gblowfish
12-14-2014, 06:53 PM
Ten Things About Today's Game
10. Friday was my old pal Gary's birthday. So today we met up for our tailgate. There was Mrs. Blowfish and me, Gary and three of our other good long time friends from the old neighborhood, Mr. Doggity, Eric and Jeff. We had little chocolate cupcakes and straight whiskey for Gary's BD toast. I've known all these guys for 40 years or more, and we know each others families. Anyway, I tell you this because, I just got a cardboard box from my sister about a week ago. My mom has been in the hospital down in Arkansas and my sister went down to be with her. My sister has been trying to clean out some of my dad's stuff, since he passed away a couple years ago. I got this box with bunch of my dad's stuff in it: Books I had bought him, his army medals, and a bunch of Chiefs stuff he had kept over the years. For some reason, he had a whole box full of Chiefs 35th anniversary pins. Like a dozen of them. So today, we toasted my Pops -he hated the Raiders more than I do- and I gave a pin to all my pals at the tail gate. I thought it would bring us good luck, and it did. Not to mention it was 40 degrees warmer today than it was for the Denver game. It makes it much more fun to watch football in KC in December when you're not dying of hypothermia. The National Anthem was sung by this huge Navy guy -who we should have started at right tackle- and he was awesome. Lenny Dawson was beating on the war drum right before kickoff. The crowd was really into it all day long. You could just feel that this was going to be a good day. But it didn't always look at that way.
9. When we got the opening kickoff, I said to Mr. Doggity: We need to get this offense moving. I should have been more specific. They got moving, all right...straight backwards. First play: 24 yard gain wiped out by an OPI on Wilson. Second play, holding on Fasano. Third down, screen to Kelce, can't get enough yards, punt. Both teams floundered for most of the first quarter, until an 80 yard punt return by DAT with about three minutes left in the quarter got the Chiefs an early lead. Actually the entire first half was pretty frustrating on offense. In the second quarter Alex misses DAT on a pass play down the side line wide open. Should have been a touchdown, but Alex couldn't hit him. Then on a bad low snap on the field goal attempt, the Brazilian midget kicks a quacker wide left from 44 yards. Next series, Bowe can't drag a foot to get a big pass play in bounds, Chiefs challenge and lose. This time the midget hits a 41 yarder, and the Chiefs have their first two possession lead since the Jets game. Then two minutes left in the half, KC tries to mount a two minute drive, makes it to the Raider 28 yard line. Then Linkenbach gets his second holding penalty to knock KC out of field goal range. Drive stalls, KC punts to Oakland with a minute left and all three of their time outs. They get enough of a drive to get SeaBass in range for a 53 yarder to end the half and give the Fade some hope. Chiefs had six penalties in the first half. No offensive TDs in the first half and a missed field goal. Still anybody's game.
8. Third Quarter is what broke the game open as the Chiefs scored three TD's in a five minute span. Charles got beat up pretty good in the first half, and you could see him limping off the field after a couple of series. It was good to get Knile Davis back into the general game plan. Davis only had eleven rushing yards on nine carries, but one of those carries was a TD, and the only pass he caught was a 70 yard TD. The guy is not only a thumper, but has 4.3 speed. The TD on the little dump pass to beat the blitz was a thing of beauty, and after he lost the linebacker I knew he was gone.
7. Kelce taketh away, and Kelce giveth. His fumble kept the Raiders in the game, briefly. Big kudos Alex Smith for tackling the guy who made the pick on the 15, and more kudos to the Chiefs D for keeping the Raiders out of the end zone -thanks to a dropped pass in the corner on third down. So, the Raiders settle for three, and make it a four point game. Then, of course, the bottom fell out, and except for a garbage TD with a minute left in the game, Chiefs D held the Raiders in check. Kelce made up for the fumble with a great after catch run to score. Even on that TD though, he's waving the ball around in one hand as he approached the end zone. WRAP THAT BALL UP until the play is over! He'll learn. He's still a pup.
6. Back to the Brazilian Midget: I'm a little worried about his reliability going down the stretch. He missed from 44 and 47 in his home stadium with very favorable weather conditions. Snap on the first miss was low and inside, snap on the second miss was high. Colquitt got them both spotted, and Santos just missed. First miss was ugly, the second one he just drew the ball right to left and it went wide. Pittsburgh is a notoriously hard place to kick. Their field sucks, and the wind is really bad there. So I hope he doesn't get the "yips" when we need him. It would be nice to have a big time big leg kicker like Seabass. That guy is just pure money.
