Ten Things About Tonight's Game Week 7: KC 45 CINCY 10

[gblowfish]

10. It’s Midnight, just got home and brought all the stuff in from the car and put on my PJs. I had a big piece of chocolate cake and cold glass of milk before sitting down to write this somewhat abbreviated version of the Ten Things, because I’m going to have to get up in six hours to go to work. That’s the only bad thing about these types of National night games; it wrecks your entire day and night routine. Mrs. B and I met up with my pals Gary and Eric -the guys i go to Mizzou games with- and we went into Arrowhead at 3:45pm. Even with that, it took 45 minutes for us to get parked, and that’s three and a half hours before kickoff! So my advice to any of you who are coming for Denver next week: The earlier you can get to the stadium the better, because parking is just plain insane. Weather was perfect for tailgating, and we had some good whiskey, good sammiches and four different sides, plus cookies and chocolate cake. Tonight was one of those rare perfect games where everything just clicked, and the Chiefs came out of the gate and killed the opponent. Last game I remember a game that was this satisfying was the time we beat Buffalo in 1991 on MNF where Marty, DT and the Nigerian Nightmare whalloped Marv Levy 33 to 6.

9. Nights like tonight where the game is pretty much in the bag by halftime are rare indeed, especially after the trauma from our playoff collapse vs. the Tits last year. I can’t remember the exact stat, but we had lost something like six in a row to the Bengals, so we definitely owed them some payback. We got that and then some. Also I saw a stat where Marvin Lewis was something like 1-9 in National Night Games during his Bengals coaching career. How does that guy keep his job? He’s the poster boy for mediocre football teams. He’s just good enough to draft 15th or 16th every year. Their team looked like they were still shell shocked from losing to the Steelers last week, and they had absolutely no answer for our offense. None. We won the toss for the 7th consecutive game, and our defense has still not given up seven points on the opponents opening possession. That’s a hidden defensive stat that’s actually pretty impressive when you consider facing Phyllis, Rapitsburger, Jimmy G, Tommy Boy and the Redheaded Stepchild tonight.

8 Before the game, the lovely Mrs. B goes to the ladies room then goes and get herself a coke for the game. I wait for her by “the trophy.” That’s the case that has our one and only Super Bowl trophy at the entrance to section 119 where we sit. Tonight as I waited for Mrs. B, I just played fly on the wall and watched the fans pass the trophy. Some just reached out and touched or tapped the glass. Others stopped for a selfie with it. One guy kissed the glass….yikes, a window licker! Anyway, over and over the fans keep saying “someday we’ll have another one of those.” Man, it’s been 50 years. And I don’t want to be a Red Kool Aid Drinker, but barring a catastrophic injury to Mahomes, I think we have a realistic shot at getting there and winning sometime in the next three years. I really believe that. I saw the Chiefs win that first one when I was ten years old. I know a lot of you weren’t alive then. All I can tell you is, there is nothing as a football fan better than having your team win a Super Bowl. It's a life changing experience. I just hope I get to see us win one during what’s left of my lifetime. My dad was denied that, and that, my friends, was a Goddamn shame.

7. On game stuff, game ball to Kareem Hunt. He played like a man possessed. I think he’s felt snubbed by the NFL pundits because, he IS the incumbent NFL rushing champ, and he is a very, VERY bad man. Andy pulled him early after the Bengals cheap shotted him in the fourth quarter, but he managed 86 yards and a TD rushing, and 55 yards and two more TDs on pass receptions. Chiefs rushed for just shy of 200 yards. Spencer Ware had 59 yards and averaged nearly 7.5 yards per carry. That’s toting the rock, and that was done with not one but TWO backup players inside on the O-Line. Devey did an especially great job at center. Bengals got two sacks, but so what? If that’s all you give up to Atkins and Dunlap, that’s a very good night. KC offense rolled up 551 total yards of offense, and we actually dominated time of possession this game by seven minutes. That’s half of an entire quarter, and that means the Cincy defense was on the field a lot. Best offensive stat was third down efficiency. KC was 9-12 and you can’t do much better than that. Colquitt never saw the field except to hold for extra points.

