gblowfish
09-25-2011, 08:24 PM
Ten Things About Today's Game
10. You know what? I actually had a pretty good weekend. Not great, but good. I saw Lewis Black in Topeka Friday night. My wifey and I watched her KSU Wildcats upset Miami yesterday. The Tigers played a respectable game vs. Oklahoma. Then this morning I had a nice cup of coffee and danish and read the paper on my back porch, just enjoying the outdoors for a couple hours. I expected nothing out of the Chiefs. I resigned myself to the fact they were going to lose about five minutes after the Detroit game ended. My initial guess was a final score around 31 to 3. When I heard Antonio Gates was out, I thought maybe 28 to 3. The actual 20-17 final was not as close at it will appear to the general public. San Diego dominated most of the game. The Chiefs had one chance to tie or perhaps win the game. One. And as soon at that chance appeared like a wisp of smoke on a fledgling campfire, Matt Casshole -who I now will refer to as "The Duke of Dink" - threw a final fatal dink somewhere in the general area code of Dexter McNugget. So, as Coach Haley would say "We're not doing so well here in the season's first quarter." We're zero - two - and one moral victory, because we beat the spread today. Make no mistake, the Chiefs were terrible once again, especially in the first half. San Diego was almost as bad. Never underestimate the ability of a Norv Turner team to suck in September.
9. The first half stats were historically bad. Zero first downs. Seven possessions without a first down. "The Illusive Thomas Jones" averaging two yards a carry. We should start calling Jones "Two Point Oh," because like the number on his back, that's what you're going to get every time you hand him a football. Beyond that, The Duke of Dink averaged three yards per pass and never threw a ball to a wide out or a tight end the entire first half. Early on we had third and four, Dunk of Dink throws a three yard pass. Later we had third and five, Duke of Dink threw a four yard pass. It was truly amazing. it was vintage Bill Kenney quarterbacking, who is the all time king of the Chiefs' third down completion short of a first down.
8. The only thing that kept KC from being blown out in the first half was Phyllis Rivers' turnovers. Chiefs get two picks with returns of more than 40 yards, and can't convert either one into points. The Chiefs missed out on maybe three or more turnovers in this game. Derrick Johnson had a pass hit him literally in the hands and was dropped. Later a tipped pass bounded straight over Johnson's head and he never saw it. Brandon Carr had a Rivers fumble roll right to his feet. Instead of falling on the ball, he tries to pick it up and a San Diego lineman falls on it instead. Succop misses a field goal inside of 40 yards, San Diego gets the ball and drives down and scores its first seven. That's a ten point swing, and ultimately cost the Chiefs at least a tie. This is the third game in a row that a Succop miss in the first half has totally disrupted the team momentum. He is on thin ice.
7. San Diego will be relieved that they won, but their play was uninspired. Rivers was under pressure for most of the game. San Diego won time of possession by ten minutes. The KC defense was worn down, and two starters, Flowers and McGraw, were out. Even with all that, the Chiefs were able to make a fourth and one stand against a stupid Rivers QB sneak with less than two minutes left to get the ball back for The Duke of Dink. Tolbert was plowing through the KC defense. Why not run as much time off as you can -Norv could have burned about an extra :20 secs off the clock- and then plow Tolbert for a first down? A first wins the game. Norv is a bone head. San Diego will never, ever, ever win a thing with Norv at the helm.
6. Flowers injury is an ankle, not a knee. But he's had a history of bad ankles. In years past he's missed several games with an ankle injury. So hopefully he won't be out long. I could care less about McGraw's injury. We're not missing a thing with him out. Bowe got his bell rung in the last three minutes. Hopefully he'll be OK for next week. We should be getting "Thumbs Up" Baldwin back soon. It's been hard trying to compete without our first round pick from this year AND last year. We'll probably have to pick up another tight end for the roster this week. Is Martin Rucker or Chase Coffman still out there? Can't be worse than Leonard "You Can't Keep Your Hat On" Pope.
5. Offensively, the Chiefs have been getting whipped in every category every week. That's no surprise. Third down conversion in the first half was non-existent. Chiefs ended up being five for twelve on third down and one for one on fourth down. Chiefs run defense was decent for most of the game until they got tired in the fourth quarter. Our pass defense was good early until Flowers went out. Then when Daniels, Washington and Slappy Pistachio was in, we couldn't stop a crossing route unless the San Diego player dropped the ball. KC never seems to be able to stop a crossing route. Teams routinely beat them on third down with crossing routes. It's going to be a long year facing first tier QBs who will pick us apart.
