The date was September 10, 1960. It was the very first game the Chiefs ever played, then as Lamar Hunt's brand new Dallas Texans. They were facing one of his brand new league of teams-his-team-could-play, the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs shot out to a 20-7 lead and Lamar was heard to remark, "Hmm, maybe we shouldn't beat them by so much." I am certain he felt if his team was going to wallop every team 56-7, there would be no interest in the league and it would die. Good point.
Turns out the Chargers came back and won 21-20. The Texans ended up finishing second to the Chargers in that season's AFL West standings, and Lamar Hunt regretted ever having that sentiment.
Fast forward to 2018. Chiefs and Chargers again, only later in the season with the division on the line. Chiefs at 11-2, Chargers at 10-3. What's different about me and Lamar is that I want the Chiefs to win every game 56-7. What's the same is I felt if the Chiefs lost this game it actually may be a not-very-bad-thing, because I was concerned the team would let their guard down if they'd already wrapped up the division and a first-round bye.
Why do I have to feel this way. I know why.
It is because the NFL desperately does not want this team to win in the postseason. The Chiefs have so much up against it if it even wants to win a single playoff game that it requires them to do so much more to win past Week 17 than any other large-market media-darling team does, including employing the services of the odds-on favorite for MVP at quarterback to pilot the team.
As it was last night, just like that 1960 game, the Chargers were down by a lot, in this one by 14 points three different times, 14-0, 21-7, 28-14, and they still won 29-28. In the last minute deep in Chiefs territory they confidently used their bigger, stronger, faster receivers and the laser-strike arm of Philip Rivers to first score a touchdown to make it 28-27, then brazenly go for two knowing our D-backs simply could not cover their receivers. It was as if it was foreordained.
Thing is, it never should have gotten to that point if the NFL did not put the conditions in place to generate a lot more excitement having two teams battling it out for division supremacy. Again if the Chiefs win there's nothing left to watch until January and there'll be way fewer people watching stupid beer commercials to buy more fermented wheat water to fry their brains. Now that the two teams are tied for the division lead there's interest! There's attention! There's money! I am not against anyone making money, but as I've always written, if it happens against the competitive integrity of the given sport, then it is fraud.
I know many will chafe at this continuous thread of my expansive Chiefs take, and that's fine, I do appreciate the readership, thanks no matter what. But here's what I saw last night.
A graphic said the Chiefs have now set a record for most consecutive games of scoring 25 points or more, with 19 straight. Huh. Very cool. Thing is, sandwiched in between allll those regular season games is a playoff game, ee-yep, that one against the Titans in which we scored only 21 and lost by one point. Eeeee-yepp. Didn't score 25 in that one.
Then there is the officiating. It is so horrible (indeed it went against the Chargers a number of times, yes) that they should implement a number of remedies. (Yeeawh, like the Scorecasting factor will still not play its part in the Chiefs' demise, but anyway, for the redundant purposes of thinking the NFL might have a small sliver of genuine integrity...)
First, the NFL has got to relegate two officials in the booth with monitors, and give them original play-calling ability. If there is a play that must be made right -- including any possible penalty, then they should be making calls. They also have got to clean up the interpretations, because officiating interpretations of holds, pass interferences, and unnecessary roughnesses are wretched. These renovations are perfectly fine and very needed... unless of course any extraordinarily reasonable solutions like these would keep the NFL from further impeding the Chiefs postseason success.
To wit, on one Chargers drive Daniel Sorenson was covering Antonio Gates and was called for holding. He almost picked off the football, but it wouldn't have mattered because of the totally phantom call. The most aggravating thing: what if Sorenson makes the pick -- and it likely would been a pick-six -- and it really matters? Like, oh, in a playoff game?
Now -- off the subject of the poor officiating for a second -- Sorenson should have made the interception. What is wrong with our defensive backs just not catching thrown balls?! There was a pick Eric Murray had go right through his hands, These kinds of failures are making our fragile defense even worse, these "unforced errors" if you will. How many other Chiefs D-backs do you see just regularly not making those plays, killing the Chiefs team themselves without the help of ugly officiating?
Thennn there was that last Chargers drive of the game, the one everyone knows about, the one some are actually talking about. How about that abomination. There was under a minute left in the game, indeed down to mere seconds, and the Chiefs were up 28-21. Yep, every perceptive Chiefs fan is wondering, what kind of ding-dong thing is going to happen now to derail our chances to win this game.
After Dorian O'Daniel made a perfectly clean hit on Philip Rivers -- and yes, the Chiefs pass rushers were doing a pretty good job of pressuring him last night, the key thing you've got to do to beat him -- Rivers exploded. The announcers were even intimating it was a targeting hit, but O'Daniel really did not do any deliberate helmet-to-helmet tackle, even though helmets did make contact. This was actually the right no-call by the officials.
So Rivers takes off his helmet, there on the field, and screams at the refs waving his arms around. Excuse me but I thought helmet-removing was definitely, categorically, undeniably an automatic unsportsmanlike penalty. No call. Guh?
Rivers then throws a pass too deep in the back of the end zone that easily could have been considered uncatchable because the receiver reached for it so high he finished far out of bounds, but Kendall Fuller ever-so slightly tugged on his left arm, the perfect and very ridiculous nod to the official to throw a PI flag. Please. Please please please please please.
From the one yard-line, which again is almost a certain touchdown for this team, Rivers throws a pass to a receiver at the right side of the end zone who first clearly pushes the defender off, and second, bobbles the ball without keeping both feet in bounds. It is reviewed, and... play stands! Touchdown!
Gurghk. The Chiefs are all too familiar with this bozoness.
Well, that's what we've got. That's what we're up against. For now, we now know we've got to take care of business in Seattle and at Arrowhead to finish the regular season against Oakland. We got good play last night from our main guys, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, of course Patrick Mahomes. The O-line did well and Damien Williams did well. Our new back Darrel Williams scored a nifty touchdown on a screen pass.
And yes, Eric Berry is back. He only played the 1st half, and you could see him out there barking out assignments, showing everyone where to be, firing off the line, making plays. Oh boy will it be great to see him in there for the whole game. Afterwards he said he was fine, it was all good for him. Maybe him not being in there in the 2nd half is something that allowed Los Angeles to get back in it, after all they did score 22 points in that half.
Maybe Berry is that much of a game-changer. Maybe he was held out for so long because the Chiefs so much need the very very best weapons any pro football team can have out there to win in January -- you know it is so true.
So again, we now have to win in December. That's not a bad thing. Let's have our players keep preparing and playing the hardest football they can play because, yes...
We will need it for the immense challenge that is the postseason hellhole.
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