Ten Things About Today's Game: Week 1: KC 40 JAX 26

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today’s Game
Week 1: KC 40 JAX 26

10. When we last left our story, Dee Ford jumped off sides unforced and cost us a trip to the Super Bowl. Fast forward eight months and here we are on opening day for what will hopefully be a 50 year arrival from wandering the wilderness, finally getting to the Promised Land. Before we get into today’s game, I’d just like to say I gave a lot of thought to whether I wanted to do a Ten Things again this season. Social Media -including the CP- has just gotten nastier and uglier as each year goes by with sniping, sharp shooting, ad hominem arguing if even ONE opinion is disputed. Others have told me they wanted me to continue writing these up. So I offer this disclaimer: Please remember, I am NOT a paid member of the sports media. I don’t do hours and hours of pre-season research. I don’t have a statistician, or a public relations specialist, or a roomful of medical professionals at my disposal. All I have are a pair of 60 year old eyes, rock n roll damaged ears and a lifetime of watching Chiefs games to rely on. I’m only here to give you my humble thoughts on the game, it’s impact on the season, and an outlook on where things may be headed. Take it for what its worth; but I ask you to have spirited, yet civil discussions. Support your ideas if you disagree, be kind to one another, agree to disagree if you must. This is only a game. It’s not life or death. OK, end of disclaimer. Shall we begin?

9. Stately Wayne Minor, my modest home here in Methdependence (as many of you Johnson County types like to call it) is my haven for most road games. I snapped a few pictures this morning of the things that are part of my daily road game ritual: First thing in the morning is the hanging of the Chiefs Flag from the front porch. Then comes the coffee in my 1980 Chiefs mug, used only on game day mornings. There’s the touching of the 45 year football given to my family by the Chiefs. The squeezing of an actual game used ball given to my wife by the Chiefs after an overzealous autograph seeker knocked her down in our seats. And the jukebox tuned to 101 for Mitch’s broadcast (which came in quite handy today in the 4th quarter) used primarily to avoid that Zero Super Bowl Pain in the Ass Dan Fouts. Cheese dip Nachos and Meesh Meesh in my lap, La-Z-Boy and big glass of ice water in an Arrowhead Stadium Cup. NFL Network until 11AM, then switch to CBS, who supremely screwed the pooch today. I think this may be one of the few Chiefs game I won’t be able to watch in its entirety. Even if NFL Network replays it, do you think they’ll have the fourth quarter? I guess we’ll see.

8. This is the 100 year anniversary of the NFL; 60 year anniversary of the AFL and the 50th season since KC won a Super Bowl. We lost the coin toss for the first time in a long time. Over 100 degree heat and high humidity in Jacksonville is a rough way to open. But in Andy’s KC tenure (including today), his teams are 6-1 on opening day including 5-0 in road openers. Chiefs looked like the conditioned team as Jax had guys dropping like flies, especially in the 2nd half. The defensive line rotation helped keep our run defense fresh. The pass rush is another matter, and we’ll get to that. These two teams have both lost AFC Championship games in the last two years. So both have played on big stages recently. One big difference today was maturity, level headedness and not committing stupid ass penalties. Jax defense in the first half gave up a 67 yard TD on the third play of the game. That was the tail lights that blew by, and they chased that car the entire game. After that series, the Jax defense was chippy, pushing after the play and jawing like they had a two TD lead. Jax defense imploded as the game wore on. Myles Jack lost his mind and got ejected before halftime. Later another starting Jax linebacker Quincy Williams went out with a gimpy knee. Chiefs scored in eight of their first nine possessions - 4 field goals and 4 TDs. That’s what is called a “serious offensive machine.” Jax defense just got more and more frustrated as the day went on. They’re most likely a top 10 NFL defense, and we hung 40 on them in their house. That’s got to be scary for the rest of our upcoming opponents.

7. Nick Foles threw a beautiful TD pass beating Fuller’s near perfect coverage. Bad news for Foles is, Frank Clark crushed his clavicle on that play and knocked him out, maybe for the season. Rookie Achoo Gesundheit, the Jax backup QB, played like the starter throwing for 275 yards and two TDs. But he also had a pick by Frank Clark -one more than Jalen Ramsey had today. Speaking of Ramsey, he’s the one who hurt Tyreek. He threw him down hard, and Hill’s got a shoulder injury-where the clavicle goes into the sternum. Also Ramsey gave him some extra business after the play. Too early to tell how serious the injury is, but Hill got a trip to the hospital out of the deal. Let’s hope its nothing that will linger for months.

