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.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by milkman

I disagree with the idea that you should run the ball on every third or fourth and short.

I do think, however, that lining up in a shotgun is not a good idea.

I don't know. I think if you're going to go for it on 4th down WITH THIS TEAM, you better be able to get it with the run. Cassel just isn't consistent enough. If you have Manning, sure, throw the ball. But Jesus. RUN THE BALL. Really, the only pass I'd like to see on 4th is getting the ball to McCluster or Charles out of the backfield.

3rd down, yeah, pass to get someone off guard. If the situation is right, go for a dagger.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

George,

What did you think of Chambers today? How did he look? Besides being invisible. : )

He was dressed as a Chiefs Wide Receiver for Halloween.

[KcFaNiNJerZeY]

That 4th down stuff just kills me every single time Haily does it, but I can't argue the win! Great read to fish.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I don't know. I think if you're going to go for it on 4th down WITH THIS TEAM, you better be able to get it with the run. Cassel just isn't consistent enough. If you have Manning, sure, throw the ball. But Jesus. RUN THE BALL. Really, the only pass I'd like to see on 4th is getting the ball to McCluster or Charles out of the backfield.

3rd down, yeah, pass to get someone off guard. If the situation is right, go for a dagger.

Against the Texans, the chiefs failed to convert 3rd or 4th and short on 4 of 7 plays running the ball.

They converted 6 of 8 attempts passing the ball in those same situations.

I have no problem with the idea of passing on either down, but do it out of a play action, which worked well against the Texans.

[gblowfish]

There's a big difference between Houston's run defense and Buffalo.
Buffalo is one of the worst run stopping teams in the NFL. We should have run them out of the stadium by halftime.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

There's a big difference between Houston's run defense and Buffalo.
Buffalo is one of the worst run stopping teams in the NFL. We should have run them out of the stadium by halftime.

I get that.

But there's also a difference between running the ball on first and 10 and 3rd and 1, and the Chiefs line is not built for straight power running, so even against the Bills, running in those situations is not a gimme.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by milkman

Against the Texans, the chiefs failed to convert 3rd or 4th and short on 4 of 7 plays running the ball.

They converted 6 of 8 attempts passing the ball in those same situations.

I have no problem with the idea of passing on either down, but do it out of a play action, which worked well against the Texans.

I would like to do a playaction, bootleg which would give Dumbass Cassel an option to either throw it to the TE/FB running out in the flat, or Cassel doing his prancing dancing moves, just to be borderline short or barely getting the first down.

I think that odds has a better probability of succeeding than a run play right up behind the Guard's ass for the 14th time.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by milkman

Against the Texans, the chiefs failed to convert 3rd or 4th and short on 4 of 7 plays running the ball.

They converted 6 of 8 attempts passing the ball in those same situations.

I have no problem with the idea of passing on either down, but do it out of a play action, which worked well against the Texans.

Originally Posted by milkman

I get that.

But there's also a difference between running the ball on first and 10 and 3rd and 1, and the Chiefs line is not built for straight power running, so even against the Bills, running in those situations is not a gimme.

Very valid argument, and probably accurate, but it seems to me that on this team running is higher percentage. JMO.

By the by, it's nice to be talking about which weapons we should use, instead of "hey look. LJ ran off left guard. Neat."

[gblowfish]

They're better at power running this year than last year. They run over Waters, use Cox as a lead blocker, and have Battle or Jones who can make a 3rd and Short. Last year they had bupkus.

[milkman]

Again, I don't disagree with you George, they are better at power than they were last year.

But, once again, better than bad does not equal good.

I'd guess that we have about a 50% of winning those battles, but Buehler may be right in that our odds still might be better.

[gblowfish]

Yep, I agree.
They seem to go away from what's working, instead of forcing the opposition to stop what's working. That's my biggest beef. I also agree it's nice to debate what weapons are best to use in a game, versus the endless "why we lost a close game" threads like we had last year.

It's all good, my friend...

[L.A. Chieffan]

I agree with Las. Berry is garbage. We should probably cut our losses and get rid of him

[milkman]

Originally Posted by L.A.Chieffan

I agree with Las. Berry is garbage. We should probably cut our losses and get rid of him

You mean Matt Lazzel, don't ya?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

Against the Texans, the chiefs failed to convert 3rd or 4th and short on 4 of 7 plays running the ball.

They converted 6 of 8 attempts passing the ball in those same situations.

I have no problem with the idea of passing on either down, but do it out of a play action, which worked well against the Texans.

I'm surprised they haven't used Battle more in these situations. I think he adds a dimension they never previously tried before and it's worked whenever we've used him. I also find it curious we don't sneak the ball more.

I agree that our line wasn't necessarily built for power running, but it seems like we try to get way too cute. If the Chiefs can be ultra successful up the middle when defenses are loading 8 to 9 in a box, I don't see why they couldn't be just as successful in short yardage situations.

[EyePod]

Originally Posted by CupidStunt

Far as point 2 goes, they're not as good as their record; HOWEVER, 9, 10 or 11 wins would be HUGE progress for a 4-win, rebuilding team, no matter who they come against. The hope is that they can then build on that with another good offseason filling more holes.

The other thing I'd say is that they're not 5-0 against bad teams while getting blown out by Indy/Houston; they were right in those games and outplayed Houston. They SHOULD be 6-1 with a couple solid wins (SD, @HOU).

I would be way, way less positive if they had been wrecked by those 2 AFC South teams. The losses were actually supportive of KC's progress as a team.

Buffalo outplayed us today and we won. Oakland outplayed Zona and lost. We outplayed Houston and lost. It happens all the time. We got the W, and come playoffs, no one will care how.