Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) Thoughts

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(This post was somewhat inspired by Sports Illustrated's Peter King who writes the Monday Morning Quarterback, which is so epic I need to devote an entire night to read, comprehend, and properly analyze it. Tis incredible.)

My Arrowhead experience was filled with a little bit of everything on Sunday. We were wrongfully directed away from fancy-boy parking towards common-folk parking, which was tough for our pinky-extending carload to accept, until some nice Kansas City tailgating folk filled our bellies with baked potato soup. Then, we cut it too close to game time by trying to pound the last of our Red Dogs, forcing me to sprint through the concourses with juke moves that JamaAL would envy, while listening to this. Then while trying to ignore the "F-you Mays" and "F-you club level" chants being hurled from over my shoulder, my Chiks-appeal took full effect with a Denver fan sitting next to me offering to take me home in his suitcase. Not so fast my friend, you're gonna have to wait in line behind this Chiefs fan next to me, who's making moves I tend to only accept from Asian philly's. Luckily, I was wearing multiple layers of protection.

I was not surprised to see Josh McDingleberry (not to be confused with Wallace Dean Gilberry, who has been too busy playing peacekeeper to get after the QB - he will get a sack against San Diego) fired after the game on Sunday. His inexcusable decision to punt on a 4th and 5 with under 3 minutes to play reeked of McDude giving up on his team. It almost makes me wonder if he knew of his fate prior to the game. They faced a 4th and 4 and their own 39 yard line with the score at 10-6. Even if you don't convert, a Chiefs field goal doesn't end the game. However, one Chiefs first down DOES end the game. This was the single worst in-game coaching decision I've seen this season. Gary Pinkel was screaming at his TV.

On the other end, Todd Haley really has his hand on the pulse of this team. His players love him. When Mike Vrabel and Shaun Smith enter the game on offense, the entire Chiefs sideline gets invigorated, while the Arrowhead crowd goes from diesel truck loud to rock concert loud (I'm picturing a Gwar concert). The same goes for his 4th down decisions. Young NFL players love going for it on 4th downs. Harvard educators love going for it on 4th downs. Old conservative people dislike going for it on 4th downs. Well I say put down the Kentucky Gentlemen old man, and get yourself a Four Loko, because this is a new generation of Kansas City Chiefs football.

This leads me to the Barry Richardson situation. He threw a Dirkness-like (Taylor Martinez-induced) tantrum on the sidelines. He even pushed special teams coach Steve Hoffman (wait, I know Steve Hoffman! You bastard!). Instead of villainizing Richardson after the game, Todd Haley stuck up for him. He spoke about how he loved the passion he was seeing from his players in the middle of a playoff race. It was pretty special to listen to. Again, Kansas City's players love him.

Jack Harry didn't think so though, nah-unh! He makes a ridiculous analogy in the following video that I can't make any sense of. Go to the 1:00 mark of this video and tell me if you understand....



Yea Jack Harry! Way to set sports journalism back another 10 years! Moving on....

Matt Cassel is starting to look more and more like Tom Brady. No, it's not the awesome haircut. And no, it's not the game winning drive that we're going to see from him in the Super Bowl this year. It's the way he's perfecting the art of the checkdown. Brady is the checkdown master, oftentimes converting 3rd and 7-10's by way of accurately swinging the ball to a running back (used to ALWAYS be Kevin Faulk, now it's more the rich man's Rex Burkhead- Danny Woodhead). This play is wildly effective if you hit your running back in stride, who should have a decided speed advantage on a linebacker in man coverage. These can be the easiest yards in football to gain.

To conclude my Chiefs thoughts, the best two players on the field on Sunday were Champ Bailey and Brandon Carr. It was hyped as a game between two top-flight receivers Dwayne Bowe and Brandon Lloyd. Cha(u)mp Bailey shut down the NFL's hottest player, holding Bowe to 0 catches (should have had one that was called back due to a ridiculous offensive pass interference call). Carr helped limit Lloyd to only 2 catches, while tallying 5 pass breakups, an incredible number. Big props to Carr, who's worst games of his career have come against the Denver Broncos. Well, he made up for it on Sunday, turning in the best game of his career.

For those of you clamoring for my thoughts on Nebraska's defeat in the Big 12 Championship, read this.

His Dirtyness

Kansas City Chiefs: Wha Ha Happen Was....

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Damn I fell asleep and totally missed the Chiefs game yesterday.....what happened?

This game was a direct result of blowing the game in Oakland last week. Part of the reason I was so pissed after that Raiders loss is that I thought we might see a hangover effect from it. And while I wasn't that angry about yesterday's loss (every team has a few bad games in a season), I grew more irritated about the blown opportunities in Houston and Oakland.

