Ten Things About Today's Game

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. The last 36 hours have been surreal for die hard Chiefs fans, and surreal for me personally. Most of the fans who populate the CP are die hards. They know the names of the players and coaches, where they went to college, what their skills and weaknesses are. We don't know the players personally, but know a lot about them, talk a lot about them, and on horrible days like today, care a lot more about them outside of football. Yesterday I was coming out of the neighborhood diner after breakfast, around 9:30 or so, flipped on sports radio in my car and heard KK talking about what had happened at Arrowhead about an hour earlier. I live very close to where all this happened. I live five or ten minutes north of the stadium. I know that neighborhood of 54th and Chrysler where the murder went down real well. I have friends who live in that very area. I used to play golf at Royal Meadows right around the corner. So this unfolding national, sad story was literally in my stomping grounds. I went home and turned on the TV and watched the news reports from the training facility parking lot. I couldn't believe it, especially in light of the type of year this has been. In a very strange way, it rendered the entire season meaningless and trivial. This is real life tragedy involving a player we've all talked about on the CP, his 22-year old girlfriend; and saddest of all, a three month old baby daughter who is now an orphan.

9. During the week, a friend of mine had a family emergency and had to pass on sitting with me at the game. It took me three days to find someone who wanted to go on that ticket, for free. I ended up taking my wife's cousin, who is a passive Chiefs fan. He agreed to go Friday night before all this went down. Before the game, we talked about all that had happened on Saturday, and wondered what the game would be like, how the team would handle things, what the atmosphere would be?

This post is going to be a long one. I took my camera today, because I thought it would be a good day to share pictures with the CP, so you could see the day as I've seen it today. Here's the stadium about 10 minutes before game time. As you can see, lots of empty seats, and the crowd was very subdued before kickoff. This is Section 119, where I walk down to my seats on the 50:


8. When the Chiefs came out, they got a wonderful, encouraging reception from the fans:

Right before the National Anthem, the Chiefs players all locked arms along the sideline, and there was a moment of silence for the victims of domestic violence. It was silent, and very moving. You can see Bowe and Romeo standing dead center:

A couple of Navy Jets flew over during home of the CHIEFS:


7. Carolina lost the toss. They've lost the toss in every game they've played this year. Chiefs took the ball, marched right down the field and scored. That's the first time they've done that in two years, scored seven on the opening possession. Hillis and Quinn on the bench right after the score:
This set the tone for the day. Off to the first decent start of the season.

6. Cam Newton is a monster. He's 6'4", around 240 lbs, and has a cannon for an arm. I kept thinking what the Chiefs could be with a guy like this at the helm. Is this what Geno Smith would look like in a Chiefs uniform? Elam got torched early on playing for Kendrick Lewis at safety. Right after the torching, he took himself out of the game with an injury. I never saw what happened to him, but the Chiefs put K-State Rookie Hartman in to play that position. Hartman did a fine job holding down the fort today. Berry, standing next to Hartman in this picture, did something to his left hand during the game. In the second half he played with a big ass bandage or cast. Amazing he could grab onto anything, but considering how many of our secondary guys were hurt, he had to play. Gutty performance by Berry today.


5. During the game, Flowers pulled a hamstring on his right leg, and went out. They used Brown and Arenas to cover. Arenas got dinged, and came out for awhile, but he sucked it up and went back in. DJ hurt his left hamstring in the third quarter, spent a long time trying to loosen it up, then went down into the locker room, came back up with an ice pack, and Greenwood played for him the rest of the game. Alan Bailey hurt a knee on the next to the last play of the game. Siler played Belcher's position today. Tyson Jackson had a sack and knocked down a third down pass. Poe ran over three guys to rush a pass into a third down incompletion late in the game. Hali was being held all day, and chased Newton all over the field. With all the injuries and adversity, the defense held on in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Gutty, gutty performance by all, I was greatly impressed.


4. Brady Quinn played great. We should consider keeping him as our backup next year. 19 for 23, 201 yards, 2 TDs, no picks, no fumbles. Quinn does not get happy feet, throws the ball away when he needs to, and just seems to be more level headed than Cassel. He's starting to shake off the rust now. He had a higher QB rating today than Newton, and nobody expected that. 132.1 passer rating is damn good. Quinn also ran for an important first down in the fourth quarter to keep the drive alive that led to Succop's final field goal. That was a big, big play. Eight different guys caught balls in this game, and Baldwin finally gets targeted for a TD. Offensive line only permitted one sack , and helped Charles rush for over 100 yards. Two of the guys on that line were rookies. Very impressive job by the O-Line. Much respect.


3. Jamaal Charles ran for 127 yards and caught four passes. Of all the Chiefs players, he was the most affected by yesterday's events. His wife was cousin of the young girl who was murdered, and it was Charles and his wife who fixed the couple up. Major props to Charles on his performance. He came to play under the most difficult of circumstances.

2. Near the end of the game, Clark Hunt popped out of the tunnel, and stood on the sidelines with the team during Carolina's last possession. He never, EVER does that. He did this week. He left the field with his arm around Bowe after the game was over. It was very touching.

1. Finally, major props for Romeo. We've been very hard on him this season, and deservedly so. The last two days must have been Hell for him. First to witness one of his players take his life, then have to marshall his team up to play the very next day. Whether he is relieved of duty next year or not, you have to admire the way the man handled himself in this, the most difficult of situations. I don't want him to remain as our long term coach, but I certainly respect him for how he has carried himself during all this.


The night Derreck Thomas died, I drove to Arrowhead and just sat in the parking lot by myself for a few minutes. I never thought I would see a day sadder than that. Today was bittersweet. Wonderful to win, and affirming as to the character of these players. They could have mailed it in, but they played their hearts out. Today was a historic day in Chiefs lore. I pray we'll never, ever have to go through another one with these circumstances.

[Scorp]

Good stuff man.

[1ChiefsDan]

Great as usual. Love the pics

[SAUTO]

Great list George.
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[RJ]

Maybe your best ever "Ten Things". Thanks for the post and the pics.

[lewdog]

I will say that after games I hang around CP during the night to have the honor to read your posts. You put many things about this team, city, franchise, players and coaches into perspective. Another good one today as well.

Thanks for always writing these out.

[Sorter]

Fantastic.

[Shogun]

A+ post

[Big Chief Homer]

George, awesome pics and summary as always. I have a question.

Clark came out onto the field today during the game, Have you noticed if hes been there for all the home games.

I know he comes out during pregame, just wondering if hes been there all season.

[BJ2K]

Awesome write-up. This game was very entertaining to watch, also.

[Old Dog]

Great job George. Thank You

[-King-]

Good post.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Big Chief Homer

George, awesome pics and summary as always. I have a question.

Clark came out onto the field today during the game, Have you noticed if hes been there for all the home games.

I know he comes out during pregame, just wondering if hes been there all season.

Clark is there for most, if not all the games. I think he's missed a couple because of his soccer team, but usually he is there. He's usually on the field during warm ups, he stands in front of the Chiefs bench with his entourage of suits. He goes back up to his suite about five minutes before the team comes out for the national anthem. Today he popped out of the tunnel and onto the sidelines at the two minute warning before Carolina got the ball for the last time. He is NOT Jerry Jones. He doesn't pester the players or coaches during the game. That's why this was so unusual. First time I've ever seen him on the field during a game.

[siberian khatru]

[DeezNutz]

Yep, the OP is a home run. The Royals are jealous, bud. Thanks for the great report and thoughts.