This was a game that meant absolutely nothing standings-wise or playoffs-wise one way or the other for the Chiefs -- they're already locked into a No. 5 seed for the playoffs. It meant everything for the Chargers -- win or go home for the postseason.
And yet our inspired backups almost won the game for us.
Really, they should have won it, but alas, we were again blistered by The Curse of Sid Gillman (or whatever version of The Curse has been so ruthlessly hammering us against the Chargers). I mean, all we needed was a gimme Ryan Succop field goal to win it, but, alas, The Curse. He totally bricked it, while former Chiefs kicker Nick Novak nailed his two to tie it and then win it. Now we've got beat by these guys 10 of the last 12. How sucked-up is that (couldn't resist, sorry).
But really if The Curse is going to bite us in the ass again, today is a perfect day for that to happen. This one didn't mean a damn thing. Sure The Curse can spank us by way of the effects of having all our top guys resting today leading to their lethargic uneven play next week. Now, yes, on the other hand they could be well rested enough and protected from injury enough to be righteously beast next week. But well... I won't bring up that thing again. But it's still there.
As far as this game goes, there was indeed another Chargers really stupid punt thing that went against the Chiefs, and sure enough I thought about the Chargers really stupid punt thing that was the crushing factor in that late 2006 game. This one was completely unjust if what I saw on the replays was actually what happened, and it did really cost us the game. Just have to share it here because it was just too stupid.
We stop them on their first series in overtime in their territory, it's something like 4th and 2. They try a fake punt with Eric Weddle, I think it was him, taking the snap and running up the middle. He gets the first down. Problem is, we stop him behind the line of scrimmage. No whistle blows. The pile moves forward a bit just past the 1st down marker, wherein he fumbles the ball before he goes down, at least that's what the one single replay that they showed indicated. Cyrus Gray ends up with the football and runs for a touchdown.
But, ahh, once the pile moves forward and no one knows what actually happened there, the officials blow the whistle. First down Chargers. I see. I see how it is. Everyone's tired, we all want to go home. I see how it is. The television people didn't even pursue the matter further. This is the Chiefs, and, well, they're supposed to lose to the Chargers. I see how it is.
Sorry, but if this happened to a Cowboys or a Giants or a Patriots they'd be all over this. They'd be reviewing the video on every highlights show and every pundit on the set would be carefully dissecting it and ranting and raving incessantly. There is no question this contemptible neglect of anything Chiefs is at least some vital part of The Curse, it really is.
I'm planning to put together a Playoff Preview Post here sometime this week, when I'll spit and spew and hock and holler about what I think about Chiefs at Colts. Yeah, nothing is new. Still feel that harrowing dread, sorry. Just being honest. But more about all that later.
As for now, the Chiefs record this year against backup, second-string, third-string, just-signed, and whatever fill-in quarterbacks there are: 9-0. Their record against top-flight Pro-Bowl caliber quarterbacks (namely Manning Rivers and Luck): 0-5. Just as I feared weeks and weeks ago. Oh, and next week that could be 0-6 on the year. Yhee. (The other two were Tony Romo and Eli Manning, two pretty decent quarterbacks we beat this year, but both had very subpar years.)
As for next week, The Curse affects the whole scheduling situation, too. My brother-in-law's already scheduled a huge paintball day for his son's birthday, on Saturday. I'm thinking, ya know? They're going to do it, I just know they will. They're going to schedule the Chiefs game for the first game of the weekend, on Saturday afternoon. ::Please-oh-please-oh-please-oh-please-don't-have-our-game-be-that-game...:: I thought all week long.
Not.
Guess which game is first, 1:25 PST next Saturday?
Errrghkkkkk.
Well, I don't know how this'll play out. Will our paintball be done so I can see the game? Maybe the second half of the game? Or hey, maybe I should just not watch, just enjoy the paintball experience and avoid the televised pro football agony. Maybe, I dunno. You'll see how that all plays out in next week's standard postgame post -- what I watch, how much, whatever. At this point I still just feel so resigned no matter how much our team has going for us. Again, next post, preview, sometime this week, I'll get into it.
Thought I'd add this, after being generally disturbed over these awful recent records we have against these teams. You'd think we'd have a poor overall record, but remember, through the 53 years of the Chiefs existence, we do have a winning record overall -- 415-392-12. How can that be? Who then do we have winning records against? Well, first, our worst records are against Pittburgh (9-19) and the New York Giants (3-10).
Speaking of Pittsburgh, kinda glad the Steelers didn't get in the playoffs through a Chiefs win today. There was a bit of talk about the Steelers' displeasure with Andy Reid for resting his starters and playing all the reserve guys. Well, Steelers whoevers, for one, those guys almost won the game, and for two, shut your trap because you had eight games this season you could have won yourselves but didn't. You've played the most charmed football for decades, people, 'bout time you got a taste of our curse.
Anyway, most teams we're pretty even with through the years, but the teams against whom we have winning records of some sizable margin? Five teams are worthy of note. We're seven games up on Tennessee, interesting because the Oilers are the team we're best known for beating in the playoffs -- in that AFL championship game in '62 and then in '93. We've also been really dominant over Seattle, and not just when they started out back in the late seventies. Since that awful game in 1990 when Derrick Thomas set the sacks record but we lost on the very last play, we've played the Seahawks 25 times and beaten them 19.
Our best records by winning percentage are against Arizona and Washington. We've only been beaten by the Redskins once in the entire history of Chiefs-Redskins games, comprising nine total meetings. But how about this team we have a pretty dominant history against:
The Packers. How about that. We're 7-3-1 against them, and one of those losses was Super Bowl I. Crazy, huh.
Oh, and something else kinda funny?
