We've got time, don't we?
Here's the currently considered premise: That the Chiefs are just like Achilles, with all due respect to Derrick Johnson who has had two Achilles injuries. The first was in the first game of the '14 season when we lost to a terrible Titans team and missed the playoffs that year by one game. The second was this year when his loss adversely affected the Chiefs run defense.
In fact, late in the season the Chiefs elected to bring Justin March-Lillard off the injured reserve list, with the readily accepted reason that our run defense needed a nice spark with D.J. out. It sure seemed like the right move, because by NFL rules we were forced to give up on bringing back Jamaal Charles.
Now assigned run stoppers like Ramik Wilson played their hearts out, they were indeed stalwart Chief crusaders.
But it just wasn't enough. Le'Veon Bell still had something like 170 yards rushing. Ouch.
Now maybe Charles simply wasn't ready for this game -- ahem, yet another crazy Chiefs handicap to hurt our playoff chances -- he'd had his ACL tear over a year-and-a-half ago and still wasn't ready. But here's the Justin March-Lillard thing: Where was he?
Except for a handful of quick things I peeked at right after the game, I'd only looked at any information about the Chiefs-Steelers game since last Sunday one time -- really, I'd actually been pretty good about being sports celibate -- I didn't want to see anything, it's just too painful. But I did look at what happened with Justin March-Lillard, I mean, I just don't remember seeing him out there on the field! Turns out he was in for one play.
Are you kidding me.
From what I remember, he had some hand injury. Now please, I don't know the extent of the injury, I'm not trying to presume anything, but in my cynicism I wonder. It wasn't any leg injury to keep him immobile or anything, and as far as I'd been told the Chiefs were really high on him -- we all had been given the idea that he was a pretty good player. Sooo...
What happened? Was he just that much not in game shape? Was it that significant? And why was that? Oh my could we have used what-we-all-thought-was his fine run defense ability out there on Sunday.
In my view, to remind you, it is just yet another contribution to all the standard unusual horrificness that happens to the Chiefs the instant they enter the playoffs. I already overwhelmed the Chiefs Kingdom with all the things that are part of this ugly spell the Chiefs come under that keeps them from winning playoff games, I've belabored it to death. Forgive me.
But I do want to add here another aspect in all this, and this one revolves around Travis Kelce. Needless to say, Kelce had a subpar game on Sunday, and there are general reasons for why I think that happened I'll get to later. For now, Kelce.
I believe the most critical officiating call that cost us was not the Fisher hold but the Kelce non-call when he was interfered with on a medium deep pass play -- yep, it was the typically Chiefs-destroying PI non-call. Yep, the officials do call the hold on Fisher, but miss the PI on the Steelers linebacker.It was a play very much like that one that cost the Lions the game against the Cowboys a couple years ago. Pass is thrown, and just as the receiver is about to catch it the defender runs into the receiver neglecting to look back as he obviously impedes the ability of the receiver to get the ball.
When it happened it was such a bang-bang play that I couldn't see it clearly. But they showed the replay, and the ball was catchable -- Kelce merely needed to reach back to get it, and the defender plowed into him keeping him from doing that. The announcers even pointed out that it was pass interference, but the officials kept their flags in their pockets.
See, with all the technological advances for video reviews and all that, officials can still change the outcome of a game based on how they personally interpret holding and pass interference calls. This liability won't change until the NFL decides to do the one thing that would make all of this actually work: have officials in the booths with monitors and when they see something that should or shouldn't be called, they radio down and insist they make the right call.
Hey, they already do that at the end of games, last two minutes and so forth. Why not do it all the time?
Thing is, the entire NFL business/media manipulation oligarchy would also have to abandon the idea that they must do what they can to keep teams like podunk small-market non-$$$-generating teams like the Chiefs from advancing very far into the postseason, and I don't really think they're going to do that anytime soon.
That non-call kept the Chiefs from continuing a crucial drive, the first of the 2nd half by the way, and one that easily could have eventually had them in field goal range to kick for their margin-of-victory three points. Instead it was one of the five drives the Chiefs got nada. It was truly the killer.
This also presents one of those other supernatural things that reveal themselves in the behavior of the stakeholders, in this case Travis Kelce. He seemed to be so upset about this that later he went off on a Steelers player, earning an unsportsmanlike that didn't directly hurt us at the time, but I can't believe didn't affect the team spirit. Kelce was humbled, got his head back in the game, but only after a blistering upbraiding by people like Justin Houston.
After the game Kelce went off on the officiating, standing up for his boy Eric Fisher. Most of the team supported Fisher, good call, really. But Kelce tearfully shredded the officials. Yes, they deserved it, they did, it is true the Chiefs definitely got the worst of it yet again. But the truth related to much more robust Chiefs playoff viability is that Kelce needed to shut the heck up about it. As much as he feels it -- that is awesome, it really is, gotta give him that -- the truth is for the Chiefs to be respected as the fine team they are, Kelce or any other Chiefs player or coach or whoever need to let it go.
We the fans can see it, we can point it out in spades. Please, Chiefs organization people, we fans see it, we get it, we're with you! This is part of why I do this blog, I can see it for what it is in all its living color, call it out. As far as the Chiefs players and whoever goes, as much the irreparable harm is painfully veritable they just have be above it all.
And that's the key thing. It is about the maturity. Travis Kelce is a terrific player, a terrific team player, a terrifically vibrantly intensely competitive player. I think the Chiefs go farther towards being that team people want to see contend if they reeeeeally make sure there is a team maturity that is an essential component of warding off any future effects of this playoff spell. I believe at this point Chiefs leadership could accomplish a lot by stepping up and instilling in them a much deeper sense of respect by, for instance, dialing back those insipid dances they do after scoring. Great: have spontaneous celebrating with high-fives all around. But I've always felt the Kelce in-your-face-ism kind of antics will only come back to haunt you.
