Chargers at Chiefs - Week 1 - Record: 1-0

Well whaddya know.

Very nice comeback.

Down 27-10 in the 4th quarter, how about that...

The Chiefs meant business and got the job done.

10 play, 70+ yard drive in overtime, capped by an Alex Smith option touchdown run, to win a game that was utterly, totally lost.

Yes, this is one of the greatest comebacks in Chiefs history.

Yes yes yes yes yes...

Our defense recovered from its sluggishness the first three quarters. Alex Smith finally finally finally decided to trust his arm and throw the football down the field. Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West were the heart of our team, running with focused ferocity.

That pass Smith made to Ware on the sideline in overtime is evidence enough. Smith can do the job. Can he just have confidence in himself to do it?

This was a tale of two games, really. It was the game of the 4th quarter, of the never-give-up final-10-regular-season-games-of-last-season team, and the game of the first three quarters, the one of the five-of-the-first-six-games-of-last-season choking flailing team.

Here's the story of the first three quarters of Chiefs football, really, transcribed as I was watching what looked like a train wreck. Everything written here between the *** marks was put down during the 3rd quarter when I was watching a listless uncompetitive team:

***

One thing you really need to have happen in order to be a truly Super Bowl contending team, no matter how good you are, is to enjoy your strengths staying strong and your weaknesses becoming strengths.

For the Chiefs this year, it is looking like the reverse.

Right out of the gate our weaknesses are very huge and unwieldy, and our strengths seem to be made of balsa wood. Shall we review?

A strength? Our resourceful quarterback and more experienced slate of wide receivers. When behind 14-3, then 21-3, then... can Alex Smith really be a class quarterback? Thing is, I'd thought these wide-outs would help him out, but they were non-existent after the first few catches of the game. This team will go nowhere unless they can stretch the field, and yeah, not being able to do so has been a weakness of ours for, um, how many eons?

A weakness? Our run defense. How long ago did I say we need a Ray Lewis type there to do his work. Well, he's not there again in a big way. Wide open lanes for their runners to slash into, just a great big void of any red and gold to stop them. And this makes a QB like Philip Rivers that much better. That's just a nightmare for any opponent, making Rivers better than he already is.

A strength? Our offensive line, stable and now including super stud tackle Mitchell Schwartz. Alas, we gave up critical sacks and could not get our runners untracked. Not crisp, not clean, and just not strong.

A weakness? Our defensive backs. Marcus Peters just had a nightmare of a game. Yes he was up against Keenan Allen who was schooling us before he was injured, but still. John Dorsey went all out and picked up three draft-pick D-backs, will they step it up? Right now that is a lot to ask for. As it is, today Rivers just carved us up like he used to.

A strength? Field position and time of possession. This has been completely reversed today. Colquitt was not great punting, the Chargers had amazing field position and Rivers -- well, you know. Last year in one of our games we did fantastic at keeping Rivers off the field, but today he's been out there all day, even once running 10 yards to pick up 1st down. Hey, hey Chiefs D-line? That's embarrassing.

A weakness? Getting some clutch 3rd down conversions. I saw the graphic, last year the Chiefs were 19th in the NFL in 3rd down conversion rating. Ugh. Today we were worse. Of course we were, that's the theme of this post, isn't it? And another thing related to this, something I've seen for some time. Alex Smith simply cannot beat a blitz. I don't know why teams don't just blitz every down! In one of those last drives Smith got blitzed and he escaped it! Yet he couldn't complete a pass -- where were the should've-been-wide-open receivers?!

I'm now concerned about that list of players I posted in my preview post, the one about the draft picks we'd had from 2012 to 2014. I'm concerned that I just didn't see the playmakers I'd love to have seen. Yeah, Travis Kelce was there, and De'Anthony Thomas -- and while Thomas was inactive today his "heir apparent" Tyreek Hill had a nice touchdown today.

But still, where are our playmakers?

Where where where?

I think too -- not that there isn't a Chiefs fan who doesn't think this -- that not having Justin Houston out there is just a very very very bad thing. Our pass rush -- another of those weaknesses -- was completely non-existent. Rivers had all day to pass. So Justin Houston isn't there. Where is anyone else? The Chargers pass rush got the job done. We were worse than milquetoast.

Our entire defense was worse than milquetoast. It seems with our offense can still be decent, but the key question is now...

Will we make the adjustments?

Ahem, can we make the adjustments?

I'd really like the think that there is genuine hope for this season because of our experience last year when we agonized over the first six weeks -- not unlike the experience of this game today -- and then thrilled to the Chiefs splendid reversal.

So, do we have genuine strengths or are they all illusions? I mean, really, are those strengths we just know we have on our offense just the result of looking at them with rose-colored glasses -- really? Do our intractable weaknesses simply mean this will be yet another lost season?

Really, this was a game we should've easily won, against a considered mediocre team, at home... What's with this?

***

Then there was the 4th quarter and overtime.

Now I left all those thoughts I had about our first three quarters there, left them all there because they are still concerns. They still are.

What happened when this team woke up?

Well, again, Alex Smith decided he wanted to play like he wanted to. That's key. One thing he did was started throwing to Travis Kelce. What a difference that made. And he reintroduced himself to Jeremy Maclin. Dang it Alex, trust your receivers. Maclin, I mean, wow. Add to that our O-line picking it up, albeit against a tiring Chargers D-line.

Another factor was that stamina. My son told me early in the game the Chiefs were deeper and would outlast the Chargers. That happened. We just looked sharper, faster, quicker from the end of the 3rd quarter on. Melvin Gordon was practically invisible in the second half.

You have to admit that the Chargers' loss of Keenan Allen was crushing. The Chargers had their way with us when he was in there. After he was lost the Chargers just slogged too much.

And how about winning the toss in overtime. Keep Rivers off the field and let our momentum carry us through overtime. That was critical too. Other fortuitous things like that 17-yard Chargers punt that put us in great field position for the game-tying score was terrific.

One thing we can take with us is that the Chiefs DO NOT GIVE UP.

How about that strength?

It is good to be a Chiefs fan today.
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