Ten Things About Today's Game

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. Somebody needs to slap Katie Horner around -in a way she wouldn't enjoy, I mean. What happened to sunny and 63 degrees today? We had a little sun, but apparently she forgot to mention the howling 30 to 40 MPH winds. It may not have been quite as bad on the sunny side of the field behind the Buffalo bench. On the Chiefs side, it was downright chilly. And the wind was playing havoc with the kicking game. Colquitt had several squirelly punts. Luckily, Mr. Irrelevant got a chance to redeem himself today, where Lindell did not. I was glad Succop got his second chance and made it count, or he would have been masquerading as "the kicker who shall remain nameless" for Halloween. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

9. Since it's Halloween night, I had to rush home and get the house ready for the little trick or treaters. I'm in the bat cave writing this while the lovely Mrs. Blowfish is upstairs handing out fist fulls of Kit Kat Bars to the little neighborhood hoodlems. I have not read through the CP board, and I'm sure there will have been mucho discussion about many of the things I'm going to point out, but maybe without that filter you can let me know if you feel the way I do. Arrowhead had a few more empty seats today, not nearly as loud as previous weeks. Sam Mellinger wrote about that today here:

http://mellinger.kansascity.com/


8. First of all, why in the HELL are the Chiefs killing their own drives? There must have been five or six times where Charles and Jones were gashing the ball right up the field. Then Cassel would throw, mis-fire, put it into 2nd and long, then 3rd and 5 or 6, then incomplete on third down. WHY STOP RUNNING??? It's like Weis didn't figure that out until the overtime period. Charles ended up with 177 yards today -that's eight yards per carry friends-, Jones had 77 yards, and no turnovers. This game should have never, ever, EVER been this close. And the reason it was, was because the offense stalled its own drives by abandoning the run for no good reason, and for lapses on defense and in coaching.

7. Two unsung heroes on offense today: Moeaki and Asamoah. Let's start with #81. Moeaki has impressed me very much with his blocking ability. The Chiefs run left a bunch, especially with Moeaki on that side, so the line is Waters, Fat Albert and Moeaki. They are destroying people when we run. He also had some clutch catches in the OT, and you wonder why it took so long to find him. The guy simply catches everything that is thrown to him. If, and a big if, he stays healthy, he could be the Mack Lee Hill winner this year out of an incredibly talent crop of rookies. He's just been excellent.

6. Asamoah started his first NFL game today for Lilja. He did a fine job. Cassel was sacked three times today. At least two of those were his own fault for indecision with the football. Since the Chiefs only had given up five sacks all year before today, three was a lot, but you can't blame it on Asamoah. He helped the team rush for over 250 yards. Big props, because our O-line has some depth this year, and guys are stepping up and not embarrassing themselves when they get a chance to play.

5. I thought the Chiefs won today despite Coach Haley, who went full reerun in the first half. You never, ever, EVER pass up point opportunities, even against a winless team, at home, and especially in less than ideal weather conditions. Haley passed on a mid-30's range field goal in the first half, going on 4th and 3, for absolutely NO REASON. This was just rookie head coach stupidity. Luckily, it did not cost us a win today, but it very well could have. The Chiefs played a first half filled with blown opportunities, then failed to make any meaningful adjustments in the second half. We lucked out that Lindell missed his OT field goal opportunity. That guy is a good kicker, and the wind and distance, and a bit of a tip at the line of scrimmage, was just enough to foul up the attempt. Hopefully Coach Haley will learn something from having to squirm through an entire second half, plus a full overtime, thinking about passing up that one little field goal that could have made all the difference in second half game strategy today.

4. I think we missed McCluster today, although Charles was used a bit like McCluster at times with swing passes. I saw Dexter on the sidelines today in his warmups. He looks like he could play for a high school team. He's a little dude. Hard to believe he's endured the kind of NFL hits he's taken so far this year. It will be nice to have him back vs. Oakland next week. We need his versatility. He seemed to be moving around on the sidelines OK.

