Ten Things About Today's Game

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. What a difference a year makes! If you live outside KC, you didn't feel the buzz this week around town. But it was a definite buzz, and the buzz is definitely real. More people wearing red on Red Friday, seats were hard to come by for the game, and there was a generally positive, optimistic vibe; one of anticipation and not of dread- like we've had in the past couple of years. Most people thought going in this would be a close game, determined by turnovers. It was. And "Terrorhead" was just that again for the first time since the home opener after the stadium renovations vs. San Diego -you remember the night game in the rain?- it was a buzz like that night. My good pal Gary sat with Mrs. Blowfish and me. Gary is usually good luck, so I'm happy to take him for the big ones. As I've written before, I just live about ten minutes north of Arrowhead. Usually I can leave my house at 10:30am, and be in my red lot tailgating twenty minutes later. Not today. Nooooo.....not today. We sat in line moving at sloth-like speed for over an hour. I was about 300 yards from the parking turn in on Stadium Drive at 10:40am, and I finally parked my car at 11:50am. That's how slow the parking people were today. And I had to four-wheel it into a gold lot, where I was not supposed to be, because the red lots got screwed up and lots of cars that weren't supposed to park in red, well, they were parked in red. So it was an every man for himself free for all. I missed kickoff, and that's the first time that's happened to me ever. The security into the stadium was much faster. I think the clear bag thing has helped a lot with that. But parking was fubar today. That's one reason I'm so late in writing this up. We tailgated AFTER the game because we didn't have time before. The meal sure tasted awfully good after a win, I'll say that.

9. This was an even game of two well matched teams. Both have a good defensive front seven. Both have a good marquee receiver. Both have capable quarterbacks. Both have good special teams. And if you look at the final game stats, again they are very close. First downs Dallas had 20 to KC 19. Both teams were shit on third down -Dallas 3 for 11, KC 4 for 13. Dallas net yards 318, KC was 313. Time of possession: Dallas 31:47, KC 28:13. So it was all close except for one thing: the difference was turnovers. Dallas had two fumbles and lost them both. KC had no fumbles, no picks. That's what it came down to ultimately.

8. Alex Smith was the leading rusher, and did a nice job keeping the team focused and engaged. Starting out strong with a first possession TD was big. Alex's line was 21 of 36 for 223 and 2 TDS. He had no picks or fumbles. He was sacked four times. Seven different guys caught passes, and that's good. Nice to see Bowe get back into the mix today, and glad he got a TD catch.

7. Defense gave up one TD and three FG's, two of them over-50 yards, to a decent NFL offense with an experienced quarterback. That's pretty damn good. Flowers led the team in tackles today. Not so good. He got torched all day long by Dez Bryant, who had 9 catches for 141 and a TD. He almost had another long one on Flowers in the fourth quarter, except the ball went off Bryant's hands. I'm not really worried about Flowers, but he was over matched today. I kept wondering why Andy Reid didn't flip his cover corners and put a taller Smith on Bryant? Defensive line was stout again, and TJack kept his pants up. Poe had two more sacks. He's got a great early bid for the Pro-Bowl with his play. It did seem like the line was getting a little gassed in the second half, but did great overall against the run. Dallas only rushed for 37 yards, or 2.3 yards per attempt, and that's pretty terrific run defense.

6. Today was historic, as it was the first time the Chiefs wore red tops and red pants. They looked very red. They looked like Iowa State out there. Maybe it was lucky. Some change is refreshing. And what about all the new guys? Jeez...there's 31 new guys out there. Fasano was gimping around in the first half, Kelce is still gimping around on his knee, so this dude named McGrath, who looks like he just stepped out of a prison movie, played tight end for most the game, getting a clutch 22 yard gain in the second half. The newcomer play of the day was made by Ron Parker, playing for the missing nickel guy Robinson. He got the blind side blitz on Romo, and not only got the ball out but also recovered it. Pretty sweet play for a guy who had just got cut two weeks ago, and makes a game turning play two weeks later.

