Ten Things About Today's Game: Week 11

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today’s Game: Week 11

10. Been a rough week in the Blowfish household. We had one of our kitties pass away on Thursday, and my wife has been a mess about it. Yesterday I worked outside in the yard all day cleaning up the yard and getting the house ready for winter. Woke up around 6 AM, only to see a hard freeze and leaves falling like snow, re-covering the yard, erasing all of yesterday’s work. I put out the Chiefs Flag on the front porch, then headed over to meet up with a couple of my pals -Gary and Brad- at the Englewood Cafe for a quick breakfast before grabbing the wifey from church and heading out for Arrowhead. It felt like football weather. Sunny but cold, with a persistent wind out of the Northwest. I sit on the shady side of Arrowhead, so it can get chilly when the wind blows. At any rate, got in, parking was slow again. Went in Gate 6 on the far west side and ended up being parked in A6 down the Right Field line in front of Kauffman Stadium. Today we had pulled pork, jambalaya and pasta salad, and tailgating was brief because of the cold wind. On the player introductions, they brought Justin Houston out last, so the crowd could give him a big ovation. The crowd seems a little lackluster today, just not as into it as usual. There’s many reasons for that, mostly because of Jameis Penis and his persistent long hard drives. I wrote that sentence for Clay, because he’s into that kind of descriptive language.

9. This game looks close in the box score, and it was, sort of. Tampa Bay seemed to be the better offense. Jameis seemed to be the better QB. But when you look at the actual game stats, Alice Smiff and Jameis were actually pretty close in production, as weird as that seems. Passing: Jameis threw for 331 yards, averaged 8.5 yards per pass; threw for one TD and had one early first half turnover. Alice threw for 261 yards, averaged 8.4 yards per pass, threw a TD, ran for a TD and had one turnover - a killing, game flipping, fourth quarter turnover. Rushing? Martin had 63 yards, Ware had 69 yards, a wash. Receiving? Bucs best receiver Evans caught six for 105 yards and no TDs. Kelce caught 7 for 108 yards and no TDs. The difference was time of possession and number of plays run. Tampa Bay ran 74 freakin’ plays to KCs 52. They had the ball for 11 more minutes than KC. That’s almost a whole quarter of football more. That’s because the first six Tampa Bay drives ended on KC’s side of the field. The defense could not get the Bucs off the field all day long. More on that later. Alice had a chance to put KC up by five, and ended up throwing an awful, game crushing pick that ended up being a 14 point swing, and therein lies your ballgame.

8. I wanted to talk a bit about momentum, or the lack thereof. At the start of the game, KC gets the opening kickoff, marches straight down the field. Kelce catches an out pass that gets them down inside the red zone, tweaks an ankle and hobbles off the field. The next play, jet sweep to Hill who gets the ball to the four. First and goal from the four. What does Andy do? He sends Kelce back in, who had just hobbled off the field, and tries to run a sweep with him. They lose five yards. On second down, they throw a pass across the middle to Kelce to about the five yard line, it clangs off his hands. Third down, they throw a pass to Conley on a curl pattern to the four yard line. Fourth down they kick the field goal. So from first and goal at the four, the end up with fourth and goal on the four, and never throw the ball into the end zone ONCE. They get three instead of seven,and set the tone for the ballgame. KC is among the worst -if not THE worst- team in the NFL in red zone TD scoring. That series of plays was inexcusable.

7. Defense was awful at times, but if you give up less than 20 to the Bucs you should win that game. The key word today was “missed” in several senses of the word. Missed tackles. Missed players. Missed opportunities. I saw at least a half dozen missed tackles in the game that allowed for manageable third downs. DJ missed a couple. Wilson missed a couple. Nunez-Roches played a good game overall, but faded in the second half and started missing tackles. DJ may be wearing down now that we’re deep in the season and his age may be catching up to him. We had NO second half pass rush at all. Nothing from Poe, or Jones, or Houston, or Hali. Just nothing. And with no Peters and no pass rush, Jameis ate the secondary alive, and was money between the 20’s. Tampa Bay’s first six drives made it into KC territory. Bucs settled for four field goals, or this game would not have been as close as it was. Tampa Bay was 10 for 16 on third down, with most of KC’s third down stops coming in the fourth quarter. When push came to shove and the Chiefs needed a stop after burning two of their timeouts, they couldn’t get it. No pass rush, Tampa’s receivers were better than our D-Backs. Not enough time at the end, Bucs do a great job of clock management down the stretch, they win.

