Say what you will but when the chips are down
 

The offense comes through.

It ain't pretty...it ain't fancy....it ain't awe-inspiring....


it IS clutch!

When the offense needs to move the ball and score, we find a way. We ate a shitload of clock when we needed to.

We have a lot of work to do but at the end of the day, when all is said and done, we come through with solid drives and don't fold under the pressure.


Props to an offense that struggled all night long but when it mattered they delivered.

Yep.

Alex Smith just did what everybody said an elite QB does at the end of the game.

I just wish they would have took care of business early so that it didn't come so close.

I know, so do I. And 3rd and 1 seems to be an issue still but ****, how many times did we convert 3rd and 10+????

Pete threads are so much better after a win.

Say what you will, but when the chips are down Pete starts a thread.

That drive after they cut it to 7 was HUGE

Yep. If Alex could do that for 4 qtrs and hit an occasional deep pass, the offense will be all right.

The 3rd down from our own endzone to start that long drive was great.

To Avery No Less. What A Jem We Found!

Clutch in the 4th quarter, 2nd week in a row.

Trick is, they need to move the ball and score throughout the entire game, not just in the 4th quarter. They do that and the last two games are laughers rather than nail-biters.

(of course, I"m sure the offense knows this just as well as I do)

We're doing a great job at holding people off. The next step is learning to crush them instead of letting them hang around.

One of the biggest play of the game was Bowe's only catch for a whopping 4 yards. 4 measly yards yet it arguably helped us seal the deal.

No kidding.

I was expecting a 3 and out after McCluster completely ****ed up.

Do you think it has more to do with the plays they are calling and the formations they are using? How many times did we go spread on 3rd and 1 and 2 tonight to come up with nothing?

Yes I agree, Avery's legs are quite clutch.

So is hitting him in stride so he can use those legs.

Not hard when he's 5 yards from you and uncovered...

Phenomenal drive. Extremely impressed with Alex Smith on that drive. Also, extremely impressed with Donnie Avery all night long.

If you're Cassel it is. I don't give a **** if he throws it 5 yards or 50 if it converts 3rd and long. Some of you are overly-consumed with what ends up being nothing more than meaningless stats.

Objective: Convert 3rd and long
Method: Whatever ****ing works

You were in the Chat. I called that. I said where bowe was, and called it.

Sexy as ****.

I think Avery is going to be a good signing. He seems to be pretty sure handed as well as fast.

And for all the crying about the suck offense....

3 games...0 turnovers

I'm not displaced because of stats. It's Alex having drives were he would take off and run for three straight plays because he doesn't have a nut sack to throw past the 10 yard marker. I'd rather he shoot for the stars and land in the mud then shoot for the mud and make it.

Might as well just say you'd rather look good losing than look ugly winning.

The offense has "it."

They just get the job done, period.

Hard to do that though when the line isn't giving you much of a protection.

I aint believing any of this until you take me out of your sig and avatar. ROFL

when you throw on 3rd and one you ain't gonna get it, that is Jamal time
so is 1st and 10
and then seconfd and 3 so there will be no 3rd and 1


Jamal needs more blockers

That's great if your only metric for success is turnovers, and things like sustaining drives and scoring points don't matter.

****ing loved avery tonight, guess bowe is just a well paid decoy

5 turnovers starting at our own 40 yard line and the offense can only produce 1 TD? We have bigger issues then looking ugly. This 'ugliness' that you're white knighting as a win- will cost us games in the future.


The defense crowds the box because Alex doesn't test the edges. This isn't a symptom of bad line play but a resultant of poor QB play.

I hope he comes around. We should be looking for Bowe in the Red Zone a lot more.

definition of a slant

At the end of the day, when the chips are down, when it is all said and done, when the smoke clears.

Might help when we get some tight ends back in the fold. Honestly I went into this game thinking we're going to be lucky if we walk out of it with a win. D bailed us out, O was clutch when it needed to be. Glad we get some extra rest now, and hopefully a few extra days for the coaches to start tweaking what our O should be focused on running...

I feel very confident knowing 70% percent of our passing yards came from them. Bring it Peyton.

Avery is outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous.

It's a long season, peckerwood.

Donnie has some wheels

Not pretty but I'll take it. Coming off a short week is icing on the cake for this win. Now a good rest and hopefully the coaches can mend some of the inconsistencies in the offense. 3 and 0 !!!

I'm not an Alex fan but that long drive in the 4th was definitely clutch. Also, although you would ideally like to score more, the offense was able to burn a lot of clock and keep the Eagles' offense on the sidelines (obviously, the defense also gave them the ball a lot).

