My Thoughts on the Game

[KCSLC2008 605]

Only talking about our guys.

 

Players of the game.

 

1a. Kniles Davis - Did a good job filling in for Charles and whenever you score two TDs in a close game, you deserve top billing.

1b. Alex Smith - There were some things I didn't like that I will mention later, but I thought he stepped it up in the end. Play-calling got us. Note: I'm not putting him above the winning team's players.

3. Kelce - Thought he had some good plays and limited negative plays.

 

Worst:

 

1. Special teams: Allowing the big return, being off-sides.

2. Santos - Yes, rookie and Denver would have gone for a TD if they had only been up one.

3. Refs - While some challenges were correct, the original ruling seemed to favor Broncos.

 

 

Key plays:

 

1. Play-calling at the end. Regardless if the rest, they had their chance.

2. The catch fumble ruled inconclusive. Different ruling reversed? I don't think so - that was 7 points - 3 minimum had we stopped.

3. The no-score drive. Regardless of the miss, play-calling was again off.

4. Smith not taking a chance on the last off-sides. I don't see where he could have got it but it's a free play! Go somewhere else than taking a fake sack drop the ball.

5. Smith's illegal forward pass - get some points. Note: the punt being so deep helped get our first three and out and would Santos have made it.

 

Coaching - I put a lot on Reid and some on the defense (good considering injuries, opponent, and game situation). I probably put more on Reid than the players. BUT, it took good coaching to be relatively prepared (24 points only and long drive). So, I would give Reid's red zone play calling, the worst. In game, the next worst. And a good grade in prep. Sutton's first drive was the worst, but they settled down and injuries were big.

[KCSLC2008 605]

Punting on the 50, too. But that could have gone either way.

[DefensiveMan 758]

Punting on the 50, too. But that could have gone either way.

 

You could add in the 3rd and goal Shotgun draw which never, ever works in Goaline situations. Reid, coached a hell of a game between the 20's today. Should have given Kniles a run from under center (which is how we scored the 1st 2 TD's.) I question his game, and clock management as well. 

Alex Smith played a hell of a game. Unfortunately, he's getting $45 guaranteed. You got 4 downs to make it in the endzone, we expect more from you on that 4th down. Again, Reid could have catered to him better by rolling him out. He gets too antsy and sometimes panics in the pocket when he has too much time. He needs to be out moving to create plays.

[Calichief 3,016]

Keep that same OLINE out there.

[DefensiveMan 758]

Gotta wonder about Charles future here as well. Seems like the game is taking a bit of a toll on him. I hope he can stay healthy and productive.

[CapsLockKey 8]

Biggest positive for me was third down conversions. Been a long time since I've seen that many third and longs converted by a chiefs offense.

[Goldbrick 364]

Alex stepped up on 3rd downs in the 2nd half.  Denver also helped out with some stupid penalties (how many offsides did they have?).

[Bilyous2 884]

I'm not looking at the loss, mind you, or the details of one game, because this season, we have no chance, but I was extremely happy about this game for a bunch of reasons.  The first is Eric Fisher.  It justifies my faith that he would blossom when getting some playing time at his natural position against a good team.  His future looks very bright to me at LT for the long term.  The second is that we lost. I think that is a plus because it improves our draft position the more games we lose this year, but the loss was CLOSE, which leads to my third reason for being happy - I believe that it shows that our depth is actually good and that we DO have young guys who are going to be successful in the NFL for a long time, and they got a lot of valuable work today.  The fourth is Travis Kelce.  The fifth is that we threw an enormous scare into a team that was in the super bowl last January.  Fifth is Alex Smith.  He moved a team minus his top RB and with a very young, inexperienced line. He moved them consistently.  His throws were accurate when he wasn't purposely overthrowing.  He purposely overthrew it a lot when the receiver was not going to be there and nobody was past his target to intercept it or when he had to throw high to avoid it being batted down at the line.

 

So, I was very happy.  Happy with Fisher and the O-line, with Davis, Kelce, and all the backups who are going to get much better playing so much this year.  Happy with the depth we apparently do have, and happy with Smith.  In fact, the only thing I am not happy at all about is the incredibly stupid decision to keep Santos instead of Succop.  Santos is too small.  He couldn't kick it out of the end zone and prevent returns, even in the thin air of Denver.  His place-kicking accuracy is horrible.  What a terrible decision that was.

