Ten Things About Last Night’s Game: AFC Championship: NFL 37, Kansas City 31 in OT

[gblowfish]

Perhaps, "City of Heartbreaking Loss" should replace "City of Fountains" as our moniker?

10. Well, its the morning after. Apologies for taking so long to gather my thoughts and write this, trying to write and work at the same time. Happy MLK Day, BTW. Hope you got the day off. I think by sleeping on the loss I can approach this familiar feeling of disappointment with a clearer eye and the absence of emotional hysteria. Yesterday was a nine hour commitment for Mrs. B and me. We left for Arrowhead at 1:30 pm, got parked in a Gold Lot around 2pm, ate and napped in the car till 4:15. Stood in line in the cold for an hour and a half trying to get into Arrowhead, and didn’t get to the seat until seven minutes into the first quarter. That’s OK. I had to piss like Niagra Falls and it took me around five minutes just to peel down in my Michelin Man Suit just to get cleared for landing. So it was already 7-0 before I even got seated. I guess I should have just stayed in the can till after halftime. I kept thinking why in the world would the NFL schedule the games in the order they did? Why not let the outdoor venue play during the daytime, when it was as warm as it was going to be, and let the dome team play at night? Didn’t matter, TV contracts rule the roost.

9. Let’s get numbers out of the way early. Here’s some fun ones, Pats vs Chiefs: 94-47: Total plays run. 524-290: Total offensive yards. 176-41. Rushing yardage. 36-18: First downs. 0-4: Sacks Allowed. 44-21: TOP. The Pats had ZERO negative yardage plays from scrimmage. With all those numbers, you’d think Kansas City would have been beaten by around 21 points, especially since they were shut out in the first half. Mahomes scored 31 second half points against Hoodie BOTH TIMES he matched up against the Pats this year. Last time we lost in the last seconds by a field goal, this time we lost by a coin flip. Here’s my favorite “Because Chiefs” stat: Since 1940, teams that scored 31 points in the second half of an NFL playoff game were 64-1. Now the record is 64-2. Because Chiefs.

8. You can make a pretty good case for both sides of the ball being responsible for the loss if you want to point fingers. The offense went scoreless the first half. Mahomes did not look good, and his receivers gave him no help. Mahomes was sacked four times and was hurried about ten more times, so the Pats D line dominated our O Line, especially in the first half. Kelce and Hill combined for four catches. Four. After Kelce’s TD he disappeared, and had a ball boink off his face mask that would have gotten a first down. Kelce was outplayed again by Gronk, and has yet to prove himself the more reliable guy in games that matter. Hill was double teamed 95% of the time, which was certainly not his fault. I still think he’s playing hurt as his speed seems to be diminished over the past couple games. So a guy who was a third string back -Damien Williams- ends up with three TDs, and Sammy Watkins is the guy with over 100 yards. Mahomes has the higher QB rating: 117 to 77.1 because of Brady’s two picks. QB rating is the most worthless stat in pro football. Brady was in control the entire game until the last 30 seconds of regulation. Then he won the OT toss, and Game Over.

7. The defense had only given up seven points until less than 30 seconds left in the half. That’s decent. Brady probably would have had 21 if not for Ragland’s pick in the end zone to keep the Chiefs from getting blown out. Nelson continues to suffer from Bartee Disease and seems to either drop a pick, or get burned for a TD every single week. In the second half they had one fourth and one stop. The defense could not hold a four point lead with two minutes to a trip to Atlanta. Then in the OT they gave up three consecutive 3rd and 10’s. They couldn’t get the Pats off the field, so they did not deserve to win.

6. Kansas City seems to have cornered the market on bridesmaid coaches. We lived through Marty’s failures, and stubbornness to change, and now we have Andy, who has lost five playoff games in his tenure; two by two points, two by one point, and one in OT. He stubbornly allowed Bob Sutton to return this year. As of this writing on Monday morning, Bob Sutton is still employed by the Chiefs. God knows why. Andy is seen by most of the NFL as one of those guys who just can’t win the big one. And like Marty, his “coaching tree” has been more successful than he has been. Every year it’s the same story. He’ll get up and say “This is on me, we need to focus on improving and during the off season we’ll get better.” In fairness, we did at least win a home divisional game -which was definitely an improvement- but man, when you’re two minutes away from the Super Bowl and can’t hold a four point lead at home… that really hurts.