We have overall winning records against the Broncos and the Patriots, the two top seeds in the playoffs this year. Yeah, a lot of that success was in the AFL days, especially against the Broncos who we beat 25 of 27 times (yowza!) from the very get-go into the early seventies.
But hey, hey...
Maybe we can get some of that charm back for this run...
_
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Colts at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 11-4
The game started with the Chiefs D stopping the Colts O cold. Yay! Then we got a great punt return from Dexter. Yay! Then our O-line split the Colts defense to get Jamaal a fine touchdown run. Yay!
Yepp, it sure looked like it'd be a long day for...
The Chiefs.
Why? It's simple.
The Curse.
Right after Jamaal's touchdown, it was clear that Odin was so angry at himself for forgetting to activate the standard Colts curse against the Chiefs before the game that he put an extra ruthless spin on it. I mean, really -- that first few minutes of the game, that silly hope we'd have that we'd actually beat the Colts. Ha!
Or was it the ghost of Johnny Unitas? Or the spirits of the American Indian dead buried underneath... Okay okay, I'll spare you. But there is a curse. You can't convince me there isn't. Today's loss makes it 12 in the last 14 games against these guys. Until the Chiefs henceforth beat the Colts five or six straight times -- with a good team and a bad team, in the playoffs and not -- you cannot tell me this blight is just the product of anything far more benign. You can't.
Do you want me to regale you with the gory Colts-vs-Chiefs details from the past several years? Why. For one you probably already know about it. For two I'll be getting to a bit of it when, yes, very possibly we play our first playoff game in two weeks at the Colts yard.
I mean, how about just this, from our second-to-last game from last year? Yepp, it was against the Colts, at Arrowhead, and we actually played so well that we ran the ball on them for a blistering 352 yards rushing -- and still lost. Remember that? Probably not because it was lost in the sputtering out of an abysmal season, but the thing is, if you do remember, that mark is an NFL record -- most rushing yards by any NFL team ever in a losing effort. Neat.
Today featured some of the worst from The Curse. The Chiefs looking like shit and the Colts looking like champions. What's new when these guys meet. Remember the last time the Chiefs beat the Colts? In '11 they had Curtis Painter at quarterback and we still had to come from way behind and squeak out a 4th quarter win. Never mind that whole Painter-filling-in-for-an-injured-Peyton-Manning-helping-the-Colts-stink-so-much-that-they-get-top-quarterback-stud-Andrew-Luck-with-the-first-overall-pick-in-the-draft-the-year-before-the-Chiefs-stink-so-much-they-get-the-first-overall-pick-but-discover-no-such-quarterback-there-for-them-when-they-were-the-one-single-NFL-team-ever-that-needed-one thing. Never mind that. Oh, no, there is no curse, of course not.
So putting the brutal reality of The Curse aside, let's pretend that this is indeed all about who plays better and who is the better team and all that. Today it was proven the Colts are a better team, I admit. No shame in that. The crazy thing is that they really weren't by much. This whole thing just makes it that much more crazy.
The Chiefs curse: Alex Smith had an atrocious game, but so did the whole pass protection team. He got sacked and roughed up and threw picks and coughed up the ball. When he did get the ball off our receivers were still not getting separation. Our vertical passing game, let me just say it with one simple noise: ::Whimper::. Today Dwayne Bowe was back to his pathetic Dr. Jekyll self -- simply not running good, clearing routes. The Colts charm: Andrew Luck managed to get his receivers untracked and wide open at just right times. He really wasn't any major world beater, it's just, his team managed to make the plays. In fact the score should've been 30-7 because on one play Luck threw a perfect strike on a deep pass strike to a receiver who'd beaten our defender and he just dropped it.
The Chiefs curse: The Chiefs stuffed their run game today probably about 99.992815% of the time, but the one time they just didn't their guy got a spectacular run for a critical touchdown. And this was one of the several plays in which we just forgot how to tackle out there. The Colts charm: The Chiefs running game was actually pretty good, but their defense got the key stops just when they needed them. What did I see, the Colts something like 27th in the NFL in run defense? You have got to be kidding me -- them 27th in stopping the run, us with Jamaal Charles, and we score only seven points on the day? Come on. The Curse was turned waaay up today...
The Chiefs curse: Maybe the vibes of Lin Elliot are in the mix somewhere here. Youthfully robust Ryan Succop came in to attempt one field goal, a piddle 40-something yarder, and he utterly, thoroughly, embarrassingly bricked it. The Colts charm: Even though he did miss one, dodderingly aging Adam Vinatieri still easily made three, from all over the place with all kinds of swirls.
The Chiefs curse: Our pass rush is nothing without Justin Houston. That's extraordinarily scary come playoff time, mainly because even if he's in there I'm not sure we're nearly as good as we were the first half of the season, and when he's not in there our pass rush is completely vanilla. The Colts charm: So many little things that went their way it wasn't even funny, much of that was just the feel that they knew everything we were going to do. Give them credit for being exceptionally prepared for us, give them that. But we helped them a lot with not only the uninspired play and the turnovers, the blown coverages and missed marks, but the stultifying penalties. Oh my, it was grotesque. One of them was a taunting call on 3rd-and-long by a usually very composed Dontari Poe. I shake my head even more as I write this.
Damn, that's what makes all of this so scary.
We have a playoff game coming up in two weeks dammit.
We still haven't made a statement win, still. (Oh, and BTW, just FYI, the Colts have already registered three pretty major statement games, beating the Niners, Seahawks, and Broncos -- yeah, all of them this year.)
We've been beast against the least in the NFL, but we look like we're carrying a load of Kryptonite on our backs when we play the Denvers and Indys and San Diegos.
Speaking of which, we have the Chargers next week in San Diego. There's a phenomenally powerful Curse of Sid Gillman against us there, having lost 9 of the last 11 against them. The last time we won there was in 2007.
