In our final touchdown drive to finally get this one, we just did the Mahomes-to-Kelce thing like we should. Why not? I just wonder why we don't just get done what we can get done all the time. Maybe playing all these close games keeps us on our game for the full 60 -- we will need it come playoff time. And sure enough, to win the game we just needed Mahomes to make one more amazing throw, this one to Robinson in the end zone for the game-winner from 20+ out.
I have to add too a mention about the kind of luck we are getting. The play just before our game-winner the Falcons D-back dropped a sure interception that would've sealed the win for them. And my goodness what about their awesome kicker just barely missing a game-tying FG after the announcers were just raving about how Pro-Bowler great he was. Whew.
We got some fine usage from Darrel Williams, seemed like as the game went on they went more with him than Le'Veon Bell, though he did okay for us as well. Thing is, what about that play-calling? When we needed a critical 3rd down conversion in the 4th quarter Reid called for a weird option pitch that got nothing. On a 4th-&-1 deep in Falcons territory we tried the craziest dipsy-doo trick play with Sammy Watkins throwing an interception that was intended for Patrick Mahomes. Those things are delightful when the work, and excruciating when they plop.
You are not going to tell me the officials are now not calling any penalty they can against the Chiefs, especially against our D-backs with the splendidly ubiquitous PI call. At the end of the 3rd quarter we had the Falcons offense with a 3rd-&-long and Daniel Sorensen was literally tackled by their tight end about 10 or 15 yards downfield.
And they called pass interference on us.
That they are not calling it more often I think is a testament to the fine play of both our D-backs and D-line today. For most of the game we put a lot of pressure on their terrific quarterback Matt Ryan. The problem is Ryan and Calvin Ridley connected enough times for big gains for the Falcons to do well. Even with all the sacks, Ryan late in the game got to 24-for-27 on passing. One of those was a duck that we could just not get under to snatch, but their guy could.
Here's a thing some Chiefs fans really need to stop doing: dissing Mecole Hardman. The guy is amazing, made some terrific plays all season, and today was one of the pretty good things about our offense. This is not to mention what he gives on special teams, regularly taking punts and getting some return yardage from them while getting hammered each time he does that. I admit I often think about how we could've had D.K. Metcalf in that draft a couple years ago, but I too have got to let that one go. Hardman is our man, he's a Chief, he's played as well as we could expect, and he should get even better.
The last time we had the Falcons over at Arrowhead was the opener of 2012, that horribly horrible year. We lost, of course. The last time we'd played them, in 2016 at their place, was what could be called the Eric Berry game when he had a pick-six and a game-winning two-point-TD-return. Interesting that the Falcons is one of the teams we've played the least in our histories, I believe now only ten times.
Thing is, I do feel for Atlanta sports fans. To keep my mind sharp, usually when I'm out on my long walks, I do thinking like this: which city has had the worst of it from their pro sports teams? I went through the list in my mind.
Seattle? Yeah, for a while, but then the Seahawks won a Super Bowl in 2013 and the Supersonics did get an NBA title. Houston? Well, the Rockets had two titles in the mid-90s, and the Astros have been a very good baseball team of late, all the cheating stuff notwithstanding. Go through the list. Sorry, but...
There is Atlanta.
The Braves were the very best baseball team from the late-80s to the mid-2000's, and got one title. It seemed like every year there would be some lousy thing that would happen to them in the postseason.
The Falcons have been very good a number of times, and even made the Super Bowl twice, but the first time they were distracted by some player issues and got pasted by the Broncos, then there was the Patriots comeback a few years ago.
The NBA's Hawks have never really had many deep playoff runs, and when they were very good the time Dominique Wilkins was on the team was the time the Lakers and Celtics were regularly showing up in the Finals.
So yeah, I am sympathetic to Atlanta fans, and genuinely hope they have some success in the future -- as long as it doesn't come at Kansas City's expense.
Today they weren't able to keep the Chiefs from clinching home field advantage throughout. It is funny, and kind of fun, but this weekend so far we'd been rooting for all the teams the Chiefs beat this year so they'd have a better Strength-of-Schedule should it have gotten down to that at the end of the year. Thing is, again, our win today took care of all that.
The Chiefs are the No. 1 seed and we get the bye. Done deal.
And it is likely a very good thing that we are playing all these close games so we can get on top of what we do well.
It's not going to be so easy when our first playoff game arrives.
__
Both photos are by Andrew Mather at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.
__
No comments:
Post a Comment