After last night's disaster and thinking far too much about it, I simply had to add a few thoughts in this blog post. I'm not going to get into all the technical details of our failures, but I will address them. I encourage you to slip over to Arrowhead Pride because they have people who do an excellent job with posts detailing the intricate stuff that happens with plays on the field and so forth.
I did want to bring up some ugly things about last night's game, and offer the disclaimer that indeed, everyone can have bad games and when you're playing against Aaron Rodgers, a bad game can be especially gruesome. I will never give up on the possibilities that the brutality from this one can be efficiently rectified, and that we do have the personnel from top to bottom to do that.
Thing is, yes, I'm afraid I'm going to single out one individual in particular for censure here, so forgive me. I don't dislike this individual and, as I've already said, I have that above-board devotion to him as a key Chiefs component of our success.
But damn.
Did Andy Reid get mnfmp-faced last night.
Here are the critical indictments.
1. Our running game, specifically the run-blocking. We have three backs who should be flying down the field, Jamaal, Knile, and De'Anthony. Alex Smith should be able to do that deep drop and hand the ball to any one of these guys and have them shoot the gaps that the O-line provides for them -- the issue is, they're not getting those gaps. Last night it seemed like there were 18 defenders swarming our backs.
Who are these guys on the line?
Eric Fisher. Sorry, but he absolutely must play more like the No. 1 pick he's supposed to be. Yes I know it isn't all on him, but he should be doing much more to open those lanes.
Ben Grubbs. Major pick-up from free agency who I'd heard nothing but great things about. Now these first two guys alone should be getting our backs the room they need.
Mitch Morse. The center who's been drawing raves, but he's still young and green and learning.
Laurent Duverney-Tardif. Where'd this guy come from? Seems like this is a guy who just got the job because he happened to be the best of a weak bunch. I don't know, but it looked like the Packers were just mauling him last night.
Donald Stephenson. Slotted at that left tackle position to protect the pocket. At the beginning of the season he was switched from right tackle when, ahem, Eric Fisher apparently couldn't handle that tackle job. At the beginning of the game the announcers were saying the Packers have been switching guys all around. Seemed to work for them. What's our excuse?
We just flat out didn't seem to know how to run-block. It just didn't seem to be there, even though it just doesn't seem like they're all that horrible individually.
Who is this the responsibility of?
The head coach. And I thought Andy Reid was a master working with the offensive line.
2. Our passing game. Alex Smith got sacked seven times last night.
Seven - nfnknk'ing - times.
So this offensive line that was so offensive also did an abysmal job of pass-blocking, but you know? Alex Smith is mobile, and he did have enough time to get throws off. The number of times I screamed at the television "JUST THROW THE BALL!" -- really, had to have been a record.
Why were we so out-of-sync? How come the Packers seemed to just know everything we were going to throw at them? And why can't Alex Smith just make those laser strikes to a receiver with a DB all over him?
Any time a team looks overwhelmed with an opponent that seems to psychically portend every - single - thing we did, that's on, do you know?
The head coach.
Andy Reid's passing game plan was predictable, his receivers unresponsive, his routes smothered. And here's the key.
Alex Smith looked scared all night long. I mean he looked like a bug in a bat's lair. What a contrast to the breezy, confident Aaron Rodgers. Yes, Rodgers is indeed the best player in the NFL. But Alex Smith has still got the skills, he does. I know people want to give up on him, but don't quite yet. Thing is, and this just isn't a new thing as those who know him from his early pro days, Smith can easily get shaken up.
That's on the head coach for not doing things that Alex Smith needs a coach to do. This is so critical. Smith is such a phenomenal talent, but he needs a coach to make the things happen that get him to use his abilities to the fullest.
Oh wow has Reid been failing at that, let's just face it. I mean it's been okay before, let's give him credit, we've won games with the Reid-for-Smith plan. But yeah, last night, it was like Reid just flat-out lost complete track of who his quarterback was and what he needed to do to make him successful.
3. Our pass defense. While a mediocre Packers defense looked like their 1967 version, our celebrated defense with 57 All-Pros looked like a luscious pad of room-temperature butter sitting there on the kitchen counter.
The Packers offensive players, every single one of them, had wide open spaces before them on every running and passing play. Their backs shot out into the wild like gazelles, their receivers inspired and dominant like soaring eagles. Our D-backs looked like annoying stumps.
And the Chiefs had one of the top-rated pass defenses in the NFL last year? Only this time with added fine players, and more experience, and Eric Berry back? Sorry, but a missing Sean Smith was not the reason for this failure.
It was, ahem,
The head coach.
And if you looked at Andy Reid when the cameras were on him last night, he just had that look of aggravation all night, I mean it was the same look every time you saw him. Here's the distressing thing: it was clear the look wasn't about what the Packers were doing to him, but rather that his game plan in every single area was an abject failure and he was just feeling it.
Errgh errgh errgh.
Now, this is one game. But I don't have a whole lot of confidence that the 3-0 Bengals who I presume are healthy and at home are going to make it any better next week.
Now maybe this'll all be great gut-check stuff. But it won't matter if Andy Reid doesn't have that deft insight into how to prepare for this week's team and do what it takes for him to make Alex Smith succeed.
Now just maybe our modestly inspired play in the 4th quarter of last night's game means something about the character of this team.
I'm hoping.
__
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Chiefs at Packers - Week 3 - Record: 1-2
I'm just going to start this post mid-3rd-quarter. This is yet another late night showcase game, this one a Monday Night Football affair against the Packers. Yet again I've got work early in the morning, and I might as well blow this baby out.
As it is this one's shaping into a real embarrassment for the Chiefs. We're still barely in it, down 24-7, but Aaron Rodgers has been carving us up. He is the best quarterback in the NFL, so we shouldn't be too disappointed.
I remember when the 49ers were so dominant with Joe Montana at quarterback, and I thrilled at his ability to make plays. I sometimes thought, I sure am glad I'm not a fan of the opposing team. I sure am glad Joe Montana is on my team.
Well, I have to think Packers fans often think that regarding Aaron Rodgers.
So far though, my thoughts.
I can't believe this Packers team has all the injuries they have and they're still putting it to us. I'd heard they had all these injuries before the game, and they were having Packers drop left and right during the game, yet they are still thoroughly dominating us. You know how some games feel like the other team has 14 players on the field while you've only got 9? This is one of those games. In fact, the Chiefs have already been called for two penalties for having 12 men on the field. So I'm sure we're thinking maybe we could get a few more guys out there to be able to beat these guys.
But then, I think you could have a Pop Warner team out there with Aaron Rodgers and he'll still find a way to win.
Just now Alex Smith threw his first strike to Jeremy Maclin, and he drops it. Meanwhile, the Packers go-to guy, Randall Cobb, has already caught something like 57 passes, I'm sure it's something close to that.
Annnnnd... Alex Smith just throws a pick, on a play that (a) he broke out of the end zone to have the golden opportunity to throw it to a wide open receiver, and (b) our O-line was flagged for holding.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd... there's Randall Cobb getting a quick pass in the flat and scoring. How many hundreds of Jeremy Maclin plays do we have like that?
I really don't think I'm going to post much more about this unless we have some miraculous comeback. This is a terrific disappointment especially after every single indication was that we'd actually not only compete but win this game. But then, having to rely on a bunch of Packer injuries to think you have a chance is not very encouraging.
This team has to defeat teams that are good to be a contender. Meanwhile, our offensive line has been abysmal tonight, our wide receivers are invisible (what's new), our pass defense has been shredded (but hey, Aaron Rodgers), and our D-line has been shoved up and down the field.
I must tell you that there is one individual I'm starting to get a bit cool too, and I'm sorry, but that is Andy Reid. Yeah, he can call great plays and be a player's coach, but I'm afraid of the worst, and that is that he just isn't the guy to bring that one thing we need.
You know what it is.
The got-it.
It is obvious.
The Packers have got-it smothered all over them. I mean, really, who are these guys? The number of times they said this Packer or that Packer is some free agency pick-up or some released guy snatched off the reject pile or someone like that and yet, they're making our full collection of healthy 1st round draftees look silly.
That's because they've got got-it.
And I'm very very very very very sorry, but let's face it, let's be perfectly honest.
We've just not got it. We just don't.
I mean, the Rodgers connections to his receivers (and none of them are Jordy Nelson! Just doesn't matter!) is like they're psychic -- no, that's just got-it. They've got it.
Oh how much I long for our Chiefs to have got-it. Ohhh. And I really don't have any idea when we're ever going to get it. And here's the thing, I do believe that much of the got-it must come from the head coach. Do you really see the got-it coming from Andy Reid?
Please know I'm not giving up on him yet, at all. But, I mean, come on, is there really any reason this what-we-all-reasonably-believe-is-a pretty decent Chiefs team is looking like it is playing with 9 guys against a team of 14?
At least, for me anyway, there were these two brief moments tonight when the MNF people graced us with two features of players from two of my other favorite teams, the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, who have/had planet-loads of got-it -- Steph Curry (comparing his quickness and accuracy with that of Aaron Rodgers) and Joe Montana (comparing his footwork with Rodgers'). And hey, aficionados of all things Kansas City, the announcers did give a brief nod to a team that definitely has some got-it, baseball's Royals, who're storming their way back into the playoffs this year. At least there's that.
Wait.
And what about that. Whaddya know.
Smith to Maclin -- Touchdown Kansas City.
How about that. A wide receiver touchdown catch. Yay!!!
__
Nkay, a whole quarter later, and for a while there the Chiefs played with some ganas. How about that. We never gave up, we got close to being within a single score in a game the Packers utterly dominated -- very proud of our Chiefs.
Maybe there are the seeds of some meaningful got-it.
Don't get me wrong.
I'd so love to see that.
__
As it is this one's shaping into a real embarrassment for the Chiefs. We're still barely in it, down 24-7, but Aaron Rodgers has been carving us up. He is the best quarterback in the NFL, so we shouldn't be too disappointed.
I remember when the 49ers were so dominant with Joe Montana at quarterback, and I thrilled at his ability to make plays. I sometimes thought, I sure am glad I'm not a fan of the opposing team. I sure am glad Joe Montana is on my team.
Well, I have to think Packers fans often think that regarding Aaron Rodgers.
So far though, my thoughts.
I can't believe this Packers team has all the injuries they have and they're still putting it to us. I'd heard they had all these injuries before the game, and they were having Packers drop left and right during the game, yet they are still thoroughly dominating us. You know how some games feel like the other team has 14 players on the field while you've only got 9? This is one of those games. In fact, the Chiefs have already been called for two penalties for having 12 men on the field. So I'm sure we're thinking maybe we could get a few more guys out there to be able to beat these guys.
But then, I think you could have a Pop Warner team out there with Aaron Rodgers and he'll still find a way to win.
Just now Alex Smith threw his first strike to Jeremy Maclin, and he drops it. Meanwhile, the Packers go-to guy, Randall Cobb, has already caught something like 57 passes, I'm sure it's something close to that.
Annnnnd... Alex Smith just throws a pick, on a play that (a) he broke out of the end zone to have the golden opportunity to throw it to a wide open receiver, and (b) our O-line was flagged for holding.
Annnnnnnnnnnnd... there's Randall Cobb getting a quick pass in the flat and scoring. How many hundreds of Jeremy Maclin plays do we have like that?
I really don't think I'm going to post much more about this unless we have some miraculous comeback. This is a terrific disappointment especially after every single indication was that we'd actually not only compete but win this game. But then, having to rely on a bunch of Packer injuries to think you have a chance is not very encouraging.
This team has to defeat teams that are good to be a contender. Meanwhile, our offensive line has been abysmal tonight, our wide receivers are invisible (what's new), our pass defense has been shredded (but hey, Aaron Rodgers), and our D-line has been shoved up and down the field.
I must tell you that there is one individual I'm starting to get a bit cool too, and I'm sorry, but that is Andy Reid. Yeah, he can call great plays and be a player's coach, but I'm afraid of the worst, and that is that he just isn't the guy to bring that one thing we need.
You know what it is.
The got-it.
It is obvious.
The Packers have got-it smothered all over them. I mean, really, who are these guys? The number of times they said this Packer or that Packer is some free agency pick-up or some released guy snatched off the reject pile or someone like that and yet, they're making our full collection of healthy 1st round draftees look silly.
That's because they've got got-it.
And I'm very very very very very sorry, but let's face it, let's be perfectly honest.
We've just not got it. We just don't.
I mean, the Rodgers connections to his receivers (and none of them are Jordy Nelson! Just doesn't matter!) is like they're psychic -- no, that's just got-it. They've got it.
Oh how much I long for our Chiefs to have got-it. Ohhh. And I really don't have any idea when we're ever going to get it. And here's the thing, I do believe that much of the got-it must come from the head coach. Do you really see the got-it coming from Andy Reid?
Please know I'm not giving up on him yet, at all. But, I mean, come on, is there really any reason this what-we-all-reasonably-believe-is-a pretty decent Chiefs team is looking like it is playing with 9 guys against a team of 14?
At least, for me anyway, there were these two brief moments tonight when the MNF people graced us with two features of players from two of my other favorite teams, the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, who have/had planet-loads of got-it -- Steph Curry (comparing his quickness and accuracy with that of Aaron Rodgers) and Joe Montana (comparing his footwork with Rodgers'). And hey, aficionados of all things Kansas City, the announcers did give a brief nod to a team that definitely has some got-it, baseball's Royals, who're storming their way back into the playoffs this year. At least there's that.
Wait.
And what about that. Whaddya know.
Smith to Maclin -- Touchdown Kansas City.
How about that. A wide receiver touchdown catch. Yay!!!
__
Nkay, a whole quarter later, and for a while there the Chiefs played with some ganas. How about that. We never gave up, we got close to being within a single score in a game the Packers utterly dominated -- very proud of our Chiefs.
Maybe there are the seeds of some meaningful got-it.
Don't get me wrong.
I'd so love to see that.
__
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Broncos at Chiefs - Week 2 - Record: 1-1 - The Take
It's already started. And it's only going to get worse.
Oh, no, I'm not talking about the Chiefs by any means. I'm great with the Chiefs, they're just fine, don't worry.
What's nasty and bound to get more wretched is what the media and their toadies want us to think about the Chiefs. That is actually the only real concern I have about anything Chiefs right now. Oh yes we'll talk all about the things the Chiefs need to improve, that's all standard practice.
