Ten Things About Today's Game
 

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. Let's start by saying 5-0 is what this week is all about. This is the best start for KC in a decade. We won on the road for the third time this year. Let that marinate for a minute. I don't care what team you are, it's hard to win on the road and you gladly take every single road win you can muster during the course of the year. That said, there's a lot of areas of concern following today's game, and if we don't improve in several areas our luck is surely going to run out, and the merry go round comes to a screeching halt. The Chiefs showed their trademark fourth quarter toughness, and that was ultimately the difference. We didn't get to see all of the last minute of the game as CBS switched over to the Donk-Dallas game at the kickoff. Did you yell at your TV and throw stuff like I did???

9. KC's defense played nearly a perfect first half. The Titans were three and out in their first five possessions and had 83 yards of total offense in the first half. On Tennessee's only scoring threat, KC threw up a brick wall on a beautiful goal line stand, which turned into three more points for KC on the stop and subsequent drive. That ten point swing was the true turning point in a nine point win. Missed tackles and defensive penalties let the Titans back into the game in the third quarter -they scored ten points in the quarter and seven at the very beginning of the fourth quarter. And most importantly, its the first time the Chiefs have surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter, only to have to fight to get it back -and they did. KC won the first, second and fourth quarter. Their disappearing act in the third almost cost them the ballgame. Blowing 13 point leads is a problem...a big one.

8. Kudos to Dave Toub and the boys on the Special Short Bus again this week. I've snagged some highlights from the NFL website (hope they work), here's the first one:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...ns-muffed-punt
Cooper's TD was important because it helped the Chiefs grab an early lead on a demoralizing play. More importantly, Suckie was a perfect four on field goals. The big one was the last one with about two and a half minutes left. He hits a 48-yarder on a damp field with a holder who's got a bad knee. He drills it. If he misses that kick, Tennessee gets the ball on their 38 yard line with more than two minutes, and only needing a TD to win. It was the dagger, and another gutsy call by Andy Reid to kick it. No guts, no glory. Colquitt is playing hurt. He shanked a punt because of a low snap late, which pulled his net average down to about 35 yards per punt. Titans weren't much better. They punted six times for a net of around 39 yards per punt. We especially need to cut down on the penalties on punt returns, more on that later.

7. Offense has a lot of problems. Alex Smith misses his tight ends. Duck Dynasty did OK today, catching four balls with a long of 25 yards. That's as many as Bowe caught, and McGrath out-gained Bowe by 19 yards. Avery was the big play guy again this week. He only caught three, but each catch was big. None bigger than the first play after the goal line stand in the second quarter. This is one thing I love about Andy Reid. He will stretch the field if he can. He throws the fly pattern for 41 yards from his own half yard line after the goal line stand. Balls the size of melons....big ripe melons. Here's the play:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...yard-reception

6. Alex didn't run as much today, and one time when he did he got flipped upside down and landed on his shoulder. And with the beneficial -if not borderline-ruffing call on the Titans in the fourth quarter, was lucky not to get hurt in this one. The Titans are Raiders wanna-be's. They push the envelope on hits, hit late, hit high, target, spear and generally play on the dirty side. And that's just Pollard. Charles had a 100 yard rushing day, but he also fumbled once. On that fumble, he got bent over with this spikes stuck in the turf and was lucky he didn't get another ACL or MCL injury. I think we need to play Knile Davis a bit more. 22 rushes and five pass receptions is a heavy workload for Charles. Don't want to burn him up, it's a long season. Here's Charles with one of his tough runs in the fourth quarter to put KC ahead. This guy is beef steak tough:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...-touchdown-run

5. Another worrisome stat: KC's third down conversion rate was awful. Today it was one for twelve on third down. That's why we didn't get an offensive TD until the fourth quarter. We've got to get Bowe more involved. We're paying him top five NFL receiver money. We need more than four catches for 35 yards from a marquee receiver. Throw him the ball on third down. Instead, in the first quarter we threw the ball at Chad Hall over and over again. Why? Go to Bowe, he's the man that can break one for you. He almost had a TD today in the second half, but the refs say he stepped out of bounds. I'm going to have to go back and look at that btw, it was close. He might have been gone if they don't blow it dead. Smith spread the ball to seven different receivers today, the calling card of Reid's offense. Another thing to worry about: Penalties. We have FIVE frickin' penalties in the first quarter alone. All of them are drive killers. Albert was called again. Stephenson and McGrath jumping offsides, holding and blocks in the back on special teams. Overall KC had nine penalties for 61 yards. That's way, way too many. If it weren't for Titan turnovers, this game is probably lost.

