Blind Casting: a fisherman’s term used for prospecting in unfamiliar water, and the angler casts in different directions.
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That’s exactly what I’ll do with eight of my takes on the Kansas City Chiefs coming season. Today, I’m your angler with an angle, so let’s get started.
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Blind Cast #1
Patrick Mahomes will move up to #3 on the Chiefs career passing yards list.
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Per Yahoo Sports, Mahomes has averaged 4,623 passing yards in each of his first three seasons as a starter. If he averages that much this coming year again, he’ll end the year with 18,775 total passing yards an put himself firmly into third place on Kansas City’s all time passing list. In fact, Mr. Mahomes only needs to come up with 3,457 passing yards this year to take over the #3 position. So, yes, that’s my first, and perhaps my most easy, blind cast.
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Alright, that was an obvious one… so…
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Blind Cast #2
The surprise player to make the Pro Bowl this year will be, Mecole Hardman, as a WR.
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Yes, Hardman already made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, but as a Kick Returner. He’s predicting big things for himself this year and with Sammy Watkins moving on and Patrick Mahomes wanting to become more efficient that means he’ll be looking for other reliable options. Yes, yes, I know, Hardman has been on Santa’s… I mean Mahomes’… naughty list of wideouts who haven’t always been where there supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there. However, Hardman’s been working on his route running this offseason and I’m hoping that will make a World’s of Fun difference. BTW, if Hardman does have that kind of Pro Bowl caliber season, we can expect huge things from this offense.
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If WR Mecole Hardman doesn’t perform well this year, I can see the Chiefs taking a WR high in the 2022 NFL Draft.
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Blind Cast #3
The biggest rookie contributor this year will be… drum roll please… Creed Humphrey at OC.
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While we don’t know yet who will win each offensive line position this year — except LT and LG appear to be locked down by Orlando Brown and Joe Thuney, respectively — I’m not only thinking Humphrey will win the starting OC role, but make a big splash there. While I think he has All-Pro potential, that won’t happen in year one, but winning the starting OC job is quite enough. Maybe you’ve heard, Creed Humphrey allowed zero sacks over his career at OU, while protecting some rather mobile QBs, including a Heisman Trophy winner, Kyler Murray (Baker Mayfield was one year before Humphrey took over at OC for OU in 2017, plus he’s coming to K.C. following his Junior year and just turned 22 last week).
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Blind Cast #4
The first, or only, loss of the year will come at the hands of the Cowboys: at Arrowhead, in Week 11, on Sunday, November 11.
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Why would I choose that game? Actually, because of my cousins who have lived in the Dallas area all their lives and are life long fans of the Boys and I know it will make them super happy. I have no other reason… mostly. I picked the Chiefs to go loss-less in 2020 and came darn close, but I won’t be doing that again this year… no matter how wonderful the OL turns out to be. I also chose that game because of numbers madness… you know… Week 11 is on 11/11. Come on. You see it don’t you? It’s can’t be a good sign, right? Then again, perhaps it means K.C. will score 111 points in that game. However, according to The Horoscope.co the Lucky numbers that day are: 4, 9, 12, 13, and 25… and, if you add all those numbers together it equals “63” and it was in 1963 that the Chiefs moved to Kansas City from… you got it –> Dallas. Pure coincidence? I think not… well, maybe… who knows for sure.
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Blind Cast #5
Andy Reid will surpass Curly Lambeau on the NFL Head Coaching Wins list and take over 5th place by year’s end.
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Unless something goes terribly wrong… like a comet hitting our planet… Reid appears assured of getting 6 more wins this year to take over 5th place on the NFL coaches all time wins list. He also is only 29 wins behind Tom Landry which might be doable by the end of the 2022 season. It would be awesome if he can pull that off, but averaging 15 wins per year this year and next. Yes, that’s a tall order… unless you believe Patrick Mahomes who predicts a 20-and-0 season, and, if the Chiefs go unbeaten this year, who’s to say they won’t do it again in 2022? The National Football League Head Coach Wins List can be found here.