We have nothing to play for, either, having already clinched the 5th seed. We'll be having to travel to somewhere, some other team's stadium to enjoy playoff hell -- New England, Cincinnati, Baltimore, or Indianapolis. Whatever. Yes, I am very discouraged. I'm just resigned to the inevitable, I just steel myself for it, and if by some miracle The Curse won't crush us again and we actually win then I'll be that much more ecstatic. But as it is...
I know, I know, why should I feel that way. We were 2-14 last year, and we're going to the playoffs this year. What a turnaround. We should be happy. We've been the talk of pro football. We should be proud. We've got a fine team no matter how many think we're overachieving. We should still be exuberant, joyful, contented...
Why can't I be happy about that.
Sorry but... Okay, to maintain some decorum here, I'll just stop talking about it. There'll be plenty of time for that when appropriate. Whatever anything is about anything, for the next two weeks we can revel in being a playoff team -- for now, that's actually a terrific thing, and after today wears off a bit it'll be nice to feel the hopefulness however much there is.
There's that.
_
Yepp, it sure looked like it'd be a long day for...
The Chiefs.
Why? It's simple.
The Curse.
Right after Jamaal's touchdown, it was clear that Odin was so angry at himself for forgetting to activate the standard Colts curse against the Chiefs before the game that he put an extra ruthless spin on it. I mean, really -- that first few minutes of the game, that silly hope we'd have that we'd actually beat the Colts. Ha!
Or was it the ghost of Johnny Unitas? Or the spirits of the American Indian dead buried underneath... Okay okay, I'll spare you. But there is a curse. You can't convince me there isn't. Today's loss makes it 12 in the last 14 games against these guys. Until the Chiefs henceforth beat the Colts five or six straight times -- with a good team and a bad team, in the playoffs and not -- you cannot tell me this blight is just the product of anything far more benign. You can't.
Do you want me to regale you with the gory Colts-vs-Chiefs details from the past several years? Why. For one you probably already know about it. For two I'll be getting to a bit of it when, yes, very possibly we play our first playoff game in two weeks at the Colts yard.
I mean, how about just this, from our second-to-last game from last year? Yepp, it was against the Colts, at Arrowhead, and we actually played so well that we ran the ball on them for a blistering 352 yards rushing -- and still lost. Remember that? Probably not because it was lost in the sputtering out of an abysmal season, but the thing is, if you do remember, that mark is an NFL record -- most rushing yards by any NFL team ever in a losing effort. Neat.
Today featured some of the worst from The Curse. The Chiefs looking like shit and the Colts looking like champions. What's new when these guys meet. Remember the last time the Chiefs beat the Colts? In '11 they had Curtis Painter at quarterback and we still had to come from way behind and squeak out a 4th quarter win. Never mind that whole Painter-filling-in-for-an-injured-Peyton-Manning-helping-the-Colts-stink-so-much-that-they-get-top-quarterback-stud-Andrew-Luck-with-the-first-overall-pick-in-the-draft-the-year-before-the-Chiefs-stink-so-much-they-get-the-first-overall-pick-but-discover-no-such-quarterback-there-for-them-when-they-were-the-one-single-NFL-team-ever-that-needed-one thing. Never mind that. Oh, no, there is no curse, of course not.
So putting the brutal reality of The Curse aside, let's pretend that this is indeed all about who plays better and who is the better team and all that. Today it was proven the Colts are a better team, I admit. No shame in that. The crazy thing is that they really weren't by much. This whole thing just makes it that much more crazy.
The Chiefs curse: Alex Smith had an atrocious game, but so did the whole pass protection team. He got sacked and roughed up and threw picks and coughed up the ball. When he did get the ball off our receivers were still not getting separation. Our vertical passing game, let me just say it with one simple noise: ::Whimper::. Today Dwayne Bowe was back to his pathetic Dr. Jekyll self -- simply not running good, clearing routes. The Colts charm: Andrew Luck managed to get his receivers untracked and wide open at just right times. He really wasn't any major world beater, it's just, his team managed to make the plays. In fact the score should've been 30-7 because on one play Luck threw a perfect strike on a deep pass strike to a receiver who'd beaten our defender and he just dropped it.
The Chiefs curse: The Chiefs stuffed their run game today probably about 99.992815% of the time, but the one time they just didn't their guy got a spectacular run for a critical touchdown. And this was one of the several plays in which we just forgot how to tackle out there. The Colts charm: The Chiefs running game was actually pretty good, but their defense got the key stops just when they needed them. What did I see, the Colts something like 27th in the NFL in run defense? You have got to be kidding me -- them 27th in stopping the run, us with Jamaal Charles, and we score only seven points on the day? Come on. The Curse was turned waaay up today...
The Chiefs curse: Maybe the vibes of Lin Elliot are in the mix somewhere here. Youthfully robust Ryan Succop came in to attempt one field goal, a piddle 40-something yarder, and he utterly, thoroughly, embarrassingly bricked it. The Colts charm: Even though he did miss one, dodderingly aging Adam Vinatieri still easily made three, from all over the place with all kinds of swirls.
The Chiefs curse: Our pass rush is nothing without Justin Houston. That's extraordinarily scary come playoff time, mainly because even if he's in there I'm not sure we're nearly as good as we were the first half of the season, and when he's not in there our pass rush is completely vanilla. The Colts charm: So many little things that went their way it wasn't even funny, much of that was just the feel that they knew everything we were going to do. Give them credit for being exceptionally prepared for us, give them that. But we helped them a lot with not only the uninspired play and the turnovers, the blown coverages and missed marks, but the stultifying penalties. Oh my, it was grotesque. One of them was a taunting call on 3rd-and-long by a usually very composed Dontari Poe. I shake my head even more as I write this.
