Jaguars at Chiefs - Week 17 - Record: 9-7 - Part II

THE MIRACLE HAPPENED! Denver got bogged down and the Niners beat them in OT!

The Chiefs are in the playoffs!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!!

The Chiefs are having one huge New Year's Eve party tonight!

My head is spinning, but here's the bombardment of stuff that's banging around in there. I'll try and put it together with some reasonable semblance. And trust me, my curmudgeon hat is safely stored away for a while.

I have to say that while the Chiefs are my number one team in all of sportsdom, the San Francisco 49ers are my second favorite team in the NFL. I was born in Kansas, but actually grew up near the Bay Area. Living there for so long, I obviously got much more coverage of the Niners and followed them quite dutifully, cheering them with great joy through the glory years of the 80's.

I say this because Niners fans have seared into their memories one particular horrific Monday Night game in Denver from 1985. That season the Niners were struggling after being world champions the year before, coming into snow-drenched Mile High with a 5-4 record. The Broncos won the game 17-16 with the help of a snowball thrown from somewhere at kicker Ray Wershing, who then missed a field goal that would've won the game for the Niners.

Wow, what has happened to the home-field Broncos against the Niners since. There was obviously Super Bowl XXIV in 1990, when Denver in their home uniforms were handed the most lop-sided loss in Super Bowl history, 55-10. In 2000, the Niners got the Broncos, who'd won the Super Bowl two years before, so exhausted in their 38-9 win in the last game ever at Mile High Stadium that they lost the wild-card game the following week.

And then there was this season. All Denver needed to do was win.

I had left to do some shopping with my family after the Chiefs game, and I didn't really want to endure the ups-and-downs of this Niners-Broncos affair. I'd just resolved to get the news all at once, when it was well over. So at almost 5 pm our time, we're waiting in a line of cars at a drive-thru burger place and my wife says, "Let's see what happened with the game." She turns on the radio, and I'm stunned...

The game is still going. We listen for a minute, and find out it's in overtime with the score 23-23. This is just unbearable. The Broncos have the ball at their own 11 with about 7:00 left in OT. I'm thinking, great, all they have to do is tie and they still get the playoff spot. But after they run a play, the announcer says, "Wow, these guys are really tired out there." That makes sense, the high altitude and all. But I'm actually thinking, this is really good for us. Denver's deep in their own territory, if we can hold them here, then we've got great field position.

I turn off the radio. Still, I just don't want to go through this.

We get our burgers, get home, and I click on the website. Sure enough, there it was.

SF 26, Den 23.

Wow-oh-wow-oh-wow-oh-wow. In that instant I felt that sort of overwhelming stunned and elated feeling at the same time. I ran in and shouted the news to my wife and kids, high-fiving all of them. I discovered that Denver did indeed stall, the Niners got the ball back, drove down a bit so Joe Nedney could kick the game-winner through. And from the weather reports I heard this week, there was lots of snow in the midwest. Whaddya think of that, Bronco snowball-throwers?!

My uncle from Kansas City called me right after that to talk about this incredible day. About this miracle. We had a 1 in 16 chance straight up, and probably worse than that because Denver had to have been heavily favored.

I think of this as the complete inverse of exactly ten years ago. Remember that? I mentioned it in an earlier blog entry, but to go over what happened on the last day of the season that year: After being 9-4 on Thanksgiving, we lost two in a row to put us at 9-6. A win over Buffalo at their place and we're in the playoffs no matter what. We lose to them, but can still get in if Jacksonville loses to Atlanta. In the last seconds of that game, down 19-17, the Falcons get all the way down to the Jaguar one yard-line whereupon Morten Andersen, arguably the greatest kicker of all time, bricks it. He bricks an 18 yard FG attempt.

I still so remember the despondency of that moment.

But the pain is made much less excruciating with today. That's because for one, the field goals finally worked in our favor in a big, big way. Not only did Cincinnati's kicker brick his easy FG today that would have won their game, but the Niners kicker got his clutch FG for us. In fact he went 4/4, his longest a 46-yarder. We needed every one of 'em.

Secondly, yeah, there it is-- we won today against Jacksonville. As bad as it was that we didn't make the playoffs in '96, it was almost as despairing that this then mere second-year expansion team did.

In this game we actually showed that we deserve to be in the playoffs, finally. A few things came to the fore that could be advantageous for us. I've spent a lot of time highlighting our "glaring deficiencies." Now's the time to showcase our strengths-- since we are a playoff team. (Proud smile...) For your consideration:

- Herm Edwards' "magic," which I'd mentioned a couple games back that, whatever the case, I would be looking for in the last few games of our season. Today he really let fly! We were so much more imaginative on offense-- there was more play action, Larry Johnson even tried a pass, and we got that awesome flea-flicker touchdown.

