gblowfish
11-08-2020, 05:18 PM
Ten Things About Today’s Game Week 9: KC 33 CAR 31
10. It’s been a very special weekend here at Stately Wayne Minor. We won’t get political, but Mrs B and I shared a hug on Saturday Morning. Then I got to watch my favorite Saturday Cartoon -KU Football- and Mizzou had a bye so they didn’t get into a brawl this week. It’s been in the low 70’s here for five days in a row. Great yard work weather, so yesterday and today I got up close and personal with my leaf blower and lawn mower and crunched and munched some seriously mountainous leaf piles. Strong coffee from my lucky Chiefs mug got me going. Got the last of the yard work done about a half hour before game time. Tony the Kitten likes watching me work in the yard from the open window through the screen. He’s getting big. Mrs. B had to work today, so I settled down in front of the Big Ass TV with some chips and dip, and put Mitch and Danan on the Chiefs Broadcast. Today was the first day I really felt some CoVid regret, as this would have been an absolutely perfect day to be at Arrowhead. It was windy, which affected the passing game and the kicking game. Wind got worse as the day wore on. Carolina is having a tough year. They’re one of those teams that have lots of talent, but haven’t found a way to win. They’ve now lost five of their last six games by one score. And although I’m relieved the Chiefs held on; this game was a nail biter and didn’t need to be. Lots of things that need to be fixed, and we’ll get into that.
9. Panthers Coach Matt Ruhle looked like he was sporting the old Todd Haley Hobo Living Under a Bridge look. His OC looked like a skinhead. And the whole team reeked of desperation from the opening coin flip. Carolina won the toss, and took the ball first. That’s unusual. Perhaps that was part of their plan to try to keep Patrick off the field. The first Carolina scoring drive took nine minutes, 15 plays and 75 yards. They dink and dunk on little circle routes and crossing routes better than most teams. That drive was sustained by two KC penalties -one on Chris Jones for hands to the face, the second a hold by Ward. Jones penalties personally gave Carolina ten points today. Ward will be replaced by J Sneed after the bye week. Chiefs had several penalties; not as many as Carolina, but all seemed to come at critical times to either sustain a Panthers drive or snuff a KC drive. Carolina has 12 penalties, which shows an undisciplined team; and their clock management in the first half was abysmal. They were out of time outs by the eight minute mark in the 2nd quarter, but they did manage to control the ball most of the first half and eat TOP. They ended up with the ball 38 mins to KC 22 mins.
8. Adding to the desperation theme, first big play of the second quarter was a perfectly executed fake punt. Panthers did to us exactly what we did to the Jets last week. That sustained the second Panthers drive, and they got out to a 14-3 lead. They ended up going in at the half with a 17-13 lead. Now, Buttkicker was a leading actor in today’s drama. Mixed results. He hit a 55-yarder at a critical spot in the first half to keep the Chiefs close. But he whiffed on another field goal badly and ended up 2 of 3 on field goal attempts. He also missed his sixth XPA of the year with a double doink job. That miss caused all the fourth quarter stress. He’s coming closer to blowing a game. Hope we don’t have another Kicker Who Will Remain Nameless situation on our hands coming down the second half of the year as the weather gets worse. Carolina’s punter doinked a 51 yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, which ended up being the real momentum swinger in the game. Can’t hold the last second miss against him. Not even a Tom Dempsey mule kick would have made that one with the swirling wind situation.
7. I’m beginning to worry about the KC running game. 36 yards is unacceptable when you spend a first round pick on a running back. CEH did catch a nice TD pass…exact same play where he dropped one earlier in the year. Lev Bell was no factor, which is also disappointing. KC gave up 69 yards to McCaffrey, but held him in check for most of the second half except for an easy one yard TD carry late in the game for Carolina’s last score. Too little too late. Bridgewater is under rated as a leader. Guy passed for over 300 yards with 2 TD tosses and ran for a third. He also picked up a gutsy 4th and long in the fourth quarter. Sustaining that drive got the Panthers back within two points. They hung tough the whole game, but more stupid desperation coaching decisions doomed them.