But the way the media and the powers-that-be who incestuously drive how the game is perceived and arranged are the most critical concern.
Let's just begin with what happened Thursday night. The first most important thing to know is that the Chiefs dominated that game. Make no mistake, the final score should've been 45-10 and everyone who knows pro football and is honest with themselves know it. And please remember, I'm not a whistle-in-the-dark guy, there have been countless times when the Chiefs have won a game they had no business winning and I know it and I say it, no matter how joyful I feel. Broncos fans have got to be thrilled right now, but the honest ones know the truth.
The detractor vultures, however, are going to swoop down around the dead carcass they're calling the Chiefs. Just watch, this week the Chiefs will be relegated to No. 16, 17 on everyone's power rankings, while the Broncos will be at No. 2, 3, something like that. The Chiefs will be dismissed as classic chokers -- a mistake prone team no longer worthy of any meaningful consideration.
So yeah, the Chiefs season is over.
Really?
When every team has those heartbreaking games committing a slew of turnovers they simply cannot overcome -- no team can win these kinds of games, even the very best ones. The Chiefs had four of their five turnovers in the absolute worst possible places and times. And yet they were still ahead 24-17 with under a minute left.
But these Broncos, wow they're great!
Really?
When the Broncos felt they had to intimidate the Chiefs to win. The Chiefs were ambushed by a Denver team that had, what, at least four or five unnecessary roughness calls -- Denver is really that much better when they had to rely on a headhunting style of play to win this game?
Oh but it worked and the Chiefs caved and they're now out of it.
Really?
When you had a Chiefs run defense that finally solved Denver's offensive line and thoroughly snuffed out their running game? Who's Dontari Poe? Jaye Howard was a monster in there shoving people back and blowing up plays. Our linebackers and strong safeties were phenomenal.
Oh but the Chiefs are losers.
Really?
When you had a pass defense that did a fine job of containing Denver's passing game except for the standard laser accurate Peyton Manning throws he will have no matter what. Marcus Peters, the greenest rookie you can ever see, is showing he's already big-league. The other D-backs were smothering Denver's fantastic receivers and it required the few times Manning was on target to beat us.
But that means the Broncos are the team everyone should love!
Really?
When the Broncos defense could not stop Jamaal Charles or Knile Davis, when their aggressiveness cost them big-time and we completed short passes to our tight ends and backs for big gains, when Alex Smith's athleticism got plays off quickly and efficiently.
But the Broncos still played defense well enough to force those turnovers!
Really?
When Andy Reid admitted he made bad calls at the end of the first half, essentially handing the Broncos a short field at a terribly inopportune time any decent team can take advantage of, when Jamaal Charles has two of the worst fumbles anyone can have when he regularly never fumbles, when the Broncos only scored 28 of their 31 points with two minutes left in each half, half of those points coming on gifts from the Chiefs and, of course, the horse curse gods.
That horse curse, yeah, still there.
But its days are numbered.
That is simply because this Chiefs team is for real, and you saw it plainly on the field there at Arrowhead Thursday night.
What are the genuine things of concern for the Chiefs, however? What things are the things the team needs to work on?
Andy Reid's notorious two-minute drill failures were indeed ablaze, we have to admit that. At the end of the first half, as just noted, Reid confessed that his play-calling was abysmal. I'd like to think that he's learning and that'll be taken care of. At the end of the second half he just looked like Marty Schottenheimer, that's all. Of course, that's a harrowing thought, but hey, us Chiefs fans, we can take it. We all felt the agonizing pain of this loss, but hey, we know Marty in a perversely endearing kind of way, so we understand.
Andy's 3rd-down conversion percentage has got to get better. we're something like 3-for-20 on 3rd down this year. But this is a two-game sample, the teams we've played in those two games have fine defenses, and we do have the offensive weapons to make this better.
Where are the other receivers besides Jeremy Maclin? I don't think any other receiver caught a pass, I'm sure of it. Maybe I missed one. But where was Albert Wilson? Jason Avant? Chris Conley? Don't get me wrong, I think our long drought without a receiver touchdown pass is way overblown. Who cares if we win games with TD passes to tight ends and backs? I don't care if we never throw another TD pass to a receiver. But I do think for us to be successful more passes need to get to other receivers than Maclin. Again, too early to tell.
Our offensive line still needs to gel. It did hold its own against a ferocious Denver pass rush, but we still gave up a few sacks, allowed too much pressure on Smith, and the team as a whole compiled far too many penalties. Remember in the Houston game, when we had only two penalties total? We got two called against us in the first few minutes of the game.
Here's the bottom line with all this.
This was a terrific game for the Chiefs. Yes, it was an abominable loss, but honestly,
This was the best thing that could happen to the Chiefs.
The only thing that is distressing is the way the media and the powers that join with them work through intimations and the officials on the field to arrange outcomes that benefit the investors -- anyone with a financial stake in the NFL. There are just so many instances when things have happened that compromise the integrity of the game simply so the NFL can make sure people like the advertisers are happy.
I recently saw a video about the 2013 NFC championship game between San Francisco and Seattle, and it showcased even more of the horrific things that happened to the 49ers to work the game in favor of an eventual Seattle-Denver Super Bowl matchup. I do remember how robbed the 49ers were in so many instances, but this just showed how expansive it was. Of course, every Chiefs fan knows what happened in that Kansas City-Denver playoff game from the 1997 season when it was clear the powers desperately wanted a John Elway featured playoff run. The Broncos put petroleum jelly all over themselves? Ha! -- We're all supposed to chuckle and slough it off, yuckitty yuckitty let's just move on alright?
Sure you can dismiss me as a conspiracy theory kook, go ahead and stop reading here. Go ahead and say "You're just a tin-foil hat wearing whiner." That's fine, I can take it. But the NFL is officially characterized as "entertainment" as opposed to sport, which gives it the authority to arrange it anyway they want with perfectly legal impunity. Of course they can't make it too much like WWF wrestling because that pushes away all the people who do watch it for the authentically competitive endeavor that it is mostly, granted.
I agree the players and coaches and most of those with their hands in the on-field activity are not involved, and any team that can evoke the lion's share of interest will be adopted for certain, um, arrangements to be showcased in more, shall we say, creative ways. Often those ways are so obvious that they can't be missed, as they were in those two games mentioned above. I'm sure many others can cite their own, like the Lions fans who still smart from what was going on with their playoff game against Dallas last year.
Thing is, if Kansas City were one of those teams, then the powers will work things for them, but let's be honest, who wants that? We want to win on the merits.
You may wonder then, quite reasonably, why do I still pay attention to all this, to the Chiefs and to the NFL?
Here's how I feel, like it or not. In spite of this, there is still the thrill of the game, and I confess, the mere entertainment value -- all the pageantry and competitive rigor related to just being a Chiefs fan among all other Chiefs fans. Is it rigged? Yeah, some.
But the best part is this, and it is the part that I've already written earlier in this blog effort, is what is required to overcome the horse curse, and the pride of watching our boys valiantly take it on with the combination of plain talent they put on the field and the team leadership and camaraderie that makes it all go.
Again, this Chiefs team has it.
This is why it is preposterous for people to say this loss will be so crushing the Chiefs will not overcome it, and why I bring up the concern about the media narrative driving the perception that may cost the Chiefs as the season progresses. I should briefly add that I do not believe there was anything in this game that the league officials did to alter the outcome. Nothing was obvious at all and it did seem the officiating was thoroughly on the level. My only point here is that the media remarks are heavily weighted in favor of a set-up for more widespread acceptance of what may happen.
After the game CBS announcer Jim Nantz called the Chiefs, his exact words, a "train wreck." The color man, Phil Simms, droned on about how the Chiefs will never recover from a loss like this -- not a single word about how well they played otherwise. The next day a tease for the story from NBC Sports' website was something like, "When does a tough loss become legendary?" All of this designed to convey the idea that the Chiefs are terminal chokers and not worth the attention, and it is great for the powers because Kansas City is never favored in any search for a team to showcase.
Here's the key thing about all of that.
Do you really think that the Chiefs players and coaches went back to the clubhouse and sat around moping, "Yep, we're just a bunch of losers. Yep, we don't amount to anything. Yep, we can't do anything right. Yep, we might as well pack it in right now."
Do you really think the Chiefs for even a second have assumed all this shit upon themselves?
It is comical.
And yet this is the narrative that is being driven by the people who may just not want to see the Chiefs succeed.
What do I think?
Again, I think this loss was the best thing for the Chiefs.
They can now come together more deeply as a team, see the adversity for the opportunity that it presents for them, envision more clearly what it takes to be successful and that it is within their reach because they do have the tools. Sure, a lesser team may indeed look at themselves and honestly see despair.
But I can't believe this team can't see that they are as good as they truly are. I actually believe the Chiefs are quietly taking stock in how dominant they can be and that they must now step it up just that much more to ensure that the horse curse will end and the media powers don't get away with distorting the truth. They now not only have the physical talent, but because of this game they have that much more mental toughness and emotional fortitude to do what it take to overcome those exploitative machinations.
Watching them grow and move on with all this, this is what makes it all worthwhile.
I honestly don't think it will take much.
In fact, don't take it from me, and especially don't take it from those media cranks.
Take it from Peyton Manning.
I never look much at the after-game stuff following a loss like this, too depressing. But after this one I actually did hang around a bit with the telecast, and I did watch Peyton Manning.
First, Manning said in an interview on the field right after the game that this Chiefs defense was the best they ever had. He knew what it took to beat this team. This is not something you say about a team that is dead already with 14 games left in a season.
Second, he was more ebullient than he ever was after a game, that's one thing the commentators went out of their way to mention. This tells me Peyton Manning knew it was miracle win like no other. This was a game they pulled out of the fire with the help of the rare generous gifts the Chiefs gave them.
So yeah, this must mean the Chiefs will collapse exactly like this every game this season. This must mean they'll have the most insane turnovers they've never had before, all the time. This must mean the Chiefs are not professionals who are where they are for a pretty good reason and are themselves smart enough to know that. This must mean John Dorsey hasn't constructed a damn good team that we all saw in brilliant colors Thursday night.
Really?
__
Oh, no, I'm not talking about the Chiefs by any means. I'm great with the Chiefs, they're just fine, don't worry.
What's nasty and bound to get more wretched is what the media and their toadies want us to think about the Chiefs. That is actually the only real concern I have about anything Chiefs right now. Oh yes we'll talk all about the things the Chiefs need to improve, that's all standard practice.
But the way the media and the powers-that-be who incestuously drive how the game is perceived and arranged are the most critical concern.
Let's just begin with what happened Thursday night. The first most important thing to know is that the Chiefs dominated that game. Make no mistake, the final score should've been 45-10 and everyone who knows pro football and is honest with themselves know it. And please remember, I'm not a whistle-in-the-dark guy, there have been countless times when the Chiefs have won a game they had no business winning and I know it and I say it, no matter how joyful I feel. Broncos fans have got to be thrilled right now, but the honest ones know the truth.
The detractor vultures, however, are going to swoop down around the dead carcass they're calling the Chiefs. Just watch, this week the Chiefs will be relegated to No. 16, 17 on everyone's power rankings, while the Broncos will be at No. 2, 3, something like that. The Chiefs will be dismissed as classic chokers -- a mistake prone team no longer worthy of any meaningful consideration.
So yeah, the Chiefs season is over.
Really?
When every team has those heartbreaking games committing a slew of turnovers they simply cannot overcome -- no team can win these kinds of games, even the very best ones. The Chiefs had four of their five turnovers in the absolute worst possible places and times. And yet they were still ahead 24-17 with under a minute left.
But these Broncos, wow they're great!
Really?
When the Broncos felt they had to intimidate the Chiefs to win. The Chiefs were ambushed by a Denver team that had, what, at least four or five unnecessary roughness calls -- Denver is really that much better when they had to rely on a headhunting style of play to win this game?
Oh but it worked and the Chiefs caved and they're now out of it.
Really?
When you had a Chiefs run defense that finally solved Denver's offensive line and thoroughly snuffed out their running game? Who's Dontari Poe? Jaye Howard was a monster in there shoving people back and blowing up plays. Our linebackers and strong safeties were phenomenal.
Oh but the Chiefs are losers.
Really?
When you had a pass defense that did a fine job of containing Denver's passing game except for the standard laser accurate Peyton Manning throws he will have no matter what. Marcus Peters, the greenest rookie you can ever see, is showing he's already big-league. The other D-backs were smothering Denver's fantastic receivers and it required the few times Manning was on target to beat us.
But that means the Broncos are the team everyone should love!
Really?
When the Broncos defense could not stop Jamaal Charles or Knile Davis, when their aggressiveness cost them big-time and we completed short passes to our tight ends and backs for big gains, when Alex Smith's athleticism got plays off quickly and efficiently.
But the Broncos still played defense well enough to force those turnovers!
Really?
When Andy Reid admitted he made bad calls at the end of the first half, essentially handing the Broncos a short field at a terribly inopportune time any decent team can take advantage of, when Jamaal Charles has two of the worst fumbles anyone can have when he regularly never fumbles, when the Broncos only scored 28 of their 31 points with two minutes left in each half, half of those points coming on gifts from the Chiefs and, of course, the horse curse gods.
That horse curse, yeah, still there.
But its days are numbered.
That is simply because this Chiefs team is for real, and you saw it plainly on the field there at Arrowhead Thursday night.
What are the genuine things of concern for the Chiefs, however? What things are the things the team needs to work on?
Andy Reid's notorious two-minute drill failures were indeed ablaze, we have to admit that. At the end of the first half, as just noted, Reid confessed that his play-calling was abysmal. I'd like to think that he's learning and that'll be taken care of. At the end of the second half he just looked like Marty Schottenheimer, that's all. Of course, that's a harrowing thought, but hey, us Chiefs fans, we can take it. We all felt the agonizing pain of this loss, but hey, we know Marty in a perversely endearing kind of way, so we understand.
Andy's 3rd-down conversion percentage has got to get better. we're something like 3-for-20 on 3rd down this year. But this is a two-game sample, the teams we've played in those two games have fine defenses, and we do have the offensive weapons to make this better.
Where are the other receivers besides Jeremy Maclin? I don't think any other receiver caught a pass, I'm sure of it. Maybe I missed one. But where was Albert Wilson? Jason Avant? Chris Conley? Don't get me wrong, I think our long drought without a receiver touchdown pass is way overblown. Who cares if we win games with TD passes to tight ends and backs? I don't care if we never throw another TD pass to a receiver. But I do think for us to be successful more passes need to get to other receivers than Maclin. Again, too early to tell.
