Chiefs: Prime Time Amazon Men and the Watsons

Josh Kingsley

Another game down, another victory!! This week I begin with a birthday tribute. September 17th has become a bit of a holiday for me. Two of my favorite athletes of all time, Patrick Mahomes II, and Jimmie Johnson of NASCAR and Indy Car, share this day as a birthday. They are 10 years apart, as Patrick turns 27 and Jimmie turns 47. All my sports alliances are organic in some way or another. Translation: I don’t poach winners like the Yankees, Lakers, Real Madrid, and… you get my point. Calling CHIEFS fans bandwagon due to recent success is a trendy thing to do, and I hear it often. People normally back down quick when I mention Kansas.

That story holds no ground with Jimmie. I took a ton of guff from every NASCAR fan I knew during his 5-year title run. Why did I pick him? I gravitated to his Cali roots, overall demeanor, lack of large fan base, and I did this in 2002/2003 when I started truly following the sport. I have seen titles from many of my teams, but Jimmie’s dominance in the #48 Lowes Chevy is unparalleled. His 7 titles make him my GOAT. That CHIEFS Super Bowl LIV victory is my favorite of all the titles my teams have won. They also share a plight of disrespect. Jimmie spent his heyday absorbing fan ridicule and media narratives about his equipment winning all the races. Mahomes is in the middle of similar nonsense. Jimmie’s greatness became more than anyone could ignore and then the commentary flipped… and Patrick will outgrow this too.

Cheers to another trip around the sun gents!!

A Proper Thursday

This event came together in epic fashion. Arrowhead Stadium’s 50th provided the angle of a fully retro field with original logo and red end zones.

It was a visual masterpiece, and allowed for nice touches… like Dan, the scoreboard operator, having a Fresca at the beginning of his workday. The game also took place the day before the Len Dawson memorial. That allowed traveling fans to pay their respects as well. The thoughtful production was all on point.

Amazon picked a great game for their inaugural run. My background in event planning a production provides an added level of appreciation. Things like the retro field do not happen by accident, and I saw an incredible level of research and team collaboration to paint a proper canvas. Massive applause.

The Elephant from the Pacific Northwest

Amazon winning the Thursday night football gig spawned massive amounts of discord among NFL fans. You will hear none of that from me because I love Amazon. I watched the game at my MKE CHIEFS watch party bar, so I did see the Sunday ticket feed and cannot speak about streaming quality. What I will discuss is the quality of the crew. Al Michaels is a quality lead analyst and Kirk Herbstreit is an able sidekick. Their discussion cadence was good, and it was nice to hear Herbstreit not talk about Ohio State. The real magic for me was Fitz-magic (Ryan Fitzpatrick) leading the pregame banter along with Richard Sherman and Tony Gonzalez… Thursdays will be fun.

My professional career has put me in a variety of places, and behind many scenes. The key trend in industry is movement to IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things). In short this means automation and data collection from the world’s machines. The two questions that arise consistently: is it worth the investment and how do we make money on the data collected? Many manufacturing and production firms of all types are wrestling with that question. The two organizations furthest from this discussion are Walmart and Amazon. Both have purposefully automated their warehouses into the fastest method of delivery to customers. Amazon takes it a massive step further with the most robust buying data set on the planet.

Going Prime

The key gripe making the social media rounds is Amazon Prime — a streaming service — owning the TNF spot. Most arguments and complaints stem from the need for a paid streaming service. I understand in that I acknowledge the commentary. Personally, this was a total non-event. I became a Prime member long enough ago that I don’t remember when I joined. Streaming of all sorts is a common thing in my house, and it is how I watch the majority of my games. We have adopted the majority of the streaming services.

Peacock is the home of the Premier League
Paramount covers Champions League
ESPN+ shows the KU basketball games

I want to see the games so I subscribe and don’t put a ton of thought beyond that. The need for all the streaming services bothers me much less than the sham that cable companies cobbled together as “packages.”

Streaming is the wave of the future,

and there is no going back.

Amazon Prime is the first streaming service to secure major NFL broadcast rights, but it will not be the last. It is only a matter of time before the next one falls in with the NFL… and all pro sports for that matter. I understand people disliking the change. The change is what is causing the heartburn. I feel like I am watching a TV rerun of when the NFL Network spawned the start Thursday Night Football. Fans expressed outrage as a new sports tier popped up in everyone’s cable plans. DirecTV is more of a swear word than a brand. Here is a quote by no one ever:

“DirecTV is the most reliable service in erratic Midwest weather. Plus, with the Sunday Ticket add on it’s an excellent value.”

Sure, change, and paying for stuff, sucks, but it’s also life.

Quick Sports Sidebar

I follow a team or individual in just about every available sport. My goal is loyalty to my rooting interest, but I am not shy about the two teams that strain my patience and loyalty most. The first is the Kansas City Royals. I grew up rooting for them on the radio, but by middle school they hopelessly became a farm team for MLB. Most of the time, like this season, I just can’t. Sports are a fun, enjoyable escape, but the Royals too often are a lethargic black hole of joy. My approach is passive support until signs of life appear, and then I plant myself front and center on the bandwagon.

