long? Why did Staley leave the flats and short zone wide open all game long allowing a struggling QB to simply dump off before the d-line could get pressure? Again another coaching issue.

McVay decides to play Kiser who IMO can't possibly be 100% while benching Reeder who was coming off his best game. They made lame excuses about moving Ramsey to SCB which made no sense at all if you know football. If McVay doesn't have the balls to do what needs to be done then Snead needs to intervene. Replace the kicker and tell Staley to can his insane soft zone. Phillips's issue was not playing and developing his young talent. Staley's issues are even worse. His scheme is childish so much so a gimpy inaccurate QB ripped it apart. Sean must make everyone accountable, from himself and his coaches down to the players. His game plan especially in his early run attack made no sense. He went away from things that were working to things that didn't work. Instead of building upon the strength showed the previous weeks and again late in the game, he out tricked himself. Henderson was hot moving the team onto the goal line. But instead of playing to that strength, he went away from it.

Sloppy play by the o-line, the WRs, and his QB just coincidence that everyone was having a bad day? Sorry, I don't accept it. All four of his most reliable offensive players having a bad day simultaneously is reflective upon McVay and O'Connell. These are things that are reflective of poor coaching and complacent preparation. IMO all the coaches got complacent and it was reflected in the players being sloppy. But the biggest issue yet one he is totally silent upon is that Staley's is clearly not working. Staley is not playing to the strengths of the players he has that much is very clear.

Everyone must be accountable, especially underperforming coaches. Last year Kromer was the problem on the o-line. The unit's turnaround with the exact same personnel is solely due to O'Connell. Yet he continues to keep Kromer? Now we are seeing the same thing with the defense and he has nothing but praise for the DC? Has he learned nothing? Turning the team around starts at the top, not the bottom. These are things that any good businessman learns very early. He was right in removing Phillips, but now he must see that his rookie DC experiment isn't working. He needs to tell his buddy to change the scheme or to walk. When the fans can see the problem why can't McVay? He needs to remove his bro blinders so he can actually see the reality staring at his face.

It’s almost like this was a Twilight Zone game. Almost everything was abnormal and with a bizarre twist.

Some things I didn’t recognize last night...

Jared Goff. Who was that guy impersonating my QB?
AD. When was the last time you saw AD virtually erased?
Staley’s first half D. 49ers were running and passing at will.
McVay’s game prep. Gawd, it seemed like they gameplanned for a different team other than the 49ers.
Who the heck was that guy wearing #10 and pretending to be Kupp?

Those were some of the things I couldn’t recognize. Here are a few other thoughts that have seeped in since last nights debacle:

Maybe the Rams aren’t as good as I had thought. It hurts to type those words but I now have reasons to doubt my previous assessments.
Both McVay and Staley got schooled last night and on a national stage, at that. Both coaches need to take a hard look at their scheming and playcalling.
Playing an NFC West team sure is different than playing an NFC East team, huh?
Shanny currently owns McVay. Three in a row is not a coincidence.
For a crippled team, the 49ers looked pretty danged good, don’t you think? Makes the loss even more excruciating.
We have a problem at edge opposite Floyd. I watched Ebu, Hollins, Lewis, and Polite rotate there last night and NONE were effective. I’m on record as saying that this was our Achilles heel and might prevent a SB run.
Sloppy tackling will kill even the best schemed D’s and the Rams tackling was sloppy last night. I don’t even want to know the yards after contact figures.
Where was the ‘want to’ on either O or on D last night? I mean, this WAS a critical division game, right? This is the most unforgivable thing about last night to me.
I’m beginning to wonder whether ILB should be a high draft or FA priority next offseason. Feast or famine with Kiser and Young, dammit!
Rapp seems to be playing out of position at deep safety. Did Burgess run over Staley’s dog? Why else not give him a chance?
Broken record, I know, but why is Sloman still on this roster? Seriously.
Webster has looked great on returns for 2 games, so WTF is McVay still using Kupp back there? Makes zero sense and is so Un-McVay like.

There were a few bright spots last night but it’s a very short list, indeed.

Hendy played well.
OL did it’s job.
TE’s did their job, too.
Floyd had a pretty good game.

Umm, sadly, that’s about it. Sorry.

Rams have a lot of work to do before the 5-1 Bears come to town. Gulp...

1. Nothing takes the wind out my sails like a loss to an entirely beatable team due to mistakes.

2. But, this is a weekly thing for me, so...

3. Let's rattle off some of the culprits, so as not to single out any one individual.

4. Goff was uncharacteristically inaccurate yesterday, particularly on the first few drives.

5. Drops by Cooper Kupp (the one in the End Zone proved to be a killer) and Robert Woods (his caused less harm, as the TD to Reynolds followed a few plays later) did not help.

