Pretty big news. Their O-line is the single-biggest reason for their recent success. Luck has never had this sort of protection before, and is killing it. If he goes back to seeing regular pressure, it not only limits his effectiveness... but also opens up his injury possibility/history. Cowboys have also seen their season turn around with better o-line play... as did the Texans. Its probably more important than having super-star skilled position players (other than QB), although no team will ever invest more heavily in the O-line vs. stars... but maybe one day, somebody smart will figure that out.
Winning Monday would go a long way to clinching the division. Both the Colts/Titans have cupcake schedules remaining. If anything, the Texans have the tougher remaining schedule out of the 3 teams and ours isn't hard. There are a lot of bad teams in the league this year. If the Texans lose both to the Titans/Colts (possible) then they would be facing some tricky must-win games in order to make the Playoffs. I know Philly sucks this year but there is still talent on the roster and the Texans have to travel up there to play.
this week's tremendous power raking ratings =) I'd have them @ 6th but 8th isn't that far back: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ings-week-12-rams-jump-chiefs-after-epic-bout
I don't disagree but there are other factors that shouldn't be ignored. Luck throws a lot of quick short passes that keeps him from getting sacked as much. It also makes the line look better. His yards per attempt is very close to the bottom of the league. Like Alex Smith levels low. The chiefs' line isn't as good as it seems (as we saw last night) and a lot of it is the skilled players. Having Hill, Hunt, and Kelce does a lot to making an offense run better. I agree the line is HUGE in offensive success. But game-planning and skill players have an impact too.
Not saying they don't... just that from a logistical standpoint, its easier to build a team by strengthening the line and investing in a younger QB with talent, vs. just going after skill position/star players and sacrificing the quality of the line. That being said, its also easier to coach up o-line players to become competent... and a lot of lines just get better the longer they stay together, regardless of the overall talent or dollars invested. As far as Luck goes, he was getting hit/sacked even when they were having him try and get the ball out quickly... I still think he's prone to big hits with the amount of times he drops back to pass.
Texans damn near killed this man... Spoiler: GRAPHIC: This was Alex Smith’s leg 4 days after he suffered a broken leg against the #Texans back in 2018.