Chiefs at Raiders - Week 13 - Record: 2-10

Wow, how about that. We've doubled our season's win total in only one game. What an accomplishment!

Well, we did beat the reviled Raiders at their yard, which I think is something like 17 straight wins over them at Oakland. I dunno what it is, but I don't remember when we last lost to them there. That's cool.

Tony Beyondamazing Gonzalez had another phenomenal day, snatching out of the air anything near him. Tyler Thigpen ran those awesome QB draws again, something I wish they'd do much more often. And our defense. Fine work, even though it was against a very weak Oakland offense. I think we held them to one or two first downs in the second half.

Awright!

We are not suddenly anywhere near even a remotely contending team yet. We won by the difference of a botched silly Raiders fake field goal play that was a gift touchdown. I'd also heard this from an announcer: The Chiefs have six sacks on the year. Six. If that remained our season's total, it would be a record for least number of sacks by a team in a single 16-game season. Remember when Derrick Thomas had seven sacks in a game against Seattle back in 1990?

Of course you hope you didn't remember that record-setting day, because on the last play of that game Dave Kreig shimmied out of Thomas' eighth sack to throw the game-winning touchdown pass against us, effectively keeping us from having home field advantage for a critical playoff game that we lost by a point.

Hey, at least today we got a nice win against our greatest arch rivals.

Bills at Chiefs - Week 12 - Record: 1-10

(I am actually putting the post in for this game on Sunday morning November 30th, simply posting over an earlier post that mentioned I would be away for game day November 23rd.)

I have been on vacation all week in Florida beholding the grand Walt Disney World simulation spectacular. We spent every waking moment with lots of family, cramming into every sensory orifice--well, maybe not every sensory orifice--all the gleefulness that place wants to cram into sensory orifices.

Whupp, I should make a correction. We spent every moment doing that except one. That was the minute I happened to peek at the bottom scrolling score update on ESPN Sunday afternoon and noted that we got pasted by Buffalo, 54-31. I saw a few things about how our boys did, but after that, nothing else.

Annnnd, I'm not looking at anything else. I just don't know how this latest debacle happened, and I'm just not that interested. Oh yes I'll be in rapt attention to the Raiders game up next, but the Bills game--whatever. Just one less pathetic outing I have to mull over.

Saints at Chiefs - Week 11 - Record: 1-9

There's something in me that is pleased with losing games, because then I think the odds of us winning games later will be better. I know that is competely fallacious thinking, for the only thing that determines whether you win or not is not odds but whether or not you play better and smarter than the other team. If we have a crappy team in perpetuity, then we'll lose every game no matter how many times another team has beaten us.

"And the Saints have already won 57-thousandeth straight over the Chiefs--and there it is, win number 57-thousand-and-one in a row over Kansas City..."

Depressing.

Oh, I don't know how many times the Saints have beaten us in a row. I think this loss makes at least two in a row because I'm pretty sure we lost to them four years ago too.

My point is that we have a very bad team, at least right now. How much confidence do I have in our ability to build a winner later, even with a really high pick in next year's draft? Not a whole lot. Ergh.

I really work not to do what I'm going to tell you I feel like doing because it is insulting, I know. But right now the feeling of doing it is still there. So I'll share with you what I want to do without actually doing it--so remember, I'm just telling you I feel like doing this.

What I want to do is say:

"I'm sorry Tony Gonzalez, Dwayne Bowe, and Larry Johnson that the team the front office put together around you fine players is such a crappy one."

Okay, I'm not saying that in any way, I just confess that I do feel like saying that.

And why, you may ask, is Larry Johnson in that mix when he's been such a prick lately? Well, he is still a great runner, but you can't do diddly with the offensive line we have. Besides, it isn't about what kind of person you are, it is what you do on the field. I am not excusing Johnson in any way, I am genuinely glad he seems to be coming around. Who you are is way more important than how many touchdowns you score.

It's just here in this blog I'm talking about how many touchdowns you score.

And what's with everyone suddenly thinking Tyler Thigpen is the next incarnation of Terry Bradshaw? "Got a strong arm, very mobile, I think the Chiefs have found their guy."

