Now THAT Is Chiefs Football!!

Hiya Chiefs Fans!!  Feeling good today?  Empowered?  Excited about the upcoming playoffs?  If your answer is yes, you could be suffering delusions of granduer.  I'll let you look that up if you don't know what it means, but suffice it to say the Chiefs did their best yesterday to snap all the fan bois out of their dream state.  I found this picture of Johnny Unitas showing off the new Alex Smith/Knile Davis football.  Notice the handle.  Unfortunately, even if he'd used this yesterday it wouldn't have helped.


All that remains for Chiefs homers now is to finally wake up and start fighting that awful feeling of Football Delusion Hangover, or FDH for short.  Better to get it over with now than to ignore the writing on the wall, continue to imbibe of that kool aid elixir, and wait for the eventual playoff loss to succumb to the much more horrible My Team Bore False Witness And Made Me BELIEVE Broken Heart Blues. 

Friends, what you saw yesterday was the culmination of nearly one full year of Andy Reid and Bob Sutton's influence on the Chiefs.  It wasn't pretty, and it should be considered as consequential as a Twilight Zone "sign post up ahead".  It was REAL, and it is a harbinger of things to come.  Let's take a peak at this foretelling so we have some idea what to look for in the next contest.

                                                  Matt Cassel 2.0 (a.k.a. Alex Smith)

How much more do you need to come to the conclusion that Alex Smith is just Matt Cassel in sheeps clothing?  Yesterday's stats:  16 of 29 for 153 yds--2 ints, NO TDs.  Very Matt Cassel like indeed.  The inconsistency in Alex's play are the true problem.  Displays similar to what we were treated to yesterday are the norm for this guy, not the aberration as many (who are invested in his success) would  have you believe.  I guess I should mention that he did indeed throw a wonderful pass right past Fasano to a colts linebacker.  It was spot on the money and made the INT a piece of cake.   Good God.

Big THANKS go out to Knile Davis as well.  Ya know, when someone demonstrates the uncanny ability to fumble the ball in ANY situation, it's nice to see a team recognize that skill and give that player many opportunities to fulfill his destiny.  Did you see Toub in Davis' face when he came off the field after the second fumble that went out of bounds?  Classic.

I don't know about you, but I'm sooooooo glad that Andy Reid wanted to trade Brandon Albert before the season began.  It's more than quite obvious we didn't need him...right?  I mean, Donald Stephenson and Geoff Schwartz are more than adequate...if I keep this up my tongue is going to snap off it's roller.  BULL.  Donald Stephenson's only hope of slowing down a pass rush from a GOOD defense is to trip the rusher on his way by...how do I know?  He was penalized for it yesterday and it was a sorry play.  

I've been critical of Schwartz since the day he was brought on.  The book on the guy at that time was he was a borderline starter who would provide depth for our T's.  Funny, the sack he gave up yesterday would put him more in line with the Damion MacIntosh's/Barry Richardson's of the world for my money, but hey, that's just me.  Our O-line has been suspect all year but just like the rest of the team, most of the short comings have been hidden by the quality of our competition.  Anyone who denies this at this point simply hasn't been paying attention.

Thank GOODNESS!!  At least Sean Smith finally showed you what he was capable of yesterday.  When he gets out classed by opposing WRs, he starts racking up penalties.  Good Job dude!  Then, when the flags start flying, he knows he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he pouts and stands back in the secondary like a scarecrow.  What a wonderful addition to our team!

I actually feel bad for this big fella.  Poe is one of the more laid back guys on the team if you are to believe folks like Joel Thorman who actually interview and get to be around the guys.  Poe gets flagged for taunting yesterday and I had to wonder what could possibly get that far under his skin to make that mistake.  Could it be this 'players coach' mentality that Big Red seems to be known for?  Does that translate to a lack of discipline where players just think they can do as they please on the field (in fairness I guess I should include off the field as well--looking at you DBowe)?  Could it be that Poe just finally got tired of watching the unmitigated SUCK that was going on around him and finally blew a gasket?  We will never know for sure, but how uncharacteristic a move was this?  Kinda makes ya go hmmm, don't it?

Ah, the fun bunch!  How exciting is it to see Tamba Hali disappear?  Who knew he was a magician?  The Chiefs Defense has been on a downward slide for the last three weeks or so.  This may have something to do with Justin Houston's injury, but just as I pointed out in the  55% solution, when this D can't score points, the Chiefs are in trouble. Yesterday the offense (let's be clear here as well--Jamaal RUSHED for this TD--Ingle Martin could have handled the hand off so let's not get 2.0 involved here, k?) scored six, the special teams scored 1 and the defense?  Goose egg.  You just don't have to look very hard to find confirmation of my observations, but I know...many of you will still do your best to ignore the truth.

