Laddie Morse
In a year of parity and injuries across the board, the Kansas City Chiefs have remained relatively healthy –> ¡KNOCK ON WOOD! K.C. has more than one issue to deal with… so let’s get into some of them.
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The elephant in the room is squarely in the WR room. That’s because none of the Chiefs current wideouts have stepped up — yet — to take the mantle of el numero uno. Could we find out who that might be in the game with the Eagles? That’s possible, but not likely. I’ve discovered, over the years, that Andy Reid likes to hold back his best plays — which includes his best players — so he can have something extra special for the playoffs. Whether he’s conscious of doing that or not, I don’t know.
Although I think that #1WR will eventually be either Kadarius Toney or Rashee Rice, the trick for Reid and OC Matt Nagy, is that they must balance the remainder of their games to see if they can win enough of those games while simultaneously holding back some players — like Toney — becasue of a surgery he had in late July of this year.
While we know Andy Reid likes to pre-script his first 15 plays, those chosen plays may not reveal any of the wideouts he will be leaning on come post season play.
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The Chiefs have been blessed this season with a low number of injuries. Sure, Kadarius Toney had his own early season loss to deal with but other than Jody Fortson being lost for the season, I can’t think of any other major K.C. injuries that have affected the team. Not so for the Cincinnati Bengals (1:33):
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In an article by Abby Dodge for Channel 41 — a local station here in K.C. — she wrote a piece called, “Mahomes, Kelce commercials give Kansas City actors national attention” in which she said:
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“Local restaurants, high schools and hair salons all played host to Super Bowl champions Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce with appearances by Andy Reid… Mahomes is no stranger to the TV screens of millions of Americans. The MVP has appeared in countless commercials and starred in the Netflix documentary “Quarterback,” which was released earlier this year.”
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Dodge goes on to quote a local actor Chad Crenshaw:
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“… I think, there is a lot of people that have come and seen what Kansas City has to offer. Where before, people would say, ‘Let’s get them to LA or bring them to Chicago where we can do more.”
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As you may be aware, I have a daughter who is an actor and she lives in Lee’s Summit. She could end up benefitting from more work for actors here in K.C..
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BTW, she and a buddy of hers named Natalie Gamble out of San Francisco have a Podcast called, “Not Your Momma’s Midlife Crisis” coming out soon (that’s the YouTube link). The first episode drops in early December.
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Pete Sweeney of ArrowheadPride is reporting that Mecole Hardman is moving forward as the Chiefs kick returner. I don’t know for sure if it’s Special Team’s Coach Dave Toub’s policy to catch Punts inside the 10 yard line… but i wish they’d not do that anymore.
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Let me start off by saying –> OH MY God!? Do we have to listen to the Chiefs QB talk about his superstition of wearing his red underwear to the stadium? Geez… can’t we find something a little closer to football to talk about???
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For those in the Kingdom wondering whether or not the Chiefs are good with their Special Teamers, we’re all set. Harrison Butker is one of the league’s best place kickers and Tommy Townsend made the Pro Bowl last year in his second season with the Chiefs. James Winchester is the long snapper and it’s a safe bet he returns next season as well. Butker has another year left on his deal with K.C. after this one and although Townsend ($2.627 M) is on a one-year deal he’s the 6th highest paid Punter in the NFL according to sports.betmgm.com:
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When the Eagles line up for a 4th or 3rd and one — from anywhere on the field — they normally go for it by running a QB Sneak play which has become known as the “Tush-Push.” Steven Ruiz wrote a piece called, “In a Game of Inches, the Eagles Are Taking a Whole Damn Yard With the “Tush Push”” in which he says:
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“Philadelphia popularized this play during its Super Bowl run last season and has been running it to great effect in 2023. But the Eagles aren’t the only team that can do it—they’re just the one that’s willing to try it the most.”
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Ruiz goes on to say:
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“Over a century after the origination of the tush push, the Eagles are using this old scheme, updated for the modern game, to turn high-leverage situations into automatic conversions. They’re doing it with a concept that seems pretty easy to replicate, but no other teams come close to running it as often as Philly.”
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Some say it’s a 1st-down and nine yards to go each and every time that Philly has the ball because of the Tush-Push. This method may help to sustain a few drives, but the Chiefs Defense has gotten even better than when they faced Philly in Super Bowl LVII.
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Many may be aware that I am not a fan of gambling and the NFL’s opening the door into the gambling community is disturbing, to say the least. In an article called, “Problem Gambling” by Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., Melinda Smith, M.A. and Lawrence Robinson for helpguide.org comes this:
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“Gambling problems can happen to anyone from any walk of life. Your gambling goes from a fun, harmless diversion to an unhealthy obsession with serious consequences. Whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, or slots—in a casino, at the track, or online—a gambling problem can strain your relationships, interfere with work, and lead to financial disaster. You may even do things you never thought you would, like running up huge debts or even stealing money to gamble.”
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If you do gamble on NFL games, please be careful.
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The Chiefs have no specific rival right now. Some might say it’s the Broncos because they beat us in our last game with them. However, you have to be a contender to be a legitimate rival, right? Denver is presently 4-and-5 and tied for last place with the Chargers. That takes them (both) out of contention and rules them out, right? Both the Bills and the Bengals are having down seasons and struggling with injuries, so they’re out. The Titans are currently 3-and-6 and in last place in the AFC South. That leaves… possibly… the Ravens… otherwise, I don’t have a clue because the last time the Ravens beat the Chief was in September of 2021. Since then K.C. has won three straight against them with a combined score of 94-to-72. Here’s a graphic offered by Arrowheads Abroad:
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Who would it be? If you know… let us all know.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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