That's the question of the day, Chiefs fan-wise. Please know that the question isn't asked to elicit the presumptively expected "Not confident at all, I mean we have that issue and that issue and that issue too!" No, I do ask the question because there are indeed legitimate items we can be confident can get the Chiefs a well-deserved playoff win.
Note, playoff win, not just game. Don't know about you, but I'm ready for a playoff win.
I know talk of playoffs is muted to some extent, for with three games left we still need secure the spot. I'm great with that, let's go do that and enjoy the ride there. Only I'm a bit nervous about all the talk of our soft schedule, how easy it will be, how lightweight our opponents are from here on. Ergh.
Look at San Diego. They were ravaged with injuries. They were at Arrowhead. They have a mess of a front office and a coaching staff under fire. They've been weak all year -- we blistered them earlier 33-3 at their place. They had no business being within 57 points of us, but there they were, inside our one-yard line with just under a minute left in the game, poised to tie it.
Well, with all their issues, they still have Philip Rivers who is insane against us -- our wins in the last four games now against them and the 2011 Halloween night snap-fumble in overtime, notwithstanding.
We have Baltimore next week, still a proud franchise barely two years removed from a Super Bowl title. Then there's Cleveland who we always have trouble with and who has this supposed-to-be-great new QB Johnny Manziel. Then we finish against Oakland who just defeated Denver in Denver and who were holding their own against us last week until Derek Carr floated some passes into our waiting arms in the 4th quarter. I mean, every NFL team is an NFL team.
Sorry fellow Chiefs fan, but this ain't had yet. As I pointed out in my last post, 2005, really cool, storming our way into the playoffs... until we just couldn't put away mediocre Cowboys and Giants teams when we needed to.
So which is it? How confident are you?
My question is, are we disciplined enough? That's one of the major questions going into the final stretch here. We just have too many penalties, and while the aggressive nature of our game will result in a few of those, some of them are just too stupid. Think Steven Nelson's completely unnecessary push on Frankie Hammond's 50-some-odd yard long punt return, that was a killer. Think Travis Kelce's obvious slam into a defender on Charcandrick West's 60-some-odd yard long screen pass for a touchdown, he could've just ran his route by him and it'd've been fine.
Are we disciplined enough to deserve to win that playoff game? Yes we are family, yes we've got that solid front office presence with Clark and John leading the way, yes we've got tremendous gravitas in Andy Reid and his coaching staff.
You know what I've seen Reid do really well? Get the team into a very nice offensive rhythm, and Alex Smith is just the bright, incisive quarterback to power all that. Thing is, the offense was really sluggish in the 2nd half of this game yesterday. Ahem, zero points for the half. That stinks. Where was Jeremy Maclin? Where was Travis Kelce? These two amazing weapons were invisible. Yes we didn't have the ball a whole lot, but why not?
In fact, we got so stinkin' lucky yesterday. Chargers wideout Malcom Floyd dropped a sure touchdown pass deep that would've tied the game. Marcus Peters just lost him on that route -- whew. Jahleel Addae had an Alex Smith pass slip right through his hands, would've been an easy pick-six -- another whew.
Now, Smith's interception streak ended early, it didn't hurt us, but know what I think? Good riddance. That streak tells us that Smith really does a good job protecting that rhythm, that's great, it is. But it also tells us he's not willing to throw the ball down the field. On the other hand, he's actually been doing that lately, throwing the ball down the field, and that's a wonderful thing! There are passes Smith is throwing are spot-on and we're getting terrific gains from them. Get a pick every once in a while, Alex, as long as you are doing that big-pass-play stuff more! How long have we all been waiting for that!
Thing about that is, why is Alex Smith having to be a running back to open that up? Sure everyone likes that fired-up thing he's got when he runs and gets yards and makes things happen -- awright! Only, why are we relying on Smith to get pounded after a run to make things happen on this offense? Yesterday the Bengals premier quarterback, Andy Dalton, was lost for the season when he was tackling a guy after a turnover. Remember last week when Smith made the tackle on Charles Woodson after he picked up a fumble and ran with it?
The thing about our offense that makes me most nervous is our offensive line. Don't get me wrong, they've actually done amazingly with the injuries and the shifts and all that. Really, they've done great. And how about Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West running up a storm -- wonderful!
But dang, look at these guys. Can they keep it up? Center Mitch Morse is a rookie and had a concussion a couple weeks ago. Tackle Eric Fisher has too many lapses for that No. 1 Overall guy. Tackle Jah Reid is a cast-off who can easily be had on any given play. Guard Laurent Duverney-Tardif is a throw-in after no one could earn that second guard job. Donald Stephenson and Zach Fulton have been huffin-&-puffin to fill in admirably, but how long can they hold up? Ben Grubbs is lost for the year and for how long will we lose Jeff Allen?
Please, know, I'm hopin' hopin' hopin' just as much as you are, I am. I just see teams like the Seahawks, whose highlights I happened to catch, just a few, from their game yesterday, and, dang. Russell Wilson could've had a family barbecue behind his line before he threw the football. Meanwhile, Alex Smith, I think he's got 0.0007 seconds to unload before he gets hammered. I do believe Andy Reid is calling plays and using his weapons extraordinarily well, considering.
What's the contemplative philosophy in all this, as I promised yesterday? Well, all of this is it. Really, it is. I was at a conference today and this quote was introduced to us all. I want to share it with you because it struck me. It is from Machiavelli.
"It is a common defect in man not to make any provision in the calm against the tempest."
I do think this team has that endearing grit that is getting them win after win after win. I can't say that isn't a factor. Just seeing them hold on yesterday when Rivers was about to skewer us again was testament to that. I do think the team is putting together a fierceness and resilience that may carry the day.
I guess I just want the Chiefs to be ready to blast whoever they face in the playoff so there is no doubt. But you know what?
That won't happen.
I'm resigned to things being close, and that's great as long as we win. I think I'm like any fan, if a game is close there's too much of a chance you'll lose. Especially in the NFL, when it's one playoff game, and that's it, guh-bye. I guess there's just that longing that the Chiefs will one day have that episode on the NFL Network that showcases our gutsy stunningly clutch playoff win.
There is so much more contemplative philosophical stuff banging around in my head. Let's be honest though, a lot of it is all the stuff that's been in this blog for the past many years. A lot of it is what I'll keep contemplating and philosophizing about next. A lot of it is just all the stuff we Chiefs fans say to one another all the time out of that one question we've always got right there at the front of our minds.Whaddya think? Can we do it? Will we do it? What do you think?
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