Chiefs at Broncos - Week 17 - In-Game Notice

Nice tight throw from Pat Mahomes to Demetrius Harris to set up Kareem Hunt's long touchdown run! Woo-hoo!

Right now it is close to the end of the first quarter, and I'm just sending out this notice to say I won't be posting on this one until tomorrow night. We'll be on the road in a minute, so we'll be listening to the rest of it with Mitch on the radio, which is not such a bad thing at all.

I do want to take some time to pound out a decent Chiefs playoff preview post, and that'll be the substance of this game's review. Right now it's all preview for next weekend anyway. As it is Kareem is now the NFL's rushing champion this year, and he can take it easy the rest of this game. How cool is that!

Anyway, again, look forward to seeing you just a bit later this week!

Chiefs Kingdom reign!
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Authentic Chiefs Enthusiasm of The Day

I can't help but pound out a post just about the news today that Andy Reid has indeed decided to start Pat Mahomes this Sunday in the Chiefs game against the Broncos in Denver. After his announcement my son texted me with the news, and I did then peek around at what people were saying about it. I simply couldn't help it.

I did come across this wonderful piece by a fellow Chiefs fan over at the fine Arrowhead Pride, a great narrative about what every impassioned Chiefs fan has all too much endured. I myself have tried to give some real perspective to the phenomenon with The Quarterback Project. And there is always this head-shaking elucidation of all this from the always excellent Jon Bois, this one even from way back in May of 2014, so it could use an update. Yeah, the Chiefs drought is indeed still in effect. Wow.

Which brings us to Mahomes' start this Sunday. If he should by chance win this game, it would end that drought. You know what it is. I know what it is. Every Chiefs fan knows what it is as does any generally knowledgeable pro football fan even if their affinity is not with the Chiefs.

Last win by a starting quarterback drafted by the Chiefs? Todd Blackledge, over the Chargers, September 13, 1987. The crazy thing is that it was the first game of the season, and it was actually a really crappy performance by Blackledge -- we just happened to win. The rest of that season was a joke as the strike hit soon thereafter and we never stopped stumbling and bumbling afterwards. Then came Steve DeBerg and the many many years of refusing to draft a quarterback who could win football games.

I've done the calculation -- it isn't hard, you can at this website -- regarding how long it has been. From September 13 1987 to this Sunday, 11,067 days will have passed. Yep, 30 years and a handful of months. Should Mahomes win Sunday, I've thought about bilging all the "There've been this many presidents since then and so-and-so wasn't even born and most vehicles on the road were still pulled by horse" kind of thing, but eh, we all know it too well.

And if Mahomes doesn't pull off the win? Then there'll be a whole offseason of days to add to the drought length until we can maybe perhaps finally with-our-best-chance-in-a-long-time see a drafted and developed pure-bred Chiefs quarterback -- ::Yowza!:: -- actually win an NFL football game.

The weather in Denver all this week and the week after will be mild, except for Sunday. High of 28, low of 6. The game will be from 2:25 to 6:00-ish Mountain Standard Time, so if the forecast is correct it'll probably be around 20 and dropping throughout the game. How will that affect Mahomes and the Chiefs? It may not be a bad thing because the Chiefs may have similar miserable weather at Arrowhead the week after, so they'll get a solid idea of how to play in it.

As it is, there is excitement in the Chiefs Kingdom right now, no doubt. We get to see Mahomes a bit in a very no-pressure situation, we can get ready for a playoff game at home.

Right now, it's definitely a blast to be dwelling richly in the Kingdom.
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Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 9-6, Part II

Harrison Butker kicking one his five field goals
against the Dolphins December 24 2017

I started this blog venture with a Chiefs Game Today review of a Dolphins-Chiefs game. Back in 2005, right smack in the middle of the season, I realized I could blog about each game. Cool.

That game was played in very unusual circumstances, as there was a hurricane coming it was moved to Friday night -- I don't remember all the stuff about that, but I do know the Chiefs won and got two Lawrence Tynes 50-yard field goals. I remember back then I didn't write as much about the games, just a few notes and remarks.

Now I've gotten to needing to write much more, you know, for the therapy and all. You know you need it. I'm a big San Francisco Giants fan and for 50 years they'd aggravate the heck out of their fans, to the point where my good friend would frequently say, "The Giants are trying to kill me."

Well, you could sometimes say that about the Chiefs.

"The Chiefs are trying to kill me."

Of course any fan whose team fails inexplicably could bleat that, and every fan's team fails them far more frequently than not. But I'd say Chiefs fans have a really good case for getting the worst of those vicissitudes of misfortune interminably crushing our hopes and dreams.

For you see since the merger, since the 1969 season -- yes, a season that ended with a Chiefs Super Bowl championship we all know that -- since that year the Chiefs have made the playoffs 14 times (now 15), and reached the AFC Championship Game once. Among those 14 have been great teams, good teams, decent teams (and a couple just-alright teams, agreed), and in nearly 50 years of playing NFL football we've been summarily shoved right off the playoff game field before coming close to an AFC title game every single time but one, and we lost that one. Of the 14 so far, we won even a single game a mere three times ('91, '93, '15). We won two in a single season's playoff appearance once ('93).

That ratio is the worst in the NFL.

I bring all this up because right now my expectations for Chiefs success beyond the regular season have been permanently squashed. Please don't get me wrong (how many times have I had to say that after engaging in the therapy that is this blogging experience), ahem, please don't get me wrong: I am really really really really really thrilled with our success this season. I made a promise that I would work really hard to just enjoy the things we do out there no matter what (even though I confess it was really really hard to do that during our mid-season swoon).

And please don't get me wrong, I very very very very very much want our Chiefs to go on to Super Bowl glory, I veryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryvery much want that. I want to watch this Chiefs team do phenomenal things in playoff games, even if it means sweating through the closest nail-biters as long as we come out on top in the end. Ohh, that one of our playoff victories would be featured every other month on the NFL Network as one of the greatest games ever played. How many times do you see anything historically and superlatively CHIEFS on the NFL Network? Yeah. Huh.

I mean, really, aren't you sick and tired of seeing highlights -- as they gratuitously showed during this week's game against the Dolphins even though very timely we all know -- of that 1971 Christmas day playoff game? One of the greatest games ever, they say? As if any Chiefs fan thinks of it with any amount of fondness? Yeah, I was sick of it eons ago. We all know it wasn't the greatest because only Chiefs fans lament that Jan decided to have his worst game ever on that day, even to the point of looking so splendidly focused on that fake field goal attempt that long snapper Bobby Bell messed up the play seriously contributing to the disappointment that it was.

That's the Chiefs for you. Repeated over and over and over again through history.

So yeah, this is why to some extent my approach right now is, the season is over. It's been fun. It's been real. Now please, see the "really really really" and "very very very" above. Thing is I still can't get up for the postseason, I just can't. I will go over all those playoffy-type things in the next post when we find out who we're playing (it'll be Baltimore, Buffalo, or Tennessee), but for now, I'm just going to get to some of the fun things about this game.

First of all there's the achievement everyone's been talking about. Very sweet indeed. Smith with 4,000 yards passing. Kelce with 1,000 yards receiving. Hill with 1,000 yards receiving. And Hunt with 1,000 yards rushing. Only the 1981 Chargers did it, and they really should've gone to the Super Bowl that year except that they had to get past a Bengals team playing in subarctic Cincinnati, in what I think was the coldest game ever -- if not it was one of the top ones.

Anyway, I didn't catch this but I wonder if the Chargers team did it in 15 games, as we just did? Because yeah, here are the Chiefs, having done it with still a game left on the schedule. How great is that. That we do have these weapons does provide some legitimate hope for delightful postseason success, so there is reason for enthusiastic Chiefs Kingdomosity this week.

The Chiefs defense was opportunistic in this game, and how fun is it to watch Marcus Peters out there all over the field. Really, this guy is a defensive force, he really is. Even though everyone wanted to excoriate him for his meltdown in the Jets game -- for very good reason yes -- there was a play in that game that just demonstrated what a player he is.

The Jets were close to the goal line in last defensive catastrophe, and in spite of all the holding calls and the penalty flag debacle, we actually made some very good plays. This one stood out to me. The Jets runner was given the ball but he was stuffed by Jarvis Jenkins, Reggie Ragland, and Marcus Peters. All three of them just made a helluva play to make the stop well short of the goal line, and again it just showed Peters' value that defense.