Our offensive line still needs to gel. It did hold its own against a ferocious Denver pass rush, but we still gave up a few sacks, allowed too much pressure on Smith, and the team as a whole compiled far too many penalties. Remember in the Houston game, when we had only two penalties total? We got two called against us in the first few minutes of the game.
Here's the bottom line with all this.
This was a terrific game for the Chiefs. Yes, it was an abominable loss, but honestly,
This was the best thing that could happen to the Chiefs.
The only thing that is distressing is the way the media and the powers that join with them work through intimations and the officials on the field to arrange outcomes that benefit the investors -- anyone with a financial stake in the NFL. There are just so many instances when things have happened that compromise the integrity of the game simply so the NFL can make sure people like the advertisers are happy.
I recently saw a video about the 2013 NFC championship game between San Francisco and Seattle, and it showcased even more of the horrific things that happened to the 49ers to work the game in favor of an eventual Seattle-Denver Super Bowl matchup. I do remember how robbed the 49ers were in so many instances, but this just showed how expansive it was. Of course, every Chiefs fan knows what happened in that Kansas City-Denver playoff game from the 1997 season when it was clear the powers desperately wanted a John Elway featured playoff run. The Broncos put petroleum jelly all over themselves? Ha! -- We're all supposed to chuckle and slough it off, yuckitty yuckitty let's just move on alright?
Sure you can dismiss me as a conspiracy theory kook, go ahead and stop reading here. Go ahead and say "You're just a tin-foil hat wearing whiner." That's fine, I can take it. But the NFL is officially characterized as "entertainment" as opposed to sport, which gives it the authority to arrange it anyway they want with perfectly legal impunity. Of course they can't make it too much like WWF wrestling because that pushes away all the people who do watch it for the authentically competitive endeavor that it is mostly, granted.
I agree the players and coaches and most of those with their hands in the on-field activity are not involved, and any team that can evoke the lion's share of interest will be adopted for certain, um, arrangements to be showcased in more, shall we say, creative ways. Often those ways are so obvious that they can't be missed, as they were in those two games mentioned above. I'm sure many others can cite their own, like the Lions fans who still smart from what was going on with their playoff game against Dallas last year.
Thing is, if Kansas City were one of those teams, then the powers will work things for them, but let's be honest, who wants that? We want to win on the merits.
You may wonder then, quite reasonably, why do I still pay attention to all this, to the Chiefs and to the NFL?
Here's how I feel, like it or not. In spite of this, there is still the thrill of the game, and I confess, the mere entertainment value -- all the pageantry and competitive rigor related to just being a Chiefs fan among all other Chiefs fans. Is it rigged? Yeah, some.
But the best part is this, and it is the part that I've already written earlier in this blog effort, is what is required to overcome the horse curse, and the pride of watching our boys valiantly take it on with the combination of plain talent they put on the field and the team leadership and camaraderie that makes it all go.
Again, this Chiefs team has it.
This is why it is preposterous for people to say this loss will be so crushing the Chiefs will not overcome it, and why I bring up the concern about the media narrative driving the perception that may cost the Chiefs as the season progresses. I should briefly add that I do not believe there was anything in this game that the league officials did to alter the outcome. Nothing was obvious at all and it did seem the officiating was thoroughly on the level. My only point here is that the media remarks are heavily weighted in favor of a set-up for more widespread acceptance of what may happen.
After the game CBS announcer Jim Nantz called the Chiefs, his exact words, a "train wreck." The color man, Phil Simms, droned on about how the Chiefs will never recover from a loss like this -- not a single word about how well they played otherwise. The next day a tease for the story from NBC Sports' website was something like, "When does a tough loss become legendary?" All of this designed to convey the idea that the Chiefs are terminal chokers and not worth the attention, and it is great for the powers because Kansas City is never favored in any search for a team to showcase.
Here's the key thing about all of that.
Do you really think that the Chiefs players and coaches went back to the clubhouse and sat around moping, "Yep, we're just a bunch of losers. Yep, we don't amount to anything. Yep, we can't do anything right. Yep, we might as well pack it in right now."
Do you really think the Chiefs for even a second have assumed all this shit upon themselves?
It is comical.
And yet this is the narrative that is being driven by the people who may just not want to see the Chiefs succeed.
What do I think?
Again, I think this loss was the best thing for the Chiefs.
They can now come together more deeply as a team, see the adversity for the opportunity that it presents for them, envision more clearly what it takes to be successful and that it is within their reach because they do have the tools. Sure, a lesser team may indeed look at themselves and honestly see despair.
But I can't believe this team can't see that they are as good as they truly are. I actually believe the Chiefs are quietly taking stock in how dominant they can be and that they must now step it up just that much more to ensure that the horse curse will end and the media powers don't get away with distorting the truth. They now not only have the physical talent, but because of this game they have that much more mental toughness and emotional fortitude to do what it take to overcome those exploitative machinations.
Watching them grow and move on with all this, this is what makes it all worthwhile.
I honestly don't think it will take much.
In fact, don't take it from me, and especially don't take it from those media cranks.
Take it from Peyton Manning.
First, Manning said in an interview on the field right after the game that this Chiefs defense was the best they ever had. He knew what it took to beat this team. This is not something you say about a team that is dead already with 14 games left in a season.
Second, he was more ebullient than he ever was after a game, that's one thing the commentators went out of their way to mention. This tells me Peyton Manning knew it was miracle win like no other. This was a game they pulled out of the fire with the help of the rare generous gifts the Chiefs gave them.
So yeah, this must mean the Chiefs will collapse exactly like this every game this season. This must mean they'll have the most insane turnovers they've never had before, all the time. This must mean the Chiefs are not professionals who are where they are for a pretty good reason and are themselves smart enough to know that. This must mean John Dorsey hasn't constructed a damn good team that we all saw in brilliant colors Thursday night.
Really?
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Thursday, September 17, 2015
Broncos at Chiefs - Week 2 - Record: 1-1
I sure wish I could blog here and get paid for it! Sadly, I do have a job and I must rise early in the morning. No full blog post for right now!
But please Chiefs fans, be despondent no more! This was a horrific loss, yes, but one I believe is a terrific thing for this young team.
I can't wait to share my take with you! It'll be up soon!
Meanwhile, sleep well tonight, and take stock in these Chiefs! You'll see!
__
But please Chiefs fans, be despondent no more! This was a horrific loss, yes, but one I believe is a terrific thing for this young team.
I can't wait to share my take with you! It'll be up soon!
Meanwhile, sleep well tonight, and take stock in these Chiefs! You'll see!
__
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Chiefs at Texans - Week 1 - Record: 1-0
There are two ways to look at this game. One, we controlled it from start to finish and simply took care of business. Two, our offensive line is still a tremendous liability and because of that we simply could not do what we really wanted to do in the second half -- we scored a grand total of zero points after the 4:55-to-go point of the first half.
If you take the first view, we can truly revel in the fact that we have the most complete team we've had in a long time. Andy Reid has taken what John Dorsey has given him and molded these guys into a truly competitive team. And by competitive I mean authentically ready to move deep into the playoffs.
If you take the second view, we should feel extraordinarily concerned about an O-line that didn't allow our backs to get untracked nearly as well as they should. And what was with Alex Smith running these option plays and quarterback draws and all that? Please!
As for our weapons, my thoughts.
Jeremy Maclin. Wow. He provided an object lesson in how pathetic our receiving core has been for years and years and years previous. The receiving core today was just that much better with him out there -- Albert Wilson looked pretty good too.
Travis Kelce. Wow wow. Not only did he score the first two touchdowns, but his play on 3rd and 6 with three minutes left in the game to get that key 1st down was just amazing. He caught the ball in the flat, then ducked under a certain tackle and was able to sprint to the 1st down.
De'Anthony Thomas. What a weapon, as both a punt return guy and scatback. He only got the ball for, what, two plays from scrimmage, but if we can do more to get him in the mix and get him exploding like he can -- look out -- come on offensive line!
I can't say I'm totally down on the line. I think everyone knows they've got to gel, they need the time to do that, and they've got Andy Reid to get them there. Good. It looked to me like Mitch Morse did well managing things, and sheez, you plug in brand-spankin' new Jah Reid at right tackle and tell him to spend all day blocking J.J. Watt, none other than the NFL Network's No. 1 ranked player of them all this year...
I'd say we did pretty well...
- Only two sacks allowed, and that was even with J.J. Watt being his standard exceptionally All-Pro future Hall-of-Fame self out there.
- Zero turnovers.
- For the entire Chiefs team only two penalties on the day.
- Five sacks on defense, and my son tells me the Texans O-line is one of their strengths.
This is all a great argument for the first view.
I have to say that I do feel like saying something about the officiating, which drives me crazy sometimes. I want to rant and holler about so many things, but there's this one thing from today's game. Tell me, really, please, tell me, what's with this.
In the 1st half we punted and it was yet another spectacular punt by Dustin Colquitt. The ball landed at the four or something, bounced toward the end zone, and was batted back into play by Chris Conley at the one. Great. Except that the officials reviewed the play and saw that Conley barely stepped on the goal line. Okay, that's cool. That's fine. That was the play, get it right, fine.
In the 2nd half we punted again and Tyvon Branch batted the ball back after going into the end zone for a moment, but clearly re-establishing himself in the field of play before he touched the ball. One official said the ball is down right there at, something like the three yard-line. Another official stormed in and insisted it was a touchback. I mean he just screamed at the other official that it was a touchback, when replays clearly showed it wasn't -- Branch was clearly not in the end zone when he batted it back.
Of course, the ball was placed at the 20. Whaaaa?...
Thing is, why wasn't that play reviewed?
Even the expert replay guy in New York said, "Wull, I guess it just depends on which ref is the loudest and meanest -- he gets his way!" And everyone in the booth just yucked it up.
Now granted, maybe I'm wrong about the interpretation or the rules. Maybe you can't go into the end zone and come back out again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I didn't see it exactly the way it happened. I'm okay with that. But why did all of this transpire so awkwardly as it did?
Why didn't they go out of their way to get the call right for us?
Now, the play didn't end up hurting us. But this kind of thing just drives me crazy, because it is exactly the kind of thing that does hurt us sometime.
The most important "maybe" is a very encouraging one: Maybe, just maybe we'll be so complete a team and our coaching staff has got such a handle on things that those kinds of things just can't kill us this year.
As it is, we'll definitely take this win. If this were like last year when we lost the first game we should've easily won, and we're destined to finish 9-7 at the end of this year, then this year that'll be 10-6 because we did get this game -- an opener we should've gotten.
Only thing is, I'm hoping for a lot more than 10-6. We've got the tools and skills and smarts for the record that will take us far playoff-wise, 11-5, even 12-4 or better. We've got a lot of season here in front of us to show we've got that got-it to make that happen.
Denver on Thursday, a huge test, at home!
_
If you take the first view, we can truly revel in the fact that we have the most complete team we've had in a long time. Andy Reid has taken what John Dorsey has given him and molded these guys into a truly competitive team. And by competitive I mean authentically ready to move deep into the playoffs.
If you take the second view, we should feel extraordinarily concerned about an O-line that didn't allow our backs to get untracked nearly as well as they should. And what was with Alex Smith running these option plays and quarterback draws and all that? Please!
As for our weapons, my thoughts.
Jeremy Maclin. Wow. He provided an object lesson in how pathetic our receiving core has been for years and years and years previous. The receiving core today was just that much better with him out there -- Albert Wilson looked pretty good too.Travis Kelce. Wow wow. Not only did he score the first two touchdowns, but his play on 3rd and 6 with three minutes left in the game to get that key 1st down was just amazing. He caught the ball in the flat, then ducked under a certain tackle and was able to sprint to the 1st down.
De'Anthony Thomas. What a weapon, as both a punt return guy and scatback. He only got the ball for, what, two plays from scrimmage, but if we can do more to get him in the mix and get him exploding like he can -- look out -- come on offensive line!
I can't say I'm totally down on the line. I think everyone knows they've got to gel, they need the time to do that, and they've got Andy Reid to get them there. Good. It looked to me like Mitch Morse did well managing things, and sheez, you plug in brand-spankin' new Jah Reid at right tackle and tell him to spend all day blocking J.J. Watt, none other than the NFL Network's No. 1 ranked player of them all this year...
I'd say we did pretty well...
- Only two sacks allowed, and that was even with J.J. Watt being his standard exceptionally All-Pro future Hall-of-Fame self out there.
- Zero turnovers.
- For the entire Chiefs team only two penalties on the day.
- Five sacks on defense, and my son tells me the Texans O-line is one of their strengths.
This is all a great argument for the first view.
I have to say that I do feel like saying something about the officiating, which drives me crazy sometimes. I want to rant and holler about so many things, but there's this one thing from today's game. Tell me, really, please, tell me, what's with this.
In the 1st half we punted and it was yet another spectacular punt by Dustin Colquitt. The ball landed at the four or something, bounced toward the end zone, and was batted back into play by Chris Conley at the one. Great. Except that the officials reviewed the play and saw that Conley barely stepped on the goal line. Okay, that's cool. That's fine. That was the play, get it right, fine.
In the 2nd half we punted again and Tyvon Branch batted the ball back after going into the end zone for a moment, but clearly re-establishing himself in the field of play before he touched the ball. One official said the ball is down right there at, something like the three yard-line. Another official stormed in and insisted it was a touchback. I mean he just screamed at the other official that it was a touchback, when replays clearly showed it wasn't -- Branch was clearly not in the end zone when he batted it back.
Of course, the ball was placed at the 20. Whaaaa?...
Thing is, why wasn't that play reviewed?
Even the expert replay guy in New York said, "Wull, I guess it just depends on which ref is the loudest and meanest -- he gets his way!" And everyone in the booth just yucked it up.
Now granted, maybe I'm wrong about the interpretation or the rules. Maybe you can't go into the end zone and come back out again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I didn't see it exactly the way it happened. I'm okay with that. But why did all of this transpire so awkwardly as it did?
Why didn't they go out of their way to get the call right for us?
Now, the play didn't end up hurting us. But this kind of thing just drives me crazy, because it is exactly the kind of thing that does hurt us sometime.
The most important "maybe" is a very encouraging one: Maybe, just maybe we'll be so complete a team and our coaching staff has got such a handle on things that those kinds of things just can't kill us this year.
