This was the entire substance of a widely reposted tweet put out shortly after the Chiefs win on Sunday. It does pretty much say everything, since everyone was all talk about how Mahomes had never played a road playoff game in his already illustrious career, and then he went and took care of business in Buffalo.
One of the best of those myriad factoids related to his phenomenal success is that the Chiefs have now won two playoff games in five straight seasons, an NFL record. Shall we? 19: Texans & Titans (and more!); 20: Browns & Bills; 21: Steelers & Bills; 22: Jaguars & Bengals (and more!); 23: Dolphins & Bills (so far!) Yet again, just a joy to enjoy after eons of crushing playoff one-&-outs.
I have to add a couple more things here quickly, and I may add some more in another post.
One, after Mecole Hardman fumbled the ball into the end zone resulting in a touchback for the Bills, this ding-dong idea that the NFL must change this rule started to get some legs yet again. Please, this is a fully ding-dong idea. I hope the NFL doesn't listen to these idiots bleating "The punishment is too severe for just fumbling the ball into the end zone." I'm very afraid the NFL will bend and the game will be bastardized even further.
It is simple.
Don't fumble the ball into the end zone. If you want to score a touchdown make sure you hang on to the ball all the way to the goal line. It just isn't any harder than that. If you drop it along the way, and that ball should somehow bounce out of the end zone without recovery by either team, then too bad. You messed up. You lose.
Just
Don't fumble the ball into the end zone.
The other thing I wanted to add here was a note related to the fans who were posting threats to the Bills kicker moving him to delete his social media account. I'd made mention of how decent fans should be responding to the game and its players, and while that all still holds, I do want to add real quick that this doesn't mean we can't feel it when things go poorly for our teams.
I've done it quite often, and quite expressively in this blog effort. I've sometimes allowed myself to become a bit too enraged about what happens out there in the football world with the Chiefs. I even do somewhat regret being so critical of this team, particularly its leadership. In the middle of the 2017 season I had the worst takes on both what Alex Smith was doing on the field and what Andy Reid was doing on the sidelines. There're others I could mention.
Those were just my feelings and my posting about those feelings. I've done it in any number of other ways too. Even quite recently! I still rail against the things the NFL is doing and who they're associating with. They had just announced this Chiefs-Bills game was the most watched playoff game ever. Doesn't that mean the NFLers like Patrick Mahomes et al? I still feel, however, that the NFLers know it'd have been even better if Mahomes were on the Jets or Patriots.
Sure, this is a bit of a me-too post about how much fans can get too absorbed in all of this. What if Reid and company were not as successful as they've been? Would I still be raging at them? I can't say I wouldn't, and that to me is shameful in some ways. A key point in all of this is that it wouldn't be worth it to involve ourselves in this often quite silly thing pro-football-team-fandom if it doesn't involve deep feelings one way or the other.
Does this justify posting threats against disfavored players? Of course not, as I mentioned yesterday.
But I also know that it can be far too consuming, which is a large part of why I really work hard to be sports celibate. I know it isn't perfect, but I know I can go too far in demonstrating those things of the flesh and of the world addressed in that fifth letter to the Galatians: "...jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition..." Yes, this can be me, as it can any other sports fan, as they relate to their team and anything they think will assuage their insecurities.
The answer is Jesus Christ. Our security can indeed be found in Him, the One who's already won. Too many times we want our good-feels to come from somewhere else, but they can only really come from Him, and as we put our trust in His provision of all good things, then, voila, those good things do come.
I found it interesting that there are instances when the Chiefs players pray, I believe they did so in the locker room after the game Sunday, but no one ever widely shows those things. Many players on other teams do the same, of course. I noted that Ravens head coach Jim Harbaugh even shared a Bible verse as he started his postgame presser after the Texans game.
Wow. Nice to see so many of them lead with biblical principles and comport themselves appropriately. Yeah, no player is perfect, I'm not perfect either in as much as I may blog with a robust censure of imperfect people who threaten others on social media. That's the law, yes, it is there, and it is actually a good thing, but blessed be our Lord who gave His life so we could be free from any of that ugliness and live victoriously, all the time, in Him.
Thanks for letting me share that.
Until next time...
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The photo is from Steve Sanders at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.
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