It is a tale of the Packers and... the Chiefs. It is a tale of the Patriots and... the Chiefs. It is a tale of the Ravens and... the Chiefs. It is just as much a tale of the Steelers and... the Chiefs.
Before I commence, here is my post about yesterday's debacle. This post here is really an addendum to that. New stuff, but still kind of the same stuff. The same therapy-oriented stuff. Yeah. I'm with you. ::Siiiigh::...
Since 1989 when the Chiefs started a run of playoff appearances that any team would covet, 15 in all, (7 in the 90s, 6 so far this decade with another likely this year) under the tutelage of three Hall-of-Fame head coaches, those other four teams just mentioned have 12 Super Bowl titles. They've got a half-dozen or so other Super Bowl appearances and many great playoff victories. Each one of those teams individually have, really, had not many more playoff appearances than the Chiefs have over that time period. (Just FYI, the Patriots have had 20 appearances in that time. Just not that many more than the Chiefs...)
My point is the Chiefs have been, for the most part, just as dominant as those teams have over those years and -- with the exception of some thrilling games and fun wins and fine play by excellent players for which we should all be very proud --
Have nothing to show for it.
The reason I bring up those particular teams is just to point out what they've done recently. Right now, yet again, all are playing winning football. But some things they have done that the Chiefs haven't done demonstrate why those teams will continue to win into the postseason and the Chiefs -- well...
- Yesterday the Packers took care of business against a team they should have taken care of business against, the Panthers. They won 24-16. I know little about that game, but whatever happened, they took care of business in a close affair. Look back at two weeks ago when the Chiefs played the Packers, were down by 7 and punted the ball away on 4th-&-3 with, what, about 4 minutes left, and never saw the ball again. The Packers just took care of business and made the 1st downs like they were supposed to late in that game.
- Yesterday the Patriots did not play, had a bye, but with the exception of a few random slip-ups -- that crazy last second pass-and-pitch play the Dolphins had to beat them last year comes to mind -- the Patriots take care of business. All the time. Do you remember in 1996 when Sports Illustrated predicted a Chiefs-Packers Super Bowl? Well, the Packers made it -- against the Patriots. The Chiefs didn't even make the playoffs. I'm kinda thinking the same thing will happen this year, Patriots-Packers -- sadly after all the rabid talk through the year about the Chiefs being a Super Bowl shoe-in.
- Yesterday the Ravens destroyed the Bengals -- I mention this because the Chiefs should have destroyed the Titans yesterday. Point being, the Ravens took care of business early and often, just like the Chiefs should have. I truly fear meeting the Ravens again in the playoffs. That quarterback they have, Lamar Jackson, is getting better and better -- and right now, I'm sorry but he'd have a field day carving up our soft-butter defense.
- Yesterday the Steelers were ahead of a fine Rams team 17-12, and with a couple of minutes left, plenty of time in the NFL, the Rams had the ball just needing to score that touchdown -- and sure enough, the Steelers got the stop. Yesterday the Chiefs had a Titans team way not-as-good as the Rams in the exact same predicament and we let them score a touchdown -- we made it look so easy for them. The Steelers meant business. We didn't.
Two teams: the Chiefs and any one of those other teams, teams who don't have any more talent than the Chiefs have, or even have had, annnnnd...
Well, really, you know the story. Yesterday's set of games was just another chapter in the saga.
To give Andy Reid credit, to give all the players credit, yesterday's game just seemed like yet another time we just got hammered by the Four Horsemen of the Football Apocalypse. Yes every team goes through it, they do, they get the worst visits from the Four Horsemen. I know. It's just... the Chiefs. As good a team as they have, it's just... you know.
What are the Four Horsemen? You know what they are:
Turnovers. We'll start with that one. This year the turnovers have killed us, when we've always seemed to be the ones who take advantage of them the most. In the Colts game LeSean McCoy's fumble. Critical. In the Texans game another fumble by McCoy. Critical. Yesterday the one that stood out was Damien Williams' fumble they returned for a touchdown. We're up 10-0 easily driving for another score and that happens. And it is also the turnovers we're not getting. Frank Clark not making that easy pick-six is the best example. We even were blessed with a poor call getting a turnover when their QB lost the ball but did pin it to his side, had possession, but we swooped in and took it -- the officials gave it to us when they shouldn't have. Even when an official makes the wrong call in our favor do we end up losing.