As it is, we'll definitely take this win. If this were like last year when we lost the first game we should've easily won, and we're destined to finish 9-7 at the end of this year, then this year that'll be 10-6 because we did get this game -- an opener we should've gotten.
Only thing is, I'm hoping for a lot more than 10-6. We've got the tools and skills and smarts for the record that will take us far playoff-wise, 11-5, even 12-4 or better. We've got a lot of season here in front of us to show we've got that got-it to make that happen.
Denver on Thursday, a huge test, at home!
_
Sunday, September 06, 2015
No worries! The Chiefs 2015 Preview Post
The 2015 Chiefs season is upon us, and I thought I'd punch in some things that I'm thinking. I can't deny that I'm very excited, especially since this is our third year of the Dorsey-Reid reign and everything's been going well so far. Remember, the Chiefs have had two winning seasons already since they arrived, and they've continued to work hard to build not just a winner but a true playoff contending winner.
I'm going to share with you these thoughts in three ways, first, the top three things we have absolutely no worries about -- we've got these nailed. We'll be beast with these things. Second, what I do worry about, and third, what we should be worried about but I think we shouldn't be so worried. They are ranked in order of severity, commensurate explanations accompany as usual.
No worries at all
1. Our punting unit. Yeah, I know, how goofy is that. That's our greatest strength? But you know, it really is. It seems like it is such a minor part of the game, but do you realize how well the Chiefs command field position throughout a game because we have Dustin Colquitt as our punter and Dave Toub as the special teams coach? It really isn't even funny.
Yes, this was a bit better in '13 than last year, but we can still dominate in this area with Colquitt. I really believe the guy should end up in the Hall of Fame, I am not exaggerating. The Hall is miserable at recognizing punters -- I was shocked when I heard a few years ago that Ray Guy was the first punter elected. Well, here comes Dustin Colquitt.
In this year's exhibition game against Seattle, Colquitt punted one ball that landed at the -- not kidding you -- one-yard line, and -- here's the amazing part -- it bounced straight up and was summarily downed right there with the most minimal effort a cover team could expend. And you know? He is so good at it he does stuff like that regularly. I'm pretty sure I saw some stat during some game last year that showed he's the leader in punts downed inside the 5, something like that.
2. Our pass defense -- pass rush and defensive backfield. These two units together formed the best pass defense in the entire NFL last year. They did not allow a single 300-yard passing game all season. Dee Ford joins Justin Houston and Tamba Hali to make for a genuine triple threat. If Hali slips a bit because of his age, Ford is right there to take over, and all I hear about is his first step being very "Derrick Thomas-like". I'll take that.
My slight concern here is the injury to Dontari Poe. He's so good at occupying linemen to allow those speed rush guys to command the edge. Will his absence for a month (hopefully only that) be a factor early?
Sean Smith missing a few games is a concern, but our cover guys are terrific. And at safety, dang, Eric Berry and Tyvon Branch are the second string guys. Berry surely is there just to make sure he's good to go physically after his miraculous recovery from cancer this year. That he's back at all is just fine with me.
My one other very small concern is in our ability to squeeze those interceptions. The number of times balls banged around and out of a given D-back's hands last year was beyond aggravating. I think I saw on some preseason broadcast that last year the Chiefs had a miserable turnover-getting number of some kind. Yeah, I get that. Again, much of rectifying that is finishing the stand. If we don't make those picks, our stellar pass defense isn't much if the needed picks are required to win games.
3. Our running game. What else can be said except "Jamaal Charles." He appears just as fit and ready to zip up the field as always. Knile Davis is a splendid back-up, but I'm still concerned about his ability to make things happen at the line of scrimmage once he gets the handoff. Charcandrick West showed he could give Knile a challenge as the No. 2 guy.
Then there is DAT, De'Anthony Thomas, and if Andy Reid continues to be at least modestly imaginative there's no telling how much DAT could impact a game.
May have worries, let's be honest
1. Our offensive line. On the one hand there are some things that are very positive. First, John Dorsey knew about the woeful performance of the O-line last year, clearly the team's greatest weakness. He went and got Ben Grubbs and Paul Fanaika, with Grubbs being the key acquisition by far. He also drafted Mitch Morse to play center, and he's won the job playing admirably so far. Second, Andy Reid is renowned for his work with the offensive line, so it is good we can put this unit in his hands and trust he'll make it work.
Okay, here're the scary things. First, how can there be any question marks when you have the first No. 1 overall pick in the draft a couple years ago at left tackle? Now yeah, Eric Fisher needed time to adjust and learn and all that, agreed, and yes he has suffered a number of injuries -- this year in preseason he suffered a sprained ankle. Will that hobble him? We'll see. Second, and this is the major one, the offensive line must work as a unit, they must gel and flow and instinctively react in a split-second, and the best units have been doing it for a while. Again, there is Andy Reid in there, whew, just hoping he can make that all happen with a bit more haste. Losing Jeff Allen to injury doesn't help in that we are in that quasi-scrambling mode to find exactly the right mix in all this.
2. Our quarterback. Yes, I will emphasize again that I am not on the anti-Alex Smith bandwagon. I know some Chiefs fans are. I still think Smith's intelligence, versatility, mobility, and raw skill can get us to the promised land. But I will confess that Smith absolutely needs the O-line to provide him with exceptional pass protection, because if it is merely adequate protection, Smith ditches his progressions far too soon.
Ever notice that with still a good split-second left to throw the ball at that precise instance when that receiver is going to consummate the pattern, Smith bails and starts looking around for ways to escape the pocket? Smith is an extraordinary scrambler and broken play adjuster, he really is. He is even frequently commended for his conservative play that is beneficial: instead of throwing a pick he tosses the ball away or even picks up a few yards with a run.
The problem with this is obvious. He isn't letting the receivers make the plays they must for an NFL team to succeed. Remember, this is a passing oriented league, and for centuries the Chiefs have struggled to have quarterbacks and receivers par excellence -- or even close.
Now we all know this could be academic if the new receivers we got will provide Smith the confidence he needs to make things happen. So yeah, we do need a combination of fine O-line play and a fine measure of Smith courage to see this happen. Will it? We'll just have to see.
3. Our kicker. Sorry, but I'm just worried about this idiotic new rule about kicking extra points from 33 yards away. Purely idiotic. There was no reason at all to change it, who gives a rat's nard about them being automatic? But ohhh! Whoaaa! We have to be more entertaining now, don't we! We have to make it more dramatic don't we!
Errgh. All it means is that the Chiefs may lose a critical critical critical game 17-16 all because they decided to screw us with this stupid new twist.
I'm fine with Cairos Santos, really, he's been fine, but I heard he did miss an extra point attempt in the preseason. I confess I did watch some of those exhibition games, but I missed that part of that one. Probably a good thing. I am worried about it.
What we should be worried about, but I'm not
1. Injuries. Needless to say this is always the number one worry for anyone. Last year losing people like Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito so early really cost us. We were great against the pass but teams could run against us and in a few games, even just a few, that was the difference maker. I mean, we win one more game last year and we make the playoffs.
This year we are very deep. We were the only team to go undefeated in the preseason, and the Chiefs always suck in preseason. I heard it was the first time since 1969 we went undefeated in exhibition play -- I really hope that's a good omen.
Sure they may say preseason is worthless, but if you do well then, it could be a true indicator of how deep your team is. With the second unit playing at a higher level, key injuries may not hurt as much.
This is quite a comforting thought going into the season.
2. Our run defense. The key here is Ramik Wilson. Yes, I know, we cannot expect him to morph into Ray Lewis overnight, but he played very well in preseason, and with Derrick Johnson back and healthy we should be fine in this area. Josh Mauga is a good guy back there, even though he last year he did get taken out too often. The team also likes their other draft pick D.J. Alexander, and let's hope he blossoms into a run-stopper too.
I will offer this very profound disclaimer here, and it is why it is in the "Why we could be justified in worrying about this" section of this post. It just flat-out has to do with Denver and its offensive line. You remember that the key reason we couldn't beat Denver last year wasn't as much because of Peyton Manning; it was because the Broncos offensive line beat the living crap out of our defense. Manning is, what, 108 years old? He'll keep playing well as long as that line is as good as it was against us. Manning doesn't really matter, their receiving core doesn't really matter, their backs don't matter -- it's their offensive line. If we don't find a way to solve them, we're toast. Now again, I don't follow anything about any other team, so I know nothing about the Broncos right now. I only know what happened last year. And I so remember what happened last year.
What helps here too is our stout pass defense. If our specialist coverage guys can be particularly beast, we can key a bit more on the run and frustrate the entire opponent's offense. I'm looking for good things in this area this year.
3. Our wide receivers. Obviously this should be a cause for worry because of how atrocious Chiefs receivers played last year. Everyone has heard to death the whole thing about how many thousands of touchdown passes our receivers did not catch last year.
Naturally this shouldn't be a concern because of the acquisition of Jeremy Maclin, who has shown he was well worth the investment. We also picked up a fine receiver, the steal of the draft to many, Chris Conley, who does need to gain experience but is still smart and fast. Tight end Travis Kelce is shaping into one of the best in the NFL and our backs are fine receivers also. We can also use DAT in so many different formations and so forth, that alone should make things wide open down field (please oh please oh please Alex Smith don't ditch your progressions!!!)
We actually struggled this year with which wide-outs to keep in trimming to 53! I did peek and it looks like we still cut Fred Williams, who did show fine ability to run routes and make tough catches. I'd like to think this is an indicator that the core guys we're putting out there are going to be pretty danged good.
There you go. There's the sincerely honest take on the Chiefs this year, with all its worries, warts, and wondrous winning ways, all.
Next week, we take on the Houston Texans, and I'm hoping recollections of how disastrous our season opener was last year against a miserable Titans team will be brightly front and center in the minds of the Chiefs this year.
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I'm going to share with you these thoughts in three ways, first, the top three things we have absolutely no worries about -- we've got these nailed. We'll be beast with these things. Second, what I do worry about, and third, what we should be worried about but I think we shouldn't be so worried. They are ranked in order of severity, commensurate explanations accompany as usual.
No worries at all
1. Our punting unit. Yeah, I know, how goofy is that. That's our greatest strength? But you know, it really is. It seems like it is such a minor part of the game, but do you realize how well the Chiefs command field position throughout a game because we have Dustin Colquitt as our punter and Dave Toub as the special teams coach? It really isn't even funny.
Yes, this was a bit better in '13 than last year, but we can still dominate in this area with Colquitt. I really believe the guy should end up in the Hall of Fame, I am not exaggerating. The Hall is miserable at recognizing punters -- I was shocked when I heard a few years ago that Ray Guy was the first punter elected. Well, here comes Dustin Colquitt.
In this year's exhibition game against Seattle, Colquitt punted one ball that landed at the -- not kidding you -- one-yard line, and -- here's the amazing part -- it bounced straight up and was summarily downed right there with the most minimal effort a cover team could expend. And you know? He is so good at it he does stuff like that regularly. I'm pretty sure I saw some stat during some game last year that showed he's the leader in punts downed inside the 5, something like that.
2. Our pass defense -- pass rush and defensive backfield. These two units together formed the best pass defense in the entire NFL last year. They did not allow a single 300-yard passing game all season. Dee Ford joins Justin Houston and Tamba Hali to make for a genuine triple threat. If Hali slips a bit because of his age, Ford is right there to take over, and all I hear about is his first step being very "Derrick Thomas-like". I'll take that.
My slight concern here is the injury to Dontari Poe. He's so good at occupying linemen to allow those speed rush guys to command the edge. Will his absence for a month (hopefully only that) be a factor early?
Sean Smith missing a few games is a concern, but our cover guys are terrific. And at safety, dang, Eric Berry and Tyvon Branch are the second string guys. Berry surely is there just to make sure he's good to go physically after his miraculous recovery from cancer this year. That he's back at all is just fine with me.
My one other very small concern is in our ability to squeeze those interceptions. The number of times balls banged around and out of a given D-back's hands last year was beyond aggravating. I think I saw on some preseason broadcast that last year the Chiefs had a miserable turnover-getting number of some kind. Yeah, I get that. Again, much of rectifying that is finishing the stand. If we don't make those picks, our stellar pass defense isn't much if the needed picks are required to win games.
3. Our running game. What else can be said except "Jamaal Charles." He appears just as fit and ready to zip up the field as always. Knile Davis is a splendid back-up, but I'm still concerned about his ability to make things happen at the line of scrimmage once he gets the handoff. Charcandrick West showed he could give Knile a challenge as the No. 2 guy.
Then there is DAT, De'Anthony Thomas, and if Andy Reid continues to be at least modestly imaginative there's no telling how much DAT could impact a game.
May have worries, let's be honest
1. Our offensive line. On the one hand there are some things that are very positive. First, John Dorsey knew about the woeful performance of the O-line last year, clearly the team's greatest weakness. He went and got Ben Grubbs and Paul Fanaika, with Grubbs being the key acquisition by far. He also drafted Mitch Morse to play center, and he's won the job playing admirably so far. Second, Andy Reid is renowned for his work with the offensive line, so it is good we can put this unit in his hands and trust he'll make it work.
Okay, here're the scary things. First, how can there be any question marks when you have the first No. 1 overall pick in the draft a couple years ago at left tackle? Now yeah, Eric Fisher needed time to adjust and learn and all that, agreed, and yes he has suffered a number of injuries -- this year in preseason he suffered a sprained ankle. Will that hobble him? We'll see. Second, and this is the major one, the offensive line must work as a unit, they must gel and flow and instinctively react in a split-second, and the best units have been doing it for a while. Again, there is Andy Reid in there, whew, just hoping he can make that all happen with a bit more haste. Losing Jeff Allen to injury doesn't help in that we are in that quasi-scrambling mode to find exactly the right mix in all this.
2. Our quarterback. Yes, I will emphasize again that I am not on the anti-Alex Smith bandwagon. I know some Chiefs fans are. I still think Smith's intelligence, versatility, mobility, and raw skill can get us to the promised land. But I will confess that Smith absolutely needs the O-line to provide him with exceptional pass protection, because if it is merely adequate protection, Smith ditches his progressions far too soon.
Ever notice that with still a good split-second left to throw the ball at that precise instance when that receiver is going to consummate the pattern, Smith bails and starts looking around for ways to escape the pocket? Smith is an extraordinary scrambler and broken play adjuster, he really is. He is even frequently commended for his conservative play that is beneficial: instead of throwing a pick he tosses the ball away or even picks up a few yards with a run.
