ModestGeniusXL

13 - 1

Now you KNOW I wasn't going to let the week go too far in before I spoke about this game right??  I may be too busy to post on a daily basis (although I've been hitting it hard lately) but there is NO way I wasn't going to to a quick blurb about this epic Chiefs win.  There were just too many storylines and/or issues that I had to address.  Starting with the subject you see at the top...

You're used to seeing a number that that's reflective of the Chiefs' record.  Which means it should technically be 6-8 if I was being accurate.  I decided to switch it up in this case.  Because to me I could care less what the Chiefs record was after the Green Bay game.  I already know that they have a losing record.  I already know that they aren't making the Playoffs.  That didn't matter.  What mattered is that they were the team to keep the Packers from going into the Playoffs with a perfect record.  While no one else could find a way to stop the alleged juggernaut that was allegedly Green Bay, Kansas City did.

It's so funny to me that Packers' fan try to rub it in by saying it doesn't matter because they're still going to the Playoffs.  Yes..we KC fans know that.  We could honestly care less.  It's not even about that.  What they don't seem to understand is we're having a TERRIBLE season.  Therefore, we have to relish any victory we get.  And when that victory comes against the defending Super Bowl Champion, it really is a big deal. 

I had a personal victory myself with that Chiefs' win.  G has continued to remain a huge Packers' fan.  I still cannot figure out why even after talking to him repeatedly about it.  Even after continually reminding him that he has more of a connection to KC than he does to Green Bay.  My best guess is he still doesn't understand bandwagoning.  Regardless, when the Chiefs won I was able to gloat endlessly.  He still refuses to watch any news story that talks about the game.  He knows what's up though.

I really like the fact that it happened right after Todd Haley got fired and Romeo Crennel took over as the interim head coach.  He couldn't have faced a tougher task.  He had to take on the World Champions with a depleted roster.  I personally thought he didn't stand a chance.  Which is why I didn't bother looking more serious into getting tickets to the game.  Goes to show how much I know.  It was great weather AND he pulled off the amazing upset. I could have been at that game just like I could have been the ISU game where they beat the #2 team in the nation.  I really need to work on my judgment calls.

Wait...I know I did NOT see the Chiefs' players give Crennel a Gatorade shower for that win, did I?  Yes, it was a huge win, but come on.  It really was not THAT serious.  That was definitely being a bit too extra.  Now if it ends up that Denver goes on a losing streak while the Chiefs go the other way and actually get into the Playoffs then I guess that Gatorade shower wasn't such a bad thing.

 

5 - 8

The Chiefs probably thought I forgot about blogging about them and/or that I was letting them off the hook.  Yeah, because I'm sure that the folks in the Chiefs organization were just hanging on the every word of an online "journalist" in Iowa with a dozen or so readers.  Well you never know.  Stranger things have happened.  And of course I hadn't forgotten about them.  Just been sitting back watching the crazy rollercoaster ride.

It's just entirely too difficult to tell exactly what direction they are going in this year.  I thought for sure they understood that if they kept losing that they would be in the running for that first round draft pick.  Then they blew that when they started winning.  Okay...fine...whatever.  But how do you lose to the Broncos being led by Mr. Preacher Man?  As if it wasn't bad enough that we already have "alleged" Chiefs' fans jumping on his bandwagon (I won't mention any names because he already knows he's wrong for that) KC had to add fuel to the fire by losing to him.

Then there was that game against the Steelers where they gave us false hope.  Were they really going to take the former Super Bowl champs down to the wire?  Just the fact that they held them to 13 points should be somewhat of an accomplishment.  Just think...if Kansas City would have had a healthy Jamal Charles and Tony Moeaki then they probably could have pulled it out.  Coulda woulda shoulda...

The game that got me was playing the Bears in Chicago.  KC only mustered 10 points and yet that was good enough to be Chicago in Chicago.  Of course the only reason being that the Bears have a back-up quarterback that's actually worse than the Chiefs' back-up QB.  At least our fanbase has a reason not to expect much from our team this season with all the injuries that have decimated our roster.  The Bears really have it bad when it's just a quarterback that goes down to make them play terrible.  You would think they were the Colts from this year or something.

