2021’s Post Season: Play Chief’s Football and Win, Baby!

The Wild Card Weekend is behind us. Our Chiefs advance to the Divisional round and host the Buffalo Bills. Actually? I love it! This should be a great football game for both teams and all their fans. We have Patrick Mahomes. They have Josh Allen. Two Top Quarterbacks in the NFL leading their teammates onward.

True NFL Picture: Frazzled and Needs Adjustment

Don’t bang on the top of the TV Cabinet

We must be honest about the Super Wild Card weekend round: it was dismal except perhaps the Dallas Upset and the Rams beating up the Cardinals. The Chiefs rolled over the Steelers, the Bucs trounced Philly. The problem was the 7th seeded choices fared poorly, which should illuminate for the NFL that they should return to the 4+2 Format with 2 byes. Roger Goodell (and the owners), on the other hand, sees NFL reaping the cash and expanding to more teams. When you think about it, the first 3 games were bland, boring, and lacked the ability to hold fan’s attention. I turned off one of those games and didn’t even finish it.

I believe that we should return to the old format. I just don’t think those low seeds have the ability to compete with teams that are clearly superior. If they enter with a 9-7 record, or a negative winning percentage, it doesn’t help the optics for the NFL. More importantly, it doesn’t bring joy to the overall NFL fan experience either.

Another problem that I think exists is the number of players on the active roster to last across 18 weeks and 17 games(soon to be 18, I imagine). The players take a mighty beating across 16 games… now expanded to 17. Teams should have a 63 man active rosters with the cap space expanded to accommodate the heightened need.

Attrition should not be the determinate factor for a team to get through 18 weeks of football.

Teams should be able to utilize players and rest players based on that need alone. The game-day roster should be something such as 51. The NFL Players Association would heartily agree with this. Players could take necessary weeks off due to nagging injury if the next man up were capable of solid NFL Play. Just like the NBA.

Teams with quality depth get through 18 weeks with a significant advantage and a far superior level of play. The Chiefs exhibit this and have for the past 3 seasons despite players who are lost along the way. Other teams are less capable of enduring players who are knocked out for the season.

Let’s get real for the players, the fans, the Teams, and ultimately, the NFL must come to grips with all these issues.

The Road To L.A. Has Potholes, Bumps, and Bruises Which Requires Consistently High-Level Play from Starters and Depth Players

On Monday, in the finale of Wild Card Weekend, we saw teams going at it, hard and fast. During the contest, RB Cam Akers collided with safety Budda Baker. It was an awful collision. Baker was carted from the field and off to the Hospital. Later on, we learned he suffered a concussion, but was moving extremities and was lucid. Great News after a scary injury.

My point of focus stems from my remarks above and the fact that these young men go after it full bore, for a whole game. That’s what it takes to get to the winner’s circle. LA came out on top, and rightly so. They were far better prepared and as it turns out, the Cardinal’s season is finished, after jumping way out in front of most teams, faltered and was the apparent predicate for their inability to get going in the game. Clearly, the Rams dominated that football game. The game was at least a contest, but the LAR team was prepared and led by an experienced QB (who had no playoff wins to date–3 losses).

I cannot help but think that the Arizona team was beaten and bruised enough to falter. I am speaking of players now, not motivating factors from coaches. That can have an effect on the play of the team overall. It certainly had to have had some effect. The result was they fell short. They are now prepping the way for next season. HC Kliff Kingsbury in his third year will have learned a hard lesson, as will have their GM. There is talk of his shortcomings. Obviously, the organization ended up missing the right ingredients. They were close to being a top team in the NFC.

Playoff Leftovers

So, what do I mean by Leftovers? Do you think there are any easy games remaining? The rest of the crowd which includes our Chiefs as +2.5 favorites (again) over the Bills. it includes the two teams which had Byes in the NFC and AFC: the Packers and Titans. You’d think this was a derogatory statement, but it’s not. the field of teams for next week are the top teams of the NFL, competing for the Big Prize –> The Lombardi Trophy. Of course, for the Chiefs, the first goal must be to finish off a good Buffalo Team and then face the other winner of the other Divisional round game for the AFC Championship and gain once more the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Right now?

The team with the Bye, the Tennessee Titans hold serve. We must wait and see what happens. Tennessee must face the Cincinnati Bengals who have charged into the playoffs with a strong effort. Indeed, for the Kansas City bunch, they must get through the Bills and face either the Titans or the Bengals. All three of those opponents handed a defeat to the Chiefs during the 2021 regular season.

However, the penultimate goal of teams competing for the AFC Championship? The Lamar Hunt Trophy!!!!! It’s true, I think the NFL Championship Trophy should be named for Lamar Hunt… but it is what it is.

In the NFC, a similar hard road exists for the teams who might ultimately face the Packers who were the NFC winner of their Bye. On that side of the ledger, the teams are all equally tough teams to play.

The Playoffs Are Truly Intriguing for 2021’s Finish

The Division rounds of the NFL are full of good football teams. The Chiefs are among the cadre. You cannot ask for more than this: Go up Agin’ them and win. Use all the tools and competitiveness that exist to win the way to the Super Bowl. That’s what champions are made of.

Do you like the Chief’s chances to get to LA? From what I saw on Sunday night, I think the Kansas City Chief’s depth is an advantage. Look at all the depth players who were playmakers in the game versus the Steelers! List them. Run the videos. The Chiefs were dominant top to bottom of the roster. I loved seeing it and calling out the names as the game unfolded — players who I thought all along could emerge as part of the “Force” for the Kingdom; I think that bodes well as the Chiefs Play Chief’s football. Win your way to the Lombardi. K-E-E-P I-T R-O-L-L-I-N-G-!

How else does a champion do it, but the way that faces them? Along a hard road with the bumps, bruises, and hard knocks that it took for them to win the AFC West?

Who could ask for anything more but this?

Go Chiefs!

.

David Bell – ArrowheadOne

.

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/2021s-post-season-play-chiefs-football-and-win-baby/#disqus_thread)

.