Steelers at Chiefs - Divisional Playoff Game

It is simply not as agonizing anymore.

We're Chiefs fans.

As it is this is the fifth divisional playoff game the Chiefs have ever played at home, and the fifth loss. 0-5 in divisional playoff games at home for the Chiefs, ever. 1971 at Municipal, then in 1995, 1997, 2003, and one more time tonight here at Arrowhead.

All heartbreakers, so yeah, we're used to it.

And sure enough, there was that charmed thing that went the Steelers way, yet again. And the Chiefs suffer the exact opposite, some cursed thing that kills them. We're now 4-15 in the playoffs since January 11, 1970. The Steelers have almost twice as many playoff wins than we have playoff appearances in that time.

This was also another chance for us to win a playoff game after winning the division. As I'd mentioned a while back, the only times we'd done that were 1966, beating Buffalo, and 1993, beating Pittsburgh then Houston. We've never done it any other time. I truly think we're the worst team in the NFL in that department -- both winning the division and at least one playoff game -- only twice for us in our history. (FYI when we won the Super Bowl we were a wild-card team.)

I knew we'd win this game, but I have to confess I'd had few hopes that that stupid idiotic charmed Steelers thing wouldn't happen yet again to keep that from actually happening. I had no illusions whatsoever. I tried real hard in my preview posts to be optimistic, and I think I did well, but my feelings still couldn't be disguised. I'd even said plainly the only way they win is with the stupid idiotic charmed thing.

And sure enough, there it was, in great big blazing and extraordinarily ugly fashion against the Chiefs. There it was, right there.

We get the key touchdown on a Spencer Ware one-yard run after a blisteringly hard drive that included a Steelers guy slamming his head into Chris Conley, almost knocking him out. That TD made the score 18-16. We go for two, and get it, Smith to Harris in the back of the end zone, 18-18 with a little over two minutes left.

But wait.

Eric Fisher gets called for the hold.

There it is. The charmed thing that happens in favor of the playoff opponent.

We're just so used to it, I feel like the the Isrealites in the middle of Babylon, in hell there on earth, really, and God tells them that they're being tested in the furnace of affliction. But He'll do amazing things for them because His name is on the line. Check out the 48th chapter of Isaiah, it's pretty cool.

So yeah, for now, the standard disappointment, but it is way less of a despondency than before. For one, we didn't do enough to win this game, let alone have enough got-it to really show we've got playoff gravitas. We just made too many mistakes, and on drives No. 2 to 6 we did diddly on offense. This meant Le'Veon Bell et al were on the field for far much too much of the game time, and it meant we weren't getting the necessary scores we needed to stay up with them.

Every time we play the Steelers it seems like they have 14 men on the defense. Was the defense of this team their weakness? Was it? Because if it was you sure couldn't tell. Either we sure didn't take advantage of it -- and I believe a lot of it was that -- or they've just got our playbook. Doesn't it seem like that to you? That they just seem to know what we're going to do every time we play this team?

Our failures included just not doing play action way more often. When we did, it worked. We also dropped too many passes. Wilson dropped a key pass that would've been a critical first down. Kelce dropped a pass right in his hands near the goal line, then got mad and pushed a Steelers player for a huge penalty.

Thing is, that last drive when we scored to almost tie it, I have to tell you...

We started to show some got-it, we really did. That last drive was something like 14 plays or something like that, converting two 4th downs, it was thrilling to see us make it a good game. We should be proud of our Chiefs, they played their hearts out then, played like soldiers with their backs against the wall and did well.

Then there was the critical charmed thing for them. And it involved James Harrison, who had that most charmed interception return in that Super Bowl against the Cardinals, who went to the Bengals a few years ago then retired and was charmingly allowed to zip back over to the Steelers -- what was with that? And here he is with some people saying he was able to draw Fisher into that holding penalty -- it was just Harrison charmingly selling it to look like more than it was. That's nice.

The Steelers charmed play won it for them yet again, and it was just as I was afraid it would be.

But what's new.

Some things that did hurt us and kept us from putting away this game early, as we really should have.

The main thing was indeed the main thing that would've hurt us, and it did.

Our run defense. Le'Veon Bell ran up and down the field, and their offensive line was playing very well. Please, Ramik Wilson did all he could and played like a champion, really. But it must be said that losing Derrick Johnson was critical, I don't think anyone would doubt that. The Chiefs D stiffened every time the Steelers got into our territory, but you can't beat six field goals if you're not moving the ball on offense.

