Ten Things About Today's Game

[gblowfish]

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!

[rico]

WARNING: Home-ec and shop class rant, not at all relevant to the 10 things. You have been warned, so if you end up feeling as if you wasted a couple minutes of your life, don't be butt-hurt about it for you are the dumbass who continued to read it.

I freaking loved home-ec and the tasty shit we cooked. Hated it during wrestling season because I couldn't eat and it was torture, but other than that, that shit was awesome!!!

Shop class was alright... However, I can't think about it without thinking of scooping fish guts and poop out of a gutter though. That is what our shop teacher would make me do during detention... I seemed to receive more detentions in that class than all my other classes combined. And my teacher wasn't a bad guy or anything. He actually seemed to like me. He gave me $25 for my high school graduation gift and stayed at my graduation party for like 3 hours. He thought the shit I pulled was funny and would have a smile on his face and/or be laughing while simultaneously giving me my detention(s). There was one time where I received a detention that lasted 2 weeks because of a stunt I pulled in shop class...For two weeks straight I had to come to class an hour early to scoop fish guts and feces from these gutters that they drained their tanks into. Had to do it with a small spoon. It was disgusting...smelled like shit (well, it was shit, so that makes sense). My shop teacher laughed at me while watching me scoop the shit, especially would whine and complain about it like a little he-bitch. He laughed hysterically when I did what I did which led to being given the lengthy detention by him....which was pouring baby powder in the hair of this dude who had coal-black hair in an effort to convince people he had a horrid case of dandruff. Total dick move, I know. Can't remember why I did it...I think he made a Poindexter-esque comment to the teacher in class that pissed me off and I latched on to that comment as an excuse to do it when in reality, I just thought it'd be funny to do. That kid was a huge dumbass and all and I could make a case that he deserved it, but still...total dick move. He was one of those guys who I contacted Billy Madison style on a random day a couple years after graduation to apologize for being such a douche-canoe in HS... I did that with like 3 people...DICKHEAD!!! I think 2-3 years of high school "meathead turned college pothead-meathead" guilt trips influenced me to do that.

Funny comment by the almighty Milkman...chiefzilla is a character and I actually enjoy reading his takes, for he seems to put a lot of thought/effort into them, but I can definitely see how Milkman would perceive him the way he described, which is ****ing comedy gold, IMO. Haha, I love this place....funniest board on the net.

In regards to gblowfish's #4 (Kendrick Lewis), MAN...I remember thinking that guy was money a few years ago...or had potential to be money, at least. Now I think he's a choad and cringe watching him **** up. Crazy how time sorts things.

[Megbert]

I thought the late hit on Alex Smith was a make up for the PI Berry was called for on 3rd and 8. Gave the Tits a new set of downs and they scored a TD instead of being forced to kick a FG. But the Bowe OoB call was rather crappy. Compounded by no definitive angle to prove otherwise and the whistle blowing.

Which is one thing I hate about replay. The "A" games of the day get more cameras in more places so more angles. Where as the B-D games get fewer cameras so there's less of a chance to have a good angle to prove or disprove a challenge.

Oh and why with 2 seconds left did the Tits try for a FG down by 9? Cover the spread for Vegas?

[rico]

This is one of my favorite gblowfish "10 Things" articles ever...dude touches on a lot of points that I had been thinking about myself.

#5...the over-utilization of Charles scares the shit out of me. It seems like EVERY time he gets tackled, I am crossing my fingers, expecting the worst, like another torn ACL or a career ender. Don't know how to explain it, but his body just appears so awkward when he is brought down. Literally every time he touches the ball, it's a combination of excitement due to how capable of pulling off huge plays he is and fear of him getting hurt.

If he did get hurt and was out for the season as a result, how are the carries distributed? Does Knile get the bulk or does Cyrus? How good can both of those guys be? I freaking love our RB tandem. Jamaal, combine-beast Knile Davis and Cyrus the freaking Virus who I have been a fan of since Texas vs. A&M 2010. Love it. What do y'all think we have with those two???

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by AZORChiefFan

I thought the late hit on Alex Smith was a make up for the PI Berry was called for on 3rd and 8. Gave the Tits a new set of downs and they scored a TD instead of being forced to kick a FG. But the Bowe OoB call was rather crappy. Compounded by no definitive angle to prove otherwise and the whistle blowing.

Which is one thing I hate about replay. The "A" games of the day get more cameras in more places so more angles. Where as the B-D games get fewer cameras so there's less of a chance to have a good angle to prove or disprove a challenge.

Oh and why with 2 seconds left did the Tits try for a FG down by 9? Cover the spread for Vegas?

I think the hope was that there would still be time on the clock once the field goal was made. Nope.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

I'm pretty sure they don't teach either subject these days. For general forum understanding, you need to put it in terms the younger forum members can understand.

"Why is it that when I read Chiefzilla's comments breaking things down, I feel like a kid that signed up for "Racism and White Privilege", then find out the class is being taught by the "Gay and Lesbian Studies" teacher?

I hate **** tards who can't keep their politics out of football forums.

Congratulations on being political poster troll. There's several on every forum. You're an internet cliche.

[TimeForWasp]

Nice write up.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by AZORChiefFan

I thought the late hit on Alex Smith was a make up for the PI Berry was called for on 3rd and 8. Gave the Tits a new set of downs and they scored a TD instead of being forced to kick a FG. But the Bowe OoB call was rather crappy. Compounded by no definitive angle to prove otherwise and the whistle blowing.

Which is one thing I hate about replay. The "A" games of the day get more cameras in more places so more angles. Where as the B-D games get fewer cameras so there's less of a chance to have a good angle to prove or disprove a challenge.

