A Chiefs team like no other lost a game like no other, and maybe that’s OK

[Hammock Parties]

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/sp...221929295.html

LOS ANGELES

They hyped this as the game of the year and then somehow it was even better. A team scored 50 points and lost, and that never happened before. You could say the same about so many things that happened in this game.

They packed this place, a makeshift game put on with seven days’ notice after the game was moved from Mexico City, and they all had a small part in making it the best night of the NFL season so far. If anyone left before the final gun they had a clear drive home, a rare moment here without traffic because nobody wanted to miss a second of this one.

The concourses packed in the moments after the Rams’ 54-51 win over the Chiefs here at the L.A. Coliseum went final, fans still screaming the same Rams WHOSE HOUSE?!?! chant that filled much of the insane previous four hours or so.

The NFL built the greatest empire in American sports because nobody else is as good at such moments, at memories, but even in that context this was something different entirely. The men who make these games are serious, with losses feeling a little like deaths. Here, it felt more like a hell of a fun night.

“This is going to be an all-timer,” Chiefs lineman Mitchell Schwartz said. “I’m sure we’ll look back on it in a few years with some perspective and feel lucky to be part of that. Man, crazy.”

This is the kind of experience that pushes boundaries, perhaps the NFL’s best two teams essentially perfecting what we know football to be in 2018: 1,001 yards of offense, 14 touchdowns, seven turnovers, and 164 total plays (not counting touchbacks) of balletic violence, controlled violence and uncontrolled intrigue.

If this really is the Super Bowl prequel, the oral histories will post early in the hype cycle before the game in Atlanta — the memories of L.A.’s Aaron Donald wrecking the Chiefs’ line, Tyreek Hill wrecking the Rams’ secondary and the two coaches and offenses that best illustrate what offenses at all levels are searching for in 21st century football.

The stories might focus on Patrick Mahomes, too, the outrageously talented Chiefs quarterback who has already injected swagger into a fan base that’s mostly known disappointment.

He was his full self here, too, on the biggest stage on which he’s played so far in a career that continues to challenge what a sober person might think possible.

He found a touchdown to Chris Conley out of nothing, threw at least 63 yards in the air to Hill on another score, and made five turnovers that can be blamed on at least five factors — Donald is a freak, Samson Ebukam made one of the greatest plays you’ll ever see and Mahomes’ dropbacks are sometimes too deep, the ball in his hands too long, the ambition in his heart too impatient.

Mahomes completed 33 of 46 passes for 478 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions — all of it matching or exceeding his previous highs. His final passer rating of 117.6 was higher than anyone who’d ever thrown that many interceptions. Since the merger, only 18 men had a higher rating with two interceptions.

It’s a bit of mathematical semantics, perhaps, but sometimes sports challenge the ability to explain. That’s what happens when sports are at their best, anyway. And this was close.

Here’s another way to explain the craziness: Mahomes, in his first year as a starter with a yardage and touchdown total matched only five times in NFL history, essentially apologized for his performance.

“I think I gave them 21 points, pretty much, through turnovers,” Mahomes said. “Just like I said after the New England game: you can’t give good teams points turning the ball over.”

This was essentially a coin flip’s outcome, and that’s without getting into a long list of bizarre calls or misses by the officials. Mahomes had seven turnovers in his previous 10 starts. If he keeps it to just four in this one, the Chiefs probably win.

Cornerback Orlando Scandrick tracked a pass by Rams quarterback Jared Goff into his hands with just over 2 minutes left, and the Chiefs up four. If he holds onto it, the Chiefs probably win.

Put it this way: The Chiefs committed five turnovers, including two that led to defensive touchdowns, and were penalized 13 times (and called for a few more) and still had two chances with less than 2 minutes left to win the game or at least go to overtime on the road against the best team in the NFC.

The Chiefs began the night believing they could represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. Nothing happened to change a reasonable mind, including the fact that they still hold homefield advantage with their hardest games in the past.

“I think we feel optimistic,” Conley said. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, or the outcome we played for ... but the fact we were still in that game with the mistakes we made and the turnovers we had speaks a lot to the team we can be.”

This was a game unlike any in the league’s history, the kind that marks a season that still might have some magic in it. When the story of this game is retold, the focus will almost certainly be on the points and touchdowns and stars. The details will be largely lost, because that’s what happens, but for now a thought lingers.

If the Chiefs can make that many mistakes and nearly win anyway, their quarterback throwing for historic numbers and still taking the blame for a loss, then imagine what this might look like when it’s good.

