Last Super Bowl LIX Take (I Think)

Okay one more take on the whole thing from last night. I always say I won't put out "Sad Chiefs Loss Postgame Take III" or "IV" or even "V" for the therapy, but I don't think I can add anything except for these items here.  

First of all, a link to a post I made about our history with the Eagles. Of course our clutch win against them in the Super Bowl two years ago was epic, but our other history is kinda not-great. In 1972 we lost a key regular season game to them and they were horrible that year. By one point. In 2005 we were ahead against them 17-0 and again 24-7, and lost. One more win that year and we make the playoffs -- we finished at 10-6 and that was not good enough to make it. Then in 2017 we did beat them, the second game of the season after beating New England in the opener. We were then 2-0 defeating -- get this -- the two teams who would go on to play in the Super Bowl that year, the Eagles prevailing. Go figure.

That 2017 Chiefs season ended with a horrific playoff loss, by one point ::aagh:: to the Titans. I really think that loss was the most emotionally crushing for me, of all of them. Yes there was the very painful '97 Denver loss, and there was the excruciating Colts loss of 2013 (well, just about every one of the Colts losses was unnecessarily jarring).

But that Titans loss? I just remember being abjectly crestfallen the day after, and it didn't go away for a while. I say this because while this Super Bowl loss was indeed disappointing, I'm just not feeling it like I did then. I think for all of us Chiefs fans much of that is just how blessed we've been over the past several years, and how much promise a Patrick Mahomes-led team still has.

With that in mind, here are the brief notes about this one I did not mention in my take from last night, except for one which is I think an important reiteration.

One, Andy Reid's coaching. I'd seen a ton of people rail all over OC Matt Nagy, but please, this is on Reid. After the game he did the standard blaming himself, and, well, he's right. He was indeed a genius against Buffalo, but was terrible against Philly. He had to have known they played a very aggressive zone defense, which meant he could have taken advantage of play action and quick throws to his wide-outs. Instead it was as vanilla a passing game as you could have, and the Eagles feasted.

It is fine to give credit to the Eagles, but our coaching could have been better. To his credit the offensive players just did not help. Mahomes missed throwing to the best options, receivers dropped balls, plays didn't develop, all of this aside from the fact that not having a left tackle just killed us.

The entire first half it was like watching the Tampa Bay Super Bowl loss all over again, really. I don't think any Chiefs fan could say anything less, I swear it was an exact replica. That first half Chiefs offense was just gruesome to watch, and hate to say it but it was chiefly because Andy Reid just had a very bad day coaching.

The reiterated thing was that penalty that very much wasn't a penalty against Trent McDuffie on their tight end. I know, I know, people will squawk that you can't make much of that one play and that the Eagles would've won anyway. Granted there was so much more to the Eagles fine play and the Chiefs poor play, but that penalty was really huge, really really huge, and yet again it should not have been called. It would have taken the Eagles off the field and kept them from scoring a strong foothold touchdown. Being down 7-0 did enough to stunt our already not-dominant running game to make that much of a difference.

My added point here is, how many people will make this case? For all the incessant screeching about calls favoring the Chiefs, how many will say anything loud and bold about this? I think I can hear the silence, all around the pitiful blithering that oh well it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Huh. From the volume of screeching it seemed like all the presumed Chiefs favored calls before would have mattered. I don't see everything on social media or in the punditsphere, but so far I've seen zip about that -- or really, anything about any of the other calls that went against the Chiefs.

The Bolton personal foul call that was pretty cheesy and most times is passed on? The Omenihu offsides which again was barely there and which linemen get the benefit of the doubt 97% of the time? I believe each of these did not lead to touchdowns but field goals, if I'm not mistaken, but those still represented added Eagles points and even more critically allowed Philly to run more clock each time.

Umm, yeah. Where are all the moralistic Chiefs haters now?

Then there was the halftime show, and in my preview take two posts ago I'd made mention of how ugly Kendrick Lamar's music was. Well, apparently he did sing that song dissing Drake and I guess the lyrics were altered a bit to weed out the vulgarities. I just don't know because I watched none of it.

Thing is, everywhere I've looked online people have lambasted the performance -- worst halftime show ever they said. Almost every take I saw said this. Of course I thought, good. Again, maybe next year they'll consider just having something that is fun and upbeat that is not rap or hip-hop in any way. Nothing even again those two music genres per se, it is just -- hey, NFL, do something that other pro football fans like.

And then finally, after seeing a few of the takes on this year's Super Bowl, there are the standard number of dumb ones. One of them said something about the Patriots never being beaten this badly in any Super Bowl they played in, so the Chiefs' dynasty can't be a good as the Patriots one. Well, anyone could argue the merits of any given "dynasty," but here's my take.

