Ten Things About Last Night’s Game: AFC Championship: NFL 37, Kansas City 31 in OT

[gblowfish]

Perhaps, "City of Heartbreaking Loss" should replace "City of Fountains" as our moniker?

10. Well, its the morning after. Apologies for taking so long to gather my thoughts and write this, trying to write and work at the same time. Happy MLK Day, BTW. Hope you got the day off. I think by sleeping on the loss I can approach this familiar feeling of disappointment with a clearer eye and the absence of emotional hysteria. Yesterday was a nine hour commitment for Mrs. B and me. We left for Arrowhead at 1:30 pm, got parked in a Gold Lot around 2pm, ate and napped in the car till 4:15. Stood in line in the cold for an hour and a half trying to get into Arrowhead, and didn’t get to the seat until seven minutes into the first quarter. That’s OK. I had to piss like Niagra Falls and it took me around five minutes just to peel down in my Michelin Man Suit just to get cleared for landing. So it was already 7-0 before I even got seated. I guess I should have just stayed in the can till after halftime. I kept thinking why in the world would the NFL schedule the games in the order they did? Why not let the outdoor venue play during the daytime, when it was as warm as it was going to be, and let the dome team play at night? Didn’t matter, TV contracts rule the roost.

9. Let’s get numbers out of the way early. Here’s some fun ones, Pats vs Chiefs: 94-47: Total plays run. 524-290: Total offensive yards. 176-41. Rushing yardage. 36-18: First downs. 0-4: Sacks Allowed. 44-21: TOP. The Pats had ZERO negative yardage plays from scrimmage. With all those numbers, you’d think Kansas City would have been beaten by around 21 points, especially since they were shut out in the first half. Mahomes scored 31 second half points against Hoodie BOTH TIMES he matched up against the Pats this year. Last time we lost in the last seconds by a field goal, this time we lost by a coin flip. Here’s my favorite “Because Chiefs” stat: Since 1940, teams that scored 31 points in the second half of an NFL playoff game were 64-1. Now the record is 64-2. Because Chiefs.

8. You can make a pretty good case for both sides of the ball being responsible for the loss if you want to point fingers. The offense went scoreless the first half. Mahomes did not look good, and his receivers gave him no help. Mahomes was sacked four times and was hurried about ten more times, so the Pats D line dominated our O Line, especially in the first half. Kelce and Hill combined for four catches. Four. After Kelce’s TD he disappeared, and had a ball boink off his face mask that would have gotten a first down. Kelce was outplayed again by Gronk, and has yet to prove himself the more reliable guy in games that matter. Hill was double teamed 95% of the time, which was certainly not his fault. I still think he’s playing hurt as his speed seems to be diminished over the past couple games. So a guy who was a third string back -Damien Williams- ends up with three TDs, and Sammy Watkins is the guy with over 100 yards. Mahomes has the higher QB rating: 117 to 77.1 because of Brady’s two picks. QB rating is the most worthless stat in pro football. Brady was in control the entire game until the last 30 seconds of regulation. Then he won the OT toss, and Game Over.

7. The defense had only given up seven points until less than 30 seconds left in the half. That’s decent. Brady probably would have had 21 if not for Ragland’s pick in the end zone to keep the Chiefs from getting blown out. Nelson continues to suffer from Bartee Disease and seems to either drop a pick, or get burned for a TD every single week. In the second half they had one fourth and one stop. The defense could not hold a four point lead with two minutes to a trip to Atlanta. Then in the OT they gave up three consecutive 3rd and 10’s. They couldn’t get the Pats off the field, so they did not deserve to win.

6. Kansas City seems to have cornered the market on bridesmaid coaches. We lived through Marty’s failures, and stubbornness to change, and now we have Andy, who has lost five playoff games in his tenure; two by two points, two by one point, and one in OT. He stubbornly allowed Bob Sutton to return this year. As of this writing on Monday morning, Bob Sutton is still employed by the Chiefs. God knows why. Andy is seen by most of the NFL as one of those guys who just can’t win the big one. And like Marty, his “coaching tree” has been more successful than he has been. Every year it’s the same story. He’ll get up and say “This is on me, we need to focus on improving and during the off season we’ll get better.” In fairness, we did at least win a home divisional game -which was definitely an improvement- but man, when you’re two minutes away from the Super Bowl and can’t hold a four point lead at home… that really hurts.

