Chiefs, America lose in hideous game
The Kansas City Chiefs should be forced to walk home from Los Angeles.
Kansas City lost 21-20 to the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday night, but the end result does not begin to tell the story of this contest. The Chiefs continued to look every bit like a dumpster fire on defense, allowing Los Angles to rack up 14 points against the first-string.
If you can name the starting receivers on the Rams, you ought to win a prize. Case Keenum completed 4-of-5 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, and was bailed out on a 41-yard pass interference call against Ron Parker. Parker, a terrific player, could have simply turned around and intercepted the deep ball with ease. Instead, he ran headlong into Kenny Britt as the ball hit him in the backside.
In addition, we might have seen the last start for Parker Ehinger this season. Ehinger played well against the Seattle Seahawks but he was beaten like he stole something in this game. Aaron Donald and other Rams took turns blowing by Ehinger as though he forgot the snap count. There were at least four times where he barely touched the man he was supposed to guard. It’s hard to think head coach Andy Reid doesn’t at least consider putting in Zach Fulton or Jah Reid.
On the positive side, the first-team offense looked fantastic sans Ehinger. While Eric Fisher and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif each had one horrid play, the group flourished in the first half. Alex Smith completed 9-of-12 throws for 137 yards and a touchdown. Smith also found Chris Conley on a beautiful 37-yard deep ball. Conley led the team with three catches and 66 yards.
At this point, it is a tale of two teams. The offense is functioning at a very high level (for the most part) while the defense is a mess. The question is whether the defense stinks because it is missing Eric Berry, Tamba Hali, Josh Mauga and Phillip Gaines, or whether they are just regressing without Sean Smith and Justin Houston.
Ultimately, the MVP of this game was Jeremy Maclin. He was smart enough to get kicked out.