Kendrick Lewis vs. Lin El - you know.
 

I shall forever be haunted by the vision of Kendrick Lewis running five yards behind that hotel guy on the long touchdown pass. There was no coverage at all. None. Zero. The hotel guy ran down the field and the second-year NFL legend just tossed him the ball. If Kendrick Lewis had been in the locker room watching Clockwork Orange instead of standing on the field, it would have made no difference at all.

So when we consider the two situations, we can make an argument for one of two players being the GOATest (Goatest of all time) against the Colts, if we disregard off-field contributors like Paul Hackett and Herm Edwards.

The argument for The Safety Who Shall Not Be Named to be the GOATest:

The Baltimore Colts or whoever they are are behind by six points. The safety who shall not be named let a wide receiver run more or less straight down the field for a 50+ yard touchdown catch, and at no point was within three yards of said receiver. The receiver, who no one had ever heard of before this game, ended up with the third-highest receiving yardage total in NFL playoff history. All we had to do was protect a 28-point lead for 1.5 quarters of football.

The argument against The Safety Who Shall Not Be Named to be the GOATest:

The modern NFL is designed to make defensive backs look like chumps. If the safety had approached within three yards of the wide receiver, he would have been called for holding or interference. The marketing department has declared that Andrew Luck will be the hero, not some defensive back who wasn't even a first round pick. Also, there were plenty of opportunities to replace Lewis since it was clear that he was struggling for most of the season, and the Chiefs didn't do it. Finally, we know that the NFL marketing department threatened Lewis' life if he didn't take a fall.

The argument for The Kicker Who Shall Not Be Named to be the GOATest:

The Baltimore Colts or whoever they are are ahead by three points. The kicker who shall not be named missed a 42 yard field goal to tie the game up, adding to the two others that he missed earlier in the game that were 35 and 39 yards. His main job was to make field goals, and he went 0 for 3 when it counted most. The team was much stronger and expectations were higher, so his sin is worse.

The argument against The Kicker Who Shall Not Be Named to be the GOATest:

It was one of the coldest games in NFL history, and the ball was a brick. The other kicker missed 2 of 3 attempts, so it's clear that it was a terrible day to be a kicker. Paul Hackett is to blame for the worst game plan in NFL history. There is also some evidence that the NFL marketing department threatened Elliott's life if he didn't take a fall.

Obviously, it's a team game yadda yadda yadda. Feel free to add arguments for or against.

man...

that's a tough call.

My gut says The safety. If bonehead Bono woulda played...well, like an average NFL qb and engineers at least ONE MORE TD DRIVE, then KC wins.

The safety...has no excuse. it's ultimately on HIM.

The kicker is much, much worse. It is virtually impossible that there will ever be a bigger goat than him.

At this point, all we're really doing is comparing the lower levels of Dante's Inferno.

My theory is that the kicker just got out of the deepest circle of hell. His mistakes had more of a spotlight on them since kickers are kind of solo artists, but if you look objectively, the safety made the worst play since Rahim Moore. (No one will ever top Rahim Moore - giggle.) I think the safety has rightfully claimed the crown as the biggest playoff goat in Chiefs history, whether against the Colts or anyone else.

It was terrible conditions and the kickers were a combined 1 of 6. Granted, the Colts' safety also gave up some huge passes, but we never even saw Lewis in the frame. The highlight reels of that final touchdown will make future generations wonder why there were no Chiefs on the field.

That kicker had three opportunities to win the game. There is a special cell in the depths of hell waiting for him. The back did have more screwups than just that play but it was more of the whole team sh#ting in their diaper.

That being said, How do you let that receiver get behind you at that point in the game.

The top ten receiver performances in NFL playoff history by yardage:

Catches-Yards-Avg.-TD

1999 - Eric Moulds - 9-240-26.7-1
1988 - Anthony Carter - 10-227-22.7-0
2014 - TY Hilton - 13-224-17.3-2
2005 - Reggie Wayne - 10-221-22.1-2
2006 - Steve Smith - 12-218-18.2-2
1989 - Jerry Rice - 11-215-19.6-1
2012 - Calvin Johnson - 12-211-17.6-2
2012 - Demaryius Thomas - 4-204-51.0-1
1988 - Ricky Sanders - 9-193-21.4-2
1995 - Michael Irvin - 12-192-16.0-2

The top ten receiver performances in NFL playoff history by number of catches:

15 - Darren Spoles
13 - TY Hilton, Chad Morton, Shannon Sharpe, Thurman Thomas, Kellen Winslow
12 - Michael Irvin, Darrell Jackson, Calvin Johnson, Steve Smith

Chad Morton? WTF

I found that odd, too.

In 2001, he had 13 receptions for 106 yards against the Vikings, while playing for the Saints.

If you look at that receptions list, almost every offensive player I despise is on it. It's like a jerk magnet. I'm shocked that Elway didn't have a game with 12 receptions.

Objectively, it should be a close call, but I think the nameless one will retain the title in a landslide. I'm not a smart football man at all, but some part of me feels that a historically bad safety can be replaced by the coaches or the scheme can be changed to compensate for the weak link. A kicker is on an island, for better or worse. He can't be replaced in-game and his incompetence or emotional fragility will be exposed and magnified.

Even so, the safety has to merit some consideration for his "body of work" with the hotel fiasco as his magnum opus.

This isn't the first time kendick ended a chiefs season. If you'll recall in 2012 he was beat by Heyword Bey in OT which eliminated us from the playoff.

I should have said "the receiver" , like in "No receiver should have gotten behind them at that point in the game. Hilton is pretty good but we made him into a Jerry Rice.

1995 we were a legit SB threat so Lin is far worse. Not even close. Plus he later insulted the org when he went to Dallas or wherever.

HMMMMMM, WHO'S WORSE, THE SERIAL RAPIST OR THE SERIAL MURDERER???

TOUGH CALL