5. I saw something I'd never seen before today. The network TV side line camera, where they run a little scooter with a lift and a camera guy at the top of the lift up and down the side line... you know what I'm talking about. Somehow, the scooter ran over the main video out cable, and cut it clean in half. This was in the third quarter. I haven't watched the game, so I don't know if they talked about that on TV or not. It was down for at least half of the third quarter before they got it fixed. The TV side line guys were scrambling around trying to get it back up and running. I also saw a very drunk fan literally puke on the head of the fan sitting in front of him down the aisle from me. But I've seen that before, especially at Raider games. Last year after the Raiders game I saw this really drunk chick beat the shit out of some guy wearing a Raiders shirt when he came out of the porta potty in the parking lot. I think he cut her off, so she beat his ass. It's always a lovely, festive scene when the Chiefs and Raiders hook up.
4. I haven't seen the official injury report, but Shawn Smith looked hurt pretty bad, like a groin on hamstring. He went down to the locker room with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and he could barely make it down the steps to the locker room tunnel. He was grimacing and looked to be in a great deal of pain. Charles got dinged up, so did Mauga and Houston. There's reason to be worried for all of those guys. I also think something very weird is going on with Donald Stephenson. He got in for a few plays, but most of the game, he was wearing a ball cap, and just wandering off by himself down at the end of the bench. Even when the team was on offense. He seems very detached from the team, and it seems to be mutual. I can't see him being back next year, which means, we're going to have to find yet another lineman next season. Remember when they said he'd be replacing Fat Albert? Sure doesn't look that way now.
3. Alex missed 300 yards passing again, barely. And no TD's to a wide out. He should have hit DAT for one. Bowe had a better day, but also had a couple drops as well. Wanted to mention something about Bowe. Yes, he's over paid. Yeah, he's kind of a dumb ass. I mean, he blew six million getting caught smoking dope and looking for Sonic in Riverside. But of all the players on the Chiefs sideline, he's the one that is the most engaged with the fans. He tries to get the fans on their feet and scream when the team is on defense. He gives away his gloves, his headbands, today he even gave away three or four footballs after the game was over. He seems to genuinely love the fans, and is almost always the last guy off the field, win or lose. I think he still just loves to play, and he's kind of a goof ball, but he's got a good heart. I just wish we'd get some point production from him, that's for sure.
2. Carr was forced to pass the ball 56 times today. and Oakland was held to less than 80 yards rushing. Chiefs had four sacks (that's a lot of Big Macs) but I'm still a little concerned about our big play guys lack of production. Tamba finally got a sack, first one in the last four games. Poe did nothing, one tackle, no sacks. He may have been fighting illness or injury, because he was out of the lineup a lot in the second half. Dee Ford shared a sack. He needs to develop some moves. Usually he runs outside of the tackle and just takes himself out of the play. They can run right where he vacates an area too. He's easy to account for, so he needs to stunt, or take an inside rush every now and then. On offense, KC was terrible on third down, just 3 for 13, Alex was only sacked once. Again this week penalties were very disturbing. Chiefs were actually worse on penalties than Oakland, and that's hard to do. 11 penalties for 84 yards. Time of possession was dead even: 30 minutes per team, exactly.
1. So, what do we learn from today, and where do we go from here? As great as this win was, and it was a very satisfying day at the Ball Yard, somehow I couldn't help but think over and over "How in the HELL did we manage to lose to this sorry sack of shit team out in Oakland? I think that loss is going to be the one ultimately that knocks us out of the playoffs. I don't like our chances in Pittsburgh. We've never played well there. Big Ben ain't Derek Carr. Pittsburgh has a big bruising serious feature running back in Bell built for December weather. And you know Todd "I May Have Waved" Haley would love nothing more than to knock us out of the playoffs - 'Chiefs Suck - Todd Haley' remember??? If we can manage to win a tough Pittsburgh roadie, then we'll have Phyllis and the Bolts waiting for us with more than likely a winner take all scenario. Stranger things have happened. I just wouldn't get too enthused after beating a two win team, especially when one of their wins were against us. But today, I'll take the win. It very well could be the last one we're able to enjoy this season.
