Chiefs at Bills - Week 9 - Record: 9-0

We find ways to get it done.

That's really the story of this Chiefs team. I know I know we're at the top of all the power rankings and I know I know the nicest things are being said about us. But I also know that a whole lot of people think we're really actually truly not for real, and yes, there is that part deep in my gut that believes they have a point. I know.

But we still find ways to get it done.

Yes I go crazy knowing we didn't get a single offensive touchdown today. I was sick when Dexter McCluster dropped that wide-open pass with vast amounts of running space before him just before the end of the first half that would've tied the score at 10. But then I think about how our fortunes came rushing right back when at our one-yard line their quarterback tossed the ball right into the hands of an eager Sean Smith who took it the distance. That made the ball game 10-10. Good enough.

I'm not going to get into all the questionable stuff about our team or say yet again that at some point here we're going to face quarterbacks who aren't third stringers (namely guys with the initials P.M. and P.R. -- see, I told you I wouldn't say it again...)

I will say that there is a reason we are winning game after game after game. What is it exactly that we did today that got us the dubya that didn't depend on splendidly favorable fortuitous events? These are things we do regularly, in no particular order:

- We grind in the 4th. This may be our best attribute. Jamaal Charles is an absolute workhorse. I am insanely concerned about the wear-and-tear, so we'll see. But he's still out there, not just taking the blows but getting huge yardage late when we need it. Our offensive line seems to have more stamina than the opponent's defensive line, holding strong late in the game. And they said the Bills D-line was a pretty good one. We are winning games in the 4th quarter on both sides of the ball and that is critical for any genuinely contending team.

- Alex Smith not only doesn't make mistakes but he gets the job done in that 4th quarter. On the last drive today to run clock he threw a fantastic pass to Dwayne Bowe to get a key first down. Yes, as we've said before, he throws too many bad balls. But again, he really knows how to manage a game. Not only does he play good quarterback in this sense, but his extraordinary athleticism gives us chances for good to happen on any given play.

- Dwayne Bowe is still a terrific go-to guy. I haven't said a whole lot about him this year, and some of that comes from my frustration about his drops. He had a couple more today. Erghh. But just as he always does, he comes through big-time when we need him. He was more in the mix today, did you notice? He caught more passes today than he has in any other game, I'm pretty sure, and one of them is worth noting. Vintage Bowe: Buffalo blitzed Smith something fierce, but his mobility enabled him to scramble left, straighten up, and fire a strike to Bowe who (a) made the great route adjustment to get open, and (b) finished with one of his patented sideline grabs, you know the kind, toes gingerly touching just inside the white. First down Chiefs.

- Our opportunistic defense makes the other team pay. Besides the pick-six and fumble recovery for another score, we had another interception that led to our first score, a field goal. Yes, our D-backfield is waaay softer than it's been in the past, but we don't give up, and after giving up a big play here and there (come on, gotta give them a break, this is the NFL) they always come back and make the big defensive play. How many times did Marcus Cooper bat a ball away today? In fact he was the one who slapped the ball out of the receiver's hands for Tamba Hali's recovery and TD.

- Our pass rush is ferocious. We didn't get any sacks today, but we get tremendous respect for the pressure we put on the quarterback. Even though we had an oh-fer today, in any given game if we can just get three or four, and we've done at least that in just about every other game, we've got a tremendous edge. In fact, I saw something on the television that said something about us matching the 1977 Falcons defense for allowing the fewest points in the first however many games? That's pretty dang great.

- Derrick Johnson is still one of the best "run-sackers" I've ever seen. How many times does he shoot that gap and take down the runner. Every game he has at least one or two terrific stops like this. He is so fast, not just quick but get-up-the-field fast, and he has such good vision -- and he's old! For an NFL player this is his 9th season!

- Our special teams play is phenomenal and it is led by one of the greatest Chiefs players ever, really, he is, Dustin Colquitt. Yet again he was able to get a punt to be downed within the five-yard line, and this was late when Buffalo really needed to get something going. How valuable is it to have a guy who can so often get the opponent to start drives deep, I mean waaay deep in their own territory. Every cerebral footballer knows that means an extra four or five plays they've got to run to ultimately get a score, and that's four or five more plays more likely they'll struggle with, meaning more first downs to have to try to get and thus more times their attempts to get those first downs will fail. I mean, really, Colquitt is, indeed, one of the most valuable members of this defensive unit, he really is!

- Our coaching staff not only calls solid games, but it keeps these players fighting on every play. There is a sense I have that these guys like playing football together -- that no matter what, they're playing as a family. I know that sounds sentimentally cliché, but these guys draw their strength from one another, and no one is thinking anyone is any better than anyone else. They just get the job done and get it done for the team. Next play, next play, let's go, next play.

Just great, great stuff.

We have a bye next week, then, yes...

To Denver.

I already know about our shortcomings. I already know about our liabilities. I already got all that, yeah, yeah. Who knows what'll happen then, hey, I've already been told they've flexed that game to Sunday night prime-time. How great is that.

For now, just proud of these guys, this team -- the joy they've brought to Kansas City and to Chiefs fans everywhere, and the quite justified respect they've earned from the sports world.
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