I too agree, the Chiefs dynasty is not as great as the Patriots one.

It could be if Patrick can snatch a couple more Super Bowls in his career, that'd be great. But just from my perspective, here are my rankings of past pro football dynasties.

1. Patriots, early 2000s to late 2010s. Legit No. 1, I agree.

2. 49ers, early 1980s to mid 1990s.

3. Steelers, all of 1970s.

4. Packers, all of 1960s.

5. Chiefs, early 2020s to ?...

6. Lions & Browns, all of 1950s.

You could then think about Elway's Broncos, Manning's Colts, Shula's Dolphins, Gibbs' Redskins, maybe other smaller one's here and there, that's cool.

But the Chiefs so far anyway are at No. 5 in my rankings, and I do think most would agree. It doesn't mean I'm dissing the Chiefs in any way, but I also share this because I still do believe that...

Tom Brady is still no better than No. 6 on the all-time QB list.

And yes, Mahomes is still No. 1.

So yeah, last night's Super Bowl loss was disappointing, but we've still got the best QB ever in pro football history at a still young age, and he's already got the Chiefs on track to continue its dynastic run. Maybe we'll move up in the rankings, that's cool. We lost a Super Bowl?

Dang.

We were still in a Super Bowl.

That's amazingly great, really.

__

Super Bowl LIX - Chiefs and Eagles

Okay, just feel like writing this now, and the 4th quarter hasn't even started. The Eagles just got a deep touchdown pass completion to make the score 34-0. 

It was simple today.

The Eagles are a very good team to begin with, they just really really wanted this especially after the Super Bowl two years ago, and they were just exceptionally prepared for this one. Their defense was probably as good as the Bears was in '85 -- even though weird: the Chiefs defense was actually really pretty good today also. Their stud RB Saquon Barkley got not-much today.

It was our offensive flailing-about the entire game against this defense. The television people just said the Chiefs hadn't even gotten past midfield. Yet right after they said that sure enough Mahomes gets it to Worthy to get the ball to their 40. Huh, how about that. Past mid-field yay!

Anyway, other factors besides the fine Eagles defensive performance.

The main one was our offensive line. This whole game honestly felt like that Super Bowl against the Buccaneers four years ago. We simply could not hide that issue on our left side, especially against a team like this. Not having Joe Thuney at left guard because we simply did not have a decent left tackle was crushing. The Eagles defensive line just overwhelmed us. Patrick was sacked who-knows how-many times.

I have to add that I do also believe all the "Officiating favors the Chiefs" thing crippled us. Again, the Scorecasting factor tells us definitively that those kinds of things do influence how a game is called.

The first penalty of the game favoring the Chiefs was indeed totally legit. You can't substantively push off a defender as a WR, and AJ Brown did that to Trent McDuffie's head. Even the television ref said it was legit even if he didn't agree. But right out of the gate doubts are planted.

Just a bit later they called a head-to-head hit from McDuffie to their tight end which so wasn't. It would have been 4th down and we would have gotten their offense off the field. It was totally reminiscent of the phantom roughing-the-passer call on Chris Jones against Tom Brady in the 2018 AFC Championship Game. The Eagles went on to score a touchdown. This phantom call was a million times more damaging to the Chiefs than the previous legitimate call was to the Eagles.

This just set the tone for the rest of the game. The Chiefs simply looked like they could not play as aggressively as they would have liked.

In fact just to add to the whole officiating thing. It is early in the 4th quarter now as I write this and Patrick gets strip-sacked, Eagles recovering. But right as this was happening he got hammered in the facemask, a clear penalty. Not called. So yeah, I agree with all the people who are saying the officiating does favor a certain team. But again as I shared in my last post quite truthfully I feel, it isn't favoring the Chiefs. It never has.

But I will not take away from what the Eagles did legitimately. They did win convincingly, more kudos to them, honestly. They just played really well today.

For next year it is clear we also need something more of a running game. Wonderful work from Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco this year, but we need much more there back there. Even though Saquon Barkley was regularly stuffed tonight, just having him there opened up the rest of the Eagles offense and their fine QB Jalen Hurts took advantage of it. When he needed to chew yardages with his running and needed to make a decent pass often enough, he did.

We got a touchdown late in the 3rd, a nice long pass completion to Worthy at the goal line, so it wasn't a shutout, that's okay. We actually got a couple more TDs, the last one to Xavier on a super long bomb into the end zone, ahh, reminiscent of the 2018 Mahomes. It was nice to see considering.

Well, the three-peat is done. It was really nice to talk about it all season though, that was fun. Not many talked about the Packers two three-peats they had before the Super Bowl era, so really, it wouldn't have been as unprecedented as they say.

The great thing is Patrick Mahomes won't take this lightly, and ya know? Neither will Brett Veach. He'll know what to do with the draft, and with shoring up the things we must. He's got this.

