The bye week is simultaneously incredible and terrible. While we got to take a break from the weekly stress of following the Kansas City Chiefs, we were also reminded that an idle mind is the devil's workshop. This free time gave us, and the team, time to reflect on the good things that have happened during the team's 7-2 start to the season, a start that has them once again perched atop the standings in what is shaping up to be a crowded AFC playoff picture.
Yes. there could have been a lot of pressure added to the shoulders of our Chiefs, but instead, a different thing happened—much different than some of the fortunes we've seen thus far on the offensive side of the ball with dropped passes, pass-blocking miscues, and sloppy penalties. Instead of the tides turning against the Chiefs in Week 10, they shifted in favor of Kansas City.
To whom do we owe the pleasure of gaining ground in the standings while standing idly by, nursing wounds and getting a breath of fresh air in preparation for the season's second half? The Cleveland Browns knocked off the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10, pushing them to 7-3, a half-game back of K.C. in the AFC playoff standings. The Houston Texans pulled off a thrilling comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the San Francisco 49ers gave Kansas City some breathing room from the once-hot Jaguars with a blowout victory in Jacksonville.
Even the division rival Chargers were met with a walk-off loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions and the more distantly threatening Buffalo Bills met the same demise against a suddenly game Denver Broncos squad. Leave it to Chiefs Twitter (er, Chiefs X?) to be the most positive it has been during the 2023 NFL season during the Chiefs bye week. Fans were all sunshine and rainbows all week as they rejoiced over the shortcomings of teams that stand to unseat Kansas City as the class of the AFC. No one, I repeat no one, improved their chances of knocking the Chiefs off of their perch in Week 10. Only regression.
This reaction on social media, however, was the case even though the team already stood at 7-2 with the conference's best record heading into their bye. You can keep some people happy some of the time, all the people happy some of the time, but you can't keep all of the people happy all of the time. Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder to those who pull for the Chiefs that when unexpected losses happen, it's not the end of the world.
But who can blame everyone for being negative, at times, this year? Last weekend, and even the past few days, was the football equivalent of the cure for a bad day. We all know that feeling. Say your boss has been on your ass about something at work, or a pair of jeans you have doesn't quite fit the right way because you're in Halloween candy/Thanksgiving/Christmas cookie season, or maybe you have 3 dogs and they don't sleep well and you're walking around like a zombie all day.
We've all had bad days and been off for one reason or another. But we've all had moments that instantly pull us out of those funks as well. Whether it be a moment with your kids, time with friends, winning $100 on a scratcher ticket, or even just seeing something hilarious happen in real-time, there are serendipitous moments in life that can turn your frown upside-down and get you back on the right track. They make you think "Huh, maybe life isn't so bad after all."
These moments were brought to you recently by the football gods, however you choose to observe their omnipotent presence, and they appear to still be pleased with the squad that's assembled here in the barbecue capital of the world. Not only did the Chiefs get to the bye without many significant injuries—the most significant being Nick Bolton's wrist that will have him out until December—but the team also got to do cool things like watch their alma maters beat wanna-be football schools on the road and go to concerts in Argentina while they rested up for a Super Bowl 57 rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles this Monday.
Karma (not referring to the Taylor Swift song) is a powerful thing and can be swayed one way or another by forces that we simply don't understand as simple human beings. The favor of the football gods is something we should cherish while it still resides in the Kingdom. What better timing could we ask for for this reminder? Thanksgiving is literally days away, and I would bet just about anything that many of you would count the Kansas City Chiefs—Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, multiple Super Bowl titles, etc—as one or a few of the things that you're thankful for in your life. Some may even rank the team towards the top of their list, but even with varying degrees of importance the team still means a lot to a lot of people, and the fortune of the team is at an all-time high.
You know who's probably not feeling that fortunate right now? Bills, Chargers, and especially Bengals fans. It has to be a very depressing feeling to have declared yourselves the ones without ever really winning anything, then falling to your foe that you thought you had conquered the very next season. But the chimes of the Bengals playing at "Burrowhead" last season and even Ja'Marr Chase's "Pat who?" comments riding along with the Bengals fan base's insistence on being the newfound bully in the AFC. With news of Joe Burrow's wrist injury dropping Friday afternoon, you have to again thank the football gods that they smile on gracious winners and turn their ire towards those who boast after moderate successes.
Dance on their (current and eventual) graves and embrace their tears if you wish, but I'd propose being humble winners if you would. The point is that the Chiefs are in the driver's seat again this year in the AFC even if the team has had some concerning issues thus far in 2023. I've said it multiple times already and I will say it again, there are certainly reasons to be concerned with various aspects of the 2023 Chiefs, but when you zoom out and look at the overall result thus far, the team is taking care of business.
As I was prepping to finish this piece I spent some time on TikTok mindlessly scrolling to clear my head of interfering thoughts. While performing this self-imposed quasi-labotomy, I stumbled upon a clip of Kirby Smart in the locker room addressing the Georgia Bulldogs at halftime of their game earlier this season against South Carolina. Georgia trailed 14-3 at halftime, something that would have been a much bigger issue to less mentally tough teams. Smart's message to the team at halftime? Don't worry about the outcome yet, worry about the moments. One moment at a time.
Georgia won that game by a final score of 24-14. They have the nation's longest winning streak and are all but assured to be playing in the College Football Playoff once again, and will do so to get a crack at their third consecutive National Championship—something that hasn't been done since 1936. That mindset, winning and worrying about each moment vs. trying to fix all of your problems at once, reacting but not overreacting, is exactly the mindset that we should all embrace with this Chiefs season. One moment, one game at a time.
No game is bigger than the one coming up this Monday against Philadelphia, and if the football gods continue to smile upon Kansas City, we may all wake up on Tuesday thinking "Huh, maybe life isn't so bad after all."
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