6. Offensive player of the day no doubt was Watkins with a career day. Three TDs, nine catches, two bucks short of a double Benjamin day. McCoy and Williams combined for over 100 rushing and a TD. McCoy could be the best pickup of a washed up back since we got Marcus Allen as a Raider castoff. Kelce had three catches for 88 after off season ankle surgery. He looked gassed in the fourth quarter. Mahomie threw for 378 and three TDs on a bad wheel. He probably would have had four TD passes and over 400 yards had he not got dinged early in the second quarter. Andy did a great job in altering the play calling for Mahomes after the ankle injury to allow him to still be effective and move the ball. Hope its nothing lingering for Mahomes. Line has got to tighten up to keep him from getting killed. Again, Jax has one of the best D-Lines in the NFL, and so hopefully the pressure won’t be as bad against Oakland next week. Mahomes is a tough cookie taping it up, rubbing some dirt on it and gutting it out. Just more to love about an already lovable QB. The kid is an undisputed leader.

5. Last year KC was the worst defense in the NFL in forcing three and outs. Today’s defense still looked horrible on long yardage pass defense. Fuller got beat for a TD -albeit on a perfectly placed pass; Ward got scorched for a 68 yard pass play. Run defense was generally better as Fournette only got 66 yards rushing and coughed up a game momentum changing fumble in the third quarter. Both Jax QBs combined had 350 yards passing and three passing TDs, virtually matching Mahomes output. Defense giving up 26 points is not pretty at all, but if we keep scoring 40, we should be OK. Again, if KC gets a fast start, other teams will be chasing our tail lights every game.

4. Frank Clark knocked Foles out, but had no sacks. Chiefs D only had one sack today, and let both Foles and Achoo get away several times. Maybe the heat had something to do with that, but we need more pressure -especially on third down- from K-Pass and Clark. Linebackers seem to be faster and tackle better this year. Not seeing the kind of “Ole” tackle attempts that were common last season. The sooner we get Claiborne and (hopefully) can trade for Patrick Peterson, the better. The secondary is still incredibly suspect. It’s the weak link, no doubt.

3. Kudos to Buttkicker. He got a new contract and was straight cash money. His kickoffs are usually out of the end zone. He’s a genuine weapon. Colquitt didn’t get involved with the game until the fourth quarter when “Midnight Hour” Moore Moore Moore got into the mix in QB relief. Of course, we didn’t see any of that because CBS was showing us Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold wetting their respective pants.

2. There was a LOT of Red in the Jax stands today. By the end of the game it looked like an Arrowhead crowd. There’s obviously a lot of buzz about this team, and a lot of people traveling to see road games. If you were one of the folks there representing today on a hot and miserable day, my hat’s off to you. One thing I admire about Steeler and Packer fans is they travel like the dickens. Maybe in the next year or two Chiefs fans will rival that passion or surpass it.

1. So we get the win with a couple of scary moments. Hill being perhaps seriously injured is not good, Mahomes should be OK but slowed for the Faid next week. I worry about Vontaze Burfict being an Oakland hit man. If you think Jax laid out some cheap shots, wait till we get Burfict next week. The Canadian Doc and The Schwartz did some road grading for McCoy in the second half, and blew open a hole for Williams to score the last TD untouched. I think this combination of weaponry for both pass and run will wear down most teams, who will have a hard time hanging till the fourth quarter. Health will be our biggest obstacle, as is true with all NFL teams. One down, fifteen more to go. Know why I’m most excited? IT’S ALREADY RAIDERS WEEK!

[BlackHelicopters]

Waited for this! Thanks G!

[Rasputin]

Missed these takes.

[mnchiefsguy]

Great to see you back George! Appreciate it as always!

[Rasputin]

We got the real McCoy

[2bikemike]

Thanks for the write up George! If I am lucky I get to listen to the games on Sirius. So your takes are greatly appreciated.

[KChiefs1]

Love the Victrola!

Great read as always George.

[Otter]

Good to have you back GB!

Don't listen to the social media trolls. There are so many of us here that look forward to your top 10 posts. I was actually thinking at a point during the game how much I missed the top 10 things about game wrap up.

I've only got thru the 1st paragraph.

[farmerchief]

Thanks for the write up, gblowfish! My 60+ year old eyes can read your commentary just fine( but bifocals help a lot!) :-)

[Hydrae]

Thanks, George! Appreciate as always and am glad you decided to continue Ten Things again this season.

[TwistedChief]

George, I missed these write-ups so much. I think I speak for others when I say that they're like a so-called dessert after the game - a comprehensive, thoughtful, reasoned, and good-natured analysis of the game laced with your own personal history that just seems like very satisfying closure. I really hope you don't let the CP vitriol turn you off from doing these because they're much appreciated.

The game was hot and fun and sweaty and amazing. This team is exactly what we remembered from last year and that means we have a lot of blue skies ahead. See you in a couple weeks.

[TribalElder]

Yes!

[rabblerouser]

Great reading, as usual.

Hope you and the Mrs. are well.

[displacedinMN]

Fantastic. Glad to see it GB.

[dannybcaitlyn]

Thanks George. You keep being you buddy!