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

There is something that I really started contemplating much more deeply last night, before the Niners-Chargers game, something that got much more calcified in my mind during that game. I watched it hoping the Niners would beat the Chargers, and for a while it looked like they would. I usually don't do that, watch any other game, but last night I did. I really shouldn't have because it was kind of depressing, even though it really didn't have much impact on what the Chiefs have had facing them. They'd still have to beat San Diego next week.

But watching Philip Rivers at work yet again.

Damn.

How on earth does this team ever lose a game with him at quarterback? I'd even heard he had a really bad back or something viciously bad with his physical constitution, needing surgery, all that. And yet he still carved up the 49ers. Just blistered them on the way to a major comeback win. I'd heard the Chargers had a couple other clutch wins earlier this year.

That's because even with all the stuff with the Chargers this year, whatever injuries and weaknesses they have...

They got it.

A lot of that is just that they have a quarterback who's got it. No matter what, no matter how he's already thrown an earlier pick or a wasted a play on an incompletion or gotten sacked, he still hangs in there and makes some big play sometime. I mean, I really don't know why the Chargers ever need to punt. If Rivers had a whole four plays to get 10 yards, they would never lose.

Why in blazes am I speaking about Philip Rivers and the Chargers when this is a Chiefs blog?

It is simple.

While there are a number of teams in the NFL who got it, I very regretfully have to confess that, yes -

The Chiefs don't got it.

Yes, I am writing in the emotion of the moment right now, I understand that. I'll be fine, thank you for your concern. But even before this game I'd been thinking about this, just thinking deeply about when we can authentically say at any time in our history that we got it.

What in blazes am I talking about with this got-it thing? I believe most NFL fans would understand what I'm talking about. It is that extraordinarily powerful intangible that just courses through an entire organization. It starts with the top management and just filters through everyone on the field. And yes, I do believe there is a profound spiritual, supernatural dynamic involved.

For instance, a team that has got it and has for some time is the New England Patriots. That may be obvious, but recently I found out something after coming across a blogger who pointed it out: That New England has had pretty average drafts over the past several years -- really no better than anyone else. What they do is deftly find undervalued players and know exactly where to plug them in.

The other thing is the quarterback having got it. Does Tom Brady got it? Absolutely. Philip Rivers's got it. Aaron Rodgers definitely does. Andrew Luck, I think does and will win big in the playoffs sometime to show that.

Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback we faced today, he's got it.

And this Pittsburgh team we played today, they got it.

Sorry. I'm really sorry --

The Chiefs don't got it.

And here's the worst part.

I really don't think the Chiefs have ever had that got-it to be considered anything, really. Ever, in their history.

What about the 1969 World Champion Chiefs? What about those Chiefs teams of the entire 60's?

Okay, they may have had a little got-it. Len Dawson definitely had it, yes. But as I was thinking about all this, I just thought that Chiefs team was so talented for that one short run, I mean, really, even though their franchise had three AFL titles, there were several years they weren't even close to making the AFL postseason.

They had fantastic players to dominate, finally, in 1969. Yes, I can't say they didn't have some got-it, it's almost axiomatic that you can't win a Super Bowl without it, but here's the point.

Other than that, really, when have the Chiefs ever got it so you just know they're going to compete?

Really, when?

Right now we're looking at another 21-year drought of not winning a playoff game. Did you catch that?

Just for the record, as of now we still have a slight chance to get into the playoffs this year. We do indeed need another 2006-like miracle. We need to win next week but we also need Baltimore, Houston, and Buffalo all to lose. And even then, we're almost certain to face Indianapolis again, and you know what happens whenever that happens.

Now, I'm not going to be completely down on our team and its chances. What I am saying is I look at our current 20-year playoff win drought and think, "What, another one? We had one from '70 all the way to '90 (21 years)! How could any team have two 20-year (plus!) playoff win droughts in their history?!!"

A team like the Chiefs can, that's who, a team who just cannot ever get any sustained period of rich, vibrant got-it so they can actually be meaningfully successful.

From my thinking, I consider the Chiefs only had two times they had any even remotely sustained got-it, and even then it wasn't much. Feel free to disagree, that's cool. But this is just what I think.

