Josh Kingsley’s Chiefs: “If you take the red pill…”

I took a little time off this past holiday season. This is rare as I keep myself non-stop, but it was necessary. Santa brought the kids a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, which means I got a Nintendo Switch. I put some substantial hours into Mario Kart 8 over the break time. Email was a put on the back burner for a couple days. I didn’t record a video or podcast last week for the first time in a year, which is wild when I put that thought out for real. What does time off look like for me? About 2 days in total collective. So yeah, I don’t really take time off very well. Non-stop.

The Chiefs took a bit of a break as well, and it was about as long as mine. Their break was 2 quarters this past Sunday. Full disclosure: I did not watch this game, LIVE. I was at a birthday party for a friend’s kid, and by “at” I mean that I was playing music and entertaining kids aged 3-10. This was technically work as it was a gig for the Wedding service company, but I don’t consider stuff like this work, but it was family time.

Catching the Game Old School

The Chiefs have spoiled out-of-market folks like me recently. Our games are always on the networks (and prime time), which is because they are good and compelling. Being relevant is awesome. I am a Verizon customer, which means the NFL app is free stream for in market games. The only downside is it being on a mobile screen, but that is only a first world problem. I can manage. My belief was that I would be able to catch the game. Initially, the watch was available, so I did passively watch the first quarter. Then it went to only the Bears game, which was weird. But, as mentioned before, I was hanging out, so no real issue.

This meant I was following the game on the game cast only. My wife has given me an inordinate amount of guff for watching games like that. Fair point, but she watches dumb TV dramas all the time, so we have agreed to be quiet. This used to be the only option the other side of finding a sports bar of ponying up for Sunday Ticket. In a way it was kind of nice.

Perspective Advantage

Not watching the game LIVE sucked mainly because I wanted to be with my watch party. I love my Arrowhead Kingdom MKE crew, and there was a good-sized group for this one. The always-on network thing is really cramping the out of market watch parties, and that is not my favorite thing. However, this was a good one to follow passively looking at stats. All the rumbling from Sunday and Monday was aimed at bad officiating. I thought it was rough to get an illegal use of hands to kill off a goal line stand at the end of the 4^th quarter, but that was my only opinion.

I have seen comparisons to pro wrestling in my social media feeds. There are some claiming the NFL is driving an agenda and narrative by fixing games. I find myself more in the camp of refs didn’t refuse to guard Chase as he went off for 266 yards. The refs also did not shut the Chiefs out in the 3^rd and hold them to 3 in the 4^th after allowing them to score 28 in the first half. Again, didn’t watch the second half, but the box score doesn’t scream of malfeasance. It does scream of a Bengals O that stayed on the field and a Chiefs O that did not: Punt, Punt, FG in the second half. Not good.

My Thoughts

I am certain I am missing a ton of context and simplifying this, but that is the direction I am choosing to go. The Chiefs may have needed a bit of a break themselves. Yes, this is not a good time to do that. No, I do not think it is a good thing the BYE most likely went away. I am also not thrilled that the margin for error against Denver is zero. Any slip up could mean dropping to the 4 and being on the road for most of the playoffs.

But how do I feel about the loss? Meh. That’s it. Don’t like it but really don’t care either. Here is my list of reasons for this thought process:

• Winning 10 in a row is crazy to expect, and I was calling for it. It’s unfair to really beat up a team for what I believe will be a blip in a 9-1 stretch.
• The Chiefs will beat the Broncos this Saturday (REALLY ticked the game was moved to Saturday BTW) and will end with at least the 2. But we will get to tune in Sunday and hope for a Miami 2019 things with the Titans/Texans.
• This is a not a trend back to bad D. The Chiefs got slashed by a high-octane offense and destroyed by an incredible WR. This was not an aberration for the Bengals. Burrow, Chase and that offense have been rolling all year.
• The Chiefs offense could have put a stop to the whole thing. Turn that 4^th quarter FG into a TD or generally give a crap about scoring and this is a fun shootout win. There has been doom and gloom about the offense most of the season, but I believe we are out of it. The Chiefs will not fail to score if this situation comes up in the playoffs. I truly believe that.
• I loved the goal line stand. Our D has stepped up numerous times recently, and a non-call against Snead changes this narrative.
• Finally, the 2 seed seems fair. This is really where the Chiefs belong. The damage was not done on January 2. It was done weeks 2 and 3 not finishing the job against the Ravens and Chargers. Either of those games end differently and we control our destiny. Both of them work out an we are resting starters. Game of inches.

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Quick Non-Football Notes

I don’t have a long story or anything, so this will be brief. The first note: go see the new Matrix movie in the theater. It is a blast and very well done. Also, I loved the new Ghostbusters for continuing the story instead of rebooting something. The Matrix does this as well. I cannot say any more without getting into the plot: which is a spoiler minefield.

The funniest first 15 minutes of any movie ever is Old School (like how I followed the game… haha). The 15 minutes concludes right as the wedding scene ends. Second place is Idiocracy, so props to Luke Wilson. This is relevant to nothing, but I wanted to get that out there.

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My Final AFC Playoff Seeding

1. Titans
2. Chiefs
3. Bengals
4. Bills
5. Patriots
6. Raiders
7. Colts

I expect every team listed above to win in week 18, and that includes the Raiders. This has been a tumultuous year for them, but I believe they get the job done at home on the biggest stage of the weekend. This means no Big Ben send off, no Lamar, and no Chargers in the playoffs. The Steelers are a valiant effort with an old man at QB, so no real foul there. Lamar was hurt most of the season, which should call into question his usage, but that makes their miss understandable. The Chargers missing is a travesty and a waste of a year of Justin Herbert.

My Final NFC Playoff Seeding

1. Packers
2. Rams
3. Bucs
4. Cowboys
5. Cardinals
6. Eagles
7. Saints

The big news here is the Saints sneaking in. San Fran can make it with a win over the Rams, but I don’t see it happening. As of this writing we don’t know who is even starting for the 9ers. The Rams take care of business. Dallas’ fall to 4 is a smaller bit of news, but overall this looks like an accurate representation of the season.

Divisional Round Matchups

All the AFC Cinderella stories are done by now. I expect all chalk moving on:

• Bills @ Titans
• Bengals @ Chiefs

The NFC will be a little wilder:

• Saints @ Packers
• Cardinals @ Bucs

We just may be headed to exact rematches of last years’ conference championships.

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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne

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Follow on Twitter: @mkechiefsfans

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