The problem with this is obvious. He isn't letting the receivers make the plays they must for an NFL team to succeed. Remember, this is a passing oriented league, and for centuries the Chiefs have struggled to have quarterbacks and receivers par excellence -- or even close.
Now we all know this could be academic if the new receivers we got will provide Smith the confidence he needs to make things happen. So yeah, we do need a combination of fine O-line play and a fine measure of Smith courage to see this happen. Will it? We'll just have to see.
3. Our kicker. Sorry, but I'm just worried about this idiotic new rule about kicking extra points from 33 yards away. Purely idiotic. There was no reason at all to change it, who gives a rat's nard about them being automatic? But ohhh! Whoaaa! We have to be more entertaining now, don't we! We have to make it more dramatic don't we!
Errgh. All it means is that the Chiefs may lose a critical critical critical game 17-16 all because they decided to screw us with this stupid new twist.
I'm fine with Cairos Santos, really, he's been fine, but I heard he did miss an extra point attempt in the preseason. I confess I did watch some of those exhibition games, but I missed that part of that one. Probably a good thing. I am worried about it.
What we should be worried about, but I'm not
1. Injuries. Needless to say this is always the number one worry for anyone. Last year losing people like Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito so early really cost us. We were great against the pass but teams could run against us and in a few games, even just a few, that was the difference maker. I mean, we win one more game last year and we make the playoffs.
This year we are very deep. We were the only team to go undefeated in the preseason, and the Chiefs always suck in preseason. I heard it was the first time since 1969 we went undefeated in exhibition play -- I really hope that's a good omen.
Sure they may say preseason is worthless, but if you do well then, it could be a true indicator of how deep your team is. With the second unit playing at a higher level, key injuries may not hurt as much.
This is quite a comforting thought going into the season.
2. Our run defense. The key here is Ramik Wilson. Yes, I know, we cannot expect him to morph into Ray Lewis overnight, but he played very well in preseason, and with Derrick Johnson back and healthy we should be fine in this area. Josh Mauga is a good guy back there, even though he last year he did get taken out too often. The team also likes their other draft pick D.J. Alexander, and let's hope he blossoms into a run-stopper too.
I will offer this very profound disclaimer here, and it is why it is in the "Why we could be justified in worrying about this" section of this post. It just flat-out has to do with Denver and its offensive line. You remember that the key reason we couldn't beat Denver last year wasn't as much because of Peyton Manning; it was because the Broncos offensive line beat the living crap out of our defense. Manning is, what, 108 years old? He'll keep playing well as long as that line is as good as it was against us. Manning doesn't really matter, their receiving core doesn't really matter, their backs don't matter -- it's their offensive line. If we don't find a way to solve them, we're toast. Now again, I don't follow anything about any other team, so I know nothing about the Broncos right now. I only know what happened last year. And I so remember what happened last year.
What helps here too is our stout pass defense. If our specialist coverage guys can be particularly beast, we can key a bit more on the run and frustrate the entire opponent's offense. I'm looking for good things in this area this year.
3. Our wide receivers. Obviously this should be a cause for worry because of how atrocious Chiefs receivers played last year. Everyone has heard to death the whole thing about how many thousands of touchdown passes our receivers did not catch last year.
Naturally this shouldn't be a concern because of the acquisition of Jeremy Maclin, who has shown he was well worth the investment. We also picked up a fine receiver, the steal of the draft to many, Chris Conley, who does need to gain experience but is still smart and fast. Tight end Travis Kelce is shaping into one of the best in the NFL and our backs are fine receivers also. We can also use DAT in so many different formations and so forth, that alone should make things wide open down field (please oh please oh please Alex Smith don't ditch your progressions!!!)
We actually struggled this year with which wide-outs to keep in trimming to 53! I did peek and it looks like we still cut Fred Williams, who did show fine ability to run routes and make tough catches. I'd like to think this is an indicator that the core guys we're putting out there are going to be pretty danged good.
There you go. There's the sincerely honest take on the Chiefs this year, with all its worries, warts, and wondrous winning ways, all.
Next week, we take on the Houston Texans, and I'm hoping recollections of how disastrous our season opener was last year against a miserable Titans team will be brightly front and center in the minds of the Chiefs this year.
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Thursday, July 30, 2015
Eric Berry
I couldn't think of a title for this post except those two words.
I never post in this blog during the off-season except for an occasional remark about what little I learned from the draft in April (which I didn't even bother with this year). I only post in August to make some pithy season preview remarks, and I'll surely put that together sometime soon.
But damn.
Eric Berry.
The news from the previous month was about how the Chiefs would have to work out his contract if he was put on the year-long injury list, but this past couple of days Berry, his doctors, the trainers, and the Chiefs have been sharing that as far as right now, he has not only beaten his cancer, but that he's ready to play again this year.
Yesterday press conference, today workouts on the field with the team, tomorrow the -- the -- well, I guess let's just worry about the Texans September 13th.
That, friends, is nothing short of a miracle.
And with the greatest humility and wisdom and courage, the man deliberately kept us all from his progress because he simply wanted to beat the thing before he could even say a word about anything.
Yeah, whatever the case, whatever happens from this point forward -- I mean an asteroid could hit the earth, whatever -- This is something to behold.
The pride of a man and his devotion to his family -- a big part of which is the Kansas City Chiefs -- just something to take tremendous pride in.
For decades we Chiefs fans have been longing for even a shot at the Super Bowl -- yeah, we've gone out of our minds yearning for that. But definitely --
This is better than that -- by light years.
Thank you Eric Berry for allowing us to revel in your fortitude and faith, your strength and trust, your wisdom and devotion.
And yeah, a very small added bonus -- to watch you run-sack some shifty back forcing a demoralizing 3rd-and-14.
Life is good.
__
I never post in this blog during the off-season except for an occasional remark about what little I learned from the draft in April (which I didn't even bother with this year). I only post in August to make some pithy season preview remarks, and I'll surely put that together sometime soon.
But damn.
Eric Berry.
The news from the previous month was about how the Chiefs would have to work out his contract if he was put on the year-long injury list, but this past couple of days Berry, his doctors, the trainers, and the Chiefs have been sharing that as far as right now, he has not only beaten his cancer, but that he's ready to play again this year.
Yesterday press conference, today workouts on the field with the team, tomorrow the -- the -- well, I guess let's just worry about the Texans September 13th.That, friends, is nothing short of a miracle.
And with the greatest humility and wisdom and courage, the man deliberately kept us all from his progress because he simply wanted to beat the thing before he could even say a word about anything.
Yeah, whatever the case, whatever happens from this point forward -- I mean an asteroid could hit the earth, whatever -- This is something to behold.
The pride of a man and his devotion to his family -- a big part of which is the Kansas City Chiefs -- just something to take tremendous pride in.
For decades we Chiefs fans have been longing for even a shot at the Super Bowl -- yeah, we've gone out of our minds yearning for that. But definitely --
This is better than that -- by light years.
Thank you Eric Berry for allowing us to revel in your fortitude and faith, your strength and trust, your wisdom and devotion.
And yeah, a very small added bonus -- to watch you run-sack some shifty back forcing a demoralizing 3rd-and-14.
Life is good.
__
Saturday, January 24, 2015
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Month of January, Part III
I think I've discovered a major component of that thing we've reviled for decades.Indeed.
A critical part of the curse is winning.
May I?
I've shared before that being a Bay Area transplant from Kansas, my favorite teams are commensurate with that geographic identity. Here's how the curse has affected those teams.
San Francisco Giants. None other than the major league baseball champions three of the last five years. I don't think my feet have touched the ground in any even-numbered year this decade. The crazy thing is that in the last World Series this team played the...
Kansas City Royals. That this team would play one of the my other favorite baseball teams in the fall classic was just insane. 29 years of complete and utter baseball destitution, and suddenly a well-deserved American League pennant. Thing is, the Royals were arguably the best team in all of baseball, consistently, from the mid-70's to the late-80's. Because I now live in southern California, and have mostly since the late 70's, I grew to appreciate the...
California Angels. Sorry, no "Los Angeles" for you, or Anaheim, or any of that. I still like the team a lot, one that won it all in 2002 (against the Giants, how crazy is that) and this year had the best record in the majors with 98 wins. They haven't quite had the success of the...
San Francisco 49ers. Talk about winning. Five Super Bowl titles. Three years in a row previous to 2014 making it to the NFC Championship game. Reputation as one of the greatest teams ever. I watched a documentary on the NFL channel last night about Bill Walsh, not just a genius coach but a genius leader. Funny thing is, during that broadcast something was happening, live, with my only favorite NBA team, the...
Kansas City Chiefs.
As I get to what this is all about, major, intense, very fun Chiefs things, that big-time Warriors thing that happened last night? In their game against the Sacramento Kings, guard Klay Thompson scored 37 points in one quarter, setting an NBA record. I mean, how could this Warriors team get any more dominant?
How could any of this be a curse?
It is simply because of the Then what? factor. The simple truth that when you've won, what are you going to do now? After you've won, what happens when you don't win? How do you feel then? It's almost like you are the first loser. It's not the second place guy who's the first loser, it's the team that won last year and couldn't keep it up. Why? How? Were you for real or not? Guess not or you wouldn't've lost. You were winners, now you're just the most disgraced losers. That's nice.
What if you're such a dominant team no one cares? Especially if you're not in a major media market. Wow is it great to be a Warriors fan right now -- it is so much fun. But the Warriors are crushing every opponent they see, and while Steph Curry is extraordinarily popular because he is so skilled, what if every game is a blowout? And you're a team like, oh, the Charlotte Hornets or the Jacksonville Jaguars -- small market, smearing the New York's and Los Angeles's. (In fact the NBA is probably going apoplectic right now because the Knicks and Lakers are so thoroughly crappy this year. There's a planetload of money going right out the window. But don't worry, they'll mess with something to get them back to winning very soon...)
Then there's the pursuit. In a very perverse way, I admit, it is good to not win. It is good because you can keep thinking about what it takes to win. The coaches and players work harder at it all, we fans and bloggers get to keep talking and writing about it, and there is great anticipation about what's to come.
When you've won, tha's it. You did it. Now don't get me wrong. Again, the Giants winning World Series crowns every other year is extraordinarily exhilarating, and carries through the whole following year. Every devout fan of a winning team knows that well. But when you think about it, what good is it if you win it all every year? "Oh, yeah, forgot, this is our 57th title in a row. Whoop. Pass the peanuts would you?"
It means something when your team has worked like crazy and done what it takes to reach that final pinnacle. In fact, it only means something when that happens, and you'd done a bunch of losing before, and now, now -- you actually have a shot.
The curse is not in the losing, but in the winning.
Which makes me think, maybe all that crappy stuff that has happened to the Chiefs, all that playoff ugliness, is for something better, something greater. Maybe not, yeah, and yeah, the curse is wretched, it really is. But I do want to emphasize, when I speak of the curse in spiritual terms, as a supernatural element -- I am serious about that, but I also know that overcoming it requires all the facets of leadership and talent and coaching and heart and camaraderie and desire and incisiveness and pride and teamwork to come together to make any title worth it.
I must also add this important point. It's just a game. It's for fun. Yes it's brutal when we lose. Yes there is a dynamic that the sport reflects real life when reaching for success in any endeavor we must employ the finest leadership and talent and [see paragraph just above]. I don't mean to dismiss the meaning, because it is splendid when we win. But damn, we do tend to treat it all far too seriously.
This past weekend Green Bay lost when a furious comeback by Seattle included a dropped on-sides kick by a Packers receiver. I'd heard that many were excoriating the guy, like in social media and such, and I'm thinking, are you kidding me? Sure I wear it all over my sleeve in this blog whenever there's a bad Chiefs thing that happens, sometimes I wear it all over my clothes. But please, if I ever did that to any player regarding any Chiefs thing, somebody pull me aside and yell loudly to me that this whole thing no matter what happens is supposed to be a fun thing.
With all that in mind, let's do the thing that's fun no matter what, let's get into those Chiefs, let's talk about them during this time when it's a lot of fun to think deeply about our team's prospects for next year. And I will tell you, I am very encouraged about what we've got going. In earlier posts I addressed the impact of Clark Hunt and John Dorsey, but we can't go without making mention of the third key guy in that triumvirate, our coach.
There's no question having Andy Reid with a couple Chiefs years already is tremendously advantageous. His coaching staff seems to be firmly in place, so tuned in to the program, and having a sense that the organization is tremendously stable -- what joy to be writing that! It seems, it seems none of these guys are angling to take off, messing with the steady building of a truly contending team.
Let's go through each level of the Chiefs team shaping up for next year, and do the intense analysis, shall we?
 |
| De'Anthony Thomas |
Running backs. Jamaal. Knile. We're set. I must also give major kudos to De'Anthony Thomas, who exceeded expectations -- this guy just looked spectacular. Think of what an imaginative Andy Reid could do with him for next year and beyond. The one concern, Jamaal's health and stamina. Again this year he took some real cringe-making shots. Um, I have to ask again, does he still have to play in the Pro Bowl tomorrow? Can he please not, please?
Quarterback. I'm sorry, but I'm not on the rip-Alex Smith-a-new-aye-hole crew every time we talk about him. I'd like to think most Chiefs fans do give him the benefit of the doubt. Yes he is too conservative -- but as I said, a lot of correcting that is the coaching staff setting him up for success. Yes we all think the issue with our passing game may be as much Alex as much as it is his receivers -- I'm hoping him being here with Reid for another year will get quite a bit more got-it pumped into him. And let's all face it, think about it, Smith has led us to winning seasons both of his years as our QB. I for one am hoping this is the year he makes the jump into the higher levels of top echelon NFL quarterbacking.
Offensive line. Yep Eric Fisher needs to get to the level of a No. 1 overall pick. Yes we need Jeff Allen to be back and playing well. Yes we need to re-sign Rodney Hudson. And yes yes yes this is a severe needs area for us. We'll see.
 |
| Travis Kelce |
Wide receivers. Oh. Ngg. Errp. Nngkn. Well, since this is a mostly positive look at the 2015 Chiefs, let's just say that any team can have a year when no receiver scores a touchdown, come on, it can happen to anyone! Well, yeah, this is definitely one area that needs the most rigorous attention, but we all know that. In the mean time Dwayne Bowe is still good, and we saw flashes of fine play from people like Albert Wilson and Jason Avant. Having Donnie Avery and A.J. Jenkins injured for most of the season did not help.