In the early 90's we had some got-it even during the years around having Joe Montana. Those two years he was on the team we probably had the most got-it of any time in our history. But then we had the whole Marty Schottenheimer thing going, I mean as wonderful as the guy was, he had not-got-it tattooed all over his body.

The other time was when we had Dick Vermeil, Trent Green, Priest Holmes, and that splendid offensive line, in the early/mid-2000's. Our weak defense kept us from winning any playoff games, but hey, we got to taste it. Guess there's that.

I will add that I'm positive we would've had tons of got-it after that nice taste in 1981, but only if we'd kept Marv Levy and drafted Jim Kelly or Dan Marino. I'm never one to cry too much about that no matter how much so many Chiefs fans still do, point here is we could've had the got-it if that happened.

But then, there presents one of the important components of all this. You know what it is.

Having that drafted and developed quarterback.

Well, we've already gone over that to death, and there's no question that Ben Roethlisberger's got it while Alex Smith, well...

Let's get right to it shall we. This was indeed a classic game demonstrating the classic distinction between the Steelers got-it and the Chiefs not-got-it. Please know, I hate this, I really do. I want the Chiefs to have it as much as anything. But I also look at the truth.

To start, just some history. The Steelers have had got-it ever since the Chiefs lost whatever amount they had back in 1971. Every single year since then the Steelers have definitely had got-it.  This game was just a brazenly ruthless microcosm of that truth. Point of fact, head-to-head against the Chiefs the Steelers are now 20-9. The last time the Chiefs won a game in Pittsburgh was, get this, that final game of the '86 season that propelled us into the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Remember that game, with all the terrific special teams play that got us the 24-19 win? Ahem: last time we won there. Since then we're 0-5 in Pittsburgh, including today.

Oh, and that one shining moment for the Chiefs in Steelers-Chiefs history? Our 1993 playoff win over them (on January 8th 1994)? Are you all "Woo-hoo!" about that? (::Whimper:: We settle for so little...) Since that day. we've won one playoff game, and that was just the following week against a thoroughly dysfunctional Houston Oilers team. Otherwise, after that, we've had zero playoff wins while the Steelers have had ::gulp:: 17. The Chiefs have had eight postseason victories in their entire franchise history. Here they are. Hou (62) Buf (66) NYJ Oak Min (69) Oak (91) Pit YAY! Hou (93). Tha's it. If I were to put down all of Pittsburgh's postseason wins, the Internet would explode.

To the game.

I noted the Chiefs got-it parts, as well as the not-got-it parts. And please, I am trying to be fair. But you'll note that the got-it/not-got-it distinctions go beyond simply plays-made or plays-not-made. These two teams were reasonably evenly matched if you just looked at talent and that kind of stuff. Each team had certain facets it did better than the other.

Point is, it came down to the Steelers distinct abundance of got-it and the Chiefs lack thereof. Watch.

The got-its for the Chiefs:

- Albert Wilson. I liked how they used him and got him in the mix a lot. He showed he could be a fine go-to guy. I liked that.

- The fake field goal. Fine, well-executed, and surprising. Cool, we're being imaginative, and boldly so. A very good thing.

- Keeping Roethlisberger off the field for solid amounts of time. We actually may have been able to pull this game out by successfully using the strategy that won us the San Diego game earlier, keeping their got-it QB off the field. And we could've if... well -- to the not-got-it's later.

- One single scramble play by Smith, inadvertent, of course -- Andy Reid would never read this blog and discover what'll make his team dynamite: that designed scramble play I've been enthusiastically talking about, but, oh well. The one time Smith actually got cleanly away from the rush, he ran for a first down. If he were in more open space and taking his time with his receivers running arranged routes, it'd've been even better, and done more often it'd've been great for many more plays.

Annnd, that's it. Please, I don't want to take anything away from the fine passes Smith did throw, the catches made by Kelce and Bowe and others, De'Anthony's quickness, the decent pass rush, our tacklers holding their good back to less than 100 yards, or any of the other fine things we did -- all standard fine things. But face it, we simply didn't finish, and on a scale of necessary got-it points amounting to anything we can start counting on for extensive playoff success, which is a total numerical value of abooouut 473, the Chiefs got-it total value today was about 13.8, I'd say.

Now for the Chiefs not-got-its. Good thing you don't need paper for a web blog. Just so you know, there's so much of it I'll just go in general chronological order as the game progressed.