6. We were all pretty hard on Bob Sutton and the Queefense this week. I went in to my seats earlier than usual tonight, and noticed that after warmups, Sutton came to his sideline position about 20 minutes before kickoff. That’s unusual. So he must have been pretty amped up for this one. Giving up only 10 points to the sixth ranked offense in the NFL deserves praise. Mixon only had 50 yards, and he’s a quality back. Ron Parker got the first pick six of his career, which was the definite dagger in this one. In the third quarter, KC scored all 14 of their points in a nine second span. That’s the sledgehammer to the head.

5. Special teams didn’t get a lot of chances because when the Bengals weren’t blowing fake punts, they were punting away from Tyreek. Blowing up the fake punt was big. Even if the protector wouldn’t have fumbled the snap, I don’t think he would have made the first down. Just a head scratching decision by Marvin. Maybe he thought he needed to pick up an extra scoring chance to keep pace with Mahomes, but then later he’s kicking a field goal when he’s down by a ton in the third quarter. So who knows what he was thinking? I don’t know how Cincy fans have put up with the guy so long?

4. There were a couple things I saw that I had never seen before. The run where Hunt hurdled a defender, landed and then KEPT GOING was Walter Payton-esque. First time I can remember Hunt doing that. Also, i don’t know if you noticed or not, but the play that put Burfict out of the game was when he was trying to lay out Hunt, he bounced off and hurt himself. He limped off the field and he was done for the day. Another thing I don’t ever remember seeing before was a star QB helping to push a running back over the goal line. Mahomes did that on Hunt’s rushing TD in the second half. That’s why his team mates LOVE him. He’s sees himself as one of the guys, and not a diva or special in any way. I hope that quality stays with him, as it makes him who he is. The other thing I’d never seen was Eric Fisher leading the crowd singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” during the final two minute warning in the fourth quarter. The guys were enjoying themselves and why not? They certainly earned it. I had no idea Fish was a big Neil Diamond guy…

3. Other odds and ends: Zombo played pretty well. He was having a lot of conversations with Dave Toub on the sideline. I think Toub is glad to have him back for special teams. Allen who we brought back for O-line depth has some serious muffin tops bulging out over his belt line. Looks like beans and rice didn’t miss him in Houston. Dude needs shed a few LBs and covert those love handles into some muscle. Helpful to have Eric Murray back. Scandrick was having a tough time staying with AJ Green, but that happens to a lot of corners who are better than Scandrick. Green’s about all Cincy had going for them tonight, and it just wasn’t enough to offset Hill, Harris, Kelce, Watkins, etc. Mahomes completed to eight different guys, and the scary thing is, they will get better as they get more experience playing with one another. Mahomes one pick was no biggie. It was under thrown to Tyreek who was triple covered. It was basically an arm punt. Tyreek dropped a sure TD but made up for it a few plays later when he Hokey Pokey'd into the corner of the end zone then did a back flip. Ozzie Smith would be proud!

2. Andy got his 200th win, and that’s a major accomplishment. After the game he was aw shucks about it, but that’s a very big deal. He’ll still need to win some hardware to make it to Canton. He’s been there once, which was one more time than Marty, but it sure would be nice to see a Chiefs coach other than Stram get some love from the Hall. Andy has a shot.

1. As I’ve said several times already this year, “Whatta Great Night to be a Chiefs Fan!” Please savor this and enjoy the ride, because this doesn’t happen very often. The sad thing about the NFL is once the playoffs start, its single elimination. Many times the best team does not end the year on top. But we have a very good chance this year as our offense is WAY ahead of schedule, and is Greatest Show on Turf good. The end of my night was really great as I caught my first souvenir of the year -a glove from Kareem Hunt, pic attached. And now we focus on the Donks who have had three extra days to prepare for us, but the Donks ain’t the Pats, and I want to beat them as bad or worse than the thumping we laid down tonight. I just hope there’s no complacency or hangover from this one. We need to beat the Donks and beat them bad. Enjoy this tonight, then on Monday, it’s back to work my friends….back…to…work.