Just blogging while I watch the game. Right now the opening drive of the Packers is very bad for the Chiefs. I thought we had an all-that defense, yet they are carving us up. Now we just lost Drue Tranquill to injury, and we are already without Nick Bolton for multiple games. The Packers are just running the ball right down our throats.
As I sit here with the laptop, I'd like to add that I watched just a few other parts of a few other games today. I usually don't do that, but we do actually watch Rams games for some length since my wife is a traditional Rams fan. What I wanted to point out is the number of times the right tackle jumped a tick before the ball was snapped. It happened a few times, not a lot, but a few, and each time it happened it was not called.
Remember when they called it on Jawan Taylor even when he didn't jump before the snap? He was so good getting off the snap that the refs had to rein him in a bit. It is just evidence that the powers-that-be are great with the Chiefs taking a powder this year and letting another team go the promised land.
I think about this again only because this phenomenon happened in college football today. The powers-that-be loved the fact that Alabama beat Georgia because that meant they could have an excuse to kick Georgia out of the playoff. Never mind that Georgia pummeled every team they played during the "regular" season including all their very good SEC opponents. Alabama, on the other hand, had a number of close calls including the need for a miracle play last week to beat a very average Auburn team.
Other teams making the playoff, Michigan and Texas, got powder puff teams to beat in their respective conference games. Everyone knows that if allowed the championship game would be Georgia and Alabama.
But no.
And Florida State fans? It's nice you went undefeated, but you also won too many close games mostly against teams not in the SEC. Sorry, the team that got jobbed was Georgia. You know as well as everyone else including the powers-that-be that Georgia would have had their way with Michigan, Texas, and Washington. And would they have met Alabama again in the title game they'd have beaten them too as long as the refs didn't miss as many calls as they did in this week's debacle.
But no, what really happened was the powers-that-be made a brief phone call to the advertisers who knew they could get away with whispering, "Um, yeah, another time Georgia is there? Um, no. Time for someone else, we've got money to make here."
So, back to the Chiefs, Travis Kelce just got PI'd, but no call. On the next play he barely pushes the Packers defender before making a fine catch, and they call the PI on him. As it is Mahomes is actually doing his terrific job of matriculating, and Isiah Pacheco is doing his terrific running like a madman. MVS made a fine catch to start to regain something of a decent receiver reputation.
Whupp, Mahomes gets sacked twice to end that threat, and Butker gets the field goal.
Now the Packers are moving the ball at will against this ONE-OF-THE-BEST-DEFENSES-THE-CHIEFS-HAVE-EVER-HAD. Justin Reid is now on a knee. Earlier Charles Omenihu went down but seemed to be back. Tranquill is likely out for the game with a concussion.
Besides being down two of our key linebackers, our pass rush is not stout enough, and the Packers offense is performing like the finest-oiled machine. They have done no wrong at all so far. Unless we start doing something meaningful or forcing some turnovers, this game is going to be lost very soon.
Whupp, there was a missed oppotunity. Big mistake by their QB that could've been intercepted but the throw was so bad no one could catch it. Still on the next play their QB threw a super easy TD pass. Again, the key is the failure of our D-line to get to the QB. Already 14-3 Packers.
Anyway, here's another thing the NFL really should address, and it shouldn't be hard. We watched just a bit of the Lions-Saints game, and wouldn't you know it, we were tuned in when that sideline official, one of those guys who handle the sideline markers or chains, got blasted by a running back being run out-of-bounds. Right after that they showed the replay and happened to catch that official lying down on that sideline, grimacing in agony with his leg bent all sideways.
Sure enough, he did badly break his leg, and they paused the game for some time to address his medical needs. During that time they mercifully did not show any more replays. Crazy, just as I was writing that Patrick Mahomes was run out of bounds and he ran into one of those same officials. It was not nearly as violent a hit as the one in the Lions-Saints game.
NFL action at this point? Really, just extend the part of the field sideline people cannot occupy. Beyond that large white area go about three feet farther and put down a yellow line. Keep everyone back behind that, even the sideline official guys. It really is just too dangerous for all that football action on the sideline -- these guys are just too large running too fast and falling on top of people too hard.