I guess there was a game today?  Apparently the Chiefs had to go up against the Jets in New York?  Yeah...that went pretty well.  A 37-10 drubbing.  I'm just wondering how long it will be before Coach Haley finally decides that the Palko kid isn't the answer either then go ahead and give Rick Stanzi the rock.  It sucks that he's an U of Iowa product, but the other one on that squad seemed to be doing quite alright.  Might as well give Stanzi a go.  Got nothing else to lose.

I just noticed that the next game on the schedule is Green Bay at Kansas City.  We can pretty much already chalk that one up for another blowout.  How sweet would it be if the Chiefs were the one team that thwarted the Packers chance at a perfect season though?  Yeah...because that'll happen.  I'll just plan on another Sunday relaxing rather than getting my blood pressure worked up for nothing even if the game is televised.  At this point, I just wish next season would hurry up and get here...

 

O the Randomness...

When we say we miss an artist that's passed (like MJ) is that really accurate?  I mean they are still around in their music and videos so what is there to miss?  It's not like any of us really knew them personally

They've really got "Fast and Furious 6" in the works??  Now that I think about it...I'm okay with that

I still have no idea what Kanye meant by he would have married Kate and Ashley if he was Chris Williams.  Who's Chris Williams??

Despite the fact that plenty of other folks have been bashing it, I'm rather fond of that ticker that The Book has recently added

Someone pointed out that only nosy people like it.  Well there you go!

If I see one more hip-hop artist/group trying to make a come-up in Des Moines...where's all the R&B local talent??

So I was watching the Patriots/Chiefs game on Monday Night Football and thought for a minute that Brady was scared of the Chiefs because of what they did to him last time they played.  Then he quickly got over it

Speaking of which, no I haven't intentionally been omitting my "Hail to the Chiefs" posts.  Let's face it..there just hasn't been a lot to talk about recently regarding their abysmal performances

Now my Cyclones on the other hand...MAD props to them for upsetting the #2 team in the country this past Friday night!  Still mad that I had tickets to the game and didn't go because I thought they would get blown out.  That's what I get

Never thought I would see the day when a Ford Taurus was considered a premium vehicle.  Next thing you know Taco Bell will be considered gourmet dining #obscureDemolitionManreference

I'm still baffled at why the window washers were cleaning the exterior windows at the office while it was raining outside

I don't think it was a coincidence that most of Marc Anthony's back-up dancers in his recent American Music Awards performance looked like J-Lo

The new Verizon phone has beats by Dre on it??  That's what's up.  Almost makes me want to switch to Verizon and get rid of my iPhone.  Yeah....right...

Can't believe Zombie Burger stopped selling onion rings.  What's a burger joint without onion rings??  Which reminds me...guess I better get that restaurant out there before I forget about that too

Watching those old shows like "The Big Valley" and "Bonanza" always cracks me up. Those cats are walking around dirty, dusty wild, wild west roads all day long and never have a speck of dirt or dust on their outfits

Everytime I look at Madden Football I laugh at how far video games have come since the days of M Network. How many remember that Atari gem?

Was that Amber Rose I just saw starring in a high-end alcohol commercial?

Read that MidAmerican Energy suggests keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees during the winter. I don't know about them but I like keeping warm during the winter

Saw photos of the new auditorium at my alma mater. WOW! Can't wait to see it in person. NHS has come a long way since "The Pajama Game" in the gymnasium

Dear Mickey Ds: It's probably not a good idea to have the hard of hearing employees taking orders

I wonder what the over/under is for number of food-related posts we'll see on The Book today.  Mine included

If they will gossip with you then best believe they will gossip about you

'Nuff said

 

 

1 - 3

I was getting so accustomed to having a '0' in that first column that I almost did it again now out of habit.  It should have been 0-4.  It didn't matter that they were playing the Vikings.  In fact, you would have thought Minnesota would have been inspired to pull out the victory since McNabb is still trying to show he's got something left in the tank.  It didn't quite work out that way though.  The Chiefs can't even tank a season the right way. 

Even though I wasn't going to actively seek out the game (as has been the case the past few weeks), it did briefly cross my mind that this game may be televised here.  The Vikings and Chiefs both play three hours from here.  That qualifies both of them as regional teams for us.  That's usually a pretty good qualifier for the local stations to broadcast the game.  Of course, both of them have losing records so it came as no surprise to me when I found out the local networks chose other teams instead.