The thing that everyone's been making note of also, something that I can't say hasn't been a critical element to getting Peters' head back in the game, is the presence of Eric Berry on the sideline. I guess I've always wondered why he hasn't been there throughout the season, but maybe lately he's just being more of a an industrious "coach" and "cheerleader," if you will, in inspiring these Chiefs. If he has indeed stepped it up these past three weeks, it sure has made a difference. The defense is looking much more robust, and more importantly getting the job done. Sure they had a major breakdown not tackling on the one play letting the Dolphins receiver break free for a long touchdown, but that should just get them to realize that they can't take anything for granted from here on out.

As far as our overall game plan we were able to do one of those things we can do well that helped get us the win, and that was late in the game grind grind grind. As I wrote in my last post it was a thing of beauty to watch Kareem Hunt run well throughout the 4th quarter and then when we needed it Alex Smith adjust for the defense and swing that pass out to Albert Wilson who redeemed himself for a miserable drop earlier by making the catch-and-run first down. Keep the drive alive a chew up more clock. Awesome.

There are a few things I've been chomping at the bit to share here, for the therapy yes, including addressing the whole Alex Smith question. I know we are all wondering if Pat Mahomes will play in a meaningless game Sunday against the Broncos as Andy Reid will surely rest Smith. We'll see.

In the meantime, there'll be commendations, concerns, and other notable items for playoff action in next week's post!
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Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 9-6

We polished off the Dolphins today to win the division. And sure enough, for the first time ever in Chiefs history...

BACK-TO-BACK AFC WEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS!

Yay! Yes, I do indeed like this a lot, as any Chiefs fan would. We'll revel in the moment for a couple weeks and it'll be fun.

There are a number of critical things to address from today's game as we move forward, and I really want to get into those things, definitely. But I will not be able to get to those things now, we are simply too inundated with Christmas Eve preparation, we are entertaining family in our home this evening.

I do want to get to it so this entry will simply be a "Part I" and later this week when I've got lots of time to settle in and ruminate and scribbelate into a blog I'll put in a "Part II." It's all good.

For now I have to give a shout-out to one of the funnest plays of the day, it was the middle of the 4th quarter, we're up 26-13. We've been trying to grind this one down, but we're facing a 3rd-&-8. Alex Smith recognizes that he's got Albert Wilson way out on the right flat with single coverage deep. Sure enough he audibles, gets the snap, steps back and fires a strike to Wilson who himself steps back to get the pass and then runs for the first down. As Smith throws he's popped by a charging lineman, but he still makes the play.

Wow.

Butker comes in a few plays later and boots through the final points from 49 yards out, the ball actually banging in off the crossbar.

29-13, party over.

For all we screech about Smith, some of it still wholly justified, it is these kinds of plays that we can marvel at, plays that do indeed help get the Chiefs division titles, undeniably.

Nkay that's all I've got for now -- no time left today. I'll be back here in a few days!

For now...

Kansas City Chiefs 2017 AFC West Division Champions!
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Chargers at Chiefs - Week 15 - Record: 8-6

5:08 PST.

I'm writing a bit right before the game, but to stay true to my commitment as I do most times, I'm not writing again here again until after the game. But I can't help but put down what I think is the key to this one, a game everyone is justifiably calling a playoff game.

Yes, we have a chance with help to get a playoff spot if we lose this one, but it'd be best if we won today. We win out and get the division, we get a first playoff game at home.

A key could be how our offensive line gets Kareem Hunt untracked or protects Alex Smith. A major key could be how much Alex Smith doesn't do too much dingleberry failing to find receivers down the field. There are a number of areas where the Chiefs need to be the team they truly could be, and their offense is facing a really stiff challenge in a Chargers defense that is very good.

But the key?

Eighth play of actual game

Our pass rush.

Last week our pass rush showed up against the Raiders, but they can be shaky out there. Yes we have Justin Houston, but we simply have not been using him effectively enough to put pressure on the defense. Yes we have Tamba Hali but it is clear he is a shell of his once dominant self. Yes we have Chris Jones but if a sharp industrious offensive lineman can take him down then... then...

Philip Rivers will have a field day.

Because the Chargers the last couple of years have not been as strong as they are now and because they've been plagued by so many injuries in the most recent games we've had with them, we have not seen the Philip Rivers who is notorious for shredding the Chiefs. His games against us when this team has been at their best are painful, painful memories.

Right now the Chargers are hitting on all cylinders, they are very healthy, and Philip Rivers has found his groove. If we don't employ a very effective pass rush tonight to shake, rattle, and sack him often enough, fughedabouddit.

This Chiefs team can do it. They can pull out a close one with all the things they do well, they can. But if they don't, then really, let's face it, they aren't for real enough to be playoff contenders.

Now, on to the game. What actually happens out there...

8:39 PST.

Well we did it. We beat a good Chargers team convincingly today, mostly with an offensive onslaught and a defensive shutout after they scored shortly after the start of the second half. At that time it looked like they would make it hard, put up some numbers and beat us, but after Philip Rivers hit Antonio Gates with a touchdown pass to make it 13-10 them, it was all us.

I'm peeking at the postgame NFL Network stuff, and the guy just said we had never won consecutive division titles. Wow. But yep, that's true, we've not won very many division titles at all. We're still only 8-6, and we still need to win at least one more to clinch it -- I dunno maybe this is a good thing, keeping us focused and playing hard.

The men of the day were Kareem Hunt and his offensive linemen. Hunt had to have had something like 150 yards rushing, he was juking and slipping and zagging and bursting all night long. The O-line was stout, not only giving Hunt room to roam but giving Alex Smith very nice protection. I honestly don't think Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram had a single sack on the evening. If either did it didn't mean much.

We turned it on in the second half when we needed to. The first half wasn't something to shout about. Our first time in the red zone we again needed to kick a field goal. Fortunately a bit earlier we got a sweet long pass from Alex Smith to a streaking Tyreek down the sideline for our first touchdown.

Harrison Butker missed a 51-yarder at the end of the first half, but later in the second half he made one -- that was cool.

Marcus Peters came back in a big way, getting two picks, one of which he persistently ran it back all the way down inside the 10-yard line so it'd be easier for us to score. How many times do D-backs make a pick then give up running much farther than they could? Peters also had an amazing open-field tackle for a clutch 3rd down stop and another of his patented strips causing a fumble -- I have to think the suspension was a good thing to get him refocused. And dang was he focused today. He had a couple fine pass defenses as well.

And what about the key I mentioned at the beginning of the game? Our pass rush?

How did Philip Rivers do?

I have to say we did contain him exceptionally well. We had a couple key sacks, Eric Murray with a terrific safety blitz sack at the beginning of the game, and Chris Jones with one to help make a series stop later. One of Rivers' picks was caused by a D-lineman smacking his arm as he threw. We harried Rivers all night -- it really looked like we won the defensive side of the line play and made it difficult for Rivers to get untracked. We had three interceptions and missed a couple more. There was even more: towards the end of the game the announcers said Rivers did not have a single pass completion of over 20 yards to a wide receiver or tight end.

Dang.

Which team is this Chiefs team?

Will tonight's team be the team that runs the table and wins the Super Bowl like we thought they would earlier?

They'd better be!
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8:33 PST Sunday morning

I had to add these notes thinking about a couple more things from last night's game, and sure, even though I should be putting these in a totally new blog post since it's the following day, I'm just going to tag them on to this post.

One of the reasons we did beat the Chargers did have something to do with a mention in my key to the game, and that had to do with the health of the players. One of the reasons Los Angeles had been doing so well was because they'd been reasonably healthy. Before the game the only player who was questionable was Casey Hayward, yet even he admitted Tyreek Hill's long touchdown against him was not because of the injury but because of his misplay on the route.

Thing is, Chargers were going down left and right last night. Their fine middle linebacker Denzel Perryman went out, and I can't help but think this helped Kareem Hunt a lot -- taking nothing away from him or our O-line. I didn't see until this morning that Keenan Allen had been ailing too -- Rivers and Allen are one of the best QB-WR combos in the NFL. Taking nothing away from our pass rush or D-back play, but that had to have helped too.

Next week we face a Dolphins team that looked really good last week against the Patriots. This has already turned into a year when again those AFC East teams just have our number. Losing to the Bills and Jets? Are you kidding me?