- Our defensive backfield. It really doesn't get enough credit, but it was such a joy to hear the color guy announcing today that the Jaguars couldn't get a particular pass play done because our coverage was so good. The addition of Ty Law has been a big plus, and he even had a terrific pick setting up one of our TD's.

- Our experience. While I complain about how old we are, this may actually be a big bonus in the playoffs. Eddie Kennison had a phenomenal day. One catch he made was easily a nominee for an NFL season highlight best-- tiptoeing down the sideline, he juggled the long pass until he gently pulled it in for a big gain. Tony Gonzalez is still a monster, and I'd like to think Trent Green can get it done, even though my uncle thought he had a miserable game today.

- Larry Johnson. I've gone the entire season without making much mention of him, but that's only because it is such a given that the guy is a stud among studs. He set an NFL record today with most carries in a season, something like 400-something. My uncle thinks we really have a chance against Indianapolis next week because they can't stop the run. If that is so, and we get that play-action going much more than we have, then we could have a shot at that revenge for what the Colts did to us in the '95 and '03 playoffs.

- Special teams. Believe it or not, one of our consistently best players has been, yes, punter Dustin Colquitt. Bernard Pollard blocked another punt today, this one he took in for a TD. And aren't you just waiting for Dante to bust one again? He's so due. (Oh, and I have to mention: remember 20 years ago, 1986? In the last game of the season, we made the playoffs on the strength of three special team TD's, against, yes, the Steelers.)

What's so great about all this is that, yes, we've got nothing to lose. I almost actually like going in being a 9-7 team more than a 13-3 one. This is almost like the Twilight Zone-- there is just no way we should've gotten here. But we are, and yes, yes, I'm making no apologies-- I don't think for a second we don't deserve to be there. Hey, the Steelers barely eeked in last year and got by Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver (all on the road), and finally Seattle to win the Super Bowl. If we get that far, that'll just be-- I don't know, I can't even say.

Right now, we're just here. And today's day, for what it was, will always be treasured by any Chiefs fan no matter what has happened or ever will happen.

It certainly is by me.

Jaguars at Chiefs - Week 17 - Record: 9-7 - Part I

Aaaagh! WE'RE STILL IN THIS THING! Can you believe it?

For the 10 am (PST) slate of games we needed three results, and got them all! (1) We beat Jacksonville, more on that later, in Part II. (2) New England put it to Tennessee. And this year (3) Pittsburgh did what we wanted! They had to beat Cincinnati, and how sweet that was considering what the Bengals unapologetically did to Trent Green in that first game of the season.

Thing was, while I'm watching us hold off Jacksonville, I've got my eye on that Pit-Cin game and note that the Bengals had gotten deep into Steeler territory with the game tied and seconds left. That's it, I'm thinking, we're done-- but then! The guy misses the field goal! Wow-oh-wow-oh-wow.

Pittsburgh then gets the ball for OT, and from about their own 30, Pittsburgh's QB dumps off a slant to a guy who races all the way for a TD!!! My 10 year-old son and I are screaming as this guy Holmes races down the sideline, the 40, 30, 20, 10-- dives into the endzone! Touchdown-- and the Chiefs are still alive!

Being an impassioned Chiefs fan I can't deny I'm thrilled. For another three hours at least our team is on the lips of NFL'ers the world around. Yes, we've still got to pray for a Niners miracle win in Denver (a 1 pm PST game), but for now,

Wow.

Special Pre-Week 17 Note - Our Playoff Chances

I don't normally write a post in between games, as I've worked to strictly devote this blog to thoughts about each individual game sans all the fuzziness that goes on among the elitist media pundits. But since everything hinges on a number of concrete factors this last weekend of the season, I thought I'd comment about where we are.

Last year we took it down to the last game but it was easy then. If we won and the Steelers lost, we'd be in. Interesting to note that the Steelers not only didn't lose (to a very poor Detroit team--we all knew it wasn't going to happen) but they surprised everyone and went all the way to the title.

Yes, believe it or not, this year we are still in it.

I kinda think this whole thing is just yanking us along. Our straight-up chances are 1 in 16, because we need four results to occur for us to get in. But I do confess, like all Chiefs fans, I'm excited. Woo-hoo-- I'm excited just because we're still there hanging by that thread.