As for the actual game, again, I didn't really follow it.  With the exception of the updates on my app on the trusty I4.  I had to read about the facts of what happened and one thing jumped out at me right away.  Ryan Succop accounted for 15 points on five field goals, tying a Chiefs record for most field goals made in a single game set by Jan Stenerud and Nick Lowery.  That's all fine and good that Succop is moving up in the ranks as a reliable kicker; however, it also sucks as it means that the offense wasn't good enough to get 6 points from that close. 

Not that it should bother me that KC's offense is so anemic this year.  If they weren't that would mean they would have no chance at that number one draft pick next year. But then they go and pull something like this.  They mess around and play another team in disarray at Arrowhead and things start falling their way.  Before you know it, there's a 'W' in that column. 

So who's up next for Kansas City?  The Indianapolis Colts in Indy.  A Colts' team without Peyton Manning.  a Colts team that just lost an ugly one the Bucs on national television on Monday Night Football.  Think they might have a little blood in the water?  Man I hope so.  I really need the Chiefs to get back to their losing ways.  Get that streak going again.  I refuse to be duped into thinking they're going to try to salvage the season just so I can be left looking stupid again.  Not gonna happen. 

 

 

 

0 - 3

If you have been with me on this journey long enough during the now five years that I've been doing this blog, you will know that seeing that "0-3" there would normally be enough to incense me.  Afterall, I've been so passionate about my Chiefs that the thought of them being winless three games into this season should be enough to set me off, right?  Well I'm taking a new approach.  I'm not sure if it will work (or even how long if it will), but it's worth a shot.

You see I tend to be a bit of a realist.  I realize Kansas City going to San Diego to take on the Chargers was not going to be pretty.  Especially when Tony Moeaki, Jamal Charles and Eric Berry are all out for the season.  There was no sense in me getting worked up about any bad plays that may happen or even worrying about the outcome.  Heck, I didn't even bother to try to find the game online.  Okay...I can't lie...I did check a couple of different spots but I didn't try as hard as I could have.

I eluded to this last week and I came to the final determination over the course of this week.  I am relegated to the fact that I want Kansas City to tank their season.  They really have nothing to gain by going all out this year.  All that would end up happening is other players would go harder to compensate for the loss of the three of their superstars.  In the process, more stars would get hurt.  There's no need for all that.  Especially when they have NO chance of winning anything significant this year.

Therefore, I am of the mindset that they might as well just mail it in.  Bench ALL the starters.  Matter of fact, go ahead and let the practice team suit up.  Write this season off as just one long preseason.  Run the table in reverse and go for tying the Detroit Lions' record of 0-16.  It worked out alright for the Lions since they landed Matt Stafford.  It could pay off for the Chiefs too since they could get Andrew Luck.

So even though I wasn't watching the game, I still had the alerts on my phone turned on.  That allowed me to find out whenever there was a score.  I started to get a little disturbed when I saw that KC was making it a game.  It looked for a minute like they would even have a chance to win.  What were they doing??  Then staying true to who they are, they let it slip away to fall 20-17.  That was a close one!  Now only 13 more losses to go...

0 - 2

Something tells me that this season I better get used to seeing that numbers increasing immensely in that 'L' column.  It's pretty obvious why.  We'll get into that in a quick minute.  The thing is I'm really not that upset by it.  There is a saying that is something like you sometimes have to take one step backward to take two steps forward.  Maybe this season is that backwards step for the Chiefs?  Hey...I have to remain positive somehow.

Anyway, this Sunday saw Kansas City going up against the Detroit Lions in Detroit.  The same Lions that have steadily improved since being the team that went down in infamy two seasons ago for a winless season.  Now they are more known for coming off a 5 game winning streak where they haven't lost a regular season game since December.  Oh...and the fact that they have one of the fiercest defensive players in the game in Ndamukong Suh.

Remember when I was talking last week about the injury problems that the Chiefs had with Eric Berry being out for the season?  I didn't even realize at that the time that their phenomenal tight end Tony Moeaki was out for the year also.  They lost him in the last preseason game.  So their best defensive stopper and one of their top offensive weapons were both out.  At least they still had one of the best runningbacks in the game with Jamal Charles though, right?  Well they did until the first quarter.  Then dude went out with a knee injury.  An ACL tear to be exact.  And can you guess what that means?  Yep....he's out for the season too.