5. Eric Berry should be on an operating table THIS MORNING. The Chiefs gave him millions of dollars this year. Berry played when the spirit moved him, and when he did play in three games, Chiefs went 0-3. I like Eric Berry and admire him. But the old saying is “You Can’t Make the Club from the Tub.” If he needs to get his heel fixed, fix it TODAY and get him on the road back to health, or part ways. Houston was invisible. He had two tackles, no sacks, no impact plays. DT did that too during his career, disappeared in playoff games. Dee Ford will be cast as a scapegoat, but the rest of the defense was just as culpable. Chris Jones had NO tackles, and when he managed to touch Brady, was awarded the biggest bullshit roughing penalty of the season. Ford will most likely be our franchise tag player. Hopefully he’ll learn and grow.

4. If we go Little Mary Sunshine, what good was there? Well, I read a stat where the Pats roster guys had played in over 130 AFC Championship games between them. The Chiefs roster? ZERO. So, our 53 man squad all got to experience what it takes to win an AFC Championship game against a veteran team who’s been there, done that. We took them to OT. Mahomes did all this in his first year as a full starter. This is his first full tour of duty, and he lost the Super Bowl by a coin toss. At 23 barring injury, he’ll be ruling the AFC West for a long time. Butt Kicker was money in bad weather. He’s also young and could be our kicker for many years. Those are all very good things.

3. Who do you fear in the AFC West? Oakland. Nope, they’re a train wreck. Denver? Nope, not until they get a QB and their defense is aging fast. Bolts? Phyllis will be eligible for a senior discount at Denny’s very soon. If we can get a defense, we could be the next Patriots. The spotlight now turns to GM Veatch. His Speaks draft looks like a disappointment. We got bupkis from Speaks and T-Pass this year. On this draft, he better pick ALL defense. We need two corners, a safety who can help in run support, a middle line backer who can thump, and more depth at the other linebacker positions as well. Looks like our pick with the Rams on the Peters trade won’t be all that, because the Rams will be at the end of the draft this year. They must dump Sutton, and get a defensive minded guy in here who can do better than giving up over 500 yards and 37 points at home in an AFC Championship game. Tick tock, tick tock…

2. So today I have that too familiar feeling that I’ve lived with my whole adult life. No Super Bowl for Kansas City again this year. Oh well, maybe we’ll be this close again 25 years from now. I’ll be 84 years old then. I probably won’t give a flip by that point. I may not even remember who the Chiefs are or why I should care. But if you remember after the second Bolts game, I said in the Ten Things that the Chiefs would not go to the Super Bowl this year, because they can’t stop the run, and they can’t get good teams off the field on third down. That’s exactly what happened, and so here we are. Am I crushed? No, actually I’m strangely satisfied with how everything went down this year. We made it to the final four. We got the home playoff loss monkey off our backs last week. We got an AFC title game at Arrowhead and took the greatest NFL dynasty team of the last 20 years into overtime with a rookie QB. They fought like Hell, didn’t embarrass the city, and came up a bit short. I can live with that.

1. Many have said the Royals equivalent to this year was 2014 when Alex Gordon stood 90 feet away from tying Game Seven at Kauffman. The Royals came up short in an improbable season. Then in 2015 they came back with a vengeance and crushed it. I have a good feeling that if Veatch can fix this defense, or at least improve it from being worst to mid pack, we can make this whole thing work. Chiefs were worst in the league in penalties. That goes to coaching, and Andy Reid is responsible for fixing that. Both championship games went to overtime. Both big market teams won with help from the zebras making calls or non-calls to steer the games during critical moments. Take that as you will. The NFL got a Los Angeles team into the Super Bowl with a mega-billion dollar stadium under construction that they seriously need to succeed. Remember, the NFL owes you a football exhibition for entertainment purposes only. Were you entertained? Because…… Chiefs.