Penalties. The 1st half penalties were crushing. Again, this is legitimately on Andy Reid. We cleaned it up in the 2nd half, but still, instead of being ahead 28-3 at the half, as we should have been, the game was tied 13-13. Please. One of those penalties was an illegal pick by Tyreek Hill he didn't have to make, negating a touchdown pass reception by Travis Kelce. Instead of 7 we got 3. This is not even to mention the intentional grounding by Dustin Colquitt. A splendidly skilled placeholder for years and years and years, he commits a penalty like that at the totally completely thoroughly wrong time, one that gave the Titans a much shorter field to aid them in scoring the winning touchdown. Such is the Chiefs...
Injuries. This is just the breaks of the game, I know, but still. All of us have had visions of Super Bowl glory dancing in our heads all year long -- but of course there isn't a Chiefs fan who doesn't add the thought as long as we stay healthy. And the Patrick Mahomes injury isn't even the worst of it. What is really debilitating is both our offensive and defensive lines have been devastated by injuries this year. Emmanuel Ogbah has been terrific, he's out for the year. Alex Okafor had been out for weeks. Chris Jones was out for a while. Frank Clark is playing injured. Over on the O-line we've been clobbered. I won't go into all the gruesome details, but the worst is having Eric Fisher out for so long and squinting every time we have to watch Cam Erving try to block out there. So yeah, ::Errghck:: -- that it could happen that we'd just have one good year when injuries don't hurt us too much. ::Sigh:: Guess not.
Crushing calls. Both from the officials or our own coach. About halfway into the 3rd quarter of this one I actually thought -- seriously, I actually did think, "Damn. Three of the Four Horsemen have been killing us today. I'm sure that fourth one will rear its ugly head in the 4th quarter sometime."
Yep. It did.
In the Chiefs Game Today blog post yesterday I pointed out how agonizing it is to once again watch Andy Reid fail to close out a game in the 4th quarter. Now please, it must be said again. I don't mind emphasizing it: there is no question Andy Reid will always be revered, for good reason. He will always hold a cherished place in the annals of Chiefs Kingdom History. That's a given, he deserves it, nobody will ever dislike him.
But just as sure, for Andy Reid not to make the right calls to get that 1st down at that time we had the ball in Titans territory with under two minutes left and a five-point lead was -- well, I covered it in that last blog post, and I've already regaled everyone with the searing agony of watching all the time a Packers or a Patriots or a Ravens or a Steelers do what Reid should be doing. Please, I'm not even saying I'd do better, I'm not Monday morning quarterbacking. I don't know what Reid should have done. Still, again, if those other coaches are doing it, whatever it is, why isn't Reid?
So that's Andy Reid. What about the officiating calls that so often devastate us in the most mind-numbing ways?
I do hear until I'm deaf "The calls even out." For the most part the officials did fine yesterday. But dammit don't tell me about officiating evening out when that Titans rusher was clearly offsides at the end of the game to block our field goal attempt. Yes I'm 1,000% with you that it never should have gotten to that point if Andy Reid knew how to manage the last two minutes of a game. Still, yeah -- no, the guy was offsides and no trying to spout about how he timed his jump just right changes that. No ridiculous official proclamation from the NFL that it was the correct call changes that. If that guy was not offsides then neither was Dee Ford in that playoff game last season.
The Four Horsemen just can't cease attacking the Chiefs in the most brutal ways. And yesterday -- ::Ouch::
I will add a positive here, and it is that we are still in position to at least get into the playoffs. That's not a bad thing. We'd like to think Andy Reid is learning, and even with my doubts we can hope that he is. We'd also like to hope that with Reid being the player's coach that he is that the players themselves won't get too down on his inability to close games for them. Maybe the Mahomes-esque inspiration and leadership will power up in the hearts of these guys and they can take care of business through the rest of the season.
We have several games against division rivals coming up and Reid always seems to do better against them, for good reason. That's cool.
Here's to seeing these afflictions just making our players, and Reid himself, stronger and better as we finish the regular season and maybe even watch them make that stout playoff run we've always been hoping they'd have.
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