Chiefs Kingdom, Vegas, London and a CJ Theory
Josh Kingsley
I spent a good part of last week in Vegas with family. Misty’s dad lives out there and her mom is a 6-ish hour drive, so it is a common meeting place for her side of the family. This is a pretty annual thing. It happened to line up being out there for Raider Hater week. My flight home was Friday early evening, so I was able to do the entire Red Friday out there. I expected some commentary on the CHIEFS shirt and did receive a little. Raiders gear was out and about as well, but nothing I would call prolific. I have a hard time calling Vegas the Raiders’ town at this point. There was just one football conversation/interaction.
Misty, her mom and I grabbed breakfast Friday morning, and a guy stopped me on the way out on account of my shirt. He got my attention emphatically enough that I prepped for the argument. The entire catalog of Raider digs and barbs moved top of mind quite naturally. Then something odd and unexpected happened: he thanked me. Profusely. He mentioned that he works at a place called Jackpot Bar and Grill, and it recently became a CHIEFS watch party location. I was well aware of the development due to the recent updates to Nevada on the Arrowhead Kingdom site. This guy went on and on about how the Raiders fans were horrible, and the place is better now that respectful CHIEFS fans unceremoniously tossed them out. I was more than happy to take positive feedback on behalf of CHIEFS Kingdom.
This Week in Football
The beauty and downside of Monday Night Football was in full effect. Being pegged for a home MNF game is huge. It is the game of games week in and week out. The best part of the schedule release timing is counting the prime times. There is a level of beauty in the anticipation of your team’s game as the rest of the game slate plays out. That’s also the downside. Like Tom Petty said, the waiting in the hardest part. It was exceptionally hard with some of the games in the way of the CHIEFS Raider showdown. The worst game of the week clogged our TVs on Thursday night. Webster’s dictionary lacks the superlatives necessary to describe how bad that dumpster fire of ineptitude was to watch. Defensive battles are fine on occasion, but that was not this game. It was a comedy of literally offensive errors.
How in the wild world of sports did the CHIEFS lose to that Colts team?
No one truly won that game and all viewers lost. I had a ton of Russell Wilson shade material planned, but scrapped it all when I heard about the injury. It doesn’t seem right to pile on, but man, that is looking like a good contract and cap situation in Denver…for the CHIEFS, Chargers and Raiders. The key win for me Thursday night was a trip to Crab Corner, an authentic Maryland seafood spot. That place is legit and common stop for me along with Pizza Rock on the old strip. I have never been big on gambling, but I love Vegas for everything else it does well in the food and night life space.
London Calling
Part of the waiting game was the Sunday AM London game featuring the Packers and Giants. I enjoy the London games as they happen in the same times as my soccer matches. This game in particular happened in a familiar venue, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home of my favorite Premier League club. The Packers should have won that game and gave plenty of chances away. They are showing many signs of a highly flawed team at the same time the Vikings are thriving. Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses. The Giants (and every NFC East team not named the Commanders) look good. Daniel Jones tried his best to mess that one up but the Packers failed more effectively. The real interesting stuff happened after the game.
Roger Goodell took time out of his busy schedule of silence on big topics (like officiating) to comment on the London Experience. Here is NBC’s full article. The insinuation of a European division is notable, but this quote caught me more:
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“There’s no question that London could support not just one franchise, I think two franchises,” Goodell began. “I really believe that.”
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This sounds like very developed expansion plans. Jacksonville is the only real relocation risk (or opportunity depending on where you sit) in the league. I can’t think of a second team let alone 3 more. A new division with 2 London, a Germany, and something else is under consideration as we speak. I have no insider info but I truly believe it.
The HC First Domino
Matt Rhule jump started the coaching carousel with his dismissal, and the Sean Payton rumors are already swirling. Denver and Washington are my teams on the watch list. Ron Rivera made a comment Monday alluding to QB being his team’s weakness, which he has already walked back. This is the look of a team falling apart and coaching staff losing influence.
Hackett is simply a disaster in Denver, and fans are already calling for his head. Denver is also chattering about Sean Payton. Things have potential to become interesting if Washington falls to Chicago and Denver to LA… and both are quite likely.
Rhule will be fine. He surely left the Panthers facility with money in hand, and will land again as soon as he wants. College seems most likely to me, and he can start when he wants. I suspect Wisconsin would hire him today if there was interest. Texas fans are clamoring for him. He is in a seller’s market. Rivera probably has another head coaching job in him if things go south in DC. Hackett will be a coordinator when his shoe drops.
The Game
The waiting finally subsided Monday night, and the CHIEFS took the field vs the Raiders. Kansas City came out flat, which happens too much. In fairness this was a division game against a motivated, better than their record rival. The CHIEFS D took a beating from the Raiders OL and Josh Jacobs, and the offense looked equaled by an aggressive Raiders front 7. Solid halftime adjustments brought home a dramatic win. Unfortunately, the game was less about the game, and more about a couple of, let’s call them distractions.
Officiating
Let me start by reiterating something: I hate complaining about the refs. HATE it. My least favorite fans in the world are the crowd that constantly blames refs for losses. I also not a fan or believer in conspiracy theories like refs calling New York for insight. My overall belief is the game is subjective and the calls are as good as the officiating crew. Maybe I’m naive, but that’s my head space.
That all said, this game was just bad. I cannot think of a time where I cursed a big screen TV more. Thankfully all the kids stayed home because our watch party was very blue linguistically. The worst language came out during the Chris Jones penalty because it simply defied logic and the basic eye test. The conspiracy ref crowd gained an extra data point with the Brady roughing call Saturday that was a no call on Mahomes Sunday for the exact same tackle.