My second team like this is the Kansas Jayhawks football program. It has been around 15 years since they were last a threat to anyone, but their fan base. I really don’t follow college football because watching a comically bad KU team isn’t fun, I don’t like K-State, and I’m definitely not adopting an Alabama or Notre Dame or anyone else to feed another TV habit. Now… the Jayhawks are competitive and my attention is up for grabs. I caught a little of the Houston game, and man, this team looks good. They also look the part. I believe it is safe to dream of a bowl game with a straight face.

The CHIEFS Game

Let’s start with my hot take of the week: I like this D. Do they allow more yards than preferred? Emphatically –> yes. Do they pass my personal eye test for better than the previous iteration? Equally emphatically yes. My favorite things about the D in the order I noted them:

Closing for tackles and wrapping up
Good opponents, like RB Austin Ekeler, did not automatically move forward when tackled
They have an extra gear
And a mean streak

I believe this team still lives and dies by the offensive output, but the D can extend life. Lance Tidwell with the Spoken has touted this truth: Patrick Mahomes does not lose when his mark is 27 points. In fact, it has only happened ONCE in 46 times. The CHIEFS D held the vaunted Chargers and Justin Herbert to 24, and Patrick closed the deal. That is about as clear and concise as an ask can be. I truly do not care about total yards if the scoring prevention keeps up. Every season forward I will care more as this group matures and jells, but I expect 27 to be the magic number. A 24-ish points allowed a game (or less) means D = special season.

More on that Shift and Mean Streak

Right around 17-7 is when I noticed the extra gear. It felt like a video game scenario where the player gains a significant power up. Almost like a switch. The next step is having the switch on all game. Our D’s mean streak was something to behold. Tackling Ekeler backwards was the surface. The real meat was the pummeling Herbert took in the 4th quarter. I will not celebrate an injury, but the pressure was glorious. By the way Herbert is a freaking beast, and this is the AFC rivalry to watch. I mean conference, not division BTW. This leads me to my next point.

Massive Applause for the FG

I loved the call to kick a FG from the 1 (on 4th and Goal from the one). Many of my MKE CHIEFS counterparts, including and most notably my video co-host Chris hated the call. Many panned as weak, conservative, and playing not to lose. I took it as a major step toward trusting the D and taking the points. My response to the group was simple: 1/30/22. Yeah, that game. I was on cloud 9 when the CHIEFS trotted the O out at the end of the first half. My elation elevated as Hill caught the ball and headed for a sure TD. The Bengals stop sucked the air out of Arrowhead, gave the road team hope, and led to a haunting conversation. A Bengals fan in front of me called for a 3 point Bengals victory, and that comment haunts me. This was week 2 of the regular season, but that was a playoff game.

Take the points, play the odds, trust your D. If calling it a playoff game is too over the top, fine. It was practice for one. I received the message loud and clear: the CHIEFS have zero intention a continuation of the one sided identity. That makes me happy and hopeful of good things to come.

Other Observations from the Week

Mecole Hardman is getting more and more looks from Patrick in high leverage situations. His final renaissance is there for his taking, and I am rooting for it. Mecole giving Veach a hard decision is good news for this season. That Kelce body slam belongs in the WWE, not a football field. It reminded me of the Captain Insano eye poke move early in the Water Boy movie. Just totally uncalled for. It also added to the infinite list of inconsistent NFL fines and suspensions, which will not change or take too much of my time talking futility. A $15K fine for that move is a joke. The Willie Gay suspension was probably correct on it’s own. His ex provided plenty of context and extra commentary, and he owned up. The timing is ridiculous. Compared the Deshaun and Tom Brady breaking stuff on national TV? Seriously, NFL?

A Fierce Tribe of Watsons

Patrick Mahomes warned the fantasy world of his intentions to spread the ball. Justin Watson made the big play from the WR spot this week. It was easily the best play of the offensive night. Perfect throw and route at the exact moment needed. Jaylen Watson, who also had a 9/17 birthday, spent the offseason as possibly the least covered rookie. All of CHIEFS Kingdom knows his name now. Will it be confusing seeing multiple J. Watson playmakers in a game? Sure, but I am down to bear that cross. Well done, gents, and keep it coming.

Speaking of fantasy sports the Sunday night game presented an odd stat. Darnell Mooney caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage for -4 yards receiving, which is the most Bears receiving stat in the world. Yards gained are worth .1 in fantasy, so the play was -.4. HOWEVER, most leagues award .5 for a catch, which is also known as point per reception or PPR. The negative play ended up scoring a positive .1. This potential scenario is bizarre, never happening, but mathematically and rule following possible: 100 catches for -4 yards each = -400 yards receiving but 10 fantasy points, which is a good day. That scenario wasted everyone’s time. HaHa.

Movie of the Week

Admission time: I have not seen the movie of the week. Why did I include it? Misty made me put it on my list and in a column, and the reason why is obvious. LA Confidential released September 19, 1997 to massive fanfare and an eventual Oscar win. This is one of those movies that I expect to have high on my list, but I simply never got around to see. I will fix that. Sometime.

Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Arrowhead Kingdom