The Devastating Hunt, Episode I

A few things about the following blog series. It could just as easily be titled "January, the Cruelest Month." Every Chiefs fan knows precisely why. It is titled "The Devastating Hunt" because I'd like to delve much more deeply into why we must endure so much heartbreak in that month.

This isn't about Clark Hunt, though he is quite prominent. This isn't about Lamar Hunt, though he is even more a part of it. It isn't about the family or their holdings or the community or their resolute commitment to Chiefs success and any other wholesome Hunt thing then and now.

This series will also not be for the squeamish, those who really just want yet another Chiefs playoff catastrophe to be sloughed off down the oblivion drain of history. No, this series will get in deep with some ideas about what happens to this team every January. It will draw no eye-opening conclusions, but it will lay on the table the reality of Chiefs everything for us to plainly see, to courageously confront.

Again, there will be hard truths shared, most of them very brutal, some of them, quite graciously, very heartening. So if you don't have a stainless steel constitution, then read another much more cheery blog. Most likely I'll be covering things I've already lamented countless times through the years in this blog effort, but someone must do the dirty work around here.

But hey, why the tone of sour desolation? I mean, let's look at the Chiefs history. Let's enjoy it together, shall we?

1970. After winning the Super Bowl on that mild Sunday afternoon in New Orleans on the 11th of January 1970, how splendid it was to repeat when we won the very first AFC West divisional crown after that one game in the middle of the season when the Raiders Ben Davidson was summarily ejected for his completely unsportsmanlike spearing of Len Dawson. Dawson, if you remember, had just run for the 1st down that sealed the victory. Later we defeated the Colts in the AFC Championship game -- after all we'd throttled them in the second ever Monday Night Football game earlier in the season. How fitting the first Super Bowl of the merger era would be the Dallas Cowboys hosting the team that so hospitably left in 1963 so the Cowboys could enjoy everything Dallas could give them.

1971. What a fantastic trick play! The one where Bobby Bell snaps the ball to Jan Stenarud pretending to kick a field goal then running for a 1st down thoroughly faking out the Miami defense and setting up the Chiefs big win. Eventually they met Dallas again in a rematch of the previous year's Super Bowl! Delightful!

1990. In the Wild Card Game Albert Lewis intercepted Dan Marino and ran the ball back for a touchdown to seal the 23-10 win and help send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl led by Steve DeBerg, who statistically had one of the best years a quarterback could have: 23 touchdown passes to only 4 interceptions that year! Impressive!

1994. Joe Montana's last year and he amazed everyone with a nifty win over Miami. His efforts were aided by the strong sure-handed running of future Hall-of-Famer Marcus Allen and impeccable defensive play by future Hall-of-Famer Derrick Thomas. The Chiefs go on to play in the Super Bowl, of all teams, the San Francisco 49ers! What a show -- the Joe Montana-Steve Young showdown!

1995. The Chiefs dominate the regular season going 13-3, and start the playoffs beating the Colts 16-10 with the help of three Lin Elliot field goals. They'd go on for yet another Super Bowl meeting with the Dallas Cowboys, how about that!

1997. Another 13-3 Chiefs team starts the playoffs with Rich Gannon leading the charge, helped by a weakened Broncos offensive line after four players were duly ejected for having illegal substances on their jerseys. The Chiefs would go on for a Super Bowl I rematch with the Green Bay Packers! How special was that!

2003. Yet again the 13-3 Chiefs stormed through the playoffs on the backs of their spectacular offense -- a slinging Trent Green and a marauding Priest Holmes and a bulldozing offensive line made up of future Hall-of-Famers, most notably Will Shields and Willie Roaf. Add to the mix the best tight end ever Tony Gonzalez and no one could stop the juggernaut.

2013. The Chiefs were led by new-but-very-experienced head coach Andy Reid and new-but-very-seasoned quarterback Alex Smith, and they start the these playoffs by blistering the Colts to later move on into the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks!

2015. After blowing out Houston, the Chiefs go to Foxboro where they take down the mighty Patriots -- after all, they did wallop them just the year before, 41-14. They go on to meet the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl! Yet another fine appearance in the big game for the Chiefs!

2016. A strong 12-4 season propels the Chiefs into the playoffs beginning with the Steelers, who they easily defeat when Pittsburgh doesn't score a single touchdown. They go on to face the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl!

2017. Yet another Super Bowl appearance for the Chiefs after they take care of Tennessee, then defeat New England, then put away Pittsburgh yet again! How about that! Andy Reid gets to meet his former team the Philadelphia Eagles and match wits with his former offensive coordinator Doug Pederson! Is that wonderful or what?!

A total of eleven Super Bowl victories for the vaunted Kansas City Chiefs! Including that last three in a row! Anybody ready for a FOUR-PEAT! Yowza!

Okay okay, enough of the pathetic comedian stuff. I know.

None of this happened, of course. Thing is, none of it came close to happening, in spite of the fact that there were some extraordinarily damn good Chiefs teams in there, playing in some extraordinarily close hard-fought games. Yes, teams lose playoff games all the time, I got that.

Just not like the way the Chiefs have. No team has come anywhere close to the misery the Chiefs have had in the playoffs. Yes I could myself name a few who've had really tough breaks -- recently New Orleans got stunned by the Vikings Stefon Diggs on a last-second miracle catch and TD run. Minnesota has its own history of misery, just a few years ago they had Seattle easily beat if their kicker hits a gimme field goal -- he bricked it. Very very very bad things happen to playoff teams.

It's just, the Chiefs. Please.

Let's go back, shall we, and you'll note that for some reason the 4th quarter always seems to kill us. No, the 4th quarter rarely kills the teams the Chiefs play the way it murders the Chiefs. (I say "rarely" instead of "never" because there was one time the 4th quarter was kind to us, just one time in our playoff history, and that was against Pittsburgh after the 1993 season).

So here it is again, in all its gruesome and -- ee-yeeg, truthful glory.

1970 vs Oakland (regular season 7th game), 4th quarter score 17-14 Chiefs. Len Dawson does indeed run for the clutch 1st down against the Raiders in that regular season game, allowing the Chiefs to then run out the clock to get the win. Ben Davidson does indeed spear him after he was down. Because a Chiefs guy defended their quarterback and shoved Davidson, the officials called offsetting penalties. The play was nullified, had to be replayed, and the Chiefs then failed to get the 1st down, allowing the Raiders to come back, kick a game-tying field goal, essentially keeping the Chiefs out of the playoffs.

1971 vs Miami, 4th quarter score 24-17 Chiefs. The Dolphins do tie it to send the game into overtime and everyone knows what then happened. I don't know when the Stenarud failed-fake-field-goal-attempted-run happened, but the botch was one of his three missed FG's on the day. Miami would go on to face the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. 3-point loss.

1990 vs Miami, 4th quarter score 16-3 Chiefs. Yes, you read that right, the Chiefs were dominating Dan Marino and led 16-3. The pass that Albert Lewis juuust missed intercepting, seriously by an inch, was caught and run in for a TD by Mark Clayton. The Chiefs just needed a field goal late in the game and looked to get a chance when Christian Okoye ran deep into Dolphins territory until, yep sure enough, Dave Szott was called for holding. It was brought back and Nick Lowery came up short on a 50+ yard field goal attempt. 1-point loss.

1994 vs Miami (again errgh), 4th quarter score 27-17 Dolphins. Yes this was the final score, but the Chiefs were actually ahead in the 2nd quarter 17-10. Thing is in the second half Joe Montana threw a stupid pick when the Chiefs were at the Dolphins goal line, Marcus Allen had the ball yanked from his arms as he got wrapped up after a run, and Derrick Thomas committed a costly defensive holding call when I can't imagine what he was doing dropping in pass defense to begin with. 10-point loss.

1995 vs Indianapolis, 4th quarter score 10-7 Colts. Still, only 10-7! The Chiefs had a point differential on the season of +117, while the Colts were at +15. Oh my. But then of course the dead buried American Indians underneath Arrowhead somehow conjured up one of the worst weather days in NFL history, plenty bad to turn Lin Elliot's kicking foot into a rock. He missed three field goals earning the nickname "The Player Never To Be Mentioned Again," except, hmm, I wonder what other kicker, a Hall-of-Famer, missed three field goal attempts in a playoff game once? 3-point loss.

1997 vs Denver, 4th quarter score 10-7 Chiefs. Yeah, you simply can't make this stuff up. Same score of the 1995 playoff game only we're ahead this time, except we can't keep Denver from scoring a touchdown in the 4th quarter to win it. I believe the Chiefs did not allow a second-half touchdown all year, it was something like that. Of course the Broncos linemen who cheated were allowed to correct their waywardness without being ejected or even having a timeout charged to the team. Annnd there were a dozen other ding-dong things that happened, one of which was Rich Gannon did not start even though many thought he should have. Gannon went on to win the NFL MVP just five years later leading the Raiders to the Super Bowl. Neat. 4-point loss.