Anyway, another thing back to the Chargers. It was mentioned that this was our eighth win in a row against the Chargers. Doesn't it seem like only yesterday when we lost to the Chargers in a meaningless final game of the 2013 season? We were already in the playoffs anyway, but I can still remember listening to the terrible Chargers announcer Josh Lewin's call of Ryan Succop's missed field goal in regulation that helped get the Chargers the win that day, how awful it was because Lewin made it personal. Good announcers never berate the other team or make fun of them even if they're homers, and Lewin's whole approach was wretched in that respect.

Well, Josh Lewin, I wonder how you're calling Chargers games against the Chiefs now, eight games straight. I've never listened to him in that time because it is too intolerable, but I can't say I didn't hope the Chargers would lose just to make Lewin a bit more humble.

Now yes the Chargers are going to beat us in many games to come sometime in other seasons. And I really have no animosity to the Chargers themselves -- I admire players like Philip Rivers tremendously. If the Chiefs don't do well I honestly want the Chargers to do well -- especially against the Raiders! And maybe Lewin has softened up a bit since then, become more professional. Great. (Point of fact, I just looked it up: Lewin actually had been replaced just this year -- guess it had to do with the move to Los Angeles, or... well...)

But the history of the thing is this. Yes we've beaten the Chargers eight straight times, but do you know what we had been doing with the Chargers just before that winning streak started? We'd been 2-11 against them dating back to September of 2007. Before this nifty winning streak we'd been their doormat for years.

That's sports. That's just what you deal with. Anything can happen between two teams with fine players on each side of the ball, and really, that's what makes it compelling. As much as you have the heartbreak -- and Chiefs fans have had all the heartbreak they could ever want to have -- it's the only reason it is any fun.

Here's to hoping this Chiefs team and its big playmakers can make it really fun in the next several weeks.
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Raiders at Chiefs - Week 14 - Record: 7-6

Yes our defense got reeeally soft to allow the Raiders to score twice sandwiching an on-sides kick recovery in the 4th quarter, making things far too dicey for us today. We still pulled off the win playing three quarters (and yeah, a little bit of the 4th quarter) like we thought this team could play.

Yes there are a dozen crappy things we could say about this team and how it still has a long way to go to show it has enough got-it to make a nice winning playoff run, but we've been too shredded by crappy things for weeks and weeks and weeks now. It's time for some good things. Here they are, kind of in some kind of chronological order:

- Tyreek Hill. He had phenomenal catches, a nice punt return when we needed it, and was just all over the field today. After one catch his tremendous balance allowed him to tiptoe against the sideline, regain his position, and try to get more yards. His athleticism is amazing.

- Travis Kelce. The play just before Kareem Hunt scored for our first touchdown was a brilliant call -- a play action screen pass to Kelce that he almost pounded in. Kelce on the day was fantastic -- makes you wonder why we don't throw the ball to him every other play. BTW, just before that was yet another non-pass-interference call against us -- they just can't cover Kelce and half the time the opposing team needs the ref to bail them out.

- Harrison Butker. Four more field goals today, what a find this guy is (haven't we already said this a dozen times before?) Again, sure enough, every one of those kicks was important. And his regular booming kickoffs keep a team from making any meaningful returns.

- Albert Wilson. He made a number of critical plays, including a spectacular sideline catch deftly keeping his feet in bounds. The Chiefs offense hurried to run the next play so it couldn't be challenged, but they didn't have to worry, replays showed Wilson's catch was legit. Wilson also caught a clutch clutch clutch 3rd-&-5 pass very late in that 4th quarter when the Raiders offense was coming alive -- we simply could not give the ball back to them, and Wilson came through catching the crossing underneath route and shedding a tackle to get that first down.

- Terrance Mitchell. Why in the world did we give up on this guy earlier? I never could figure out why they benched him for Kenneth Acker or even -- ::gasp:: -- Phillip Gaines. I imagine he got the call because Marcus Peters was suspended for this game, but Mitchell came up big today a number of times. A nice bat-away, a tough interception off a batted pass, and a terrific defense of a long last-ditch pass at the goal line that Steve Terrell intercepted to end the game.

- Chris Jones. He has been invisible the past few games, but today he lit it up. He was all over the Oakland backfield making sacks and stops and generally aggravating the Raiders players. Our other pass rushers were decent today too, Jarvis Jenkins had a sack, Justin Houston did, maybe a couple others did, that was great.

- Derrick Johnson. He looked a bit like his youthful self at times today. Very nice. In fact, our entire defense played well -- the Raiders offense was completely stuffed for three quarters today and I'd like to think that it was our fine defense that was doing the work, not their surprising ineptitude. In fact my son pointed out that the Raiders offensive line is the highest-paid in the league.

- Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. The O-line played very well today, getting Hunt a 100-yard rushing day. They also gave Alex enough time to make some fine completions mostly to Hill and Kelce, a few to Wilson and others. The funnest thing they did was blow open a very nice hole for Charcandrick West to then zig-zag and power into the end zone for our second touchdown score making it 26-0.

- Dustin Colquitt. What can you say about him? How about this just for today's game. Late in the game he shook off a blocked punt when he got bulldozed by the Raiders rusher, and then he boomed his next one -- 55 yards with no return. There was still lots of time for Oakland to come back to score and get another on-sides kick recovery when Colquitt just demoralized them putting them back at their own 10.

- Luck. Yeah, just plain happy luck. The bounces and bobbles that you've got to have sometimes have just not been going the Chiefs way at all, for a long time. Today we seemed to have the edge in that. Really, let's face it, a lot of enjoying the team of which you're a fan is just enjoying those breaks that go your way and you can feel favored by the gods however that is. Oh that that would happen for us in the playoffs sometime.

I'm sure I didn't mention a number of other players who did amazing things today, but I tried to give credit to some of them in the mentions above. No disrespect -- indeed today's win was a strong team effort. It looked like the Chiefs were fired up to play well today, and it showed.

So yeah, for now, whew, very nice win for once, we're still in first place in the West, yay, and we get to enjoy a week of enjoying that for a while -- that's nice.

We play Los Angeles at home next Saturday, a game that will essentially be for the division title. So yeah so yeah so yeah -- right now we're all BRING IT ON!!!

Something fun to feel for once.
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Chiefs at Jets - Week 13 - Record: 6-6

The nightmare continues. It's just like 1998. We had a decent team and looked the part halfway through the season, then we imploded. Or you know? I'm thinking too it is like 2011, when we just had so little discipline. That's one of the horrific features of this team, it is just not very disciplined. And I thought Andy Reid was all over that. Guess not.

I really like Marcus Peters, even his passion for the game that gets him in trouble. I wish more Chiefs players had that fire. But that episode at the end of the game when he left because he thought he was ejected but wasn't is inexcusable. Please, Marcus Peters, keep fighting the good fight, but please, Andy Reid! What is wrong with you that you can't control these guys, get more of them to play with that kind of passion, and for cryin' out loud move an entire team to play to their potential?

I didn't see any of the 1st half of this one, and I came in with a few minutes left in the 3rd. Right when I turned on the television Smith hit Hill with a long 70+ touchdown pass. Yay. Thing is, later when we needed a crucial 3rd down -- with only a yard to go, Smith through an incomplete pass to the offensive tackle.

That's what this team has become. It really hurts to see this team has become the top embarrassment of the NFL. Remember just a few weeks ago? 5-0 record? High atop everyone's power rankings list? We're all Super Bowl-bound and all that? ::Sigh::

In fact I was thinking, since I started this blog in 2005 I've never missed watching a Chiefs game except for a handful of times. I missed a game in 2008 because of a Thanksgiving week vacation with extended family. I missed one in 2012 for the same reason. But I've pretty much seen in some form every single game.

Right now I don't care to see any of them until we put Pat Mahomes in. Seriously. This has just become preposterous -- it is just painful to watch these guys. I haven't any idea what we did for two-and-a-half quarters of football today, and I don't even care.

I mean I think back to 2012 when I saw every game except that one I just mentioned. We were horrible, it was a horrible horrible season, but I watched them all just the same. Just to see if we could do anything well for once -- just to cheer to the few unexpectedly fine things our Chiefs did. I have to admit that win in New Orleans, one of only two we got on the year, was actually memorable, pleasantly so, it really was.