Strictly speaking we need:

1. Us to beat Jacksonville at home. Because I pay the tiniest of attention to any other team, much less a non-media-darling like the not-New-York-or-Chicago Jaguars, I just don't have a clue what kind of team they are except that they too are 8-7. But since we're at home, we should be able to beat them. Hey, I know they aren't the Ravens. Prognosis: Very good.

2. Pittsburgh to beat Cincinnati. Okay, this year we need Pittsburgh to win. They are the reigning champs, so they can do it, but they're playing in Cincy and the Bengals need this for their playoff ticket-- and I'm sure they've got on their minds last year's playoff game in which the Steelers wrecked Carson Palmer's knee and then trounced them. Prognosis: Fair.

3. New England to beat Tennessee. New England is certainly a quality team but they too are on the road. I don't know, but I'd like to think they're playing for a bye or home field advantage. Prognosis: Good.

4. San Francisco to beat Denver. Uh-oh. I'm really hoping the Niners are also playing for a playoff spot, but at 6-9 I'm just not sure. (I only say this because I'd heard there may be a losing team making the playoffs in the NFC.) They're also in Denver, which means a Niners victory is nearly impossible. This is where the true miracle has to happen. Prognosis: Extremely poor.

Thing is, we're just being dragged around in the NFL mud anyway. Yes, I'm putting on my curmudgeon's hat again, but in all my silly giddiness that we're still "a contender," we are still hurtin'. Do you actually believe all those glaring deficiencies-- the O-line, the inconsistent D, Trent Green's nerves, unreliable kicker-- are going to vanish?

And if we should have all four of these results go our way, I'll send up the biggest cheer and just think of the Steelers of last year, but would their miracle happen for us this year? We'd have to get through any and most of four utterly dominate AFC teams-- SD, Balt, Ind, or NE, all at their place.

So yeah, I know I know. Just enjoy it now. We're in amongst all the "Who'll make the playoffs" conjecture. The Chiefs are still on people's lips. At least there's that.

So my curmudgeon's hat is off then.

Chiefs at Raiders - Week 16 - Record: 8-7

Not much to say about this game. We slogged to a 20-9 victory. The Raiders are pretty much the 2-12 team their record indicates, committing five turnovers on the day. They don't have extraordinary skill people at any offensive position, though their go-to back-for-the-day Justin Fargas did well. But hey, their QB is young, and Randy Moss has been replaced by some alien imposter from space who merely looks like him.

Larry Johnson had another 100. I think I'd heard something about him earlier in the week criticizing the play-calling as unimaginative. Good for him. I hate to say it, but I agree with him, it is. Today we did a bit more misdirection, got lots of people involved, so that was nice to see. I really believe that Herm Edwards is a terrific coach, but sometimes it just seems that he doesn't fully take advantage of all that he has. Does anyone else feel this way?

Anyway, for what it's worth, tonight we are still in the playoff chase. Woo-hoo! We can revel in it one more night, as I'm sure we can be mathematically put-out-of-our-misery a dozen different ways tomorrow when the full slate of games are played.

As for thinking in more future-oriented terms, an announcer mentioned that guard Brian Waters was going to the Pro Bowl. Hmm. That's great. Maybe the O-line isn't as bad as it seems. Our offensive line problem may be solved by merely getting that solid left tackle.

So yeah. It all comes back around to that key question asked before the season started. Can we replace Willie Roaf? I believe the answer was an unqualified "No." But if we work hard in improving that area, we may be helped more than I thought.

Finally, it was sweet hearing Dick Vermeil do the color in tonight's NFL Network broadcast. He is such a football genius, and I know this may sound perverse but it just kills me to think if we had the defense we have today back in 2003 we'd've been utterly dominant. But what do they say? If poseys were bluebirds and wishes were popsicle sticks, or something stupid like that...

Okay, I'm done for now...

Chiefs at Chargers - Week 15 - Record: 7-7

Before I begin, I want to lay out some ground rules. First, the Chargers are a better team— they deserved to win this game merely by the fact of their superior talent and play. I'm fine with that. Secondly, I know that you can’t meaningfully reconstruct a hypothetical game if things had gone differently, because you just can’t presume things would’ve necessarily gone your way.

With that in mind, the Chiefs got jobbed in this game. Three key things did them in. One, habitual inattentive punt return coverage, two, a stupid call by a ref, and three, a stupid NFL rule that needs to be changed. Let’s look at each, in order, and see what the game result really should’ve been, all other things being equal.

