Chiefs-Titans:
Death By A Thousand Tiny Paper Cuts
You’re probably tired of hearing about it but here’s my take on Sunday’s debacle.
It didn’t take much really to topple the Kansas City Chiefs from their top spot in the AFC West. All another team had to do was hang in there, and hang in there, make one good play after another, continue to be competitive and wait for their moment to strike. However, there was no big strike, no big blow, that knocked the Chiefs off on Sunday. It was more like… death by a thousand tiny paper cuts.
You could say the Chiefs lost their Polar Bowl to the Tennessee Titans because of miscues or mistakes or lack of execution but it feels more accurate to say it was a death of a thousand tiny paper cuts. I know, I know, I keep saying that but maybe you’ll understand better how I feel after seeing what will mostly be a picture-post.
After re-watching the painful game tape I decided to post a few images of the bleeding from every pore. Warning: if you decide to read any further you must be a registered EMT… because a thousand tiny paper cuts takes a lot of bandages… and you should faint at the sight of bloodlettings you might want to skip this one. Then again, maybe you just skipped the game altogether and need a refresher course (why anyone would want a refresher on this game is beyond me, but here goes).
Let’s be honest, the Chiefs “nearly” manhandled a very good team with the best offensive line in the NFL. Yes, the Titans won this one, but not as much as the Chiefs lost it. So, I’d like to reiterate my personal point in order to make my view perfectly clear: the Kansas City Chiefs had this game won… they left at least 21 points on the field… and consequently did everything right that a team has to do, in order to lose this game.
Let’s begin with what I still believe was a touchdown by De’Anthony Thomas. DAT, as you can see below, was clearly in bounds with a foot in the end zone and the ball in his right arm which looks like it’s on a plane directly over the pylon. You can also see the referee who is in a position to make the call he did, but not necessarily the right call. Refs fault or not… this cut at least a little if not a lot.
This 4th and goal play below was preceded by: a 1st down of Chardcandrick West up the middle, a 2nd down of DAT to the corner over the pylon, a 3rd down of Ware up the middle then a 4th down of Ware up the middle again. That’s not really a play sequence I’d be proud of if I was Andy Reid. Sometimes when I attempt to read the mind of Andy Reid is I see a guy who gets desperate to prove his offensive line can just beat the sock off of your defensive line. If that’s the case then all reasoning as to a rounded approach to play-calling goes out the window and the non-genius Reid takes over. It’s his Jekyll and Hyde metamorphosis in living color for all to see. And it’s not a pretty picture. Also, I don’t see why Spencer Ware wasn’t ready to jump cut and turn it outside because he’d already had not success up the middle and in this case if he had made that cut, Anthony Sherman plants his guy on the ground and basically blocks the path of the would-be tackler behind him and even if that defensive player did jump outside with Ware, I’d take Ware 9 times out of ten.
Next, you’ll find a series of my least favorite bloodlettings in that Alex Smith couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn dance on Sunday.
I want TE Demetrius Harris to do well. I really do. However, at this point I won’t be at all surprised, or sad, to see John Dorsey not only pick a tight end high in the 2017 draft but begin to bring in as many TEs in the offseason as possible. This is Harris’ 4th season with the Chiefs so a lot more is to be expected out of him than the 11 receptions, 86 total yards and the, too numerous to mention, drops. When Harris can’t even hold the line of scrimmage until the snap is made, one does wonder if he is mentally incapable of the mental focus required to make that move at the right moment? In this case, Harris starts to move… then stops… and begins to move again, as if he HAD waited to move at the right time… but ultimately he hangs his head and heads to the sideline (where he belongs).
Ah, two of Kansas City’s finest at work on blown coverage together. Maybe we should just go ahead and call this season what it has become: The “You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up” Season.
I’m not buying the idea that the cold weather had a huge negative effect on Alex Smith’s arm. 15-for-28 passing is not up to his own standards and if the Chiefs have to go on the road in the playoffs to New England and face the Patriots in the cold… well, let’s just hope I’m right.
On a similar note: I once sat across the table from a fellow teacher at Annie Santa Fe’s on the Plaza for a group celebration and she actually fell on the floor and passed out cold because of brain freeze that a Margarita gave her. We all thought she was dead… but she came right back to life, sat up in her chair and ate her dinner. Freaked me out much like Sunday’s game. Come on Andy… admit it… brain freeze. Right?!
It’s hard to say that the normally reliable Special Teams was of any help in this game. From the Tyreek Hill fumble to start the game out making everyone nervous to Duston Colquitt not landing any kicks inside the ten… it wasn’t a good day for Bob’s Big Boys.
Here’s another in a long line of orphan passes that never found a home. Come on Alex, give an orphan a break! Maybe you’re just stuck in the gift giving spirit. Come on, Christmas is NEXT Sunday, so snap out of it!
