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.

[keg in kc]

I played soccer for years and years. But I'm not going to even pretend that translates into kicking an oblong ball through an upright 40 yards away in 50 mile an hour winds.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I played soccer for years and years. But I'm not going to even pretend that translates into kicking an oblong ball through an upright 40 yards away in 50 mile an hour winds.

I played kick ball in grade school and I used to toss fistfuls of dirt and gravel into the air before it was my turn to kick. No, not because I was measuring the wind, just because it was fun.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I played soccer for years and years. But I'm not going to even pretend that translates into kicking an oblong ball through an upright 40 yards away in 50 mile an hour winds.

The shape factors in some areas of techniques of kicking. Putting the ball is a very basic consideration regardless of shape.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Ask Frankie. He's a kicking expert.

A basic idea does not an expert make. As such I never claimed to be one. But I played Soccer for years and coached it a few years more. Experienced, yes. Expert, is something you want to say just to be cute.

[Buehler445]

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.

Wrong. Wind 40 feet up is most definitely different. Particularly INSIDE a structure. Crawl on your roof on any day when there is a little breeze and tell me it is different.

And you don't need grass, you can just turn and feel the wind on your face.
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[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Wrong. Wind 40 feet up is most definitely different. Particularly INSIDE a structure. Crawl on your roof on any day when there is a little breeze and tell me it is different.

And you don't need grass, you can just turn and feel the wind on your face.
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Or just look at the streamer thingies on the goal posts...that's what they are there for.

And speaking as someone who has spent a great deal of his life working on ladders and roofs, I can attest that the wind can be different even 10-15 feet off of the ground.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

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.

If I read Haley's presser remarks yesterday correctly, what you said here is pretty much spot on. I also think we have to thank the wind a little bit on Buffalo's miss going the other direction. Even though it was an ugly kick, it looked like it was going to sneak just inside the right upright, and at the last possible moment, the wind pushed it hard right into the upright. The previous kick that Haley called the TO on though, the wind did not seem to have any effect on at all. Tough conditions for a kicker Sundy all the way around.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Wrong. Wind 40 feet up is most definitely different.

In strength, not really in direction, if it's a directional wind as oppesed to a swirling type.

Originally Posted by Buehler445

And you don't need grass, you can just turn and feel the wind on your face.
Posted via Mobile Device

I did not say he should do the grass test. I said I did it. I was talking about having an understanding of how wind affects balls in the air. NFL kickers have the benefit of the flags at the top of goal posts. They do not need to throw grass up or to try to feel the wind on their face.

[patteeu]

Tell us more about this mysterious thing you call wind, Frankie!

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Tell us more about this mysterious thing you call wind, Frankie!

Trolling doesn't become you, pat. Especially when it's not in the DC forum.