But that's really not the issue.
Yes, I do think we have a serious problem with our pass rush -- I've said before I think Brett should draft a front seven guy with each one of his picks next year. Okay, okay, extreme, but we are just not getting to the passer.
But again that's really not the issue.
The real issue is the NFL and its wretched officiating. I'm not even saying the officiating is necessarily bad, I'm just saying it is wretched because they make calls against the Chiefs that are either egregiously bad, negatively affect our chances to win a game, or both.
That is wretched.
I saw a posted message on social media from a Chiefs fan kind-of-guy who said every fan thinks the refs are against their team. Yeah, I understand that, but, well, it's worse for the Chiefs because we all know the NFL hates our team.
Some will say "How can that be when we have one of the most marketable football stars ever in Patrick Mahomes and he and his team are featured all the time in prime-time and all and they all seem to like that?"
No, the NFL just wants the Chiefs not to win games by so many points if they do win, or if they can to get them to lose a few more times so they'll be kept back in the pack keeping things more competitive. This is besides the fact that KC is a podunk prairie town that is not New York Boston Los Angeles or Dallas. This is a point made many times before and I know not everyone agrees, but I do think it has a great deal of veracity -- something I've also elucidated quite a bit in this blog effort.
Today was no different.
Any time the slightest offense could be called against the Chiefs, it was. A number of times the Texans messed with us in some major way, it wasn't called. I could spend much more time on this and share a number of instances of both.
Here was a classic example.
About halfway into the third quarter, with the game still very close, JuJu gets a pass and after a step or two he is lifted off the ground and slammed to the turf. Penalty flag flies. Good thing, total unnecessary roughness call against those guys. A chance for me to give the NFL a "good guy" kudos for actually insisting the officials protect our players. Okay.
Umm...
Turns out the penalty was on Jerick McKinnon for an illegal block, one that looked perfectly legal but they nailed him on not putting his hands up for the block but instead slightly hunching over to make it some kind of dangerous block -- even though he was straight up facing the defender and the defender saw him right there in front of him the whole way. The announcers described it as such, as did the television officiating expert they regularly consult. It was about as ticky-tack as you can get.
Not the end of the story.
Turns out JuJu ever-so-slightly had the football come loose while high in the air before being body slammed to the turf, except that -- here's the key part -- he regained control of the ball securely before actually losing it when his body crashed to the ground. At first JuJu was just down there, as he should have been -- you know, ground can't cause a fumble, all that -- except Houston challenged that ruling and won. The announcers and the television officiating expert seemed to feel it was a fumble, and the call reversal was justified, and all the rest of it. Nonsense.
Not only was it now Houston's football, but they got an added 15 yards to boot. Whuttt... It should have been our ball with an added 15 yards for us.
"Oh but that's just an interpretation. They all even out."
No, they don't. And while the Chiefs players and coaches and personnel and other fans who like to join them can say things like "Don't blame the refs," I can, and I think I have very good reasons to.
My attitude right now is this. It is one about which I've shared many times before, but I must calcify it in the depths of my soul.
I like my team. I like Patrick Mahomes and his phenomenally tenacious play and winning attitude which rubs off on everyone else. I like all our offensive weapons even if none of them are Tyreek Hill. I even like my team's defense even though I know about its inadequacies yet will never criticize them in the way many have criticized people like Juan Thornhill. I will also always appreciate a fairly fought pro football contest if evenly and justly called even to the point of my team itself not being given any undue favorable calls by refs because I don't want to have any such advantages because those would compromise the integrity of my own team's win.
The main point is I simply must keep my emotions in check when it comes to our chances in the postseason, simply because it is obvious what is against us. The Chiefs have hosted four straight AFC Championship games. Are you absolutely effing with me, that is unreal. Some television pundits have been given to call it the "Arrowhead Invitational," how wonderfully unreal is that.
But it is wonderfully unreal enough to the NFL to do things to try to spread the wealth around to the other teams.
We did win this game, indeed. It was neat to see us get the most significant turnover of the game, in overtime deep in Texans territory, and then watch Jerick McKinnon jet into the end zone from some 20+ yards out to win it.
The thing is it shouldn't have been this close, against this team in their present situation. For the 57th time this was made much closer than it needed to be thanks to the NFL and its consideration of unchecked Chiefs success.
I guess I should just cool my jets, but that's a lot of what I'm saying here. Maybe all the crap afflicting our team is a good thing because a nifty overtime win is always way more exciting than a 48-3 blowout.
And a win is a win.
I know I've shared this graphic before, but I'm posting it again here. Eighth best ever. Pretty cool no matter how much the NFL hates us...
Which of course makes it all that much better.
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The image of Jerick McKinnon is from Steve Sanders at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.
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