The funny thing is after I found out that Moeaki was out too I was just thinking KC should just rest their other stars and coast the rest of the season.  The other stars that I was thinking of in particular were Dwayne Bowe and Jamal Charles.  I figured they could put some second stringers in their place so none of their other stars wouldn't get injured for a season that was pretty much already lost.  No sooner did I think that then Charles suffers his season-ending injury.

In spite of all that, they decided to televise the game here locally.  I was initially pretty excited about it.  It's not like we'll ge the opportunity to see them on tv every week.  After this game, it's a pretty safe bet that I won't be able to see them again anytime soon.  Not unless they're playing one of the more popular teams that can bring in ratings like the Patriots or the Vikings.

Honestly, I zoned out while watching this one.  The moment Charles went down I lost all interest.  It was entirely obvious that the Chiefs could muster no offense and didn't want to bother to stop Detroit on defense either.  The score was proof positive.  48-3.  Just when I thought the whippin they got last week was bad, this debacle happened.  At least last week they were able to score a single touchdown.  I guess that's the benefits of playing at home.

One thing that I didn't like was how the Lions kept running up the score.  There it is late in the fourth quarter and they still had their starters in.  It made no sense at all.  Other than to prove a point that that instead of them being the ones getting stomped on they wanted to show that they could do the stomping now.  Congratulations.  You humiliated a team that was already decimated due to injuries.  I hope you feel better about yourselves.  And I hope payback finds its way to you in treble.

I really don't see the point in the Chiefs putting forth any effort for the rest of the season.  They're already 0-2 and considered one of the worst teams in the NFL.  Might as well run the table in reverse.  Go ahead and tank it so you can be first in line for the Andrew Luck sweeepstakes in next year.  Normally I would be leery about banking everything on a quarterback as a number one pick.  However, it seems to have worked out well in recent years across the League.  Look at Matt Stafford who just dismantled the Chiefs (and who was continually getting slurped by the commentators).  Or Cam Newton now.  I'm sure we certainly couldn't do any worse with Luck than we currently are.  So here's to the Chiefs making this a very unmemorable 2011-12 season.

0 -1

I was going to let this week go by without making this entry for a couple of reasons.  For one, I wasn't able to watch the game.  It wasn't televised here locally.  Big surprise there..I know.  I could have went to Buffalo Wild Wings (which wasn't open this time last year) to watch it.  However, I was still slowly recovering from a cold that was kicking my butt all weekend.  I decided it wasn't worth it.  Thought about it though.  What changed my mind was checking up on the score which led to the second reason I wanted to forego this entry.

My trusty ESPN app gave me an update informing me that the Chiefs were down 14-0 in the first quarter.  First of all, I had the start time of the game all wrong if the first quarter had already been completed.  There was really no need to go somewhere to watch the game if it was 1/4 over.  And secondly...really Chiefs??  How do you go down 0-14 in the second quarter in your home opener?  To the Buffalo Bills no less.

The funny thing was I was just talking to G the other day about how the only type of game I haven't seen yet that I want to see is an NFL game.  That one of these days we need to go to a Chiefs game to remedy that.  That now would be the best time to do it because our cousin Earl lives very close to the stadium so we could stay there and not have to drive very far to get to the game.  And most importantly, that it would be a good year because after how the Chiefs did last year they would definitely be on the upswing this year and be the team to watch.

Then they lose at Arrowhead to the Bills 41-7.  So with that being said then why do I have a picture of the Chiefs cheerleaders here?  Well with a score like that the cheerleaders were the only decent thing to see during that game.

I can't say I didn't see it coming though.  Kansas City went 0-4 in the preseason.  I said then that I understood it was only the preseason, but I was getting tired of seeing them lose.  There was no reason they couldn't have manned up and one at least one single preseason game.  What do you expect is going to happen when you come off a streak like that to open the regular season?  Maybe if they were a better team they would be able to throw the switch to turn it on for game on.  Evidently, you can see they are not that team.