Damn, that's what makes all of this so scary.
We have a playoff game coming up in two weeks dammit.
We still haven't made a statement win, still. (Oh, and BTW, just FYI, the Colts have already registered three pretty major statement games, beating the Niners, Seahawks, and Broncos -- yeah, all of them this year.)
We've been beast against the least in the NFL, but we look like we're carrying a load of Kryptonite on our backs when we play the Denvers and Indys and San Diegos.
Speaking of which, we have the Chargers next week in San Diego. There's a phenomenally powerful Curse of Sid Gillman against us there, having lost 9 of the last 11 against them. The last time we won there was in 2007.
We have nothing to play for, either, having already clinched the 5th seed. We'll be having to travel to somewhere, some other team's stadium to enjoy playoff hell -- New England, Cincinnati, Baltimore, or Indianapolis. Whatever. Yes, I am very discouraged. I'm just resigned to the inevitable, I just steel myself for it, and if by some miracle The Curse won't crush us again and we actually win then I'll be that much more ecstatic. But as it is...
I know, I know, why should I feel that way. We were 2-14 last year, and we're going to the playoffs this year. What a turnaround. We should be happy. We've been the talk of pro football. We should be proud. We've got a fine team no matter how many think we're overachieving. We should still be exuberant, joyful, contented...
Why can't I be happy about that.
Sorry but... Okay, to maintain some decorum here, I'll just stop talking about it. There'll be plenty of time for that when appropriate. Whatever anything is about anything, for the next two weeks we can revel in being a playoff team -- for now, that's actually a terrific thing, and after today wears off a bit it'll be nice to feel the hopefulness however much there is.
There's that.
_
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Chiefs at Raiders - Week 15 - Record: 11-3
One of the things I learned during the course of this game was that Jamaal Charles has the Jerry
Rice-like dedication to his physical constitution. A disciplined regiment of healthy eating, focused exercising, and overall body management helps make him one of the best players in the NFL.
And if you watched him play today, you'd see the product of such commitment.
First play from scrimmage, screen pass to Jamaal, down the sideline, touchdown Kansas City.
He'd have two more long screen pass touchdowns on the day, as well as one splendid play we ran on third and short. Alex Smith executed play action brilliantly allowing Jamaal to break open against the linebacker and grab a perfect strike for the long touchdown pass play.
Bam. NFL record. No other running back in NFL history has ever had four touchdown pass receptions in a single game.
We could beam about our NFL season-high 56 points -- not even Denver (boo-yahhh) has put up as many as 56 this year. We could cheer about this playoff clinching game -- we're in for sure somehow somewhere. That's always cause for celebration no matter what, especially this year, a year right after the rank unpleasantries of last year.
But I am still concerned about our consistency. Very concerned. We blasted out to a 35-10 lead before Oakland put up a quick 21. 35-31 just like that. Yes, I was nervous. Sure we got some more clutch turnovers (seven total on the day) to really help us out, but please. Their QB was no world-beater in a system that is presently experimenting with two quarterbacks. How many games will a team win trying to find the right mix of quarterback platooning? Anyone for Marques Hagans to come back and run some wildcat for the Chiefs?
Both our pass defense and run defense was very soft today, and, again, both got rescued by some fortuitous picks. Yes, it can be said the defense works hard to make those happen, and I don't disagree. Damn, if we could just get our first-half-of-the-season defense to match the offense we've had the last few games -- damn.
What we need is Justin Houston back in the worst way. But that's the thing.
When playoff time comes around we'll need to have everything blending just right to have success there, something that has never really happened since, well, since you-know-when. It's been a damn long time, that's for sure. I promise I won't get into that for now.
For now we actually still have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the whole thing. Denver got shocked at home by San Diego Thursday night. If Denver can lose one more time and we can beat Indy and San Diego we've got it. If not and things twist and turn in a very possible way we may actually get New England at their place to open things up. Ow-wow-owch.
Denver closes their season at Oakland. Sing with me now, come on, get in the Christmas spirit, ::It's-beginning-to-look-a-lot, like becoming-a-Raiders-fan, everywhere-you-want-Chiefs-good-things-to-happen::
_
Rice-like dedication to his physical constitution. A disciplined regiment of healthy eating, focused exercising, and overall body management helps make him one of the best players in the NFL.
 |
Courtesy ESPN
|
First play from scrimmage, screen pass to Jamaal, down the sideline, touchdown Kansas City.
He'd have two more long screen pass touchdowns on the day, as well as one splendid play we ran on third and short. Alex Smith executed play action brilliantly allowing Jamaal to break open against the linebacker and grab a perfect strike for the long touchdown pass play.
Bam. NFL record. No other running back in NFL history has ever had four touchdown pass receptions in a single game.
We could beam about our NFL season-high 56 points -- not even Denver (boo-yahhh) has put up as many as 56 this year. We could cheer about this playoff clinching game -- we're in for sure somehow somewhere. That's always cause for celebration no matter what, especially this year, a year right after the rank unpleasantries of last year.
But I am still concerned about our consistency. Very concerned. We blasted out to a 35-10 lead before Oakland put up a quick 21. 35-31 just like that. Yes, I was nervous. Sure we got some more clutch turnovers (seven total on the day) to really help us out, but please. Their QB was no world-beater in a system that is presently experimenting with two quarterbacks. How many games will a team win trying to find the right mix of quarterback platooning? Anyone for Marques Hagans to come back and run some wildcat for the Chiefs?
Both our pass defense and run defense was very soft today, and, again, both got rescued by some fortuitous picks. Yes, it can be said the defense works hard to make those happen, and I don't disagree. Damn, if we could just get our first-half-of-the-season defense to match the offense we've had the last few games -- damn.