Defensive line. Dontari Poe's already established himself as one of the best nose tackles in the league. We got very nice play from Allen Bailey and respectable results from a handful of others, some filling in well for injured Mike DeVito. The run defense needed work, but these guys were part of a top-notch pass defense.
Linebackers. Losing Derrick Johnson hurt a lot, but we still had All Pro pass rushers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston wreaking havoc in the opponent's backfield. Houston was half-a-sack shy of setting an NFL record last year. Here's to getting him re-signed. I'd like to think Dee Ford is a keeper, he looked good in the limited amount we saw him this season. We still need to get that guy who can shut down the run in a big way. D.J. should be back and ready to go, but I still have to ask: Will the next Luke Kuechly be available for us when we our pick comes up in the draft? I hope so!
 |
| Sean Smith |
This defense only allowed 18 points a game this year, one of the best in the NFL. It had the consistently top-ranked pass defense all year long. And yeah, we were the only NFL team to beat both participants in this year's Super Bowl, the Patriots and Seahawks. Thing is, we didn't just beat them, we really beat them. We blasted the Patriots 41-14, and while the Seahawks game was closer we grinded out a hard-fought, well-deserved win.
To me this kind of stuff just means we're poised for greatness next year. We don't have to win right now to enjoy Chiefs success, it is clear we have personnel at every level who know what it takes and are working hard towards the goal.
The beauty of winning is in the getting there. Yeah when we finally get there it'll be glorious, but it's glorious right now. You know, I confess I do think about the Warriors this year blowing it to some team that gets hot in the playoffs, but why worry about that? Why not have fun right now? It's a blast!
It's fun seeing that the Chiefs are moving steadily towards that level of respectability in the NFL as a genuinely quality organization.
I have to add that the Pro Bowl is tomorrow. I may or may not watch it, don't much care a whole lot about it. But the other day the NFL channel replayed last year's Pro Bowl, the first one in which the each conference's players were split up, last year it was "Team Rice" against "Team Sanders." To be honest, the only thing I remember from that game last year was watching, with the most gargantuous mortification you can imagine, Derrick Johnson just plow into Jamaal Charles. It looked like he killed him, right there on the football field. The announcers were saying things like, "Whulp, that's what you get with this, teammates playing hard against other teammates. How exciting!" How harrowing!
But with my attention on other things while the game progressed, I happened to catch these few items. It was weird how they just showed up when my attention went to the game. Yes, we did have eight players there, so it was likely these things might happen. It was still fun:
- Eric Berry intercepting a pass.
- Eric Berry recovering a fumble.
- Dontari Poe intercepting a pass. (Yes, Dontari Poe. Interception. And he rumbled some 40 yards afterwards.)
- Jamaal Charles getting the last good running play for his team towards the end of the game.
- Derrick Johnson talking to a sideline reporter about how proud he was of the Chiefs turnaround (remember: 1-15 in 2012, 11-5 in 2013).
- Derrick Johnson being in the mix of everything on defense on the way to winning the defensive MVP award.
- Derrick Johnson speaking to everyone from the dais after the game about how proud he was to represent the Chiefs.
- Alex Smith throwing the game-winning touchdown. (Perhaps a portend for the Chiefs 2014 season: the pass was to a running back.)
This team does have players who have got-it. The Chiefs have a lot of them. I see they have an owner, a general manager, and a coach with got-it. A lot of it.
I can't wait to see it on the field next year!
_
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Month of January, Part II
Last week I'd touched on the curse against the Chiefs in terms of the Scorecasting premise, that the officiating is at least some significant part of making it so the NFL has enough media-darling teams featured in postseason action. The plain truths about how these teams are showcased is evidence enough of that. There are indeed other factors that enter into the elements of that thing, that thing that is the curse -- notice I've stopped capitalizing it, why give it that strength. It is a mean mnfkngnkknfer, yes, but hey...
There are a lot of things the Chiefs can do themselves to rise above it.
We'll get into that momentarily.
The interesting thing is that as much as the curse is one against the Chiefs, it is as much against the entire set of teams once comprising the AFL, something I've addressed several times before. Just for review, there were ten teams, now present in the AFC alive and well and -- um, maybe not well but certainly trying to play winning football -- they are the Chiefs Raiders Broncos Chargers Titans Bengals Patriots Jets Bills Dolphins.
And they all suck at winning Super Bowls.
This year the beat went on as three non-AFL teams again qualified for the playoffs, the Steelers Ravens Colts. Remember there are only six non-former-AFL teams in the AFC: the aforementioned and the Texans Jaguars Browns. The Colts are still in it ready to face the Patriots tomorrow to see who goes to the Super Bowl. Just to see, I looked back to try to find the last AFC Championship matchup that had two AFL teams not the Broncos or Patriots. As I scanned through the list of AFC title game matchups, it was actually pretty amazing. The Colts were there all the time. The Steelers were there all the time. The Ravens were there often enough. Of course the Broncos and Patriots appeared for their requisite share.
Last time?
2002 season, Raiders vs. Titans. I looked further back to see when the last one was before that. Do you know what it was? Sure enough...
1993. Chiefs vs. Bills.
Yeah.
I noticed the common thread among the three things related to the curse here, see if you can divine what that is: Super Bowl, the AFL, and the Chiefs.
Yee-ehp. They all have a very profound connection to Lamar Hunt.
I went back to read Michael MacCambridge's terrific biography of Hunt just to see if I can mine for anything Hunt did to put this crap in motion. I thought I'd go through MacCambridge's account of Hunt's involvement in the silver-cornering scandal just to see how much of an impact that may have had. It started in the early 1970's when they had an interest in silver investing, and it reached a head in the early 1980's when they got tapped out -- in a big way. For those who are just not well-versed in what happened, Lamar's brothers spearheaded a campaign to corner the silver market, and after prices shot up they came crashing down, severely damaging the Hunt fortune and destroying the reputation of the Hunt family. They took many investors down with them, and the profound severity of it all cannot be misunderstood.
While Lamar was not a major player in it, he was still meaningfully involved. It is my contention that this terrible event was so distracting and so infectious that the Chiefs were dragged in with it. And yes, at the cost of being dismissed by more materialistically minded readers, I believe this whole thing does have a spiritual dimension to it.
When people do rotten things that ruin the lives of others, there are spiritual consequences. Lamar Hunt did pay the price with comprehensive resolutions of restitution claims and prosecution requirements, all fulfilled by a man who did have a sincere desire to clear his name, honor his family's legacy, and yes, to his credit, protect the integrity of his greatest pride, the Kansas City Chiefs and his contribution to the NFL.
Yes, I do firmly believe Hunt deeply cherished the Chiefs and the NFL to the extent that he clearly did -- demonstrated in a number of different wonderful things he did for both. I'm not denying that, and no one would say Hunt wasn't exceptionally dedicated in that commitment.
But again, I truly think Hunt's involvement in those financial crimes, as well as his attention to those other leagues -- that soccer thing and that tennis thing, both horribly debilitating distractions -- set in motion a long string of Chiefs failures that have carried over all the way to this day. I'm sorry, but the two failures -- Hunt's silver/sports leagues involvement and the Chiefs woeful play on the field -- both starting in the 1970's, cannot be merely coincidental.
Just so you know, much of this is detailed in Chapter 14 of MacCambridge's book. Read it yourself, it is frightening. One of the things that particularly struck me was what Hunt did after the Levy firing and failure to draft one of those better quarterbacks in 1983. Suffering through more Chiefs losing, instability, and dissension, Hunt had a press conference to announce that he was going to take care of business, that the Chiefs were first and foremost, that he was committed to making things better, and all that stuff. At first I thought, hmm, that sounds great. But then I thought, damn. That's exactly it.
It sounds great.
Owners just don't do that kind of thing. They don't announce, "I'm on the job dang it I'm really trying hard." Who does that? No, the best owners just take care of business. The NFL is just too damn competitive to not have and hold and nourish that one thing that gives you the edge -- whatever it is. And if things at the top are a mess, then you've lost the game already.
Look at a team like the Patriots. There are two things they have that give them the edge every single time they take the field. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I don't think I know of anyone in the NFL who are as brilliantly persistent at their craft than they are. Neither is a genius, really. Some will use words like "genius" I know, but they really aren't. What they are is good -- so very good. And you can see it in their eyes, relentlessly driven all the time, take no prisoners, the whole 100 yards.
Again, I don't think Lamar Hunt was a lousy owner, I really don't. I think he was a pretty good one, in fact. I am firmly convinced, however, that he did things that put a world of hurt on the Chiefs in whatever way that happened, and you can't deny that two 21-year playoff winless droughts in a 45-year history of being in the NFL is plain evidence of that.
It's funny, the trophy awarded to the winner of the AFC Championship game is, yes, as you well know, the Lamar Hunt trophy. There are, as you probably know, only two teams from the AFL that have never won the Lamar Hunt trophy, officially awarded starting in 1984. Those teams are the Chiefs and the Jets. And the Jets have at least had three shots at it (they were in the AFC title game in 1983 but again, the trophy wasn't named after Lamar Hunt then).
The Chiefs have only had one shot, back in 1993. They're dead last among the ten in NFL success since the merger in 1970. Dead last. The Chiefs, huh, never ever in 30 years have won the trophy named after their founder and owner. There have to be reasons why. I think I know some of them.
Many will inevitably and quite firmly say, "Well what about now? How about just focusing on the here and now, let's see what we've got for next year. Why whine about the past?"
I'm with you, I truly am. All I'm doing is looking at what is happening so I can see that maybe, just maybe we'll have some of that got-it I wrote a ton about in this post, so we can enjoy some Chiefs winning for once. And please, let's not mince words. When I say that word, winning, I mean we're such a good team with the abundance of got-it confidence and not-just-a-few of those critical intangible advantages that we actually have major playoff success. Every Chiefs fan knows what this means.
I have to say that the deeply thinking part of me starts with looking at the ownership, at Clark Hunt. He is Lamar's son, but from my perspective carries little if any of the old Lamar Hunt baggage already mentioned. In fact the things MacCambridge writes about Clark's early years are pretty encouraging. The kid was a spot-on college student, gifted in athletics, committed to academic excellence, later industriously groomed with great devotion to proudly carry on the Hunt family legacy, especially with respect to the Chiefs.
I have heard criticism of Clark's initial refusal to do things for Arrowhead and other things considered detrimental to Chiefs success. It seems like he's learned and grown as an owner, his commitment to the "New" Arrowhead and other Chiefs improvement projects have demonstrated that. I mean come on, summarily jettisoning the whole Scott Pioli ugliness with all due haste and bringing in the Dorsey-Reid regime was a bold and refreshing display of the kind of leadership we've been looking for.
I will confess I don't know everything about what's going on that maybe Kansas Citians have a real feel for regarding Clark's ownership. We have to face the fact in having any discussion of future Chiefs success, it must start with Clark. And as far as I know, again, whatever limited perspective that is, I do see him being a top-notch owner, I really do. If on the other hand, he's doing things somewhere, somehow that are anything like the things Lamar did, then you can't dismiss the impact of those things, you just can't.
As long as Clark is doing right by ownership, however, where do the Chiefs stand now? What exactly is it about the entity Kansas City Chiefs and what they do on the football field that is meaningful?
I must say that there is genuine hope for this franchise. John Dorsey has had a couple of decent drafts under his belt. In fact every draft class the Chiefs have had since the 2009 catastrophe has been solid, so we have a foundation to continue to build upon. Dorsey's drafting abilities are tantamount to our success, but Dorsey must show skill in keeping or signing the right free agents. I really think losing Houston or Hudson would be crushing blows. I firmly believe losing Albert and Asamoah last year did significantly contribute to our weakness on the O-line, something that truly hurt us especially late in the season. During last year's off-season Dorsey did sign some key guys like Josh Mauga and Jamell Fleming -- not amazing players but ones who played admirably enough. We'll have to see if he can dexterously do that again.
Speaking of late in the season, one area we need to improve is the ability to finish. The Chiefs have had a winning record over the final six games of a season only once since 2005 (in 2010). We started 9-1 last year, 7-3 this year, and piddled out each time at 2-4. That won't get it done. We also have to do better against the AFC West, and I know Dorsey has that forefront in his approach to building this team. We have not had a winning record against the six teams in the AFC West since 2006. In that time we've been 2-4 against the Raiders Broncos Chargers six times.
I'd like to see a bit more of the one thing Todd Haley did really well -- get us in shape. After a horrific start, the Chiefs actually played reasonably well through the 2011 season, much of it because of our physical resilience. We weren't going anywhere being hamstrung by the brutality of Pioli-Haley, but wouldn't it be nice to see that resilience back as one of those edges we have over the other team.
Don't know if that'll help with injuries -- sure enough, injuries clobbered us in 2014. I wonder, though, knowing that other teams also have tremendously debilitating injuries, how bad it was for us. I wonder if there is a metric for how much injuries hurt a given team? I do believe not having D.J. and E.B. (among others!) in there did hurt our run defense, and again, in the NFL any one given play that goes against you in any one crucial game could be a back-breaker.
Thing is, as I've shared many times in this blog, I valiantly try to maintain my sanity to some extent and stay away from seeing who we draft, who we sign, who we trade or trade for, pretty much throughout the offseason. I catch some of it when watching games because they talk about it -- an example last year was acquiring Jason Avant mid-season.
I'd like to continue with that thread, write more about that key thing in all of this of course... the players, who do we have, who must we get, all that. I've simply put in too much for this post, I will just have to do that next time for Part III.
Next week, we'll know, in the Super Bowl will it be New England and Seattle, two teams the Chiefs beat this year? ::Whimper:: Indeed, the Chiefs were the only team to beat both of them this year, that's nice.
Even more important, will they let Jamaal Charles not play in the Pro Bowl next week so he can recover and not get smashed up any more than he has to? Okay, wait, let me see, I'll look it up, just a sec. Let's see, I'm typing, "Is Jamaal Charles playing in the Pro Bowl," wait a sec, wait a sec...
Nope. Crap. Looks like he's not on the "unable to play because of injury" list. Looks like he's still on the roster of running backs. Errgh. Not that I want him injured! That's not the point. Again, I just don't want him playing and going through more grueling football stuff that is not the Chiefs!
Whatever. More on him and other Chiefs next week!
_
There are a lot of things the Chiefs can do themselves to rise above it.
We'll get into that momentarily.
