The baseball Giants have won two World Series in the past three years, but this year they have been abysmal, almost finishing in the cellar of their own division. The football Giants have won two of the last six Super Bowls themselves, but this year they have suffered injuries and a major drop in their play, and they came into Arrowhead with an 0-3 record.
It was just the kind of game the Chiefs could be down for after they've shot out to a 3-0.
It looked for much of it like the Giants were going to give us a run. It was 10-7 for a long time, and it should've been 10-10 if their kicker didn't brick a gimme field goal. Their only touchdown was yet another big play the Chiefs gave up, a long TD pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz. It did look like the Giants were very capable of using the Manning-to-Hicks-or-Cruz connections to beat us.
Not to be.
As the game progressed our defense just got tougher and tougher and tougher. They started to wear down their O-line and finally got to Manning, sacking him a few times, even forcing a fumble once. With that much pressure Manning had trouble being consistent enough to make things happen offensively for the Giants. I've always seen Manning as a tremendously resourceful quarterback, making something from nothing at least once every three plays. That's what has always done the Giants well.
The Chiefs messed that up just enough to make it extraordinarily difficult to Manning to do anything meaningful at all.
Thing is, it was still close midway into the second half! Our offense was not getting Jamaal untracked, our receivers were not getting separation enough, or they were just plain dropping balls. Errgh. Just wait -- don't mean to be a downer, but that receiver thing will kill us unless it gets fixed. That super nice catch and score by Bowe late can't disguise the worries I have about us being able to do that kind of thing in the clutch when needed.
The most electrifying part of the game was McCluster's punt return. Sure enough, just before that, more than any other time, I was shouting to him at the television set, come on Dexter, time to run one back -- it's time. I was kind of stunned when he did. Now I'm not going to try to brag or be a big shot and say I called it, because I admit I do frequently will my players to do great things at the TV all the time. But I will say that indeed this was one of those more particularly directed times.His run was a thing of McCluster beauty. The turns and twists and cuts he made to break free were spectacular. Just like that, it was 17-7, and the way our defense was playing and the way our offense was able to grind late, this game was ours at that point.
Sure enough, with about nine minutes left, we started that grinding, again. We actually got a 53-yard field goal from Succop, but a penalty on the Giants gave us a first down, and we just did more grinding until Smith hit Charles with a TD pass to make it 24-7. Third game in a row with exceptional running clock late.
As for the overall, everyone is surely feeling great about this, the 4-0 start, all that. But one simple thing I can think is that the Chiefs have always done well against NFC teams, and so far we've beaten three NFC teams. Yes, this Chiefs team is a fine team. Yes, it seems only Chiefs fans know that this team has had beast talent, but with no quarterback and no coach, and subsequently few wins. Now that we have them we're doing what we should be doing.
The question is, will we continue the run against AFC teams? Next week we are visiting the Titans, a pretty decent AFC team from what little that I gather. How will we do against the other fine teams in our own division, especially the phenomenally good Broncos?
I must close with a couple brief notes about former Chiefs.
First, I'd say a few Chiefs fans were watching the NFL Network Tuesday night for the premiere showing of one of the most poignant editions in their A Football Life series, the one on Derrick Thomas. So much of it made me sad inside, from his father's legacy to his tragic death to, yes, all of the crushing playoff losses. Interestingly I discovered that probably his worst game Derrick ever had was that Monday night game with Denver, that Monday in November of 1998 when I myself left it all behind and didn't watch the Chiefs or anything about them for five years.
On that Monday night it seemed all the Chiefs frustrations of eight years of the most wretched luck any team could ever have were packed into Derrick. He had all kinds of personal foul penalties during an embarrassing loss to Denver who themselves, with his buddy former-Chief Neil Smith, would go on to another Super Bowl win, their second in a row.
Thing is, I had no idea all that with Derrick happened that night. Yes, it was a good time to take a very long break from it all myself. Only I still wept when he died in 2000, and I wept again just seeing it all again this past Tuesday night.
Fast forward to 2003, when I resumed a small involvement in sports again, committing to just watching the Chiefs. It was a good year to do it, that year we blasted outta the gate refusing to lose until the tenth game of the season. We had so many weapons, what with Trent Green and Priest Holmes and Willie Roaf and all of them, but the most exciting player of all was unquestionably
Dante Hall.
I am the announcer of my son's high school football games, and in just catching some basic facts about the visiting team for this past Friday night's game, I surfed around at the school's website.
Guess what I discovered.
That Dante Hall was a running backs-special teams coach for the team.
Sure enough, I arrived early for the game, caught where he was at the corner of the field coaching his return specialists (of course!) and taking advantage of my on-field pass, I made my way to introduce myself to him. He greeted me with an engaging smile, we chatted for a few minutes, and I told him my son was a kick returner too but was injured.
After the game Hall actually sought out my son to chat with him as well, encouraging him to work hard to get back on the football field.
How great was that! Later Friday night my son and I talked and smiled and went back and looked over all the videos and stories about Hall's legendary exploits just reveling in the moment of being able to meet and speak with easily one of the greatest Chiefs ever.
And I can now only think about McCluster's splendid punt return today to just magnify the meaning of all of that. Afterwards they showed him on the sideline, naturally, with his arms crossed in that iconic "X" pattern.
Just too great.
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