ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs 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!