2003 vs Indianapolis, 4th quarter score 31-24 Colts. Still very much within striking distance for one of the best offenses ever. It's just our not-so-great defense decided to have its most typical bad day --this day, the "No-Punt" game. That's nice because we couldn't stop the Colts on 3rd down for the life of us. 7-point loss.

2013 vs Indianapolis (again errrrrrgcgh), 4th quarter score 41-31 Chiefs. Yeah, uh-huh, we lost this one too. In fact earlier in the 3rd quarter we were up 38-10. Then a million things happened that represented essentially a perfect storm of rotten things that left us with a one-point loss. Unconscionable. 1-point loss.

2015 vs New England, 4th quarter score 21-13 Patriots. Still a close enough game for the Chiefs to make a run, even if it was a miraculous run for the Chiefs to get a miraculous playoff win for once, for once. Even so the Chiefs should have done much better barely lifting a finger because the Patriots had virtually no running game at all. But throw in all the ridiculous things that mess us up and, well, what's new. We can spank New England the year before like we did, but when it comes to the playoffs? Ugh. 7-point loss.

2016 vs Pittsburgh, 4th quarter score 15-10 Steelers. Still within striking distance! And yes, Pittsburgh did not score a touchdown the entire game. They just got six field goals. Really, how many teams, and not just in the playoffs but ever in NFL history, have lost a game in which they scored two touchdowns and the other team scored none. Don't tell me I don't want to know. 2-point loss.

2017 vs Tennessee, 4th quarter score 21-10 Chiefs. Uh-huh, it is comical if it weren't too damned depressing. In fact, I'm not even going to say a thing about this one because it was just too recent. Why. 1-point loss.

The Chiefs have now lost 11 of their last 12 playoff games. They now have seven straight playoff losses in games decided by a touchdown or less. During the regular season Mitch and Kendall regularly say right there smack in the middle of the 4th quarter, "It's time to PUT THE HAMMER DOWN," and most times the Chiefs actually do.

In the playoffs? Heh. Now we certainly wouldn't have ten Super Bowl wins after that 1970 actual real one, we may not even have any, I understand that. But out of all the above we couldn't have at least a few more playoff wins? Just a few fewer one-and-outs? With these teams?

What is the point to all this loathsome anti-reverie?

Throughout all the heartbreak, throughout all the head-scratching and despondency and gut-wrenchingly knot-twistingly mind-numbingly wretched bewilderment -- throughout it all one thing has been a common thread. One thing.

It's a four-letter word that starts with "H" and ends with "T."

Hmm, I wonder what it is?

Again, I can't emphasize this enough. This isn't about Clark. This isn't about Lamar. This isn't about anyone in particular unless that someone in particular is an instrumental focal point in all of this. Yes I do not know who that might be. Might not be anybody, not trying to call out anybody or say anything against anyone in particular.

But there is Hunt. And there are Chiefs horror-movie playoff appearances. Countless ones. Over and over and over ad infinitum. Hunt -- horror-movie playoff game. Horror-movie playoff game -- Hunt.

Doesn't matter what exceptionally fine coaches are leading the team (Stram Levy Schottenheimer Vermeil Reid), doesn't matter what exceptionally fine quarterbacks are on the field (Dawson Krieg Montana Green Smith), doesn't matter what Hall-of-Famers are playing for us (they'll show up in a subsequent post), doesn't matter that we're at home (where a number of times the Chiefs had gone undefeated during the regular season...)

Doesn't matter...

There is Hunt.

These Chiefs teams have lots of talent and smarts and drive and desire and leadership and togetherness and "fam" and passion and skill -- there is no way anyone can't see that plainly -- and yet

There is simply no got-it winningness.

That's just the Hunt thing whatever that thing might be -- I have some ideas but I'm just riffing here on all this with you in my blog here.

It is interesting though, that the latest actual horror movie in the Hollywood pipeline is getting a lot of attention right now. It definitely drew my attention.

Hereditary.

Apparently it is about the horror happenings in the home of a family whose dead matriarch did some mysterious things that are now revealing themselves in extraordinarily frightening ways.

Yeah, it drew my attention, and I will be perfectly candid with you. I do firmly believe there are such things as intergenerational issues. This means that, yes, the sins of one's ancestors may indeed be carried through into later generations. Yes it is a profoundly spiritual dynamic and yes, it may be addressed by those who see it and acknowledge it.

I have shared this before, and I will share it again. I share it just for contemplation -- I don't presume to know or have all the answers or assume anyone should do anything one way or the other. But please, I still just wonder how much the crazy things H.L. Hunt did when he was a gazillionaire are affecting things now? How much were the questionable financial involvements Lamar Hunt got mixed up in have weaved their way to contributing to the abject catatonia of Chiefs postseason play?

And Clark? Again I can't emphasize this enough -- Clark seems to be a truly upstanding individual in every respect, it just isn't about him per se. It is about Hunt. I even noticed that among all the posts I'd written referencing Clark's ability or inability, this one stood out. I posted it at the end of the 2008 season, just asking, wow, is Clark doing a good job or not? We could ask that question nine years later -- and it is a fair question to ask of any prominent leader anywhere anytime. I honestly don't think he hasn't done a good job, I really don't!

There's - just - that - postseason thing.

Yes I do get that football is just a dumb game with super muscular overgrown kids tossing a goofy looking ball around -- there are hundreds of other life things a million times more important, you don't need to tell me that. But I also think many who say that are doing so merely to shove their heads in the sand to avoid confronting that particular thing I'm talking about right now, the thing I'm going to explore a bit more about throughout this series.

If the Chiefs weren't important would so many people put an ounce of energy into it whether front office personnel working to get a decent team on the field or players laboring for hours each day getting prepared or fans for showing up or anybody for seeing the game as a valuable social and emotional construct for the purpose of providing several beneficial items to community cohesion.

At its worst we go into each season with all kinds of slathered window dressing and Chiefs Kingdom wonderfulness, and quite often we do fantastic during the regular season! Yay! But the crushing postseason horror story that inevitably happens is simply never addressed. If this is indeed a Hunt issue, let's confront it. Will people see it? Will people call it out? Will there be a reckoning?

At its best a number of phenomenally positive things can come from it, and I will close all of this with those things. Yes, I have been doing some thinking about the benefits of interminable playoff failures -- "the benefits"? Are you kidding? -- well, there are some! But again, with the premise established, let's look at all things Chiefs as far as where we've been and where we are and where we hope to go.
__

(Episode II)
__

A Very Good Chiefs Day

I have been itching to add more commentary to the yet-another Chiefs catastrophe from yesterday, one that has left every Chiefs fan shellshocked once more. But I'm not, I'm not even going close to that. No remarks about anyone or anything all of which is really just a repeat of all the other ones. Really, it is.

You could take any of my post-mortem posts from any of the years the Chiefs have inexplicably but very typically tanked in the playoffs, there've been so many, and just insert the names from yesterday and the events from yesterday and it'd be exactly the same. I do want to direct you to one link, in case you are new to my blog, about my overall perspective on God in relation to all of this since I did mention Him again in my last post. This post could've been written yesterday, really. If you read it or re-read it again, you'll see.

I've also seen nothing Chiefs or NFL since yesterday, and don't want to. And I won't any time soon. Why. As such after this post I don't intend to write anything until maybe after the draft, definitely during the preseason at some point. Most of what I'd write about yesterday is just pointless Chiefs navel-gazing and I'm kind of sick of it. I know you are.

What I do want to do is simply write about December 31st, and what that wonderful day it was. That's all. Just a bit of therapeutic transcription here to close out the season.

Just a few days before I'd found out the Chiefs were playing Pat Mahomes and I know every single soul in the Chiefs Kingdom was thrilled beyond belief. I knew, however, that I would not be able to see the game on television because we would be driving up to my mother-in-law's place in the mountains for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So we headed out right after I made this post and made the best of seeing how we'd catch what was happening.

We had to make some stops along the way, and we noted that the score was 14-10 early. Woo-hoo! I wondered, wow, what is Pat Mahomes doing out there? This is terrific! My wife managed to get some highlights up on our mobile devices, so it was fun watching some of the early successful Chiefs action.

We headed up the hill keeping tabs on the score, until deep in the mountains it is difficult to keep a signal. We'd noticed at one point we'd stretched the lead to 24-10 as the game went into the 4th quarter. We then discovered that right after Andy Reid inserted Tyler Bray to finish things off he fumbled away the handoff to his fullback, one that a Denver defender returned for a touchdown.

It was now a scary 24-17, then after Bray did little more in his next set of downs, Denver roared back to tie it at 24-24.

Mahomes had to go back in.

While this was happening the drive up the mountain was just spectacular. It was cool and dry, no snow at all. On the azure-blue horizon in front of us through the trees a full moon was rising over a crystal white cloud bank just as the sun was about to set behind us, making for a brilliant picture of God's creation. It was truly glorious.

Meanwhile we weren't getting a signal on the game status. I'm texting my son to send me the results but because of lack of service he can't get a hold of me either. We were in the dark on this one.