Huh?

This game showed Thigpen doesn't even have close to what it takes to lead a team, much less lead a team as bad as this one. Sure the badness of the team helps make him not-so-good also, but really, do you really think this is the guy to take us to the promised land in how many hundreds of years from now that may possibly be? Sure there is the thought that Thigpen needs to get his licks in, I understand that. But come on, you really think this guy has Brett Favre in him, Dan Marino in him, Troy Aikman in him? Really? You do?

For the game today, it was nothing really different from all the other sorry affairs. We get a nifty early lead, and then our injury-riddled defense runs around a bit, trying real hard-- which is a good thing, yes. But what's new.

Chiefs at Chargers - Week 10 - Record: 1-8

Another awful wretched putrid last minute loss. What's new. The interesting thing about this one was that after we'd scored a last-minute touchdown to come to within one point, Herm Edwards decided to go for two. Foolhardiness or bravery?

It was brave because we really have nothing to lose. If we get it we win. If we don't we're still on track for that No 1 pick in the draft. I know "No. 1 pick in the draft" is no guarantee of anything, but ya know? At least it's something. It was brave also because it keeps this team fired up, feeling like we're going for it, working valiantly to win not just settle for a tie.

It was foolhardy because the play we ran was just pathetic. It just seems to me that we should have at least a couple of go-to solid plays that work the best for our personnel, just for the needed two-point conversion. Now the bootleg option Tyler Thigpen ran may not be too bad, but, well, our execution of it was awful. Their contain guy wasn't even touched, keeping Thigpen holding the ball long enough for their backfield to flood the endzone. Party over--more abject discouragement.

While that last minute drive to get the touchdown was exciting, I don't know what was going on with the reffing and the reviews. I don't know the exact rules, forgive me, but when Mark Bradley certainly caught that low pass, the refs reviewed it on their own. Doesn't this require the San Diego coach to call for a review, and if upheld (which it was, clearly) then they're charged a time-out?

This roiled me simply because the refs ruled Dwayne Bowe out-of-bounds on a spectacular catch which replays showed he'd caught. Where was the gratuitous replay review for that one?

This was all made up for by Tony Gonzalez' amazing touchdown grab at the goal line to finish the drive. In between two defenders the ball popped out and as he was sandwiched he snatched it back to make the score.

In all the pure rottenness of this season, it is sweet to continue to see Tony Gonzalez rack up the record numbers. It is fun as all-get-out to see him break this or that record or move up on the something-something list for receivers. I'm always saying in my heart, "Yeah, that's our guy out there, that's a Chiefs guy being thoroughly Hall-of-Fame, yeah..."

The thing that kills me is that Carl Peterson just couldn't get him a ring--I mean, sadly, the Chiefs have never even come close to getting him that ring. Errgh.

Buccaneers at Chiefs - Week 9 - Record: 1-7

To be honest with you, this one was no big deal. We are so hopeless this year that these kinds of losses just don't mean a whole lot. Sure I'm disappointed we supremely blew this one. Every Chiefs loss is crappy, especially these kind. It was bad enough last week, it happens again this week. How many times do we have to endure really crappy last-minute last-play kinds of losses like we did so often last year? Are they going to build our character or just wear us down? For next year we simply can't afford the latter.

The key though is that defense. When you're up 24-3 your defense still has to play. The way they plainly did not tackle, especially on that big play that got them into field goal range in overtime is just inexcusable. Okay, they're a young, weak defense now and we're all certainly hoping they'll get some licks in so they'll be experienced and studly someday, but it wasn't today. No surprise because it hasn't been much of anything all year.

But hey, how about that one notable bright spot, that flea-flicker thing they did with QB Tyler Thigpen catching the TD pass? Sure a good team can't rely on gimmicky plays, but still, it was fun.

It was also good to see that LJ seems to be seeing his behavior for what it is and wants to get back out and play with us. Don't know how much he'll help this year with this OL, but it'd be sure nice to have him back working at returning to his '05 and '06 form, at least for next year.

Maybe then we'll have a line on both sides of the ball that knows what bone-crunching is really about in there, and it's not our bones doing the crunching.