My Chief Concerns: Bye Week Buzz Kill?
By author
Last Sunday was one of the best Sundays that have happened to the Chiefs in a long, long time. Not only did they dismantle the 49ers at home, (that last 49er touchdown was just plain juvenile), but the stars aligned and every other team in the AFC West lost too (I love you Janikowski); giving the Chiefs a two game lead against our division foes only after three weeks of play! It was a big week.
Nothing could have been more perfect. We are riding high and everyone who knows anything about football recognizes that momentum is an important ingredient to football success. Everyone is excited, the team is fresh, relatively uninjured, momentum is on our side and then… the bye week. The Chiefs have to be put on ice for basically two weeks. Ugh! Could it have come at a worse time?
More after the jump…
One thing I have noticed about Matt Cassel is he is a slow starter; he is undoubtedly a second half player and always seems to come out of the gates, listless. As a result we have to be worried about the bye week and the time off, right?
That’s what I thought, but then….I remembered we have some coaching geniuses on the team and an extra week to prepare for the Colts (at home) could be just the thing we need. So, ultimately we may be sacrificing momentum for an extra week of preparation.
Preparing for Manning is like preparing for a Shane Carwin punch in the face. You can do everything you can to avoid it, but eventually your going to get hit. Your only hope is to minimize the damage, and we have a defense that can do it.
Manning and the Colts are the media’s darling. Manning and the Colts are always on prime time, and Tony Dungy, surprisingly, is telling you how to beat him/them every time they play: ignore Peyton’s dummy calls, don’t give up the deep pass play, keep everything underneath, and let them have the run game. We can do that. We have the defense to do that. We have the pass and run defense to do that. Are you pumped? I am. Manning is like a classier Phillip Rivers, he too will lose his cool if things are not going his way. We can win this game, especially since Indy’s run defense is not so hot. A win against the Colts at home immediately propels us into contender status. I am anxious to see the Vegas line on this game.
So what do you think Addicts, is the bye week going to help or hurt us?
By the way, I am obviously real excited that we are 3-0, but I know that ultimately means nothing. Many teams have started 6-0, 9-0 (Vermeil’s Chiefs), and 16-0 (Patriots) only to get squidily doosh in the playoffs. Although your record might get you into the playoffs, it guarantees you nothing. So let’s continue to take this glorious season one game at a time, not focus on the record but on the team. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and never count our chickens before they hatch, but be ready for them when they do. This team can make the playoffs because our run and pass defense is not suddenly going to regress. Our special teams are not going to suddenly become un-special, and our run game is the best in the league. The only factor keeping the Chiefs from the playoff this year will be our passing game, and that is improving and will continue to improve. The Chiefs will not win every game this year, and when we lose some, the sky is not falling either. As I said before the season started, temper your expectations and take one game at a time. This is going to be an unforgettable season.