4. I want Kendrick Lewis benched. This guy is the WORST open field tackler I've ever seen in a Chiefs uniform, and that's saying something. I talked about his lack of closing speed against Philly when both Vick and McCoy literally ran right past him. Chris Johnson did the exact same thing to him today on that busted play shuttle pass TD. Watch #23 on this play, and what a piss poor effort he puts in to close on Johnson:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-m...finds-daylight
Play Abdullah or Demps in his spot. Abdullah is a hitter, and Demps is a ball hawk. Here Demps gets the game breaking pick in the fourth quarter on a tip drill. Kudos to Brandon Flowers for causing the tip, nice to have him back on the field:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...e-interception

3. For shout outs, I was very impressed with the play of Poe, who gutted through a sore ankle most of the game. Alan Bailey is playing much better and is getting a great forward push on pass rush. But today's unsung hero was Cooper. Not only did he make a great play shoving the Titans player out of the way for the muffed punt recovery in the end zone, he also made a great pick in the fourth quarter, tearing the ball away from the Titan receiver. He reminded me of a young Albert Lewis on this play:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-h...fourth-quarter

2. I hate Ryan Fitzpatrick. I mean I hate his guts. He's one of those players that inexplicably plays his best football against us, and only us. He's like that .200 hitter that just hammers your Ace pitcher. There's no rhyme nor reason for it, he just has the knack. This guy is short. He's slow. He's lily white. He looks like a freakin' Wall Street Day Trader. And against us he looked like the second coming of Fran Tarkenton. Watch Justin Houston just flat miss pulling him down on this TD run:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantas...ck-9-yd-run-TD
The good news is, there's a reason why Buffalo let this guy go. He has a nasty habit of pooping his parts in crunch time, and today, the poop was slow in coming. But like the aftermath of a big mexican dinner, it was sure to show up eventually. Titans had two picks and a lost fumble. Charles fumbled once for KC, and Alex had a pick on a ball that flat out sailed on him in the rain. That's going to happen. The difference was, KC sucked it up in the fourth quarter again, as they have all year. Fitz threw for 247 yards, Smith for 245, so that evens out in the wash.

1. Teams are still holding Hali, Houston and Tyson Jackson and getting away with it. Defense had three sacks today, probably should have had three or four more, except they couldn't seem to corral that slippery, slow backup QB. But the defense stood tall in the fourth quarter when they needed to. Congrats to Andy Reid, not only for a 5-0 start, but Tennessee was the only team in the NFL he had never beaten until today. Now, those parole violating, psychopathic father rapers The FADE are coming in to our house next week. They've won (I believe) six in a row at Arrowhead. We cannot let them come in here and break our winning streak. Let's hope the Chargers beat them up real good in the late night game, and keep this train rolling. So far, its been one hell of a ride. I've actually started saving money for playoff tickets, and that makes me want to cry tears of poverty and joy!

Q. J/K

Outstanding read again George.

Top notch, as always. Thank you.

today, the poop was slow in coming

I dont think Bowe went out....but CBS didnt have a good, definative angle on it. I too am baffled as to why they are not targeting Bowe more? Hes a beast on the crossing routes where he can use his size to out muscle defenders and pick up YAC.

Agreed.....guy just plays well against us for whatever reason? I can handle losing to Manning, or Brady, etc......but not to a turd like Harvard grad.




Ive been saying for awhile that the refs dont seem to call holds as much as they used to because the NFL wants to see big offensive numbers......sigh.

In college--we had plexiglass in front of the tv. Today's tvs will take a much bigger piece.

I don't think anyone on this board will disagree here.

He gave, literally, one of the worst efforts I've ever seen given on that TD play by Chris Johnson. Not only did he take a horrendous angle, he also didn't even attempt to regain position when CJ made his cut. He also took a horrendous angle on Fitzpatrick on his 22 yard scamper to spark their comeback..

I think we all remember that 70 yard run Vick had where he also took such a shitty angle Vick was basically able to jog right by him.

Dude needs to see some of his reps stolen by Demps and Abdullah.

Totally agree that Bowe needs to get more involved. What the hell was up with the opening drive, throwing five in a row to that random white guy I've never heard of? If you're gonna throw the ball as much as Andy Reid likes to, why not throw to your best guy?

Bowe would be move involved if he would get open.


Single coverage almost all game long and had 4 catches?

Thanks for the highlights, I listen to the game, so it was great to get to see some of those plays.

Great write up.