4. I'm concerned with team discipline. Too many stupid penalties again this week. KC had seven penalties for 65 yards, and many of those at incredibly inopportune times. Seems like every time we'd try to answer a Chargers score, a holding or offside penalty would set things back. And what the HELL is Pope doing taking off his helmet? Do our players NOT know the rule book? If San Diego starts their last drive from the twenty instead of the 30, we might have enough yards to attempt a game tying field goal at the end. Haley didn't even seem upset after the game today. All he was saying is "I love my guys, they're just so fun to be around" blah blah blah. Huh? Dude, you're zero and three. And what about clock management and time out management today? Not having ANY timeouts in the last two minutes -and that's without having any play challenges- is incredibly stupid. That just put more pressure on the Duke of Dink in the last drive, and since we couldn't stop the clock, everything was rushed, and ergo, you get a killing screen pass completed directly to a San Diego defender.
3. Who played well today? Colquitt punted better today, and he was under a lot of pressure on several punts. Arenas had a decent kick return. Flowers held Vincent Jackson relatively in check before going out injured. Hali brought good pressure. Dorsey actually made a couple tackles. Bowe had a nice TD catch dragging a toe. But that's about it. Pope marred his TD by taking his helmet off, and Succop's missed field goal turned out to be the difference in the game. it looks like the giveaway-takeaway wants to swing back more in the Chiefs favor, but the Chiefs can't convert the turnover opportunities given. They drop a pick, or can't fall on a fumble. It's Murphy's Law during a stretch like this. And it's what is needed to turn the tide from losing to winning.
2. McClain only got two carries for two whole yards. They need to throw him the ball. McCluster rushed nine times and caught five balls. He's going to get killed again this year. He's too small for that much action, and he's going to get creamed on a dink pass sometime this year. I can just see it coming. Also, they should play Jackie Battle more. He's a big bruising back, he can pass protect (something you won't get from McCluster) and can wear a defense out. He played very well against Oakland a few years ago in that role. I like him, and if the offense is going to grind the clock, he can be a weapon in the fourth quarter.
1. It's a shame that with all that went wrong, and that KC caught San Diego on a flat day for them, that the Duke of Dink had to cough up a very bad pick to kill our chances. He does not handle pressure well, and reminds me a lot of Elvis the Pants Wetter in pressure cooker situations. I think burning those time outs in the second half ultimately led to the loss. If you count pre-season -which the Chiefs brass will tell you doesn't predict actual season performance- KC has lost nine straight games. That's a lot of losses in a row. Winning is a culture and an attitude, as is losing. This season is looking very Herm Like to me. At least Herm beat San Diego in Qualcomm back in September 2007, something Coach Haley has not been able to do in his three years.
PS: Will somebody please swat Prime Time with a fly swatter? He's starting to annoy me.
10. You know what? I actually had a pretty good weekend. Not great, but good. I saw Lewis Black in Topeka Friday night. My wifey and I watched her KSU Wildcats upset Miami yesterday. The Tigers played a respectable game vs. Oklahoma. Then this morning I had a nice cup of coffee and danish and read the paper on my back porch, just enjoying the outdoors for a couple hours. I expected nothing out of the Chiefs. I resigned myself to the fact they were going to lose about five minutes after the Detroit game ended. My initial guess was a final score around 31 to 3. When I heard Antonio Gates was out, I thought maybe 28 to 3. The actual 20-17 final was not as close at it will appear to the general public. San Diego dominated most of the game. The Chiefs had one chance to tie or perhaps win the game. One. And as soon at that chance appeared like a wisp of smoke on a fledgling campfire, Matt Casshole -who I now will refer to as "The Duke of Dink" - threw a final fatal dink somewhere in the general area code of Dexter McNugget. So, as Coach Haley would say "We're not doing so well here in the season's first quarter." We're zero - two - and one moral victory, because we beat the spread today. Make no mistake, the Chiefs were terrible once again, especially in the first half. San Diego was almost as bad. Never underestimate the ability of a Norv Turner team to suck in September.
9. The first half stats were historically bad. Zero first downs. Seven possessions without a first down. "The Illusive Thomas Jones" averaging two yards a carry. We should start calling Jones "Two Point Oh," because like the number on his back, that's what you're going to get every time you hand him a football. Beyond that, The Duke of Dink averaged three yards per pass and never threw a ball to a wide out or a tight end the entire first half. Early on we had third and four, Dunk of Dink throws a three yard pass. Later we had third and five, Duke of Dink threw a four yard pass. It was truly amazing. it was vintage Bill Kenney quarterbacking, who is the all time king of the Chiefs' third down completion short of a first down.
8. The only thing that kept KC from being blown out in the first half was Phyllis Rivers' turnovers. Chiefs get two picks with returns of more than 40 yards, and can't convert either one into points. The Chiefs missed out on maybe three or more turnovers in this game. Derrick Johnson had a pass hit him literally in the hands and was dropped. Later a tipped pass bounded straight over Johnson's head and he never saw it. Brandon Carr had a Rivers fumble roll right to his feet. Instead of falling on the ball, he tries to pick it up and a San Diego lineman falls on it instead. Succop misses a field goal inside of 40 yards, San Diego gets the ball and drives down and scores its first seven. That's a ten point swing, and ultimately cost the Chiefs at least a tie. This is the third game in a row that a Succop miss in the first half has totally disrupted the team momentum. He is on thin ice.