At least the Lamar Hunt trophy got to visit Kansas City for the first time. Maybe one will live here someday. Have a great off season, and thanks for all the kind comments over the past season about the Ten Things. Maybe Next Year. Maybe Next Year.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I never saw body language that said shell shock. Saw a lot of sad faces on the field and in the stands at the end. Oh, and some of the Pats players were being dicks by taunting our fans. All I can say to that is payback is a bitch. We got some on the Colts this year, we bitch slapped the Steelers in their home in the regular season, now these guys will be on our list. We'll owe them one if they ever make it back to an AFC Championship game after GOAT and Hoodie retires. A lot of teams are going to work out a lot of frustration in NE.

Thanks, man.

As for payback ... although I understand your perspective, I'm hopeful we get another shot at the Cheaters BEFORE Tommy Two Yards and Billy Badass retire.

FAX

[tk13]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I just wish Veach had a greater sense of urgency. Dante Fowler caused the game-changing pick for the Rams. There were multiple good or elite DBs available in-season and he made a run at none of them. Having Reid or Earl Thomas back there changes that defense.

Mahomes, Hill, and Jones will never be cheaper. Windows slam shut quickly in the NFL, look at Atlanta, and Jax.

I think we have a better QB than those teams but there was a time where Luck made the AFC title game and it was going to be the first of many. The decade's over and he's still only been to 1.

I think we have a good shot to get back to this point but if we spend 4-5 years trying to fix the defense like we did under Vermeil it's possible that's about as far as we get.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by FAX

Thanks, man.

As for payback ... although I understand your perspective, I'm hopeful we get another shot at the Cheaters BEFORE Tommy Two Yards and Billy Badass retire.

FAX

Their entire offense is death by paper cut. Four yard run, eight yard slant, convert third down. I think they were 13 of 19 on third down. We've haven't been able to stop a slant since Elway played. For some reason we can't defend it.

[Best22]

Originally Posted by FAX

Thanks, man.

As for payback ... although I understand your perspective, I'm hopeful we get another shot at the Cheaters BEFORE Tommy Two Yards and Billy Badass retire.

FAX

I’d be fine with them retiring after this Superbowl

KC is the best in the AFC, aside from the Patriots. Beating them changes nothing. We have nothing to prove to the Pats. I hope Gronk, Brady, and Bill retire after the Superbowl

[kc rush]

Thanks George. I hated reading this one. No fault of yours though.

[swifty32661]

Originally Posted by kc rush

Thanks George. I hated reading this one. No fault of yours though.

[GloryDayz]

I wish we had one more of these great write-ups to come for this year.

[suzzer99]

Thanks George - I'm in the process of trying to get over the game and be happy with the season. Your post helps.

[Randallflagg]

Originally Posted by tk13

I think we have a better QB than those teams but there was a time where Luck made the AFC title game and it was going to be the first of many. The decade's over and he's still only been to 1.

I think we have a good shot to get back to this point but if we spend 4-5 years trying to fix the defense like we did under Vermeil it's possible that's about as far as we get.

I learned this from 55 years of football playing and watching - "Never count your chickens BEFORE they come home to roost"

Mahomes is the real deal - but so was Marino, Luck, Rivers, on and on and on.

There is ALWAYS the possibility that Pat will never see another championship game. Hopefully - that won't be the case - but one player does not a "team" make.

The Chiefs defense is a train wreck, to say the very least. From the coordinator to the trainer - they are terrible and here is the part that disturbs me the most - fat Andy knows this, too.

I would LOVE to be Andy's friend and associate because (apparently) accountability seldom comes into play with him and his "associates". Bob Sutton needs to be packing his office up right now and a new coordinator should be searched for NOW.

I sincerely hope that it will happen - but sadly - I don't expect it too. I expect Buttons to be back next year and minor changes to be made on Defense. They will go into the season at the bottom of the list, yet again and it will fall on Pat Mahomes to continually "bail them out" by scoring touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. At some point - that luck runs out.

