Super Bowl Preview - Chiefs Make It In Two In a Row!

We're in our second Super Bowl in a row, what a great achievement. We're in full run-it-back mode, and the Kingdom is lapping it up! All the Super Bowl hype really starts tomorrow, so let's go!

This preview post won't be much, really, we all know just about as much as we need to know.

I agree that this really is the best quarterback matchup in Super Bowl history. It is the GOAT of Super Bowls Past vs the GOAT of Super Bowls Future, and the hype machine is wonderful.

The real key to me -- and to many others -- is the ability of our patchwork offensive line to hold off the fine pass rushers of the Buccaneers. Our O-line isn't exactly patchwork, Brett has done a masterful job of providing depth there as well. But we are missing Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, both excellent tackles. Andy Reid and the coaching staff have their work cut out for them this week.

It was good to hear L'Jarius Sneed came off the concussion protocol and will be ready to go next Sunday. I think having Sammy Watkins back in the mix also will be critical for Mahomes to do his work with the uncertainty on the line.

With all this in mind, let's just get this thing going! I know this preview isn't much, and I'm sure this week we'll hear about the Mahomes vs Brady battle until we want to throw up, but hey, can't beat the massive cred! Gotta enjoy it all while you got it!

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Photo is from Steve Sanders at the official Chiefs website. Thank you.

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Bills at Chiefs - AFC Championship Game - The Take

Earlier in the year I put up a blog post for the Bills-Chiefs game that was mostly my notes. As I perused my posts through the year, I thought that was one of the better posts, actually. With this one here I thought I'd just do that again, there were so many different dramatic elements in this game.

We started with some miscues: Thornhill unable to haul in an interception, Hill dropping a long pass, Kelce dropping another one, and the worst of all Hardman muffing a punt the Bills gathered at our two-yard line. The Bills shot out by scoring the first nine points, and it would've been ten if their kicker did not bonk the PAT off the top of the upright. How about that. It was almost yet another instance when we got down by double digits in a playoff game.

Hardman made up for his blow-it almost immediately. He gathered in our first touchdown catch, and on our following possession scorched around left end on a reverse that went for 50.

Thing is, on the Bills possession between those plays Chris Jones punched a Bills player and the refs missed it. Good thing they missed it because in our regular season game against the Saints they kicked out an important Saints D-lineman for doing exactly the same thing. Will Jones face a suspension for this one even though we escaped without a penalty? That could be very costly if he is suspended.

What in the world are we doing that crap for? I can't say I wasn't disappointed with the raw outbursts of our players. Yes, the Bills were being ding-dongs too -- at one point Josh Allen threw the dead play football at the face of one of our D-linemen. Later in the game after a great sack by Tanoh Kpassagnon, Alex Okafer hovered menacingly over Allen and a Bills lineman pummeled him. All kinds of personal foul calls resulted and I was really nervous our players would get the worst of it. Fortunately the sack held up and really pinned the Bills back.

Still. That behavior has no place in our game. Even if the Bills do it, what in the world are we doing that "bush league" crap for? We're the Super Bowl Champions, come on. Even so no one should be doing that stuff. I really hope our main leaders come through with a few words for these guys. It has been this way for eons: Let your game do the talking. The Chiefs have really actually been very good about that, what happened to them today?

Back to the game:

The Chiefs got another touchdown on a nice Darrel Williams punch-in. It was sad we just couldn't figure out how to get Clyde Edwards-Helaire going -- he was so dominant when we played the Bills in that earlier regular season game. Even though CEH did have a nice run for our third touchdown on the day, we went with Williams mostly, and he is really showing he can be a terrific workhorse for us.

Even though Charvarius Ward dropped an easy interception, our defense held the Bills on their next possession. Our defensive backs just played terrific ball today, really making it hard for Josh Allen to get untracked. NFL receiving leader Stefon Diggs was practically invisible today. I saw that they'd said the Chiefs defense was a little bit better than the Bills defense -- indeed somewhat underrated overall, really.

In the middle of the 2nd quarter though was when the the most stunning highlight reel action took place. On two successive plays Mahomes showed everyone why he truly is the present version of GOAT, by far. He evaded sure sacks on both plays and managed to get the ball to Kelce first for a nice grab off the turf, then to Hill for a huge gain.

These guys are from another planet.

Halftime score: 21-12 Chiefs.

We got the kickoff to start the 2nd half and went to work, doing exactly what I thought we should be doing, hitting our receivers with quick, sure strikes. We stalled in their end and kicked a field goal making it 24-12. They countered with a FG themselves as our defensive front was doing a fine job of pressuring Allen.