3. DJ was killing me today. He dropped one sure pick six in the first quarter, and dropped another sure pick in the fourth quarter that would have prevented the game tying drive. You HAVE to make those plays. Seemed like every fumble or tipped pass or pick-able ball went Buffalo's way this game. Except for the pass that hit Berry right between the 2 and the 9. Even with that, he almost lost it, and fell down when he caught the ball. That was a big pick. Berry is playing better as each week has gone by. He lead the defense with ten tackles today. He's excellent on run support. He still has some coverage issues, but I think he's smart enough to overcome that eventually. I believe he could be another Deron Cherry.

2. I'm going to play Mr. Pessimistic Chiefs fan here for just a minute. I don't believe the Chiefs have beaten a team with a winning record. It was a goal line stand to survive San Diego, a first down made by the nose hair of the football to ice the game in Cleveland, and today we let a winless team take us to the final three seconds of OT before eeking out a home win. Well, better lucky than good, I suppose. But the win today does bode well for the long run, as now there's a bit of a cushion going on the road vs. Oakland and Denver. If KC can can gain a split, we'll still be in pretty decent shape in the AFC West. Makes me wish the defense could have held onto that ten point lead with seven minutes left in Houston. How huge would have been to be 6-1 right now? I'll take 5-2. Game pics from KC Star website are here:

http://tinyurl.com/2bol6cp

1. Today was Military Appreciation Day at Arrowhead. Everybody got a little American Flag upon entering the stadium. At halftime they swore a bunch of kids into the Marine Corps, and showed the cameo pictures of dozens of service men and women from Kansas and Missouri who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I always get a lump in my throat when we have a military fly over, today it was a big tanker jet. Nothing better than the Arrowhead crowd chanting U-S-A for all the guys in uniform on the field today. It always makes me thankful to have those guy protecting our freedom so we can enjoy our way of life, including our Chiefs games.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by beer bacon

It was a very catchable ball. After the game somebody said the defender hooked one of Bowe's arms, and it should have been a DPI. Anybody notice that?

Yes, the arm was hooked, but no, I don't think it should have been DPI (it was very close though). I think it was an outstanding play by the defender. The way I saw it, he effectively took one of Bowe's arms away just as the ball hit Bowe's hands. Maybe someone will produce a replay and we can double check it.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

No, I thought Bowe was open, but the pass was underthrown, Bowe had to adjust to the ball, DB hit Bowe about the same time the ball got there (maybe a tiny bit early but not enough for DPI) and pinned Bowe's arm so he couldn't grab the ball. It was a good defensive play. No TD because (as usual) Cassel couldn't hit a receiver in stride.

I'll agree that Cassel didn't throw the perfect pass to hit Bowe's outstretched arms in stride, but I think he was close enough on that play to call it a success on his part foiled by a really good defensive play.* It's not like Bowe had to stop to wait for it like his TD last week.


_______________
* (IMO, of course)

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Laz

not really, in the passing game he is pretty much 'ass'

in the running game, he is much better but still tends to hit rather than tackle.

He's still a rookie and it shows, hopefully with this experience he will be a stud for years to come.


fyi - i think we should start McGraw next to him ... having too rookie safeties is just too much dumbass to have in our secondary.

JMO

Why would you take out Lewis? He's been playing really well so far.

[Rausch]

Do NOT want McGraw starting...

[sedated]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

5. I thought the Chiefs won today despite Coach Haley, who went full reerun in the first half. You never, ever, EVER pass up point opportunities, even against a winless team, at home, and especially in less than ideal weather conditions. Haley passed on a mid-30's range field goal in the first half, going on 4th and 3, for absolutely NO REASON.

If Haley would have kicked a FG in the first half, perhaps Succop would have been more used to aiming in that wind, and he wouldn't have missed his first attempt

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by sedated

If Haley would have kicked a FG in the first half, perhaps Succop would have been more used to aiming in that wind, and he wouldn't have missed his first attempt

Maybe.
If they take that three the game probably doesn't go to OT.

But if you try that kick in the 2nd quarter, it's kicking at the West End Zone.
The winning OT kick was in the East End Zone. Winds swirl different -usually its worse- on the east side, because the wind goes up a tunnel in the southeast corner of the playing surface.

Succop hit the game winner on the tougher end to kick. Kudos to him.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Succop hit the game winner on the tougher end to kick. Kudos to him.

OK, if that was the tougher end to kick, when Buffalo won the toss for OT, why in the heck did we choose to go in that direction?