The real story of the game was the undeniable force that momentum plays in football. If you don't stop the bleeding, the result of the Broncos-Chiefs game is always a possibility. One stop of the Broncos offense, or one score out of the Chiefs, and the outcome of that game could've been greatly altered. But, they didn't. In fact, the Chiefs have played their three worst games of the year the past three weeks (luckily they escaped with one win out of the three). The Cardinals visiting Arrowhead next week is exactly what this team needs to turn it around. It's a must win if the Chiefs have any playoff aspirations in 2010 (or any hopes of winning another game). Lose? And well, this season is over.

However, I go back to my stated goal for the Kansas City Chiefs 2010 season, said prior to the first preseason game.....

~I'll start off with my overall goal of the year for this Chiefs team: I want a realistic shot at the playoffs going into the last quarter of the season. I want to play games that matter come December of this year. We don't even have to win those games, I just want them to exist. I almost can't even remember what it's like to watch meaningful games, and that's not a good thing. This goal is brought upon by the lack of meaningful football played the last two seasons (both seasons lost meaning after Week 2 home losses to the Raiders). Defiant numbers on this goal would depend on the conference's well being, but if I must declare, I'd say 6-6.

Sure, the game sucked yesterday. But, get a perspective look at this Chiefs team. They've already surpassed last year's win total, and are playing meaningful games for the first time since 2007. Every time you complain about the Chiefs this year, remember that fact. Don't lose sight of it.

Alright, and now for some comments on the handshake (or lackethereof) after the game. Here it is......



I liked it. I enjoy seeing my head coach pissed off just like I am. I don't think it plays a big effect on the team. What it does is take the attention away from the blowout that just occurred. Less people are talking about how poorly the Chiefs played, and are instead focusing on how classless their head coach is. But isn't that disrespectful towards the other team? Yea. So what? It's a rivalry. I don't want our head coach to be chums with their head coach. You think I like Missouri's Mike Anderson being cool? No, not really. I'd much rather hate him. Plus, who could like Josh McDaniels? Aren't you aware of what he did to those kids? Oh, that story hasn't come out yet....

It's surprising to me that nobody is making a connection between Haley's actions and the cheap shot on Tony Moeaki, seen here.....



And before you call my a hypocrite for calling that a cheap shot, let me stop you. It was a cheap shot. But, no, I didn't have a problem with it. It's a rivalry!!! Plus, it's not my job to play morality police. It is incredibly arrogant to inflict your views of what is right and wrong on somebody else. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions. My belief is that things happen, and public opinion of it's morality is irrelevant. There are no regulations. Damn, is that an anarchist's point of view?

Other thoughts from the game yesterday (too lazy to organize structurally):

• I don't blame Matt Cassel for the loss. Yes, he has to get rid of the football (his #1 problem from last year), but in order to "stop the bleeding" I look to the best players on the team. Well, after taking a look at my midseason grades, I expect Tamba Hali, JamaAL Charles, or Brandon Flowers to be the player to step up and make a play. You hope your QB is "The Guy" on your team, but that's not what Cassel is. You can want to get rid of him if you want, but you can't blame him for yesterday.
• The most disturbing part of the game came from Brandon Flowers and Dwayne Bowe. They came off incredibly ignorant, selfish, and down right stupid for celebrating individual plays while getting annihilated in the game. It angers me because I prefer to like my Chiefs, and these kind of actions make it difficult.
• It's amazing how important Jon McGraw has become to this team. Both Kendrick Lewis (he's still on the team right?) and McGraw missed this game due to injury. It was the worst possible time for it, with how much the Broncos throw the ball. Donald Washington and Ricky Price aren't capable safeties. I didn't know it was possible to miss Jon McGraw so much....
• How bout that replay malfunction? It obviously cost us the game. What if that had been an important play? What if the play obviously needed to be overturned? Does the NFL not have a backup for such malfunctions? I will be cheering for this on every challenge of a positive Chiefs play from now on.
• What are the Chiefs going to do when teams start double-teaming Tamba Hali every week? The Mike Vrabel sucking situation needs to be addressed. This was my biggest need for the Chiefs the entire offseason, but is just now starting to poke through.
• The 3rd down play call from the Broncos' 1-yard line was the worst thing to come from the Chiefs all season. My friends and I dropped every slur stemming from a part of the female's anatomy (Delores!) that we could think of. The quick slant to Bowe from the 1-inch line is what I'm referring to.
• I conclude by drawing more attention to the black eye of the NFL: Pass Interference. Blast! I can't find a video. Here's a link.....Seen at the 1:30 mark. Death to Pass Interference! How many games do horrible pass interference calls have to decide before the NFL addresses the rule? Read my full thoughts here.

His Dirkness