And there is no reason to be disappointed. Here we were in the Super Bowl again. Again. Let's make everybody even madder when we get there again next year.

So just for next year -- who cares, it can never be too early!...

Go Chiefs!

__

Super Bowl Preview Final Take - Chiefs and Eagles II

I just have to pound out a final post to share thoughts about another couple of things that are major in the pro football mind out there. They are

"I still can't stop whining about how much I think the Chiefs are being favored by the officiating."

"Kendrick Lamar and SZA are doing the halftime show WOW that's great!"

That first one first, one I addressed a bit in my last post. This time I want to make more clear something that not a lot of these people are realizing and recognizing and grasping as a truth about professional sports and professional football all around these days.

The Scorecasting factor is still very alive and well.

In other words, yes, the NFLers along with the officiating and any other influential forces do work to make the results they want happen on the field or the court or wherever.

You may think I am agreeing with all the "The Chiefs are being favored" bleaters, and in a sense I am. But here is the brutal truth:

They are favoring the opponents of the Chiefs, not the Chiefs.

Yes, you heard me. People assume it is the Chiefs who are being favored because they end up winning a lot of games. But the fact is the Chiefs are such a good team that not only should they be winning those games by way more than they do, but they have done so well shaping their roster and so well disciplining themselves to play so well on the field that they are, yes -- it follows...

Overcoming the NFLer influences against them.

It makes for closer games, that's for sure! But the Chiefs have always been at a disadvantage in every game they play. They're just so good they overcome it, and they have become as good as they are honestly and above-board with wise decision-making and smart calls. This is opposed to a team like baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, who have been successful through deceitfully manipulating the advantages of their greater fan base -- yet no one ever calls them out for their exploitation and in that sense, actually "getting the calls" in their favor.

I wanted to respond to a social media post that typically whined about the Chiefs favoritism, but because it was of course one of a million of these things I didn't because I'd just be a trollee. But here is what I typed out before deleting it, just to be briefly redundant about this important idea:

To all the whiners: Agreed. The NFL does try to rig games - for all the teams who play the Chiefs. Brain-dead people can't see how phenomenally good the Chiefs are to be able to overcome that, and blind to how many calls actually go the Chiefs opponents' way. Jealousy is painful.

What's more the whole whining about Chiefs favoritism is great for the NFL to get viewers, but it doesn't help the Chiefs. That mentality is so infused into the mainstream that the officials, by virtue of the Scorecasting truths, may very well make sure they make the proper amount of very close calls go the Eagles way. 

As it is the Chiefs have had to deal with so many ugly calls against them this year, but, well, they don't say anything about them because they know they are so good and so tight and so disciplined and so well-coached and so professional that they can still get the job done on the field.

Don't think the calls favor Chiefs opponents more than the Chiefs? I can only think of Dalton Schultz in the regular season's Texans game completely shoving off the Chiefs defender so he can be open at the goal line for a touchdown. It was so obvious and so blatant -- but no one said anything because, well, the Chiefs. There are dozens of other calls over the course of the season that could be mentioned that go the opponents way but, well, as usual, the Chiefs. 

The main thing is the Chiefs have had to just get so freakin' good precisely because they must overcome the Scorecasting reality that afflicts them. They know they must be that much better because they know they are more against it than other teams are. The NFLers loathe having the Chiefs anywhere near the Super Bowl, but hey, they've blasted that sentiment so much into the mainstream that the Chiefs are now the villains of the pro football world, and, well, that is probably perfectly fine with the NFLers if it means more people tuning in to hate them.

But don't be mistaken about calls favoring the Chiefs when the calls are mostly favoring the Chiefs' opponents. It may be extraordinarily grudging, but give respect where it is due when they win games anyway.

I have to make mention of that second thing, the halftime show, something the NFL arranges to try to get even more people to tune in -- just so they can see some famous hip-hop or rap star.

Ahem, why does it always have to be some hip-hop or rap star? When are they going to have a fun, upbeat, dance-filled number with traditional pop or rock music that is exciting and entertaining that features fine musical talent that is not that gruesomely ugly hip-hop or rap?

As it is Kendrick Lamar and SZA are the showcased performers. I know nothing about these artists because most of that kind of music is total garbage, particularly because of the lyrics. 

Lamar's No. 1 hit from last year is "Not Like Us," and they say it some kind of diss against Drake who I guess is not fully racialist enough or something. The other day I happened to hear Lamar on the radio say something along the lines of "I just gotta be me, no matter what people think," something these people have blapped a million times before to excuse the worthlessness of their music.