What we need is Justin Houston back in the worst way. But that's the thing.
When playoff time comes around we'll need to have everything blending just right to have success there, something that has never really happened since, well, since you-know-when. It's been a damn long time, that's for sure. I promise I won't get into that for now.
For now we actually still have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the whole thing. Denver got shocked at home by San Diego Thursday night. If Denver can lose one more time and we can beat Indy and San Diego we've got it. If not and things twist and turn in a very possible way we may actually get New England at their place to open things up. Ow-wow-owch.
Denver closes their season at Oakland. Sing with me now, come on, get in the Christmas spirit, ::It's-beginning-to-look-a-lot, like becoming-a-Raiders-fan, everywhere-you-want-Chiefs-good-things-to-happen::
_
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Chiefs at Redskins - Week 14 - Record: 10-3
What a splendidly extraordinary weekend for Kansas City footballers.
First, I just have to start with this, yesterday Sporting KC won the Major League Soccer title in a thrilling sudden death shootout. From what I'd heard they'd been a pretty good pro soccer team in recent years, but just had that unlucky run in playoff action (oh does that sound familiar). But yesterday they shot down all those demons and played hard and clutch in winning the championship. I don't watch or care much at all for soccer, but hey. Kansas City. Football. For the title. Had to tune in, and how fun it was.
Now it's time for the Chiefs to match it.
As it was today, they annihilated the Redskins in their snowy stadium, 45-10. It was 31-0 before anyone breathed enough to even see that breath in front of them.
See, after my abject disappointment from last week's loss again to the Broncos, I'd taken a couple of days to think about it, and just thought, you know? We do have a pretty good team. I'd made special mention of Alex Smith and Marcus Cooper, and for good reason. Smith was everything we expect of him today, and Cooper -- while still working hard at get grounded with some good pro fundamentals -- helped a stalwart defense get it done.
The real kudos today must go to the special teams, especially the return teams.
Whuh---uh---owwwwww.
Dexter just went off on these guys. Sure you could say Washington's coverage team was very weak, and I got you, I saw that. But still, McCluster's first two returns gave us very short fields and his third went the distance.
Then there was Quintin Demps, who took a kickoff 95 yards to the house. Whatever you say, we have got a very well-coached, fundamentally sound return squad.
I realize right now that I can't not make a long overdue extra extra mention of Jamaal Charles. Over the year in this blog I've really just mentioned him a few times, almost in passing. But much of that is merely because he's already established himself as the key cog in the Chiefs machine. All season long he's gotten it done for us in every which way. Today? Just as spectacular.
For a few times at the beginning of the game we'd tried stretching him to the outside with some weak vanilla handoffs, until the coaches got the clue that on an icy field like this one was you've just got to run straight ahead. And we did. The result? A 151 yard rushing day for Jamaal, and off 19 carries that's a 7.9 average. Did you get that? Seven---point---nine, per-carry average. That's phenomenal even for Jamaal.
Along with that, mention must be made of our O-line. We've lost Branden Albert and Jon Asamoah to injuries for some indefinite period of time, but bless John Dorsey, he got some depth in that area by picking up Geoff Schwartz. Eric Fisher is coming along, and Donald Stephenson has done well over there at left tackle. The key is that we're making things happen for our backs -- hey, Knile Davis even got his first rushing TD today -- and we're giving Alex plenty of time to get off some good passes.
Was this a statement game? I don't know. It was with respect to the fact that we'd blown three close games in a row to division rivals. But it wasn't because it was against a very weak NFC East team -- oh that we were in the NFC East, we'd be world beaters.
Now we've got to prove we can win in our own division. We've got a very pesky Oakland team next week at their place. (Ever get the feeling we're in the wrong conference? You do know that after today's final game against an NFC opponent, for the four-year run of playing all NFC teams, we've got a 13-3 record against them. We've only lost to Detroit, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay. Yeah. We've beaten, ::deep breath:: San Francisco Arizona Seattle St. Louis Minnesota Chicago Green Bay New Orleans Carolina Dallas Philadelphia New York and ::pant pant pant:: Washington.)
Today we could've clinched at playoff spot if Baltimore or Miami lost, but they both won very late. In fact, we almost enjoyed the most brutal irony of Matt Cassel leading the Vikings to victory over the Ravens late to get us in, but Joe Flacco did his great comeback thing, and, well, we'll have to wait until next week.
Thing is, as of this writing, Tennessee is surprising Denver in Denver, I think it was 21-10, but we all know how Denver can easily turn that around. But hey, if that score stands up, we are back to having a pretty decent shot at the division title. We'll see.
For now, a somewhat meaningfully statement game that we needed badly.
_
First, I just have to start with this, yesterday Sporting KC won the Major League Soccer title in a thrilling sudden death shootout. From what I'd heard they'd been a pretty good pro soccer team in recent years, but just had that unlucky run in playoff action (oh does that sound familiar). But yesterday they shot down all those demons and played hard and clutch in winning the championship. I don't watch or care much at all for soccer, but hey. Kansas City. Football. For the title. Had to tune in, and how fun it was.Now it's time for the Chiefs to match it.
As it was today, they annihilated the Redskins in their snowy stadium, 45-10. It was 31-0 before anyone breathed enough to even see that breath in front of them.
See, after my abject disappointment from last week's loss again to the Broncos, I'd taken a couple of days to think about it, and just thought, you know? We do have a pretty good team. I'd made special mention of Alex Smith and Marcus Cooper, and for good reason. Smith was everything we expect of him today, and Cooper -- while still working hard at get grounded with some good pro fundamentals -- helped a stalwart defense get it done.
The real kudos today must go to the special teams, especially the return teams.