5. Eric Berry should be on an operating table THIS MORNING. The Chiefs gave him millions of dollars this year. Berry played when the spirit moved him, and when he did play in three games, Chiefs went 0-3. I like Eric Berry and admire him. But the old saying is “You Can’t Make the Club from the Tub.” If he needs to get his heel fixed, fix it TODAY and get him on the road back to health, or part ways. Houston was invisible. He had two tackles, no sacks, no impact plays. DT did that too during his career, disappeared in playoff games. Dee Ford will be cast as a scapegoat, but the rest of the defense was just as culpable. Chris Jones had NO tackles, and when he managed to touch Brady, was awarded the biggest bullshit roughing penalty of the season. Ford will most likely be our franchise tag player. Hopefully he’ll learn and grow.

4. If we go Little Mary Sunshine, what good was there? Well, I read a stat where the Pats roster guys had played in over 130 AFC Championship games between them. The Chiefs roster? ZERO. So, our 53 man squad all got to experience what it takes to win an AFC Championship game against a veteran team who’s been there, done that. We took them to OT. Mahomes did all this in his first year as a full starter. This is his first full tour of duty, and he lost the Super Bowl by a coin toss. At 23 barring injury, he’ll be ruling the AFC West for a long time. Butt Kicker was money in bad weather. He’s also young and could be our kicker for many years. Those are all very good things.

3. Who do you fear in the AFC West? Oakland. Nope, they’re a train wreck. Denver? Nope, not until they get a QB and their defense is aging fast. Bolts? Phyllis will be eligible for a senior discount at Denny’s very soon. If we can get a defense, we could be the next Patriots. The spotlight now turns to GM Veatch. His Speaks draft looks like a disappointment. We got bupkis from Speaks and T-Pass this year. On this draft, he better pick ALL defense. We need two corners, a safety who can help in run support, a middle line backer who can thump, and more depth at the other linebacker positions as well. Looks like our pick with the Rams on the Peters trade won’t be all that, because the Rams will be at the end of the draft this year. They must dump Sutton, and get a defensive minded guy in here who can do better than giving up over 500 yards and 37 points at home in an AFC Championship game. Tick tock, tick tock…

2. So today I have that too familiar feeling that I’ve lived with my whole adult life. No Super Bowl for Kansas City again this year. Oh well, maybe we’ll be this close again 25 years from now. I’ll be 84 years old then. I probably won’t give a flip by that point. I may not even remember who the Chiefs are or why I should care. But if you remember after the second Bolts game, I said in the Ten Things that the Chiefs would not go to the Super Bowl this year, because they can’t stop the run, and they can’t get good teams off the field on third down. That’s exactly what happened, and so here we are. Am I crushed? No, actually I’m strangely satisfied with how everything went down this year. We made it to the final four. We got the home playoff loss monkey off our backs last week. We got an AFC title game at Arrowhead and took the greatest NFL dynasty team of the last 20 years into overtime with a rookie QB. They fought like Hell, didn’t embarrass the city, and came up a bit short. I can live with that.

1. Many have said the Royals equivalent to this year was 2014 when Alex Gordon stood 90 feet away from tying Game Seven at Kauffman. The Royals came up short in an improbable season. Then in 2015 they came back with a vengeance and crushed it. I have a good feeling that if Veatch can fix this defense, or at least improve it from being worst to mid pack, we can make this whole thing work. Chiefs were worst in the league in penalties. That goes to coaching, and Andy Reid is responsible for fixing that. Both championship games went to overtime. Both big market teams won with help from the zebras making calls or non-calls to steer the games during critical moments. Take that as you will. The NFL got a Los Angeles team into the Super Bowl with a mega-billion dollar stadium under construction that they seriously need to succeed. Remember, the NFL owes you a football exhibition for entertainment purposes only. Were you entertained? Because…… Chiefs.

At least the Lamar Hunt trophy got to visit Kansas City for the first time. Maybe one will live here someday. Have a great off season, and thanks for all the kind comments over the past season about the Ten Things. Maybe Next Year. Maybe Next Year.