Someone’s getting a little too friendly on the backside. Did you guys room together on college? Ware’s 70 yards on 18 carries was 2 yards better than Tyreek Hill’s 68 yards on 1 carry. WhooHoo for Spencer.
It has become a habit to complain about the referees but they had a better day than the Chiefs so the Chiefs have given us plenty to gnaw on.
Here, DL Chris Jones invites himself to a heaping helping of the Titans hospitality. Maybe Chris knows the way to Houston… but I think he’s getting on the flight a little early.
No need for any air-traffic controllers on Sunday, the ground transportation up the middle was working fine for Tennessee. All aboard!
I’m confused (getting to be a habit while watching the Chiefs play) because there are five Chiefs receivers all within a three-yard area of the goal line. Was everyone else there a decoy so Alex Smith could hit his favorite receiver in these situations, Albert Wilson? From the bottom, Demetrius Harris is not going to win a goal line battle for the ball when covered… Travis Kelce in the end zone looks like he’s in the defender’s position… Spencer Ware was covered by two Titans…. but wait, there’s Jeremy Maclin breaking free heading to the pylon. Better to throw into coverage, which is exactly what Alex Smith did but put the ball out of reach for Albert Wilson. And the bleeding continues.
While Eric Berry has had a great season in 2016, it’s hard for me to explain how you can allow the other teams best TE to roam free for three huge plays down the stretch of a critical game. Delanie Walker literally walked all over the Chiefs defense… unabated, uncovered, and it was unfathomable.
The Titans completely destroyed the Chiefs at the goal line. Notice that eight Chiefs are buried three yards upfield while 3 Chiefs are left to try and tackle the 6-foot-3 inch, 240 pound Derrick Henry. Well, it jus ain’t-gonna-happen.
This “touchdown” by the Titans… wasn’t. I’ve been saying for some time now, the NFL needs a panel of ex-refs watching plays like this and then vote within seconds to determine the correct call. Why do i think that? Because that’s we as fans do every single time a call is made. We make snap decision and once we see all the angles of a play we are able to call those plays with a high degree of accuracy. So, why can’t decision makers do the same for the NFL. Also, it doesn;t matter where in the country they are located. You could have a panel of ten guys who sit anywhere and make their calls and vote asap. I’m tired of seeing the wrong calls being made again and again. Let’s end that and move on to use the technology that’s there.
Here’s another missed throw by Alex Smith. Now, what has me miffed here is, that Chris Conley is as open as a WR can get just five yards down field. If it’s a good throw, Conley has at least five yards and probably more. Does Alex Smith watch the game film of Chris Conley? Before this season I predicted a breakout year for Chris but it just hasn’t happened and I don’t think that’s his fault. I don’t know what it will take for Alex Smith to get comfortable with Conley, but he’ll continue to miss out on some big plays until he does.
Seemed like Spencer Ware had more luck running to his left in this game. Here, late in the game, he gets 6 yards on 1st and 10. Two more downs to make 4 more yards but, it didn’t happen.
This was a killer and it got the Titans down inside the five yard-line. One of the Chiefs failings was not being able to cover their RBs out of the backfield. RB DeMarco Murray made big plays for the Titans all day long.
The Tennessee Titans Offensive Line is to be envied. One of the reasons they have success is that they provide their QB protection… five yards back from the line of scrimmage. It’s hard enough for pass rushers to get to the QB but when they have to go nine or ten yards to get there AND go through an excellent group of blockers who obviously play together as witnessed by the beautiful pocket shown below… it’s no wonder they are considered the league’s cream of the crop.
It’s always easy to second guess a player’s or coach’s decision but I really don’t understand what Alex Smith was thinking here on what proved to be the team’s undoing offensively. On 3rd and 3 to go Smith runs an option (and while I also question the call by Andy Reid, it’s Alex Smith decision that takes the cake here) and then before looking upfield decides to keep the ball himself. Now, in previous games in which the Chiefs needed a first down to run out the clock, they went to RB Spencer Ware on key plays. If Alex pitches the ball to Ware then it’s one-on-one for Ware and I like those odds so much more than Alex vs. two Titans… two Titans he didn’t even know where there because he didn;t look first. I have watched that play a couple of times and each time I am struck by the fact that Alex Smith didn’t look first (see next picture).
Here’s Alex a moment earlier and he turns upfield at the same moment he looks upfield. It’s a no win situation and he didn’t win… the situation or the game.
If you made it this far into this diatribe of maddness, my hat’s off to you. Everytime I think about that game, it still comes across as a death by a thousand tiny paper cuts.
Oh what a bloody mess I’ve made of it now.