To make matters worse, news just came out that safey Eric Berry is out for the season with an ACL tear.  His void at the safety position is apparently the reason they allowed 41 points.  And that was against just the Bills.  To say that things don't look good for the rest of the season would be an understatement.  They can't stop anybody and they can't outscore anybody.  Man it's going to be a long season...

 

10 - 7

If there was someone out there who gave the Chiefs any chance to win in their match up against the Ravens Sunday I would sure like to meet them.  Maybe there were some fanatical fans out there who thought they could pull it off.  Those type of fans always think their teams can do the impossible.  Cowboys' fans are notorious for that.  But I'm a realist.  I just didn't see that things were looking too good for my Chiefs.  I wanted SO bad for them to prove me wrong.  Too bad they couldn't oblige.

I will never understand the formula that the NFL uses to determine the Playoffs.  I won't complain too much with the way things were set up for the Chiefs.  You can't ask for more than having a Playoff game at home.  But how is a team that wins their division relegated to a Wildcard game?  Or how a team with a losing record at 7-9 (Seattle Seahawks) while another sits at home at 10-6 (New York Giants)?  Of course, the Seahawks ended up winning so maybe that wasn't such a bad equation afterall.

Anyway, remember when I mentioned last week that E had said the Chiefs were trying to lull the Ravens into a false sense of security?  Well it seems the Chiefs were trying to do that to their fans.  They had one heck of a first quarter.  The defense got off to a good start with a goal line stand that held the Ravens to 3 points when it looked like they had a guaranteed 7.  They followed that with a forced fumble AND recovery by Tamba Hali.  The momentum carried over to an amazing  41-yard touchdown run by Jamal Charles.

And that would be all of the good news for Kansas City for the rest of the day.

I think what happened was that huge run ticked off the Baltimore defense.  They don't normally give up long runs like that.  It made them mad enough to make sure it would NEVER happen again.  But more than that, they made sure that the Chiefs wouldn't score again the rest of the game.  They could do absolutely nothing right no matter what type of offensive schemes they tried to run.  And the fact that the Chiefs didn't even bother to target Dwayne Bowe-- THE LEADING RECEIVER IN THE NFL -- certainly didn't help.

The Ravens went on to score 30 points in total, but I don't entirely blame the Chiefs defense.  It's not fair to say that they couldn't stop the Ravens all day.  They were tired from trying.  Their offense couldn't manufacture any successful drives to keep the KC offense off the field.  To make it worse, they kept putting their defense in crappy field position.  The D did the best they could with what they had to work with. 

I decided ealry on in the game that the person to make this final featured photo would be none other than Hali.  Charles definitely made a good case for it with that lone touchdown run, but Hali continued to prove what a beast he could be on defense in that game.  He became the first Kansas City defender to register a sack and fumble recovery in a postseason game since Neil Smith did it in January of 1993.  Again, it wasn't his fault that the offense wasn't doing their part to make it a better game.

I guess we should be happy with the fact that our Chiefs had the season they did.  Going 10-7, winning he AFC West and getting a Playoff appearance is quite a turnaround from last year's 4-12 debacle.  Maybe we should relish that instead of the fact that they went out in the first round yet again.  We're going to have to try to forget for now that they haven't won a Playoff game since 1993 while we cherish that they are back on track with a winning record.  But we have a short memory when it comes to that.  It better be a different story next season!

10 - 6

I told myself I wasn't even going to watch this game.  I really didn't see the point.  The Chiefs already had the AFC West won.  They were already guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs.  They couldn't hurt or help themselves with the game.  But then I saw that that our local CBS affiliates would be televising the game.  And plus, it was a chance to get some revenge on the Raiders so I figured I might as well watch.  At least for a little bit.

Turns out a little bit was all it took.

  It suddenly dawned me as I was watching the game that Kansas City had their starters in the game.  Was I missing something?  This was essentially a meaningless game.  They were taking the chance of someone  getting injured in a game that had no bearing on their playoff standing.  I was going to be HOT if something happened and one of our key weapons wouldn't be available next week.  What exactly was the Chiefs coaching staff thinking?

Then I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they were treating this like a regular game so the fellas wouldn't get rusty.  Afterall, they would have Baltimore in the first round of the Playoffs.  That's not a contest they want to go into without having warmed up.  Nothing like getting ready then by taking out some aggression on a conference rival.