The interesting thing is that as much as the curse is one against the Chiefs, it is as much against the entire set of teams once comprising the AFL, something I've addressed several times before. Just for review, there were ten teams, now present in the AFC alive and well and -- um, maybe not well but certainly trying to play winning football -- they are the Chiefs Raiders Broncos Chargers Titans Bengals Patriots Jets Bills Dolphins.And they all suck at winning Super Bowls.
This year the beat went on as three non-AFL teams again qualified for the playoffs, the Steelers Ravens Colts. Remember there are only six non-former-AFL teams in the AFC: the aforementioned and the Texans Jaguars Browns. The Colts are still in it ready to face the Patriots tomorrow to see who goes to the Super Bowl. Just to see, I looked back to try to find the last AFC Championship matchup that had two AFL teams not the Broncos or Patriots. As I scanned through the list of AFC title game matchups, it was actually pretty amazing. The Colts were there all the time. The Steelers were there all the time. The Ravens were there often enough. Of course the Broncos and Patriots appeared for their requisite share.
Last time?
2002 season, Raiders vs. Titans. I looked further back to see when the last one was before that. Do you know what it was? Sure enough...
1993. Chiefs vs. Bills.
Yeah.
I noticed the common thread among the three things related to the curse here, see if you can divine what that is: Super Bowl, the AFL, and the Chiefs.
Yee-ehp. They all have a very profound connection to Lamar Hunt.
I went back to read Michael MacCambridge's terrific biography of Hunt just to see if I can mine for anything Hunt did to put this crap in motion. I thought I'd go through MacCambridge's account of Hunt's involvement in the silver-cornering scandal just to see how much of an impact that may have had. It started in the early 1970's when they had an interest in silver investing, and it reached a head in the early 1980's when they got tapped out -- in a big way. For those who are just not well-versed in what happened, Lamar's brothers spearheaded a campaign to corner the silver market, and after prices shot up they came crashing down, severely damaging the Hunt fortune and destroying the reputation of the Hunt family. They took many investors down with them, and the profound severity of it all cannot be misunderstood.
While Lamar was not a major player in it, he was still meaningfully involved. It is my contention that this terrible event was so distracting and so infectious that the Chiefs were dragged in with it. And yes, at the cost of being dismissed by more materialistically minded readers, I believe this whole thing does have a spiritual dimension to it.
When people do rotten things that ruin the lives of others, there are spiritual consequences. Lamar Hunt did pay the price with comprehensive resolutions of restitution claims and prosecution requirements, all fulfilled by a man who did have a sincere desire to clear his name, honor his family's legacy, and yes, to his credit, protect the integrity of his greatest pride, the Kansas City Chiefs and his contribution to the NFL.
Yes, I do firmly believe Hunt deeply cherished the Chiefs and the NFL to the extent that he clearly did -- demonstrated in a number of different wonderful things he did for both. I'm not denying that, and no one would say Hunt wasn't exceptionally dedicated in that commitment.
But again, I truly think Hunt's involvement in those financial crimes, as well as his attention to those other leagues -- that soccer thing and that tennis thing, both horribly debilitating distractions -- set in motion a long string of Chiefs failures that have carried over all the way to this day. I'm sorry, but the two failures -- Hunt's silver/sports leagues involvement and the Chiefs woeful play on the field -- both starting in the 1970's, cannot be merely coincidental.
Just so you know, much of this is detailed in Chapter 14 of MacCambridge's book. Read it yourself, it is frightening. One of the things that particularly struck me was what Hunt did after the Levy firing and failure to draft one of those better quarterbacks in 1983. Suffering through more Chiefs losing, instability, and dissension, Hunt had a press conference to announce that he was going to take care of business, that the Chiefs were first and foremost, that he was committed to making things better, and all that stuff. At first I thought, hmm, that sounds great. But then I thought, damn. That's exactly it.
It sounds great.
Owners just don't do that kind of thing. They don't announce, "I'm on the job dang it I'm really trying hard." Who does that? No, the best owners just take care of business. The NFL is just too damn competitive to not have and hold and nourish that one thing that gives you the edge -- whatever it is. And if things at the top are a mess, then you've lost the game already.
Look at a team like the Patriots. There are two things they have that give them the edge every single time they take the field. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. I don't think I know of anyone in the NFL who are as brilliantly persistent at their craft than they are. Neither is a genius, really. Some will use words like "genius" I know, but they really aren't. What they are is good -- so very good. And you can see it in their eyes, relentlessly driven all the time, take no prisoners, the whole 100 yards.
Again, I don't think Lamar Hunt was a lousy owner, I really don't. I think he was a pretty good one, in fact. I am firmly convinced, however, that he did things that put a world of hurt on the Chiefs in whatever way that happened, and you can't deny that two 21-year playoff winless droughts in a 45-year history of being in the NFL is plain evidence of that.
The Chiefs have only had one shot, back in 1993. They're dead last among the ten in NFL success since the merger in 1970. Dead last. The Chiefs, huh, never ever in 30 years have won the trophy named after their founder and owner. There have to be reasons why. I think I know some of them.
Many will inevitably and quite firmly say, "Well what about now? How about just focusing on the here and now, let's see what we've got for next year. Why whine about the past?"
I'm with you, I truly am. All I'm doing is looking at what is happening so I can see that maybe, just maybe we'll have some of that got-it I wrote a ton about in this post, so we can enjoy some Chiefs winning for once. And please, let's not mince words. When I say that word, winning, I mean we're such a good team with the abundance of got-it confidence and not-just-a-few of those critical intangible advantages that we actually have major playoff success. Every Chiefs fan knows what this means.
I have to say that the deeply thinking part of me starts with looking at the ownership, at Clark Hunt. He is Lamar's son, but from my perspective carries little if any of the old Lamar Hunt baggage already mentioned. In fact the things MacCambridge writes about Clark's early years are pretty encouraging. The kid was a spot-on college student, gifted in athletics, committed to academic excellence, later industriously groomed with great devotion to proudly carry on the Hunt family legacy, especially with respect to the Chiefs.
I will confess I don't know everything about what's going on that maybe Kansas Citians have a real feel for regarding Clark's ownership. We have to face the fact in having any discussion of future Chiefs success, it must start with Clark. And as far as I know, again, whatever limited perspective that is, I do see him being a top-notch owner, I really do. If on the other hand, he's doing things somewhere, somehow that are anything like the things Lamar did, then you can't dismiss the impact of those things, you just can't.
As long as Clark is doing right by ownership, however, where do the Chiefs stand now? What exactly is it about the entity Kansas City Chiefs and what they do on the football field that is meaningful?
Speaking of late in the season, one area we need to improve is the ability to finish. The Chiefs have had a winning record over the final six games of a season only once since 2005 (in 2010). We started 9-1 last year, 7-3 this year, and piddled out each time at 2-4. That won't get it done. We also have to do better against the AFC West, and I know Dorsey has that forefront in his approach to building this team. We have not had a winning record against the six teams in the AFC West since 2006. In that time we've been 2-4 against the Raiders Broncos Chargers six times.
I'd like to see a bit more of the one thing Todd Haley did really well -- get us in shape. After a horrific start, the Chiefs actually played reasonably well through the 2011 season, much of it because of our physical resilience. We weren't going anywhere being hamstrung by the brutality of Pioli-Haley, but wouldn't it be nice to see that resilience back as one of those edges we have over the other team.
Don't know if that'll help with injuries -- sure enough, injuries clobbered us in 2014. I wonder, though, knowing that other teams also have tremendously debilitating injuries, how bad it was for us. I wonder if there is a metric for how much injuries hurt a given team? I do believe not having D.J. and E.B. (among others!) in there did hurt our run defense, and again, in the NFL any one given play that goes against you in any one crucial game could be a back-breaker.
Thing is, as I've shared many times in this blog, I valiantly try to maintain my sanity to some extent and stay away from seeing who we draft, who we sign, who we trade or trade for, pretty much throughout the offseason. I catch some of it when watching games because they talk about it -- an example last year was acquiring Jason Avant mid-season.
I'd like to continue with that thread, write more about that key thing in all of this of course... the players, who do we have, who must we get, all that. I've simply put in too much for this post, I will just have to do that next time for Part III.
Next week, we'll know, in the Super Bowl will it be New England and Seattle, two teams the Chiefs beat this year? ::Whimper:: Indeed, the Chiefs were the only team to beat both of them this year, that's nice.
Even more important, will they let Jamaal Charles not play in the Pro Bowl next week so he can recover and not get smashed up any more than he has to? Okay, wait, let me see, I'll look it up, just a sec. Let's see, I'm typing, "Is Jamaal Charles playing in the Pro Bowl," wait a sec, wait a sec...
Nope. Crap. Looks like he's not on the "unable to play because of injury" list. Looks like he's still on the roster of running backs. Errgh. Not that I want him injured! That's not the point. Again, I just don't want him playing and going through more grueling football stuff that is not the Chiefs!
Whatever. More on him and other Chiefs next week!
_
Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Month of January, Part 1
A metaphor for this weekend's non-event.
I live near a municipal airport, and once a year -- scheduled on this weekend every year -- is the air show. All sorts of planes fly about, including stunt planes and the like. One kind of plane, my favorite, is the World War II fighter plane. There are four of them that fly in formation, and they zoom close over our house as they prepare to pass the airfield nearby for all the spectators there. It is really fun to watch them.
I share this because I thought about why this pro football thing is so important, why it holds a special place in the heart of so many. Why do we care so much? Why do we have this deeply innate, rabidly visceral, thoroughly compelling desire to conquer the other guy? I don't really know, I kind of do, but only a bit.
I thought about this as I watched those fighter planes scorch the sky directly overhead a number of times, and each time I made note of what it said underneath the wing of a couple of them. It said, "Marines." I thought, yeah. That's the feeling. That feeling when your unit is under enemy fire and you're up against it, you're going down, you're facing a hopeless situation... and...
Here come the Marines.
And sure enough, that feeling overtakes you. That feeling that now you're just going to kick ass. That you're going to come out of it not just victorious, but with great pride, inspired by the tremendous accomplishment of your tribe, your nation, your family, your brothers and sisters joined together in the common cause of righteousness and justice and all that stirring stuff. Or, in terms of the metaphor, the great uplifting achievement of your
Team.
Yes, pro football does help with those needs, particularly in a society that is so advanced that rigorous crusading has lost much of its impact, a society where so many in it reject the melodramatic enthusiasm of sports "fanciers" or "fanatics" as such Neanderthal behavior.
This weekend is yet again a sad one for Kansas City Chiefs fans because yet again, we are not playing in any playoff games. This is usually the case, as we all know. In the team's history it has only played in seven games past the first week of January. It has won a scant three of them, one of them Super Bowl IV (the 11th), the other two the games they won after the 1993 season (the 8th & the 16th). Two years in 55 we've been able to enjoy success after January 7. Yes, lots of crying done, but we're so used to it there's just not much left to cry about.
I do, however, think deeply about things, and will never stop doing that. And one of the things I think deeply about is the expanse of the forces at work to keep the Chiefs from winning. I've said before there are a number of those things, and I admit, much of it the wretched luck and miserable ineptitude devastating the Chiefs through the years. (See my last post about Chiefs wide receivers to behold that ugliness.)
I can't help but mention something about last week's games that I think is a powerful contributing factor.
I watched none of the games last week except for a bit of the Cardinals-Panthers game because my wife and son happened to have it on the television. I've watched none of today's game, and I imagine there's a game tonight -- don't even know which teams are playing in that one. Not planning to watch it. Yes there is that very profound ::sigh:: factor, I confess. I so long for the Chiefs to be playing past January 7 -- to watch our Marines fly in for the victory of all good things all around.
But last Monday or Tuesday, or whatever day it was, I'd seen a news item about an incident in the Lions-Cowboys game. A pass interference call that wasn't. I'd continued to read a bit about it, that an official threw his flag then pocketed it again with a "no penalty on the play" result. Mind you I hadn't seen the play at all, knew nothing about it. I had seen that the Cowboys won the game.
Later I watched the video. My goodness. I can't for the world see how that play was not pass interference. Not only that, but the guy held the Lions receiver before the pass interference. Not only that but a Cowboys player came out on the field without his helmet, a clear unsportsmanlike violation. Not only that but there were other penalties by the Cowboys mentioned that were not called.
The pass interference play was clearly a turning point.
What is particularly interesting is that even though all these things were brought up, even though it was broadcast exceedingly that the non-pass-interference was very controversial, even though there were the standard rationalizations and mea culpas and some mish-mash of the two -- while all that was happening, it started to turn into just part of the show. It was almost as if the ivory tower dwellers of the NFL said to themselves, "Let's take this controversy and run with it, make it part of the great NFL mythology, keep people talking about it..."
The sinister part about all this is that, yes...
The Lions still lost the game.
The Lions are probably the one team cursed as much as the Chiefs are. Lions fans, welcome to our world. We have a game that sticks like a craw in our psyche, Denver at Kansas City, January 4, 1998. Same thing. It was a game we won, but didn't because...
It is because there is that influence that guides the direction of playoff results so that the teams that make the NFL the most money get farther. Whether direct or indirect, whether explicit or implicit, whether actively arranged or just pushed along, there is that influence.
Yes, I know what I just wrote there is very controversial. A lot of people shrug it off, sneer that we're just whiners, or gleefully lap up the light-hearted mythology -- or all of that. But the fact is there are just too many fans who know it. This was evident enough with the considerations of what happened in that Lions-Cowboys game.
Let's just face it. The NFL really wants Cowboys-Packers. In 1997 the NFL really wanted John Elway to win -- "John Elway finally gets his Super Bowl ring!" is a bazillion times more of a cash cow than trying futilely to generate any interest in Elvis Grbac.
Now. Let's just get to it, let's be honest. I could go to the mat to justify this. I could regale you with the proof from things like Scorecasting in which the seminal part of the book is about how home teams have the advantage and it is almost exclusively because officials do make calls that benefit the home team, or in some instances the team that is the one the league favors. I could get into all the facets of favored teams and the advantages they have, how teams in larger markets with popular players engendering media darling sentiments simply have an inordinate amount of success.
I could do all of that, but I won't.
I will again say this, however.
I am not the only one.
How many do believe the fix is in, in some way, some how? I'd say there are a good number of Lions fans who do. I'd even venture to say some Bengals and Browns fans do, because they've been shafted a few times, also. My mom is a Cardinals fan, and the Cardinals too have a dismal history of playoff action. Now we know this year Arizona really wasn't going to go anywhere with a third string quarterback, let's be fair. But when I talked to her she still spoke stridently about the calls that went against the Cardinals.