We had to wait until we came down into the small valley where she lives at the top of our drive to get the mobile service to find out how this one ended. Sure enough, final score, Kansas  City 27, Denver 24. Butker won it with a last second field goal.

Mahomes did it. He engineered that last minute drive to get us into field goal range to win it. Looking at the highlights made it clear this was a highlight for the Chiefs history ages. His pass to Demarcus Robinson to get the 1st down while sprinting to his right to avoid a tackle was purely amazing. It was really a lot of fun just to review how well Mahomes played with all our second-stringers out there. It will be extraordinarily exciting when he's doing that with all our major playmakers next year.

The following evening we enjoyed that amazing Rose Bowl game between Georgia and Oklahoma, and while not directly related to the Chiefs it was fun because I had Georgia in our fantasy bowl playoff. Thing is I was deflated when Oklahoma went up 31-14, then elated when Georgia stormed back to go ahead 38-31, then deflated when they went back down 45-38, then elated again when they tied it then won it in overtime.

At the beginning of the season I'd drafted Georgia 16th among the six participants in our fantasy league, and here they are playing for the national championship against Alabama.

I mention this here because it can happen. It will happen for the Chiefs. They are good enough. It may seem hopeless right now but the Chiefs Kingdom is strong.

It'll be really really fun next year, just like football was this New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

I'll see you then.

___

Titans at Chiefs - Playoff Game

How many times do we have to relive this nightmare. I really wonder.

I did tell you this was going to happen. And my attitude is no different now.

The regular season was fun.

Thuh end.

This playoff game was no different than any of the other ones. You can tell. It is so obvious. The exact same things that have always happened to the Chiefs in the playoffs happened to them yet again in this one, over and over and over and over and over again.

I will be perfectly frank with you. Again I'll mention it, something I've mentioned a number of times before. Because the insane things that happen to the Chiefs simply do not happen to other teams, ever, they just don't, you know it -- when I make a more comprehensive post later I may detail them -- there is a spell that is supernatural in nature afflicting the Chiefs and until God does something to remove it, we will continue to endure these kinds of games.

Yes this is spiritual in nature, yes we may never know what His purposes in all this are until heaven, this is true, and yes I may be guilty of trivializing God, forgive me, but please --

Look at that game.

Look at all the stuff that happened Chiefs fans know all too well.

It'd be one thing if they happened every once in a while, kind of the way nasty things certainly happen to any team at any given time, fair enough.

Not the Chiefs.

When I speak about the supernatural, I am speaking of no person or thing in particular -- it is just that thing hanging over us and through us and all over Arrowhead that yet again turns the Chiefs into jello and some other player or players into supermen. Today the Chiefs were actually super but only in the first half, then they melted. Marcus Mariota was contained until the second half when he became superhuman. He's a good player definitely, all the credit to him, but this. This...

One thing I do want to mention distinctly here is that there were indeed three different poor official calls that went against the Chiefs costing us 12 points. I wrote earlier that this was categorically something that is a disadvantage to the Chiefs. Indeed, we lost by one point.

1. The Mariota fumble that we recovered. Didn't count because he was ruled down. He did fumble. This was exactly the kind of thing I felt would hurt us detailed in this post. They get a field goal right after that.

2. The Mariota touchdown pass to himself when he threw the ball past the line of scrimmage. They of course get the seven points. This is not even to mention our defensive player made a great play batting the ball away -- just the unluck it goes right back to Mariota who runs it in for a touchdown. Only the Chiefs...

(Also, I found that apparently the rule says as long as the player has a part of his body on the line it's okay. Mariota had half of his foot at the scrimmage line. Yeah. Still, ding-dong NFL rule, phenomenally ding-dong play result that inevitably kills this team...)

3. The two-point conversion return we did not get because the official called forward progress. I agree that call could have been legitimately made, but it was still yet again a brutal judgment call that went against us.

Judgment call after judgment call after judgment call going against us.

I knew it I knew it I knew it.

Until that changes, until whatever crap thing is happening to make happen what we behold every time the Chiefs take the playoff field is taken out, we will not win a playoff game.

Thing is, maybe, just maybe, God will reverse that sucker by blessing us with Pat Mahomes. That's why there is hope, that's why you shouldn't be too discouraged, that's why we don't have to worry for the first time in eons about waiting and waiting for April to come around and slavering to draft a quarterback, and instead we can stock up on some defensive players.

That is the key difference from this year than any of the other horrifically horrible horror story playoff games.

It is that we actually have a next year to legitimately enthusiastically look forward to.

I'm actually feeling good right now believe it or not. The Chiefs will be very good and play very well in the postseason sometime, and when it happens it'll be especially fun.

For now, I'm going to consider that Denver game the final game of this season, and treasure that as we all look forward to a promising Chiefs future.
__

Again, I may write some more about this one, add another post, just for the therapy. We'll see. I usually do, but we'll see. I may just dismiss the whole thing and merely think good thoughts about that Denver game, leave it at that, and resume this in August. Again, we'll see.

Whatever the case, I appreciate your faithful readership. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom, and in spite of all this, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Thanks.
__

Chiefs Playoff Preview Post II

Alex Smith was the top rated passer in the NFL this year. Yep, his passer rating was 104.7. Next highest was Drew Brees with a 103.9.

Huh.

I would've believed it if this comprised all the games but his atrocious Pittsburgh, Dallas, New York, and Buffalo games. Hmm, I really wonder what his passer rating was excluding those ugly dogs? Must've been 285.9, I mean...

But really, on the season we've got 12 games that actually got Alex that rating, and we all know he was pretty dang good in those games -- again enough to win him the passing title.

Buuut then we also know what happened in those other games. The ones he simply couldn't pass against a "Cover 2." The ones where he danced and flinched and flailed and booped and bopped about just not doing a thing to win games there for the taking. The ones where all of us were convinced he'd completely blown his load right smack in the middle of the season.

Before I get to the key thing about Alex with regards to Saturday, I'm going to touch a bit on the things we do actually have going for us. This will be a fully, richly, totally positive post, and I will work very very very hard to avoid repeating anything about my attitude going into this one. If you want to know about that check out my post just before this, as well as this one.

Otherwise, here is why the Chiefs will dominate this Saturday.

- Our playmakers.

Remember, Alex Smith had 4,000+ yards passing. Kareem Hunt had 1,000+ yards rushing -- and was indeed the NFL rushing champion. Travis Kelce had 1,000 yards receiving. Tyreek Hill had 1,000 yards receiving. The last team to do this, the 1981 San Diego Chargers, won a playoff game. With this kind of firepower it should be a cakewalk.

- Our ability to keep from turning over the football.

Somewhere I saw that we had a chance to set a record with fewest turnovers in a season. I think they said the record was 10, and at the time we had fewer than that. I don't know if we got that record and I'm not going to check -- I am working hard to maintain my sports celibacy because looking at too much of it just drives me crazy. I do know we had a couple on Sunday -- a Mahomes pick and the Sherman fumble -- but I don't know about any more.

Point is, as you look at it, it is true -- we have done great not giving up the football. Except for those crappy Alex Smith games when he threw some very bad picks, we've done great with that. The big story was how Kareem Hunt fumbled on his very first carry, then held the ball from then on torching New England and pretty much the rest of the league.

This particular skill is more important than getting turnovers, because if you're relying on getting turnovers you aren't doing well enough with the fundamentals to control the game with your football playing abilities. But if you're avoiding turnovers, then you can do what the Chiefs do well. Get nice sustained drives to constantly put points on the board.

- Our pass rush.

This item is more of a question mark, but it can be a strength simply because of the recent play of Chris Jones and the presence of Justin Houston. While Frank Zombo is not a real sack artist, he does play smart football and seals the edge well. It'd be nice if we can get good pressure on Marcus Mariota, but much of this depends on how well their offensive line plays.

I can't neglect to mention another critical component of a successful pass rush, and that is how our coverage guys do, and we're led by one of the best in Marcus Peters. Let's also hope that on the other side one of the best in previous years, Darrelle Revis, continues to play as well as he has for us.

- Our offensive line playing much better.

The O-line is protecting Alex Smith and getting Kareem Hunt running lanes much better since the disaster against Buffalo. Apparently they simplified things and it has made a world of difference. Indeed, when you have players like we have you really don't need to get cute.

Andy Reid handing the playcalling duty to Matt Nagy is related to this. When he did this for the New York Jets game our offense started to get humming again. I'm looking forward to seeing the Chiefs matriculate the ball down the field often on Saturday, and if we can get our patented good field position and chew up clock throughout the game -- keep Mariota off the field -- we should do fine.

- Being relatively healthy.

We did lose De'Anthony Thomas on Sunday, which I think is more costly than some may think. But with the exception of the losses of Eric Berry, Dee Ford, Mitch Morse, and Chris Conley, we've been okay, and in some of these areas we've covered well enough. Looking at each unit without these four:

Defensive backfield. This is the area that I consider we've felt it the most, particularly against the run. Fortunately Derrick Johnson is doing okay enough even though we all know he's lost a step, and Reggie Ragland just seems to get better as the year's gone on.