6. Neither did the false starts.

7. The defense was horrible in the first half. A step too slow on every play and tackling worthy of a pee wee league game.

8. If we allow another team to gain 18 yards and second and 19 again my TV will be in serious danger of having a hole in the shape of one of my shoes.

9. I think the loss was 99% an issue of execution, and 1% game plan/play calling, but I will say I was not a fan of the failure to just run the ball in (we were gaining on every play) on the 3rd quarter drive. Of course, if Kupp just catches the ball...

10. In games like this, in which opposing teams want to run the ball down our throats, a guy like A'Shawn Robinson would really come in handy. Hopefully we'll have him when we meet the Niners again.

11. The Sam Sloman experiment is looking like a failure. Not sure if there are any great alternatives out there, but I have very little confidence in him at this point.

12. Lost in the bad game was a very good showing by Darrell Henderson.

13. When we wear the blue jerseys, we should wear the sol pants. Every time.

14. I can't stand when announcers, in a game in which the opposing team is running the ball with consistency and throwing short passes in 2 - 2.5 seconds express surprise that Aaron Donald isn't getting to the QB. To quote the great Dr. Cox, "I can't honestly decide whether to say 'duh', 'adoy' or a very sarcastic, 'Oh, really?'"

15. Okay, enough with the angry post mortem. Looking ahead...

16. My feelings about this team will be impacted substantially by how they come out in the next game. I want to see fire, urgency and aggression from the fist snap against the Bears a wee from tonight. A win against Chicago could have significant playoff implications down the road, so we should be fired up for this one.

17. Nsimba Webster looked good on both kick and punt returns. I'd take the latter burden off Kupp entirely.

18. I know, I know... I said I was going to try to be positive. Well, I'm positive we're going to need to improve our LB corps next off season.

19. Okay, deep breath. We're still 4-2 and, if we play to our potential, could certainly get to the halfway point with a 6-2 record.

20. Onward!

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202010180sfo.htm

On Sunday night the Santa Clara fans weren't the only no-shows in Levi stadium. The Los Angeles Rams were also among the missing. The Niner fans' reasons were Covid-19. But what were the Rams' excuses? Their offense and defense failed to come out before a national TV audience. Was it stage fright? The 49ers were coming off a blistering loss against Miami the week before. Their roster laughably resembled a MASH unit. Only the Eagles could boast a more disappointing cast of wounded and an overworked medical staff. Did the Rams think this would be easy? Head coach Sean McVay had been preaching all week that their injury-riddled rivals up north were still a dangerous team. So what happened?

The 49ers happened. They came out in this game ready to bowl for big bucks and the Rams were the unfortunate pins. In the first half, San Francisco drives resembled an angry bowling league game, with blueberry colored pins scattered all over the place. Los Angeles was so not ready to play that they allowed a 49er running back to get up from a pile of fallen bodies and continue running down the field while a few defenders stood around dumbfounded. During subsequent drives (after Rams' 3-and-outs) San Francisco players were whooping it up after rumbling for extra yards like drunken bowlers after their 3rd strike in a row. Did the Rams feel like tackling in a football game last night? The team in white was playing for the kill in the first half. Their defense knew where all the Rams' battleships were and sunk them. Their offense was jumping over Ram defenders like Checkers pieces, kinging themselves in the end zone. Ram tacklers were playing wack-a-mole with blindfolds on.

Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff, who had been having one of his better seasons so far, looked bewildered and befuddled. He missed wide open receivers, threw 2 picks, and seemed to be generally lost. After throwing his 2nd pick in the 3rd quarter his QB rating was a paltry 45. His 3rd down bailout boy Cooper Kupp also had a very mediocre night. 49er defenders were shadowing him practically everywhere he ran. It looked like the team dressed in their 1994 throwbacks knew all the Rams plays and took the effort to be in the right spots to throttle them. Were they borrowing recording equipment from New England during the past few weeks?

For those that witnessed the dismantling of the Super Bowl runner-ups last week vs the Dolphins, this 49er team was barely recognizable last night. Were they in fact the same team that got exposed several times by journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick in that game? Ram fans who afforded themselves a sneak peak of that match must've been licking their chops at the obvious weaknesses in the 49er secondary that the Dolphins had discovered. So why wasn't Los Angeles able to further exploit this? The backup San Francisco defensive backs were still ripe for the picking. The Rams have a lot more talented receivers and a better QB with a higher upside than the Dolphins. Why were they not able to also take advantage of that game's sorry excuse for a Niner defense? Did their video equipment break down during the week?