I was surprised at how many yards the offense ended up with. It didn't seem like much during the game.

Those of you who are focusing on Smith's play tonight are idiots.

What do you want him to do, force the ball into coverage?

It would be nice if he had a decent tight end, a WR who can get open, an offensive line who gives him time, a line that makes holes for our running backs.

The good news is that I think this team will only continue to get better. Bitch all you want, but 3-0 is something to celebrate.

Yes Pete it is great to be 3-0. They are learning how to win as ugly as it may be but I will take it for now. Many many concerns still but I will refrain from being negative for now.

You know what will be interesting is now that Philly has lost 2 home games back to back against the weakest division in the NFL last year (AFC West) if the players/fans will still buy into this 'gimmicky offense' because I can see this going south real quickly. Remember when Spurrier left the college game and came to the NFL popping off about his high powered air offense and it soon fell on it's face ??:rolleyes: I think the same will happen with Kelly's offense as well.

Maybe not the weakest division any longer?

Real difference is they commit to the run.

This offense drove me up the wall all night long. JFC Yet, when they absolutely HAVE to get the job done, they do.

I just wish they could do this more than a few drives per game.

Just reviewing the drive chart of the 4th Q drive.

15 plays, 8:15 ran off the clock and a lead extending FG

Just HUGE!

The TD drive before was 8 plays, 4:45

so between 2 drives we ran off almost a full quarter

That has a lot to do with it.

I mean, off tackle run from the shotgun with the tackle pulling on 3rd & 1? Jamaal runs for 5 yards on 1st & goal and you turn around and pitch it to that worthless ****er McCluster on the next play? Run Jamaal between the tackles from singleback formations all through the first 3 quarters then gash them for 50+ on stretch plays running out of I formations?

That 4th qtr drive from the 5 or 6 yard line chewing up 8+ minutes was freakin EPIC!!

That clock eating drive was bigger than the points at the end.

I think that's exactly what some want. They have no concept for the consequences... or they want Smith to fail, so they want him throwing high-risk passes.

Too bad. 3-0, whoooo!!!!!

Offense is ugly, but clutch when it counts.

Does this offense have a slant play? I know they do but why don't they throw it and take more advantage of the screen. I think Smith is best when he isn't hanging on to the ball. That said, the last two weeks the O has had HUGE drives to secure the W. I love the resiliency of this team. Go CHIEFS!!!

They have been running some slants and screens... probably could be more.. but they are there.

Andy Reid's a damn good football coach.

We're going to be amazed by the results of competent coaching.

That's one of those kinds of drives that a season can really hinge on. We go 3 and out and Philly has good field position, most likely scores, game tied and momentum is gone and we probably lose.

I think the best part of that drive was all freakin' night we had struggled to sustain a drive then BAM!

Poise is the word that comes to mind. Heart as well. That is the kind of drive that not only builds confidence but can set a season onto a winning path.

Getting pressure when they send 3 down lineman is a symptom of bad line play.

They repeatedly dropped 8 into coverage and still got to Smith. It's damn hard to find an open man when 8 are back; harder still when you're only going to have about 2 seconds to throw the football.

Smith needs to play better, don't get me wrong. There were times he felt phantom pressure out there and he missed on a throw or two I'd have liked him to hit. But ultimately the Eagles realized they were able to drop guys into coverage and still get pressure on the QB - that's going to be a damn tough assignment for anybody.

I think if Fasano and the TE's were healthy, the offense wouldn't be as inept as it is at times.

I watched the game and it was difficult to watch to be sure, but what was clutch was the back breaking 8-9 minute drive in the 4th quarter. Vick never plays well against the Chiefs. He does play well against the Broncos. The KC defense is legit. It will be interesting to see how they match up against the Broncos in a couple of months.

This.

Yep. Accurate and solid post as usual.

He is an average QB at best and because he doesn't test himself will most likely come up short. Take heart, if Trent Dilfer can win a championship then any pro can.

Spot on analogy couldn't agree more hopfully the O line gets better as they play together more and our TEs get healthy. AS will get better as he develops trust with his wide recievers.

My son's were screaming at the TV the first three quarters due all the little mistakes on offense. So many keep blaming Smith, but I was seeing mistakes by everyone on offense.

At first I blamed in on a short week of preparation and lots of emotion. That would account for the early game drops by Bowe, McCluster, and Charles. Fisher was getting schooled all night (hope he learns fast). Albert couldn't line up right all night. As Reid said after the game, "there are lots of things to work on".

I'm surprised how little people are recognizing that this is a new offense with new players that will take time to come together. With Trent Green he didn't start playing well until the fourth game of the season against Washington. And we all remember how many interceptions TrINT threw his first season. As long as I'm seeing improvement I'm happy because we all know the good teams play their best in November through January not in September.