10. Friday was my old pal Gary's birthday. So today we met up for our tailgate. There was Mrs. Blowfish and me, Gary and three of our other good long time friends from the old neighborhood, Mr. Doggity, Eric and Jeff. We had little chocolate cupcakes and straight whiskey for Gary's BD toast. I've known all these guys for 40 years or more, and we know each others families. Anyway, I tell you this because, I just got a cardboard box from my sister about a week ago. My mom has been in the hospital down in Arkansas and my sister went down to be with her. My sister has been trying to clean out some of my dad's stuff, since he passed away a couple years ago. I got this box with bunch of my dad's stuff in it: Books I had bought him, his army medals, and a bunch of Chiefs stuff he had kept over the years. For some reason, he had a whole box full of Chiefs 35th anniversary pins. Like a dozen of them. So today, we toasted my Pops -he hated the Raiders more than I do- and I gave a pin to all my pals at the tail gate. I thought it would bring us good luck, and it did. Not to mention it was 40 degrees warmer today than it was for the Denver game. It makes it much more fun to watch football in KC in December when you're not dying of hypothermia. The National Anthem was sung by this huge Navy guy -who we should have started at right tackle- and he was awesome. Lenny Dawson was beating on the war drum right before kickoff. The crowd was really into it all day long. You could just feel that this was going to be a good day. But it didn't always look at that way.
9. When we got the opening kickoff, I said to Mr. Doggity: We need to get this offense moving. I should have been more specific. They got moving, all right...straight backwards. First play: 24 yard gain wiped out by an OPI on Wilson. Second play, holding on Fasano. Third down, screen to Kelce, can't get enough yards, punt. Both teams floundered for most of the first quarter, until an 80 yard punt return by DAT with about three minutes left in the quarter got the Chiefs an early lead. Actually the entire first half was pretty frustrating on offense. In the second quarter Alex misses DAT on a pass play down the side line wide open. Should have been a touchdown, but Alex couldn't hit him. Then on a bad low snap on the field goal attempt, the Brazilian midget kicks a quacker wide left from 44 yards. Next series, Bowe can't drag a foot to get a big pass play in bounds, Chiefs challenge and lose. This time the midget hits a 41 yarder, and the Chiefs have their first two possession lead since the Jets game. Then two minutes left in the half, KC tries to mount a two minute drive, makes it to the Raider 28 yard line. Then Linkenbach gets his second holding penalty to knock KC out of field goal range. Drive stalls, KC punts to Oakland with a minute left and all three of their time outs. They get enough of a drive to get SeaBass in range for a 53 yarder to end the half and give the Fade some hope. Chiefs had six penalties in the first half. No offensive TDs in the first half and a missed field goal. Still anybody's game.
8. Third Quarter is what broke the game open as the Chiefs scored three TD's in a five minute span. Charles got beat up pretty good in the first half, and you could see him limping off the field after a couple of series. It was good to get Knile Davis back into the general game plan. Davis only had eleven rushing yards on nine carries, but one of those carries was a TD, and the only pass he caught was a 70 yard TD. The guy is not only a thumper, but has 4.3 speed. The TD on the little dump pass to beat the blitz was a thing of beauty, and after he lost the linebacker I knew he was gone.
7. Kelce taketh away, and Kelce giveth. His fumble kept the Raiders in the game, briefly. Big kudos Alex Smith for tackling the guy who made the pick on the 15, and more kudos to the Chiefs D for keeping the Raiders out of the end zone -thanks to a dropped pass in the corner on third down. So, the Raiders settle for three, and make it a four point game. Then, of course, the bottom fell out, and except for a garbage TD with a minute left in the game, Chiefs D held the Raiders in check. Kelce made up for the fumble with a great after catch run to score. Even on that TD though, he's waving the ball around in one hand as he approached the end zone. WRAP THAT BALL UP until the play is over! He'll learn. He's still a pup.
6. Back to the Brazilian Midget: I'm a little worried about his reliability going down the stretch. He missed from 44 and 47 in his home stadium with very favorable weather conditions. Snap on the first miss was low and inside, snap on the second miss was high. Colquitt got them both spotted, and Santos just missed. First miss was ugly, the second one he just drew the ball right to left and it went wide. Pittsburgh is a notoriously hard place to kick. Their field sucks, and the wind is really bad there. So I hope he doesn't get the "yips" when we need him. It would be nice to have a big time big leg kicker like Seabass. That guy is just pure money.