Pass rush. We are missing Dee Ford in that very important quarterback pressure department. I'd like to think Tamba Hali has some left in the tank, but he's not been playing as much. Again, we still do have that potent duo of Chris Jones and Justin Houston.

Offensive line. Some feel that Zach Fulton at center is actually making the line stronger. He is bigger than Morse and since he's played the Chiefs have been getting good O-line play. Earlier in the year when he spelled Morse he was doing poorly at getting those critical shotgun snaps in, that has improved greatly over these final four regular season games.

Receiver core. I believe Albert Wilson and Demarcus Robinson are capable enough to work opposite Tyreek Hill. We'll have to get some production from Jehu Chesson who does show promise and Marcus Kemp who was just called up from the practice squad.

We also have the advantage of essentially getting a day of rest with most of our starters not playing on Sunday.

- Alex Smith.

It all comes down to this.

Will Alex be a playoff winning quarterback.

I have to say again that there is tremendous precedent for this: His phenomenal game for the 49ers against New Orleans in that 2011 NFC Divisional Game. Oh that he'd channel that Alex Smith and again just take care of business and win the game.

Thing is, he did play really well for the Chiefs in the playoffs against Indianapolis and Houston, so he can do it. There is no reason he shouldn't. The question is one from my previous blog post: Will he be courageous enough to take those chances to do things he definitely can do?

Here's what I think it is the X-factor in all of this. I'd alluded to it at the beginning that that same previous post. Do you know what it is?

Pat Mahomes.

I think Mahomes can be a major factor by not even stepping on the field -- or even saying a word except "Wow I sure am learning a lot from you Alex Smith."

See, with Mahomes being there and being the future of Chiefs quarterbacking and being the player we all saw against the Broncos on Sunday, every Chiefs fans is slavering over what will happen next year, and the year after that, and the dozen years after that. YESSS we all want the Chiefs to romp on Saturday then again the weekend after against the Steelers or Patriots then again the weekend after that then again on Super Bowl Sunday.

Every ------- Chiefs fan ------- wants that.

If we lose again on Saturday, because of the promise of Pat Mahomes, it's okay.

My point is, this cannot be lost on Alex Smith.

He has to know this.

And because of that, Alex Smith has absolutely nothing to lose.

Can you see where I'm going with this?

It seems to me that a lot of Alex Smith's failures come from a feeling that the entire Chiefs Kingdom rests on his shoulders. What a burden! I'd be nervous too if I felt that way.

Well guess what. Now it doesn't, big time.

Now Alex Smith can let fly and be really good, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. He knows what Chiefs fans are thinking, and he knows Chiefs fans do appreciate how hard he's worked and how good he's played for the Chiefs. He also knows he has everything to play for, not just a Super Bowl championship but for his own future, and whether it is still another year with the Chiefs or somewhere else he will be in great shape.

This Saturday look for Alex Smith to just play fun football.

The great thing is that all of us in the Chiefs Kingdom can just enjoy good Chiefs things no matter what happens. We're in the postseason for the fourth time in five years, with a team that has truly captured our hearts and drawn the attention of everyone watching pro football, deservedly so -- how great is that.

Next post, game day!
__

Chiefs at Broncos - Week 17 - Record: 10-6 - Playoff Preview Post I

Pat Mahomes.

I really wanted to load up this post with a bunch of his plays in GIF but I don't want to mess with it. I just want to write. You can go here at Arrowhead Pride because they have the most comprehensive analysis of Chiefs stuff, and this link will get you right to a great piece about how Mahomes made Denver look silly. Too much fun.

Even though there is no way we'll see Mahomes again this year unless Alex Smith gets hurt, I do believe he will be a factor just being on the sidelines.

He is a factor right now for me looking forward to Chiefs greatness even if it doesn't come this Saturday.

Yep, I can't say there aren't a just a few Chiefs fans who feel the way I do. Do you?

Do you feel that seeing what we've got in Pat Mahomes and the years ahead with him at the helm will take a ton of the edge off a playoff loss should it happen this weekend? Sorry, I'm sorry Alex Smith and Andy Reid and my beloved present Chiefs, but no matter what happens in four days

I will be a happy Chiefs fan.

This supposedly meaningless game against Denver was truly one for the ages. In a very minor way I really wanted us to be heading into the postseason at 10-6 and not 9-7. That was cool.

The major thing was that Pat Mahomes became the first drafted and, we can say at least for the year under the tutelage of Andy Reid and Matt Nagy, developed quarterback to win a football game for the Chiefs in 30 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks -- 11,067 days.

Yes, this Chart Party does need an updating. Our latest win by a drafted quarterback can now be matched up with Madden 17-18! Finally!

The notable thing was the way he did it. You need look no further than the difference between our No. 2 guy, Mahomes, and our No. 3 guy, Tyler Bray. We had a comfortable 24-10 lead late when Mahomes went to the bench for his rest, and Bray promptly came in and mishandled the hand-off upon which Anthony Sherman fumbled for a stunning Broncos quick score.

After Denver tied it Mahomes had to come back in to lead the game-winning field goal drive, and it was a thing of beauty. That pass he threw to Demarcus Robinson -- damn. Here's what's so goofy. I'd seen some Chiefs pundit mention we all know Mahomes can do things other good quarterbacks couldn't do, but he wasn't sure if he could do the things those quarterbacks can do.

Excuse me. Excuse me. That he can do those phenomenal things is already in him. and that's what we've been desperate for. It's there. We've got it. Done deal. Doing the basic things any decent quarterback can do? Please, that simply comes with being in there, and he'll get that. Okay Chiefs fans, who's worried about basic QB technique coming around for Mahomes? Anybody? Anybody?

Here's the even more amazing thing. The circumstances. Sunday he was playing in the mile-high atmosphere of Denver. He was facing one of the best defenses in the league -- the reason the Broncos were 5-11 was their offense stank up the place. He was also mostly playing with the Chiefs second-stringers -- for cryin'-out-loud his running back for taking the load off was Anthony Sherman. He was running for his life half the time because B-team linemen were playing huge minutes. Sheez, Mahomes made guys like Demarcus Robinson and Albert Wilson look like All-Pros! Wilson had 174 receiving yards. Are you paying attention?

Anybody? Anybody?

Now there's more on the Mahomes effect when it comes to Alex Smith, about whom I will close this post and feature prominently in my next one because really, it is about him for the rest of this season however long it goes. Before we get to that, on to the preview stuff. I'm going to start with the aggravating things, yes -- I want to be bravely authentic in this, I never pull punches in this endeavor. And because this post will go long, I'm just going to bullet items, as I usually do.

- How good Tennessee is and how well they match-up.

I'm just going to start with this one but I'm not going to say much about it except to send you here. This is a link to my post about last year's game against them, quite aggravating because we lost by letting them back into the game in a number of stupid ways. Yeah, sounds like a typical Chiefs playoff game.

The point is I really don't know anything about the Titans this year and won't be looking at any of it before Saturday. Could they be really well matched up against the Chiefs? Sure. I do know they have a fantastic quarterback in Marcus Mariota, and yes I imagine they still have Ryan Succop as their kicker. How we play them depends a lot on the last item I address here in this post, that's later.

- Our red zone failures. 

This seems to be a very not-so-good thing about the Chiefs, and sure enough every time we get into the red zone the television bleats some stat about us being 47th in the league in red zone TD proficiency, and then I shake my head yet again when we have to settle for a field goal.

But I got to thinking, are we that much worse than any other team? I don't look at any stats or rankings, but I think they said in a broadcast sometime back that the Chiefs are a pretty high-scoring team. And when I peek at other scores, just looking at the scores, a lot of them are 17-16 type deals.

How many times do other teams get into the red zone and settle for field goals? I'd say there are quite a few. And here's another thing -- we've got Harrison Butker, who's probably been the most spectacular mid-season addition of any in the NFL this year. Did you see that Butker's game-winning field goal gave him 38 on the year, the 38 being the fifth most in NFL history?

That we are a high-scoring team even with all the field goals means we're getting into the red zone quite a bit, which is actually a very good thing.

- The disrespect of the NFL.

Sure enough, I knew it. I knew it long before the Chiefs would know who their opponent was. Before Sunday we had a chance to play either the Ravens, Bills, or Titans.

Look at those possible matchups. Not a media darling major market team among them. And you know what that means.

We get the first game at 1:30 on Saturday.

Sure enough -- yep.

We had that game against the Texans two years ago. We had that game against the Colts four years ago. Seems to me we've been given that game often. It is simple.

The NFL will only give the primetime game to the teams with the most fans, notoriety, media market, etc. Sure enough the primetime game Saturday features a Los Angeles team (the Rams playing the Falcons).