6. KC only got one turnover, which wasn’t really even forced. Jameis just lost the ball trying to pull it back. Parker dropped a pick in the first half that could have changed this game. Instead, Tampa got a field goal. That’s the kind of play Peters makes. With our main ball hawk out, nobody else in the secondary stepped up, and it showed. Nelson was a mixed bag. Gaines did nothing. Berry did nothing. Sorensen nothing. Somebody has to to step up to make a difference. It never happened.

5. Right before halftime, Dee Ford limped off the field and didn’t sit down. He looked down, never took his helmet off, and he bunny hopped to the stairs and disappeared. That was it for him. Looked like a quad or a hammy. West got his bell rung. If he’s out for Denver, that could be very bad. They also said Santos had a leg injury, although I didn’t see that happen towards the end of the game. Justin Houston had no effect at all, and he played some in the first quarter, was sidelined in most of the second, then was forced to play the second half after Ford went out. He did nothing more than Zombo, really. Didn’t seem to have any burst on pass rush. I don’t know what to think at this point, and whether we’ll eventually have kick ass Justin Houston, or old, step slow, run of the mill Zombo-esque Justin Houston. Hali did absolutely nothing today as well. I think he’s on fumes at this point.

4. Only decent special teams play was a downed punt at the four, but Tampa Bay marched right down the field like they did all day, so it made no difference. Hill and Davis could not get a return that mattered, so specials didn’t do a lot to help us win today. Special kudos to Winchester, who came back to work when he probably didn’t have to, and played very well. That kid is a gamer, and his team mates will have a new appreciation for him after what he’s been through this week.

3. What the Hell was Andy doing on our last possession? A four yard pass to Ware with 8 second left? Really? Really? You gotta send Hill deep, chuck it up and hope for a catch or PI, and hope to get into field goal range. What’s the point of that play? Might as well just kneel on the ball if you’re going to give up like that. The final hurry up TD drive wasn’t as bad as what they did in the playoffs vs. the Pats last year, but took WAAAY too long, especially the final three plays. Put the ball in the Goddamn end zone and conserve some clock. If KC has an extra 30 seconds at the end, you might have a chance for field goal range. Of course, the real killer play in the game was Alice’s pick. Down by two with 12 minutes left in the game, first and goal on the 10, Ware blasts ahead for four. Second and six, Alice tries to force the ball into a double covered Conley. Bucs return it to mid-field. Horrible throw. All I could do was shake my head and say, “Well, at least they tried to throw the ball into the end zone this time.” Tampa then drives for a TD, 14 point swing, and the ballgame. If Alice throws that ball away, worst case they take the field goal, take a one point lead, and their final TD before the two minute warning makes the Bucs have to score to win. But not to be.

2. Throws like that pick is why I’ve come to firmly believe that Alice has had his chance, and we’ll never get anywhere with him. I think he peaked last year getting us to the quarter finals against the Pats. Anytime he comes up against a playoff gunslinger, like Rapistburger or Brady, or Luck, he is going to lose. After that pick, he was moping around on the sidelines. Bad body language, not doing anything to try to fire up the offense or defense to get the ball back and win. I just think he is what he is, and he doesn’t have the juice for comeback wins. He did it ONE TIME against San Diego opening day, but that’s been it. If we’re behind, and the defense can’t score, we’re done. Alice is Grbac all over again. I’ve seen this movie before, sorry to say.

1. Well, that said, now we get a fun trip into Flexville to face a Donk Team who is 7-0 in prime time games over the past five years. Thanks for putting us on National TV, NBC. Really freakin’ appreciate that. I am not optimistic, but I am hopeful that they don’t piss themselves like they did against Pittsburgh. Today’s game may cost us a division, like losing to the Bears did last year. I don’t want to be Debbie Downer, but KC must get home playoff games to take it to the next level. With continued play like today, I don’t see it happening. I’m very disappointed with the effort in all phases.

Happy Thanksgiving to All. Don’t reward greedy retailers by shopping on Thanksgiving Day. Do it on Black Friday if you must. Remember the reason for the season, and share your money, time, food, whatever. It’s needed now more than ever.