Don’t Worry, The Chiefs Are Still On Track
Losing close, winnable games hurts, but amid all the angst in the rubble of the San Francisco game I have the same message for Chiefs fans as Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers gave to his own fan base last week – relax.
Did last week’s game feature HC Andy Reid forgetting once again that teams are allowed to run the ball in the second half?
Yes. In fact, it seemed like he must have gotten electro-shock therapy on the sideline somewhere in the late 3rd quarter based on the way that all memory of the words “Jamaal Charles” were erased from his conscious mind.
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Were the Chiefs once again plagued by bizarre breakdowns in discipline, coverage and blocking at exactly the wrong moments?
Yes. OLB Dee Ford saw a ghost, ST Coordinator Dave Toub forgot how to count and soon-to-be replaced RT Ryan Harris decided to earn a stat mention by jumping offsides on 4th-and-1.
But, consider this: If you had taken a survey of most Chiefs fans on where they thought the team would be after the opening five-game stretch of: Tennessee, at Denver, at Miami, New England and at San Francisco, I think most would have said 2-3.
You can make the case that San Francisco and Kansas City are evenly matched teams (when healthy), but I would argue the 49ers are slightly more talented. Still, that team needed a fake punt, lots of bizarre officiating, three second-half field goals, and a truly unbelievable, undefendable catch by a 33-year-old receiver who wasn’t even in the league last year to scrape their way to a victory against the Chiefs in their own house.
It was a game that was mostly played on a razor’s edge and any number of things could have turned it.
But, the season is far from lost.
The Chiefs now go into the bye with an offensive line that quietly put up a clean sheet pass blocking (way more than they should have) against a top-five defense. They will now get RT Donald Stephenson back into the mix, and hopefully S Eric Berry – the team’s most important player against the run – will be able to ease back into things during the bye week.
Furthermore, Reid has churned out some truly unique gameplans utilizing specific players so far this year. RB Joe McKnight has gotten his, RB Knile Davis has gotten his. Reid is also 13-2 coming off of the bye and I personally believe now is the time he will find ways of better incorporating Charles and the team’s budding playmakers TE Travis Kelce and RB De’Anthony Thomas.
They face a familiar division foe – the perennially over-rated Chargers – in Week 7 (seriously, their slogan should be “Super Bowl favorites since 2005”). A win gets the Chiefs back to .500 and one win behind in the division race.
The team then gets two early Christmas presents in home games against the Rams and the Jets. They’ll then have a winnable game in Buffalo before welcoming the Super Bowl champ Seahawks to Arrowhead. My philosophy is that if the Chargers can beat Seattle when its out of its thunderdome, then so can the Chiefs. But, even if not, the Chiefs can afford to lose one here if the team is 6-3 or 5-4 going in.
After Seattle, the Chiefs go to Oakland on Friday night (aka second bye week) and the have nine days to prepare for Denver and Peyton Manning’s cybernetic neck in Arrowhead. With home field advantage, if the Chiefs play in this game like they did in the first game against Denver, this is a win, hands down.
Then, it’s at Arizona (winnable), home to Oakland (third bye week), at Pittsburg (very winnable), home to Chargers (winnable).
But for argument’s sake, let’s say the Chiefs get swept by the Chargers and Broncos again this year and Seattle gets the best of them. If they can win the rest of those games (in which they will likely be favored) the team will still be contending for a wild card spot at 9-7.
It’s not going to be an easy road, but the Chiefs have figured out a formula, they have reinforcements coming and the toughest battles are behind them.
Losing a close one to a good team is always frustrating. But, I firmly believe the Chiefs have moved beyond the days where we take our consolation prizes in a few upset wins against good teams in lost seasons. This is still a team with a strong chance to make the playoffs for back-to-back years.