Alex Smith missed wide open receivers a number of times. One time they were showing Tyreek Hill so wide open on one play that all I could think was, yep, there's one of the two or three critical missed looks Alex Smith seems to have every game.

There were also some blow-its allowing Pittsburgh to keep getting in position to get those field goals. The most obvious one was an early one when Justin Houston was covering Antonio Brown on that long pass play. What was that? And what was with another linebacker covering Brown allowing him to get the first down catch for the Steelers to seal the win at the very end of the game? Guh?

There are so many other things I can say about this game, and because I just don't want to think too much about the standard disconsolations Chiefs fans must always endure from these things, I'm just going to leave this with just a couple more thoughts. I don't think I'll blog any more on any of this, but I may just because I'll think of things I'll want to write to do the therapy that we all so frequently need.

So I don't know. We'll see.

For now.

We have a good team. I know we're faced with decisions about Dontari Poe and Eric Berry and Alex Smith and all that. But the very encouraging thing is that there is tremendous stability in this organization. I know John Dorsey will make fine decisions to get the players we need to get to the next level. Really, that's a very encouraging thing at this point. There's tremendous promise for the Kansas City Chiefs.

And they're showing some got-it. Much of this game they showed much less got-it than they really should have had, but on that last drive they really had it. I liked it. It was thrilling to see them work valiantly to get the win. Maybe some year we'll have so much got-it, especially in the playoffs, that there is no way we can't win. I truly think we're on our way to that level.

Speaking about the building process this team is in, I can't wait until the draft when in the first round -- here's the key --

We have that quarterback right there for us at that 24th, 25th pick of the draft.

Somewhere I saw a prognostication of the draft that put the Chiefs in position to get DeShaun Watson from Clemson -- oh wow would that be great. With his performance in the college football championship game I'm not sure he'll drop that far, but maybe, just maybe if we can for once get the charmed position to get a guy who will be like Aaron Rodgers (he was drafted 24th or somewhere around there).

Alex Smith actually played his heart out, he really did. I will never dislike Alex Smith (though I confess I have expressed dislike for him before... and, um, yeah, I hate it when he misses those receivers) But he plays like a champion and I will always appreciate what he's done for us. I will appreciate his efforts to take this team deep into the playoffs next year, I really will. I think he's on board for two more years, at least on his contract, I think, but then I don't peek at this stuff because it just drives me crazy.

I'm just pointing out here that I'm looking forward to when we do finally, finally, finally

Get that drafted and developed quarterback to take us to the promised land.

Maybe Alex Smith will next year, or the year after. That's cool, I'm all for it.

But we now need to get that young guy on board right now to be ready to do that in the following years. As it is, as of this day, it has been 10,718 days since the Chiefs won a game with a drafted and developed quarterback at the helm. As I've posited most fully in The Quarterback Project, the only way you are going to win the Super Bowl is

With a D&D guy.

Sure enough, look at the teams in the conference title games. All with quarterbacks the teams drafted and developed, yet again. It is practically an ironclad rule.

I will hope the best for our Smith-led team, I always will.

But we need the D&D guy and hey, not going farther into the playoffs puts us at the 24, 25 draft slot and a better chance to get that guy. I know it's not a lot, but it is some small consolation here.

And another thing about those teams in the conference championship games.

Precisely as I thought.

You've got New England (big market) vs Pittsburgh (media darling), and you've got Green Bay (media darling) against Atlanta (who isn't either of those but the seedings didn't allow for a New York or Dallas to be there). How much will the powers-that-be slaver when they get Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers going against New England with Tom Brady.

Yes, I'm rooting like crazy for Atlanta now. And I'm simply not going to get into the whole very-legitimate-conspiracy-against-us considerations, just not.

Just going to revel in being a Chiefs fan right now.

It's simply because no matter what, it's authentic, it's real, it's whole, it's rich -- it was neat to see so many fans at Arrowhead in spite of the freezing weather. They were there, and our team left it out on the field. We're true and genuine and it is very very good. I think I can join millions of other Chiefs fans in being extraordinarily proud of this team.

And in spite of the silliness yet again that occurred this evening,

We've got great hope.

That's a very good thing.
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