I happened to come across a blog piece, I think it was the one of the SBNation Lions blogger, who was remarking about it all, and he said something pretty profound. How about just getting full-time officials and have more expanded use of technology? In my mind that means getting a couple more on the field officials, but it also means having officials at monitors focused on every aspect of the game, and when a call doesn't go the right way, any given official looking at a monitor with a play 157 million people are watching can just break in and make the right call we all see should be made.
Thing is, that's great, I like that. But is that going to keep the NFL from working it working it working it somehow to make sure that we get enough Cowboys-Packers, Patriots-Broncos, whatever-darling-team-versus-whatever-other-darling-team-there-is matchups? And what's worse is every time these other teams win it just means less of a chance for newer successful teams to break in because the "legendary games" keep being about those darling teams, lending itself to working it for more of those kinds of matchups. Do you know how many times I see on the television schedule a replay of the 1967 Ice Bowl? I'm sick of it! Yes, that was a great game, but it really wasn't the greatest -- I tend to think the '82 Chargers-Dolphins playoff game was the greatest. But hey, this is Dallas-Green Bay! Woo-hoo!
This is why as a Chiefs fan all of this is just so heartbreaking. Yeah, I know, why keep hoping, why keep rooting for them, why stay in the mix of it all, why keep writing writing writing about it all for the therapy? Why why why? Well, see the thing about the Marines fighter planes above.
But the thing that makes it so grim is that in light of all this, just being the Chiefs means it is much harder for them than it is for other teams. The Chiefs not only have to be very good to overcome what's against them, but they have to find a way to get players who the media will want to showcase. And even then, they'll never be able to compete against the Dallases and Green Bays and New Englands because of the media market disadvantage.
Many will say, "Nah, you can't say it isn't all on the up-and-up. It's just the way it goes, it has just happened to be some of those teams have been more successful that the lesser media markets. What are you going to do when a Chiefs or a Lions does start winning? What will you say then? And what about a tiny market like Green Bay? And what about big markets like Chicago or New York? The Bears and Jets stink. What about your argument then?"
For one thing, Green Bay is a complete media darling concoction. Green Bay is held up as the paragon of pro football virtue because of its tradition, its history, and its wholesome "the fans own the team" situation. The Jets are always showcased more than any other team because they are New York, it is just they have had the suckiest management -- as any Jets fan will attest. Even so, the Jets went to two straight AFC Championship games just a few years ago.
The NFL also must allow some competitive parity to exist. I admit the NFL is better at it than major league baseball or NBA basketball. The NFL's system does allow some non-media darlings to win sometimes, they have to or the whole thing would collapse. It's a critical part of the exploitation.
The major point to all of this is this. What I think is of no matter except to the extent that what I point out is true. You may dismiss it all, but you cannot deny that there are many others who feel the same way. It may not be a majority, but they are there. The Scorecasting conclusion is still pretty compelling, and that's just the soft, charitable interpretation of those advantages. Yet that is still a pretty major evidence.
The Chiefs having only three playoff wins in 45 years? The NFL is just fine with that. This past year baseball's World Series featured the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. I was ecstatic because those are two of my favorite teams.
The majors sure wasn't, nor were its sponsors. The television ratings were abysmal, because even though both teams had tremendously compelling stories regarding their success, even though they were both extraordinarily talented in a number of different areas, even though each had engaging colorful players to showcase, even though they played fine competitive baseball for the full seven games of the series...
It was still the Giants (boring -- they're in it again?) and the Royals (they're from Kansas City -- who gives a shit about them?)
And don't get me wrong. You could plug in just about any teams there in the World Series and you'd get close to the same, severe teeth-grinding by the money-generating powers-that-be -- unless it is the Yankees and the Dodgers. It's true and you know it.
Same thing with the NFL. Right now it is salivating because there could be another Peyton Manning-Tom Brady matchup zowwie!!! There may be an Ice Bowl II in Green Bay yippie!!!
Are there any stories about the Chiefs worth crowing about? Mm-nnn-mm-nnnnnnn-- no.
I think there are, but, well, I'm just a Chiefs fan who likes my team. That's not enough.
Meanwhile, I do actually think there are some things about the Chiefs that don't have to do with conspiracies or supernatural forces -- things that do merely have to do with the team itself and its abilities and its future. Yes, ahem, I do still think whether or not you can put a competitive team on the field with the requisite talent and coaching is still a factor.
Thing is, I'll have to get to that part of it in another blog post.
More Chiefs therapy in the standard month for it, January, next time.
_
I live near a municipal airport, and once a year -- scheduled on this weekend every year -- is the air show. All sorts of planes fly about, including stunt planes and the like. One kind of plane, my favorite, is the World War II fighter plane. There are four of them that fly in formation, and they zoom close over our house as they prepare to pass the airfield nearby for all the spectators there. It is really fun to watch them.
I thought about this as I watched those fighter planes scorch the sky directly overhead a number of times, and each time I made note of what it said underneath the wing of a couple of them. It said, "Marines." I thought, yeah. That's the feeling. That feeling when your unit is under enemy fire and you're up against it, you're going down, you're facing a hopeless situation... and...
Here come the Marines.
And sure enough, that feeling overtakes you. That feeling that now you're just going to kick ass. That you're going to come out of it not just victorious, but with great pride, inspired by the tremendous accomplishment of your tribe, your nation, your family, your brothers and sisters joined together in the common cause of righteousness and justice and all that stirring stuff. Or, in terms of the metaphor, the great uplifting achievement of your
Team.
Yes, pro football does help with those needs, particularly in a society that is so advanced that rigorous crusading has lost much of its impact, a society where so many in it reject the melodramatic enthusiasm of sports "fanciers" or "fanatics" as such Neanderthal behavior.
This weekend is yet again a sad one for Kansas City Chiefs fans because yet again, we are not playing in any playoff games. This is usually the case, as we all know. In the team's history it has only played in seven games past the first week of January. It has won a scant three of them, one of them Super Bowl IV (the 11th), the other two the games they won after the 1993 season (the 8th & the 16th). Two years in 55 we've been able to enjoy success after January 7. Yes, lots of crying done, but we're so used to it there's just not much left to cry about.
I do, however, think deeply about things, and will never stop doing that. And one of the things I think deeply about is the expanse of the forces at work to keep the Chiefs from winning. I've said before there are a number of those things, and I admit, much of it the wretched luck and miserable ineptitude devastating the Chiefs through the years. (See my last post about Chiefs wide receivers to behold that ugliness.)
I can't help but mention something about last week's games that I think is a powerful contributing factor.
I watched none of the games last week except for a bit of the Cardinals-Panthers game because my wife and son happened to have it on the television. I've watched none of today's game, and I imagine there's a game tonight -- don't even know which teams are playing in that one. Not planning to watch it. Yes there is that very profound ::sigh:: factor, I confess. I so long for the Chiefs to be playing past January 7 -- to watch our Marines fly in for the victory of all good things all around.
But last Monday or Tuesday, or whatever day it was, I'd seen a news item about an incident in the Lions-Cowboys game. A pass interference call that wasn't. I'd continued to read a bit about it, that an official threw his flag then pocketed it again with a "no penalty on the play" result. Mind you I hadn't seen the play at all, knew nothing about it. I had seen that the Cowboys won the game.
Later I watched the video. My goodness. I can't for the world see how that play was not pass interference. Not only that, but the guy held the Lions receiver before the pass interference. Not only that but a Cowboys player came out on the field without his helmet, a clear unsportsmanlike violation. Not only that but there were other penalties by the Cowboys mentioned that were not called.
The pass interference play was clearly a turning point.
What is particularly interesting is that even though all these things were brought up, even though it was broadcast exceedingly that the non-pass-interference was very controversial, even though there were the standard rationalizations and mea culpas and some mish-mash of the two -- while all that was happening, it started to turn into just part of the show. It was almost as if the ivory tower dwellers of the NFL said to themselves, "Let's take this controversy and run with it, make it part of the great NFL mythology, keep people talking about it..."
The sinister part about all this is that, yes...
The Lions still lost the game.
The Lions are probably the one team cursed as much as the Chiefs are. Lions fans, welcome to our world. We have a game that sticks like a craw in our psyche, Denver at Kansas City, January 4, 1998. Same thing. It was a game we won, but didn't because...
It is because there is that influence that guides the direction of playoff results so that the teams that make the NFL the most money get farther. Whether direct or indirect, whether explicit or implicit, whether actively arranged or just pushed along, there is that influence.
Yes, I know what I just wrote there is very controversial. A lot of people shrug it off, sneer that we're just whiners, or gleefully lap up the light-hearted mythology -- or all of that. But the fact is there are just too many fans who know it. This was evident enough with the considerations of what happened in that Lions-Cowboys game.
Let's just face it. The NFL really wants Cowboys-Packers. In 1997 the NFL really wanted John Elway to win -- "John Elway finally gets his Super Bowl ring!" is a bazillion times more of a cash cow than trying futilely to generate any interest in Elvis Grbac.
Now. Let's just get to it, let's be honest. I could go to the mat to justify this. I could regale you with the proof from things like Scorecasting in which the seminal part of the book is about how home teams have the advantage and it is almost exclusively because officials do make calls that benefit the home team, or in some instances the team that is the one the league favors. I could get into all the facets of favored teams and the advantages they have, how teams in larger markets with popular players engendering media darling sentiments simply have an inordinate amount of success.
I could do all of that, but I won't.
I will again say this, however.
I am not the only one.
How many do believe the fix is in, in some way, some how? I'd say there are a good number of Lions fans who do. I'd even venture to say some Bengals and Browns fans do, because they've been shafted a few times, also. My mom is a Cardinals fan, and the Cardinals too have a dismal history of playoff action. Now we know this year Arizona really wasn't going to go anywhere with a third string quarterback, let's be fair. But when I talked to her she still spoke stridently about the calls that went against the Cardinals.
I happened to come across a blog piece, I think it was the one of the SBNation Lions blogger, who was remarking about it all, and he said something pretty profound. How about just getting full-time officials and have more expanded use of technology? In my mind that means getting a couple more on the field officials, but it also means having officials at monitors focused on every aspect of the game, and when a call doesn't go the right way, any given official looking at a monitor with a play 157 million people are watching can just break in and make the right call we all see should be made.
Thing is, that's great, I like that. But is that going to keep the NFL from working it working it working it somehow to make sure that we get enough Cowboys-Packers, Patriots-Broncos, whatever-darling-team-versus-whatever-other-darling-team-there-is matchups? And what's worse is every time these other teams win it just means less of a chance for newer successful teams to break in because the "legendary games" keep being about those darling teams, lending itself to working it for more of those kinds of matchups. Do you know how many times I see on the television schedule a replay of the 1967 Ice Bowl? I'm sick of it! Yes, that was a great game, but it really wasn't the greatest -- I tend to think the '82 Chargers-Dolphins playoff game was the greatest. But hey, this is Dallas-Green Bay! Woo-hoo!
This is why as a Chiefs fan all of this is just so heartbreaking. Yeah, I know, why keep hoping, why keep rooting for them, why stay in the mix of it all, why keep writing writing writing about it all for the therapy? Why why why? Well, see the thing about the Marines fighter planes above.
But the thing that makes it so grim is that in light of all this, just being the Chiefs means it is much harder for them than it is for other teams. The Chiefs not only have to be very good to overcome what's against them, but they have to find a way to get players who the media will want to showcase. And even then, they'll never be able to compete against the Dallases and Green Bays and New Englands because of the media market disadvantage.
Many will say, "Nah, you can't say it isn't all on the up-and-up. It's just the way it goes, it has just happened to be some of those teams have been more successful that the lesser media markets. What are you going to do when a Chiefs or a Lions does start winning? What will you say then? And what about a tiny market like Green Bay? And what about big markets like Chicago or New York? The Bears and Jets stink. What about your argument then?"
For one thing, Green Bay is a complete media darling concoction. Green Bay is held up as the paragon of pro football virtue because of its tradition, its history, and its wholesome "the fans own the team" situation. The Jets are always showcased more than any other team because they are New York, it is just they have had the suckiest management -- as any Jets fan will attest. Even so, the Jets went to two straight AFC Championship games just a few years ago.
The NFL also must allow some competitive parity to exist. I admit the NFL is better at it than major league baseball or NBA basketball. The NFL's system does allow some non-media darlings to win sometimes, they have to or the whole thing would collapse. It's a critical part of the exploitation.
The major point to all of this is this. What I think is of no matter except to the extent that what I point out is true. You may dismiss it all, but you cannot deny that there are many others who feel the same way. It may not be a majority, but they are there. The Scorecasting conclusion is still pretty compelling, and that's just the soft, charitable interpretation of those advantages. Yet that is still a pretty major evidence.
The Chiefs having only three playoff wins in 45 years? The NFL is just fine with that. This past year baseball's World Series featured the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. I was ecstatic because those are two of my favorite teams.
The majors sure wasn't, nor were its sponsors. The television ratings were abysmal, because even though both teams had tremendously compelling stories regarding their success, even though they were both extraordinarily talented in a number of different areas, even though each had engaging colorful players to showcase, even though they played fine competitive baseball for the full seven games of the series...
It was still the Giants (boring -- they're in it again?) and the Royals (they're from Kansas City -- who gives a shit about them?)
And don't get me wrong. You could plug in just about any teams there in the World Series and you'd get close to the same, severe teeth-grinding by the money-generating powers-that-be -- unless it is the Yankees and the Dodgers. It's true and you know it.
Same thing with the NFL. Right now it is salivating because there could be another Peyton Manning-Tom Brady matchup zowwie!!! There may be an Ice Bowl II in Green Bay yippie!!!
Are there any stories about the Chiefs worth crowing about? Mm-nnn-mm-nnnnnnn-- no.
I think there are, but, well, I'm just a Chiefs fan who likes my team. That's not enough.
Meanwhile, I do actually think there are some things about the Chiefs that don't have to do with conspiracies or supernatural forces -- things that do merely have to do with the team itself and its abilities and its future. Yes, ahem, I do still think whether or not you can put a competitive team on the field with the requisite talent and coaching is still a factor.
Thing is, I'll have to get to that part of it in another blog post.
More Chiefs therapy in the standard month for it, January, next time.
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