1. On the Chargers first drive, our defense stopped them, setting up a punt. They faked it, snapping the ball to the back who then ran right past a preoccupied Chiefs coverage team for a first down. In the replay it looked like there were only six Chiefs on the field. Five guys up front dutifully waiting for the ball to be booted and then turning to provide blocking for the runback, and one guy waiting way back there to receive the punt. Ahem, where was the containment? We were just brain dead on that one. This is certainly something that the Chiefs need to work on, and yes, it is no one’s fault but our own. Of course, later in the drive the Chargers scored a touchdown. Given.

2. On the Chargers next drive, QB Phillip Rivers tossed a quick out to his fullback who caught the ball, turned upfield, and was summarily leveled by Derrick Johnson. He then fumbled the ball, which was grabbed by Tamba Hali at around the 40 yard line. Oh, problem: Quick whistle by the ref. Great. They call it incomplete and it can’t be reviewed. The announcer even made a comment, something about “there must be a football action” taken, such as actually moving forward at least a teench to demonstrate he had possession. What tripe. This cost us big because shortly thereafter the Chargers punted down to our 5, whereupon we gained about 50 yards before we had to punt. That 50 yards from the Chargers 40 would have been a TD for us. So, real score: 10-7, Chiefs.

3. About midway through the second quarter I’m noticing that we’re down only 7-3, even as we were being outplayed. Okay, good, we have a chance, this is still a game, good. The Chargers are punting from about their own 10 yard line, and a super punt-blocking rookie, Bernard Pollard, swoops in to make a clean block of the punt. The ball flutters forward, however, about 15 yards when one of our linemen takes a stab at grabbing it. The ball barely skims him, it bounces away and a Charger lineman falls on it. Everyone on the Chiefs bench is now fired up, patting Pollard on the back, high-fiving. Chiefs fans around the globe are gleeful, knowing this is our chance to really get back in this, to put it to them.

All of a sudden the Chargers offense is on the field. The ref had to briefly explain to Herm Edwards what is surely called the “Really Stupid Screw-the-Chiefs Punt Block Switcharoo Rule.” It says that as long as a blocked punt crosses the line of scrimmage and touches a defensive player, it’s a free ball, and if the offense gets it, then they get new set of downs.

The bewildered Chiefs then put their vaunted “Huh?” defense out on to the field, and on the very next play LaDainian Tomlinson squirts down the field for an 85-yard touchdown.

The main reason this has got to be the stupidest rule in the book is the whole line of scrimmage thing. The ball barely got past the line of scrimmage. So it would be exactly the same as if, on fourth-and-sixty, Tomlinson got the carry, ran two yards, bobbled it, it bounced against a few Chiefs players, and was recovered by the Chargers. Anyone would certainly cry foul if the Chargers were given a new set of downs. I’m perfectly okay with it if this all happened down the field and they recovered it past the yardage needed for a first down. That’s reasonable. It’s even okay if the defensive guy actually grabbed the ball, had possession of it, ran around a bit, then fumbled the ball anywhere on the field. But here it is, essentially, a great play by the defense—stopping them on three downs and blocking a punt—and the reward for that is giving the offense the ball again and a new set of downs. That is ridiculous.

Driving home from a family Christmas function towards the end of the game, I listened to a San Diego radio station’s announcers, a couple of college-aged Charger sycophants, recount the earlier punt block incident and refer to it as THE CORRECT CALL. Yes, they did speak in all caps, I could tell. Point is, why would they say "THE CORRECT CALL" like that if they didn’t also agree that it is a stupid rule?

If the proper way the rule should be was in place—the blocked punt must go past the first down yardage point and not the line of scrimmage—then it would’ve been Chiefs ball at about the Charger 15. Not even presuming we’d even score, the Chargers would certainly not have gotten their score. So without the stupidity, we’re still up 10-7.

Therefore, the final score would’ve been 16-13, Chiefs, considering each team later added two field goals. 16-13 Chiefs, not 20-9 Chargers.

This is indeed the idiocy that drives me crazy about watching our team. Interesting, today at work a colleague even brought up another such critical stupid ruling/call incident that happened back in the Browns game. I hadn’t known about this because I didn’t see or hear the fourth quarter of that game. But he mentioned that at the end of regulation, Tony Gonzalez caught a pass and rolled out of bounds untouched by any defender with five seconds on the clock. The refs did their twirling arm thing to keep the clock rolling, and with no time outs, regulation ended. Guh? Doesn’t going out of bounds stop the clock??? Apparently we had our shot to kick the game-winning FG, and it was yanked from us because of this stupid call/rule. And I don’t know what it was. The stupid rule? If there is some silly roll-around-on-the-field exception, then change it. The bad call? Then the refs should fess up. But neither of these things happened that I know of. Hey, we're the Chiefs.

