Ten Things About Today's Game: Week 3 KC 33 BALT 28

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today’s Game: Week 3 KC 33 BALT 28

10. Home openers are always great no matter what year it is. The season is still young and anything can happen. For 2019, it’s the first time to see the Chiefs at home in a game that counts. The old school yellow end zones looked great, and the new seats in the upper deck were a bright stunning red, which made the “sea of red” seem even redder. Jamaal Charles was on the big drum, and the crowd seemed in good spirits despite a soggy tailgate. For those of you outside KC, we’ve been under a flash flood watch this weekend. it started raining about 3am, and rained real hard from about 8am up to around 10:45. The parking lot looked like an Arabian tent city with a river running through it. As each year goes by, the tailgaters get more sophisticated in their set ups, and today there were hundreds of tents with charcoal smoke wafting as far as the eye could see. Mrs. B and I went in around 10:30, because it had stopped raining, and we didn’t know long it would take to get inside. We got in quickly, and got to watch pregame warmups. We had a B-2 bomber flyover, which is amazing if you’ve never seen one in person. Rain held off the entire first half, which was a true blessing. Sitting in driving rain for hours is no fun.

9. Looks like Mahomes is doing OK on his bad ankle. Didn’t notice any limp or mobility issues in warmups. Fisher was in a Chiefs sweatsuit and was moving gingerly along the sideline. Looks like he may be another month till he’s good. Our number three tight end Deon Yelder was active but didn’t see much action. McCoy didn’t show any signs of his bad ankle either. He ran hard and ran tough and had a pair of critical TDs on a tough goal line run and later on a perfectly executed screen pass. He earned his paycheck with a 6.8 yards per carry average. Darrell Williams was good as well, especially salting the game away getting the game winning first down on a screen pass. Williams averaged 6.9 yards per carry. So whether Shady or Williams got the ball, the results were the same. Jamaal Charles would be proud of both of them.

8. Two weeks in a row KC came out sluggish and got shut out in the first quarter. Offense came alive and put up 23 points in the second quarter, and shut out the Ravens. Even up 7-7 in the third quarter, then the Ravens made the game close by putting up 15 in the fourth quarter. John Harbaugh did some squirrelly stuff in the first quarter by going for two and going on fourth down. I think we’re going to see a trend of a lot of opposing coaches going for broke against Reid and Mahomes. Field goals aren’t going to win against this kind of offensive firepower. Imagine when Tyreek comes back. OMG…

7. I was impressed with Lamar Jackson. Jackson -who looks kind of like Samuel L- threw for 267 but had no passing TDs and should have been picked three or four times. He was sacked three times. If I was a Ravens fan I’d be afraid he’s going to get injured like Watson in Houston did last year. He was running around like Daffy Duck back there; and he got away with three or four passes he never should have thrown. He reminds me a little of Randall Cunningham but he’s not nearly as accurate. He’s got a chance to be a very good QB if he doesn’t get killed scrambling.

6. Mahomes does some risky gunslinging too, but he’s getting better at protecting the football. He was only sacked once, and took some cheap shots from the Ravens as well. It looks like the refs are serious about protecting him, so he’s kind of a “made man” like Tommy Boy and the Five Head used to be. Besides the spectacular TDs to Robinson and Hardman, he threw a pass to Sammy Watkins that just stuck in his hands like a Fred Biletnikoff stickum job. Kelce had seven catches for 89 yards and several important chunk plays. In all eight guys caught passes, including a Byron Pringle sighting.
Mahomes has a 374 yard day with three TDs and ZERO picks.

5. Not sure what to think of Spags defense so far. One thing I’ll say is they’ve been actually able to get the opponent off the field on third down a few times. Run defense looked a lot like last year, giving up eight or ten or fifteen yards on first down. Ingram had a three TD day -I laughed when he fell down after the second one trying to spike the football against an Arrowhead Logo on the side wall. Edwards averaged almost eight yards per carry. Throw in Jackson’s scrambles and the Ravens had over 200 total yards rushing. That is certainly cause for concern. Perhaps that would be offset by the secondary giving up ZERO passing TDs and doing a decent job keeping Hollywood and Andrews in check. 31 yards is the longest pass play surrendered, and Seth Roberts grab near the goal line was just dumb luck.