In fact as I think about it, with so much super advanced information and graphic technology, isn't there some way it can all be done electronically now? I mean really, we all see where the first down is located on the field, you know, with that yellow line and all.
Back to game action, sure enough the Chiefs get all the way to the one-yard line 1st-&-goal, awright! -- annnd, wait-a-minute. Holding against Creed Humphrey. We have to settle on a field goal. That's nice. 14-6 not-us.
Okay, so we have them at 3rd-&-3 deep in there own territory with just under two minutes left. We can get the ball back and maybe get down for more points to tighten this one up.
Nope. Our D-back slips on this stupid Lambeau field and they get the pass completed for a first down. Then they get a nice run, another nice completed pass, And now they're in field goal range.
The announcers are now talking all about our failures at linebacker because we just don't have our two key guys in there. Those guys were also the key defensive on-field play-callers, too.
Wow, cool deal. We stopped them, a penalty and some decent D put them back a bit and they had to punt. Buuut, they punted the ball down to our three for the kneel. It is halftime, maybe our regrouping will be good, the Packers defense looked like it could be had.
Nkay, we get the ball first, let's see if Patrick can get us back in this thing here, but yep, it is up to our receivers and whether or not we can score any points at all in the second half...
Annnd sure enough we get called for holding on our second play of the half. Then we get an illegal shift penalty that was really ticky-tack. Annnnnnnnd now Isiah Pacheco is down -- he's now walking off the field on his own, so we'll see. They now tell us our starting left tackle is out for the game .
Yet Mahomes. He scrambles right up the gut and finds Kelce for the big game. Pacheco back in, and he pounds out an 11-yard gain. Very nice.
We do get the TD on some nice Rashee Rice action followed by an Isiah Pacheco punch-in. But then we try for two and we are afflicted by another Andy Reid tendency -- go to the well just once too often. He handed the ball to Pacheco on about the exact same play, and they stuff it. 14-12.
Oh wow. Now we may have lost Bryan Cook. Are you kidding me. This Lambeau Field, it is evil. Seriously. Early they were saying this stinkin' field requires you to be very careful with your footing, to have the right cleats on your shoes. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd now Cook is being carted off and they're saying they won't show the replay because it was ugly - lower leg thing. Please.
No more of this.
One of those Four Horsemen of the Football Apocalypse is really killing us today. Remember them? Penalties (we've had some of those today), Turnovers (we've been okay there tonight hopefully not famous-last-words), Bad calls (that one by Andy on the two-point conversion was not great), and that fourth one -- Injuries.
Oh wow. Gimme a break. On fourth down their QB is about to be hammered by two linemen, he lofts up the duckiest of ducks, and it drops into his receiver's hand around four of our defenders for a 30-yard gain. Then he throws a TD to the guy in the back of the end zone. right past our defender's up-stretched hand.
Errrgh. This is just too much. I think I need a break. I'm coming back to this later to see if we can actually make a game of this. We do have Patrick Mahomes, so there is always hope. There is that.
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Okay, I'm back. This was indeed one ugly beyotch.
Give the Packers credit, they did have a terrific game plan and executed it. We also got afflicted by one of those other Horsemen when Patrick Mahomes threw a pick late to snuff out a drive we needed. Thing is, some of the fault of that was on the intended receiver Skyy Moore who just didn't track Mahomes' pass well enough. Mahomes really shouldn't have thrown it, yes, but that is sadly because Moore is simply not the receiver who could make that play, so you just can't make that throw.
And that's one of the keys to all of this.
Their receivers made plays. They looked great, give them their due.
Our receivers meanwhile?
Uggh.
Should we go through the list yet again?
Briefly: MVS was invisible. Watson was invisible. Moore was pretty much invisible. Toney was not getting any downfield throws. Richie James actually made a great catch-and-run so how about working him in more? I should add that Rashee Rice was solid, again, but again, he can't do it all.
All these guys were needed to make plays especially at the end when we had the ball at midfield down by a score with about a minute left. That Hail Mary? Justin Watson actually had his hands on it, really, looking at the replay there is no reason for him not to grab that ball.
But then...
It never should have come to that. There was a whole game they could have performed.
Again, broken record...
Our woeful receiving crew.
Nuff said.
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