Eleven Things About Today's Game Week 10: KC 26 AZ 14

[gblowfish]

Eleven Things About Today’s Game Week 10: KC 26 ARIZ 14

11.Today is November 11th. 100 years ago today at 11AM, The Armistice ending World War One was signed. Bells tolled across the nation to mark the end of the Great War. 100 years to the minute, they tolled again.You can read about the practical lasting impact of WW I here:

http://www.pbs.org/education/blog/wh...of-world-war-1

Today at 11am I was standing at the top of Section 119 in Arrowhead Stadium, headed to my sideline seat. Players were on the field stretching and practicing kicks. The stadium PA started tolling the bell. The stadium fell silent, except for the bell tolling. It was sad and beautiful. I hadn’t felt Arrowhead like that since the Derrick Thomas visitation. It was Veterans Day at Arrowhead. We had Army parachute jumpers bring the game ball before kickoff. We had a formation flyover by A-10 Warthogs from Whitman AFB. We celebrated the men and women who keep us safe as they serve the nation. My Dad and Mrs. B’s Dad were both Army Vets from Korea. Here’s a salute today to all the men and women on the CP who either served or have family members who served. God Bless America.

10. My apologies for the late writing of this weeks rundown. “Rundown” is the operative word. The lovely Mrs. B. does community theater in Lexington, MO, and their closing shows were Friday and Saturday night. Last night, we finished the show around 10:30pm, struck the set and had a cast party till 1AM, back to KC by 2AM, unload the car of show crap and finally fell into my rack by 2:30. Back up and at it at 7 AM and off to Arrowhead by 8:30. Mrs. B couldn’t go with me, so I took one of my oldest and dearest pals - Jimbo. He got me my first real job in High School throwing the KC Star off a truck. We go back to 1974 together. Jimbo is retired. He worked for the DoD for years, and also was a professor at Rockhurst. He’s a great guy, and in 1989 was Jeopardy Champion for a whole week. Yes, he actually has met Alex Trebek. You can watch him win on Jeopardy here:

https://www.facebook.com/jim.breed.5...3123620386113/

Weather was OK for November. A little chilly in the second half when it clouded up and the wind picked up. But it was 76,000 strong, and the crowd was loud as usual. Needless to say, the Cardinals are not good. They played one of their best games of the year, and were in this one well into the fourth quarter. Lots of thing to talk about, both positive and negative. Let’s start fast, just like Tyreek Hill did:

9. Chiefs lost the coin flip for the first time all year…damn! Well, guess we’ll just have to score three plays into the game! Cards looked totally confused trying to cover The Cheetah, who burned right down the field out of the gate. This was another Tyreek Week, leading the receiving corps with 117 yards and 2 TDs. Nobody missed Sammy Watkins, Conley covered for him just fine. Kudos to Mahomes for tying and then breaking a 55 year old Len Dawson record for most TD’s in a season, and we still have six more games to go! That’s truly shattering a record.

8. David Johnson WAS the Arizona offense. He is a highly under-rated player. He was just shy of 100 rushing, had 85 yards receiving and both Cardinals TDs. Grandpa Bob did a better job keying on him in the second half. Both Cardinals scoring drives were similar. Both took up six or seven minutes and were helped along by KC penalties. I never had the feeling that Arizona had any quick strike capability. Fitzgerald was relegated to picking up third downs on slants, and only had fifty yards. Still, this was an actual ballgame until twelve minutes left in the fourth quarter when Houston got his pick on the screen pass. Nice to have Houston back to make an impact play that turned the game momentum for good.

7. Both QBs were sacked five times. That’s probably normal for Arizona, but way not normal for KC. Fisher had an especially bad day. He was beaten on several plays and was flagged for holding a couple times. This is the first week where playing our back up O-Line came up to bite us. Mahomes stat line looked very Alex Smith-ish with less than 300 yards, but he did throw for 2 TDs and had no turnovers. It was a little unsettling that KC only scored six points in the second half, and missed their two point try. Another issue was only going 4 of 11 on third down. Not Patty’s best day, but it was enough.

6. Defense played well only giving up 14 points, but remember who we are playing. This Arizona offense was Johnson and nuthin’. And the linebackers are still having problems covering backs in the flat on swing passes. Ben Neimann (Hello Neimann) got his first NFL start at linebacker subbing for Hitchens and led the team with six tackles. That’s the good news. Bad news is, most of those tackles were chasing #31 down field after a double digit gain.

5. The good news is we seem to have a pass rush again. Bailey, Jones and Ford all did a fine job bringing heat, and Rosen had serious happy feet by the fourth quarter. Defensive secondary played well again this week. Nelson got the game clinching pick at the end. Dirty Dan was back and played a good game. He was covering the tight end most of the day. Just nice to have some experienced guys returning to the lineup.