"Not Like Us," by the way, is filled with F-bombs and N-bombs and B-bombs and just about every other kind of bombs that fill these insipid things. Yet no one says a thing about any of it, and these songs are extremely popular. SZA's most popular seems to be "Kill Bill" about her murdering her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. This is popular too, in a world where when people actually do that, it shows up in the news and everyone blithers "How did this happen?" for the billionth time.

Well, something of how it happens is an organization like the NFL gives these people a platform to bilge their sewage before hundreds of millions of people. 

Yes, you are correct, I would not watch any of this, Super Bowl included, if my team wasn't in it. I don't watch any of the halftime show anyway, but I still want to watch my team -- one that is pretty good and I believe is pretty decent in character. 

Could the Chiefs be just as responsible for being a vital part of this ugliness? Yes, they could, but as I've shared before, I confess I am conflicted. Patrick Mahomes could be the worst serial killer on the planet, I still want him to throw 100 touchdown passes a year.

Thing is, he's not, he is one of the most respectable individuals in professional sports both on and off the field, and he leads a phenomenally talented team -- our team from an area of the country that at least has a reputation for being hard-working, reliable, and upstanding. I take pride in that, much because much of my family is from there and still resides there.

I heard on the radio that well over a billion dollars will be bet on things related to this game. That is also a grave evil. But in that radio report they noted that Missouri is one of the few states that does not allow that kind of official gambling.

Good for them! At least there is that. good for my blessed state of Missouri for holding true to righteous things. Will that last? I don't know, probably not. But at least for now there is some principled position there in the state where the Chiefs play.

So yeah, let's watch on Sunday. Let's see what happens. What will the officiating be like, and can the Chiefs fine play overcome what the NFLers have against them? And what will they do with Kendrick Lamar's most popular song at the halftime show? Will he even sing it? Maybe it will be so wretched that just maybe the NFL will turn around and take some Super Bowl halftime show in the near future and actually have something different, and way better.

I mean, I recently watched a video of that first Chiefs Super Bowl win, the one against the Vikings in 1970. Know what the halftime show was? A marching band. Seriously, how about this crazy idea: Bring that kind of thing back. Those guys are actually amazing. Have one with the best marching band people doing crazy fun things to good traditional pop, rock, Motown, or yeah, even classical music. 

Ahh, that they'd actually do that.

Otherwise we get this dreck this year -- at least hopefully sandwiched by a Chiefs dominating football performance. 

Can't wait to see it happen!

Go Chiefs!

__

The first image is simply a screenshot of a recent Colin Cowherd social media post. The screenshot of the Kendrick Lamar story was clipped from the Awful Announcing website. The image of the marching band was clipped from Halftime, a website for marching bands.

___

Super Bowl Preview Take - Chiefs and Eagles Rematch 2025

There is a ton of Chiefs stuff to post, but I have a moment in a busy schedule to pound out some things that keep rolling around in my head. The main ones relate to the main things that have been spewed over the past week. You know what they are.

"The Chiefs get all the calls."

"Is Patrick better than Tom?"

Okay, first one there. Many are correctly pointing out that there is absolutely nothing that demonstrates that anything the officials have done truly favor the Chiefs. Real quick, that 4th-&-inches Josh Allen sneak that was really really close? Well, it was not conclusive, so the officials made the correct call. If it was obvious to all watching on television that the Bills should have gotten the call, requiring -- as I've said a gazillion times before -- those officials in the booth with monitors who can make calls on the field, then I'd get it.

The "forward progress" idiocy that hosed the Chiefs in the 2017 Wild-Card game? You know the one, when the Titans QB fumbled the ball and we recovered, could have even gone down to score the touchdown, yet Derrick Johnson leveled him so severely that it was hard to see on the field? Well, that was an obvious call that definitely should have favored the Chiefs. If instant replay were used properly on that play, really, the Chiefs should have easily won that game -- that call was that egregious.

There was not a single one of those in the Bills game, not one. And no one ever squeaks about calls that go the Bills way, or the way of any other Chiefs opponent, even when they are obvious. Did you happen to catch how many times Bills linemen jumped before the snap? Whupp, those calls favored the Bills. Did you catch the very clear facemask of Hollywood Brown as he was being tackled, not called? Ohh, I see, that call too favored the Bills, ahh I see.

Now, here's the thing about my own personal take. I still believe in the Scorecasting factor, that officials can be unconsciously prone to make calls that favor certain teams the NFLers would like to see succeed. And I know how much I've railed against that when it keeps the Chiefs from being successful.

Do NFLers still want teams with the big markets and better following to win more? Of course they do. Which is why the whole "THEY'RE FAVORING THE CHIEFS!" thing is really stupid. The Chiefs are and have always been a podunk little Midwest farm town to them with not nearly the $$$ generating power of a Cowboys or a New York team. It would take a lot for the Chiefs to make it so the NFLers would be kind of okay with them succeeding right now.