Too bad it didn't quite shape up that way.

Those same starters that I was just mentioning earlier that shouldn't have been playing?  Yeah, well you certainly wouldn't have known they were on the field by the way they were playing.  They just couldn't seem to get clicking.  I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they had mentally checked out.  Maybe they were already looking ahead to next week so they weren't give this game their all like they really could have.  It certainly seemed like it. 

Or maybe Charlie Weiss had checked out since he's already accepted the offensive coordinator job at Florida.  Maybe that's why the offense couldn't execute properly because he was doing a half-arse job knowing that he was about to be out of there.  We'll just put it all on him.  And if they lose next week due to another anemic offensive performance then that will be on him too.

I didn't even bother to check out the second half.  I had seen enough to know that these weren't the Arrowhead Chiefs I was accustomed to watching.  I knew I would be better off going to see a matinee than to see the Raiders continue to get in their arses.  A 31-10 loss to Oakland at home is NOT a good look to end the season. Although I did find humor in the fact that the Raiders swept their division and STILL didn't make it into the Playoffs.

What I don't like is now we have to face a Baltimore Ravens team chomping at the bit.  The Chiefs haven't had Playoff experience in YEARS.  The Ravens don't have that problem.  I wish I could buy into E's philosophy that Kanas City was just playing like crap this game because they wanted to lull Baltimore into a false sense of security.  Instead, I just have a funny feeling that that this will be another year that we don't get out of the first round. 

Again. 

I sure hope they prove me wrong.

10 - 5

There was a lot on the line heading into this game against Tennesse today.  The Chiefs still didn't have the AFC West title wrapped up.  As a matter of fact, they could even still miss the playoffs if they lost and the Chargers and Oakland both won.  It was rather remote since there is still another game left week that could have still further changed the Playoff picture, but it was still a possibility.  It was just hard for me to get worried though.  Not with the Chiefs playing at home.  Not with them playing the Titans.  Not with Kerry Collins at quarterback.

I personally didn't see Collins as being a threat to the Chiefs' defense at all.  E, on the other hand, seemed to think so.  He mentioned that Collins could get hot and cause KC some problems.  Well any quarterback could do that, but I didn't see Kerry Collins doing it.  He proved me right.  Dude was pretty much nonexistent early on.  They would have been better off having that Jacksonville farmer substitute quarterback in there.  But enough about him. 

THESE Chiefs are the ones I enjoy watching.  The Arrowhead Chiefs.  They got on a roll early on and didn't stop.  From the first drive of the game they were rolling over the Titans defense doing pretty much whatever they wanted to.  Cassel was playing like the franchise the Chiefs thought he could be.  But more importantly, Dwayne Bowe was back to wrecking shop.  The proof of that was in the 75-yard touchdown reception he had.  Bowe's not messing with y'all!

I thought for a minute that KC was going to revert to playing dumb when gave Collins showed a glimmer of life.  A 53-yard touchdown pass from him closed the gap to 24-7.  However, not soon after that, dude threw an interception that allowed Eric Berry to run back a 53-yard pick-six.  That's how you answer a touchdown and squash any hopes of an uprising.  KC never looked back after that.

I probably should have paid closer attention to the pregame show on this one because I missed why Randy Moss wasn't playing.  Is he hurt?  Is he on "injured reserve" because the team ultimately decided he wasn't a good fit afterall?  Not that it would have mattered if he played anyway.  If Collins wasn't much of a threat then you know a rusty, disinterested Moss sure wasn't going to help him out much.

Now I may not have been paying attention the pregame but I was certainly listening to the commentators during the game.  One of them was talking about Collins' passing ability and said "Collins will try to stick some balls in some very tight holes".  I was sitting there shocked at that ill-advised reference when the same guy followed it up with "Kerry Collins still finds a tight hole to stick it in".  I swear dude must have had some side bet going with someone betting he could find a way to get away with a sexual innuendo or two.  Looks like he won the bet.

Anyway, by the time the all the NFL games were said and done today, we Chiefs' fans had some great news.  Cincinatti ended up not sucking for a change and actually beat the Chargers.  Then the Colts took out the Raiders. So no matter what the outcome next week, Kansas City has already won the AFC West.  First time eight years!  Playoffs here we come!