Now this is actually a little thing, the scheduling, but it reveals a bigger thing, and that is how the Chiefs are respected on the field, or not-so respected as the case may be. I simply have to make another note about how the officiating has such a detrimental impact on the Chiefs and in some ways it is the most baneful aspect of being a Chiefs fan. Having not-playoff-winning undrafted quarterbacks for eons is nirvana in comparison to how the Chiefs are shafted in the playoffs because of the officiating. Don't think there is scientific evidence for this phenomena? Again, as I've suggested in this blog before, check out the book Scorecasting. You'll see it there very plainly.

While all the video reviewing stuff is fine -- going a long way in simply getting the play right -- officials can still get in the way of Chiefs success. The ways this happens are with the interpretive things they can do -- particularly with regards to holding calls and pass interference calls -- as well as the ridiculous rules the NFL has in place regarding two key things: how video reviews are processed and whether or not a player has made a catch.

How I'd love to go into instance after instance after instance in great detail, and if you've been watching NFL football for some time you already know exactly what I'm talking about. But here's one of note related to the Chiefs.

The left foot had already been clearly
put down in-bounds in the end zone

In the Dolphins game recently Tyreek Hill went up for a catch at the front corner of the end zone near the pylon, snatched the ball, held it, and as he fell snapped both his feet down in-bounds one after the other. Chiefs fans, I know you remember it.

Two officials along the sideline both ruled it incomplete. Apparently in their interpretation Hill did not get both feet in bounds, or perhaps they felt he didn't have firm possession of the ball. Now, during this particular review process the video footage was not the best there has been, I don't know why but the angles and clarity were simply not as good as you usually get for these reviews.

Truth is, it was still good enough. As the footage on the big screen was shown at Arrowhead, the crowd there was roaring their approval of a legitimate catch -- should be touchdown Chiefs. The announcers were claiming that it should be a touchdown, it seemed clear to them -- touchdown Chiefs, right?

Nope. The officials ruled that because the footage was juuust a little too fuzzy, they could not award the touchdown. The officials' call could not be reversed. We ended up kicking a field goal.

Now, this is all pretty well understood as exasperating as it is. Thems thuh rules, oh well. But here's what I'm thinking, here's the key: Why did the officials initially rule it incomplete to begin with? Why didn't they initially rule it a touchdown, and then when the video evidence proves inconclusive then they can justifiably let the play stand?

My point is this. Yes it is controversial, but hey, I just want to write as I see it: The officials can always make the call against the Chiefs first, and let video evidence reverse them if it undoubtedly does. But if it doesn't, then the weight of the officiating will be against the Chiefs much more often than not.

And please, I know it is painful, but how many times have you seen the officiating turn against the Chiefs in the playoffs? You know about all those times, you do. I know it is good to let these things go, move on, I got that -- I'll be fine thank you. But you can't deny it happens. If you read Scorecasting, you'll discover that the officials don't even have to know they're doing it -- it may be very subconscious, even though there are influences that do have an impact on the decisions they will make.

I don't know about you, but every time I'm in the middle of watching a live game, and play is stopped for some really close controversial officiating decision that needs to be made, I not only always expect it to go against the Chiefs, but most times it does. Do you experience that as a Chiefs fan? I can't believe I'm the only one. I'm actually waiting for the time when the referee is at least honest with us and announces, "The ruling does indeed favor the Chiefs, but because this is the Chiefs, we must rule against them. FOURTH DOWN!"

Once again I must make this important clarification. I never want a call to favor the Chiefs that doesn't. I JUST WANT THE RIGHT CALL TO BE MADE NO MATTER WHAT -- especially the ones that even in the barest of bare ways do favor the Chiefs and do so objectively transcendently teleologically in spite of poor eyesight or biased officiating or ding-dong NFL replay rules.

Ultimately this is what makes it really hard for me to get up for this game this Saturday. YET AGAIN I do so want the Chiefs to win, and I'm going to elucidate all the reasons they should win on Saturday -- I am thrilled beyond anything that they're in the postseason and we can all jump for joy all week long. I'm so with you!

But let's face it -- the Chiefs are up against it because the NFL and the media-powers-that-be are against them. Sure the Chiefs can overcome it, yes, and I'll be watching and cheering and reveling in the good things that happen. Really, if they do win it'll be an even greater achievement because of these idiotic things that add to our challenge.

- The 0-6 record and the luck of plays just working.

That 0-6 record thing is the Chiefs recent streak of losses in playoff games decided by a touchdown or less. I'm sure I've shared it before but I'll do it again. Here are the last six games the Chiefs have played in the postseason in which the final score had a margin of 7 points or fewer:

'16 Pit: 2 points
'15 NE: 7
'13 Ind: 1
'03 Ind: 7
'97 Den: 4
'95 Ind: 3

Not a single close playoff win in the bunch, not one. Last close playoff Chiefs win was 24 years ago.

The excruciating disappointment us Chiefs fans feel in the last minute or two of a playoff game when the other team scores to go ahead or we simply can't get it up to get one freekin' score (which has happened most times) is crushing -- over and over and over. We all know it. It is very discouraging. (Yes, I know, I'm supposed to put it behind me, yes, I know...)

Ultimately in all of these games you can see much of it is merely about just not having the luck of good plays working in our favor.

The Chiefs go out and run plays, plays they've always run before, plays that have worked wonderfully before, and for some reason in the playoffs they just don't go. Go, go play, work, go, get yardage, off with you then, run run catch catch, get points, go, go, and...

Pthfxxthxthx.

I've used the reference of some kind of time-space portal that the Chief go through once they get into the playoffs where their strengths dissipate and their weaknesses expand.

Is it really the case that the opponent has always been that much more prepared for the Chiefs than we have for them? Really? That many times? Are we just that unprepared that many times?

Well, preparation has a lot to do with working to see that the unlucky doesn't happen too often, and that relates to this final aspect.

- Will Andy Reid be organic and will Alex Smith be courageous?

These are really the keys to get our good plays to work for us and score us points and get us playoff wins. Both items refer simply to what each of these individuals will do when they've already got their game planning and game managing down, it's humming along fine, we're a well-oiled machine, and

Tennessee adjusts.

And then adjusts again. And then adjusts and adjusts and adjusts.

It seems as though most times we get beaten in a playoff game when we could've done something about it was when Andy Reid did not adjust for how the opponent prepared and played us, or Alex Smith did not improvise effectively enough to make up for how they were playing us.

We are so due for a good, hard-fought, closely-contested, well-played

PLAYOFF WIN.

We have had one in 48 years of NFL play. One. That was the game we won against the Steelers on Keith Cash' clutch blocked punt and Fred Jones' return, followed by Joe Montana's strike to Tim Barnett way back in the 1993 season.

Maybe we'll get one this year.

But if we don't.

Yeah. Still.

The Chiefs have a future for once.

Now, there is so much more to write about in a playoff preview. I have not touched on all the more enticing aspects that portend a Chiefs win on Saturday -- and yes, as despondency-laden as this post has been, there are some very good things about our team that I do want to get into, but I've been sitting here in this chair for a long time. I'm going to publish this, let you go over it, think about it, and then together we'll look at the fun Chiefs stuff.

That's the next post, coming soon!
__

Chiefs at Broncos - Week 17 - In-Game Notice

Nice tight throw from Pat Mahomes to Demetrius Harris to set up Kareem Hunt's long touchdown run! Woo-hoo!

Right now it is close to the end of the first quarter, and I'm just sending out this notice to say I won't be posting on this one until tomorrow night. We'll be on the road in a minute, so we'll be listening to the rest of it with Mitch on the radio, which is not such a bad thing at all.

I do want to take some time to pound out a decent Chiefs playoff preview post, and that'll be the substance of this game's review. Right now it's all preview for next weekend anyway. As it is Kareem is now the NFL's rushing champion this year, and he can take it easy the rest of this game. How cool is that!

Anyway, again, look forward to seeing you just a bit later this week!

Chiefs Kingdom reign!
__

Authentic Chiefs Enthusiasm of The Day

I can't help but pound out a post just about the news today that Andy Reid has indeed decided to start Pat Mahomes this Sunday in the Chiefs game against the Broncos in Denver. After his announcement my son texted me with the news, and I did then peek around at what people were saying about it. I simply couldn't help it.

I did come across this wonderful piece by a fellow Chiefs fan over at the fine Arrowhead Pride, a great narrative about what every impassioned Chiefs fan has all too much endured. I myself have tried to give some real perspective to the phenomenon with The Quarterback Project. And there is always this head-shaking elucidation of all this from the always excellent Jon Bois, this one even from way back in May of 2014, so it could use an update. Yeah, the Chiefs drought is indeed still in effect. Wow.

Which brings us to Mahomes' start this Sunday. If he should by chance win this game, it would end that drought. You know what it is. I know what it is. Every Chiefs fan knows what it is as does any generally knowledgeable pro football fan even if their affinity is not with the Chiefs.