And that means Patrick Mahomes (that's the next item, hold on) and everything there is about him that even goes beyond what he does on the field. That means Travis Kelce and yes, let's admit it, Taylor Swift. That means having a team that does have a phenomenal more local fan base and a lot going for that -- the stadium, the crowd, the tailgating, the whole Kingdom vibe.

This is all besides the fact that the Chiefs are just showing everyone so very well that they are an exceptionally smart, talented, disciplined, well-coached, and even actually pretty exciting team to watch.

Ironically there was Chiefaholic. I mention this because last night on Prime Video I saw the film about our good friend the wolf-suit-clad superfan bank robber and gambling addict. 

Insane.

I mention this because, staying with that very personal note from this now-20-year Chiefs blogger, I can relate to the guy. No no I'm not going to rob banks, nor am I going to gamble. But I can relate because I too came from a broken home and know how much I've used this Chiefs thing to try to get some kind of affirmation. As you know from this site if you've been something of a regular reader (thank you), I can be disgustingly despondent about Chiefs bad-things. I have often used this platform just to vent, just to do the therapy. I don't think this is beyond most Chiefs fans and especially superfans.

When we win, as we have done so stunningly much over the past several years, it is euphoric. And sure enough, in the film the euphoria of a Chiefs superfandom can be addictive. It was so intoxicating to the Chiefsaholic that he robbed banks to feed that addiction. And yeah, it involved gambling a ton, and it wrecked his life.

When he won big betting on Mahomes as MVP and winning the Super Bowl in the 2022 season (that one against the Eagles), he sweated it out, but when it paid off he couldn't wait to get all the good-feels his Twitter followers would pour over him. This dude let the documentary filmmakers into his Super Bowl watching experience and post-game enjoyment. It was euphoric...

The same kind of euphoria when you put your faith and your identity into something that will replace what you lost or never had when younger.

I know that about me and my own disposition. Chiefs wins make me.

Thing is...

Then what?

After the Super Bowl win against the Eagles, Chiefsaholic still took off to rob more banks and do God-knows-what. He was arrested some time later a thousand miles away from where he was supposed to be. Wow.

Watching this happen to this individual and knowing it happens to so many individuals is why I've railed against the whole gambling connection the NFL has with these now huge online betting companies. I grieve when I look at the camera shot at Arrowhead that shows what is being posted all around the stadium as advertising, and I see "Bet MGM" almost every time they show that shot. This is tremendously grievous, it really is.

Already I saw a news article about an NBA basketball player being investigated for adjusting his play because of certain gambling considerations. And really, what happens when these players try to do these kinds of things is bad enough, it is a much worse evil when people like Chiefsaholic do these things at the expense of them and their families. (Yeah, I don't really want to share the guy's real name here, just none of my business. You can watch the film yourself. Best just to pray for him and against these things that destroy lives and livelihoods.)

Ultimately, yeah: eternal perspective. It is not easy, I have to keep all of this in perspective, and even think, wow, all this Chiefs success may even be detrimental in the sense that... what happens when our beloved team comes back to earth? For me 100 straight Super Bowl titles will never be enough, but then, when will it just get boring? What happens after they lose the one that would've been their 17th straight? How horrifically despondent will we be then?

Eeegh. This being a fan of any team in many ways is just too much trauma.

So on to that second thing, real quick, and again, I like that many people are stepping up and expressing their exhaustion with the whole "Patrick or Tom?" debate. The NFLers like it, certainly, because it helps stir interest in a Super Bowl the Chiefs will be featured for the fifth time in six years. I mean, what else can you say about the Chiefs that hasn't already been shared at this same time every year?

But here's the thing. The debate assumes Tom Brady is already the greatest quarterback of all time. I mean, we're all supposed to accept that as a given. Ahem, excuse me.

Not.

Was Tom Brady the most successful quarterback of all time? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn't mean he was the greatest, or even the best. I know this is sacrilegious, but there are a few people who do agree with me. Cool, at least there is that, thanks for those people. And I do know, again, that all the television or social media pundits who want to get some kind of wide attention are using the default "Tom Brady is the best ever" meme because it is easy and it gets that interest so there can be the debate.

The Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks? To me Tom Brady isn't even on it. I have good reasons, and I have already shared some of them in this blog effort. He is in the top ten, I agree. But for all the violent detractors out there who revile me for my heretical beliefs. Here is my NFL Quarterback Mount Rushmore:

Mahomes. Montana. Baugh. Unitas.

Sorry, but you absolutely cannot argue against this. You can try, but you'd be wrong. Look at those guys and tell me why Brady should replace any of them without using the wickedly tired argument "He has the rings." Please. Try. You can't.