On our next possession their guy shoved Mahomes way out of bounds deserving of a penalty, but the refs kept the flags in their pockets. We took care of business on the field, however, as Hill then took a quick-strike pass for 71 yards. A shovel pass to Kelce at the goal line made it 31-15.

Our D-backs continued their fine play, and at the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Bills were driving and Rashad Fenton took a tipped ball and ran it back to midfield. As he was running it felt really good -- it seemed we had this one under control. The Chiefs methodically started pounding the ball with Williams until the knockout punch, a soft toss to a wide open Kelce who came across the line to snatch it at the goal line.

Thing is, we lost Eric Fisher, and it does not look good. Achilles. For the Super Bowl we will now likely be without our two really good tackles, Fisher and Schwartz, . Our coaches had better be at the top of their game prepping for their absence -- I think if I remember the Tampa Bay defensive line is pretty good.

After upping the score to an apparently insurmountable 38-15, the Bills naturally tried an onsides kick which, with the new rules for kickoffs, makes success almost impossible.

Except for now.

Armani Watts bobbled the kick and the Bills recovered. Ouch. With 4:00 left they score a touchdown, but inexplicably try for two. If they kick the PAT they are at that point just down by two scores. They fail on the conversion attempt and are now still down by three scores.

Now down 38-21, they try it again but on this onsides kick return effort we are successful, with WR Marcus Kemp doing the duties. In fact this one was just as difficult because it took a really nasty bounce that Kemp adroitly handled.

A few more runs for Darrel Williams and it was over.

Our defense really shined, making their QB fight really hard to get anything he wanted. And my word, the Mahomes-Kelce-Hill triumvirate is just out-of-this-world. I'm seeing that already the Chiefs are three-point favorites over the Bucs. It'll be interesting to see where that line goes if it moves any.

What a ride. What-a-ride.

And it doesn't stop! How amazing will it be with Mahomes taking on Brady for GOAT bragging rights!

Two weeks we invade Tampa where the Bucs are playing in their home stadium! 

Run it back!

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The first photo is from Chris Donahue, the second from Andrew Mather, at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.

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Bills at Chiefs - AFC Championship Game - On the the Super Bowl!

The Kansas City Chiefs are AFC champions for a second year in a row! A real live blog take to come soon! And how about that, it'll be Mahomes vs. Brady. Wow!

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Photo is by Adam Parker at the Chiefs official site. Thank you.

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Browns at Chiefs - Divisional Playoff Game - The Take

So many storylines in this one, here're a few.

The Brett Veach Defense Rebuild Paying Off. I know we could start right out of the gate with remarks about Patrick Mahomes' health status right now, but frankly no one knows yet. Everyone's talking about it, but since we have to wait I won't be saying anything about that now.

What I do want to start with is what you're seeing on the defensive side of the ball, and how as much as we revere Brett Veach for wanting Mahomes so much and urging the team to move on drafting him, he has been just as phenomenal putting our defense together so we can get to an NFL record third straight AFC Championship game at home.

And it isn't just Tyrann Mathieu, although he is certainly the subject of a storyline all by himself. It is how Veach went out and got all the pieces to get this defense to, while it does bend at times, get the stops it needs when it needs them. That stand they made in the 4th quarter when the Browns had the ball last was huge. They had a marvelous chance to score the go-ahead touchdown with just enough time to methodically go about scoring it and leaving little time for the Chiefs to attempt a comeback.

As it is we took care of business. Steve Spagnuolo there having all the pieces moving as they should each and every down. Chris Jones collapsing the middle of the line putting tremendous stress on the passing pocket. Frank Clark coming off the edge keeping quarterbacks running for their lives. Anthony Hitchens solidifying the run D -- and did they need it against an excellent Browns running attack. Our other D-backs smothering their receivers -- I don't know about you but what I saw was that most of the Browns completions were the result of amazing throws by Mayfield or the toughest catches any receiver could make. Some of these new players there like L'Jarius Sneed, a cornerback sacking quarterbacks, and Tershawn Wharton, an undrafted player who has just played lights out blowing up the middle of the field.

And that touchdown saving play by Daniel Sorensen, he came through again with a gargantuan play to help save the day, crashing into their wide receiver as he was about to put the ball on the pylon. Fumble, end zone, touchback. Many will claim he led with his helmet and that should've been called but wasn't, but you know? While I very much want any play that may result in an injury to be called, I simply can't see how you can refrain from doing what Sorensen did. He actually dove underneath the runner but the runner himself was coming down to where Sorensen was trying to tackle him. What is Sorensen supposed to do? "Here, wait here for a sec, before I tackle you let me take my head off and put it on my back first."

Brett Veach has so brilliantly seen what kinds of coaches and players he needs to put out there, and to their credit they've done their work so exceptionally well even when we scream at the television when they get far too soft. They're still so critical to those dubyas.