5. As far as dings, in the first quarter Brandon Albert hurt his left shoulder. He was carrying his left arm low and shaking his left side when he came out, and Stephenson went in for him. They sent him down to the locker room for about five minutes, then he popped back up, went back in, and played pretty well the rest of the game. He also was very vocal on the sideline, rallying the offense and getting in guys faces. It was good to see. Looked like Fasano was gimping around pretty bad during the game. He was in and out, looked like his knee stiffened up as the game went on. Kendrick Lewis got his arm tangled up with a receiver and took a good shot to the shoulder, but I think he'll be OK. Nobody looked like they got hurt where they couldn't go for Thursday against Philly except maybe Fasano. We'll see.

4. Did you stick around for halftime? The Grambling University Marching Band was here, and man, were they cool. Just like the movie "Drum Line." They had it goin' on. It was nice to see a great college marching band doing their thing. It was much more entertaining than "Jazzercise," or some fat fans trying to kick 10 yard field goals, or some of the other stupidity that has been offered up at half time in recent years. They should renew the tradition of having KU, K-State and Mizzou bands come for games. It's a great experience for the college kids, and it adds to the atmosphere. MORE BANDS!!!

3. Today's MVP was arguably Dustin Colquitt. seven punts, five of them inside the 20, and a long of 65. Dude was money all day long. On the punt in the fourth quarter that pinned the ball on the two, if Cooper isn't called for illegal touching, they pin Dallas on the two. That play was unfortunate, because the ball died on the two. If anybody else but Cooper touches it, it's a clean play. Hopefully he'll learn from that. We've had some glitches on special teams this season. Succop's FG attempt right before the half gets blocked, because McGrath whiffed on his block on the edge. He had guys on both sides of him, and he failed to block either. The guy on the wing came free and blocked the kick. Knile Davis should be forced to sleep with a football this week. He better start protecting the football on kicks, or he'll find himself working in the Soo Pig Drive In back in Fayetteville.

2. I wanted to mention something that happened in the fourth quarter that I thought was a pivotal moment in the game. With about 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were up 17-13, and had the ball around the Dallas 40. On first down, Charles moves in the backfield for illegal procedure. On first and 15, Charles runs left and loses two yards. On second down, Smith scrambles and gets the penalty yardage back. On third down, Charles totally whiffs on a linebacker blitz from Bruce Carter, and Alex Smith gets thrown on his head. Chiefs punt. When Charles comes to the bench, the backs coach tries to talk to him about that series. Charles throws his helmet down, and walks away from the coach. The coach goes after him screaming at Charles. Brandon Albert goes over and gets Charles, brings him back to the bench, huddles up the offensive guys and tells them to cool out, and get their heads back in the game. Later, with three minutes left, Charles does a great job hanging on to the football and running clock to bleed all of Dallas' time outs, and by the time Dallas gets the ball back, they have 16 seconds and 94 yards to go with no time outs. I thought that move by Albert showed great leadership, and I think it got Charles' head back in the game. I don't think you guys got to see any of that on TV, because it happened during the TV time out after the punt.

1. Arrowhead was loud and proud today. During the fourth quarter, it was so loud, I could feel my car keys vibrating in my pocket. That's loud. We've already matched our win total from last year. We have a QB now. We have a defense now. We have a coach who knows what he's doing now. I'm not sure if the short week hurts KC or Philly more. Philly lost to Phyllis Rivers today, so they're going to be pissed off. But that's OK. And just think; we only have to wait four days to see another game, then our guys will get a little break, almost like a mini-bye week. That should help Charles and Fasano rest up and get back to full strength. After the game walking back to the car I couldn't help but imagine that ten mile long caravan of cars going down I-35 tonight, doing 85 mph bumper to bumper, headed back to Texas in a trail of tears. Y'all drive careful now, hear?

[Boon]

Thanks Mr. Blowfish. Always look forward to your "10 things" article.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Albert owned Ware today.