As I peruse the the lamentation coming from Chiefs fans, I am beginning to think that the hypnotic grip that Doreidos and Company have had on the collective is starting to crack around the edges.  The excuse machines are up and running today, no doubt, but the conviction with which their product is being consumed is looking more like taking medicine rather than stuffing ones face at the all you can eat buffet.  In other words, the shine is wearing a bit thin.

I know I'm not the only one who sees that this team's losses came versus decent to good to very good competition, while all those wins came at the expense of other teams unfortunate situations.  ANY team that gets to face a string of back up QBs like ours did this season should understand just how much of an early Christmas Present that really is.  Chiefs homers on the other hand, gladly accept those wins with their eyes closed and then feign surprise when the team loses to a competent foe.

The irony of course, is that even the horrible play that we witnessed yesterday has no bearing on Reid winning a playoff game this year.  He still has one meaningless game ahead to use as practice (if he wishes) before he will indeed make a playoff game in his first year as HC in KC.  The last Coach to do that was Herm Edwards riding high on Vermeil's leftovers.  Let that sink in for a moment.  History repeating itself?  Let's see what happens in the playoffs. 

There is a contingent of excuse machine devotees out there right now who are trying to sell some Andy Reid snake oil.  Yes, they are trying to sell Chiefs fans on the idea that Reid took it down a notch yesterday on both offense and defense in an effort to 'hide' our intentions in a meaningless game so as to come back in the playoffs and rock someones world.  In the words of Ocho Cinco--Child Please.

What, exactly, do these kool aid addicts mean when they say a game was meaningless??  When the day started Denver and KC were tied atop the AFC West at 11-3.  New England was a game back at 10-4.  Cincy and Indy were two games off the pace at 9-5.  With two games to go, the possibility of KC becoming the number one seed was still alive.  I'm sorry if that's not enough for these fans to play for, but for this fan it made this game a playoff game.  You don't go out and throw playoff games in the NFL.  It just doesn't happen.

If Reid was treating this as a throw away game, why call a QB keeper and put Smith at risk running downfield?  Smith didn't hook slide at the end of that run either.  Would you say that he was trying?  What would the team gain in losing a game anyway?  I don't think the team has performed well enough to just blow one off because they're just that good.  Come on people, think about it. 

The adage is that if you want to win in January you must win in December.  When they asked Chip Kelly about resting Foles and his starters in last nights contest against the Bears (which really didn't have any playoff ramifications for Philly) his response?  "I really don't understand that kind of thinking.  I have a young team here that is still learning how to play together.  How do they benefit from 'resting'?

The Chiefs tried yesterday folks.  The simple truth is that they weren't good enough to win.  Once you get that behind you, much more begins to come into focus.  A side note here for a particular fan at AP that recently told me I have been ignoring the progress that's been happening:  If the quality of play against the Colts is what you call progress I will forthwith have to assume that you wouldn't know progress if it bit you in the ass.

Who Wants It More--Indeed.  The truth is that the Chiefs are going to play a playoff game.  Win or lose, they will post another chapter in this franchises history.  I'm wondering if any of this has actually come home to roost on the players.  The coaches understand it I'm sure.  They know that success is fleeting in the NFL and when you are good enough to find yourself in the mix once the regular season is over, you need to take advantage.

The players are the ones who will make the victories possible or snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  No matter how bad this team may or may not be, and no matter how it happened, this team is a playoff team in just two weeks.  Ya gotta have a ticket to get into the dance.  This time, our Chiefs have a ticket in their possession.  Now, it' on them.

I've watched too much Andy Reid on the sidelines in playoff games to trust him in the waning light of the fourth quarter when you can feel that win starting to slip away.  Likewise with Alex Smith.  Both have seen some success and both have seen failure in critical games.  It's not the same as watching Joe Montana take the field in a Chiefs uniform and knowing we had every chance (yes even considered as the favorite) to win.  Since then, it's been more about hoping that we didn't lose.  Those are two very different places to come from when you are watching the performance.  I am sick to fucking death of living in that hope.

Clark made the changes.  Reid and Dorsey have done what they do.  The players need to realize that it's on them.  DJ, Poe, Houston and Hali.  Flowers and Berry.  Albert, Charles and Bowe.  Wake up guys.  You will never be here, in this place with these circumstances again.  It's all yours to do with as you see fit.  You will have to play the best you've ever played.  You must infect your fellow players with a burning desire to win that won't go out.  It's the only way, and I hope you can do it.  Fuck Andy Reid and Bob Sutton.  You guys know how to make this thing work.  Somebody better tell Alex that his redemption lies at the end of this road.  He won't want to sleep through and miss it.

Thank you for what you have done.  Now finish what you started.  Finish what this champion just couldn't quite get done.

Chiefs WILL  Chiefs WIN  BELIEVE