/I hate Fitzpatrick too

This was our first game this season where the chips seemed really stacked against us at one point. Tennessee was rolling and about the time even Dustin Colquitt had a terrible punt, I think myself along with many of you all probably felt like it was slipping away from us. But the defense stepped up AGAIN and this offense scored twice when we really really needed them to. It's so nice to have a team that can play well in the 4th quarter. In the past, whenever the other team had that much momentum in the 3rd quarter, you just KNEW we were screwed. Feels great to be 5-0, men.

Best poster on CP. Thanks. http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/3193/vikeslogo.gif

god bless the chiefs.

and god bless Ten Things About Today's Game!!!

love it!!!

Not on that play...maybe rump roast..or Boston butt...but that sure ain't beef steak!!

Great post thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Nice, George.

You know, reading about the Tight Ends makes sense. Part of me wonders if Atlanta keeps losing....never mind.

Alex better be more cautious when he decides the run, because the opposition will begin to killshot him or hit Alex hard enough to make him think twice if he decides to run with the ball.

Check out the lead block by Sherman on that TD. He just chops his guy straight down. That's a lead block, by God!

Just shut the hell up, dumbass.

Yep. He is getting ADD in his play again. How the hell do you step out of bounds when the d-man didn't even touch you? He is slowly getting sloppy again.

George great read.

Bowe got straight ****ed on that sideline call. That SHOULD have been a long touchdown.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

Great read again George.

I've seen too many games exactly like this that the Chiefs would dominate the first half but were never able to score enough to put it away only to have the opponent comeback to win it late...not this time!

Good write-up. This game could have been a lot easier if the Chiefs didn't shoot themselves in the foot with a bunch of offensive penalties and the refs calling a bunch of bad defensive penalties on them. Luckily they came out on top despite being on the road, losing momentum, and dealing with the a tough defense... to go along with the poor officiating. Dealing with all that against them and coming through with the win was gutsy and huge.

Thank you Gregg Williams.

This guy is just under the radar. Someday, he will be banned again.

5-0 George!

We by all accounts should have lost and yet come away with the W. That is a big difference between years past and now. I feel like we CAN win. I was bummed out in the third quarter and basically wrote this off as a loss...kind of a gut reaction. Then my Chiefs proved me wrong...I love to be wrong.

Go Chiefs! and Go GEORGE!!

I'll be in KC next weekend...we better beat the **** out of the Faid...

ten stars write sir

Yep, I was thinking the same thing. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the 3rd.

Nice summation....
Offense is troubling to watch on 3rd down. Needs fixing quickly
Personally, I feel Emmitt Thomas needs to go as the DB coach. New coaches badly needed for tackling training.

That is all

Haven't seen it talked about much, but the ol was prett damn good today against a good defensive front

Who let this dipshit in?

Great list and always look forward to this thread. Can I just add that I felt open field tackling was poor throughout the team today.

Bowe was definitely in from where I was sitting, we were raped by a zebra today, I just hope he didn't have AIDS. I saw the guy who was looking down the line, he was up field about 3 meters and there were at least 3 people in his way.

PS. Shnob picked again, what a muppet

Good point, If we are winning on the road not really playing that well and not in top gear, then there is obviously more in store, which is quite refreshing and exciting considering we are 5-0.

Anybody with a Willie Lanier "Contact" 63 jersey is OK in my book.

The tackling has been terrible for a long time with this team. Lewis, Flowers and even Houston whiffed on more than a few occasions through-out the year.
Needs serious work

Awesome read!

Shit your right, only sacked twice and I did notice Alex getting quite a bit of time. I still feel that we are only getting big running yards at the tail end of games when their tired.

Good lookin' out.......I thought I had a stalker there for a minute.

Tackling throughout the NFL is crap these days because of the rules governing practice, and the rules favoring offense which makes it difficult for defenders.

Charles was averaging nearly 5.5 ypc throughout today's game.

This be a true statement, but it doesn't prevent teams like Balt, SF, NO and a few others to emphasize proper tackling. jmho.
Sure woulda helped make todays game a little easier to watch

:spock:

Oh how ****ING unforgivable. We should cut him.

DIVA!!!!!

POINTS TO HIS NAME SOMETIMES

I should add: Terrific read as always, George. You have a knack for summation, sir.

I'm completely content right now with how this is going. I know we are wining ugly, but let's not forget that this is game 5 in which we have an entirely new offense and a few injuries to adjust to.

I think as the year goes on, Alex will get more comfortable, Reid will open things up a bit and we'll see a much more polished offense.

The defense on the other hand is just fantastic sans 2 drives.

Maybe Emmitt could put them through the Oklahoma drill so they can learn to tackle, because afterall, that's the most important aspect of playing DB.

Wow. ****ing stupid.

Yeah, and really the first drive was flukish, with the Fitzpatrick run and the desperation dump-off to CJ.