6. The other whiff of desperation was trying two onside kicks in the second half. Both were poorly executed. The first led to KC getting the ball on the Carolina 39 yard line and ended in Hill’s second TD of the day. The final onside was with a little under two minutes left in the game. Dirty Dan got the ball; the Chiefs actually lost yards, but punted down to the Carolina nine. Panthers had no timeouts and had to go about 60 yards to get into reasonable field goal range. If they kick deep and stop the Chiefs, they probably start from around their own 30 yard line and have a much better shot at a winning field goal attempt. I think the coach was thinking like John Harbaugh did with the Ravens here a couple years ago. Just rolled the dice and threw caution to the wind, so to speak. The wind won.
5. I wanted to reach into my Big Ass TV and choke Breeland in the fourth quarter. If you watch around the six minute mark, Breeland has a free shot at Bridgewater on a corner blitz, and whiffs. Bridgewater gets the pass away. Then on the next play they get the ball out to McCaffrey, Breeland comes up and is in perfect position, and can’t pull the man down or hold on until help can arrive; and gives up the first down to sustain a Carolina TD drive. Two face palm plays in a row. Seemed like Spags started shadowing McCaffrey with Dirty Dan in the second half. Dan laid a shot on him in the last minute of the game that took him out of the mix. Carolina has no threat at tight end, so getting McCaffrey off the field was big. Carolina came into the game third in the NFL in converting on third down. They were four of four on fourth down in this game. Again, lots of dice rolling by a desperate team.
4. This week the Chiefs used the Magic Mahomes Crunch to win. Patrick has been pretty damn good the last two weeks in a row. I was thinking in the third quarter when it was still 17-13 that I had no feeling of dread or panic. Patrick and Tyreek seemed to be off page the whole first half, but began to click in the second; especially on Hill’s first TD. He was crazy wide open. And Patrick was playing a big chunk of the second half behind a third string right tackle just elevated off the practice squad. Remmers got dinged up. Big play when Carolina held Remmers on a tackle eligible play. The guy had come back out after being hurt. He wasn’t going to be a pass target, but Carolina held him anyway. That sustained the drive for Hill’s second TD. Patrick set another NFL record for his Canton resume, being the fastest QB to 100 TDs in NFL History. We’re starting to take his greatness for granted. I sometimes have to pinch myself that this guy is our leader.
3. Today was the Travis Kelce Show. No TDs, but 10 catches for 159 yards -nearly 16 yards per catch- including getting the offense moving on several occasions. Carolina defense had no answer for 87. Robinson also had a nice TD catch, but Kelce and Hill won this game. All pro players come up big like this when you need them most.
2. Andy Reid moves into fifth place in all time wins by himself now, passing Curley Lambeau, namesake coach of the Green Bay Frozen Tundra. The bye is coming at a perfect time. Mitch the Kitch and Watkins were both missed today. I think Frank Clark’s knee is still gimpy. Jones groin is probably still sore. Sneed will get two more weeks to let his collarbone heal. Taco had an injury to I believe an ankle, and Hamilton a hamstring. At the halfway mark everybody has bumps and bruises. It’s supposed to be rainy and much colder next weekend, so it sounds like a good week to sit it out and watch the other teams beat each other up.
1. Nine weeks in the books, our only loss is to the Vegas Pawnbrokers who at the time of this writing are battling it out with Herbie and the Bolts. Donks got beat by the ATL and drop to 3-5. At the time of this writing, Cowboys are actually leading the Steelers, but I don’t expect that to hold. Ravens, Tits and Bills all managed to will today as well, so the horse race for the bye week continues to be tight. It’s going to be nice to have a week off, and nicer that Andy gets two weeks to prepare our revenge against those aforementioned Nevada Faiders. The Fade play the Donks next week, then get us as the National Sunday Night Game. That’s gotta be some stress on Chucky. Can’t wait to see it, and here’s to a great November and December conquest!