[Bilyous2 884]

Alex stepped up on 3rd downs in the 2nd half.  Denver also helped out with some stupid penalties (how many offsides did they have?).

I think Smith helped provoke that with some confusing cadences and counts. and with his decoy pointing and adjustments that are mostly just BS, exactly like Manning does.  He is experienced and knows how to screw up a bunch of guys who are all hyped up to put pass rush pressure on. I think Denver made the mistake, also, of thinking that with Charles out, we wouldn't be able to run.  I think they got some respect for Davis today. Davis is also obviously a much better receiver than I thought.

[kcxiv 35]

Played alot better then i expected. WE should have actually won that game,but yet again they found a way to lose.    Alex needs to step up a little more when its crunch time.  He got happy feet way to many times when he didnt have any pressure, but i could see how he could get happy feet especially when  you dont know what oline your going to see from snap to snap.  They looked decent at times, then at times they looked REALLY bad.

 

 

 Im just really jealous at how Peyton Manning places passes at times. its a thing of beauty. Some of them passes they caught on the defense were just undefendable.  He puts them in a spot where if his WR dont catch it, no one can.   Amazes me still to this day.

[dhitter 1,424]

With all the injuries and still not having one player due to suspension I was shocked the Chiefs played as well as they did. 

 

Positives: Kelce, Davis, Oline looked somewhat better. Top positive has to be third down conversions. I could mention Alex Smith but to me he was very uneven. At times making good throws and at other times I thought "WTF was that?"

 

Negatives: FG game....getting to the point already where I am not liking Santos. Fade routes to the endzone don't think our dbs ever turn their heads around on those plays. Biggest negative was offensive playcalling in the redzone  IMO. Bad decisions...bad execution. Stuff that I could easily predict would not work. Someone said earlier...unimaginative. I agree. Get the ball in the freakin' endzone!!

[KCSLC2008 605]

I think some of the WTF passes were his conservative self creeping back in. He tends to throwaway too much. One to Hemmingway stands out. It'll be targeting one guy but has no chance for either WR or defender. Beats Kaepernick today, I guess.

 

I saw Reid talk to him about taking shots, or so his body language looked like he was telling him that. He did make more tight window throws today. We had so many dink and dunks last year that a 10 yard pass looks deep... but there are more 10 yard passes, they are into tighter windows, so there's that.

[Bilyous2 884]

I think some of the WTF passes were his conservative self creeping back in. He tends to throwaway too much. One to Hemmingway stands out. It'll be targeting one guy but has no chance for either WR or defender. Beats Kaepernick today, I guess.

 

I saw Reid talk to him about taking shots, or so his body language looked like he was telling him that. He did make more tight window throws today. We had so many dink and dunks last year that a 10 yard pass looks deep... but there are more 10 yard passes, they are into tighter windows, so there's that.

I really think that, looking back on those plays with the WTF passes (that's what I screamed initially), that he threw high to avoid having the passes batted down at the LOS or even intercepted.  Those Denver blitzers and pass rushers were too close to him when he made those throws, and their hands were up. They were kind of disguised throwaways that just looked for a moment like bad throws.  People seem to be so critical of AS for the manner in which he tries to avoid INT's and turnovers, but they pay off.  He is very smart.  I just wish he had run it in a couple of times himself, but I suspect he is under orders to not get himself hurt.

 

One more thing.  The more I watch him, the more convinced I am that with the team the front office eventually wants to surround him with, he is fully capable of QB'ing us to a championship.  I know Mongo and others disagree, but I am certain of it.

[kcxiv 35]

The only way Smith is Capable, is if the Chiefs get a defense on par with Seattle.

