Cowboys at Chiefs - Week 11 - Record: 7-4

The Chiefs have not traditionally done well against the Cowboys. This is one of the major rivalries in NFL history, really, because of the whole battle for Dallas when the AFL was born in 1960. These teams only meet once every four years however, so this match-up is always a special occasion.

Today: a really good thing to note and a really bad thing to note, as well as a somewhat good thing to note and a somewhat bad thing to note related to the actual on-field game action.

The really good thing was that the Chiefs did the best thing in addressing what happened to the little girl related to the violent traffic incident involving Andy Reid's son the Thursday before the Super Bowl. It has been my contention that this has been a huge weight on the Chiefs even affecting their play on the field ever since then. Yes, it may not have had anything to do with the incident, I know. But something has been afflicting the Chiefs play ever since then. 

As far as this particular incident that left a small child disabled, the Chiefs finally arranged to meet all of the girl's medical needs as well as provide her any care and aid she needs to get her going and enjoying a quality life. From the details of her story there is very good news about her -- she was able to actually start school earlier this year.

The really bad thing was how one of our players behaved today in an on-field incident that was absolutely shameful. After a Cowboys player grabbed Rashad Fenton's helmet for a blatant and violent face-masking, Fenton leapt out of the tussle and was making crazy gestures toward the Cowboys out there in the middle of the field. The most disgusting one was his pretending to cock and shoot a shotgun. 

Now I may be incorrect about all of this, but if that was the case, Fenton should not only have been penalized but ejected and certainly face a fine and suspension time. After seeing the Chiefs do the right thing and make sure to care for that little girl who suffered at the hands of a Chiefs employee last year, now we see another Chiefs employee, one of the players -- in fact one who has shown he's a pretty good D-back -- go off and do something like that. If what I saw was what it was, I can't see how there isn't more appropriate and severe censure of such actions.

As far as the game goes, the somewhat good thing was our defensive effort. Today it was again nothing less than excellent. Yes, the Cowboys did not have their fine WR and fine OT, so Dallas was a bit hamstrung, but our defense still did the job holding the opponent to zero touchdowns on the day. This is a team they said was the top scoring team in the NFL. Our defenders were hitting their marks, making plays, tackling with authority -- and our pass rush was ferocious. Frank Clark looked strong, Chris Jones was a monster yet again, and Melvin Ingram again made his presence felt. All this besides the fine play of our linebackers and D-backs -- Charvarius Ward made the interception of the year to stuff a real Dallas threat.

The somewhat not-so-good thing was our offense. Our first drive was standard Chiefs Andy-Reid-designed Patrick-Mahomes-executing amazingness. After that? Ugh. Clyde Edwards-Helaire was back in and actually had good runs. Mahomes did make some fine throws and our receivers did well enough, particularly Tyreek Hill who made a nifty move after a catch late to get a clutch first down.

But the problems with consistent Reid-arranged pass routes and steady Mahomes-hanging-in-the-pocket-just-long-enough-to-hit-those-receivers to get that needed yardage on offense was again just not there throughout the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters. Half the time Mahomes just looks too timid to fire that ball right in there through a small window. It just seems like he's expecting a receiver to be more wide-open than he can be, when he is good enough to make the throws he's simply not making.

Against the Raiders he and Reid had it down. Make your reads then get what the defense gives you. Don't worry about anything else. Dallas has a fine defense, give them credit, they have a rookie pass rusher who was as disruptive as anything.

Funny, we are at 7-4 right now, the same record we had in our Super Bowl year when our last loss was to the Titans -- same as this year. We have a bye coming up, then we play a tough Broncos team who earlier beat Dallas themselves in Dallas. We'll see if we can get our offense untracked, keep our defense stifling, and make sure our players don't do idiotic things that derail the integrity of the Chiefs Kingdom.

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The photo is from Andrew Mather at the official Chiefs site, thank you.

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Chiefs at Cowboys - Week 9 - Record: 6-3

::Sigh::

Missing Eric Berry.

Sorry but our defense is just too soft for us to really be considered meaningful playoff contenders. We still don't have that Ray Lewis type in the middle to really make it hard on offenses. For years Eric Berry has provided a good deal of that stoutness in the middle, but without him there a good team like the Cowboys can just carve us up.

This game also proved how important the offensive line is. The Cowboys O-line made it easy for fine skill players like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot to have their way with us.

On our side -- sorry, but our offensive line is just not good. Yes we got Laurent Duvernay-Tardif back in there, but it didn't matter. Alex Smith just doesn't have enough time to make good passes down the field, and Kareem Hunt only got one decent run. Weak pass protection and weak run blocking. You'll win very few games with that.