Move past these plays and ghost first down, and we still have a grotesquely inconsistent officiating result. The Raiders ultimately Raidered but they had a fair share of bad calls to deal with as well. Part of my MKE crew is a member we call rules guy. He carries a measured and cerebral demeanor (except when he throws his hat at the wall), and is always in the middle of the philosophical discussions on game day. We talked a lot during this one about officiating. We both want the same thing as the players: consistency. The officials told the CHIEFS and Raiders that scholars lost the definitions of the rules in translation somewhere. We also talked about a potential solution. First, a cause…
My Chris Jones Theory
Chris Jones appears targeted. Again, not into ref criticism and conspiracies, but this is bad. Jones received a game changing un-sportsman penalty against the Colts for standing next to Matt Ryan, and a roughing the passer against the Raiders while possessing the ball. Great fiction writers couldn’t come up with this. The question: why is the league targeting Jones?
The first half of my theory includes communal living. I believe that all NFL officials live in a giant dorm-like complex. They eat together, bond, and have socials with baseball umps, basketball refs, and everyone else in the officiating community. Essentially we have a giant Greek system of sorts. The second half of my theory is about Jones. Chris Jones knows where these dorm complexes are and messes with the residences. In this situation he must have stopped in often to insult all the NFL officials’ moms and family in general. That’s the most logical explanation.
My Solution
I believe the solution to the problem is simple and within a common rage response. The problem is inconsistent QB protection calls. No one on defense knows what they can actually do to a QB. The NFL officials and league rules committee are treating roughing the passer in similar fashion of Justice Potter Stewart in the 1964 Jacobellis v. Ohio case with regard to obscenity: they know it when they see it. That’s the problem. Subjectively is and always has been a part of officiating. The added factors are hundreds of camera angles and another subjective initiative to protect the QB.
The solution is in the rage response. Every roughing call receives at least one frustrated “why don’t we just put flags on the QB or play touch football?!?!” I think the NFL should take that approach. Make a simple, clear rule: QB in the pocket is off limits. Defenders can wrap up but not take to the ground. Ideally a QB flop penalty accompanies for the dramatic ones. The NFL is working to reduce QB injuries and that is a good thing. Tua is a great example of why this is necessary. Jones provided an additional reason: a 300+ pound guy cannot defy gravity when they start to go to ground. This sounds like a watering down of a contact sport, but also where the league is unclearly going.
Added Backing
Nick Wright went on The Herd on Wednesday and essentially said the same thing. His extended point hammered this home for me. He painted a scenario where Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen take a sack on Sunday, do not pop right up, and stumble when they do. Concussion protocol says they are shaky and come out the rest of the game. That sounds horrible for game of the season. Now, picture a playoff game. If the options are this or touch football in the pocket, I take touch football.
Davante Adams
At the risk of supporting another hair brained theory I have to say this: Davante became a Raider on Monday night. This is a nod to both the incompetent play that ended the game and the thug type stereotype that fits his move heading into the tunnel. Adams and Renfrow crashing out on crossing routes while Carr sailed the ball was Raiders poetry, the kind we as CHIEFS fans love. Laying out a camera man is what many consider the black hole personified. This situation was max level ridiculous. Adams should and most likely faces a fine and suspension. The assault charge and hospital visit feel a bit over the top to me. However, it’s also sticking it to a rich jerk. DeVante always struck me as a good guy, and to his credit he owned up immediately. Now, we see how he pays.
Final Game Notes
The CHIEFS adjusted well at halftime. Orlando Brown may have adjusted the most. Brown was bad in the first half in almost every possible way. His contract situation is shaping to be the biggest piece of offseason drama. Brown bet on himself big time turning down the CHIEFS long term offer this past offseason. I want to say he played his way out of that amount, but the league is full of desperate teams looking for fast progress. The Panthers for example probably pay whatever with minimal questions. Barring a major turnaround in overall form Veach is not matching his last offer. This only ends with Brown leaving KC. The worst scenario given investment to obtain him.
Critics panned the Raiders and McDaniels’ choice to go for 2 after the last TD. For the record that ball from Carr to Adams was gorgeous. My favorite criticism came from my favorite all time writer, Bill Simmons:
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“In 2022 an NFL head coach would jump out a fourth floor window because analytics say it’s faster than taking the stairs.”
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I almost spit my coffee out when I first saw that. That said, McDaniels made the right call going for the win in what is becoming another lost season for the Raiders.
Media Stuff of the Week
I have a few songs stuck in my head this week. The first one is “Everyday” by Buddy Holly. It is the opening track for the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham.” Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought a Welsh soccer club a couple years ago, and this is the story of their takeover. The series is an incredible look behind the scenes of club management, and also at the effects a club has on a community.
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Nineteen years ago a band called The Darkness released a gem in “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” I LOVE this song. My last is more about an album. Tom Petty released “Wildflowers” in November of 1994. I love this album for first and second singles “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “You Wreck Me,” but the real gold is in the title track.
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I consistently make the comment that if blessed with songwriting ability my first move would be writing a song for the wedding industry. “Wildflowers” profiles easily as a first dance, father daughter or mother son dance song. That song will play at weddings until the end of time. That is how a songwriter becomes immortal.
Movie of the week is Argo, which released October 12, 2012. Ben Affleck absolutely kills it as the director and star in this true story of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
Angela Lansbury — Rest In Peace
The film and TV world lost a giant this week. Lansbury’s illustrious career started during World War II and effectively lasted until her death. She played countless memorable roles, but for me she will always be Mrs. Potts and Jessica Fletcher. RIP Ms. Lansbury.
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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne and Chiefs Kingdom
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