San Francisco QB Jimmy Garappolo, who had such an embarrassing outing last week vs Miami that he had to be pulled, started off against Los Angeles a near perfect 9 for 10 completions with 3 TDs and a perfect QB rating of 158.3. What did the 49ers do that had the Rams so surprised that they forgot how to cover receivers and tackle runners? Why was the Ram defense unable to cope with the 49ers' speed and determination as they quickly had the football stuffed down their throats before they knew what was happening to them? And where was Aaron Donald? Was he not projected to be gifted at least a pair of sacks against a makeshift injury-decimated 49er offensive line? The 2-time defensive MVP, most feared defender in the league and arguably the best player in the NFL was not on the stat sheet until late in the 2nd half, registering 2 tackles for the entire game and no sacks.

In the second half, to stave off further embarrassment, the Rams halftime adjustments only allowed the 49ers a field goal but the damage had already been done. Los Angeles had unfortunately allowed a weakened, battered, and injured San Francisco team to build confidence in the first half on the way to victory. One can rightfully ask, with a healthier team (2 of their top defensive linemen were lost for the season in the previous weeks) would it have even been this close?

The Rams need to right this ship sometime this year if they're even going to sniff playoffs. Currently the 5-0 Seattle Seahawks appear to be focused on winning the West. And the 49ers seemed to have more fight (in this game at least) to snatch the runner-up spot away from the second place Rams. A lot can happen from now until the final game of the season, and the Rams' 4-2 record is not cause for immediate doom and gloom. Los Angeles has enough talent on both sides of the ball to bounce back and continue to establish themselves as one of the better teams in the NFC, but if they're going to make a serious run at the west title and even go deep into the playoffs (should they make it in) they need to come out and dictate the pace of these games against stronger opponents than the weak NFC east. Their schedule only gets tougher.

I don't know because I couldn't take it any longer and went to bed during the second quarter of this shit show. Did the great Aaron Donald have even one sack, in this game? I have to admit I'm getting a little sick of these announcers constantly heaping praise on him like he is the second coming of our savior!

It may not be seen again...

Woods 10 targets, 4 catches

Kupp 9 targets, 3 catches

Tough night for those two and makes Goff look pretty bad as well.

From my amateur thoughts, here's a couple of "Well damn, who would have thought?"

1. Well damn, who would have thought that keeping the WORST OF THE 3 KICKERS from training camp, that we'd have kicking issues all through the season? The dude is on pace to what feels like miss a kick a game. He needs to be gone. Bring back that CFL kicker, Liam or whatever.

2. Well damn, who would have thought that having issues at LB and EDGE the last several seasons and sticking virtual no money and nothing but a few mid-late round draft picks into them, and even losing the best of the bad at LB in Littleton would make them get worse? Huh, that's surprising, eh?

3. Well damn, who would have thought that continually getting no improvement next to Donald that we'd continue to have issues on the DL? Brockers was a panic re-sign after all Free Agency, you watched players sign elsewhere. Brockers isn't going to in anyway help Donald, nor is SJD, or Gaines. Really needed to find a pass rush specialist to help on passing downs. Donald is a true generational talent, and other than Suh for a season, hasn't been given a damn bit of help.

4. Well damn, who would have thought that after the last few seasons, knowing that we can't move the ball or score much if it's not based around playaction, and we continue to not fix it, we'd still be stuck in the same situation? Fix the damn problem.

5. Well damn, who would have thought that playing against Janeane Garaffolo who has a bum ankle, and not blitzing much or getting any pressure would bite us? When you see a weakness, go f'ing after it. Tired of seeing this damn defense even WITH Wade be so complacent, be so lethargic and sit back when there's obvious weaknesses. I thought we were going to attack when Staley got here, it's early yet, but not pleased so far.

Monday Night Football: Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys

It doesn't take any sort of deep analysis to realize that the Week 6 "Monday Night Football" matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys took on significant added meaning after what transpired last Sunday. Arizona (3-2) won what could only be described as a must-win game over a rather weak New York Jets team to put the stops on a two-game losing streak and keep pace in the NFC West.

On the other sideline, well, I'm not sure if you've heard the news but Dak Prescott had a season-ending injury to his ankle in the Cowboys' last-second win over the Giants. I will assume you already knew about the most publicized injury of the entire season. Now America's Team faces the uncertainty of its 2020 campaign continuing without their franchise quarterback. At 2-3, it is fair to point out that the Cowboys' two wins have come against a pair of winless teams (beat Falcons in Week 2), yet Dallas still finds itself atop a weak NFC East.

This game could be the tipping point in deciding which team is a contender and which one is a pretender.