With all the typical Chiefs aggravation out of the way, a few other things need to be said about this game.

The first is that our offense is miserable. The O-line topped their performance last week by allowing six sacks this time. Trent Green looks timid—no, better: he looks scared to death out there. It is affecting his passing so much that I don’t think he threw a good pass all night. When he came close, our receivers were dropping balls, not getting open— it was just miserable.

Do you know that—throwing out the meaningless gimme who-cares end-of-the-game TD pass last week—we have not scored a single touchdown since that wonderful 99-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter of the Browns game? It’s almost as if that one drive tired us out so much that we’re done for the season.

This season also reminds me a bit of 1996, exactly ten years ago. Remember that? After winning on Thanksgiving and posting a solid 9-4 record, we didn’t win a single game after that and missed the playoffs. Same exact thing is happening so far this year. Our last win was against Denver on Thanksgiving, proudly getting us to 7-4. Ergh. How ironic that Lamar Hunt actually lobbied the NFL to get other teams besides the Cowboys and Lions to play in those holiday games, and they honored him this year by scheduling the Chiefs at home for the very first ever NFL Network game.

I don’t think we’ll have a chance to be viable on the last day of this season, because even if we do finish 9-7, right now we are 0-5 against any team not in the west, AFC or NFC. So much for having tiebreaker advantages.

So now’s the time to start looking at what we need for next year. Besides all the obvious holes to patch, here’s one thing. We need a snorting, snarling Ray Lewis-Mike Singletary-Jack Lambert-type dude clogging things up in the middle on defense. I like Kawika Mitchell, but we just need that guy who can just smell the play before it happens and mauls everyone in his way to stop it. Someone who just fires up our defense, gets us to that next level. The defense is good, it really is, but these guys have got to know what it means to finish.

As it is, we're finished this year.

Special Note - The Rock of the Chiefs - Lamar Hunt passes away, December 13, 2006

I have not known a minute of pro football without Lamar Hunt. No one has known a minute of Chiefs football without him. After the NFL refused to allow him to add a team to the league, he put together the entire AFL in 1960, and included that team he wanted, then the Dallas Texans. After only a few years, he wanted out of vying for fans with the Cowboys and blessed Kansas City with what became one of the stalwart organizations in football. Even though it wasn't always successful on the field, he made the Chiefs a lasting, vibrant part of the city and the NFL. He was the Chiefs.

The impact of Hunt goes way beyond the fact that he came up with the name "Super Bowl." For starters he not only got the AFL going, but was instrumental in the entire success of the NFL. Many people think it was the Jets upset win over the Colts in 1969 that afforded the AFL respect. No, with all due respect to the Jets, that could have been a fluke. It was the Chiefs Super Bowl win the following year that meant it was for real. Few people outside of the faithful remember what a dominant team this was in the late-60's. The Len Dawson-led offense got the job done, and the defense with Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Buck Buchanan, Curly Culp, and Johnny Robinson was phenomenally good, arguably one of the greatest ever.

Right after that, it was AFC teams that defined success in the 70's. The Dolphins, the Steelers, and the Raiders all rolled over their NFC counterparts through that decade. Even though the 49ers and the Cowboys each had their dynasties in the 80's and 90's, people don't fully realize how good the classic AFL Broncos, Bills, and Oilers were in those years.

And if you talk about the 90's you can't deny Hunt's very own Kansas City Chiefs were one of the exceptional teams. There were those close, crushing losses in the playoffs, but remember, this team made the playoffs 7 of 8 years, at one point getting in six straight times. Hard to believe that it is now in our Chiefs memories that we fondly think of Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Albert Lewis, John Alt, Christian Okoye, Marcus Allen, and even though they were each there for such a short time but did very well, Joe Montana and Steve DeBerg.

And the 00's? You know it. The most impressive team by far has been another original AFL'er, the Patriots. Lamar Hunt never grumbled or or got petty whenever he endured the frustrations of his team. It was almost as if, when a team defeated his Chiefs in the playoffs, he'd just be proud of all his other babies.

The neatest thing about Lamar Hunt was that he loved sports so much, that in college he earned the nickname "Games." He built on that reputation by industriously putting together all kinds of leagues for things like tennis and soccer. In having such a passion for competition, he made it possible for so many to showcase their skills and have a great time in vibrant competition.