I think to 2011 when we started gruesomely, but then picked it up a bit. We finished 7-9, amazingly, with that team? At least there was that tough grinding game late in the year when we splendidly beat an undefeated Green Bay team, remember that?

There is just no reason to watch the Chiefs right now. I just don't care.

They are a train wreck. I will always root for my Chiefs and watch them when I can however I can, but this is a severely underperforming team in so many ways. I'd love to do the standard -- well, what was good about them. Why. Doesn't change the reality of where we stand.

And for those who'd scream in their abject denial in that we're still in first place -- well, after today tied for first after Oakland beats the New York Giants 87-3 and Los Angeles beats the Browns 102-0, all sporting pathetic 6-6 records I might add -- I could rattle off a dozen different things in this game that prove that this team is a slow-motion train wreck happening before our very eyes.

I mean really, I just don't know, I mean I really don't know what all those wins from when we were 1-5 in '15 to being 5-0 in '17 really mean. Were they just a fantasy? Were they just setting us up for the time when we'd be exposed as not much of a team at all?

There are dozens of things we could say about this or that, certainly. Much more will be said, and I fully appreciate those who will be honest and not try to sugarcoat it. But again, it comes down to two characters, and we know who they are.

Andy Reid and Alex Smith.

I confess there have been a lot of times we have mentioned -- me in this blog before for sure -- what to do about those guys when they've inexplicably messed things up badly. But really, this was the year they were supposed to be decent enough to win and win well. We all saw the talent this team had. I mean, Andy Reid - Coach Extraordinaire! And Alex Smith - Spectacular Quarterback Finally Coming Into His Own! After a 5-0 start we all thought yeah! Finally!

But what we all saw on the field today simply can't be lost on Clark Hunt.

What'll he do? Not only has Andy Reid not gotten Alex Smith to win, not only has Andy Reid not gotten Alex Smith to get the job done in the clutch when it is most needed -- like today, and last week, and yeah, the week before that -- but he has lost control of the team, has lost the confidence of a team that recognizes he just doesn't put his faith in them to get the job done. Of course I don't know what's going on down there on the field directly, but I see it in their eyes -- you can just see it.

These players loathe how things are progressing. You can't miss it! The exasperation, the aggravation, the resignation -- right now it is smothering the Chiefs Kingdom.

So bottom line, just like last week's assessment, it can't be all bad. For review:

1. Smith stays in and actually wins games -- not a bad thing in that we're winning games.

2. Mahomes goes in and wins games -- the best of them all because we can then see he's a fine quarterback -- drafted, developed, youthful and athletic with a bright future of winning games.

3. Mahomes goes in and stinks -- not a bad thing in that he'll get reps, get that feel, get the experience to win us a Super Bowl later -- that's cool if we see it start to unfold now.

4. Smith stays in and stinks -- not a bad thing in that there'll be more proof that Mahomes must be in.

Thing is, this last one took a huge hit because our defense played so awfully today, sooo what's Reid going to do? You know what he'll do, and it makes you want to pull your hair out if you have any left. He's going to go to that lectern after the game -- he's probably doing it right now as I write -- and say "It's not Alex Smith's fault, it's the fault of all of us and we need to step it up."

::Ker-blyahh::

So yeah, it seems the only thing left to be said is when is Pat Mahomes going in, again, when is that?... When -- today? Okay is it today, huh huh huh? No, okay HOWABOUTTODAY???

Except that the other thing that must be being thought about more, and more and more and more -- and I simply can't believe this isn't on the minds of, oh, say, 99.4% of Chiefs fans at least the ones not in denial, is, when is Clark going to take care of business and summarily address Andy Reid's train wreck?

Could it be, could we possibly see what could be called the "nuclear option"?

Hello, may I speak to Matt Nagy, please?...
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The Exasperating Reid, Episode LXVIII

I just had to do it, I just had to. I had to add this post. Right now Chiefs fans are going apoplectic over Andy Reid's decision to continue with Alex Smith in spite of the fact that it was proven Smith absolutely cannot deal with the kind of defense teams are throwing at them since they've finally got what Pittsburgh does to the Chiefs time after time after time.

Apparently this "Cover 2" defense is the culprit, but I'm hearing this is a basic set that any team should be able to address, adjust to, and beat. Andy Reid has been coaching for -- ahem -- how long? How many times has an average Pittsburgh defense smashed Reid's face into the ground and twisted his arm behind his back with whatever it is they do?

Reid has firmly announced he's going with Smith, even though everything points to Smith's refusal to cope no matter what Reid does. "Fool me once shame on you [the Giants game], fool me twice shame on me [the Bills game]." In fact it is really many more games than that in which Reid continues to believe Smith can do the job. We should be beating any NFL team regularly 28-14. Instead we've always eeked out wins, or gotten spanked by bad teams as we have recently, having to endure over and over the precise things Smith and Reid are incapable of doing.

Again, read this post from Arrowhead Pride if you haven't already. 

It simply isn't a matter of Andy Reid coming up with another game plan to address the horror of Chiefs football these days. It is a matter of going with Mahomes. Yes, I confess, before the Bills game I did insist we should go with Smith for the rest of the season, but then I saw the light.

We simply don't have anything to lose with Mahomes in there.

And besides, here's the main thing with Reid. If he's such a good coach, why can't he put in place things that Mahomes would do, that he can do that Alex Smith simply can't?

I guess right now I'm okay with whatever happens. Here are the four possibilities, and really, all four are fine as long as Mahomes turns out to be a fine quarterback for us sometime.

1. Smith stays in and stinks like we all think he will. What's good about it: More credibility for our view that Smith needs to be benched, more likely Mahomes will finally go in. The difficult part is the question about whether it will move the Hunt-Veach faction to put pressure on Reid, even going so far as to consider letting him go if he continues to refuse to go with Mahomes.

2. Smith stays in and does well enough to win us more games. What's good about it: We win more games, we get into the playoffs, though not getting past a Pittsburgh or New England yet again will be a major disappointment. But then, we're used to it, so what's different? Oh well. At the very best Smith figures it out, decides he wants to win football games, and will actually truly comprehensively do what Reid says he's going to do to change things up. Okay so we're going to go with another thing Reid's going to pull out of his hat to fix all this. Yeah, I'm thinkin' ::HAHAHAHAHA:: too, but again, it's what we've got, let's just see. What are we going to do?

3. Mahomes goes in and stinks up the place. What's good about it: He learns and learns and learns by walking, no, by running and plowing and slashing about in the fires of fierce adversity. Let's get him going on this thing though, dammit, right now. Let's actually win football games sometime doing what our players can consistently do best.

4. Mahomes goes in and does pretty well. What's good about it: See the first part of Item 2 just above -- even with Bennie Logan at quarterback winning games is a very very very good thing. What's better is that we'll see what we should get with Mahomes and joyfully anticipate those future days when he's torching opponent defenses even more viciously. And again, if we don't get far in the playoffs (if we even get there), what do we have to lose? We're already resigned to that with this brutally realistic assessment of Smith.

Yes, there is no question about 98% of us Chiefs fans desperately want either Item 3 or 4 to happen. As of now, we won't get it. Andy Reid may have Santa Claus' girth, but he doesn't have his generosity.

So we'll just watch what happens when the Chiefs play another New York team, the Jets, this Sunday. Third time's the charm right?

Right Andy Reid?

To be fair, I should close with a link to this piece from an SI guy, who also does a decent job of dissecting what's ailing the Chiefs right now. Interestingly though, while this writer elucidates the reasons why Smith should stay in, he ironically and perhaps somewhat inadvertently demonstrates how much Mahomes should be in there. All those things this guy says should keep Mahomes off the field for now are covered in the Arrowhead Pride analysis, every one.

Mahomes should be in right now.

But again, among all of the four things that can happen, there are some nice advantages to each. It may be perverse, I agree, but this Chiefs thing can actually be pretty good right now. 

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Bills at Chiefs - Week 12 - Record: 6-5 - Part II

I simply could not leave today's nightmare without a link to this fantastic piece by a top Arrowhead Pride writer, someone who takes only about 16,000 times more time and attention to what's happening with the Chiefs than I do. (Yes, in the midst of all the agony over our Chiefs right now, I did peek around at what others were saying, again.)