Last win by a starting quarterback drafted by the Chiefs? Todd Blackledge, over the Chargers, September 13, 1987. The crazy thing is that it was the first game of the season, and it was actually a really crappy performance by Blackledge -- we just happened to win. The rest of that season was a joke as the strike hit soon thereafter and we never stopped stumbling and bumbling afterwards. Then came Steve DeBerg and the many many years of refusing to draft a quarterback who could win football games.

I've done the calculation -- it isn't hard, you can at this website -- regarding how long it has been. From September 13 1987 to this Sunday, 11,067 days will have passed. Yep, 30 years and a handful of months. Should Mahomes win Sunday, I've thought about bilging all the "There've been this many presidents since then and so-and-so wasn't even born and most vehicles on the road were still pulled by horse" kind of thing, but eh, we all know it too well.

And if Mahomes doesn't pull off the win? Then there'll be a whole offseason of days to add to the drought length until we can maybe perhaps finally with-our-best-chance-in-a-long-time see a drafted and developed pure-bred Chiefs quarterback -- ::Yowza!:: -- actually win an NFL football game.

The weather in Denver all this week and the week after will be mild, except for Sunday. High of 28, low of 6. The game will be from 2:25 to 6:00-ish Mountain Standard Time, so if the forecast is correct it'll probably be around 20 and dropping throughout the game. How will that affect Mahomes and the Chiefs? It may not be a bad thing because the Chiefs may have similar miserable weather at Arrowhead the week after, so they'll get a solid idea of how to play in it.

As it is, there is excitement in the Chiefs Kingdom right now, no doubt. We get to see Mahomes a bit in a very no-pressure situation, we can get ready for a playoff game at home.

Right now, it's definitely a blast to be dwelling richly in the Kingdom.
___

Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 9-6, Part II

Harrison Butker kicking one his five field goals
against the Dolphins December 24 2017

I started this blog venture with a Chiefs Game Today review of a Dolphins-Chiefs game. Back in 2005, right smack in the middle of the season, I realized I could blog about each game. Cool.

That game was played in very unusual circumstances, as there was a hurricane coming it was moved to Friday night -- I don't remember all the stuff about that, but I do know the Chiefs won and got two Lawrence Tynes 50-yard field goals. I remember back then I didn't write as much about the games, just a few notes and remarks.

Now I've gotten to needing to write much more, you know, for the therapy and all. You know you need it. I'm a big San Francisco Giants fan and for 50 years they'd aggravate the heck out of their fans, to the point where my good friend would frequently say, "The Giants are trying to kill me."

Well, you could sometimes say that about the Chiefs.

"The Chiefs are trying to kill me."

Of course any fan whose team fails inexplicably could bleat that, and every fan's team fails them far more frequently than not. But I'd say Chiefs fans have a really good case for getting the worst of those vicissitudes of misfortune interminably crushing our hopes and dreams.

For you see since the merger, since the 1969 season -- yes, a season that ended with a Chiefs Super Bowl championship we all know that -- since that year the Chiefs have made the playoffs 14 times (now 15), and reached the AFC Championship Game once. Among those 14 have been great teams, good teams, decent teams (and a couple just-alright teams, agreed), and in nearly 50 years of playing NFL football we've been summarily shoved right off the playoff game field before coming close to an AFC title game every single time but one, and we lost that one. Of the 14 so far, we won even a single game a mere three times ('91, '93, '15). We won two in a single season's playoff appearance once ('93).

That ratio is the worst in the NFL.

I bring all this up because right now my expectations for Chiefs success beyond the regular season have been permanently squashed. Please don't get me wrong (how many times have I had to say that after engaging in the therapy that is this blogging experience), ahem, please don't get me wrong: I am really really really really really thrilled with our success this season. I made a promise that I would work really hard to just enjoy the things we do out there no matter what (even though I confess it was really really hard to do that during our mid-season swoon).

And please don't get me wrong, I very very very very very much want our Chiefs to go on to Super Bowl glory, I veryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryvery much want that. I want to watch this Chiefs team do phenomenal things in playoff games, even if it means sweating through the closest nail-biters as long as we come out on top in the end. Ohh, that one of our playoff victories would be featured every other month on the NFL Network as one of the greatest games ever played. How many times do you see anything historically and superlatively CHIEFS on the NFL Network? Yeah. Huh.

I mean, really, aren't you sick and tired of seeing highlights -- as they gratuitously showed during this week's game against the Dolphins even though very timely we all know -- of that 1971 Christmas day playoff game? One of the greatest games ever, they say? As if any Chiefs fan thinks of it with any amount of fondness? Yeah, I was sick of it eons ago. We all know it wasn't the greatest because only Chiefs fans lament that Jan decided to have his worst game ever on that day, even to the point of looking so splendidly focused on that fake field goal attempt that long snapper Bobby Bell messed up the play seriously contributing to the disappointment that it was.

That's the Chiefs for you. Repeated over and over and over again through history.

So yeah, this is why to some extent my approach right now is, the season is over. It's been fun. It's been real. Now please, see the "really really really" and "very very very" above. Thing is I still can't get up for the postseason, I just can't. I will go over all those playoffy-type things in the next post when we find out who we're playing (it'll be Baltimore, Buffalo, or Tennessee), but for now, I'm just going to get to some of the fun things about this game.

First of all there's the achievement everyone's been talking about. Very sweet indeed. Smith with 4,000 yards passing. Kelce with 1,000 yards receiving. Hill with 1,000 yards receiving. And Hunt with 1,000 yards rushing. Only the 1981 Chargers did it, and they really should've gone to the Super Bowl that year except that they had to get past a Bengals team playing in subarctic Cincinnati, in what I think was the coldest game ever -- if not it was one of the top ones.

Anyway, I didn't catch this but I wonder if the Chargers team did it in 15 games, as we just did? Because yeah, here are the Chiefs, having done it with still a game left on the schedule. How great is that. That we do have these weapons does provide some legitimate hope for delightful postseason success, so there is reason for enthusiastic Chiefs Kingdomosity this week.

The Chiefs defense was opportunistic in this game, and how fun is it to watch Marcus Peters out there all over the field. Really, this guy is a defensive force, he really is. Even though everyone wanted to excoriate him for his meltdown in the Jets game -- for very good reason yes -- there was a play in that game that just demonstrated what a player he is.

The Jets were close to the goal line in last defensive catastrophe, and in spite of all the holding calls and the penalty flag debacle, we actually made some very good plays. This one stood out to me. The Jets runner was given the ball but he was stuffed by Jarvis Jenkins, Reggie Ragland, and Marcus Peters. All three of them just made a helluva play to make the stop well short of the goal line, and again it just showed Peters' value that defense.

The thing that everyone's been making note of also, something that I can't say hasn't been a critical element to getting Peters' head back in the game, is the presence of Eric Berry on the sideline. I guess I've always wondered why he hasn't been there throughout the season, but maybe lately he's just being more of a an industrious "coach" and "cheerleader," if you will, in inspiring these Chiefs. If he has indeed stepped it up these past three weeks, it sure has made a difference. The defense is looking much more robust, and more importantly getting the job done. Sure they had a major breakdown not tackling on the one play letting the Dolphins receiver break free for a long touchdown, but that should just get them to realize that they can't take anything for granted from here on out.

As far as our overall game plan we were able to do one of those things we can do well that helped get us the win, and that was late in the game grind grind grind. As I wrote in my last post it was a thing of beauty to watch Kareem Hunt run well throughout the 4th quarter and then when we needed it Alex Smith adjust for the defense and swing that pass out to Albert Wilson who redeemed himself for a miserable drop earlier by making the catch-and-run first down. Keep the drive alive a chew up more clock. Awesome.

There are a few things I've been chomping at the bit to share here, for the therapy yes, including addressing the whole Alex Smith question. I know we are all wondering if Pat Mahomes will play in a meaningless game Sunday against the Broncos as Andy Reid will surely rest Smith. We'll see.

In the meantime, there'll be commendations, concerns, and other notable items for playoff action in next week's post!
___

Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 9-6

We polished off the Dolphins today to win the division. And sure enough, for the first time ever in Chiefs history...

BACK-TO-BACK AFC WEST DIVISION CHAMPIONS!

Yay! Yes, I do indeed like this a lot, as any Chiefs fan would. We'll revel in the moment for a couple weeks and it'll be fun.

There are a number of critical things to address from today's game as we move forward, and I really want to get into those things, definitely. But I will not be able to get to those things now, we are simply too inundated with Christmas Eve preparation, we are entertaining family in our home this evening.

I do want to get to it so this entry will simply be a "Part I" and later this week when I've got lots of time to settle in and ruminate and scribbelate into a blog I'll put in a "Part II." It's all good.

For now I have to give a shout-out to one of the funnest plays of the day, it was the middle of the 4th quarter, we're up 26-13. We've been trying to grind this one down, but we're facing a 3rd-&-8. Alex Smith recognizes that he's got Albert Wilson way out on the right flat with single coverage deep. Sure enough he audibles, gets the snap, steps back and fires a strike to Wilson who himself steps back to get the pass and then runs for the first down. As Smith throws he's popped by a charging lineman, but he still makes the play.

