Yeah, I did it all day, too, so don't feel lousy about watching six straight hours of high-level football while focused almost entirely on how that might've compared to the Steelers.
Didn't exactly line up, right?
Well, I could keep that up for days after a spectacular Championship Sunday for the NFL, and I could do so on countless fronts. Especially the quarterbacking in the nightcap in Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen might as well have been dueling in yellow jackets.
Don't, my friends, ever waste energy getting jealous over other teams' quarterbacks. Not when it can feel so much more exasperating getting jealous of their elite coaching.
That up there was fourth-and-5 at midfield for the Bills at the two-minute warning. One snap for Allen to save the season. And it'd have to be Allen at that down and distance.
Steve Spagnuolo, who seemingly gets less credit for the Chiefs' exceptional success than Taylor Swift does, decided, as any grandmaster should, that he won't allow Allen to be the one to beat him. Whatever's about to happen, it won't be because the Kansas City defense -- or the coordinator -- schematically ceded anything to Allen.
So, Spagnuolo doesn't just dial up a blitz. (Still legal, by the way.) No, he brings JustinReid, a safety who somehow led the Chiefs in tackles in 2023, pressed right against the line as if he's got a particular coverage assignment.
He didn't. He ignores all else and bolts in an A-to-B beeline for Allen, immediately throwing him off his timing and course, well to the right.
Now, never mind that Dalton Kincaid still should've caught the dying quail:
It was brilliant. It was football strategy at its most beautiful.
What, we're waiting on some expansive compare/contrast essay here?
Please. The local guys couldn't even solve how to rid T.J. Watt of routine double-teams, and a coordinator of Spagnolo's stature would've set him free after the first chip.
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
5:38 am - 01.27.2025DowntownDK: How real coaching looks
Yeah, I did it all day, too, so don't feel lousy about watching six straight hours of high-level football while focused almost entirely on how that might've compared to the Steelers.
Didn't exactly line up, right?
Well, I could keep that up for days after a spectacular Championship Sunday for the NFL, and I could do so on countless fronts. Especially the quarterbacking in the nightcap in Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen might as well have been dueling in yellow jackets.
Instead, I'll stick with a single sequence:
Don't, my friends, ever waste energy getting jealous over other teams' quarterbacks. Not when it can feel so much more exasperating getting jealous of their elite coaching.
That up there was fourth-and-5 at midfield for the Bills at the two-minute warning. One snap for Allen to save the season. And it'd have to be Allen at that down and distance.
Steve Spagnuolo, who seemingly gets less credit for the Chiefs' exceptional success than Taylor Swift does, decided, as any grandmaster should, that he won't allow Allen to be the one to beat him. Whatever's about to happen, it won't be because the Kansas City defense -- or the coordinator -- schematically ceded anything to Allen.
So, Spagnuolo doesn't just dial up a blitz. (Still legal, by the way.) No, he brings Justin Reid, a safety who somehow led the Chiefs in tackles in 2023, pressed right against the line as if he's got a particular coverage assignment.
He didn't. He ignores all else and bolts in an A-to-B beeline for Allen, immediately throwing him off his timing and course, well to the right.
Now, never mind that Dalton Kincaid still should've caught the dying quail:
That's still checkmate for Spagnuolo.
It was brilliant. It was football strategy at its most beautiful.
What, we're waiting on some expansive compare/contrast essay here?
Please. The local guys couldn't even solve how to rid T.J. Watt of routine double-teams, and a coordinator of Spagnolo's stature would've set him free after the first chip.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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