He did prettt well as far as the stat sheet is concerned. If I remember, Ware had one unblocked sack off Fisher's side and another from the left side when Albert was out? The line as a unit just looked too much like dogshit for me to say anyone owned anyone else.

[Tribal Warfare]

3. Today's MVP was arguably Dustin Colquitt. seven punts, five of them inside the 20, and a long of 65. Dude was money all day long. On the punt in the fourth quarter that pinned the ball on the two, if Cooper isn't called for illegal touching, they pin Dallas on the two. That play was unfortunate, because the ball died on the two. If anybody else but Cooper touches it, it's a clean play. Hopefully he'll learn from that. We've had some glitches on special teams this season. Succop's FG attempt right before the half gets blocked, because McGrath whiffed on his block on the edge. He had guys on both sides of him, and he failed to block either. The guy on the wing came free and blocked the kick. Knile Davis should be forced to sleep with a football this week. He better start protecting the football on kicks, or he'll find himself working in the Soo Pig Drive In back in Fayetteville.

Of course he is and always has been.

[Simply Red]

yeah - cool - thanks for the read.

[lcarus]

Nice as always. I'm pissed at myself because I usually save these for the morning, but I was bored tonight and amped up about the win.

Flowers got beat some today, yes, but about 100 yards of it was off a catch that might have been reversed if challenged and one in the 1st quarter that was possibly an offensive PI. Maybe I'm wrong on both those accounts, but regardless, Bryant is elite and he just got his today. At least they adjusted and slowed him down as the game progressed.

Tough call on the Berry interception being negated. He did get his hands on him but it was pretty weak and brief holding. Speaking of Berry, how beast was that fumble return. That guy should be running back kicks. He does NOT go down easily.

Dontari Poe is a monster.

Dustin Colquitt is the best accuracy punter I've ever seen. I cussed so much when he was drafted as early as he was. But damn, he truly is a weapon. It's gonna be tough for teams to score on this D when they're pinned inside the 10 (sometimes the 1).

I'd like to see Charles get more outside runs. Just get him the ball in space. So far our o-line hasn't been very good at making holes between the tackles.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Ten Things About Today's Game

10. What a difference a year makes! The meal sure tasted awfully good after a win, I'll say that.
It sure does-feels like ions ago that we had to deal with that awful 2-14 season

9. This was an even game of two well matched teams. So it was all close except for one thing: the difference was turnovers. Dallas had two fumbles and lost them both. KC had no fumbles, no picks. That's what it came down to ultimately.
So true and I'll add two more items-Dez Bryant's drop and the PI call against Claiborne. Those two plays really helped out for the win.

8. Nice to see Bowe get back into the mix today, and glad he got a TD catch.
Ditto

7. Defense gave up one TD and three FG's, two of them over-50 yards, to a decent NFL offense with an experienced quarterback. That's pretty damn good. Flowers led the team in tackles today. Not so good. He got torched all day long by Dez Bryant. Poe had two more sacks. He's got a great early bid for the Pro-Bowl with his play.Dallas only rushed for 37 yards, or 2.3 yards per attempt, and that's pretty terrific run defense.
Our run defense is great and Romo disappeared in the second half. I was surprised at how long Reid allowed Flowers to keep getting burned. If I was Dallas I would have thrown another 20x's to Bryant because Flowers couldn't stop him-I think he gives up 6 inches in height and another 5 or 6" in vertical leap. Bryant is just a beast and he and Demarcus Ware were the two guys I feared the most.

6. Today was historic, as it was the first time the Chiefs wore red tops and red pants. They looked very red. The newcomer play of the day was made by Ron Parker, playing for the missing nickel guy Robinson. He got the blind side blitz on Romo, and not only got the ball out but also recovered it. Pretty sweet play for a guy who had just got cut two weeks ago, and makes a game turning play two weeks later.
When the Chiefs first took the field it was hard on the eyes with so much Red but I got used to it after a short while. That play on Romo by Parker really pumped us back up and I didn't even know Parker until he made that play. Bravo!