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Coogs

OK, if that was the tougher end to kick, when Buffalo won the toss for OT, why in the heck did we choose to go in that direction?

Well, I thought about that too. I think it's because the east end is where Succop was kicking all his warm up FGs during halftime. I think since that's the side he warmed up on, he may have wanted to kick that direction. Or, maybe the coaches didn't even think about it. Who knows? Plus, you can't tell when the wind is going to gust. The kick he missed got pushed like crazy. The winning kick went left too, but I don't think it went left as severely as the first kick. Just one of those things. Also, he was closer on the second kick than the first.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by sedated

If Haley would have kicked a FG in the first half, perhaps Succop would have been more used to aiming in that wind, and he wouldn't have missed his first attempt

I played Soccer in my younger days. When I kicked a corner, I always threw a little grass up to check the wind direction. I always adjusted my kick direction to the wind. No coach told me to do it. I can't see why Succop or other kickers don't think this way. He looked surprised when the wind took the ball to the left. He should have kicked as if he was aiming to hit the right post.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Frankie

I played Soccer in my younger days. When I kicked a corner, I always threw a little grass up to check the wind direction. I always adjusted my kick direction to the wind. No coach told me to do it. I can't see why Succop or other kickers don't think this way. He looked surprised when the wind took the ball to the left. He should have kicked as if he was aiming to hit the right post.

Actually, Arenas was doing the grass in the wind thing all day for judging punts.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Frankie

I played Soccer in my younger days. When I kicked a corner, I always threw a little grass up to check the wind direction. I always adjusted my kick direction to the wind. No coach told me to do it. I can't see why Succop or other kickers don't think this way. He looked surprised when the wind took the ball to the left. He should have kicked as if he was aiming to hit the right post.

The wind at head level isn't as important as the wind at 40 ft in the air. You can't throw grass high enough to test those winds. I'm sure Succop doesn't need any advice from you or anyone else here on how to judge the wind.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by patteeu

The wind at head level isn't as important as the wind at 40 ft in the air.

Not totally true. If it's not a swirling type of wind it all goes in the same direction. I scored more than a few direct goals from the corner spot using that strategy. I really did.

Now you could have argued that the wind at Arrowhead was gusting and swirling. Your argument would have had more credibility.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Frankie

Not totally true. If it's not a swirling type of wind it all goes in the same direction. I scored more than a few direct goals from the corner spot using that strategy. I really did.

Now you could have argued that the wind at Arrowhead was gusting and swirling. Your argument would have had more credibility.

I didn't have to argue that the winds were swirling because everyone (but you, apparently) already knew that. If you didn't get it from the CBS broadcast, you could have read it in gblowfish's post earlier in this thread:

Originally Posted by gblowfish

The wind was swirling the whole game. And what is weird is, sometimes the flags by the big scoreboard will be fairly still, but the streamers on the goalposts are waving like crazy. You could see the wind whipping the ref's zebra shirts all day.

The kick they passed up was pointing to the west end zone (under the big scoreboard). The winning kick was east, towards the little scoreboard. Also in OT, they picked defending the west goal. I think Succop wanted to kick to the east end zone. During halftime he was warming up kicking at the east goalposts.

Duh.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Maybe.
If they take that three the game probably doesn't go to OT.

But if you try that kick in the 2nd quarter, it's kicking at the West End Zone.
The winning OT kick was in the East End Zone. Winds swirl different -usually its worse- on the east side, because the wind goes up a tunnel in the southeast corner of the playing surface.

Succop hit the game winner on the tougher end to kick. Kudos to him.

That may be the tougher end to kick in terms of a worse amount of wind, but isn't the wind on that end actually easier for a right footed kicker, because it hooks left. If they were going the other direction at the end of the game, he'd have had to kick at the left upright and hope for the wind to break it back to the right. Is that right? (I don't know for certain, I'm not nor have ever been a kicker...)

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

That may be the tougher end to kick in terms of a worse amount of wind, but isn't the wind on that end actually easier for a right footed kicker, because it hooks left. If they were going the other direction at the end of the game, he'd have had to kick at the left upright and hope for the wind to break it back to the right. Is that right? (I don't know for certain, I'm not nor have ever been a kicker...)

Ask Frankie. He's a kicking expert.