David Bell
I admit that I was tremendously upset as the game versus the Packers wound down to end in a loss. I couldn’t accept that “My Mighty Chiefs” played so poorly. I was over it by morning, but there are factors — I went to sleep easily — about the game that continue to bother me.
American Zebras Cost the Chiefs the Game
This wierd specie is not extinct!
.
Sports Illustrated Cover Image
.
There were several bad penalties or missed calls by the officiating crew. This was especially true as the game closed down to the finale. I have heard it said that we lost the game because of officiating errors. I do think it’s time for the NFL to hire and school its own officials.
I am not an advocate of constant replay reviews as it stops the flow of the game or by allowing a Head Coach to challenge any play result at any time. I do think a review could be done by an overhead official who must decide to signal the on-the-field officials, for example, within 20 seconds. The fact that we already have game interrupts too often, as far as I am concerned. The Chiefs did not lose the game because of the bad or missed calls by the zebras.
There was indeed a flagrant PI call that was missed when Marquez Valdes-Scantling was interfered with late in the game. during the game. Under the current rule, that would have been a penalty resulting in an automatic first down and the ball would have been spotted at the 6-yard line.
.
Flagrant PI missed Vs. the Packers – Mark Hoffman USA TODAY Sports Photo credit
.
This foul was even worse than the photo shows. Here is a video at about the 6-yardline. See a video of the play, here:
.
.
How could this PI not be called by the officials? It was a horrid Missed call.
Another penalty should have been called for interference against the Packers coverage on TE Travis Kelce in the end zone on the Hail Mary Pass at the end of the game.
.
.
That last call would have placed the Chiefs at the one-yard line and the next play would give the Chiefs one more shot to score and go for two points to tie the game.
However, I think it is a fallacy that the game was lost due to officiating. It hurt especially considering that the two penalties if properly called would have given the Chiefs more opportunities to tie the game. In any case, a 2- conversion would have been required to extend the game beyond regulation time.
The truth of the matter is that the Chiefs did not execute their play with enough kinetic energy to make the proposition matter at all.
The Packers executed and the Chiefs did not. Allow me to repeat that: the Packers executed and the Chiefs did not.
That is the pure and simple answer to the question of why the Chiefs lost the game in Green Bay. It’s the same answer for all four games in the Chiefs record which they lost. Above I mentioned support of the NFL hiring officials full time. I think that is necessary. I am sure that I don’t want to see any additional game interruptions to review plays. It’s already an interference in game flow as it is.
How can players maintain their “Kinetic Energy” if the game is stopped to review plays? Remember Travis Kelce chanting “Energy” on the sidelines when the Chiefs came from 24 points down in the playoff game against the Texans? Versus the Packers, the Chiefs didn’t have it and the Packers did.
.
Did Injuries Play a Role?
In my view, the answer is a resounding “No.” When Drue Tranquil suffered a concussion early in the game, LB Jack Cochrane (57 snaps) was substituted in his stead. From all that I could see, Cochrane played well. Ditto when LT Donovan Smith had to exit the field of play, Wanya Morris — 46 snaps — took his place, and again, like Cochrane at LB, Morris played well. The back end of the defense was a problem after Bryan Cook was replaced by Mike Edwards — 52 snaps — but Edwards is a veteran Safety and is already in the rotation at Safety seeing significant snaps in every game. I can see the secondary as a whole did not perform up to their own standard, but this was not the reason the Chiefs lost the game.
About a week ago, Laddie Morse wrote that he thought that Wanya Morris would be the LOT of the future. I’d agree with that possibility. Not only did the Chiefs blow up the WR room, but they also blew up the OTs at the same time. It does not appear to me that Donovan Smith will earn a second season with the Chiefs. Jawaan Taylor has also suffered a ton of penalties and leads the NFL in Penalties with 15. The next man in line, Darnell Wright an OT out of CHI, has 10. At the time, I did agree that Orlando Brown should depart and I did not feel that Andrew Wylie was a starting quality RT. At the same time –> I don’t think the OTs cost the Chiefs the game.
.
Blown Opportunities
This factor I attribute to the lack of energy. Failure to move the sticks on Offense or settling for 3 points was the problem as it has been in 3 previous losses. Perhaps the Capability Gap will better address what the problem with the team was during this game. The Chiefs simply did not execute with energy and for various players, the capability gap was too large from one player to the next (see the topic below).
The bottom line is that the Chiefs once again suffered self-inflicted wounds and from that they were unable to succeed. The problem did not lie with a particular player group but the Chiefs secondary did not live up the billing. Losing a starting offensive lineman usually hurts a team a bunch but Wanya Morris played admirably. Ditto Jack Cochrane. If anything giving up 27 points was a big deal and that means the defense across the board. The offense did not achieve scoring at as potent level, once again.
