Chiefs at Steelers - Week 6 - Record: 2-3

I really hate it when the NFL makes a new rule in the middle of the season. This past week they declared that the home team could put 14 men on the field and the visiting team could have only 8. No wonder we couldn't move the ball and they did whatever they wanted on offense.

Wait, you mean there was no such rule change? Oh, that's embarrassing. From what I saw, I thought that had to be why we got utterly shellacked.

Seriously, at its best, we just were the wrong dumb animal on the wrong truck route. It didn't matter who the Steelers were playing, they'd played relatively poorly all year and were at home-- anyone would've been made roadkill yesterday.

At its worst, the answers to the key Chiefs questions were, for today anyway, a resounding "No." The questions:

1. Will our offensive line hold up? Needless to say we couldn't do a damn thing on offense. Larry Johnson got diddly running the football. I'm sorry, but at this point I just don't think that's because Pittsburgh's defense is so good, which it is of course. It has a lot to do with the O-line not having people like Willie Roaf up there. To our credit we were down 31-0 before we breathed, so why try to get much yardage on the ground at that point?

2. Will our defense continue to play as well? Um. Yeah, well... I now just wonder if the Denver game was an aberration. Take that out and the game against the weak 49ers and our defense has given up a few TD's, short or long field. Pittsburgh simply drenched us.

One cool thing about this game was something my wife told me about today. I had turned off the game at the half because I just couldn't take it any more-- that and because my son's flag football game was starting. But today she said that she'd seen a highlight clip of Troy Polamalu running with the ball and being taken down from behind-- by his hair.

I'm sorry but that is great. I have no problem with Polamalu being a terrific player. But he looks like a goof out there. Say "Who's got the ring," say "Who's the All-Pro making a gazillion times what you'll ever make" as much as you want. The guy looks silly with his hair flying all around like that. So when our guy tackled him with the hair, well, Troy, tough darts. Put your hair in a bun already.

I took a peak at the game play-by-play, and I noted that Larry Johnson made the tackle and then he got an unsportsmanlike penalty. Now, was it for tackling by the hair? If afterwards he'd taunted him or kicked him or something, then yeah, that's fine, he should get the penalty. But was it for the hair? If it was, then that is inexcusable, especially when other players have practically ripped our guys' heads off and gotten the comparative slap-on-the-wrist. Really, if you are going to have your hair flying around, just like an arm or a leg waiting to be grabbed, then what's the issue? But then I just don't know what happened.

Finally, I just have to add, that I only wish the Chiefs could have the up-and-down system the Steelers have, through-and-through a fantastic organization. I don't for a second want to demean the Chiefs organization. But I just see the difference. You could see it on the field.

The key is that the Steelers finish. They just don't have the best players in the world, but at least they finish. Sure enough on the field yesterday I saw too much of the 2005 Chiefs, running around like keystone cops, overpursuing, missing tackles.

I only say this to tip my hat to the Steelers, and also to hope that our problem, really, was just that we drove a thousand miles-per-hour into a buzz saw yesterday. It'd be nice if all these games against the best teams in the AFC (San Diego next week-- whew!) will make us a better team.

And that we'll know how to finish.