[Rain Man]

My responses.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

1. Haley's decision to NOT go for it on 4th down and 1 from the Pats ~40 made no sense to me. Even though he punted and the defense held and the Chiefs got the ball back, it seems to me that you're 4-5 and the season is slipping away. Pats defense isn't reminding anyone of the 2000 Ravens or '86 Giants. Go for it.

I think coaches should always go for it on 4th and 1 inside the opponent's territory. If the average play gains 4 yards in the NFL, why is 4th and 1 different? The funny thing is that it's different because the offense lines up differently, limiting their own options and letting the defense prepare for a run up the gut. The offense should go into their normal lineup, and the odds are that they'll pick up 4 yards (or whatever the average is). NFL coaches are way too conservative, even Todd Haley.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

2. I liked the decision to do the onsides kick. But then you remember they didn't go for it on 4th and 1. Que?

Eh, they're two independent decisions, and unpredictability is good. In a league of superior athletes, I think the ability to be unpredictable is a big factor in winning and losing. I don't mind the onsides kick at all, and I still think it worked. That said, they should've gone for it on fourth and one.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

3. Holding call on . . . . errr, that Pope? Whoever it was that wiped out Edelman. Yeah, ticky-tack.

It seems like you can't destroy a guy too strongly on a block or you'll get called for holding. I think when the refs see a guy get destroyed and pancaked, they're more likely to assume it was holding because an NFL athlete "shouldn't" get beat like that. Not much you can do about it.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

4. Endless bitching about refs in the game thread -- pathetic. Just pathetic, endless "the refs SCREWED us!!!111 giggity giggity". Just stop it. Make the complaint and move on. EVERY team in the NFL thinks the refs are out to get them. My Dad spent 50 years bitching about refs and umpires in every inning, quarter and period of every sport he ever watched. It was stupid then for him, and it's stupid now for you.

If we don't blame the refs, then the only other reason is that our team wasn't as good as your team, and that's not true. This team is a championship team other than bad ref calls. That's my position and I'm sticking to it for the 41st year in a row. Stupid officials. They're costing us a Super Bowl.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

5. Palko doesn't seem like the real deal. He's young yet, so maybe, but...

I was actually impressed with him as a first-time starter with no NFL experience. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he's a viable long-term starter, and the key question is arm strength. The Chiefs appear to have torn every pass play over 10 yards from their playbook, but on the one 20+ yard pass he attempted, arm strength looked to be a significant weakness. We'll learn more if he ever gets another attempt to throw more than 10 yards.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

6. Don't worry about the Chiefs seeming inability to cover Gronk. Nobody can. He's just a beast.

He lies about sex with porn actresses. That's all I've got right now.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

7. Chiefs defense seemed pretty good, overall. I imagine it will be much better when Berry is back.

Berry would've helped a lot in this game. Not sure he would've helped 30 points, but he would've helped.

The defense was really pushing against the run, but seemed to give up against the pass and then against everything about halfway through the third. There's talent there, which is frustrating to see when it consistently fails. When healthy, we have five first-round picks on the field (Dorsey, TJackson, DJohnson, Hali, and Berry), most of whom were taken in the first half of the round and three of whom are top-five picks. A defense with that level of investment should be really good.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

8. Pats came out really flat in the first half, but credit to the Chiefs also. They showed spirit for a good while.

We got spirit, yes we do! We got spirit how about you! (Oh, wait. You just scored again.)

Originally Posted by Amnorix

9. Running up the score -- I don't mind Belichick going for it on 4th down late near the end zone. Punting isn't an option, and kicking a FG is stupid, but I'd much rather just man up and run it up the middle rather than what we did. At least this proves that BB does it to everybody, even his buddy Pioli. He's consistent, I'll say that. Pats have no right, ever, to bitch about anybody rolling up the score on them though.

Run up the score. I don't care. We pay our players almost 75 percent of the NFL league average and 75 percent of their job is to prevent running up the score.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

10. Alot of very sad posts in the game thread about trying to hurt Patriots players now that the score is out of control. WTF kind of Raiders-esque thinking is that by Chiefs fans? And if any of them is a parent, WTF kind of sportsmanship is that?

Agreed. Mankins is the only one who deserved to be injured after that cheap-shot, thuggish, criminal, contract-holdout, undeserving-pro-bowl-receiving late hit after the whistle for which he deserved to be ejected, fined, and banned from the league for life. Other than that, there's no real reason to call for injuring a player.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

11. Nobody will know if the Patriots really have a good team until the playoffs. The rest of it's schedule is a cake-walk. They may really be pretty good, especially once some of the injured bodies come back, or another one-and-done.

Just knock the AFC West team out of it as long as it's not us. And it may be us, because we're a championship-caliber team if not for bad officiating per Point 4 above.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

12. Patriots' "lowest ranked defense". I'm hearing that alot, on TV and around here. Yes, BY YARDS. But the Pats defense is middle of the pack by points, the only thing that matters. Not that the defense is all that good -- it isn't, but this "NFL's worst defense" is a tad misleading.

They pretty much shut down Palko and Battle. (Heavy sigh.)