Oh and why with 2 seconds left did the Tits try for a FG down by 9? Cover the spread for Vegas?

Tiebreaker at end of season.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

If you look at the stat line it is absolutely an even game in nearly every category. Our toughness really prevailed and I hate to say it but if Locker was in it might have turned out ugly for us.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=331006010

[scho63]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. Let's start by saying 5-0 is what this week is all about.
We got a little lucky yesterday but I'll take it-only one of three teams at 5-0!

9. KC's defense played nearly a perfect first half. Missed tackles and defensive penalties let the Titans back into the game in the third quarter. Blowing 13 point leads is a problem...a big one.
Too many times we had excellent containment and let Fitzpatrick slip through our fingers. We are having too many dumb penalties at the worst moments as drive killers-gotta fix this ASAP. Can't let a team off life support when you are beating on them, especially on the road with their home crowd.

8. Kudos to Dave Toub and the boys on the Special Short Bus again this week.
Absolutely! Another good ST's week

7. Offense has a lot of problems. Alex Smith misses his tight ends.
Alex Smith was awful with his accuracy today and he missed a lot more than just his tight ends

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. I think we need to play Knile Davis a bit more.
The reason for the late hit call was that the player launched himself at Alex Smith as he was going out of bounds-he hit him slightly inbounds and had the stupid Titans player shoved him instead of launching at him, there is no call. I'll take it no matter what.
I'm gonna strongly disagree with you on Knile Davis.
I don't want him getting anymore than 5 or 6 carries MAX in the first half and I want him NOWHERE near the ball in the fourth quarter. He is a loose cannon with the ball.

5. Another worrisome stat: KC's third down conversion rate was awful. Today it was one for twelve. We've got to get Bowe more involved. We threw the ball at Chad Hall over and over again. Why? Another thing to worry about: Penalties. Albert was called again. 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.
Agree, agree, and agree What the hell is wrong with Albert? Is he taking stupid pills? He is making so many mistakes like a damn rookie.

4. I want Kendrick Lewis benched. This guy is the WORST open field tackler I've ever seen in a Chiefs uniform.
All I ever see is him trying to chase down someone who blew by him. He isn't playing too well or making any tackles that I see.

3. For shout outs, the play of Poe, Bailey is playing much better, but today's unsung hero was Cooper.
Poe was a great draft pick and how about that Cooper guy from.......RU!
Rutgers has put out a ton of talent the last 6-7 years.

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.
I was telling the people around me in the bar the same exact thing! I hated him in Buffalo and I hated the fact he was facing us with the Titans. When he scored that late TD on the scramble, I wanted to drive to Nashville and stab him with an ice pick. I really thought we were done for but I was glad I was wrong!

1. Teams are still holding Hali, Houston and Tyson Jackson. Defense had three sacks today, should have had three or four more, except they couldn't seem to corral that slippery, slow backup QB.
Now, those parole violating, psychopathic father rapers The FADE are coming in to our house next week. They've won six in a row at Arrowhead. We cannot let them come in here and break our winning streak. So far, its been one hell of a ride.
This week I didn't see many blatant holds against our front line but I did get stuck watching the game on the smallest TV in the bar, which really sucked.
WE MUST NOT ONLY BEAT THE FAIDERS BUT BEAT THEM BAD!!!

Thanks as always George and I'm in total agreement EXCEPT your desire to see more of Knile Davis. LOL

Have a great week and let's kick some Raider's ass!

[Beer Bong]

My biggest concern is Donnie Avery. The Titans exploited us a little bit. When he went out, they stopped our offense cold for a while. When he's out there, he has to be accounted for because he can stretch the field. His back up was Hall and he's not scaring anyone on the outside. It would be nice if Jenkins could come along and take that back up role because he is pretty fast. Eventually, Reid/Pederson were able to adjust and move the chains and that was encouraging but, if we lose Avery for any extended length of time we are in big trouble.

[rico]

Originally Posted by Beer Bong

My biggest concern is Donnie Avery. The Titans exploited us a little bit. When he went out, they stopped our offense cold for a while. When he's out there, he has to be accounted for because he can stretch the field. His back up was Hall and he's not scaring anyone on the outside. It would be nice if Jenkins could come along and take that back up role because he is pretty fast. Eventually, Reid/Pederson were able to adjust and move the chains and that was encouraging but, if we lose Avery for any extended length of time we are in big trouble.

I agree. Nice post.

[Halfcan]

Poe had a monster game- but could have been more if he was not Double Held on nearly every play.

Great win!!

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I don't think anyone on this board will disagree here.

He gave, literally, one of the worst efforts I've ever seen given on that TD play by Chris Johnson. Not only did he take a horrendous angle, he also didn't even attempt to regain position when CJ made his cut. He also took a horrendous angle on Fitzpatrick on his 22 yard scamper to spark their comeback..

I think we all remember that 70 yard run Vick had where he also took such a shitty angle Vick was basically able to jog right by him.

Dude needs to see some of his reps stolen by Demps and Abdullah.

Lewis is the weakest link for sure- much rather have Demps.

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Poe had a monster game- but could have been more if he was not Double Held on nearly every play.

Great win!!

Holding in gut of the beast is one thing. I can recall one blocking in the back that was so obvious and at least 2 holds on Hali with nobody around.

I think we both agree that the officiating yesterday was horrendous all the way around.

[gblowfish]

Here's the Nashville Newspaper this morning. Pollard said "We Beat Ourselves."


Well, KC's Defense, Jamaal Charles and Ryan Succop had a little sumptin to do with that too....

Also, KC held Chris Johnson to 17 yards rushing. That's terrific:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...nclick_check=1