The really exciting news so far the Defense is outstanding and special teams is really making a difference. I really like how the offense is not turning the ball over. Some want to see Alex take a lot more risk, but that is Michael Vicks game not Alex Smiths. Also, they are establishing leads early in the game, winning time of possession and keeping leads by leading long clock eating scoring drives when it counts. Not bad for a recovering 2-14 team.

I expect both teams punters will be able to skip that game.

Clutch when it mattered most.

The third and long conversion from our own five yard line in the 4th quarter was incredible. Alex had to make that play and he threaded the needle. That's the kind of thing that successful NFL QBs do. It's what we've been missing the most.

This is very true! You want the Chiefs to play best in the last 4 games of the season. The Chiefs squandered a 9-0 start (essentially) because they played crappy in the last part of the season and it continued into the playoffs. Essentially the same thing happened in 2010 also. Better to end strong that start strong!

That may be the case.

But as has been the case from the jump - he's the best that was available to us. And I still believe that he'll look more and more like the Alex Smith that played under Harbaugh as he gets more comfortable.

Urban Meyer's criticisms of him were the most fascinating I've read to date by far. He flat out said that Alex Smith does not like being uncomfortable within an offense. He's a programmed QB that won't improvise and as a result, he needs to know an offense backwards and forwards before he becomes a plus passer. He noted that Smith's great when he knows the offense, but that he's too conservative in getting to that point.

Guess what - your boy Manning's the same way. Smith's not Manning, don't get me wrong, but Manning's played in the same offense for a decade and doesn't improvise ever. He's a quarterbacking robot. Well that's the kind of game that Smith wants to play. But he needs to be confident in his weapons and comfortable in the offense before he provides even a reasonable facsimile of that.

He's not great. He'll never be great. But by the end of the season he'll be a hell of a lot better than he is now and right now he's smart enough to have us at 3-0.

When you have a defense that can play at a good level then it is not bad to be risk adverse as a QB. Not saying Smith is Montana but I can remember him saying that if the play isn't there then live to fight the next series.

In the middle of the game last night I had to leave the game thread because the negativity was just overflowing at epic levels. The chat room was much more composed. I turned to my wife and said people have short memories because I can remember a Monday night game at Arrowhead with Montana that we beat Elway and the Broncos with 5 FG's and the score was like 15-7.

I just want to win and I don't care if it's defense, offense, special teams, whatever. You don't get an extra win for being pretty on offense and you don't get less of a win because you only threw for 200 yards in a dink-dunk fashion.

You are right. They have done it when needed, but if they keep forcing themselves into 3rd and 14, and 3rd and 19 on these important drives, eventually they will fail. I have said it in several threads, offensive play calling has been questionable at times. Three trips to the red-zone in the first half and only one pass into the end-zone troubles me.

What about the 5 previous trips that all ended in TD's????/

No, my only metric for success is winning.

Yours, whineboy?

The offense, IMO, is going to get better. Everyone is still picking up the new scheme and I think (hope) the coaches continue to adjust to the personnel. Charles shouldn't go from being an outstanding back to average one. The O-line should begin to gel (including Fisher). And, hopefully, we can find some consistency and health at the TE position.

I think our fear &I loathing comes from watching Chiefs go 13-3 built on massive dominance in 2 of 3 phases of the game compensating for sheer ineptitude in the third.

Through the regular season.

Then one & done in playoffs. We just hope it' s not where we are headed. Most people I know figured the D would be fine but afraid the O could not keep up.

No way. There will be punts. I said it on the Mane the other day, the Chiefs Dline and LB play is exceptional at worst. It should be good. Lotta high draft picks. :)

It's funny that you say that because I heard people calling Smith a "Game Manager" as some kind of negative. WTF is Manning then? He's certainly a game manager. An exceptional one to be sure, but he's still manging the game and taking what the defense gives him. The difference is Manning knows how to attack a defense, where Smith is too timid to do so. It's almost like he doesn't have the mean streak required to be the absolute best.

I think Andy Reid needs to be willing to run the ball early in the game as well as late in the game. I was cussing out the playcalling the whole first half it felt like. That drive in the third quarter that ate over eight minutes - that is how we should be running our offense.

Also, the offensive line really needs to step it up in both running and pass protection. I mean, we couldn't convert on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1? With Jamaal ****ing Charles?

Sounds tired but I have to say, let's get to the playoffs before we start worrying about how far we go.

The bright side of not running it early is JC has fresh legs in the 4th. We've seen that and needed that 2 games in a row now.