Monday Night Football: Arizona at Dallas

Kickoff: Monday, Oct. 19 at 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Spread: Arizona -1.5

Three Things to Watch

1. Andy Dalton back to the main stage.

So now it's Dalton's turn under center as the longtime NFL veteran will try and earn his paycheck. The good news is that the Red Rifle went a proficient 9-of-11 for 111 yards in relief of Dak Prescott last week, leading the Cowboys to a 37-34 win over the Giants. And the even better news is that Dalton has torched the Cardinals for 731 yards, six TDs and zero interceptions in the three times he's faced them in his career, albeit as a Bengal, not a Cowboy. And with Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Cedrick Wilson, he has as good an array of weapons as anyone. He'll be facing a secondary that is one of the most experienced in the NFL with All-Pro talents like CB Patrick Peterson and safety Budda Baker, who returned from injury last week to help squash the Jets.

2. Cowboys' running game vs. Cardinal linebackers.

Obviously, Ezekiel Elliot and the Dallas run game takes on an expanded burden now that Prescott is not around to lean on. Dalton is not the scrambling type like Prescott, so Elliot's effectiveness will be a huge key to whether this Cowboy offense can maintain some balance and provide some makeable down-and-distance situations. But the Cards come into this one a little bit gimpy. All-Pro linebacker Chandler Jones was lost for the season with a biceps injury and he was responsible for 19 sacks a year ago. With Devon Kennard already inactive, that's two LBs down for the Cardinals. Erstwhile special teamer Dennis Gardeck stepped in nicely last week, providing a pair of sacks of Joe Flacco, but how will this unit fare in the run-stopping department? In addition, space-eater Rashard Lawrence also left the Jets game with a sprained ankle, but should play. How effective will he and his D-line cohorts be in plugging the running lanes?

3. Who keeps the offensive momentum going?

This should be interesting because these two teams are both coming off very solid offensive performances. To geek out on a few stats, the Cowboys lead the NFL at 488 yards per game and the Cardinals are 10th with 395. The Cowboys are third in the league in scoring (32.6 ppg) while the Cardinals are 13th (25.6). Of course, the big asterisk is the loss of Prescott and seeing how Dalton adapts to his new role.

We talked about it with the Cowboys above but also keep an eye on how the Cards get their running game going, as they are sixth in the league with 141 rushing yards per game. There might be some wrinkles to work through as the offensive line has had many injuries issues the last few weeks and guard J.R. Sweezy looks doubtful for Monday.

Final Analysis

This primetime matchup should be a great game to wrap up the sixth week of the season on Monday night. Both teams snapped two-game losing streaks last week but the Cowboys are somehow at the top of their division with a 2-3 record. It also doesn't help when you consider that their two wins have come against two winless teams. And now they have to move on without Dak Prescott, their fearless leader. That's not a good recipe for a successful season, even if it is in this screwball of a year known as 2020.

Kyler Murray and his crazy legs will pull this one out in crunch time.

Prediction: Cardinals 24, Cowboys 20

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills both lead their divisions five games into the 2020 NFL season despite suffering their first losses last week. Their early strength makes this Monday night meeting, moved due to COVID-19 issues with other teams, an important early-season matchup when it comes to playoff positioning. (FOX/NFL Network will cover this game, which was originally set for the "Thursday Night Football" slot for Week 6).

It's also a chance for one to rebound as these powerhouses have spent the past few days licking their wounds. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs remain one of the most entertaining, aggressive offenses in NFL history with MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center. However, the Chiefs' loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last week exposed a weakness: their defense. Allowing 40 points was too much to overcome as the Raiders snapped a 13-game winless streak against their division rival.

The Bills also self-destructed on defense Tuesday night, allowing a whopping 42 points to a Tennessee Titans team that stumbled into the game with multiple players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The outbreak could have crippled the AFC South division leaders but instead, it was the Bills who looked off-kilter much of the night. The absence of two starters, wide receiver John Brown and cornerback Tre'Davious White, proved difficult to replace on both sides of the ball.

At least the Bills won't have to defend the Chiefs' newest signing: two-time All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell. Keep in mind Bell, released from the New York Jets earlier this week, won't even be able to practice with Kansas City until Week 7 (provided he passes his COVID-19 testing).

So can the Bills pull themselves together and pull off the upset? Or will the Chiefs bounce back in a big way on Monday?

Kansas City at Buffalo

Kickoff: Monday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. ET
TV: FOX/NFL Network
Spread: Chiefs -5

Three Things to Watch

1. Which defense will bounce back quicker after their rough week?

No one will argue the offensive strength of the Chiefs. The Bills' strong start alongside them, based largely on the play of quarterback Josh Allen, has been one of 2020's big surprises.