10. It’s been a very special weekend here at Stately Wayne Minor. We won’t get political, but Mrs B and I shared a hug on Saturday Morning. Then I got to watch my favorite Saturday Cartoon -KU Football- and Mizzou had a bye so they didn’t get into a brawl this week. It’s been in the low 70’s here for five days in a row. Great yard work weather, so yesterday and today I got up close and personal with my leaf blower and lawn mower and crunched and munched some seriously mountainous leaf piles. Strong coffee from my lucky Chiefs mug got me going. Got the last of the yard work done about a half hour before game time. Tony the Kitten likes watching me work in the yard from the open window through the screen. He’s getting big. Mrs. B had to work today, so I settled down in front of the Big Ass TV with some chips and dip, and put Mitch and Danan on the Chiefs Broadcast. Today was the first day I really felt some CoVid regret, as this would have been an absolutely perfect day to be at Arrowhead. It was windy, which affected the passing game and the kicking game. Wind got worse as the day wore on. Carolina is having a tough year. They’re one of those teams that have lots of talent, but haven’t found a way to win. They’ve now lost five of their last six games by one score. And although I’m relieved the Chiefs held on; this game was a nail biter and didn’t need to be. Lots of things that need to be fixed, and we’ll get into that.
9. Panthers Coach Matt Ruhle looked like he was sporting the old Todd Haley Hobo Living Under a Bridge look. His OC looked like a skinhead. And the whole team reeked of desperation from the opening coin flip. Carolina won the toss, and took the ball first. That’s unusual. Perhaps that was part of their plan to try to keep Patrick off the field. The first Carolina scoring drive took nine minutes, 15 plays and 75 yards. They dink and dunk on little circle routes and crossing routes better than most teams. That drive was sustained by two KC penalties -one on Chris Jones for hands to the face, the second a hold by Ward. Jones penalties personally gave Carolina ten points today. Ward will be replaced by J Sneed after the bye week. Chiefs had several penalties; not as many as Carolina, but all seemed to come at critical times to either sustain a Panthers drive or snuff a KC drive. Carolina has 12 penalties, which shows an undisciplined team; and their clock management in the first half was abysmal. They were out of time outs by the eight minute mark in the 2nd quarter, but they did manage to control the ball most of the first half and eat TOP. They ended up with the ball 38 mins to KC 22 mins.
8. Adding to the desperation theme, first big play of the second quarter was a perfectly executed fake punt. Panthers did to us exactly what we did to the Jets last week. That sustained the second Panthers drive, and they got out to a 14-3 lead. They ended up going in at the half with a 17-13 lead. Now, Buttkicker was a leading actor in today’s drama. Mixed results. He hit a 55-yarder at a critical spot in the first half to keep the Chiefs close. But he whiffed on another field goal badly and ended up 2 of 3 on field goal attempts. He also missed his sixth XPA of the year with a double doink job. That miss caused all the fourth quarter stress. He’s coming closer to blowing a game. Hope we don’t have another Kicker Who Will Remain Nameless situation on our hands coming down the second half of the year as the weather gets worse. Carolina’s punter doinked a 51 yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, which ended up being the real momentum swinger in the game. Can’t hold the last second miss against him. Not even a Tom Dempsey mule kick would have made that one with the swirling wind situation.
7. I’m beginning to worry about the KC running game. 36 yards is unacceptable when you spend a first round pick on a running back. CEH did catch a nice TD pass…exact same play where he dropped one earlier in the year. Lev Bell was no factor, which is also disappointing. KC gave up 69 yards to McCaffrey, but held him in check for most of the second half except for an easy one yard TD carry late in the game for Carolina’s last score. Too little too late. Bridgewater is under rated as a leader. Guy passed for over 300 yards with 2 TD tosses and ran for a third. He also picked up a gutsy 4th and long in the fourth quarter. Sustaining that drive got the Panthers back within two points. They hung tough the whole game, but more stupid desperation coaching decisions doomed them.