4. Penalties! I guess we did better this week because it wasn’t in the double digits, but the Chiefs did have three times more than Arizona did. And penalties sustained both the Arizona scoring drives. Without them, we might have pitched a shutout. Hey, a pet peeve: Why can’t the team ask guys not to grow their dreads so long that they can be tackled by them? Tremon Smith got horse collared by the hair, and the play stood because he was literally ripped to the ground by his flowing mane. Can’t he do a man bun or something? Stuff that fur up under your lid, dude! And you know that had to hurt. I haven’t watched the TV broadcast. Is it just me, or does Bruce Arians look like a Jazz Musician from 1961???

3. Kareem Hunt has to back off on the high hurdles. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt himself trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Kareem had a good day laying the wood and running clock in the fourth quarter. He had some negative plays, but he wears teams out in the second half, much like Tennessee did to us last year in the playoffs. Down the stretch I’d play Spencer Ware more to keep Hunt fresh. He’s going to be a valuable asset come January.

2. Andy called a good balanced game. I’m a little concerned that KC only had around 90 yards of offense in the second half, and only scored six points on a short drive after the Houston pick. But after that pick, the game was never in doubt. Very satisfying win, no let down, no loss of focus going into the next game in Meh-Hi-Co.

1. OK, so everybody load up on bottled water and Pepto Bismol, Mexico City here we come. The extra day of rest to prepare for the Rams will be beneficial. The altitude and shitty stadium turf will not. I hope Andy takes them down a couple days early to adjust to the thin air, and I hope they burn Marcus Peters for a couple benjamins and two or three TDs. Stopping Gurley will be a chore, but having Dirty Dan and Houston back will help a lot. If KC can win, they’ll be 10-1 at the bye, and every one can go to the beach for a week and chill. Tennessee did us a big favor by putting it on the Hoodie, so now it looks like if we can keep going and do Phyllis like we normally do in December, we could actually, FINALLY get an AFC Championship game at Arrowhead. That would be pretty spiffy, eh? Thanksgiving week I’m on vacation all week, so I plan to have Monday Mexican Fiesta night here in stately Wayne Minor and prepare to Do the Ewes. How bout you’s?

Game highlight videos are here:

[EPodolak]

Agree about the early departure to get used to the air, a little concerned about the turf also. Mostly though, excited about the matchup in primetime in Mexico.

Marcus Peters and N. Suh are to be ambassadors of Futbol Norte Americano...it may be our last invite to play there.

[TrebMaxx]

Again a great write up GB. IMHO I think that Andy kept the O game plan basic. Just enough to get the job done but not to give too much film although I know at this stage of season there is plenty of film. It was nice to see the D come through and I give that side of the ball the win.

[suzzer99]

These are great, but are super awesome to get the low down when I miss the actual game. Thanks George!

[Tribal Warfare]

All things considered when it came to performance and clutch he had a great game. shit, hearing that his girlfriend's stepfather collapsed during pregame and died during halftime had to take real tenacity to pull through.

[FAX]

Howdy do, Mr. gblowfish.

I've been re-watching the game and was astonished at the number of "rub" and/or "pick" routes the Child Molestation Conspirators ran against us today. Just wondering if you noticed this live? It looks like our box safeties spent a ton of time running into our own guys on picks.

Also, the CMCs appeared to be running a match-zone-man coverage today (a show zone then convert to man as the routes develop - kind of thing). Can you provide any insight as to how their defensive backfield played? You know, up close and all? It's curious because it seemed to work against Mahomes. He seemed indecisive.

Thanks,

FAX

[rabblerouser]

Originally Posted by RunKC

It looked like we overlooked this game to focus on the Rams. Sloppy gameplan all around.

I think PMII may have been distraced by the events in the warmup...

Great writeup as usual, Mr B - glad to hear of a successfully busy weekend!!

[eDave]

11? You cray cray.

[BlackOp]

Chiefs two lowest point totals have come without Watkins...26 & 27 points.

Cardinals were on 17 days rest...so I wasn't surprised the game was closer than people thought it would be.

Cardinals average 13 ppg....so 14 wasn't horrible.

Just my 2 cents....

Hard to believe KC scored 9 points then 10 points in back-to-back games this time last year....to the Giants and Bills. Yikes...

[UK_Chief]

I think we did miss Watkins. He’s a serious threat and opposing Ds have to take him seriously. Hell the laser strike to Tyreek in the end zone he had 4 D backs draped on him.

[ChiefsFanatic]

I felt like Reid called a terrible game. He needed to run more screens, and quick slants, or plays with shallow crosses, because the Arizona defensive line played most of the game our backfield.

Maybe Reid was just being conservative because of our next game, but in the first couple of series he seemed like he wanted to trick play the cards to death. Very unbalanced overall IMHO.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

[Nickhead]

Originally Posted by UK_Chief

I think we did miss Watkins. He’s a serious threat and opposing Ds have to take him seriously. Hell the laser strike to Tyreek in the end zone he had 4 D backs draped on him.

that and a heavy heart for his girlfriend, for sure.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Eleven Things About Today’s Game Week 10: KC 26 ARIZ 14

11.Today is November 11th. 100 years ago today at 11AM, The Armistice ending World War One was signed. Bells tolled across the nation to mark the end of the Great War. 100 years to the minute, they tolled again.

