Divisional Weekend: The Teachable Moments

A couple fo kids had built a mountain in the sand box and I couldn’t help but jump in on the process. One of the kids wanted to pour water on it and we ended up creating a trough all the way spiraling around the sandy mountain to prepare for pouring water at the top to see if it would travel all the way around the mountain in the trench we’d constructed. Soon, the mountain sides began to give way to the water and the word erosion became our focus.

Those moments are called “teachable moments” and you won’t find them in any teaching manual or teacher’s resource guide either. So, what does that have to do with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Divisional Round this past weekend? Well, we can only hope that the powers that be — namely Andy Reid and Brett Veach — were paying attention to the way the teams that won in the Divisional Round and the way those teams are built, specifically the Eagles, the Patriots, the Jags and the Vikings, because one of those teams is winning the Super Bowl and because, there was a lot to be learned there.

Philadelphia Eagles 15, Atlanta Falcons 10

This game wasn’t about the fact that back-up QB Nick Foles had a good game. He did, but that’s not the takeaway from this contest. The takeaway is more about the response the Eagles had to the Falcons high powered offense. Anytime you can hold Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman and Mohamed Sanu, to 10 points, then you accomplished something. Could the Chiefs have done that? Not the way they’re currently constructed.

In 2016, the Chiefs held opponents to 10 points or less three times and to only14 points twice. In 2017, they held teams to 10, 12, 15, 13 and 13 but also gave up scores of: 27, 34, 31, 28, 38 and 24. Consequently, it’s reasonable to assume that the way the Chiefs are coached doesn’t lead to enough consistency defensively for them to make it through the playoffs.

Tennessee Titans 14, New England Patriots 35

As much as I was enjoying seeing the Titans dismantled by the Patriots, I couldn’t help feeling that the Chiefs would have done much better than Tennessee. While the Patriots seemed to be marching up and down the field, it was there defense that has continued to grow during the season to the point that they were able to dictate to the Titans what the outcome of this game would be. I think the Chiefs offense this season is comparable to the Patriots offense but its the Pats D that has elevated itself. Now, we’ll see if they’ve elevated themselves enough to go to another Super Bowl.

Jacksonville Jaguars 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 42

Ask yourself, which team has the most high powered offense in the NFL this year? If you answered with the Pittsburgh Steelers you’d have answered the way I did. So, why did that high powered offense lose this Divisional Round game? The answer comes back to defense. The Jacksonville Jaguars have built one of he best defenses I’ve seen in years. The Vikings led the league in total defense… and the Eagles led the league in rushing defense… and the Jags led the league in passing defense. It’s no surprise that all three of those teams are in the final four next weekend. The Jags have also been near the top of the league in Takeaways, Sacks, Fewest Points Allowed. That’s always a recipe for success. Add in two top tier CBs, and a DL for the ages and you’ve got yourself a team that’s going to challenge for a championships for years to come.

New Orleans Saints 24, Minnesota Viking 29

In one of the most competitive games I’ve ever seen, the Vikes used their last play with 10 seconds remaining, to throw a 61-yards pass to WR Stephon Diggs who was missed by the Minnesota Safety as he turned it up field and made it all the way to the end zone.

The Vikings seem “touched by angles” this year. They’ve lost excellent QBs only to have journeyman Case Keenum step in and play out of his mind football. They have to play next week in Philadelphia but I can see them returning to play in Minnesota for the last game of the year. The reason that this game was so excellent was that both teams had excellent offenses and stellar defenses. 

Summing it All Up

While I think each team in the final four has playmakers on offense, each of them have even better defenses. Out of all the teams playing next weekend, the Jacksonville Jaguars has the best defense. If the Chiefs want to take the next steps towards becoming a playoff winner and begin to play in Conference Championship games, then they must stick to the blueprint outlined by John Dorsey years ago: build the team through the draft… but now add the caveat, build the defense through the draft. The Chiefs have one top flight CB but need to secure another. They are also in need of another rush OLB and a defensive lineman at least as good as Chris Jones.

So, what do you make of the Divisional Round Games? Any takeaways you’d like to share?

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