It is not an overstatement to say that half of the NFL was his doing.

It is just weird not having him there being the Rock of the Chiefs. I thought he would be there forever. There is no question his spirit will live on in the Chiefs, in Kansas City, in the NFL, and anywhere people desire to accomplish great things.

Ravens at Chiefs - Week 14 - Record: 7-6

Wasn't the last time we lost a December home game in 1947? Something like that? Oh well, all good things must come to an end.

What probably hurts the most about this loss was not that we got beat for the obvious reasons. And it certainly was not because it showed we can't contend, that was determined last week.

The reason it hurt the most is because it showed just how old this team is. As I'd intimated last week, I'd actually thought Trent Green was back and in good shape to get us going. This game showed that we really need to get a young new guy at the helm, and that doesn't just happen over night. Is Brodie Croyle the answer? I'd like to have that ray of hope that he'd actually develop into a true major league signal-caller. At this point we just don't know.

As for other aged troopers, there is Tony Gonzalez-- how much longer can he go?-- and Eddie Kennison-- with all due respect, he's still our go-to receiver? That's hurtin.' Never mind the anchor of what-offensive-line-we-have-left is Will Shields, who was a rookie in 1947.

For now, we know the obvious:

With all that happened this year personnel-wise, our offensive line just can't get it done. It isn't all Trent Green's fault. He was sacked five times and threw two interceptions. His one TD pass was a late game gimme. Larry Johnson had over 100, but Baltimore's defense is so good they just toyed with him. Take out one ultimately meaningless 47-yard romp and there you have the real running game on the day.

Our defense is exceptionally inconsistent. Every once in a while they shine, but they just don't-- oh how do I put this without belaboring the point-- they don't finish. Give them credit, they actually did a decent job of containing Baltimore's offense. But they gave up the one huge TD pass play, and you just can't do that against this team.

And how about looking at a new placekicker. Even though in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter, Lawrence Tynes missed an easy must-make FG early. To have even a chance, we needed that. After that choke, I knew we'd struggle. We just can't afford to have a kicker blowing these opportunities after a pretty strong opening drive.

Think this was embarrassing? How about this: a work colleague tells me that NBC has selected next week's contest at San Diego-- arguably the best team in football-- for their prime-time evening slot. Great. We wait all season for a Sunday/Monday night game and this is the one they're going to show. One where we're going to get slaughtered before the whole country. Just great.

Yes, yes, we're still mathematically in it for post-season. It'll take more than magic now from Herm Edwards, it'll take miracles from a lot of other places.

As for me, I'm just hoping for the miracles that we'd draft and develop solidly from this point forward, especially at QB and the OL, so we can actually contend next year.

Chiefs at Browns - Week 13 - Record: 7-5

Well, it's official. About as official as you're going to get.

We aren't contenders.

Call me an anti-Pollyanna curmudgeon of the worst kind, but really, what do you want? I'd kinda like to win the Super Bowl. I know there are some who'd be tickled just to finish the season with a winning record, but me, I'd like us to go all the way. I dunno, call me crazy.

But the fact is, Super Bowl teams don't blow 28-14 leads in the fourth quarter. (This was against a 3-8 team!) I just can't help but think that our age has to be a factor. We could virtually do what we wanted through three quarters, but after that-- a set of offensive series that included one in overtime-- we couldn't do diddly. Our defense wilted. I actually thought that having Trent Green out for the first half of the season would make him fresh for the second half, but he just couldn't get it done in the second half of the second half of today's game.

Why am I surprised? I should've known our inability to put games away would come back to whack us. We couldn't do it against San Diego, Seattle, or St. Louis, but we barely eeked out wins. This one we lost. Needless to say this should say something about our stamina-- our ability to finish. It's just not there.

Today I actually had to step away from this one right after we marched down the field for a TD on that terrific 99-yard drive. We had to go to my son's last flag football game of the season, and so the whole time I'm thinking, "Woo-hoo, we've got them now. Our dee should be able to close it out. This 8-4 team has got a chance now. We can show we can do well on the road. Awright."

But then I see the score when I get home. But yeah, again, why am I surprised?

Now we're 7-5 (two losses in OT BTW) and now drowning in a conference of 10-2 teams. I saw a news tease the other day that said an NFC team with a losing record could make the playoffs.

Well, sorry, that's just a concern of those who get giddy for a playoff spot. Whee.

For me, well, I'll just watch to see if Herm can do more magic with what's left.