Wow.

Butker comes in a few plays later and boots through the final points from 49 yards out, the ball actually banging in off the crossbar.

29-13, party over.

For all we screech about Smith, some of it still wholly justified, it is these kinds of plays that we can marvel at, plays that do indeed help get the Chiefs division titles, undeniably.

Nkay that's all I've got for now -- no time left today. I'll be back here in a few days!

For now...

Kansas City Chiefs 2017 AFC West Division Champions!
__

Chargers at Chiefs - Week 15 - Record: 8-6

5:08 PST.

I'm writing a bit right before the game, but to stay true to my commitment as I do most times, I'm not writing again here again until after the game. But I can't help but put down what I think is the key to this one, a game everyone is justifiably calling a playoff game.

Yes, we have a chance with help to get a playoff spot if we lose this one, but it'd be best if we won today. We win out and get the division, we get a first playoff game at home.

A key could be how our offensive line gets Kareem Hunt untracked or protects Alex Smith. A major key could be how much Alex Smith doesn't do too much dingleberry failing to find receivers down the field. There are a number of areas where the Chiefs need to be the team they truly could be, and their offense is facing a really stiff challenge in a Chargers defense that is very good.

But the key?

Eighth play of actual game

Our pass rush.

Last week our pass rush showed up against the Raiders, but they can be shaky out there. Yes we have Justin Houston, but we simply have not been using him effectively enough to put pressure on the defense. Yes we have Tamba Hali but it is clear he is a shell of his once dominant self. Yes we have Chris Jones but if a sharp industrious offensive lineman can take him down then... then...

Philip Rivers will have a field day.

Because the Chargers the last couple of years have not been as strong as they are now and because they've been plagued by so many injuries in the most recent games we've had with them, we have not seen the Philip Rivers who is notorious for shredding the Chiefs. His games against us when this team has been at their best are painful, painful memories.

Right now the Chargers are hitting on all cylinders, they are very healthy, and Philip Rivers has found his groove. If we don't employ a very effective pass rush tonight to shake, rattle, and sack him often enough, fughedabouddit.

This Chiefs team can do it. They can pull out a close one with all the things they do well, they can. But if they don't, then really, let's face it, they aren't for real enough to be playoff contenders.

Now, on to the game. What actually happens out there...

8:39 PST.

Well we did it. We beat a good Chargers team convincingly today, mostly with an offensive onslaught and a defensive shutout after they scored shortly after the start of the second half. At that time it looked like they would make it hard, put up some numbers and beat us, but after Philip Rivers hit Antonio Gates with a touchdown pass to make it 13-10 them, it was all us.

I'm peeking at the postgame NFL Network stuff, and the guy just said we had never won consecutive division titles. Wow. But yep, that's true, we've not won very many division titles at all. We're still only 8-6, and we still need to win at least one more to clinch it -- I dunno maybe this is a good thing, keeping us focused and playing hard.

The men of the day were Kareem Hunt and his offensive linemen. Hunt had to have had something like 150 yards rushing, he was juking and slipping and zagging and bursting all night long. The O-line was stout, not only giving Hunt room to roam but giving Alex Smith very nice protection. I honestly don't think Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram had a single sack on the evening. If either did it didn't mean much.

We turned it on in the second half when we needed to. The first half wasn't something to shout about. Our first time in the red zone we again needed to kick a field goal. Fortunately a bit earlier we got a sweet long pass from Alex Smith to a streaking Tyreek down the sideline for our first touchdown.

Harrison Butker missed a 51-yarder at the end of the first half, but later in the second half he made one -- that was cool.

Marcus Peters came back in a big way, getting two picks, one of which he persistently ran it back all the way down inside the 10-yard line so it'd be easier for us to score. How many times do D-backs make a pick then give up running much farther than they could? Peters also had an amazing open-field tackle for a clutch 3rd down stop and another of his patented strips causing a fumble -- I have to think the suspension was a good thing to get him refocused. And dang was he focused today. He had a couple fine pass defenses as well.

And what about the key I mentioned at the beginning of the game? Our pass rush?

How did Philip Rivers do?

I have to say we did contain him exceptionally well. We had a couple key sacks, Eric Murray with a terrific safety blitz sack at the beginning of the game, and Chris Jones with one to help make a series stop later. One of Rivers' picks was caused by a D-lineman smacking his arm as he threw. We harried Rivers all night -- it really looked like we won the defensive side of the line play and made it difficult for Rivers to get untracked. We had three interceptions and missed a couple more. There was even more: towards the end of the game the announcers said Rivers did not have a single pass completion of over 20 yards to a wide receiver or tight end.

Dang.

Which team is this Chiefs team?

Will tonight's team be the team that runs the table and wins the Super Bowl like we thought they would earlier?

They'd better be!
__

8:33 PST Sunday morning

I had to add these notes thinking about a couple more things from last night's game, and sure, even though I should be putting these in a totally new blog post since it's the following day, I'm just going to tag them on to this post.

One of the reasons we did beat the Chargers did have something to do with a mention in my key to the game, and that had to do with the health of the players. One of the reasons Los Angeles had been doing so well was because they'd been reasonably healthy. Before the game the only player who was questionable was Casey Hayward, yet even he admitted Tyreek Hill's long touchdown against him was not because of the injury but because of his misplay on the route.

Thing is, Chargers were going down left and right last night. Their fine middle linebacker Denzel Perryman went out, and I can't help but think this helped Kareem Hunt a lot -- taking nothing away from him or our O-line. I didn't see until this morning that Keenan Allen had been ailing too -- Rivers and Allen are one of the best QB-WR combos in the NFL. Taking nothing away from our pass rush or D-back play, but that had to have helped too.

Next week we face a Dolphins team that looked really good last week against the Patriots. This has already turned into a year when again those AFC East teams just have our number. Losing to the Bills and Jets? Are you kidding me?

Anyway, another thing back to the Chargers. It was mentioned that this was our eighth win in a row against the Chargers. Doesn't it seem like only yesterday when we lost to the Chargers in a meaningless final game of the 2013 season? We were already in the playoffs anyway, but I can still remember listening to the terrible Chargers announcer Josh Lewin's call of Ryan Succop's missed field goal in regulation that helped get the Chargers the win that day, how awful it was because Lewin made it personal. Good announcers never berate the other team or make fun of them even if they're homers, and Lewin's whole approach was wretched in that respect.

Well, Josh Lewin, I wonder how you're calling Chargers games against the Chiefs now, eight games straight. I've never listened to him in that time because it is too intolerable, but I can't say I didn't hope the Chargers would lose just to make Lewin a bit more humble.

Now yes the Chargers are going to beat us in many games to come sometime in other seasons. And I really have no animosity to the Chargers themselves -- I admire players like Philip Rivers tremendously. If the Chiefs don't do well I honestly want the Chargers to do well -- especially against the Raiders! And maybe Lewin has softened up a bit since then, become more professional. Great. (Point of fact, I just looked it up: Lewin actually had been replaced just this year -- guess it had to do with the move to Los Angeles, or... well...)

But the history of the thing is this. Yes we've beaten the Chargers eight straight times, but do you know what we had been doing with the Chargers just before that winning streak started? We'd been 2-11 against them dating back to September of 2007. Before this nifty winning streak we'd been their doormat for years.

That's sports. That's just what you deal with. Anything can happen between two teams with fine players on each side of the ball, and really, that's what makes it compelling. As much as you have the heartbreak -- and Chiefs fans have had all the heartbreak they could ever want to have -- it's the only reason it is any fun.

Here's to hoping this Chiefs team and its big playmakers can make it really fun in the next several weeks.
__

Raiders at Chiefs - Week 14 - Record: 7-6

Yes our defense got reeeally soft to allow the Raiders to score twice sandwiching an on-sides kick recovery in the 4th quarter, making things far too dicey for us today. We still pulled off the win playing three quarters (and yeah, a little bit of the 4th quarter) like we thought this team could play.

Yes there are a dozen crappy things we could say about this team and how it still has a long way to go to show it has enough got-it to make a nice winning playoff run, but we've been too shredded by crappy things for weeks and weeks and weeks now. It's time for some good things. Here they are, kind of in some kind of chronological order:

- Tyreek Hill. He had phenomenal catches, a nice punt return when we needed it, and was just all over the field today. After one catch his tremendous balance allowed him to tiptoe against the sideline, regain his position, and try to get more yards. His athleticism is amazing.

- Travis Kelce. The play just before Kareem Hunt scored for our first touchdown was a brilliant call -- a play action screen pass to Kelce that he almost pounded in. Kelce on the day was fantastic -- makes you wonder why we don't throw the ball to him every other play. BTW, just before that was yet another non-pass-interference call against us -- they just can't cover Kelce and half the time the opposing team needs the ref to bail them out.