This guy does a terrific job of laying out the case for putting Pat Mahomes in now. He elucidates all the things we're all seeing with Alex Smith, and laser focuses on the real problem. It isn't Andy Reid, it isn't the offensive line, it isn't a soft defense -- all of these are possible culprits in our minds to some degree, however justified any one of them is or isn't.

No, the problem is really, actually one thing.

Alex Smith.

Just looking at those highlights of Smith doing what we all see him doing -- flat-out not seeing receivers any other NFL quarterback would see and hit in stride for points points points. And he does it (or not does it as the case is) time after time after time. The footage in this piece are just samples. How many more of these kinds of episodes have you seen right there on your television but you just shrug, "Well, I'm not an NFL quarterback, so how would I know? I'm sure it's hard to be an NFL quarterback... ::sigh::..."

I can only think about these receivers doing their damnedest to get open and run their routes and desperately desire to make things happen and Smith just ditches everything one way or another because he simply cannot cope. And how gracious they have been to support their quarterback and teammate. Kudos to them for that.

But we all see it too, and we don't have to be as deferential.

The only person who counts though, is Andy Reid, and the question right now throughout all of Chiefs Kingdom is, will he be so deferential?

I simply cannot deny thinking about that time back in 2012 when Smith was benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick. At the time Smith was playing well for the 49ers when he got concussed and was out for a few games. He never saw the field again that entire season. And I think, what did Jim Harbaugh see that forced him to make what-was-then a quite dramatic move?

Anyway, you just have to read the piece. It is comforting to find a perverse appreciation for the times we've sacrificed our voices going hoarse screaming at the television "THROW - THABALL - DOWN - THAFIELD." It is quite reassuring to know that there are people who see it and know it and have some desire to commiserate with one another. It is good therapy.

It would be really good therapy to know that the Hunt-Veach-Reid brain trust sees it

And does the right thing.
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Bills at Chiefs - Week 12 - Record: 6-5

This season is very much looking like 1998. That was the year we started out really well, then started to tank. We tanked so badly that I simply stopped watching anything sports cold turkey. I did resume watching Chiefs games in 2003. That was the year we actually had a nice offensive line.

This year.

Kinda like 1998.

Such disappointment.

I have actually been so disgusted with this team, really, mostly its offensive line and offensive quarterback (see last post), that I didn't even watch the first half of the game. I was spending more time in church this morning, but sure enough when church ended, instead of seeing us up 28-0 at the half we were down 10-3. The only reason it'd be worth it was to see us up 28-0. Then I'd know we were doing what we should be doing -- okay, we're back to playing well.

Not.

Our quarterback isn't good enough.

Our offensive line is miles from being good, and with all this we may be finding it is even worse than any of us thought.

Sure everyone will say we're still at 6-5 and holding on to 1st place. We don't deserve to be there, that's for sure. Sure we could look at this like a bump in the road, but you simply don't lose games like these. Last week the hapless injury-riddled Bills gave up 54 points to the Chargers. Today they held us to 10. Last week we lost to a hapless injury-riddled Giants team who lost to an 0-9 team the week before.

What happened to that 5-0 team that was scorching the NFL? We had even done that against the best teams in the league? Here's what happened.

We played Pittsburgh, that's what happened. That's the killer of the whole season, just that one game right there. This team knows precisely how to play our team. Every time we play the Steelers they have a game plan that makes it look like they have 14 guys on the field and we have 9, every time. Has Andy Reid been so dense as to not figure this out by now? (Yeah, I'm thinking of putting in a "The Exasperating Reid, Episode LXVIII" post later this week. I don't know if I'll be up to it the way I'm feeling now, but I can't say there'd be any observant Chiefs fan who wouldn't know exactly what it would be about...)

We then played Oakland on primetime television, and the NFL simply could not allow the Chiefs to dominate so the officials gave the Raiders a thriller win with several ridiculously horrific calls against us.

We then got a break against Denver when their quarterback made so many mistakes a team of my grandmothers could have beaten them. Still the Broncos ran up and down the field against our Eric-Berry-less defense, a definite portend of things to come.

We then played Dallas, just one of the teams to watch tape of what Pittsburgh did to us -- now everyone is doing it. Eight guys in the box to stuff our running game, and blitzing just enough to keep Alex Smith off his game -- this weak offensive line and terrible quarterback simply cannot cope with that kind of pressure defense. By the way I'd heard that since that game Dallas has lost all three games and hasn't even scored ten points in any of them. Another portend. We made Dallas look waaay better than it was.

We then played New York and couldn't score a touchdown. The Giants dropped pass after pass after pass, and they didn't score a single touchdown either, but that didn't matter -- all they had to do was employ the Pittsburgh philosophy against us and they had us.

We then played Buffalo, at home no less, a team they said had one of the worst defenses in the league. We get 10 points against them. Just do what Pittsburgh did, that's all.

So yeah, this depressing turn of events is not a whole lot different from 1998. But there was a good thing about that year. With the purpose of this year's blog effort to look at the best things, here goes. Yeah I could say I like this guy or that guy -- none of that much matters with our QB and O-line keeping anyone from being good. I could say we're still in first place -- ::whimper:: And I could say I will always hope no matter what that this will all change -- but I'm so sick of saying that I want to throw up.

But here's the good thing -- about 1998?...

2003 was on its way.

Remember that? Priest Holmes, Dante Hall, Trent Green, Will Shields Willie Roaf and that phenomenal offensive line.

::Ahhhh...::

And sure enough, 2022 is not that far away. That's the year we'll have Pat Mahomes in there slingin' it downfield for will-shattering drives ending in back-breaking touchdowns, and over the previous few years we'll have picked up some offensive linemen who'll get Kareem Hunt untracked, and we'll have picked up someone ferocious to occupy the middle of the defense, someone who shatters the will of opponent offenses and wins us playoff games.

2022.

::Ahhhhhhh...::
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The Aggravating Smith, Episode XXXIV

Alex Smith is the anti-Aaron Rodgers.

Yes, yes, I know for eons we've been severely admonished not to compare Alex with Aaron, because it is so easy since Alex was taken first in the 2005 draft and Aaron, what was it, 24th or something like that. Alex was bounced around from one 49ers offensive coordinator to another while Aaron got to settle in waiting for Brett Favre to finish up before he took over. Not fair.

But my comparison here is about this thing that I've been thinking about.

Have you noticed that when Aaron Rodgers plays, it seems like you've got him pinned down, but he just gets up and torches you with some heart-breaking, will-shattering play that only he can make. It's 3rd-&-16 after he's just dumped a pass and gotten sacked, yet the next play is a fiery dart 20 yards downfield to a double-teamed receiver at the sideline. He'll do it again and again until the game's over, you look up, and the scoreboard says "Green Bay 20, Your Team 19."

Then there's Alex Smith.

Have you noticed that when Alex Smith plays, he'll throw a super crisp wide-out pass in the flat for 7, then a soft toss to the tight end for 18,  then scramble and plow into some impenetrable linebacker and stretch for the first down. Awright awright awright! Amazing Alex Smith!

Then he implodes. Then he throws the ball away. Then he dances around and gets sacked. Then he misfires on a pass the receiver just can't track.

Then at game's end you look up at the scoreboard and it says "Other Team 12, Kansas City 9."

This is why Alex Smith is the anti-Aaron Rodgers, and every Chiefs fan knows it.

Please, we all know Alex Smith is a winning quarterback. We all know the Chiefs have been winning regular season games on a regular basis ever since Alex got here in 2013. That's cool -- again, we all have a love-hate relationship with Alex Smith.

But the fact is Aaron Rodgers has a slough of playoff wins under his belt and a Super Bowl ring. Alex Smith has one Chiefs playoff win in his four years here, that one over a decimated Texans team in 2015. I can't neglect to mention that I believe this does have a lot to do with that supernatural impediment that somehow someway dooms the Chiefs every year -- Alex Smith is just an unfortunate part of that.

Still, there is something about Aaron Rodgers that gets it done, and something about Alex Smith that doesn't. Please don't get me wrong -- I am going on record now with much more forcefulness to insist that I'm looking for Alex to pick it up, revert back to his first-five-games-of-this-season form in which he was blisteringly good, and we run the table and make the fine playoff run we should be making.

I am genuinely really hoping for that.

On the other hand, I can't deny precisely what I wrote about in my post-ugliness post yesterday...

That it'll be really nice to see Pat Mahomes in there in 2019 doing Pat Mahomes winning things.

