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.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Big Chief Homer

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

Yes he has been at every home game this year.

[Cornstock]

Thanks George

[Fairplay]

Great work my friend.

[The Bad Guy]

Says a lot about Romeo as the man. I hate him as a head coach, but he's a god damn good person.

[The Bad Guy]

Bowe has to be back. Just has to be.

He deserves to play with a QB who can actually consistently get him the ball.

[Bweb]

Excellent post!

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Says a lot about Romeo as the man. I hate him as a head coach, but he's a god damn good person.

Agreed. Hes hard to hate....just a sucky head coach. Peter Principle.

[Goldmember]

Great post, I always look forward to to reading your weekly "Ten Things" post. Derrick Thomas' and Joe Delaney's deaths hit me much harder than the the tragedy yesterday. Probably because they didn't kill someone, in in Delaney's case, actually died trying to save kids. The ultimate, selfless sacrifice. I feel badly for the families and the child, not so much for Belcher. No excuse for his actions.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

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.

They talked about it on the radio broadcast, too. He's apparently never done it before. They also talked about how how much time he spent with the team yesterday and today and how he's promised to set up a fund for the child.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by 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. 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.
So very true and hard to believe that the season could be more painful until yesterday. When I saw the OP start the "someone shot at Arrowhead" thread early in the morning I couldn't imagine how bad the story would become.

9. It took me three days to find someone who wanted to go on that ticket, for free.
The stadium looked about 35% filled with maybe 25,000 fans max. It was the most vacant I've seen Arrowhead since the 80's. Another sad moment in the recent history of our beloved Chiefs.

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.
Great photos! What camera do you use?

8. When the Chiefs came out, they got a wonderful, encouraging reception from the fans.
Chiefs fans are still one of the classiest bunches in the NFL and will quickly rally back to the team when things turn around. I can't wait because i really want to see my first Chiefs game at Arrowhead after 42 years.

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.
Two funny items right there. The probability of losing 13 straight coin tosses is crazy high, almost as bad as the Chiefs going 25 or 27 games without an opening drive score. That drive was great and the variety of plays was awesome. Why we don't mix things up that much makes no sense.

6. Cam Newton is a monster. He's 6'4", around 240 lbs, and has a cannon for an arm.
He dwarfed a lot of players on both sides and he seemed like he could have raked up 200 yds on the ground if he ran every play.

5. Gutty, gutty performance by all, I was greatly impressed.
The defense took a beating today and played pretty well as a unit all things considered. I must say Arenas to me has been the most improved. He has played 50x's better than Standford Routt and how this took nearly 3/4 of a season to figure out shows how our coaching staff and GM sucked at evaluating talent. Also Carolina had guys dropping out injured on every other play in the first half, about 7 guys.

4. Brady Quinn played great. We should consider keeping him as our backup next year.
Agree 100%. He makes Cassel look like an 8 yr old pop warner QB.

3. Jamaal Charles ran for 127 yards and caught four passes. Major props to Charles on his performance.
He does nothing but bust his hump every week. He is our MVP for 2012

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.
Nice gesture and that's all I can say about this.

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.
He has always come across to me as a really nice guy and maybe that's why the players don't fear him enough. He handled himself beyond the call of duty and I wish he would have been successful rather than the shit he has delivered.

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.
There is no way that I am even close to being as sad as when DT got into the crash and then died suddenly a short time later. While I thought Belcher was an OK player, he never connected with me. DT's death and Roberto Clemente's death when I was a little kid still hurt me to this day.

What can I say GB, you always deliver a great analysis and I have a couple of questions:

1. Any comments on what Pioli did or the fans reactions to him? I didn't see a single peep about him from any TV network, a camera shot, or a commentary on radio.
   
2. How many people do you guess attended the game? The TV coverage showed an empty parking lot and a stadium that looked 35% full. The coverage on TV was afraid to show any shots of the stadium, it was really funny. I didn't see a single shot of a fan or a stadium pan during the entire game.
   
3. What was tailgating like today? An Irish wake?

Thank you as always and if the Chiefs make some major changes this off-season, I am going to finally come to Arrowhead for a game and I want to have a drink with you!

[Ace Gunner]

nice read, tough day for sure.

I thought DJ played his best game today. He wasn't spectacular, but he played his position with great focus and was the leader that this defense needs.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by denverdanchiefsfan

Great as usual. Love the pics

Yeah, the pics are great, i really like something about #7.

Thanks again, gb

[ChiefsCountry]

I say the crowd was in 50k range today.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

I say the crowd was in 50k range today.

There was no way there was 50K today. There were so many empty seats. You will see how empty it is from the highlights or the replay

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Says a lot about Romeo as the man. I hate him as a head coach, but he's a god damn good person.

His post game press conference was on TV as I came home from work today. I was moved. When his eyes misted up and then just never cleared again...damn. That got me.