- Harrison Butker. Four more field goals today, what a find this guy is (haven't we already said this a dozen times before?) Again, sure enough, every one of those kicks was important. And his regular booming kickoffs keep a team from making any meaningful returns.

- Albert Wilson. He made a number of critical plays, including a spectacular sideline catch deftly keeping his feet in bounds. The Chiefs offense hurried to run the next play so it couldn't be challenged, but they didn't have to worry, replays showed Wilson's catch was legit. Wilson also caught a clutch clutch clutch 3rd-&-5 pass very late in that 4th quarter when the Raiders offense was coming alive -- we simply could not give the ball back to them, and Wilson came through catching the crossing underneath route and shedding a tackle to get that first down.

- Terrance Mitchell. Why in the world did we give up on this guy earlier? I never could figure out why they benched him for Kenneth Acker or even -- ::gasp:: -- Phillip Gaines. I imagine he got the call because Marcus Peters was suspended for this game, but Mitchell came up big today a number of times. A nice bat-away, a tough interception off a batted pass, and a terrific defense of a long last-ditch pass at the goal line that Steve Terrell intercepted to end the game.

- Chris Jones. He has been invisible the past few games, but today he lit it up. He was all over the Oakland backfield making sacks and stops and generally aggravating the Raiders players. Our other pass rushers were decent today too, Jarvis Jenkins had a sack, Justin Houston did, maybe a couple others did, that was great.

- Derrick Johnson. He looked a bit like his youthful self at times today. Very nice. In fact, our entire defense played well -- the Raiders offense was completely stuffed for three quarters today and I'd like to think that it was our fine defense that was doing the work, not their surprising ineptitude. In fact my son pointed out that the Raiders offensive line is the highest-paid in the league.

- Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. The O-line played very well today, getting Hunt a 100-yard rushing day. They also gave Alex enough time to make some fine completions mostly to Hill and Kelce, a few to Wilson and others. The funnest thing they did was blow open a very nice hole for Charcandrick West to then zig-zag and power into the end zone for our second touchdown score making it 26-0.

- Dustin Colquitt. What can you say about him? How about this just for today's game. Late in the game he shook off a blocked punt when he got bulldozed by the Raiders rusher, and then he boomed his next one -- 55 yards with no return. There was still lots of time for Oakland to come back to score and get another on-sides kick recovery when Colquitt just demoralized them putting them back at their own 10.

- Luck. Yeah, just plain happy luck. The bounces and bobbles that you've got to have sometimes have just not been going the Chiefs way at all, for a long time. Today we seemed to have the edge in that. Really, let's face it, a lot of enjoying the team of which you're a fan is just enjoying those breaks that go your way and you can feel favored by the gods however that is. Oh that that would happen for us in the playoffs sometime.

I'm sure I didn't mention a number of other players who did amazing things today, but I tried to give credit to some of them in the mentions above. No disrespect -- indeed today's win was a strong team effort. It looked like the Chiefs were fired up to play well today, and it showed.

So yeah, for now, whew, very nice win for once, we're still in first place in the West, yay, and we get to enjoy a week of enjoying that for a while -- that's nice.

We play Los Angeles at home next Saturday, a game that will essentially be for the division title. So yeah so yeah so yeah -- right now we're all BRING IT ON!!!

Something fun to feel for once.
__

Chiefs at Jets - Week 13 - Record: 6-6

The nightmare continues. It's just like 1998. We had a decent team and looked the part halfway through the season, then we imploded. Or you know? I'm thinking too it is like 2011, when we just had so little discipline. That's one of the horrific features of this team, it is just not very disciplined. And I thought Andy Reid was all over that. Guess not.

I really like Marcus Peters, even his passion for the game that gets him in trouble. I wish more Chiefs players had that fire. But that episode at the end of the game when he left because he thought he was ejected but wasn't is inexcusable. Please, Marcus Peters, keep fighting the good fight, but please, Andy Reid! What is wrong with you that you can't control these guys, get more of them to play with that kind of passion, and for cryin' out loud move an entire team to play to their potential?

I didn't see any of the 1st half of this one, and I came in with a few minutes left in the 3rd. Right when I turned on the television Smith hit Hill with a long 70+ touchdown pass. Yay. Thing is, later when we needed a crucial 3rd down -- with only a yard to go, Smith through an incomplete pass to the offensive tackle.

That's what this team has become. It really hurts to see this team has become the top embarrassment of the NFL. Remember just a few weeks ago? 5-0 record? High atop everyone's power rankings list? We're all Super Bowl-bound and all that? ::Sigh::

In fact I was thinking, since I started this blog in 2005 I've never missed watching a Chiefs game except for a handful of times. I missed a game in 2008 because of a Thanksgiving week vacation with extended family. I missed one in 2012 for the same reason. But I've pretty much seen in some form every single game.

Right now I don't care to see any of them until we put Pat Mahomes in. Seriously. This has just become preposterous -- it is just painful to watch these guys. I haven't any idea what we did for two-and-a-half quarters of football today, and I don't even care.

I mean I think back to 2012 when I saw every game except that one I just mentioned. We were horrible, it was a horrible horrible season, but I watched them all just the same. Just to see if we could do anything well for once -- just to cheer to the few unexpectedly fine things our Chiefs did. I have to admit that win in New Orleans, one of only two we got on the year, was actually memorable, pleasantly so, it really was.

I think to 2011 when we started gruesomely, but then picked it up a bit. We finished 7-9, amazingly, with that team? At least there was that tough grinding game late in the year when we splendidly beat an undefeated Green Bay team, remember that?

There is just no reason to watch the Chiefs right now. I just don't care.

They are a train wreck. I will always root for my Chiefs and watch them when I can however I can, but this is a severely underperforming team in so many ways. I'd love to do the standard -- well, what was good about them. Why. Doesn't change the reality of where we stand.

And for those who'd scream in their abject denial in that we're still in first place -- well, after today tied for first after Oakland beats the New York Giants 87-3 and Los Angeles beats the Browns 102-0, all sporting pathetic 6-6 records I might add -- I could rattle off a dozen different things in this game that prove that this team is a slow-motion train wreck happening before our very eyes.

I mean really, I just don't know, I mean I really don't know what all those wins from when we were 1-5 in '15 to being 5-0 in '17 really mean. Were they just a fantasy? Were they just setting us up for the time when we'd be exposed as not much of a team at all?

There are dozens of things we could say about this or that, certainly. Much more will be said, and I fully appreciate those who will be honest and not try to sugarcoat it. But again, it comes down to two characters, and we know who they are.

Andy Reid and Alex Smith.

I confess there have been a lot of times we have mentioned -- me in this blog before for sure -- what to do about those guys when they've inexplicably messed things up badly. But really, this was the year they were supposed to be decent enough to win and win well. We all saw the talent this team had. I mean, Andy Reid - Coach Extraordinaire! And Alex Smith - Spectacular Quarterback Finally Coming Into His Own! After a 5-0 start we all thought yeah! Finally!

But what we all saw on the field today simply can't be lost on Clark Hunt.

What'll he do? Not only has Andy Reid not gotten Alex Smith to win, not only has Andy Reid not gotten Alex Smith to get the job done in the clutch when it is most needed -- like today, and last week, and yeah, the week before that -- but he has lost control of the team, has lost the confidence of a team that recognizes he just doesn't put his faith in them to get the job done. Of course I don't know what's going on down there on the field directly, but I see it in their eyes -- you can just see it.

These players loathe how things are progressing. You can't miss it! The exasperation, the aggravation, the resignation -- right now it is smothering the Chiefs Kingdom.

So bottom line, just like last week's assessment, it can't be all bad. For review:

1. Smith stays in and actually wins games -- not a bad thing in that we're winning games.

2. Mahomes goes in and wins games -- the best of them all because we can then see he's a fine quarterback -- drafted, developed, youthful and athletic with a bright future of winning games.

3. Mahomes goes in and stinks -- not a bad thing in that he'll get reps, get that feel, get the experience to win us a Super Bowl later -- that's cool if we see it start to unfold now.

4. Smith stays in and stinks -- not a bad thing in that there'll be more proof that Mahomes must be in.

Thing is, this last one took a huge hit because our defense played so awfully today, sooo what's Reid going to do? You know what he'll do, and it makes you want to pull your hair out if you have any left. He's going to go to that lectern after the game -- he's probably doing it right now as I write -- and say "It's not Alex Smith's fault, it's the fault of all of us and we need to step it up."

::Ker-blyahh::

So yeah, it seems the only thing left to be said is when is Pat Mahomes going in, again, when is that?... When -- today? Okay is it today, huh huh huh? No, okay HOWABOUTTODAY???

Except that the other thing that must be being thought about more, and more and more and more -- and I simply can't believe this isn't on the minds of, oh, say, 99.4% of Chiefs fans at least the ones not in denial, is, when is Clark going to take care of business and summarily address Andy Reid's train wreck?

Could it be, could we possibly see what could be called the "nuclear option"?

Hello, may I speak to Matt Nagy, please?...
__