See, I never look at any of the standard NFL punditry after games, except for a few times, and I must confess I caught myself looking yesterday -- yes, just to see if anyone was calling for Pat Mahomes.

Sure enough there was quite a bit of it, but sadly a lot of it was, "Try to work Pat Mahomes in more."

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong WRONG.

Don't do any of that. Keep things exactly the way they are, letting Mahomes just soak up things on the sideline, learn from Alex and Andy, no pressure -- do it the way they did it with Aaron Rodgers. He got Green Bay a Super Bowl title in his fifth year in the league. Hey, I'm great with a Super Bowl title in 2022. Aren't you?

But let's let Mahomes learn and learn and learn and get him developed. Does this mean he can't go in and run things if Smith gets injured? No. But for right now just go with Smith.

Sorry folks, I got news for you.

This Chiefs team isn't going to the Super Bowl this year.

Again, our offensive line is playing abysmally right now, and our defense is far too soft without Eric Berry. Yeah, huh, I know, you've just got to work with what you've got. What, you mean we have no chance this year? No, of course not, anything can happen, and I will always hope we win the Super Bowl every year. Always. I just said I'm hoping like crazy Alex Smith gets off his rear end and shows us what he's got.

I mean, after thinking about those couple of plays yesterday in which Smith really sacrificed his body to power for the first down, you do have to admire him. We all do! Again, he's smart, he's athletic, he has a good arm, he runs plays beautifully, and let's admit it, he is very competitive. On the other hand, it was clear from yesterday's game, he's inconsistent, he has terrible downfield vision, he struggles to improvise with the pass, he gets nervous too often, and he's simply not courageous enough to make that critical clutch pass when we need it most.

Here's to hoping that he does more of those good things he can do and we can win this year -- always always hoping.

As it is, I had this final thought. The two best teams right now are clearly the Eagles and the Patriots. Looks like it may likely be those two teams in the Super Bowl, I'd think. Wouldn't you think?

You of course know what that would mean, don't you -- an Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl?

It'll mean yet another instance when the two teams appearing in the Super Bowl will have BOTH been defeated by the Chiefs in the regular season. For the fifth straight season both the Super Bowl participants will have suffered a loss to the Chiefs either the season before or the season after.*

And how many times have the Chiefs appeared in any of those Super Bowls? How many conference championship games will the Chiefs have appeared in to even earn a rematch with the team they beat or will have beaten?

Yeah, uh-huh.
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(*The 2013 Super Bowl version of the Broncos was defeated in 2015, but it was essentially the same Peyton Manning-led team. Close enough.)
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Chiefs at Giants - Week 11 - Record: 6-4

I can't deny it. I know you can't deny it, but we all keep ourselves composed and don't say anything out of respect or whatever nice form of behavior we want to display.

But really, we all can't deny it.

Oh how wonderful it will be when the Chiefs are piloted by a true drafted and developed quarterback.

Oh how wonderful it will be when Pat Mahomes is in there.

This was a game we should have pummeled the opponent. Throughout the game they were showing stats about the Giants that had them 30th in the league in that, 31st in the league in that. Throughout the game the Giants were dropping passes left and right. They were playing a lot of new kids for those out with injuries. They looked like the Keystone Kops out there.

But they weren't as good at being the Keystone Kops as our offense was today.

We should've been up 35-6 at the half, but we were behind 6-3. Yeah. AREYOUKIDDINGME. It should've never even come close to there being a goofy 4th-&-6 pass completion allowing the Giants to kick the game-winner in overtime. YOUHAVEGOTTOBEKIDDINGME.

Until he did decently to get us into field goal range to tie it in regulation, Alex Smith was all over the place. Again again again he abjectly refuses to throw the ball down the field. On one play late in the 4th quarter when he did, he heaved the ball somewhere between Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson, right into the hands of their guy. This play led to their go-ahead field goal making it 9-6. AREYOUSERIOUSLYKIDDINGME.

To be fair, it wasn't all his fault. Andy Reid helped by either being too cute or being too much the technician -- I wonder what is going on with him sometimes. Some games he manages the entire game not to lose. This game was just atrocious, how can you be this good and not take care of business? Even when we do win, have you noticed how it looks like it is so hard for us to use this marvelous talent to take care of business?

I also can't neglect to mention our continued weak offensive line play. The fact that we are penalized too much, a lot of it on this O-line, means our offense is just plain inept right now. Kareem Hunt showed some of his brilliance today, but far too often he could not get untracked like he could. Anyone can tell that watching Hunt slice and dice the field that he'd have 200 yards rushing a game if the line could actually open things up for him.

This was inexcusable. Last week this Giants team lost to the 0-9 49ers. They came into this game with a 1-8 record. Sure "any given Sunday." Sure they still have a dangerous Eli Manning.

But there was no excuse for this one. None whatsoever.

Yeah maybe this is a reverse 2015 when we were 1-5 then won 11 straight. This year we started 5-0, and since then we've gone 1-4. Since the rest of the AFC West is kind of sucking we may still eek out a division title when it's all said and done, but I really don't have any hope for this team right now. Yeah I can enjoy some nice things about our Chiefs in any game, but come playoffs time will we beat a loaded-with-got-it Steelers team or a loaded-for-a-standard-long-playoff run Patriots? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

We have so much talent yet we don't win football games.

This past three weeks reminds me of 2005, when we started 8-4, in the midst of thoroughly enjoying a wonderful season, in control of everything. Then we had two straight road games at Dallas and New York, just like this year, games we should have easily won and lost, just like this year. That year those losses really killed us -- we finished a fine 10-6 but missed the playoffs.

Since this whole year's blog philosophy is about the good things the Chiefs do this year, yeah, until we can seriously be considered Super Bowl material when Mahomes is on top of things, here are the players I like right now.

Reggie Ragland. He's the one guy who seems to have the most Ray-Lewis in him. Without Eric Berry we need guys like this to help in our relatively anemic run defense.

Steven Nelson. His coverage was excellent today. He made a couple of key plays late that kept us in it. He looked to be injured late, let's hope he's okay.

Tyreek Hill. I consider this guy the very best player we have. The plays he makes -- when they get him the ball, it is nothing but ::wow::

Dustin Colquitt. Yeah, have to put a good word in one of the best Chiefs ever, really. I know, the punter. But he is so good at pinning the other team way back really helping our defense. He did that a number of times today yet again.

Well, at least there was that.

So yeah, I'm done with this. I'm done with this for now.

I can't wait for 2019 when Pat Mahomes is in there as a drafted, developed, at-least-a-little-experienced-with-a-take-care-of-business-no-matter-what-approach game leader, and we can look like we want to win when we should.

I have a feeling I'm not the only one...
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Chiefs Bye - The NFL Desperately Needs a New Commissioner, Part II

I couldn't help but add another note about Roger Goodell's lack of leadership putting the big hurt on the NFL, and in turn having much more of a detrimental effect on the teams that must really work hard to overcome the competitive duplicity that is more profoundly distended in these circumstances.

The Chiefs are undeniably one of those teams. Check out my last post to get a much more comprehensive feel for what I'm seeing.

The reason for this update is I'd seen that Jerry Jones is valiantly trying to stir up a mutiny against Goodell, and it appears that his inability to get any traction among a number of key fellow owners means "the nuclear option" may be employed against Jones -- apparently they may try to get Jones himself removed from his ownership position.

You've gotta be kidding me.

I've never really liked Jones as an owner too much, he's always wanted to go his own way -- certainly knowing that his Cowboys are the most valuable major sports franchise on the planet. Why shouldn't he have more of say in an NFL that relies on his Cowboys for much of the freight?

But Jones is right on this point. Goodell is on his way to driving the NFL into the ground, and he absolutely has got to go. The only thing in his favor is the veritable idea that whoever would replace him probably wouldn't be any better because all of these power broker people are now so intractably kowtowed to the politically correct hegemony that it really wouldn't matter.

Tell the players to get in line with the Americanist conception of NFL football -- that means standing respectfully during the national anthem -- and you're a racist straight away. The New York Times narrative of incurable systemic racism among the white privileged population is now so entrenched that most owners can't get out of it, will do nothing about it, and are leaving Jones hanging in the wind as he tries to make his principled case.

What is so sad is that apparently Clark Hunt is one of those owners.