[wilkie 1,518]

I'm not looking at the loss, mind you, or the details of one game, because this season, we have no chance, but I was extremely happy about this game for a bunch of reasons.  The first is Eric Fisher.  It justifies my faith that he would blossom when getting some playing time at his natural position against a good team.  His future looks very bright to me at LT for the long term.  The second is that we lost. I think that is a plus because it improves our draft position the more games we lose this year, but the loss was CLOSE, which leads to my third reason for being happy - I believe that it shows that our depth is actually good and that we DO have young guys who are going to be successful in the NFL for a long time, and they got a lot of valuable work today.  The fourth is Travis Kelce.  The fifth is that we threw an enormous scare into a team that was in the super bowl last January.  Fifth is Alex Smith.  He moved a team minus his top RB and with a very young, inexperienced line. He moved them consistently.  His throws were accurate when he wasn't purposely overthrowing.  He purposely overthrew it a lot when the receiver was not going to be there and nobody was past his target to intercept it or when he had to throw high to avoid it being batted down at the line.

 

So, I was very happy.  Happy with Fisher and the O-line, with Davis, Kelce, and all the backups who are going to get much better playing so much this year.  Happy with the depth we apparently do have, and happy with Smith.  In fact, the only thing I am not happy at all about is the incredibly stupid decision to keep Santos instead of Succop.  Santos is too small.  He couldn't kick it out of the end zone and prevent returns, even in the thin air of Denver.  His place-kicking accuracy is horrible.  What a terrible decision that was.

yes but you were happy when prohibition ended too.

[Bilyous2 884]

yes but you were happy when prohibition ended too.

You have a good memory, Wilkie. I must say that you were very much a fan of Walt Kiesling of the Duluth Eskimos at the time. Even though he was a decent guard, I was pissed off because they named the Duluth team after an Indian tribe. I thought it was disrespectful.

[wilkie 1,518]

Yeah that was the year the Kos could have taken the title. They could have had class...they could have been a contender.

[West 6,713]

Smith played fine...

 

The first and goal series where Reid had him running Roll outs to the Right (2 X) was stupid and Smith gave Andy and earful if you watched closely enough.

 

Knile Davis is a very good football player

 

Fisher played well

 

Hudson played well

 

The 2nd Team Defense coupled with Poe, Houston  & Tamba played very well.

 

DB's covered the illegal pick plays very well too.

 

Overall, very respectable effort. 

 

I enjoyed Phil Simms announcing too, he was not a Denver Homer.

 

w

[kcchief4lif 910]

Yes, you want the team to win but this kind of stuff is much better to take than getting their asses handed to them.  If the team can at compete like this week in and week out things will start to fall their way.  
 

Law of averages.  

 

At least one would think that be the case. 

[West 6,713]

It seems the depth is much better than last year.

 

w

[dhitter 1,424]

Yes, you want the team to win but this kind of stuff is much better to take than getting their asses handed to them.  If the team can at compete like this week in and week out things will start to fall their way.  

 

Law of averages.  

 

At least one would think that be the case. 

I was at a local sports bar for the game and sat with my two sons and a Denver fan who was a friend of my oldest son. I told him, "I don't expect KC to win but I would like to see them compete." And they did. My thing is consistency. You have to give consistent effort each week. If the Chiefs had played like this in week one they would have beaten the Titans. If they play like this I think they can beat Miami. But they have to give consistent effort. 

[kcchief4lif 910]

I was at a local sports bar for the game and sat with my two sons and a Denver fan who was a friend of my oldest son. I told him, "I don't expect KC to win but I would like to see them compete." And they did. My thing is consistency. You have to give consistent effort each week. If the Chiefs had played like this in week one they would have beaten the Titans. If they play like this I think they can beat Miami. But they have to give consistent effort. 

Yep.

[Bilyous2 884]

Smith played fine...

 

The first and goal series where Reid had him running Roll outs to the Right (2 X) was stupid and Smith gave Andy and earful if you watched closely enough.

 

Knile Davis is a very good football player

 

Fisher played well

 

Hudson played well

 

The 2nd Team Defense couple with Poe, Houston  & Tamba played very well.

 

DB's covered the illegal pick plays very well too.

 

Overall, very respectable effort. 

 

I enjoyed Phil Simms announcing too, he was not a Denver Homer.

 

w

That's the way I saw it. Agree with your depth comment also.

[Bilyous2 884]

Yeah that was the year the Kos could have taken the title. They could have had class...they could have been a contender.

Yes, they could have been a contender. But they never had class. Never.

[kychief 239]

that game wore me out..

 

after all these years I still care..lol..

 

the chiefs ain't out of it yet either...do not concede the season...

 

they can beat new England at home.

 

frankly I think the dolphin game will be the bigger test.