5. I saw something I'd never seen before today. The network TV side line camera, where they run a little scooter with a lift and a camera guy at the top of the lift up and down the side line... you know what I'm talking about. Somehow, the scooter ran over the main video out cable, and cut it clean in half. This was in the third quarter. I haven't watched the game, so I don't know if they talked about that on TV or not. It was down for at least half of the third quarter before they got it fixed. The TV side line guys were scrambling around trying to get it back up and running. I also saw a very drunk fan literally puke on the head of the fan sitting in front of him down the aisle from me. But I've seen that before, especially at Raider games. Last year after the Raiders game I saw this really drunk chick beat the shit out of some guy wearing a Raiders shirt when he came out of the porta potty in the parking lot. I think he cut her off, so she beat his ass. It's always a lovely, festive scene when the Chiefs and Raiders hook up.
4. I haven't seen the official injury report, but Shawn Smith looked hurt pretty bad, like a groin on hamstring. He went down to the locker room with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and he could barely make it down the steps to the locker room tunnel. He was grimacing and looked to be in a great deal of pain. Charles got dinged up, so did Mauga and Houston. There's reason to be worried for all of those guys. I also think something very weird is going on with Donald Stephenson. He got in for a few plays, but most of the game, he was wearing a ball cap, and just wandering off by himself down at the end of the bench. Even when the team was on offense. He seems very detached from the team, and it seems to be mutual. I can't see him being back next year, which means, we're going to have to find yet another lineman next season. Remember when they said he'd be replacing Fat Albert? Sure doesn't look that way now.
3. Alex missed 300 yards passing again, barely. And no TD's to a wide out. He should have hit DAT for one. Bowe had a better day, but also had a couple drops as well. Wanted to mention something about Bowe. Yes, he's over paid. Yeah, he's kind of a dumb ass. I mean, he blew six million getting caught smoking dope and looking for Sonic in Riverside. But of all the players on the Chiefs sideline, he's the one that is the most engaged with the fans. He tries to get the fans on their feet and scream when the team is on defense. He gives away his gloves, his headbands, today he even gave away three or four footballs after the game was over. He seems to genuinely love the fans, and is almost always the last guy off the field, win or lose. I think he still just loves to play, and he's kind of a goof ball, but he's got a good heart. I just wish we'd get some point production from him, that's for sure.
2. Carr was forced to pass the ball 56 times today. and Oakland was held to less than 80 yards rushing. Chiefs had four sacks (that's a lot of Big Macs) but I'm still a little concerned about our big play guys lack of production. Tamba finally got a sack, first one in the last four games. Poe did nothing, one tackle, no sacks. He may have been fighting illness or injury, because he was out of the lineup a lot in the second half. Dee Ford shared a sack. He needs to develop some moves. Usually he runs outside of the tackle and just takes himself out of the play. They can run right where he vacates an area too. He's easy to account for, so he needs to stunt, or take an inside rush every now and then. On offense, KC was terrible on third down, just 3 for 13, Alex was only sacked once. Again this week penalties were very disturbing. Chiefs were actually worse on penalties than Oakland, and that's hard to do. 11 penalties for 84 yards. Time of possession was dead even: 30 minutes per team, exactly.
1. So, what do we learn from today, and where do we go from here? As great as this win was, and it was a very satisfying day at the Ball Yard, somehow I couldn't help but think over and over "How in the HELL did we manage to lose to this sorry sack of shit team out in Oakland? I think that loss is going to be the one ultimately that knocks us out of the playoffs. I don't like our chances in Pittsburgh. We've never played well there. Big Ben ain't Derek Carr. Pittsburgh has a big bruising serious feature running back in Bell built for December weather. And you know Todd "I May Have Waved" Haley would love nothing more than to knock us out of the playoffs - 'Chiefs Suck - Todd Haley' remember??? If we can manage to win a tough Pittsburgh roadie, then we'll have Phyllis and the Bolts waiting for us with more than likely a winner take all scenario. Stranger things have happened. I just wouldn't get too enthused after beating a two win team, especially when one of their wins were against us. But today, I'll take the win. It very well could be the last one we're able to enjoy this season.