- We only got a FG from that fake FG. Kelce almost ran it in for the score, but he was stopped at the five, and we couldn't convert from there. So even one of those good potential got-it kinds of things was totally not-got-it. Got-it teams score touchdowns after those things.

- We sacked Roethlisberger deep in Pittsburgh territory, he fumbled, we recovered (a turnover for us! Yay!) The officials called it an incomplete pass, but he definitely fumbled. They then got to punt, we drove down, but only to get a FG. Very not-got-it, especially since Reid could've used his review-the-play opportunity, but didn't.

- A Roethlisberger pass was batted high in the air, but in very not-got-it fashion there was no Chiefs defender around to pick it. Later in that drive the Steelers got one of their touchdowns, helped by a holding call on our D-back after we'd already done great keeping them at bay close to our goal line.

- Alex Smith was sacked a bunch of times again today, what's new. Thing is, both Rivers last night and Roethlisberger today did something Smith just doesn't do. And they always do this. They can throw the ball on a rope to their receiver even when the pocket is -- to use a phrase -- right in their back pocket. Roethlisberger threw one of his touchdowns today as he was getting crushed, ironically hitting one of his wide receivers. That the Chiefs can't do this is so not-got-it.

- And I'm not all over Alex Smith on this point. Let's face it. Our offensive line is offensive. It just is. And I thought we had a No. 1 overall pick a couple years ago -- with which, yes, we got an O-lineman. Not putting it all on Eric Fisher, he's actually been okay. Rodney Hudson too. But losing Jeff Allen to injury and Jon Asamoah and Branden Albert to free agency I really believe has killed us in this area. It is so not-got-it to have one of the best O-lines in NFL history in early 00's and have diddly postseason success from that. Sheezzz...

- With under a minute left in the first half with the Chiefs deep in Steeler territory, De'Anthony gets a pass and is stopped just short of the 1st down after the officials had said he had it. The spot was reviewed and overturned despite the TV ref saying there just wasn't enough evidence to overrule it. We face 4th and inches, go for it, and Charles is stopped on a vanilla run up-the-middle destined to fail. No points. Talk about not-got-it.

- I believe this play was one of the plays run before the half, I forget, but I'll mention it here anyway. We're close to their goal line as we were often today (note how many touchdowns we got...), Smith throws a back-shoulder pass strike to Bowe in the end zone. I'm thinking as it is right there in his clutches, there it is, finally the WR TD, that's it, finally finally finally. Of course, Bowe can't pull it in enough to keep the defender from getting his hands in enough to swat it away. I mean it was firmly in Bowe's hands for a good second -- until... well, you know...

Intermission. Well, in football it's called half-time, but the intermission here simply for a breather from the breathtaking nature of the got-it/not-got-it contrast between these two teams. It is uncanny. More commentary later about that, but now, the second half. (The insane thing is that the score was still a very close Pittsburgh 10, Kansas City 6)

- Travis Kelce almost does another fumbly thing after being down, just like he did in the Arizona game! This time it was even more convincing he was down with possession, yet the Pittsburgh coach wanted a review. Thing is, we ran a play just as the coach threw his red flag, and for the two seconds of that play's initial progression it was clear it started opening up as our best running play of the game. Nope, the play was whistled dead. Tomlin threw the flag just in time, it was reviewed, and the Kelce play stood anyway. See, you can't make this stuff up. And yes I know every team has these idiotic things happen to them, but the whole got-it thing comes down to this: not allowing those things to critically hurt you like they do the Chiefs, and not having them happen too much like they do with the Chiefs. The scathing reality here is the contrast between a team that has got-it by the truckloads, the Steelers, and one that notoriously doesn't, the Chiefs. It just couldn't be more pronounced than it was today.

- Todd Haley is the Steelers offensive coordinator, and they put up an infographic showing his offense as No. 1 in NFL. There ya go. I mean really, do we need to go on with this? I will because I'm just a masochist that way.

- Jamaal Charles fumbled deep in Steelers territory, and they reviewed it, and it was a fumble, but so close that the TV ref was saying it was not a fumble. But because, apparently according to the explanation anyway, it was so fast and the moving of Charles body was so continuous, you couldn't say it wasn't a fumble. Really, I'm not kidding you, I laugh when I write that because it is so not-got-it.

- Albert Wilson broke wide open deep down the middle of the field, and sure enough, Smith misses him.