Whuh---uh---owwwwww.
Then there was Quintin Demps, who took a kickoff 95 yards to the house. Whatever you say, we have got a very well-coached, fundamentally sound return squad.
I realize right now that I can't not make a long overdue extra extra mention of Jamaal Charles. Over the year in this blog I've really just mentioned him a few times, almost in passing. But much of that is merely because he's already established himself as the key cog in the Chiefs machine. All season long he's gotten it done for us in every which way. Today? Just as spectacular.
For a few times at the beginning of the game we'd tried stretching him to the outside with some weak vanilla handoffs, until the coaches got the clue that on an icy field like this one was you've just got to run straight ahead. And we did. The result? A 151 yard rushing day for Jamaal, and off 19 carries that's a 7.9 average. Did you get that? Seven---point---nine, per-carry average. That's phenomenal even for Jamaal.Along with that, mention must be made of our O-line. We've lost Branden Albert and Jon Asamoah to injuries for some indefinite period of time, but bless John Dorsey, he got some depth in that area by picking up Geoff Schwartz. Eric Fisher is coming along, and Donald Stephenson has done well over there at left tackle. The key is that we're making things happen for our backs -- hey, Knile Davis even got his first rushing TD today -- and we're giving Alex plenty of time to get off some good passes.
Was this a statement game? I don't know. It was with respect to the fact that we'd blown three close games in a row to division rivals. But it wasn't because it was against a very weak NFC East team -- oh that we were in the NFC East, we'd be world beaters.
Now we've got to prove we can win in our own division. We've got a very pesky Oakland team next week at their place. (Ever get the feeling we're in the wrong conference? You do know that after today's final game against an NFC opponent, for the four-year run of playing all NFC teams, we've got a 13-3 record against them. We've only lost to Detroit, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay. Yeah. We've beaten, ::deep breath:: San Francisco Arizona Seattle St. Louis Minnesota Chicago Green Bay New Orleans Carolina Dallas Philadelphia New York and ::pant pant pant:: Washington.)
Today we could've clinched at playoff spot if Baltimore or Miami lost, but they both won very late. In fact, we almost enjoyed the most brutal irony of Matt Cassel leading the Vikings to victory over the Ravens late to get us in, but Joe Flacco did his great comeback thing, and, well, we'll have to wait until next week.
Thing is, as of this writing, Tennessee is surprising Denver in Denver, I think it was 21-10, but we all know how Denver can easily turn that around. But hey, if that score stands up, we are back to having a pretty decent shot at the division title. We'll see.
For now, a somewhat meaningfully statement game that we needed badly.
_
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Broncos at Chiefs - Week 13 - Record: 9-3 (Part II)
Yes, I've already posted on Sunday's game. Yes, I generally only do one post per game, and will most likely not violate that rule too often. But I can't help but think about two key things -- indeed names of Chiefs players -- who've just come up in my mind a lot since Sunday. I just feel like writing a bit about them, and come back with a bit more than my very discouraged post from Sunday.
Please, I'm not apologizing for the post on Sunday. It didn't have much substance, I know, and it was written with a great deal of frustration, I know. But hey, you know. It was quite justified.
In that vein I would like to add that the frustration is not so much about our team per se, because Sunday we did show that we have the talent. We did show that we can play well. We did show that we can mix it up on offense and make things happen. There were just so many things we did well, but what killed us was the incredibly stupid things that happen that keep us from winning these kinds of games.
And the reason I'm so convinced somewhere somehow we've been hexed is it just seems to happen to us so often. Yes yes yes I know stupid things happen to every team, I know.
But sorry, it just seems to afflict the Chiefs more. Wait until playoff time, wait until we get into the grand history of utterly contemptible Chiefs playoff stupidness that has always occured at that time. Just wait, you'll see, I'll be posting about some of it. You remember it.
Some will also say that as much as it was stupid things, it was Peyton Manning. I agree, which leads to that first Chiefs name I want to mention.
Marcus Cooper.
There is no question Manning was playing with him like he was a toddler toy. But ya know? I'm writing to give Cooper credit. The guy is a physically gifted corner, anyone can see that. I believe much of what afflicted us in the Manning-Cooper mismatch was just that Manning had such a sensational game. No, he doesn't always have sensational games. He does lose sometimes. It's just, against us, like Philip Rivers, he's Superman.
I agree he's Superman against most teams, but I think with some hard work, some textbook learning, and some defensive adjustments to help him out, Cooper can help in stunting the effectiveness of a quarterback like Manning. Yes, our entire defensive backfield has certain liabilities that are troubling, but we're not terrible and it isn't all Cooper's fault. Remember, considered by number of scores, in the first Broncos game we only lost 5-3. In this one we lost 5-4.
The other guy who keeps popping up in my brain is a guy I mentioned at the very end of my first post on this game, and I brought up his name in conjunction with the frustration I had about our abject failure to ever draft and develop our own Peyton Manning. I've realized I need to forthwith stop bringing that up for the entirety of the time we have this guy.
Alex Smith.
I said almost in passing that I do like him, but I simply must add that his contribution cannot be a mere mention. It must be proclaimed a bit more boldly.
Sure I can use all the splendid adjectives to describe him, and we already have. The point I want to make here is that I'd rather have him than Peyton Manning. I really would.
Yes, you heard me right. I'm not kidding there. I'd rather have Smith than Manning.
I could mention Manning is way older and won't last much longer, while the Chiefs are going to get at least four or five really good years from Smith. But that's obvious. There are a number of other much more significant, much more practical on-the-field reasons I really like Smith.
One, he is very athletic. He uses his mobility in the pocket brilliantly, and he can use his speed to jet up the field for terrific gains out of broken plays. He did that a number of times on Sunday. I'd actually like to see him run a few more times -- not a lot -- but a few more times on designed plays to take advantage of that.