7. San Diego will be relieved that they won, but their play was uninspired. Rivers was under pressure for most of the game. San Diego won time of possession by ten minutes. The KC defense was worn down, and two starters, Flowers and McGraw, were out. Even with all that, the Chiefs were able to make a fourth and one stand against a stupid Rivers QB sneak with less than two minutes left to get the ball back for The Duke of Dink. Tolbert was plowing through the KC defense. Why not run as much time off as you can -Norv could have burned about an extra :20 secs off the clock- and then plow Tolbert for a first down? A first wins the game. Norv is a bone head. San Diego will never, ever, ever win a thing with Norv at the helm.
6. Flowers injury is an ankle, not a knee. But he's had a history of bad ankles. In years past he's missed several games with an ankle injury. So hopefully he won't be out long. I could care less about McGraw's injury. We're not missing a thing with him out. Bowe got his bell rung in the last three minutes. Hopefully he'll be OK for next week. We should be getting "Thumbs Up" Baldwin back soon. It's been hard trying to compete without our first round pick from this year AND last year. We'll probably have to pick up another tight end for the roster this week. Is Martin Rucker or Chase Coffman still out there? Can't be worse than Leonard "You Can't Keep Your Hat On" Pope.
5. Offensively, the Chiefs have been getting whipped in every category every week. That's no surprise. Third down conversion in the first half was non-existent. Chiefs ended up being five for twelve on third down and one for one on fourth down. Chiefs run defense was decent for most of the game until they got tired in the fourth quarter. Our pass defense was good early until Flowers went out. Then when Daniels, Washington and Slappy Pistachio was in, we couldn't stop a crossing route unless the San Diego player dropped the ball. KC never seems to be able to stop a crossing route. Teams routinely beat them on third down with crossing routes. It's going to be a long year facing first tier QBs who will pick us apart.
4. I'm concerned with team discipline. Too many stupid penalties again this week. KC had seven penalties for 65 yards, and many of those at incredibly inopportune times. Seems like every time we'd try to answer a Chargers score, a holding or offside penalty would set things back. And what the HELL is Pope doing taking off his helmet? Do our players NOT know the rule book? If San Diego starts their last drive from the twenty instead of the 30, we might have enough yards to attempt a game tying field goal at the end. Haley didn't even seem upset after the game today. All he was saying is "I love my guys, they're just so fun to be around" blah blah blah. Huh? Dude, you're zero and three. And what about clock management and time out management today? Not having ANY timeouts in the last two minutes -and that's without having any play challenges- is incredibly stupid. That just put more pressure on the Duke of Dink in the last drive, and since we couldn't stop the clock, everything was rushed, and ergo, you get a killing screen pass completed directly to a San Diego defender.
3. Who played well today? Colquitt punted better today, and he was under a lot of pressure on several punts. Arenas had a decent kick return. Flowers held Vincent Jackson relatively in check before going out injured. Hali brought good pressure. Dorsey actually made a couple tackles. Bowe had a nice TD catch dragging a toe. But that's about it. Pope marred his TD by taking his helmet off, and Succop's missed field goal turned out to be the difference in the game. it looks like the giveaway-takeaway wants to swing back more in the Chiefs favor, but the Chiefs can't convert the turnover opportunities given. They drop a pick, or can't fall on a fumble. It's Murphy's Law during a stretch like this. And it's what is needed to turn the tide from losing to winning.
2. McClain only got two carries for two whole yards. They need to throw him the ball. McCluster rushed nine times and caught five balls. He's going to get killed again this year. He's too small for that much action, and he's going to get creamed on a dink pass sometime this year. I can just see it coming. Also, they should play Jackie Battle more. He's a big bruising back, he can pass protect (something you won't get from McCluster) and can wear a defense out. He played very well against Oakland a few years ago in that role. I like him, and if the offense is going to grind the clock, he can be a weapon in the fourth quarter.
1. It's a shame that with all that went wrong, and that KC caught San Diego on a flat day for them, that the Duke of Dink had to cough up a very bad pick to kill our chances. He does not handle pressure well, and reminds me a lot of Elvis the Pants Wetter in pressure cooker situations. I think burning those time outs in the second half ultimately led to the loss. If you count pre-season -which the Chiefs brass will tell you doesn't predict actual season performance- KC has lost nine straight games. That's a lot of losses in a row. Winning is a culture and an attitude, as is losing. This season is looking very Herm Like to me. At least Herm beat San Diego in Qualcomm back in September 2007, something Coach Haley has not been able to do in his three years.
PS: Will somebody please swat Prime Time with a fly swatter? He's starting to annoy me.