So the game-changer Monday isn't whether these teams can score. It's which defense will be able to step up and stop them just enough times to make a difference.

The Chiefs rank just 20th in the NFL, allowing 382.8 total yards per game, after their worst defensive performance of the year against the Raiders. They made David Carr look like a Pro Bowl quarterback once again, allowing 72- and 59-yard touchdown passes as they gave up 490 yards of total offense.

"We just didn't finish the right way," Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu told the AP. "In the run game, even in the pass game, we didn't finish how we normally would."

But if the Chiefs' defense was bad... the Bills were downright awful. They allowed the Titans to go 6-for-6 in the red zone, failed to sack Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and allowed touchdowns on 3-of-4 Tennessee possessions in the second half. It's not what you expect from the NFL's third-ranked defense last season, one that only allowed just 16.2 points per game. Only the Patriots (14.1) were better at suppressing offensive output.

The Bills received good news Friday when their top cornerback, Tre'Davious White, practiced in full. He should be cleared to play and will be matched up against Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

But the key to beating the Chiefs could be the Bills' defensive line. Patrick Mahomes was sacked a season-high three times against the Raiders and the team lost offensive lineman Keleche Osemele for the season. Keep in mind they're already down Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, their starting guard, who opted out this year to help care for COVID-19 patients in his native Canada.

Mahomes can evade pressure but he's also human. No time to throw means limited opportunities for Hill to get deep; the Chiefs will also be down one less target with Sammy Watkins out with a hamstring injury. There's an opening for the defense to make an impact.

2. Can Josh Allen hold a candle to Patrick Mahomes?

As with any game featuring an upstart underdog, the pressure will be on Allen to perform against one of the league's offensive stars. The first four games of 2020 had served to put the Bills quarterback on another level: 12 touchdowns, just one interception, and no single-game quarterback rating below 104.6.

In fact, Allen enters this game outranking Mahomes in passing yards (1,589 to 1,474) and touchdown passes (14 to 13). They rank 1-2 in the AFC in both categories.

But against the Titans, Allen made uncharacteristic mistakes. It was his first game throwing multiple interceptions since Sept. 29, 2019 against the Patriots; a pick deep in Tennessee territory killed off momentum early in the second half. Without deep threat John Brown stretching the field, he averaged just 6.4 yards per pass attempt.

Allen gets Brown back for Sunday and will look to continue his strong chemistry with Stefon Diggs (a season-high 10 catches against the Titans). It's clear this upset will be on the strength of his arm as the Bills haven't had a 100-yard rusher all season.

3. Will the Chiefs' run game succeed through without their newest acquisition on the field?

For the Chiefs, their offense needs to give Mahomes more time to throw. However, their signing of Bell this week signifies how little they trust the rushing attack. After rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire had a sizzling debut, exploding for 138 rushing yards in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, he's cooled off considerably. Edwards has failed to score on the ground in the past four weeks and averaged just 51.5 yards per game. Compare that to Mahomes, who's had 129 yards on the ground during the same stretch as the quarterback while averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

The Bills are 12th against the run this season, allowing 103.1 yards per game and were 10th the year before, their weakness defensively. Helaire needs a return to form and head coach Andy Reid has to commit to the run after a season-low 20 rushing plays against the Raiders.

Final Analysis

These teams both have aspirations to go deep in the AFC playoffs; expect this one to be a slugfest with multiple lead changes. But the x-factor should come in the experience of the Chiefs' offense along with their ability to force turnovers on defense. A plus-five turnover margin from the Chiefs is tied for fourth in the NFL; their three giveaways are third-fewest.

Compare that to the Bills, whose minus-two turnover margin has them 20th in the NFL and includes eight giveaways. Super Bowl-winning franchises don't sit that far down the list. As good as Buffalo seems they can be, Monday night may offer a few more lessons on how they can get there.

Prediction: Chiefs 34, Bills 28

“It was more the result of Cam not being able to get into the flow because we had such a minimal amount of drives in the first half,” McVay said. “We got him in there a little bit in the second half, but we ended up throwing it on a one-play sequence where it’s incomplete so then it’s second-and-10 and we ended up putting Malcolm in the game.”

I don’t even know what the fuck he’s trying to say there. Seems like such a cop out answer.

A good friend of mine gave me an autographed Warner jersey before the game tonight. He invited a bunch of us over for the game this afternoon, put on an awesome spread. Before everyone else showed up he said he had something for me, I had no idea what it could be. Wish the Rams would have won, but I still had a great day with friends and family.