We celebrated the men and women who keep us safe as they serve the nation. My Dad and Mrs. B’s Dad were both Army Vets from Korea. Here’s a salute today to all the men and women on the CP who either served or have family members who served. God Bless America.

Nice start to your column this week and God Bless your family for their sacrifice.

9. Kudos to Mahomes for tying and then breaking a 55 year old Len Dawson record for most TD’s in a season, and we still have six more games to go! That’s truly shattering a record.

When you consider how football was played back then, it truly was an amazing record by Lenny the Cool. Way to go Mahomes! Many more records will fall for sure.

8. David Johnson WAS the Arizona offense. Fitzgerald was relegated to picking up third downs on slants, and only had fifty yards.

I'm not positive but I thought the last time we played them Johnson had a huge game. He is a good player for sure. Also our run D is still pretty porous.
I don't understand what has happened to Fitz. Guy is HOF worthy with his talent but they seem to not be featuring him in their offense, which was fine by me! Puzzling but helpful for us.

7. Both QBs were sacked five times. Fisher had an especially bad day. Not Patty’s best day, but it was enough.

I don't think Fisher has had a very good season. If you look at the prior games, he seems to be getting beat more and more but worse yet is he seems to be having a LOT of penalties this year. I don't remember him having so many last year.
The opponents game plan is clearly gang-rushing Mahomes and giving him little to no time to throw. Cardinals sent 6-7 guys often and Mahomes had a tough time trying to get a pass off. Our OLine needs to play better.

6. Defense played well only giving up 14 points, but remember who we are playing.

Having Houston and Dirty Dan back gave our D some better talent and a spark. I think the rest of our guys played just a little better and I think the D was better this week with penalties. I think they had 3 and the offense/ST had 5 or 6. I'll take any improvement at this point.

4. Penalties! Is it just me, or does Bruce Arians look like a Jazz Musician from 1961???

It's hard not to think that we are going to lose a game when one of the many stupid penalties we are getting costs us at the end of a game and that scares the shit out of me. On EVERY great play we make on either side of the ball, my first inclination is to look for the yellow flag, not celebrate the play. That's sad!
If you think Bruce Arians is hard to look at, you should try listening to that jackass! He is the WORST and that's hard to believe considering we get stuck with Dan Fouts 25-33% of the time doing OUR games.

3. Kareem Hunt has to back off on the high hurdles. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt himself trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

I'm less concerned about that than I was watching Tyreek leap into the stands. While it was funny, he risked twisting his ankle or getting hurt doing that shit with his cleats onto concrete and steel. Guys got to stop trying to out-do each other with these TD celebrations as they are getting stupid.

1. Mexico City here we come. The extra day of rest to prepare for the Rams will be beneficial. The altitude and shitty stadium turf will not.
Stopping Gurley will be a chore.
If KC can win, they’ll be 10-1 at the bye.
Tennessee did us a big favor by putting it on the Hoodie, so now it looks like if we can keep going and do Phyllis like we normally do in December, we could actually, FINALLY get an AFC Championship game at Arrowhead.

Great to get ANOTHER prime time game and I'm psyched for this. They were showing how horrible the field condition is right now so hopefully, which I'm sure is the case, the NFL will re-sod the whole field and it will NOT be an issue. I do not want either team to suffer field condition injuries.
If we can key on Gurley, hopefully we can slow them down without one of their top WR's, who got hurt yesterday.
I was SOOOOOO wrong about where the Chiefs record would be at this point and for the year. I love being wrong about that!
Thank you Tennessee! Pushing the Pats back another game from us is great and we need to keep the Chargers from squeaking by us. Home Field is SO important for this team at this point, more so than the past. Gotta just keep winning.

Nice write-up this week GBlowfish and hard to disagree.

One VERY POSITIVE point you didn't touch on was that we came out of the game with NO INJURIES. At this time of year and just one more game before the bye, this is a good thing for the last push of games to close the season.

This was a very strange game for me as I had a real hard time getting into the spirit of the game. Maybe it was everyone saying we would win or blow them out, or that we play the Cards so infrequently that they don't inspire any hatred or passion like other teams. Whatever it was, I didn't feel the normal highs and lows but whatever, I know Monday Night's matchup against the Rams will be exciting for sure.

Thanks for the 1,000 time and the extra touch of WWI tribute was nice!

NOW LET'S GO KICK THE RAMS ASS!

[displacedinMN]

Take the day off George.

[tmax63]

Excellent as usual. I heard on the radio the Rams are coming to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs this week to practice and acclimate to 6000ft altitude.

[Kman34]

Not Andy's best play calling game... gets too cute at times.... but I bet he has some special plays for the Rams...
11 things on the list.... feel like Christmas came early...thanks..