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I know, that was an easy one too. So, let’s take a look at a more difficult proposition.
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Blind Cast #6
Travis Kelce will set the record — again — for the most 1,000 yards seasons receiving in a row with his sixth such feat.
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Travis Kelce already has five “straight” 1,000 yard receiving seasons in a row and that’s one more 1,000 yard receiving season than any other tight end has had –> at any point in their career. In other words, Kelce has done in 5 consecutive seasons, what it’s taken any other TE a whole career to do… plus one. In fact, there are only three other tight ends with four 1,000 yard seasons: Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten, and our own Tony Gonzalez. Here’s a look at the TE all time 1,000 yard receiving list in a graph offered by StatMuse.com showing the top 13 TEs in NFL history. What’s important to know is that Kelce has strung together his 5 — 1,000 yard seasons — back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. BTW, RGR’s Ryan Tracy says he thinks Kelce gets another 1,000 yards this year, and Daniel Harms says: Absolutely YES!
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It’s sure is comforting to know we have the best QB in the history of the NFL and one of he best tight ends in the history of the league, plus a top five wide receiver. Add to that, a top flight OL… and we’ve got BINGO! Life is good in Chiefs Kingdom right now.
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Blind Cast #7
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire will rush for over 1,200 yards this year.
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Clyde Edwards-Helaire may rush for 1,200 yards this year, but it may mean less since he has 17 games to do it in.
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- 1,200 ➗ 16 games = 75.0 YPG
- 1,200 ➗ 17 games = 70.5 YPG
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So, any RB who wants to average 1,200 rushing yards per year will now only have to rush for 5 fewer yards per game to achieve that goal. Still, CEH averaged about 62 YPG in 2020 (803 ➗ 13 = 61.7) so, if he and Andy can scheme up just 8 more yards per game on the ground, he should reach that lofty (?) goal. With a new spangled banner year offseason at OL, it should help things quite a bit. We’ll see, as the OL has some, gellin’ like a felon, to do first. Daniel Harms of RG Football says he has CEH getting 1,800 all purpose yards with 800 of those coming through the air. 1,000 + 800… I’d be good with that, still, I think CEH will get 1,200 on the ground, and if he does, then the K.C. offense will be historically good.
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Note: In 1960, the NFL only played 12 games per year, so when a RB reached 1,000 yards in a season, it really meant something (1,000 yards ➗ 12 games = 83.3 YPG). That’s why I always thought Jim Brown was the GOAT, that is until Joe Montana came a knockin’ in the 1990s.
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Blind Cast #8
Arrowhead [GEHA: rhymes with seesaw] Stadium will set a new, Guinness Book of World Records, record for the loudest stadium crowd and surpass the 142.2 dbA which was set on Sept. 29, 2014.
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— A G A I N — I recently saw a short clip of the first “full” post-pandemic Kansas City crowd at a Sporting K.C. event at the Sprint Center and that blare was reminiscent of Arrowhead Stadium… and then I thought, “Just wait until Arrowhead Stadium is full again.” The logical next assumption was… Arrowhead is going to re-set that roaring crowd noise record once again. My father was a Sound Engineer for a company out of Santa Monica and I used to go on trips with him to help measure sound: for cities, countries (yes, countries), movie stars, auditoriums, cathedrals… and so on. He used to say that permanent hearing damage and hearing loss could happen when our music [being a child of the 1960s, we used to play our music way too loud] reached higher than 93 decibels (dangerousdecibils.org says permanent hearing loss can happen at 85 decibels). The point is, 142.2 decibels is really, really, really loud and if you’re planning on going to a game this fall, be sure to take ear plugs along because I have a better than sneaking suspicion that the decibel level will top 100 most of the time while you’re cheering on the Chiefs. Many of the places I visited with my father to measure sound — because they were having a sound problem — were in round or oval structures. Since we know Arrowhead is one huge enclosed oval structure, it’s easy to conclude that it’s a “contributing” factor in why K.C. is the home of that record.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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100 years ago today — July 2, 1921 — my mother was born.
Happy Birthday Mom!
[BTW, her favorite color was green]
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