I have Mount Rushmore II's and III's and so forth, but just to make things simple here's my top ten:

1. Mahomes   

2. Montana   

3. Baugh   

4. Unitas   

5. Tarkenton    

6. Brady   

7. Marino   

8. Graham  

9. Rodgers  

10. Manning P

Are there a lot of very good QBs who could be in there, like Favre, Staubach, Elway, even our beloved Len Dawson. There're a dozen others. I gotcha. I like a lot of them, and I do agree any of these guys could arguably be in the top ten. I don't dispute any of those very reasonable takes. But the one take I do dispute, very firmly -- and even without taking away his greatness as it is -- is that Tom Brady is the greatest ever. He wasn't. He just wasn't. 

Whether or not Patrick gets another Super Bowl win or this success or that success doesn't take away the true objective fact that Mahomes can do, had done, and will likely still do things Tom Brady never did and could never do. Again, was Brady talented, skilled, smart, competitive, dedicated to his craft? Of course!

But he just was not the greatest. When we see someone come along who does the things Mahomes has done for an extended period of time, which Patrick has already proven he has, then we'll revive the standard GOAT conversation. For now it's already over. He has already established himself as the greatest, and anyone with any decent pair of eyes and at least a few brain cells can see it.

As far as this year's version of Super Bowl action goes, maybe more later! 

If not, bring on the Eagles!

___

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

___

Bills at Chiefs - AFC Championship Game - Something of a Take

Okay, briefly because it is late and I'm tired. Dang these tight Chiefs playoff games are exhausting to watch! Just a few things in my brain right now. Maybe more to share later.

One, something I'm not seeing among all the pundit takes, but it seems to me, especially with now an incredible NFL record 17 straight one-possession score wins, that this Chiefs team doesn't just try to and plan to work like maniacs for the full 60 minutes like most teams, this Chiefs actually does it. Their relentless play for the last 5-10 minutes of game time takes advantage of a weary opponent and because they are that ruthless with their play during that time it does seem to be successful in intimidating them to a very costly degree. In that then, this Chiefs team deserves to be called dominant even though the score differential may not reflect that. Hey, this is the NFL and for the Chiefs to do this is unheard of.

Two, something I think will be talked about is the odd play-calling of the Bills coaching, not just at the end of the game, but throughout. The Bills played really well for the entirety, and let's be honest, they were winning at the line of scrimmage -- on both sides of the ball. The main issue was their neglect of James Cook who was gashing us all night long. What happened? Why wasn't he the focal point of their offense late in the game?

Three, something that isn't talked about enough but should be, something I've shared a number of times before in this blog, but just the genius work of Brett Veach to shape this roster. Yes, Mahomes is great, yes, Reid is great, yes, Spags should be in the Hall of Fame just as the best defensive coordinator ever. But Veach has just done amazing work keeping the guys we need to keep and getting the guys we need either in the draft (that 2022 version - still amazing), in free agency, or just plucking guys like Kareem, D-Hop, and JuJu who have been terrific contributors.

There's more, but for now there is this.

One more thing. Yes, it appears there will be the standard whining and moaning about the reffing. That unsuccessful 4th-&-inches run by Allen late in the game, when, yeah, it did look like he got it, was crushing for the Bills. But yeah: Oh no. We can all hear it, how the Chiefs get all the calls, yadda-yadda. This whole thing requires more of an address, much of it already shared ad nauseam.

Anyway, lots to talk about until the Super Bowl!

Back-to-back-to-back, baby!

__

The photo is from Evan Sanders at the official Chiefs site. Thank you!

__

Bills at Chiefs - AFC Championship Game - Initial Take

Oh wow. How much the Bills fans must hate Patrick Mahomes. How much the pro football world must hate Patrick Mahomes. So many people seething right now. I wonder how much people are going to blame the refs, I imagine that comes with a real dynastic run.

Whew. This game was what we thought it would be. A dogfight to the end.

The Three-Peat grail is still within reach. 

It will still be a chore. Next up is a rematch with the Eagles, and now they have a phenomenal running back in Saquon Barkley.

Just pounding this out real quick, a bit short of breath. Much more to come!

___

"Chiefs Derangement Syndrome" - Preview of Bills at Chiefs AFC Championship Game

I felt I should put in a brief post for tomorrow's AFC Title Game against the Bills. It'll be brief, which is kind of funny because all those days in the past when we were even in the playoffs I tended to blog like a madman. When we won that divisional game in January 2016 against the Texans I wrote gobs since we hadn't won in 22 years previous.

Now we can't lose.

It isn't necessarily that we won't lose tomorrow, the Bills are a viciously good team. But we have won eight straight postseason games which is among the longest postseason win streaks ever. They just pointed out this morning that the spread for tomorrow's game went from Chiefs up 1.5 to Chiefs up 2.5. A few people out there think the Chiefs are just better.