I went back and checked out Bowe's catch. He should have had a TD. The ref's blew it. Maybe the shove out of bounds on Alex later was a make up call? Watch the sideline shot on Bowe. I don't think he steps out.
View My Video

Also...

I love this screen shot of a Titans fan after Fitz's second pick. Priceless wtf look....

It was close. I wish they had at least let the play go on and looked at it more closely. I THINK that left foot might have just barely caught chalk, but it was close.

Couldn't agree more with the Knile Davis comment.

Tight post as usual. Always look forward to it. Bowe should have ran it out and Andy could have challenged, but 5-0 shuts my mouth. Oline played great. Not missing Fisher a bit, sadly. I agree we should give Davis more touches so as to not gas Charles. I think coaches will call Lewis out in film study. A good, tough road game for the Chiefs that should pay dividends later in the season.

I am also hoping guys like Bowe, Hemingway and McCluster become a bigger part of the passing game.

I think Chad Hall had more passes thrown to him in the first half than all three of those guys combined.

Was he actually out? It looked close to me. Can we get a gif? I was hoping hed hit the endzone and andy would challenge it.

Whistle blew, play over, next snap.

Yep, once they blow the whistle, there's nothing you can do. That's why I think they gave us a break on the roughing call later on Alex Smith to keep our 4th quarter TD drive alive.

Um, no. Our secondary has been a real bright spot, and Thomas has been given quite a few duds to work with. Smith is playing his best football and Berry has been a revelation, especially in his cover skills. You have Safeties playing actually somewhat decent in practically a nickel corner role and you have Cooper come out of nowhere to play outstanding football.

Kendrick Lewis' problem is he doesn't have talent. It's not Emmitt Thomas. Lewis doesn't have speed and isn't a big enough hitter. More often than not, I think he overcompensates, which is why you see him try to take shortcuts.

Beyond the Bowe call, there were difinitely some janky calls on the Chiefs secondary, so the roughing call corrected the balance IMO.

All the talk about the offense struggling today... Tennessee came in to today's game with a defense ranked in the top 10 in both yards per game and points per game allowed.

I am not saying the offense doesn't have room for improvement, it obviously does, but we shouldn't overlook the fact the Chiefs played against a pretty good defense today.

gblowfish add a pic of one of your cool pets please only thing that was missing.

Best poster of CP by far.

Yeah, I was surprised. Their d was better than I thought

True enough, but as much man coverage KC plays, you gotta tackle tough. Just think Emmitt is not emphasizing enough is all. How long has he been secondary coach?
OK, now I'll get off his back

Bowe getting called out of bounds with out so much as a look just felt like home cookin. Great read as always Georgie.

How bout Mama Cat hiding out on the back porch? This was last spring:
http://i43.tinypic.com/ehafk3.jpg

Was pretty weird that they blew that play dead so quickly when they were giving Battle 4 and 5 chances to punch it in on the other side.

After week 6, Sanders Commings is eligible to come off IR. I'll be interested to see if he can take Lewis' job.

:)

Great read George. And I hate Fitzpatrick too!

I think we look for Demps and Abdullah to steal a lot of reps over the coming weeks then eventually take his starting spot later in the season.

Sanders could compete for the spot next season.

I know what you mean. My opinion of him is the same as your opinion. And to add to the points you made about him, he's a Harvard guy...which automatically makes me associate him with those d-bags in the movie, "Trading Places" and those twins/other various d-bags in "The Social Network." I have no idea if those films accurately depicted Harvard people or not, for I've never met a Harvard student or grad. However, for whatever reason, I can't help myself from associating anything Harvard with the pricks in those movies. Fitzpatrick included. When I see his face, I envision him being gay and douchey, rowing crew and singing in an acapella group with a smug expression on his face.

Demps should take it right now.

This year Lewis has a grand total of 8 tackles,1 assist, 1 pass defense, 0 ints and 0 FF, 0 sacks as a starter.


what are we going to miss?

My sister's a harvard grad. She's about as far from that as you can get. Hell, we're from a small town in West Virginia.

When Fitzpatrick ran that TD I couldn't help but think of that GIF of him screaming like a little girl.

Nice read gblowfish.

Why is it that when I read Chiefzilla's comments breaking things down, I feel like a kid that signed up for shop, then find out the class is being taught by the Home Economics teacher?

Hmm... well that honestly does change my perception of Harvard students a bit, considering I've never met a Harvard student/grad OR met anyone who has met a Harvard student/grad (let alone being a sibling of one) until reading your response. That is cool that she is cool.

this
I like demps

Whiffenpoofs are Yalies, ask Go Bowe.