[RaidersOftheCellar]

A win would've been nice but kind of irrelevant. They proved they belong and looked like the superior team. Take care of business in the home stretch and this is meaningless.

[oldman]

Throw out the BS calls and we win that game. I've said this before, but PMII still has a few things to learn. Five turnovers, 4 of which shouldn't have happened. On the other hand, name a QB in Chiefs history, even Lenny and Montana, that could have kept us in that game. I couldn't, either.
What we got was a real-life Madden game at the Coliseum, exactly what the NFL wants.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

That dropped INT may piss me off more than anything else in this game.

Yep. It was GAME OVER and it was right there - in spite of everything else that happened.

[MVChiefFan]

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But, IF the NFL is truly trying to manipulate games to go a certain way, we may have just punched a ticket to the Super Bowl. We may “get calls” for the rest of the year, because a Super Bowl rematch of last night would break all kinds of viewing records.

[L.A. Chieffan]

That whose house chant got old real quick. Rams fans are soft.

[OKchiefs]

I just hope the moral victories finally become irrelevant at some point and the real (significant) victories finally become a thing.

[mnchiefsguy]

For once I agree with Mellinger.

Future is bright. Hopefully the reports about Berry coming back after the bye are true. If Berry plays in the playoffs....things could get really special.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

That dropped INT may piss me off more than anything else in this game.

That was NOT a "dropped" INT and as bad as Scandrick played, I will not give him grief.

He leaped as high as he could, it barely touched his fingertips and then the WR batted it away. It would have taken a FANTASTIC play to catch that.

I think Ron Parker had a much BETTER chance to intercept Goff on that weak toss on the attempted short out when he was blitzing.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by scho63

That was NOT a "dropped" INT and as bad as Scandrick played, I will not give him grief.

He leaped as high as he could, it barely touched his fingertips and then the WR batted it away. It would have taken a FANTASTIC play to catch that.

I think Ron Parker had a much BETTER chance to intercept Goff on that weak toss on the attempted short out when he was blitzing.

Don't you have a Klan meeting to be at?

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by scho63

That was NOT a "dropped" INT and as bad as Scandrick played, I will not give him grief.

He leaped as high as he could, it barely touched his fingertips and then the WR batted it away. It would have taken a FANTASTIC play to catch that.

I think Ron Parker had a much BETTER chance to intercept Goff on that weak toss on the attempted short out when he was blitzing.

I think you need to rewatch it. It hit him square in his hands and didn't get swatted away until he had already lost grip on the ball. If he had just secured it he would have had an easy interception. Sorry, the guy that got burned for several touchdowns in the first half doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by prhom

I remember all of the times I watched Smith play it safe and not take chances only to lose the game by a couple of points and wondered what might have happened if he took a few more chances, even if it resulted in a few more INTs. I guess what we have seen against NE and the Rams is what happens. It’s more exciting to watch and less frustrating while it’s happening, but the result is still a loss.

It's one of the great myths on this board that great QBs turn the ball over more because they take more chances. That's not really true though. Guys like Brady and Wilson and Rodgers don't throw that many INTs, at least in the seasons they are really successful. Even Favre limited his turnovers the year they won it all. They still take chances and makes plays more than someone like Smith, but history says if we win it all with Mahomes he will likely be making those great plays and not turning it over a bunch. You could write out a laundry list of evidence, from Farve to Flacco.

[Beef Supreme]

We'll be fine.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Don't you have a Klan meeting to be at?

I already attended.

Don't you have a pink pussy hat to wear and go to a march?

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by tk13

It's one of the great myths on this board that great QBs turn the ball over more because they take more chances. That's not really true though. Guys like Brady and Wilson and Rodgers don't throw that many INTs, at least in the seasons they are really successful. Even Favre limited his turnovers the year they won it all. They still take chances and makes plays more than someone like Smith, but history says if we win it all with Mahomes he will likely be making those great plays and not turning it over a bunch. You could write out a laundry list of evidence, from Farve to Flacco.

He's on pace for 14-15 INTS and 50+ TDs, and you think this is a problem?

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Originally Posted by scho63

That was NOT a "dropped" INT and as bad as Scandrick played, I will not give him grief.

He leaped as high as he could, it barely touched his fingertips and then the WR batted it away. It would have taken a FANTASTIC play to catch that.

I think Ron Parker had a much BETTER chance to intercept Goff on that weak toss on the attempted short out when he was blitzing.

It was a drop. He actually had two chances to secure it before the WR even got a finger on it.