We lost 28-17, getting only two touchdowns, one of which was that brilliant last second play ending the first half when Tyreek Hill took a pass at about the 30 and because the Cowboys defenders were all positioned way back for a Hail Mary attempt, Hill just zipped past them all with the help of fantastic blocking from Demetrius Harris, Travis Kelce, and DeMarcus Robinson. It was a wonderful, wonderful play.

But that was it, and we really had to rely on this surprising play call using Tyreek's speed to get it. A novel crazy play to try to stay in it. This means we simply can't sustain solid, talent-driven offensive football because, again, our O-line just isn't up to it.

Think about it: Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliot, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten.

Then we have: Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce.

I'd say those sets are pretty equal, pretty terrific skill players across the board, give or take a few talent notches one way or the other for any given player. I'd even add on our side guys like De'Anthony Thomas and DeMarcus Robinson in whom I see terrific potential -- can you see it? But you aren't able to really see it because, well, you know...

That offensive line. That's how major a factor it is to have a strong offensive line, far more than I believe people think. Those skill players get all the press, but look at the reality. And it wasn't just a phenomenon afflicting the Chiefs in this game. It has truly hurt us all season. We have a team that has the potential to score 40 points a game, really. But we just can't, it looks like these awesome Chiefs playmakers have to pull teeth to get untracked in any given game.

You can easily see the reason why. Today the Cowboys defense knew it, and they toyed with us.

Here's the thing I can't help but keep thinking when I see this kind of stuff happen to our Chiefs.

It'll be nice over the next several years to enjoy Pat Mahomes in there actually stepping up in the pocket and throwing the ball down the field on a regular basis, something Alex Smith simply will not do. The benefit of that will be the high draft picks we now can use to get help on that defense and offensive line. I know we don't have a whole lot of high picks coming up, but I'm looking to our brain trust to make some nice picks where we can get them, and that our key defensive picks from this year -- that linebacker and defensive end -- will step it up when they start getting playing time.

Just to add: the last (and only) time the Chiefs have beaten the Cowboys in Dallas was way back in 1975, can you believe it? Kansas City beat a Dallas team that eventually went to the Super Bowl, in the middle of the 70's when the Chiefs were generally horrible. For now we'll have to wait until 2025 (assuming the next Cowboys game is at Arrowhead) to get another shot at them at their place, and yeah, by then here's to hoping Mahomes is seasoned enough to take care of business.

We have a bye next week, and if I have some time I plan to post a special blog about the things plaguing the NFL and in turn plaguing the Chiefs chances to be successful. After this game, it'll be good to do some therapeutic venting.

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Cowboys at Chiefs - Week 2 - Record: 2-0

We've already matched our entire win total of last year in the second week of the season. Get out the fancy flatware, Nelly, we've got to celebrate!

It was quite a close, riveting affair, however -- my son texted me saying he lost some hair watching that 4th quarter. But the wonderfully felicitous thing about it is --

WE WON!

Yowza yowza, we actually won a one-point game. Really, when was the last time that happened? Okay, okay, I did take a moment and go back through all of our wins through the years past until I got to the last one we won by one point. Sure those games don't happen that often anyway, really, close games are mostly margins of three points, four points, seven points, for good reason. But hey, can you believe it? Do you know when it was? Our last one-point victory?

Back on Christmas day, 2004, when we beat the Raiders 31-30. Remember that game? When Dante Hall made that great runback on the kick to get us the winning field goal?

Well, anyway, let's get into this game.

I thought it would turn on that phantom defensive holding call by Eric Berry just before he picked off a pass to Jason Whitten. After that they kicked a field goal to make it 17-16 with lots of time left. With the pick we'd have the ball at midfield with a four-point lead.

As it was after that FG we got the ball and ran clock. Yes we got help from a pass interference call ourselves that the Cowboys railed against, but I'm sorry, their guy did push Donnie Avery to the ground. It was clear. But the best of it was Jamaal Charles and our offensive line very effectively grinding it out against a very good Dallas defense. Cuh-lutch.

As for our other offensive play, it was truly beast at the beginning of each half. First half: splendid drive for a touchdown, but I wonder! What the bloomers was Alex Smith doing running all the time? Second half: another great drive capped by a sweet Dwayne Bowe slant pass for our second touchdown.

We have to confess that we did get a lot of help. That pass Dez Bryant dropped late in the game was big. We benefitted a lot from some sweet turnovers, but a lot of that is the product of a fiercely alert defense. I am concerned about our pass rush -- Tony Romo had way too much time out there, but then they were saying the Dallas O-line is pretty dang good.