- We had a total of 28 yards rushing late in the game. Again, offensive offensive line. Charles could go nowhere. Thing is, when we play these got-it teams, they just seem to know what we're doing. Maybe they do! But then that is definitely a hallmark of being a got-it team, really, just being a step ahead of the opponent. The Chiefs have done that about three or four games in their history I think, maybe five. But to have got-it means you can do it for long, long periods of time. ::Sigh:: I look forward to the day we'll be able to regularly do that on game day, some eon from now... Coming into today's game I knew nothing about the Steelers defense. I discovered it wasn't ranked very highly, but then, sure enough, got-it team versus not-got-it team: they were just sharper, faster, quicker, smarter...

- The penalties. We just got nailed with so many penalties, and I'm not even saying we didn't deserve them, but most were close, even questionable. To be fair the Steelers had a taunting penalty against them that was stupid and shouldn't have been called. It gave us a 1st down after a pathetic 3rd and 17 play, but yeah, they didn't have to worry, we didn't do anything with it. But again, againagainagainagainagain... erghck... this is a profound distinction between that team and ours. The not-got-it team just suffers much more from its penalties. In fact here's one, from earlier. Smith gets shoved in the backfield long after the play ends and they're flagged for roughing the passer, wholly justified. But Kelce does some goofy pulling a Steeler lineman off the pile. Unsportsmanlike. Offsetting, replay the down. Who does that hurt more? I mean, you gotta be kidding me!

There's more, really, there's actually more. There're about half-a-dozen notes of other things I'm just too lazy (and too worn out!) to get down here.

The final was 20-12, but it wasn't even that close. It was almost as if the Steelers knew they had the got-it thing going and just toyed with us. They could've swatted a swooping eagle at 70 yards with their left guard's nose hair. Meanwhile we looked like we were straining a gnat from our asses just to do anything but simply had the overwhelming not-got-it mercilessly crushing us.

And here's the final touch. The network reviewed the final game from last season, Chiefs-Chargers, as if that was extra motivation for them. That was when our loss to the Chargers kept the Steelers out of the playoffs. Thing is, the Chargers had the help of a miserably blown call by the officials, and damn it it wasn't as if we weren't trying to win. It is as if today the Steelers brutally exploited our not-got-it as punishment for having such woeful not-got-it in that game last year.

That's nice.

I mean. This thing is one cruel mnkhfnnkger.

And you know? One final bruising anecdote to the whole Steelers-Chiefs nightmare. Remember back in 2005? Remember that season? If you don't it is typically vomitous got-it/not-got-it. I remember being in a pizza place for my son's soccer team post-season party, and seeing that graphic up there on the TV set there, you know the one, about who's got what playoff spot so far. It was after 12 games. There were the Chiefs sitting comfortably at 8-4, and the Steelers were on the outside at 7-5. In my tiny tiny tiny little brain I actually thought, "Cool, we've got this, we're in and the Steelers are out. Cool, for once already."

Wellll, the Chiefs went off the following week and barely lost to Dallas then lost again to the Giants, but won their last two games to finish 10-6. The Steelers ran the table, winning every single game in the regular season (to bump the Chiefs from the playoffs) and then every single game in the playoffs including a charmed Super Bowl win over the Seahawks aided by the notoriously bad officiating that destroyed Seattle's chances. There ya go.

It is one really cruel mnkhfnnkger.

So here we are, shades of 2006, sitting at 8-7, wondering what the hell happened to our season, and sure enough hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that we really actually truly fabulously start having major got-it next week.

As it is, we need a Chiefs win, a Browns win (over Baltimore), a Jacksonville win (over Houston), and a New England win (over Buffalo)* just to get a playoff game we can never seem to win anyway. Yes I feel very resigned right now, but hey, I did back in 2006, and then, the miracle happened on New Year's Eve.

The reason I feel most resigned is I'm just tired of just not seeing the got-it happen for us, I just am. Not seeing it for long long long agonizing periods of time. Uhh. I will keep hoping it comes and stays, I really will. I always will, no matter how ugly this all gets, no matter how much I have to write all this for the therapy.
_

(*Apparently Buffalo only needs to lose once, and as of this writing they are behind Oakland by a small margin at the half. How about that. Gotta be a Raiders fan now.)
_