I have had great hope for Clark making this Chiefs franchise great with robust, insightful, courageous leadership, but when I see things like this, I feel great sadness. Clark's authority, direction, and guidance cannot necessarily be impugned on the merits of this one position, but still -- it is a major one.

Again, there are perfectly fine arguments to be made in the discourse, that's fine. But the truth is, millions of fans are taking off and the NFL is losing millions because of Goodell's virulent impotency. And again, the fans are hearing in no uncertain terms, "Hey, thanks for the huge wad of cash you racist asshole."

Who wants to hear that?

Some people know this, see it for what it is, and want to do something about it.

Most continue to keep their heads in holes in the ground.

::Sigh::
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Chiefs Bye - The NFL Desperately Needs a New Commissioner

This is the bye week for the Chiefs, and after a sizzling start to the season, we've dropped three of the last four games. Much of that is because our offensive line is playing so poorly, Alex Smith is reverting back to his dancing days, and we simply don't have Eric Berry in there. There are other reasons for all of this, some related to the Chiefs themselves indeed.

This post isn't about those.

It is about the reasons the Chiefs are debilitated by other factors having nothing to do with what happens on the field.

Yet those things impact the Chiefs negatively just as much as the on-field failures, and they have for years. It is now that these things have been screeching toward critical mass. It is now that I should finally get around to articulating the things that simply drive me crazy about the NFL. I love my Chiefs, but I really don't have a lot of affection for the NFL.

And yeah, a lot of that is because of the leadership. It is as sure as sure can be that some owners now are grumbling and rumbling about finally, finally dumping Roger Goodell. OH but he's done so much to get us gazillions of dollars in ad revenue and whatever revenue -- he's a dealmaker in the Pete Rozelle mold!

Really? As far as I can tell the gravy train is going right into the crapper, for the reasons I'd like to share with you now. Please, anyone with any of the tiniest marketing savvy could hold up the NFL in front of rich people's faces and barely have to say a word.

So, what are those things? In no particular order -- although the last one is of particular significance to me because it most adversely impacts our beloved Chiefs.

1. Injuries. Yes injuries have been a common part of NFL football for eons, understandably. But with the NFL suffering financially I can't for the world see how it can continue to give lip service to protecting players. Yes there are new rules against head shots and stuff. Yes there is an emphasis on keeping bone-crushing type hits from happening, especially against the vulnerable quarterback and receivers trying to catch passes.

But it isn't enough, by far. I simply refuse to believe that much more meaningful constraints against injury-causing hits will make everyone ditch the sport.

Look at what's happened to two of the NFL's biggest stars, players who aren't Chiefs so I don't think one way or the other about them as players, but they're still humans and they should be important to the NFL, and as such there is no way they should've been injured the way they were.

Aaron Rodgers had a 900-pound behemoth lineman drop on top of him, breaking his collar bone. He's out for most of the season, if not all of it. How about we make a new rule, no defensive player can drop his body on top of anyone, especially a quarterback. I even think we should consider limits on how large players can get, really. Once you reach a certain weight, say 300 pounds, you can't play. So keep the diet going and let's see if you can play well anyway -- isn't that the point after all?

So tell me, think the NFL is happy without Aaron Rodgers playing?

Then there's Odell Beckham Jr. Even though he's been a yutz with his rants and rages and generally boorish behavior, he's a mint to the NFL. Sure enough, after he leaps for a ball some defensive back yanks him down onto his foot gruesomely mangling it, and he's out for the season. So yeah, we need a rule that says any tackle like the one this D-back made is illegal, with the penalty not just yardage but ejections and suspensions.

I've heard people say you can't do that.

Sorry, yes you can. These guys are expert athletes who can control their bodies any way you ask them to. Oh but you can't help yourself when you're on the field doing it. Yes, you can! And for those who think the game will be changed dramatically, yes, it will. In fact I'd think it'd be something that'd increase scoring and thus would be something the NFL would like!

It was recently revealed that Aaron Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end who committed a murder then killed himself in prison, had a horrific form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It is now a given that this is caused by repeated severe blows to the head, so how about the NFL make more helmet-to-helmet hits illegal, again followed by ejections and suspensions. They should also be making the helmets themselves safer with much more advanced technology employed to do that. Please don't give me excuses -- they can do all these things.

They won't because they don't have the stout leadership to do them.

One of the troubling aspects of NFL football today is that the players are either not trained enough or training too much. They are faster, stronger, beefier, quicker, fiercer than they've ever been and they simply cannot handle it all. Look at the Chiefs! Eric Berry and Chris Conley were lost for the year with non-contact Achilles injuries. I truly believe Berry was lost partly because of his weakened body from the cancer he endured, but partly because he hardly played in the preseason to get into game-playing shape. I even wonder if he'll even ever be back at a level we need for him to be as effective as he's been.

So how about radically reevaluating how players train and then reinventing it terms of making it more likely they'll stay on the field and actually be out there playing the game. Even more importantly, they won't be severely debilitated by CTE related conditions and may live rich, meaningful lives well after they finish playing football.

There are several other things that can be done to limit injuries. Get rid of any and all artificial turf and do more to make sure the grass turf is maintained properly with the right drainage and whatever else is needed to make it as safe as it can be. Get rid of Thursday night football games which do not allow players enough rest between games. I'm sure there are a dozen other significant improvements for pro football that could be made if it had the courageous leadership to do so.

2. Commercials. For years and years and years I've been sick and tired of the ding-dong commercials they show over and over and over again. You know, they'll have a break in the action with lots of commercials, then show a punt, then have more commercials.

It now seems they are showing even more commercials. Come on! After eight minutes of football, another four minutes of commercials show up. Sorry, Roger Goodell, if your product was good enough, you could get a lot of money from a few committed advertisers and have fewer commercial breaks. The games would move along much more briskly -- actually providing the entertainment we tune in to see.

This is not even to mention the idiocy of the commercials to begin with. If I see another ad with a gecko in it I'm going to go crazy. Yeah, I just mute them, but still. I want to puke whenever I see the most idiotic commercials of all -- the beer ads. And please know it isn't just these. Almost every commercial is ridiculously inane, many of them full of racialism and virtue signaling, shamelessly going on one after the other after the other -- stupidity for dollars. No wonder the NFL is in trouble, it reduces itself to its lowest troglodyte denominator.

Which means much of the issue with the NFL is the simply plain idiocy it enables. But then this leads to another critical factor...

3. Enabling. This has to do with what many see as the politics invading the NFL, but really, politics is not a bad thing. Everyone is political. I really don't care what political views my players have, as long as they're contributing to lots of Chiefs touchdowns on the field. Now I am interested in what people feel about things, but I have to confess I'm not really thinking about Travis Kelce's position on tax reform if he's scoring the game-winning touchdown, I'm just not.

The issue is how much the NFL is promoting issues the players spout about and how much that spills on to the field, and yes, let's not fool ourselves, it does matter what those things are. This is really the issue. And what more is there to demonstrate this than this whole national anthem mess.

What makes it enabling is that the players are making their racialist declarations based on New York Times-generated disconceptions -- yes, not misconceptions but disconceptions, meaning these players are hypnotized by asinine racialist poisons that are pounded into their minds by powerful people bent on keeping them, really, on the plantation -- and they don't even know it. They don't even know how exploited they are by those powers whenever they kneel or sit or stay out when the national anthem is performed.

I personally don't care what the NFL expects with the national anthem. I'm not a rah-rah patriot guy -- I'm pleased to live in this country and always honor those who've served and do serve, but I'm relatively indifferent to what is done with the flag or the national anthem itself. I also encourage any player to enthusiastically support positions about which he feels strongly, doing everything he and his cohorts can do to make the world a better place, that's terrific.

The problem is many of the NFL customers do care about how they shove this particular stuff they believe into their faces, and it is a slap in the face of those putting dollars into these players paychecks. People who want to see them respect the flag are essentially being told by these players, "Keep paying us gobs of money even while we brazenly scold you for being viciously racist even though you're not but the New York Times keeps insisting you are and I need to look good as I'm appearing to be crusading for something the Times says I need to keep crusading for." I'd venture to say several of them would add, "In the mean time I can't upset my brothers so that's also why I feel I have to do this."

Really, that's what they're doing even if they have to spew the standard racialist pap.

And many, many of the once stalwart NFL customers very reasonably despise it.