[GermanChief]

Originally Posted by bobbything

I'm crushed. For about 10 seconds I thought we were legitimately going to the SB. Then they announced Dee Ford lined up offsides. A penalty that did not affect Sorenson's interception at all.

I'm legitimately crushed because I am not convinced we will be in this position again. It's so difficult to get to this point. You have to take advantage when you do...and we didn't.

Good write up though. It's going to take some serious time before this one subsides.

The mistake of Ford is the most disappointing thing in this game. The missing OL, the bad stats, the lost coin toss, the bad running game. It's all true. But anyway we were so near to beat them. To run into offside, ok, but to start from offside. I don't unterstand. The second point are the three 3&long in OT we were not able to stop them.
It was the third season I was able to follow the Chiefs on German TV. Steelers two years ago, Titans last year, now the Patriots. I believe that it will went better next season if they learn from their faults.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by GermanChief

The mistake of Ford is the most disappointing thing in this game. The missing OL, the bad stats, the lost coin toss, the bad running game. It's all true. But anyway we were so near to beat them. To run into offside, ok, but to start from offside. I don't unterstand. The second point are the three 3&long in OT we were not able to stop them.

It was the third season I was able to follow the Chiefs on German TV. Steelers two years ago, Titans last year, now the Patriots. I believe that it will went better next season if they learn from their faults.

The first sign will be if they fire Sutton.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by bobbything

I'm legitimately crushed because I am not convinced we will be in this position again. It's so difficult to get to this point. You have to take advantage when you do...and we didn't.

The past 36 participants in the AFCCG (since 2001):

Patriots: 13
Steelers: 6
Colts: 4
Broncos, Ravens: 3
Jets: 2
Raiders, Titans, Chargers, Jaguars, Chiefs: 1

Common threads:
- solid QBing (Brady, Roethlisberger, P. Manning, Luck)
- solid organizations (Patriots, Steelers, Broncos)
- solid defenses (Ravens, Broncos)
- long tenured coaching (Belichick, Tomlin, Dungy, Shanahan, Billick/Harbaugh)

Everyone likes to point out how Marino only made it to the SB once in his 2nd year (1984). While the Fins dominated the AFC East for much of his tenure, he did have to deal with both the Bills dynastic years as well as a few pesky Patriots ones (the two years they went to the SB, 1985 and 1996). And they never had a truly dominating defense (whereas the Bills had a pretty good one to complement Kelly and the offense). I don't see Mahomes going the Marino route.

Fact #1: Mahomes is going to be the next NFL superstar, dominating the league the way Brady has.

Fact #2: Despite their playoff missteps, the Chiefs are a solid organization.

Fact #3: Despite his playoff failures, you're not going to find a better coach than Reid.

So that leaves your defense. Which is nowhere near as bad as it has looked. The front four is solid. You need a little help at linebacker and defensive back and you'll be fine. The Patriots have never had a studly defense, only a few occasional solid players (McGinest, Seymour, Bruschi, Law, Wilfork). If Reid gets rid of Sutton and gets himself a really solid DC, you'll be fine.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

I'll respond to you, again, that we know.

But what did it not being called offsetting cost us other than the Int that helped them and not us?

I won't even ask what seeing one but not the other from an official that's there to watch BOTH SIDES of the line might to suggest.

I know, I know, it's a hard job...

I don't even understand what you're getting at I guess.

Offsetting doesn't help us at all. Same outcome. No int.

[bevischief]

14 Hire some young Defensive genius(VEATCH Maholmes)

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by SAUTO

I don't even understand what you're getting at I guess.

Offsetting doesn't help us at all. Same outcome. No int.

Well there's the positive yardage they gained because they chose to only see our flaw and turn a blind eye to theirs.

And perhaps the point you choosing to overlook is that, in "fairness", the official should have either called both or called neither since both were lined up illegally. And if it's true that Ford had been there "all night" (some are suggesting exactly that), and the LT had been lined up like that "all night" (clearly illegally), perhaps the more fair action is to call neither, interception happens, we're on our way to the SB.

But defend the NFL all you want, I chose not to and I chose to say that those added yards they were given could have been the difference. We'll never know, will we?

GOOOOOOOO CHIEFS! (next year) (again)

[SAUTO]

They got 5 yards. Pretty sure on the next play they got 20. How did the 5 hurt us?