.
“Capability Gap”… A Huge Factor
This was something that I have adopted as I view games. The Capability Gap as it was defined by Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban. He said: The Capability Gap is analyzing play based on what one’s capable of as opposed to what you are actually doing in the field of play. Closing that gap to the smallest possible gap is the objective. See the Saban Video on this topic, here:
.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=356808459535145
.
Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones
Succinct Comments on the Next Thing to Do After a Loss
Mahomes: What you do he expressed with a simple comment. There is not much you can say, but Mahomes clearly understood the truth and made a comment as follows:
.
“All you can do when you lose football games is you go watch the tape, and you try to learn from it. You learn from your mistakes, and you get better. That’s all you can do. That’s win or lose.”
.
Chris Jones talked about his “Five Minute Rule” after the Chiefs lost the game — that hit home for me. I once used this type of emoting and applied it to people experiencing problems. In my role as a counselor, in my 3rd Career, I worked with Homeless, Disabled, and Addicted Veterans at a VA Contract agency in Webb City, Missouri. People would say they just couldn’t stand it, or they were so angry that they ‘hated’. I would ask them to experience all that hate or anger as much as possible. Then take a breath and try to maintain that same level of emotion that they had just verbalized about it.
It is an impossible task to maintain an emotion at the same level. The Chris Jones Five Minute Rule applies. Get it all out. Get over it and move on. Jones observed:
.
“I go by the five-minute rule, you got five minutes to complain, you got five minutes to get it all out–We’ve got an important game coming next week to Arrowhead so, see what we can get better at, and lets attack this week in practice. “
.
So here he is, saying to learn what they can from the past game’s film and attack the deficiency in practice — move on. Get it all out and get ready to play the next game.
It’s a good rule.
I hope the film review occurred quickly and the Chiefs moved on to game preparation for the Buffalo Bills. That is another tough opponent and to win, the Chiefs must play better than they did at Lambeau.
.
Personal Notes
The game in Green Bay was a game that my son Ian and I had wanted to attend. He is a Packers Fan and me? I am too, but as my favorite NFC team. Ian follows the Chiefs as his favorite AFC team. We have fun watching NFL football when we can watch games together. Unfortunately, we had to forego traveling to Green Bay for the game. We will have to find another opportunity to see these two storied teams face each other.
As you probably know, I have been a Chiefs fan as a youth — since the beginning after the move from Dallas to Kansas City in 1963. My younger son, Ian, began following them perhaps after he graduated High School. He is nearly 40 now. I know– I know: I spend too much time digging into NFL teams, competition, and the basic trauma of watching too much football on TeeVee. I suffer greatly, especially when the Chiefs lose a game.
It’s a pastime for me and gives me something to do every day besides doing genealogical and historical research about which I spend far too much time also. My mother was a “Calvert” and I took over the family research from her in 2000. Of course, the family lore was that we descended from the ‘Calverts Lord Baltimore’. Oh, think about the family angst that arose when I proved it untrue.
We descend from John Calvert circa 1587 at Morsham Ne’er Gisbrough in North Yorks. The DNA proved that we could not be kin to George, the first Lord Baltimore. Finally, the paper trail led to this ancestor, John, who removed to Ulster Plantation in Ireland (County Armagh). The proof was that his son, Thomas, was born in 1617 to John and Grace Calvert as recorded in Quaker records. We created a research category for this group of descendants due to that: The Nordic/Quaker Calverts at Calvert Genealogy research group which I helped form in 2001.
Give Them Bread and Circuses
.
.
I have often thought about our current society and compared the sport to the Roman Empire times and the gladiators. Football isn’t the life and death battles that those games were — but is it really the same as an Emperor keeping the public happy by giving the public “Bread and Circuses”?
This is a phrase used by Roman Author Juvenal about the declining heroism after the Roman Republic ended and the Empire began:
.
“Two things only the people anxiously
desire — bread and circuses.”
.
In other words, the Emperors kept the Roman populace happy by distributing free food and staging huge spectacles.
.
What Will We Do, What Will We Do?
Surprise: the Chiefs are human and are now experiencing what other teams’ fandom has experienced. The Chiefs still own the AFC West and can be projected to make the playoffs at the very least. The record is an admirable 8-4 — they have been “in” every game only to fail to turn the corner. All four games were within reach of a victory.
.
Oh Football Gods, Deliver us from the Evil Angst
Because I experience Angst and Emotional Upheaval when the Chiefs lose, I ask you: can you refer me to a psychiatrist who can help?
.
David Bell — ArrowheadOne
.