It'd be one thing for the fans to respond with a harmless adversarial sentiment, it's wholly another for them to take their money with them, which is what they're doing in droves.

This is why Roger Goodell is a magnificent fool for not going to every NFL team right after Colin Kaepernick first did his thing to tell them, "Look, we'll set up an 'NFL Office of Sensitivity to Race Issues' or something really important like that, really, let's do that, but you have to stand for the flag during the national anthem. If you don't, you're fired." If long ago Roger Goodell said that to every single player and made the statement uniformly across the league -- simply, personally, graciously, considerately, meaningfully -- then we wouldn't be having to deal with any of this.

But he didn't, because he doesn't know what he's supposed to do to lead with wisdom and courage, with insight and boldness, with truth and grace. Let's be honest -- we've all known this for years. So who's really the fool? The owners and the players and yes, the fans for just following along with the idiocy.

Now, the NFL is suffering big-time.

4. Duplicity. I've written about this for many years, even a number of times in this blog endeavor.

Doesn't seem to mean much to many, though.

Yes, it does disappoint me, but it doesn't mean I don't accept the reality of the situation.

The situation is merely that large major professional sports enterprises must have the larger-market media-darling teams succeed for them to reach the levels of profitability they expect.

Yes, it does make for very pronounced what-I-call competitive duplicity, meaning that the leagues actually do things or allow certain teams to do things that give them advantages over other teams.

In a nutshell, does the NFL really care whether or not the Chiefs are successful? Ahem. Do they care that the New York Giants or New England Patriots or Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys are successful? Absolutely. In fact, let's just cut to the worst of it -- the NFL really doesn't want the Chiefs to be successful because the Chiefs will never come close to generating the kinds of cash a Cowboys or Patriots can get in any featured game.

Oh you'll occasionally have some non-major-market-darling teams get far in the postseason, I don't think any major sports league can keep that from happening. But the way the entire structure is set up, you will always see plenty of Patriots-Giants or Steelers-Packers Super Bowl matchups. Yes, the NFL has much more parity than other leagues -- this deliberately arranged competitive imbalance is far more pronounced in something like major league baseball, where presently the Dodgers and Yankees have been being groomed for appearances in any or all of the next several World Series.

I like to peek at the franchise values coming out every year, and you can see this phenomenon all over those. Here are the latest top values among all American sports franchises. See if you can see a pattern. For 2017...

1. Dallas Cowboys $4.2 billion
2. New York Yankees 3.7
3. New England Patriots 3.4
4. New York Knicks 3.3
5. New York Giants 3.1
6. Los Angeles Lakers 3.0
6. San Francisco 49ers 3.0
8. Washington Redskins 2.9
8. Los Angeles Rams 2.9
10. Los Angeles Dodgers 2.7
10. New York Jets 2.7
10. Boston Red Sox 2.7
10. Chicago Bears 2.7
10. Chicago Cubs 2.7

These teams all have the most fans (more $$$), the biggest broadcasting contracts (more $$$), the most frequent mentions among sportscasters, sportswriters, and pundits (more $$$), and the largest national followings (more $$$). And please don't let the Knicks, Jets, and 49ers failures detract you. These teams should all be very successful but have been plagued by horrible management.

Should a Chiefs ever even make it to the Super Bowl the NFL power brokers would barely tolerate it, but that's it. I fear looking at what the television ratings would be for any Super Bowl in which the Chiefs appear, because waaay fewer New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston fans would tune in.

The powers-that-be know this too well.

Some of the extended advantages come from the officiating. There are other given advantages that reside in the deeper politics areas of the overall league organization, but what referees do out on the field is the most obvious, and Chiefs fans know it too well. I could list all of the critical calls that have gone against us in the most critical moments -- I feel much of it is to make it more likely the Chiefs do not advance. It may be said the officials can only do do much especially with the use of instant replay, and that is true, but the extent they can make an interpretation of a pass interference or holding call turns entire game outcomes, and countless times they have against the Chiefs.

The interesting thing is football fans -- even Chiefs fans -- generally disdain citing those very obvious evidences because we fear being called whiners or sour grapes spouters or whatever.

It still doesn't change the reality of competitive duplicity.

Could new leadership change this? I honestly don't think so, because again, Roger Goodell is there ultimately because the fans want him there. And again, the reality is that there are more New York and Los Angeles fans who really don't mind advantages coming their way making them more successful. Who wouldn't secretly want that?

As it is, I'll still root for the Chiefs even with all that is against them. I'll still hope against hope that they'll emerge as a team many could root for, even with all the geographic demographic autocratic disadvantages. I'll still enjoy them play football and, at least this year, play winning football with a fine head coach and some extraordinary playmakers doing thrilling things.

I committed to this at the beginning of the year -- take each game one at a time, enjoy each one, revel in our proud Kansas City Chiefs. I've even written this here before -- it makes it that much more meaningful when we win when that duplicity stacks things against us.

Should we go all the way and win the whole thing, then we do it with the greatest adversity -- most of it coming from the NFL itself.

Wow wouldn't that be great.
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Chiefs at Cowboys - Week 9 - Record: 6-3

::Sigh::

Missing Eric Berry.

Sorry but our defense is just too soft for us to really be considered meaningful playoff contenders. We still don't have that Ray Lewis type in the middle to really make it hard on offenses. For years Eric Berry has provided a good deal of that stoutness in the middle, but without him there a good team like the Cowboys can just carve us up.

This game also proved how important the offensive line is. The Cowboys O-line made it easy for fine skill players like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot to have their way with us.

On our side -- sorry, but our offensive line is just not good. Yes we got Laurent Duvernay-Tardif back in there, but it didn't matter. Alex Smith just doesn't have enough time to make good passes down the field, and Kareem Hunt only got one decent run. Weak pass protection and weak run blocking. You'll win very few games with that.

We lost 28-17, getting only two touchdowns, one of which was that brilliant last second play ending the first half when Tyreek Hill took a pass at about the 30 and because the Cowboys defenders were all positioned way back for a Hail Mary attempt, Hill just zipped past them all with the help of fantastic blocking from Demetrius Harris, Travis Kelce, and DeMarcus Robinson. It was a wonderful, wonderful play.

But that was it, and we really had to rely on this surprising play call using Tyreek's speed to get it. A novel crazy play to try to stay in it. This means we simply can't sustain solid, talent-driven offensive football because, again, our O-line just isn't up to it.

Think about it: Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliot, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten.

Then we have: Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce.

I'd say those sets are pretty equal, pretty terrific skill players across the board, give or take a few talent notches one way or the other for any given player. I'd even add on our side guys like De'Anthony Thomas and DeMarcus Robinson in whom I see terrific potential -- can you see it? But you aren't able to really see it because, well, you know...

That offensive line. That's how major a factor it is to have a strong offensive line, far more than I believe people think. Those skill players get all the press, but look at the reality. And it wasn't just a phenomenon afflicting the Chiefs in this game. It has truly hurt us all season. We have a team that has the potential to score 40 points a game, really. But we just can't, it looks like these awesome Chiefs playmakers have to pull teeth to get untracked in any given game.

You can easily see the reason why. Today the Cowboys defense knew it, and they toyed with us.

Here's the thing I can't help but keep thinking when I see this kind of stuff happen to our Chiefs.

It'll be nice over the next several years to enjoy Pat Mahomes in there actually stepping up in the pocket and throwing the ball down the field on a regular basis, something Alex Smith simply will not do. The benefit of that will be the high draft picks we now can use to get help on that defense and offensive line. I know we don't have a whole lot of high picks coming up, but I'm looking to our brain trust to make some nice picks where we can get them, and that our key defensive picks from this year -- that linebacker and defensive end -- will step it up when they start getting playing time.

Just to add: the last (and only) time the Chiefs have beaten the Cowboys in Dallas was way back in 1975, can you believe it? Kansas City beat a Dallas team that eventually went to the Super Bowl, in the middle of the 70's when the Chiefs were generally horrible. For now we'll have to wait until 2025 (assuming the next Cowboys game is at Arrowhead) to get another shot at them at their place, and yeah, by then here's to hoping Mahomes is seasoned enough to take care of business.

We have a bye next week, and if I have some time I plan to post a special blog about the things plaguing the NFL and in turn plaguing the Chiefs chances to be successful. After this game, it'll be good to do some therapeutic venting.

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