If that's the case, then this win was big. I really don't know much about Dallas, but they looked pretty good out there to me. And wow --

We actually beat them.

How crazy is that. How delightfully crazy is that for Chiefs fans who've had to endure one of the worst seasons of quarterback hell. How crazy that here we have a quarterback who is -- crazy!!! -- actually making fine plays out there!

How great is this, too, considering that in the history of the Cowboys-Chiefs rivalry, the Chiefs have not done very well at all. Remember, these two franchises battled it out for supremacy in Dallas until it was the AFL's Texans that got pushed out. Perversely that was actually a pretty great thing, because it gave birth to the Kansas City Chiefs, but still...

You still gotta beat Dallas. You just gotta.

And today, we did.
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Cowboys at Chiefs - Week 5 - Record: 0-5

We can't even pretend to be a team from Dallas to get a win.

It was neat to see the throwback uniforms, the Chiefs version what it was. All they did, really, was change the helmet by replacing the "KC" arrowhead with an outline of the state of Texas and a star where Dallas is located. It was fun to hear the talk about how back in the early sixties the Cowboys would not play the Texans because it was considered that the Texans were the better team.

It was also sweet to hear how Scott Pioli is right now doing much of what the Cowboys did in the early 90's. Back then Dallas was a pathetic mess--sounds quite familiar doesn't it?--and Jimmy Johnson came in with his oversized toolbox and really started messin' with things. I am so hoping the same results will eventuate for the Chiefs.

As for today, no one can say the team is not playing with great desire.

They just aren't playing with much talent.

I'd give the benefit of the doubt to some of our specialists, but, what's killing us is our line on both sides. Same old song and dance. Matt Cassel played wonderfully, but he was still scrambling around behind a line that just couldn't protect him. Larry Johnson looked like a statue out there because he simply can't go anywhere. Not a single O-lineman can stand anybody up, so, every running play--bam, instant statue.

Even though we took Dallas to overtime, this defense made a nobody wideout, Miles Austin, look like a superstar by utterly failing to make easy tackles. This is besides the fact that this very average Cowboy team helped us out tons with fortuitous turnovers and convenient penalties.

So yeah, loss 28 of 30 games now.

But yeah, if we can snag three Super Bowl championships or so in the next few years after this prolonged torment of abject destitution, I'll be fine.
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Chiefs at Cowboys - Week 14 - Record: 8-5

I am certain that some obscure Norse god who is freezing his buns off in the coldest part of Valhalla somewhere put some bodacious hex on the Chiefs the day after Jan torched his Vikings with three clutch field goals in Super Bowl IV. Since then, we have had the worst worst worstest of luck in the clutch field goal department. Don't think so? To wit:

1971 - Jan Stenarud (the same) can't get just one of, what was it, three or four field goal tries? I dunno, I lost count--against Miami in the notorious Christmas Day overtime divisional playoff game. We make the playoffs but once (1986) over the next 20 years.

1990 - We dominate the Dolphins in the wild-card playoff game, ahead 16-3 in the 4th quarter. They scamper back and go ahead 17-16. With a couple minutes left we drive all the way down into easy FG range when a holding call puts us back a bit. Nick Lowery then just can't hit the 50 yarder.

1995 - Lin Elliot just can't get any of three very makeable tries in a divisional playoff game we should have easily won over Indianapolis. We lose 10-7.

1996 - We are 9-4 on the season but lose the next three straight, including one again to Indy at home and the last one against Buffalo. Amazingly we still have a shot to back into the playoffs when Morten Andersen, probably the greatest kicker in NFL history, lines up for an 18 yarder against Jacksonville. If he makes it, Atlanta wins, Jax loses, they're out and we're in. He misses. He misses an 18 yard field goal.

1997 - Pete Stoyanovich makes a key field goal in the divisional playoff game against Denver when a holding call nullifies it. We line up again, and he promptly boots it off the upright. We end up losing 14-10, when if it was 14-13 we could have just kicked another FG on 4th and 1 in those last seconds rather than throw an incompletion to give the game to the Broncos.

1999 to 2001 - The Raiders don't miss any of their game-winning FG's against us at home three years in a row. The '99 version was in the last game and it knocked us out of the playoffs that year.

Fast forward to today's game, when Lawrence Tynes comes in to tie the game after two incredible pass plays to get us right into range with only 16 seconds on the clock. A bad snap messed it up to begin with, but he still should have hit it easily. Don't think there's a hex on us?

Fact is, it should have never come down to that. We were clearly showing we were the better team in this game, and yet we still couldn't get the job done, committing critical penalties and turnovers. We're still in this thing, but we'll have to see if we're true finishers.