Chiefs Playoff Preview, Part V

If I'd had my druthers I'd watch no football until next Saturday at 1:35 PST. But I am among beloved family members who like having NFL playoff games on, so, well, there ya go.

I'm here now having to endure this Eagles-Bears game, and sure enough I happened upon them showing a shot of Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy together there on the television, split screen. Uhh. Yeah. Both previous offensive coordinators under Andy Reid with the Chiefs. That's rich.

A bit later they showed all kinds of graphics about how amazingly awesomely amazing Nick Foles was in the postseason last year. Yeah, the Chiefs backup quarterback the year before, he finished last season tearing up the field there winning the Super Bowl for the Eagles.

Thing is Nick Foles was never going to be the long-term answer for the Chiefs, and neither was Alex Smith for that matter, which moved us to pick up Patrick Mahomes -- so it's worked out for the Chiefs good. In fact at one point in this game the Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky tossed a fine sidearm pass and as the announcers crowed about it, I thought, that's Patrick Mahomes, uh-huh. Sure enough, right after that the announcers added, "That was like Patrick Mahomes there."

How fun is that.

For now.

You see, yesterday I had to drudge through the Colts defeating the Texans, which meant we all couldn't help but feel that deja-vu all over again.

The Chiefs are hosting the Colts next Sunday.

Yes, yes it did make me think of that New Years Eve day back in 1994 when the Colts beat the Chargers and the Chiefs would get the Colts at Arrowhead to move on the conference title game. And please, it wasn't just the kicker everyone wishes they could forget -- Marty had a miserable day calling plays, Steve Bono did horribly, Marcus Allen was underwhelming, and the temperature was 800 degrees below zero.

Then there was that first weekend of 2004, when the Colts beat the Broncos to move on -- yes, to play the Chiefs at Arrowhead. The Colts were about to face one of the greatest offenses in the history of the game -- in fact I'd seen a thing the NFL Network put out that showed the three year period of 2001-2003 was the greatest by any running back in NFL history. Priest Holmes. You remember him, his phenomenal exploits. Thing is, in that divisional playoff game our defense just could not make a single 3rd down stop, ever, and we had to agonize through yet another one-&-out.

So yeah, it was agonizing yesterday, watching the Colts and their fine offensive line do in the Texans. The Chiefs do have a fine pass rush with Justin Houston, Dee Ford, and Chris Jones. We do have decent cover guys in Kendall Fuller, Steve Nelson, and believe it or not Charvarius Ward, and a perennial All-Pro safety Eric Berry who can bring it all together nice and tight.

So yeah, can our fine pass rush actually help us win against a team that does very well against the pass rush?

Maybe, but again, the game turns on one, single thing. Once again:

Will the Chiefs avoid suffering through that insane, stupid, crazy-ass thing that happens every time they take the football field past Week 17?

That is really the key, and because yesterday's events evoked the trauma of previous Colts-oriented experiences, I just don't have much confidence, I don't. That's okay though, because for one, I can keep my expectations to the most minimum level they must be, and for two, I don't have to have that confidence. Hey, I'm just a piddle little nobody blogger, what difference does it make what I think about our chances. I'm just holding zero expectations for the therapy -- thanks for joining me in this group therapy session, really.

So yeah, I don't have to have any confidence. I do like that many Chiefs fans are saying they do, many of them enthusiastic about finally taking down the Colts this weekend. That's nice. But it doesn't matter whether they have it or I don't. It just matters that

The Chiefs do.

And from what I've gathered, they are brimming with confidence. That's very cool. When Patrick Mahomes was asked, "So what do you think about the notoriously horrific Chiefs playoff game past?" he replied, "This is a new generation."

I love this guy.

Here's to hoping that confidence turns into the major got-it required to actually get this team to the conference title game in Kansas City for the first time ever.
___