I like our chances, but again, with teams pretty evenly matched and the Bills looking for blood, anything can happen. We'll see.

But with the Chiefs winning quite a lot, many out there like to blap about how much the NFL and the officiating is favoring the Chiefs. "Chiefs Derangement Syndrome" - what a crack-up. 

Along with all the delusional hysteria associated with that are also the many contrary takes and accompanying videos of the Chiefs getting absolutely jobbed on so many calls it isn't even funny. I just saw one featuring four different plainly ridiculous calls or non-calls that went against us in the Baltimore playoff game last year that, when you look at it, really, we should have won that game going away.

Regarding the Texans game last week, I originally thought that yes, Justin Reid was offsides on a Texans kick attempt. Nope. Video replays showed he got off the line right at the exact moment the ball was snapped. Thing is Reid is a really smart player and, yes, he used to play for the Texans. There were others, like the holding call against Trey Smith that wasn't anywhere close to one. He's just so good at pounding his defender that the refs feel like the must rein him in.

Pretty decent social media pundit Trey Wingo pointed out that the reffing can be not-so-good in every game, it is just the Chiefs get so much attention and they are so successful that people notice it more in their games, and rage against it more any time the Chiefs benefit. I saw a take that showed how bad it was in the Buffalo-Baltimore playoff game on Sunday.

To wit:

A Buffalo tackle was called for a hold that totally wasn't, much like the Trey Smith should-have-been-no-call. A Buffalo defensive back totally PI'd the Baltimore receiver, but they called it against the Ravens guy because in that split second time frame it may have looked like a Baltimore penalty to the official. Again, yet another reason they - have - got - to - have - officials - in - the - booth - with - monitors - to - make - original - calls - to - correct - on-field - officials - who - just - can't - see - it - like - all - of - us - watching - on - television - can.

This just isn't that hard, really. Please.

One more from that game. A Buffalo guy rode Ravens QB Lamar Jackson out-of-bounds way past the white area, and dropping him with a hip tackle to boot. No call. 

Interesting that people complained in the Texans game about our QB Patrick flopping once when the defender got a bit too close to the edge of that white boundary out-of-bounds. Well maybe -- thing is, who cares? It's not a penalty. Maybe people think Mahomes is doing too much to get calls, but that's just stupid.

I will say one thing. Let's just face it.

The Chiefs are a really good team. They just are. We in the Kingdom know that so well and are simply reveling in this stratospherically golden age of Chiefs football. And often when you are that good, you just get the calls. It isn't that most of them are not fair. Roll the tape, 97% of them are legit. The point is, when you're as damn good as this team is, things happen to make wins.

It isn't hard to see it out there.

As far as tomorrow's game goes, I like our chances simply because we have the receivers to get the job done. Last week we hardly, if at all, threw to Hollywood or JuJu or D-Hop. But those guys are so good that they must be accounted for, which left things open for Travis Kelce who had a monster game as you remember, as well as Xavier Worthy who if you forgot had five catches himself.

We've got as good a shot as any tomorrow, again, as long as something goofy or stupid doesn't happen. Otherwise we should be good to go.

Bring it on!

___

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

__

Texans at Chiefs - Divisional Playoff Game

I'm going to put in a brief post mostly to simply make the statement that does need to be said because millions of fans who've made the Chiefs their No. 1 NFL enemy are still convinced of this.

Sorry, but no, the officials did not win this game for the Chiefs.

Did two-thirds of the Texans play well enough to win? Absolutely. Give them their due. Did the officials miss a couple of calls that favored the Chiefs? They did, most notably the Justin Reid off-sides on the missed Texans FG attempt and the hip-drop tackle by Bryan Cook. That last one, if called, would have been one of the rare times they would have called it, though, because even though it is a new rule, I've rarely seen a defensive player penalized for it this year.

It isn't that they shouldn't. They should.

But that's a key point regarding the two personal foul calls some think shouldn't have been called, ones that did indeed favor the Chiefs. The first was the roughing the passer call on their fine linebacker, one that was indeed, roughing the passer. Sorry, it was. The second was when another of the LBs dropped on top of Mahomes after he made an awkward slide. I kind-of agree that it really wasn't so violent as to be worthy of the call, but you still can't do that.

Otherwise, while two-thirds of the Texans played terrific ball and made this a real game, that other third that is the special teams did not play well enough to beat the Chiefs who have a pretty good special teams. To wit:

The Chiefs kicker made three FGs and two PATs. 100% of his kicks, total. The Texans kicker missed a FG, a PAT, and had a FG attempt blocked. By Leo Chenal of all people! Again with that! The guy is a kick-blocking maniac!

The Chiefs opened the game with Nikko Remigio almost pulling a Knile Davis, taking the kick to the house. He didn't quite make it, but still took it to all the way down to about their 20.