Play with the greatest, richest, fiercest passion, but be the respect too.
Before getting more into the direction of this team from here and a bit more of an overall regarding this "spell" stuff (Yeah, I mean, so what else is there to think or do something about it? Hmm...) I want to share one more thought related to the finding out what's really going on here.
I thought the other day, wow, if I had the time, I'd actually fancy making a documentary about the Chiefs playoff woes. Sorry, but they are more grisly than any other teams, and they are interminable -- lots of documentary material, that's for sure! Could be interesting! Now, I never will do that, but I further thought that a significant part of such an effort would reveal quite a lot I think about what happened. A documentary feature would include, of course, interviews with Chiefs players, but what they say wouldn't matter as much what is shared in the interviews with their opponents.
Really, documentary or not, if the players the Chiefs played against in all those games, all 15 losses since 1970, shared their thoughtful observations... I wonder...
What exactly would they say?
How would they answer, not even as much to questions like what was your game plan that allowed you to defeat this fine team, but rather what did you see in the Chiefs out there on the football field? What specific kinds of things happened with what they did or didn't do that got you the dubya?
If they were perfectly honest, what kinds of things would be among their observations, from the Dolphins of '71 to the Steelers of '16, I just wonder...
What kinds of commonalities would there be? Would we get any answers as to why this stuff so horrendously afflicts the Chiefs?
Some of those things are the legitimate on-the-field kinds of things that the Chiefs can indeed do something about. Let's go with that, let's talk about those things. Let's start at third-from-the-top, with Andy Reid. The top is of course Clark Hunt, but I can't see anything he's doing wrong except working hard to establish that firm stability and professional excellence the Chiefs have needed for eons. Second is John Dorsey, and there is one critical aspect of his role I want to address, but it is so important I'm saving it for later. For now...
A contrast: Andy Reid vs. Mike Tomlin last Sunday night. What did you notice looking at camera shots of the two? We take it for granted that Reid has his face in his laminated playsheet all the time. Tomlin, not as much so. How on earth did Tomlin call a winning game when he was going up against the incomparable technician playcalling master himself?
The answer is two-fold. Tomlin was actually getting his psyche into the game, letting the game come to him, becoming an organic part of the flow of the game. Reid? Not so much. And that's what cost us. With Tomlin being more observant about what to get his players to do in response to what was being given him by the Chiefs, Tomlin could adjust, then readjust.
Andy Reid -- ehhhnn, not so much. This was one of the things I remember jotting down a few games ago, I maybe even made mention of it in a blog post. For the Chiefs to win in playoff game action, Andy Reid has not only got to adjust, but then adjust to their adjustments, and I'm sorry, I really don't think Reid did that. He's that skilled incisive technician, but what did Reid have for the Steelers when Tomlin was organically forming his game plan to best take on the Chiefs in the moment?
A precise example of how this played out could be elucidated with one play -- the 2-point conversion attempt right after the Fisher hold. Remember, the score is still 18-16 and even though we had the 10-yard penalty assessed against us, we still had a chance to tie. Now we just have to do it from the 12.
We could get that, any team could as long as the right play is drawn up.
But the spell had its way with us. Reid put in some vanilla play, Alex Smith just stepped back and flinged the ball somewhere into the middle of the end zone -- I think it was supposed to go to Jeremy Maclin -- and it was predictably batted away.
Erghh. There's that hideously familiar despondent feeling starting to overcome your Chiefs-fan soul.
At the cost of being tarred the worst Monday morning quarterback ever, here's the play.
Have Smith very quickly take a couple steps to his left, then have him roll back right. He's quick enough to get around the defense, get the blocking to make that happen, and get that not-much-above-average Steelers defense to bite and overpursue, and bring a key receiver back the other way across the middle. How about Hill, with his speed?
How about with all the splendidly imaginative playmaking he did over the regular season (can you say Dontari Poe?) why didn't he do something like a hook and lateral? Throw the ball the ball to Kelce near the goal line but have Spencer Ware trailing for the pitch -- if Ware is taking on some defender staying home, I'd give that battle to Ware.
Why wasn't Reid prepared to do something like that?
You know, in some ways I just don't even think Reid had to do anything fancy.
Just intuitively know the right play to employ with the talent this team has and the advantages you could have over this particular opponent at this time.
Thing is, Reid can do this. The Chiefs can do this.
All this blogging is a lot, and I've got to take a break. There is more to all this. Yes more! Some of the most important factors that should be addressed preparing for Chiefs 2017. Haven't quite gotten to the Dorsey factor (Can you say "The Quarterback Project"... I thought so...). There's also the whole overall meaning of it all, I'm eagerly looking to address that. Talking about spells and Andy Reid detrimental efficiencies is a bit depressing, but the best is yet to come. There are good Chiefs things to write about.
For now, as I write this, the Falcons are hammering the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. At this moment they are leading 44-21 with two minutes left in the game. When the Falcons go on to win, and head into the Super Bowl, that will then make five Super Bowl teams the Chiefs will have defeated in the regular season over the past few years. (You remember we beat Atlanta this season, at Atlanta no less.)
As despondent the feeling of despondency is that we can't watch Chiefs football right now like we should be, there is the fact that the Chiefs are a good football team. More of that in the next blog post, but for now it is with great pride we can say with real hopefulness...
Go Chiefs!
___
No comments:
Post a Comment