4. Frank Clark had a sack, but that was only one of three tackles he made all day long. Ogbah out played him today with two sacks and several pressures. Chris Jones was not a factor today either. Those guys need to step it up, especially Jones if he expects to be paid like Suh or Campbell. Hitchens and Fuller led all tacklers with eight each. it was nice to see Derrick Nnadi step up to stop Jackson on the first two point try, and good to see Mathieu be effective on the safety blitz. Wish Spags would do that more often.

3. Another mixed bag for special teams. Buttkicker missed an extra point. The snap was a little low, but he just pushed it left. He did hit a couple important field goals, one before halftime and another in the fourth quarter to get a five point lead. DAT didn’t do anything stupid this week; and no holding or block in the back penalties on punt returns. Penalties were actually better this week. Ravens had a couple personal fouls, and an OPI, but the crowd never made them jump offsides. I don’t remember KC having a single DPI. I remember one play had three total penalties, two by KC and one by Baltimore so they all offset. Schwartz had a holding penalty protecting Mahomes. But overall a pretty clean game by both teams. Kudos to our front line for keeping Mahomes relatively safe from a tough defensive front.

2. Kudos to Andy as to how he handled the last two minutes. The third down screen to Williams was a perfect call. There’s been so many games where one first down would salt it away, and the Chiefs under Huard, or Alex Smith or whoever, didn’t have the balls to put the game in the QBs hands and let him win it. I’m still having to alter my thinking to factor in we have the league MVP, and this guy is nothing we’ve seen around these parts since Joe Montana. Andy seemed really fired up coming off the field after the game. I think if we can get him to a Super Bowl this year, he’ll wind up in the Pro Football HOF.

1. So as of this writing, the Raiders, Donks and Bolts all lost, so we open up a two game lead in the AFC West. Things got a little uncomfortable in the fourth quarter today, but I think Spag’s defense is going to be good enough to keep us from losing shootouts like we lost against the Rams last year. So 3-0 is a beautiful thing, and next home game we face a Colts team that won at home against the Falcons(we go to Detroit next, thanks KC Nut). Finally, wanted to give a Ten Things shout out to all the guys who showed up for dinner at JJ’s last night. And special thanks to Twisted Chief who treated us all to a fabulous meal. It was a really nice evening, and if you have a chance to meet some CPers face to face, you’ll find the folks who populate this site are some pretty cool cats. Can’t wait for next week!

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Excellent write-up!

I had a great time today at the game and finally got to see Mahomes play. He was better than I could have hoped for. I have watched many Qbs in my day and he is the best I have ever seen.

I hope all the folks stuck up in the mud got out and the cars that had to run over the white fence to get out didn't get too much damage to their vehicles.


Ravens had zero respect for our defense by going for it on fourth down in their own territory. Pretty disrespectful and stupid. It cost them 7 points.

The Ravens were a few lucky passes and horrible calls from the refs from getting blown out today.

I never worried we would lose this game. Not with Mahomes.

I don’t think the 4th down stuff was because they weren’t scared of our defense, I think they did it because they were terrified of our offense. If anyone should feel disrespected it’s Baltimore’s d.

[otherstar]

Great write-up! I'll trade whatever rain you all had in the KC are for the 16 inches we got from TS Imelda earlier this week in the Houston area.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by otherstar

Great write-up! I'll trade whatever rain you all had in the KC are for the 16 inches we got from TS Imelda earlier this week in the Houston area.

Send it my way. Some day I need to grow some wheat.

[stevieray]

Always good to see you, GMan!

[TwistedChief]

Great weekend. Great game. Go Chiefs.

And of course:
"PROTECT THE QUARTERBACK!"