It was also sad that former Chief punter Tommy Townsend had a chance to pin the Chiefs back late in the game when the Texans were still in it. He plopped the ball to midfield allowing the Chiefs to control field position.

Couple more things.

First, the main one, and it is not an unusual one. Two words:

Travis Kelce. 

He pretty much took the team and its wilting offense and put it on its back. He made big plays when needed, scored a much needed touchdown -- you know, standard Travis Kelce playoff stuff.

Second, the Texans pass protection just seemed to wear down late. George Karlaftis did not -- the dude has a motor running at 100% for the duration. I believe he sacked CJ Stroud three times in the 4th quarter. Spags also did his blitzing thing at just the right times to stuff the Texans, when again, they generally played really well.

Their running game was great, especially with Joe Mixon handling those duties. Their receivers, particularly their best WR Nico Collins and their fine tight end, were making impossible catches late in the game to keep them matriculating.

I will never not appreciate a Chiefs win, especially in the postseason, but I kind-of feel bad for the Texans. They played like crazy, were in this game, and could have easily won. Really. As it is this is the 5th time in five a Houston pro football team has lost to the Chiefs -- or the first time it happened, to the Dallas-yes-Texans.

Remember?

1962 AFL Championship: Dallas (later Kansas City) 20, Houston Oilers 17, in OT.

1993 AFC Divisional: Kansas City 28, Houston Oilers 20.

2015 AFC Wild Card: Kansas City 30, Houston Texans 0.

2019 AFC Divisional: Kansas City 51, Houston 31.

2024 AFC Divisional: Kansas City 23, Houston 14.

Ouch. I know how much that hurts, it was agony when we simply couldn't beat Indianapolis in the playoffs, remember that? Or do you want to forget too.

It wasn't that Houston was expected to win this game, but still, the fact they played so well, it has to hurt. Houston still must really not like Kansas City.

Meanwhile we just learned that the Washington Commanders upset the heavily favored Detroit Lions, a team that has never even been in a Super Bowl. 

Wow. This NFL football thing can be a bitch. Back before the Mahomes era we knew that so very well. But that's the nature of this thing, it just is.

Can't deny that we may feel the wrath of this next week when we face one of two excellent teams, the Bills or the Ravens. Whichever one wins tomorrow will be out for blood playing the Chiefs, they definitely won't let us off the hook in that one. So many things need to be much better for us next week whoever we play if we hope to make a truly legit run at the three-peat.

On to our seventh straight AFC Championship Game!

__

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

__

Texans at Chiefs - Quick Preview - Playoff Game

With extended family again for the weekend but will be watching the game with them! Don't know if I will get to a Chiefs Game Today post today when I'd like to, just a heads-up that I will soon! Thank you for your readership.

Go Chiefs!

__

Chiefs at Broncos - Week 18 - Record: 15-2

Well that was fun.

We had nothing to gain with the No. 1 seed sown up, and the Broncos had everything to gain by trying to win a playoff spot. We had very few of our best players in there, and the Broncos had the full complement of a team that is actually pretty good to begin with.

I actually had a slight vision of Carson Wentz making this something of a game, but as good a quarterback as he is, even he can't do much with a team of 2nd and 3rd stringers. Here were our six possessions up to the end of the 3rd quarter:

Five three-&-outs, effectively, and one decent one that was really just made up of a single long pass completion to Nikko Remigio. That drive ended with a missed Butker field goal.

Meanwhile, with a fine QB fully motivated the Broncos torched us. It was 31-0 at that point. After that it never got any better.

We can chalk this up to all these factors just putting this one fully in Denver's favor, but it is hard to take a butt-whooping this bad. These are still NFL teams with NFL players. Maybe this will be a motivating factor for us to be ready to go with our best in two weeks, but still.

Our tackles today were guys we were really hoping would be on the A-team, DJ Humphries and Wanya Morris. Neither did very well. How many times did Wentz get sacked? I lost count. And our top kicker, Harrison Butker, who the last couple of years was automatic from anywhere on the field and never gave us any worries winning everything for us at the end of game after game, missed another field goal.

On the television I watched some of the Rams-Seahawks game with the playoff-bound Rams having nothing to play for and not playing all their best guys while the Seahawks were playing their best, and it was close the whole way. The Rams were actually playing NFL caliber football however many scrubs were in there.

The Chiefs today?

A complete embarrassment. Doesn't matter how much the Chiefs Kingdom pundits say they don't care or it doesn't matter or whatever whatever, this is still a Chiefs team on the football field, and, um, wow.

Again, this may just be a wake-up call to get us working extra hard over the next two weeks, that's really the only thing positive from this ugliness. Doesn't matter what the reality of the stakes and all that, it was ugliness, pure and simple.

__