In other words - same old, same old. Welcome to 1979........."Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - Santayana


Great job George! Thanks for a season of great writing!

[MahiMike]

6. Kansas City seems to have cornered the market on bridesmaid coaches.

Hahaha

[MMXcalibur]

Thanks for another year of 10 things, George.

With the Chiefs/Chargers game getting moved out to Mexico, I won't be able to attend this year's Chiefs home game in LA. So, its been two days of groin kicks by the NFL. I might make the trip to Arrowhead with the wife this season if the shutdown ends before the summer months.

Oh well, here comes the offseason. Let's fix that awful defense.

[OnTheWarpath15]

For about 15 seconds, I thought we were going to get a Super Bowl Edition of Ten Things.

When I saw the flag at the sideline/LOS, my assumption was an illegal formation or shift by New England. I even mentioned it to Tiny Evel and the guys sitting behind us.

But Dee Ford is a ****ing dumbass, we lose the coin toss, and because, Chiefs.

I really thought I'd be OK with a loss considering I never thought in a million years there would be an AFCCG at Arrowhead this year back in September. But the fact that we were the most little league mental error imaginable away from going to the SB has changed that.

I'm ****ing crushed.

While the future appears bright because of 15, there are no guarantees. Look at Marino. Hell, even Aaron Rodgers has only won one. I'd love to think we'll be back, but there are a million reasons why we may not be.

All because Dee Ford is too ****ing stupid to line up onside. Would have been easier to take had he jumped, or made a physical error like roughing or hands to the face.

But he lined up wrong.

And the season is over because of it.

Sad.

[kgrund]

Originally Posted by InTheNeutralZone55

For about 15 seconds, I thought we were going to get a Super Bowl Edition of Ten Things.

When I saw the flag at the sideline/LOS, my assumption was an illegal formation or shift by New England. I even mentioned it to Tiny Evel and the guys sitting behind us.

But Dee Ford is a ****ing dumbass, we lose the coin toss, and because, Chiefs.

I really thought I'd be OK with a loss considering I never thought in a million years there would be an AFCCG at Arrowhead this year back in September. But the fact that we were the most little league mental error imaginable away from going to the SB has changed that.

I'm ****ing crushed.

While the future appears bright because of 15, there are no guarantees. Look at Marino. Hell, even Aaron Rodgers has only won one. I'd love to think we'll be back, but there are a million reasons why we may not be.

All because Dee Ford is too ****ing stupid to line up onside. Would have been easier to take had he jumped, or made a physical error like roughing or hands to the face.

But he lined up wrong.

And the season is over because of it.

Sad.

This is so so true. Lining up offsides, as opposed to jumping offsides, has to be one of the most benign calls in the game. Had ZERO impact on the play whatsoever, BUT it is still a penalty. A hugely stupid penalty, which makes it so much harder to swallow IMO.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by InTheNeutralZone55

For about 15 seconds, I thought we were going to get a Super Bowl Edition of Ten Things.

When I saw the flag at the sideline/LOS, my assumption was an illegal formation or shift by New England. I even mentioned it to Tiny Evel and the guys sitting behind us.

But Dee Ford is a ****ing dumbass, we lose the coin toss, and because, Chiefs.

I really thought I'd be OK with a loss considering I never thought in a million years there would be an AFCCG at Arrowhead this year back in September. But the fact that we were the most little league mental error imaginable away from going to the SB has changed that.

I'm ****ing crushed.

While the future appears bright because of 15, there are no guarantees. Look at Marino. Hell, even Aaron Rodgers has only won one. I'd love to think we'll be back, but there are a million reasons why we may not be.

All because Dee Ford is too ****ing stupid to line up onside. Would have been easier to take had he jumped, or made a physical error like roughing or hands to the face.

But he lined up wrong.

And the season is over because of it.

Sad.

"I got to see the ball, especially at the time of that game and, you know, what was at stake."

[gblowfish]

Well, I'm sure at some point he'll be a tortured man playing piano in some airport Holiday Inn Lounge drinking himself to death and living on tip money.