The Power Running Game. I barely remember any other running back carrying the ball yesterday than Darrel Williams, who was terrific. The only other Chiefs back to take a handoff was Le'Veon Bell, twice. That was it. This is a testament to Andy Reid seeing which of his players would work best against the competition. Williams was the guy against the Browns. He ran well, caught well, blocked well, and his moment of glory was taking a swing pass and running to one of the two critical first downs we needed to keep the ball out of Baker Mayfield's hands at the end of the game.

About the Browns celebrated running game? I'm thinking their coach really should've played Kareem Hunt much more. Hunt barely touched the ball until their last scoring drive when Hunt ran well against us. Nick Chubb was not as effective, and watching that I thought, huh, last year we were able to shut down Derrick Henry -- I wonder if playing Chubb so much allowed us to get that edge and do what we do better on defense, shut down that power back? What would it have been like if they gave the ball to Hunt more often, much earlier, because Hunt looked much more elusive and as such might have been more of a problem for our defense?

The Chad Henne Rescue Crew. Here's something I thought about regarding not having Patrick Mahomes in there at the end of the game that was actually advantageous to our cause. More advantageous? 

What do you think about this.

The Brown had stormed down the field with what I believe were two straight touchdown scoring possessions. It was 19-3, then 19-10, then 22-17. Scary.

They have the ball, again with that six or seven minute window to run the ball, chew clock, wear us down, and score the go-ahead touchdown leaving only 28 seconds for a Chad Henne-led drive to try to get down the field for any score. Again, our defense was stout and forced a 4th-&-9 decision for their coach, Kevin Stefanski, with the ball something like their own 30-something yard-line I believe it was.

Here's my thinking. If Mahomes was still in their, they go for it. Why are they going to punt and give the ball back to Mahomes to easily get those couple of game-ending first downs? This 4th-&-9 play is the game right here. I think if Mahomes is in there, the Browns go for it and as aggressive as they had been playing, with a really good quarterback in Mayfield and really good receivers in people like Jarvis Landry, people who had already been having a really pretty good game actually, I think they have a real good shot to get that first down --

And we're in serious trouble.

But Stefanski didn't go for it. He punted. And I'm sure he did so because he felt his defense could stop a Chad Henne-led offensive effort.

What do you think?

Of course, the rest is history. Henne went from the goat with his ill-advised intercepted pass (apparently by Andy Reid per his own confession) to hero with his other excellent passes, most notably to Kelce and Hill, who caught that 4th-&-inches pass that sealed the game. Henne also had that tough 13-yard run just before that play that almost got the game clinching 1st down right then and there.

There're other storylines for sure, again the main one having to do with the ongoing Patrick Mahomes availability for next week's showdown with the Bills. Oh, and real quick, what was the deal with his foot? Before the concussion it looked as though he really messed up his foot in some way, and I haven't heard a thing about that.

Still waiting eagerly to find out, and above all find out about his health for his sake whether or not he plays another down for the Chiefs, we can't forget that.

Finally, we simply can't neglect to mention...

The Growth of Andy Reid Into a "Play-to-Win" Leader. How about that call on 4th down in our own territory to win the game. Remember the days when Reid wouldn't do any such thing and played not-to-lose? In that situation he'd punt? Here instead he made a move that shocked everyone -- even the announcers were mumbling "Ahh he's trying to get them to move offside, because why would Henne be in shotgun formation with no running back?"

Then he stung them. Henne completes the pass to Hill on the rug route and it is party over.

Wow, are we proud of this guy, and you can see in how he responded in his postgame presser he really likes making these kinds of decisions now. 

Let's face it though. Too many of us don't take those chances because we are way too emotional: "What if it doesn't work?" We worry too much about what people will say. We have all watched Reid grow into that courageous play-caller and it is a joy to see, and an inspiration really for all of us who wish we were so bold. 

That is living life, really, it is. Life in the Kingdom is great right now, for sure.

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Photos are from Steve Sanders and Andrew Mather at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.

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Browns at Chiefs - Divisional Playoff Game

We've been out of town for the weekend and we returned home very late, so I'm heading for bed. We did thoroughly enjoy the Chiefs playoff win today as intense as it was! Believe it or not, that makes three straight divisional playoff game wins in a row!

Everyone is still holding their breath, however, about the status of Patrick Mahomes for next week's conference championship game against the Bills. It is assumed he is under the concussion protocol, but Andy Reid seemed to feel he will be fine. Awesome -- but still...

Will write a post soon!

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Photo is from Steve Sanders at the official Chiefs site. Thank you.

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Chiefs Playoff Preview 2021

Next week we'll have a divisional playoff game against the Browns, so we'll be gearing up for that this week. It has actually been kind of fun to see all these other teams wrestle with one another while the Chiefs are the ones who get to watch it all in the comfort of their own homes resting and recuperating.