[MahiMike]

Originally Posted by TrebMaxx

via GIPHY

Now I really can't stand Jackson.

[MahiMike]

Good write up George. I thought Chris Jones did well but ogbah is my new favorite defender.

Seemed like spags was willing to let them run in favor of shutting down the pass. Interesting way to play it but it worked out.

[Prison Bitch]

George gonna talk all season about that phantom “wobbly wheel” that doesn’t exist

[synthesis2]

great write up George pretty much spot on.

I think the only thing I wish we would do more ( which I understand why we don't) is if Patty kept the pedal down the second half of the game. You can tell he is more ( managing) the game for the second half of the games the last two weeks.

When he is aggressive they just fly down the field. he had 277 at half time . I think he could easily get 400 plus most every week but just decides to take it easy. People will say how we don't score much in the second half but it looks like they are just trying to milk the clock.

[58-4ever]

"10 Things" is always better than anything in the Star on Monday morning. Thanks, George.

[neech]

It looks like the refs are serious about protecting him, so he’s kind of a “made man” like Tommy Boy and the Five Head used to be.

Throwing a penalty flag after Mahomes gets slammed to the ground isn't exactly protecting him.

[bowener]

2. Kudos to Andy as to how he handled the last two minutes. The third down screen to Williams was a perfect call. There’s been so many games where one first down would salt it away, and the Chiefs under Huard, or Alex Smith or whoever, didn’t have the balls to put the game in the QBs hands and let him win it. I’m still having to alter my thinking to factor in we have the league MVP, and this guy is nothing we’ve seen around these parts since Joe Montana. Andy seemed really fired up coming off the field after the game. I think if we can get him to a Super Bowl this year, he’ll wind up in the Pro Football HOF.

I firmly believe that Mahomes saved us from the Reid game that happens once a season where he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. When we got the ball with 2:01 in the 4th he made an error and called a run. It burned 4 seconds and we went to the 2-minute warning. He absolutely should have called a pass and let Mahomes try and grab a big gain. It wouldn't have mattered if it was incomplete, and the chances of Mahomes throwing a pick are probably lower than the chance of a fumble from the RB (unless it was K. Hunt). I think Andy went conservative a little too soon considering the Ravens had been moving the ball with ease in the 4th.

[oldman]

Reading George's write-ups is like watching PMII throw, always entertaining.

I'm a little concerned about being held scoreless in the 1st again. We need to come out with the whooping stick, lay 21 or so on our opponents in the 1st and then see what they have to do to counter. We can't afford to let the other guys dictate our D.

That said, I'm beginning to think Ogbah might have been the steal of the off season.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by bowener

I firmly believe that Mahomes saved us from the Reid game that happens once a season where he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. When we got the ball with 2:01 in the 4th he made an error and called a run. It burned 4 seconds and we went to the 2-minute warning. He absolutely should have called a pass and let Mahomes try and grab a big gain. It wouldn't have mattered if it was incomplete, and the chances of Mahomes throwing a pick are probably lower than the chance of a fumble from the RB (unless it was K. Hunt). I think Andy went conservative a little too soon considering the Ravens had been moving the ball with ease in the 4th.

I'm starting to take comfort that mahomes might be just the guy to counter Reid's game management problems. Yesterday was the most fired up I've seen mahomes. Calling his teammates out for bad snaps and protections. Steaming mad at Andy's timeout at the end. Telling Reid to call that brilliant screen pass to seal the game. This is exactly what Reid needs and it's equally cool to watch Reid show that much trust in his qb.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I can’t remember for sure but I think Darrell has had his share of injuries too. Maybe not though. Either way, great performance. But I don’t see how he can look big and slow every carry of his NFL career and then rape faces tonight. Against a really good defense. Whatever. I’ll take it.

Anyway the injuries are why we keep 4 and Sherman.

Agreed. What really surprised me about darrel was his one cut. I always thought he'd be our power back. But that quick cut and burst... That was Larry Johnson like.