Two, he is very versatile. It isn't just that he can make something from nothing and run every once in a while, but there is so much you can do with him. In the game on Sunday when we were trying to get back into the game he started shooting misdirection pitches out to his backs and they went for big gains. When play action is called for or we need a rolling pocket, Smith does it wonderfully.
Three, Smith really helps out this receiving corps. One of the things giving a Peyton Manning such a huge advantage is his receivers are tremendous. I've even said on occasion that I think it's more the receivers than Manning. The Chiefs receivers? I've been quite critical of them, but let's look at them to be perfectly honest.
Dwayne Bowe. Again, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When he's Dr. Jekyll he's a sluggish route-runner and a droopy ball-grabber-atter. When he's Mr. Hyde he's a beast of a receiver, blocker, game-breaker. Watching Bowe your arms are up in the air no matter what -- with your hands either high-fiving others like crazy or pulling out large chunks of your hair.
Dexter McCluster. He can really be a fantastic receiver and runner, but then his size often keeps him from getting untracked at critical times. Smith has said he really likes the way he runs routes, and if we can keep getting the ball to him we'll be good.
Donnie Avery. Two awful drops right in a row on Sunday at the most critical moments could not have endeared him to many Chiefs fans. In the Eagles game he was the key offensive component. But he's just not been much since. He has such potential, but compared to what someone like Peyton Manning has, ouch.
A.J. Jenkins and Junior Hemingway. How about we give these guys a chance? They've both shown so much eagerness to be out there and show that they can play, and each have indeed shown some flashes of effectiveness. But they're both very young and inexperienced.
Point to all this is that the Broncos may have Super-Peyton and Super-Receivers, but we've got an extraordinarily resourceful Alex Smith who is so instrumental at making these Chiefs receivers -- in my mind -- better than they really are.
This is not even mentioning the passing to our tight ends, which is Smith's bread and butter, as well as our screen pass package with people like Jamaal Charles which is actually going very well.
My point to all of this? My reasoning behind all this additional stuff I should have included on Sunday?
It is that I do truly see the potential of this team. It is very encouraging. When I watch these guys I am blown away at how well we can, and yes, do play. There is a reason we're 9-3.
Yes yes yes, I still can't deny my aggravation at the stupid things, so many times those ridiculously stupid things that never seem to stop happening. I get nervous about those things, and around playoff time -- you know it, for good reason -- I'll get more nervous.
But hey, at least we have guys on a team who are talented and playing their hearts out every down.
Hey, maybe, just maybe, it'll make any stupid stuff less likely to hurt us.
For once.
_
Please, I'm not apologizing for the post on Sunday. It didn't have much substance, I know, and it was written with a great deal of frustration, I know. But hey, you know. It was quite justified.
In that vein I would like to add that the frustration is not so much about our team per se, because Sunday we did show that we have the talent. We did show that we can play well. We did show that we can mix it up on offense and make things happen. There were just so many things we did well, but what killed us was the incredibly stupid things that happen that keep us from winning these kinds of games.
And the reason I'm so convinced somewhere somehow we've been hexed is it just seems to happen to us so often. Yes yes yes I know stupid things happen to every team, I know.
But sorry, it just seems to afflict the Chiefs more. Wait until playoff time, wait until we get into the grand history of utterly contemptible Chiefs playoff stupidness that has always occured at that time. Just wait, you'll see, I'll be posting about some of it. You remember it.
Some will also say that as much as it was stupid things, it was Peyton Manning. I agree, which leads to that first Chiefs name I want to mention.
Marcus Cooper.
There is no question Manning was playing with him like he was a toddler toy. But ya know? I'm writing to give Cooper credit. The guy is a physically gifted corner, anyone can see that. I believe much of what afflicted us in the Manning-Cooper mismatch was just that Manning had such a sensational game. No, he doesn't always have sensational games. He does lose sometimes. It's just, against us, like Philip Rivers, he's Superman.
I agree he's Superman against most teams, but I think with some hard work, some textbook learning, and some defensive adjustments to help him out, Cooper can help in stunting the effectiveness of a quarterback like Manning. Yes, our entire defensive backfield has certain liabilities that are troubling, but we're not terrible and it isn't all Cooper's fault. Remember, considered by number of scores, in the first Broncos game we only lost 5-3. In this one we lost 5-4.
The other guy who keeps popping up in my brain is a guy I mentioned at the very end of my first post on this game, and I brought up his name in conjunction with the frustration I had about our abject failure to ever draft and develop our own Peyton Manning. I've realized I need to forthwith stop bringing that up for the entirety of the time we have this guy.
Alex Smith.
I said almost in passing that I do like him, but I simply must add that his contribution cannot be a mere mention. It must be proclaimed a bit more boldly.
Sure I can use all the splendid adjectives to describe him, and we already have. The point I want to make here is that I'd rather have him than Peyton Manning. I really would.
Yes, you heard me right. I'm not kidding there. I'd rather have Smith than Manning.
I could mention Manning is way older and won't last much longer, while the Chiefs are going to get at least four or five really good years from Smith. But that's obvious. There are a number of other much more significant, much more practical on-the-field reasons I really like Smith.
One, he is very athletic. He uses his mobility in the pocket brilliantly, and he can use his speed to jet up the field for terrific gains out of broken plays. He did that a number of times on Sunday. I'd actually like to see him run a few more times -- not a lot -- but a few more times on designed plays to take advantage of that.
Two, he is very versatile. It isn't just that he can make something from nothing and run every once in a while, but there is so much you can do with him. In the game on Sunday when we were trying to get back into the game he started shooting misdirection pitches out to his backs and they went for big gains. When play action is called for or we need a rolling pocket, Smith does it wonderfully.