That is a key advantage of the playoff bye, and brings up one of the questions regarding our health for our first playoff game. Will Willie Gay's ankle injury keep him out? We could really use him. Will Clyde Edwards-Helaire be back? We really need him as well. I haven't closely examined our injury situation, so I'm not sure how all that's looking.

The real key, however, is that one that has been the key for every pre-Mahomes era playoff game we've had. You know what it is. We'll win, if...

The really stupid insane thing doesn't happen to absolutely obliterate our chance to win.

Again. It is simple.

That's it.

That's the one thing. That's the only thing that can beat this team, really. In fact, remember when it still killed us when the Mahomes era just started, when Dee Ford was called off-sides on the game-clinching interception in that AFC title game? Then, after we'd had something like 173 straight coin-toss wins we lose that one in OT and never get the ball.

Last year's Super Bowl run was astoundingly delightful, it really was. I revel in all the times this year during a game the broadcast announcer says, "The Super Bowl Champion Chiefs..." Ahhh... So very nice.

Thing is, while we're trying to run it back -- and that is indeed the inspiration for the team, "Run It Back" -- any goofy crazy-ass thing can happen. Oh do Chiefs fans now about those things oh so well.

One of the factors I did see being discussed is how little we blew out teams this year, especially over the course of the second half of the season. What was it, something like every game of the second half was a win by less than a touchdown?

I have to admit this exceptional team not having any blowouts does concern me. Those who say it shouldn't concern us say it is mostly because Andy won't run up scores. Maybe. They'll also say something that I think is a better reason, and that is for many of those games we are dominating the scoreboard at some point in the second half, then the other team puts up some gimme score to cut the lead to make things look closer than it really was.

Against a good Dolphins team we were up 30-10 at one point, and with a few seconds left and the score 33-24 they kicked a field goal to make it 33-27 hoping for an onside kick recovery. Against a very good Saints team in the second half we were up 29-15 at one point. We were pasting the playoff Bucs too when they had a decent comeback but also fell short. And look at these teams -- we're still beating very good teams here and handling them pretty well no matter what the score says.

Yes, in some ways our Chiefs have made games too close for comfort. But that's the reason it could indeed be a cause for concern. Why are we letting them get back into things? Why are we messing with that? What are we doing or not doing where we simply can't close the deal early enough? Again, maybe we're keeping things close to the vest, that's okay.

But I also know watching every single play we've had this year that there are things we are doing that could be of concern if the Browns exploit it. Are the Browns a matchup that has them holding some advantages? Even the best teams face other teams that just have something that can take them down. I really know nothing about the Browns except that they have Baker Mayfield and -- ::gulp:: -- Kareem Hunt. This is NFL playoff football and anything can happen. And really...

That's precisely why we've got to be at our very best using all of our weapons with maximum firepower, because in any close game all that is required for our dreams of a back-to-back disappear into the misty Arrowhead air is that insane crazy goofy ridiculously stupid thing to happen.

Otherwise, we got this.

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Chargers at Chiefs - Week 17 - Record: 14-2

One of the good things about being so dominant during the regular season that you clinch the bye a week early is that you can rest your best players and get them healthy for the postseason run. One of the bad things is that in a meaningless regular season game you can lose to injury some of the players you may really need later.

Today we lost Willie Gay early and the extent of that injury is still unknown. We also lost this fine defensive back, DeAndre Baker who was shining before he yanked his leg all out of whack. It is not good to lose Gay because we will really need his speed and length out there at linebacker, but it may be just as not-good to lose Baker because he did provide really nice depth in the D-backfield. It appears certain Baker will be out for some time, his injury looked really bad. 

Another bad thing about this game is we just let the Chargers run all over us. It wasn't just because we had mostly second stringers in. Give them credit, their QB Justin Herbert is very good -- I believe the Chargers will be a prime foe in future Chiefs divisional action. By getting spanked like we did today, it ends a long string of games we've kept any loss to at least one score. This is our first loss by more than a one-possession score since we lost to Dallas in 2017, 28-17. At least Mahomes didn't start, so his "one score" streak is still intact.

Meanwhile on the plus side Darwin Thompson looked terrific today, I wonder if his performance will mean carries in the post-season. He ran the ball with authority, he caught the ball well, he matriculated his body in and around their defense nicely. There were other things that were nice about some of our players getting a chance to do some things on the field today -- on one catch Byron Pringle had a marvelous twisty-turny run to set up our third touchdown. Tim Ward had some nice sacks on the defensive side.

On to a hopefully very deep postseason run! If I've got it in me I'll certainly put up a little pre-postseason post here sometime before two weeks from now.

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