Don’t Overlook The Broncos

Great news! The Chiefs have back to back wins once again for the first time in nearly a month.  Spirits are high in the Chiefs Nation!  We are reveling at Bowe’s run at history for receiving touchdowns in one season (two per game would beat Moss’s record set in 2007), and Matt Cassel is looking more and more like a 60 million dollar quarterback.  To top it off our defense put up a good game (20 net rushing yards, not too shabby) despite having players go down faster than the hype surrounding the Miami Heat.  What should I do LeBron?

It is an old adage that when you look too far down the road, you trip on what is right in front of you.  Well, it’s not an old adage.  I just made it up.  It sounds good though and is fitting.  I of course am talking about the upcoming game against the Denver Broncos.

I know that there are a lot of reasons to be positive right now as a KC fan.  I am thrilled at most everything that happened the past two weeks except the special teams play, the injuries, and my cable provider’s unnatural predilection to show any game but the Chiefs game (Cox is a good name for them).

This is not an article meant to find fault in great performances the past two weeks.  This article is a wake-up call that the battle is not won.  It seems that everyone is putting this week’s game in the win column like the Broncos didn’t spank the Chiefs two and a half weeks ago.

“But Nick, they were caught cheating and were fined by the NFL, they obviously knew our plays and that’s why they beat us so badly!” 

The Broncos were caught videotaping six minutes of a San Francisco practice.  A game they lost.  If they did in fact use that to cheat, it didn’t help them against the 49ers, and we should be embarrassed if it worked against us.

“But Nick, they tampered with the replay booth when we challenged the touchdown, that’s why it didn’t work!” 

If we take that touchdown off of the board (I don’t think it was a touchdown, but also don’t think it would have been overturned) then the score is still 29-42.  Not exactly a game changer, unless we want to file this under the “if this had happened then…” column.

“But Nick, last year they blew us out, and then we blew them out!” 

If we went solely off of what happened last year, then we would be looking at another 4-12 season.  If I have learned anything from this season it is that we cannot base what we will do this year off of what happened last year (thank God).  We are better, the Broncos are not, but as I’ve said before, none of that matters in divisional games.  Divisional teams are always hard to play and blowout games will always be the exception no matter what has happened in recent history.

Based off of what we have seen the past couple of weeks, the Broncos staff has definitely made some very bad choices, and violated some serious NFL policies around ensuring fair play.  There may be more to come on this, but none of it is relevant this Sunday.  Monetary fines from Goodell don’t equate to points on the scoreboard no matter how much we want them to.  We still have to play the game, and we still have to win if we want to stay ahead of a Charger team that does not look like they will fade as the Raiders did earlier this year.  San Diego handled the Colts impressively.  The one time I root for Peyton…

My thoughts on the game everyone seems to have forgotten:

Reasons to Be Positive 

Luckily there are a couple of things that play to our advantage in this whole mess of Belichick afterbirth.  First and foremost is the distraction that it causes within the team.  On top of the task of going into Arrowhead where the Chiefs are undefeated this year, now McDumbass has to try to game plan from the hot seat knowing that the owner is deciding whether he wants to pay him AND Shanahan AND a new coach contracts next season.  Distraction from the head coach goes down the chain and affects everyone on and off of the field and will be an advantage.

The next big hurt is the loss of faith for the players in the coaching staff.  Players see the news, they read the paper (internet), and they know the score.  They know their coach was caught cheating.  Cheating shows a lack of self confidence.  It means, “I’m not good enough to get us where we need to be off of my own talent, and the talent of the football club.”  This will be especially true in a club like the Ponies where they have a losing record because unlike with the Patriots and spy-gate, it seems more of an act of desperation than trying to gain a competitive edge.

The Things that Worry Me 

Our D is pretty banged up going in to face the Kyle Orton led Broncos who are ranked top ten in total offense, and top five in passing.  This is not the Seahawks or the reeling Cardinals we are facing here.  These guys can move the football.  Our b-squad will have to step it up and use the crowd to their advantage.  If you are going to the game be prepared to wreck your voice, our boys will need it.

It’s a divisional game.  The Chiefs have done very well with mediocre teams this year outside of the division, but seem to play down in AFC West matchups.  We had the surprise victory against San Diego, but then saw a decline start in Oakland, and turn into a monster in Denver.  I don’t know if the prep is different for divisional games, or if it’s the history of the organizations weighing on the young players, but it definitely seems like a different team playing in these divisional games.

So addicts, what’s your take on the upcoming game?  Have you solidly placed this one in the “W” column and moved on, or are you still thinking about the team that embarrassed us?  Let’s hope the Chiefs mentality has not been the same as the fan base and already moved past this game, or they might trip…