3. Today's MVP was arguably Dustin Colquitt. We've had some glitches on special teams this season. Knile Davis should be forced to sleep with a football this week.

• Colquitt is just incredible. He struggled in preseason but has been a monster so far in the regular season. He never gave Dallas any breathing room. That was huge.
  
• I think you are being too kind saying our ST's are having "glitches". Toub was brought in to be a hero and so far in the regular season, it's been a big disappointed sans Colquitt. Where is the same great ST performances we saw in preseason? I don't know what has happened.
• Knile Davis is deep in the doghouse. I found it interesting that in Andy Reid's post game presser he made a comment about Davis that was identical to a comment he made about Baldwin before he traded him, "We put him in the game to make a play and he fumbled the ball. we were lucky to get it back. He has to make that play."

2. I wanted to mention something that happened in the fourth quarter that I thought was a pivotal moment in the game. Brandon Albert goes over and gets Charles, brings him back to the bench, huddles up the offensive guys and tells them to cool out, and get their heads back in the game.
We saw Albert yelling at the offense and it sure seemed to help in protection and blocking the run. I like that passion from our vets.

1. Arrowhead was loud and proud today. We've already matched our win total from last year. We have a QB now. We have a defense now. We have a coach who knows what he's doing now. And just think; we only have to wait four days to see another game.
I'm so psyched to be coming to Arrowhead in two weeks and know it will be real loud and exciting. It's funny to think that last year I could care less about the upcoming game a week later but now I am jazzed to have a prime time Thursday Night game. Amazing what winning can do!!!

Sorry about the traffic and missed kickoff but you got to see a hell of a game!

It's becoming redundant every week but once again George, you're spot on and a great read. My favorite thread to interact with each week.

[WhiteWhale]

Anyone surprised that Flowers struggled with Bryant, while being isolated 1 on 1 with him all game, is pretty goddamn stupid.

Most teams don't try to do that, but our game plan was high pressure and you can't blitz AND double cover Dez.

[TinyEvel]

Fantastic. I am really, really happy that I will get to see a Chiefs game on regular network TV and not an illegal laptop feed.


Great write-up 'fish!

[Raiderhater58]

Great write up George,as always. And **** all the haters a win is a mother****ing win, some of you guys will never be happy. Get on or GTFO!

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Raiderhater58

Great write up George,as always. And **** all the haters a win is a mother****ing win, some of you guys will never be happy. Get on or GTFO!

No doubt, how can you complain? That's it, I'm getting in the pool.

[Fairplay]

Lets build a shrine for gblowfish

[JCharles1981]

Originally Posted by Pam Oliver's Forehead

I am not sure what you get this 2-27 from in your signature. But the 49ers made it to the playoffs last season with Smith as their starting QB for most of the season. He has only been in the league since 2011, so don't be so quick to judge him because of a few bad games in previous seasons. And for the record, they got demolished by the Seahawks yesterday with Kopernick as their QB.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by JCharles1981

I am not sure what you get this 2-27 from in your signature. But the 49ers made it to the playoffs last season with Smith as their starting QB for most of the season. He has only been in the league since 2011, so don't be so quick to judge him because of a few bad games in previous seasons. And for the record, they got demolished by the Seahawks yesterday with Kopernick as their QB.

wut

[mdchiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Pam Oliver's Forehead

Dude. I'm Mr. Negative Nancy around here most of the time and that was a legit win against a good team.

Our defense is a bunch of sodomites and our offense, while not great or even good right now, has an "it" factor that can only be defined as getting shit done. So far, when a play needs to be made, it's getting made.

This is a good football team. How far they go depends on Alex.

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by JCharles1981

I am not sure what you get this 2-27 from in your signature. But the 49ers made it to the playoffs last season with Smith as their starting QB for most of the season. He has only been in the league since 2011

Alex Smith was the #1 overall pick of 2005 NFL Draft...