Chiefs Land On The Moon
By Big Matt
I rose from my post-game coma, and the Chiefs were in the playoffs. Unless I’m ever woken up by a nude Katy Perry bringing me a Long John Silvers breakfast in bed, that will probably go down as the coolest wake up of my life.
It feels like we all had a hand in this. Like its something we’ve all been working towards for years. And in a way, I guess we have. We toil during the week so we can spend our Sundays as we will (watching football and worshipping vengeful deities). And we’ve endured countless losses and endless ridicule on those Sundays in the hopes that one day wins would come. Now they have, and its time to bask in it. If anyone has earned that right, we have.
For me, said basking will take the form of having ink etched into my skin. I made that promise, and I intend to keep it. I wanted to go to Freaks on 39th, where my LOTR tat (Elvish writing is the ultimate aphrodisiac) was masterfully applied. But they were closed, as was their Broadway counterpart. My flight was at 5am this morning, so it appears my homage to the 2010 season will have to be done by a Brooklyn artist. I’m not thrilled about that, particularly since my current city of residence will likely become enemy territory in about a week. I’ll have to make sure whoever does it isn’t a Jets fan. And if they are, I go to the restroom and pee on their toilet paper. Guerrilla warfare baby!
Further ruminations from your boy Big Matt after the jump:
What I can’t help but wonder now is if this will be the beginning of something special for us. Maybe I’m overexcited, but I think it will be. The more cynical among us, myself included, have thought for most of the season that we were a little worse than our record. Now I’m not so sure about that. The Titans and Rams may not be good teams, but they aren’t bad, and we just rolled over them. I’ve said this before, but who rolls over decent teams? Good teams. Only good teams.
The big debate this week is going to be about how long we should play our starters. It’s a tough call. Personally, I think we’ve got to use everyone for the first half at least. This game still has meaning. I would MUCH rather play the Jets than the Ravens, for personal and logical reasons. I’m constantly surrounded by boisterous Jets fans. The chance to end their over-hyped season would be a dream come true.
I also happen to think the Jets are a good matchup for us. Let Rex Ryan and the hubris patrol (band name?) waltz into Arrowhead having been convinced by their boys the national media that they’re going to roll over us. I want a team thats going to take us lightly. Because if you take us lightly at Arrowhead, these Chiefs will put you to sleep. I am confident of that.
I don’t know if we’re a legitimate Super Bowl threat, but we’re definitely a threat to advance. Thats something we haven’t done in 17 years. So to me, even one win would be a major triumph. But that isn’t the only reason I said this could be the start of something special. It isn’t even the main one.
This team is going to be together for a long time. All of our best players are in their prime or entering it, and we have the money to re-sign anyone before they even hit the free agent market. DJ and Charles’ extensions were very encouraging in that regard. As long as Clunt stays the second-cheapest owner in KC, we should be able to keep this team intact for several years. There will be more playoff games in our future. Real ones. Not 9-7 sneak-ins followed by three years of epic failure.
As to the immediate future, hopefully the Raiders will come in flat and we can put the game out of reach early. I think a Cassel/Charles first half would probably do the trick. Then the second half can be another slow, boring trip to the Jonezone with Brodie Croyle riding shotgun. Sure that offense would be hideous and ineffective, but I don’t think any of us want to risk seeing Charles get up gingerly at this point.
Thom Jones had his worst game in an increasingly bad year Sunday, but believe it or not, I was fine with his workload. On paper it might seem TOTALLY RIDICULOUS that a guy averaging an LJ-esque 2.8 yards per carry in his last seven games would be getting the ball 23 times. And yes, the results were terrible. Jones averaged 2.2 yards and repeatedly tried to let the Titans back into the game. His much-praised sure-handedness was, predictably, highly overrated.
Still, I was glad to see them feeding him the rock at the end. I’ve been saying all year we need to use Charles when its important, and sit him when the game is in hand. The Chiefs could do a little better on the first part, but they’re all over part two. They were perfectly content to run Jones into the ground despite dismal results. That tells me they at least realize Charles is better. I hadn’t seen clear evidence of that until yesterday. So in a weird way, seeing Jones trot back out there even after his horrendous fumble was a relief. It told me that deep down our coaches know where their bread is buttered. Thank God.
I’m sitting in a hotel room in D.C. because my connecting flight to NYC was cancelled. I should be mad, but I’m not. I’ve got two new Chiefs jerseys in my bag (Flowers and Bowe) and will get to wear at least one of them while watching a playoff game. Dale Carter has served me well these past 15 years, but it was time for some new gear. As a fan, you want the jersey you wear to represent your own personal Chiefs halcyon years. For most of us, those were the Carter-Hasty-Smith-Thomas 90s. In 20 years we’ll look back on the Hali-Charles-Bowe-Flowers 2010s with similar nostalgia. So it is written, so it shall come to pass. The Chiefs are back.
Big Matt’s Sunday Hero Squad:
1) Dwayne Bowe- Let no man criticize D-Bowe, or he shall feel my wrath. My internet wrath. My face-to-face wrath is more uncomfortable than scary. Just ask the guy at the US Airways ticket counter. Two hours ago I creepy-stared my way to a free hotel room.
2) Matt Cassel- This guy looks handsomer better in the pocket every game. Pro Bowl, sons.
3) Glenngarry Glenn Dorsey- A much-needed sack from Dorsey. We couldn’t have him end the season at .5, we just couldn’t. I loved that post-sack swagger, too. I like my defenders celebrating after they do anything remotely good. Dorsey is great for that.
4) Eric Berry- That touchdown may have gotten him some ROTY votes. He’s had some pretty great plays this year, and I would imagine most of you, like me, find yourselves liking him more every week. I really hope I get the chance to hug him at some point in my life.
5) Brandon Carr- Teams consistently try to pick on Carr, and he never quite lets them get away with it. That pick was probably the best I’ve seen from any of of our D-backs this year. Carr isn’t a stud like Flowers or a top 5 pick like Berry, but he deserves our respect.
And thats where its at, with Big Matt.
Playoffs.