And you're going off what others are saying about it happening both ways all night? Why not look for yourself?

And I agree it should have been offsetting penalties, but I fail to see where it hurt us so i'm not going to spend days crying about it. Unlike you I guess

[KChiefs1]

Just getting around to reading stuff on the game. Great write up as usual George but I was expecting you to skewer Dee Ford’s stupidity in one of the ten things. Highly disappointed.

Here’s to next year. Hope I make it.

[scho63]

During our meetup here in Scottsdale, I was looking at the TV hoping to spot you and wondered how you felt after the loss.

I only got angry in OT because once Butker made the FG to erase years of misses from the likes of Stenerud and Lin Idiot, I felt our luck had changed for the better.

Each time Brady converted a 3rd and 10, my anger got worse and once he hit that deep pass to get them into the Red Zone, I knew it was over.

• I was mad because it was the Patriots that beat us and their goddamn fans.
• I was mad at Sutton because he sucks.
• I was mad at Berry because he made our defense WORSE when he stepped onto the field.
• I was mad at our Oline because they sucked
• I was mad at our LB's who did zilch.

Then I had another drink and ate some food with my fellow fans and the anger was gone, to be quickly replaced with mild disappointment.

When the season began I knew our D sucked, but didn't know it was this bad. I had us between 7-9 to 9-7 with no playoffs.

This year FAR exceeded my expectations so I was delighted, especially beating the Colts and Andrew luck in the playoffs along with a few redemption's during the season, like beating Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh.

Overall to see we have the MVP at QB gives me great hope that we will become great and win a SB in the next 3 years.

To the ship!

Thanks GB both for the write ups this year and braving the elements to sit and cheer on the Chiefs as a loyal lifelong fan. That goes for all you season ticket holders. Thanks for making Arrowhead loud and proud.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by scho63

[*]I was mad at Berry because he made our defense WORSE when he stepped onto the field.

WHY is no one talking about this? It deserves it's own thread. Guy looked like a beat-assed rag doll out there.

And why do the Chiefs have this COMPLETE AVERSION to the concept of "dancing with the one that brought you"?

First Grbac, now THIS shit. Infuriating.

Who in the **** in their right mind wanted this gimp to start? And no, I'm NOT addressing the sentimental, weepy-tard crowd on this. **** them.

Yes, people complained about him not playing for so long, but when it became apparent that the defense didn't REALLY need him because they had managed to flip a switch and make whatever changes they had made prior to this game, why would you even take the chance of putting him out there?

Say what you will about John Dorsey, but one thing he did was to begin taking this operation in a more business-oriented direction regarding personnel in an attempt to put down the laissez faire, "country club for underachievers"-method that had plagued KC for so long.
And of course Clark comes along with Episode One; "sticking my Senator Hair where it doesn't ****ing belong". Followed by Episode Two: "The Senator Hair Strikes Back and fires the Chiefs most aggressive and competent GM to date".
If nothing else, please God let this embarrassing loss for ClUCK teach him to learn from his mistakes so that we can avoid another Episode from this guy.
Believe it or not, there are SOME things about the "Patriot Way" that pay dividends and don't require a generational QB and head coach to work. Business is one of them.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate

WHY is no one talking about this? It deserves it's own thread. Guy looked like a beat-assed rag doll out there.

And why do the Chiefs have this COMPLETE AVERSION to the concept of "dancing with the one that brought you"?

First Grbac, now THIS shit. Infuriating.

Who in the **** in their right mind wanted this gimp to start? And no, I'm NOT addressing the sentimental, weepy-tard crowd on this. **** them.

Yes, people complained about him not playing for so long, but when it became apparent that the defense didn't REALLY need him because they had managed to flip a switch and make whatever changes they had made prior to this game, why would you even take the chance of putting him out there?

Say what you will about John Dorsey, but one thing he did was to begin taking this operation in a more business-oriented direction regarding personnel in an attempt to put down the laissez faire, "country club for underachievers"-method that had plagued KC for so long.
And of course Clark comes along with Episode One; "sticking my Senator Hair where it doesn't ****ing belong". Followed by Episode Two: "The Senator Hair Strikes Back and fires the Chiefs most aggressive and competent GM to date".
If nothing else, please God let this embarrassing loss for ClUCK teach him to learn from his mistakes so that we can avoid another Episode from this guy.
Believe it or not, there are SOME things about the "Patriot Way" that pay dividends and don't require a generational QB and head coach to work. Business is one of them.