Three, Smith really helps out this receiving corps. One of the things giving a Peyton Manning such a huge advantage is his receivers are tremendous. I've even said on occasion that I think it's more the receivers than Manning. The Chiefs receivers? I've been quite critical of them, but let's look at them to be perfectly honest.
Dwayne Bowe. Again, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When he's Dr. Jekyll he's a sluggish route-runner and a droopy ball-grabber-atter. When he's Mr. Hyde he's a beast of a receiver, blocker, game-breaker. Watching Bowe your arms are up in the air no matter what -- with your hands either high-fiving others like crazy or pulling out large chunks of your hair.
Dexter McCluster. He can really be a fantastic receiver and runner, but then his size often keeps him from getting untracked at critical times. Smith has said he really likes the way he runs routes, and if we can keep getting the ball to him we'll be good.
Donnie Avery. Two awful drops right in a row on Sunday at the most critical moments could not have endeared him to many Chiefs fans. In the Eagles game he was the key offensive component. But he's just not been much since. He has such potential, but compared to what someone like Peyton Manning has, ouch.
A.J. Jenkins and Junior Hemingway. How about we give these guys a chance? They've both shown so much eagerness to be out there and show that they can play, and each have indeed shown some flashes of effectiveness. But they're both very young and inexperienced.
Point to all this is that the Broncos may have Super-Peyton and Super-Receivers, but we've got an extraordinarily resourceful Alex Smith who is so instrumental at making these Chiefs receivers -- in my mind -- better than they really are.
This is not even mentioning the passing to our tight ends, which is Smith's bread and butter, as well as our screen pass package with people like Jamaal Charles which is actually going very well.
My point to all of this? My reasoning behind all this additional stuff I should have included on Sunday?
It is that I do truly see the potential of this team. It is very encouraging. When I watch these guys I am blown away at how well we can, and yes, do play. There is a reason we're 9-3.
Yes yes yes, I still can't deny my aggravation at the stupid things, so many times those ridiculously stupid things that never seem to stop happening. I get nervous about those things, and around playoff time -- you know it, for good reason -- I'll get more nervous.
But hey, at least we have guys on a team who are talented and playing their hearts out every down.
Hey, maybe, just maybe, it'll make any stupid stuff less likely to hurt us.
For once.
_
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Broncos at Chiefs - Week 13 - Record: 9-3
Ehh. What's new.
Not really much to say in this post. Really not. Sorry. It is just all the same.
No vertical passing game. No commanding presence very late in a game when we need a clutch score. No pass defense against a very good quarterback. No resistance against the spirits of the American Indian dead buried underneath Arrowhead Stadium haunting us every damn season the Chiefs play football.
That last thing, I'm serious. It's still there. There's still a curse, dammit.
Okay, okay, call the curse "Peyton Manning" of you will, a guy who just never loses to us. Funny, at one point they said the only other time he threw for five touchdowns in a game against us was in a game that was the only one I know we've beaten him in, that one in 2004. Yeah, even when we beat him he torches us for 5 TD's. But, honestly, I can't think of another game he's lost to us. Not one.
Thing is, I don't want to hear "Well it's Peyton Manning, so cut us a break." We should be beating Peyton Manning. It'd just be nice that with a fine quarterback like Manning, that our defense would just be better. That's all. That'd be nice.
As it is, I expect us to finish the season 10-6, maybe 11-5. We'll then go into a place like Indianapolis or Cincinnati, face a really good quarterback, get beaten yet again in the first playoff game we play, and then...
And then...
I dunno. I honestly don't.
All I know is there has to be a curse. There has to be.
No team can go this-frinkin'-long without that drafted and developed quarterback like we have, and really make waves in any playoff action. Teams with great quarterbacks can, and always will.
Thing is, I still like Alex Smith. I do. He shows he does have first-overall-pick-in-the-draft quality. I will also never give up on this team. I won't. Watching him connect with A.J. Jenkins on 3rd-and-long from the end zone against an all-out Broncos blitz was thrilling.
I love my team.
But damn.
_
Not really much to say in this post. Really not. Sorry. It is just all the same.
No vertical passing game. No commanding presence very late in a game when we need a clutch score. No pass defense against a very good quarterback. No resistance against the spirits of the American Indian dead buried underneath Arrowhead Stadium haunting us every damn season the Chiefs play football.
That last thing, I'm serious. It's still there. There's still a curse, dammit.
Okay, okay, call the curse "Peyton Manning" of you will, a guy who just never loses to us. Funny, at one point they said the only other time he threw for five touchdowns in a game against us was in a game that was the only one I know we've beaten him in, that one in 2004. Yeah, even when we beat him he torches us for 5 TD's. But, honestly, I can't think of another game he's lost to us. Not one.
Thing is, I don't want to hear "Well it's Peyton Manning, so cut us a break." We should be beating Peyton Manning. It'd just be nice that with a fine quarterback like Manning, that our defense would just be better. That's all. That'd be nice.
As it is, I expect us to finish the season 10-6, maybe 11-5. We'll then go into a place like Indianapolis or Cincinnati, face a really good quarterback, get beaten yet again in the first playoff game we play, and then...
And then...
I dunno. I honestly don't.
All I know is there has to be a curse. There has to be.
No team can go this-frinkin'-long without that drafted and developed quarterback like we have, and really make waves in any playoff action. Teams with great quarterbacks can, and always will.
Thing is, I still like Alex Smith. I do. He shows he does have first-overall-pick-in-the-draft quality. I will also never give up on this team. I won't. Watching him connect with A.J. Jenkins on 3rd-and-long from the end zone against an all-out Broncos blitz was thrilling.
I love my team.
But damn.
_
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