6. The other whiff of desperation was trying two onside kicks in the second half. Both were poorly executed. The first led to KC getting the ball on the Carolina 39 yard line and ended in Hill’s second TD of the day. The final onside was with a little under two minutes left in the game. Dirty Dan got the ball; the Chiefs actually lost yards, but punted down to the Carolina nine. Panthers had no timeouts and had to go about 60 yards to get into reasonable field goal range. If they kick deep and stop the Chiefs, they probably start from around their own 30 yard line and have a much better shot at a winning field goal attempt. I think the coach was thinking like John Harbaugh did with the Ravens here a couple years ago. Just rolled the dice and threw caution to the wind, so to speak. The wind won.
5. I wanted to reach into my Big Ass TV and choke Breeland in the fourth quarter. If you watch around the six minute mark, Breeland has a free shot at Bridgewater on a corner blitz, and whiffs. Bridgewater gets the pass away. Then on the next play they get the ball out to McCaffrey, Breeland comes up and is in perfect position, and can’t pull the man down or hold on until help can arrive; and gives up the first down to sustain a Carolina TD drive. Two face palm plays in a row. Seemed like Spags started shadowing McCaffrey with Dirty Dan in the second half. Dan laid a shot on him in the last minute of the game that took him out of the mix. Carolina has no threat at tight end, so getting McCaffrey off the field was big. Carolina came into the game third in the NFL in converting on third down. They were four of four on fourth down in this game. Again, lots of dice rolling by a desperate team.
4. This week the Chiefs used the Magic Mahomes Crunch to win. Patrick has been pretty damn good the last two weeks in a row. I was thinking in the third quarter when it was still 17-13 that I had no feeling of dread or panic. Patrick and Tyreek seemed to be off page the whole first half, but began to click in the second; especially on Hill’s first TD. He was crazy wide open. And Patrick was playing a big chunk of the second half behind a third string right tackle just elevated off the practice squad. Remmers got dinged up. Big play when Carolina held Remmers on a tackle eligible play. The guy had come back out after being hurt. He wasn’t going to be a pass target, but Carolina held him anyway. That sustained the drive for Hill’s second TD. Patrick set another NFL record for his Canton resume, being the fastest QB to 100 TDs in NFL History. We’re starting to take his greatness for granted. I sometimes have to pinch myself that this guy is our leader.
3. Today was the Travis Kelce Show. No TDs, but 10 catches for 159 yards -nearly 16 yards per catch- including getting the offense moving on several occasions. Carolina defense had no answer for 87. Robinson also had a nice TD catch, but Kelce and Hill won this game. All pro players come up big like this when you need them most.
2. Andy Reid moves into fifth place in all time wins by himself now, passing Curley Lambeau, namesake coach of the Green Bay Frozen Tundra. The bye is coming at a perfect time. Mitch the Kitch and Watkins were both missed today. I think Frank Clark’s knee is still gimpy. Jones groin is probably still sore. Sneed will get two more weeks to let his collarbone heal. Taco had an injury to I believe an ankle, and Hamilton a hamstring. At the halfway mark everybody has bumps and bruises. It’s supposed to be rainy and much colder next weekend, so it sounds like a good week to sit it out and watch the other teams beat each other up.
1. Nine weeks in the books, our only loss is to the Vegas Pawnbrokers who at the time of this writing are battling it out with Herbie and the Bolts. Donks got beat by the ATL and drop to 3-5. At the time of this writing, Cowboys are actually leading the Steelers, but I don’t expect that to hold. Ravens, Tits and Bills all managed to will today as well, so the horse race for the bye week continues to be tight. It’s going to be nice to have a week off, and nicer that Andy gets two weeks to prepare our revenge against those aforementioned Nevada Faiders. The Fade play the Donks next week, then get us as the National Sunday Night Game. That’s gotta be some stress on Chucky. Can’t wait to see it, and here’s to a great November and December conquest!