But his horse-killing Zumba workouts.... Wait, maybe they meant goat yoga...

I'd keep Ford before I kept Berry-the-non-gladiator...

[CoMoChief]

I'm still in disbelief on that last D outing in OT.

How in the **** do you let Edelman off the line so easily.

3rd n 10, 3rd n 9, 3rd n 10...convert convert convert.

Eric Berry looked so god damn slow. I even said my worst fear was that EB comes back and isn't himself and is much slower and gets torched and costs us the game...I literally said that in the EB inj thread, or one of the inj update threads I can't remember. Just maddening...Lucas and Sorensen should have played all game.

And Dee Ford....SMFH - I mean if that wasn't a "Because Chiefs" moment, I don't know what is...

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

I'm still in disbelief on that last D outing in OT.

How in the **** do you let Edelman off the line so easily.

3rd n 10, 3rd n 9, 3rd n 10...convert convert convert.

Eric Berry looked so god damn slow. I even said my worst fear was that EB comes back and isn't himself and is much slower and gets torched and costs us the game...I literally said that in the EB inj thread, or one of the inj update threads I can't remember. Just maddening...Lucas and Sorensen should have played all game.

And Dee Ford....SMFH - I mean if that wasn't a "Because Chiefs" moment, I don't know what is...

I don't think people doing goat yoga run a lot, so Haglund was surely going to be gassed...

[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by cabletech94

thanks blowfish. wish there was one more 10 things for this season. this is a real treat, almost a reward in a way.
i know i don't post a whole lot here, and most of it is with a sarcastic (albeit lame) wit. but i, like every other fan here really felt we could win this one.

my dad's been sick lately and lives about an hour from kc (and another 90 minutes away from me). i called back home yesterday to check in on him and my mom. the old man's not doing much better than when i visited with them last month. was informed that hospice is now involved. i told him yesterday that this was the time to win and he got a laugh out of it. i don't know why im going into detail, i think i just need to vent.

what im trying to get at is thank you for 10 things. thank you guys for your humor. thank you for being chiefs fans along with me, a complete stranger, on a message board.

until next season. can't get here fast enough.

So sorry about your dad, maybe he'll make it to next year, he can make it a goal. I know Patrick and his zeal for the game will not let this happen again. He is the type of kid he will work his ass off all off-season jut to make sure it never happens again. Prayers for you father. God Bless

[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by JD10367

The past 36 participants in the AFCCG (since 2001):

Patriots: 13
Steelers: 6
Colts: 4
Broncos, Ravens: 3
Jets: 2
Raiders, Titans, Chargers, Jaguars, Chiefs: 1

Common threads:
- solid QBing (Brady, Roethlisberger, P. Manning, Luck)
- solid organizations (Patriots, Steelers, Broncos)
- solid defenses (Ravens, Broncos)
- long tenured coaching (Belichick, Tomlin, Dungy, Shanahan, Billick/Harbaugh)

Everyone likes to point out how Marino only made it to the SB once in his 2nd year (1984). While the Fins dominated the AFC East for much of his tenure, he did have to deal with both the Bills dynastic years as well as a few pesky Patriots ones (the two years they went to the SB, 1985 and 1996). And they never had a truly dominating defense (whereas the Bills had a pretty good one to complement Kelly and the offense). I don't see Mahomes going the Marino route.

Fact #1: Mahomes is going to be the next NFL superstar, dominating the league the way Brady has.

Fact #2: Despite their playoff missteps, the Chiefs are a solid organization.

Fact #3: Despite his playoff failures, you're not going to find a better coach than Reid.

So that leaves your defense. Which is nowhere near as bad as it has looked. The front four is solid. You need a little help at linebacker and defensive back and you'll be fine. The Patriots have never had a studly defense, only a few occasional solid players (McGinest, Seymour, Bruschi, Law, Wilfork). If Reid gets rid of Sutton and gets himself a really solid DC, you'll be fine.

Excellent post, thanks. Thanks to Blowfish for all of the great posts this year.