When Things Go Bump in the Night (Chiefs Lose Sunday)

When Things Go Bump in the Night (Chiefs Lose Sunday)

David Bell

I was ready to look very positively at the likely outcome of games 4 through 7. However, the Chiefs status changed abruptly when K.C. lost to Indy. The net result of the Chiefs losing that game caused me to scratch an article I had prepared for Monday or Tuesday, but it turned into a short story called: “When Things Go Bump in the Night.”

What I witnessed in this game was repetitive errors by many of the Chiefs. Unfortunately, most of those errors were a faux pas of the “One Off” situational type. Yet, I want to identify them due to the game’s outcome.

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1. The Muffed Kickoff return Fumble by Skyy Moore occurred right out the gate for the Chiefs offense. It continued with mistake after mistake after that. The Colts were in a “can hardly fail” position to score a TD – which they did along with the XP – This is a One-Off Error, -7 points, -“X” points if the Chiefs drive for a score. Therefore, the misplayed catch should have been a possible 14-point Swing going from a 7-point deficit to at least a likely 7-point lead or better.
2. Watson’s Failed Catch at about the 9-yard line — If Justin Watson makes that catch? It changes the complexion of the game. So figure that Watson’s TOUGH CATCH THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE. Take -6 Points off the board.
3. The Missed FG by Matt Ammendola -3 points. I am grateful that Matt could come in and serve as the Chiefs placekicker due to Harrison Butker’s Injury. The truth is, Ammendola was unemployed in the first place due to missed XPs and FGs. Butker should be back and kicking in week four. I’ll assign this a -4 points–likely a one-off pair of errors.
4. The Missed XP by Matt Ammendola; -1. The team Cut Ammendola on Monday.
5. Just before the half, OC Eric Bieniemy called a running play — He took the ball out of the hands of Patrick Mahomes, content to go to the locker room instead of counting on PMII to make a big play. Who knows whether it might have been a three or 6-point swing. I see that as a poor decision by EB. This observation goes along with the next point. ‘X” points.
6. Play-calling decisions appeared disjointed and kept the Chief’s offense from being in sync [admitted by Andy Reid]. -“X” number of points.
7. Patrick Mahomes badly overthrew Marquez Valdez-Scantling, who got separation on the defender. The pass was not catch-able by MVS. It would have been a sure TD had the pass been on target. -6 points. [Plus, Mahomes was pressured and hit all day!]
8. The ground game ground to a halt. In fact, for much of the game, Patrick Mahomes was the leading rusher. That is not a good ground game stat. One of ArrowheadOne’s constant followers observed that the play-calling was abysmal. I agree that play-calling was somewhere between abysmal and dismal.
9. The for-sure game-winning catch in the end-zone – was a drop by Travis Kelce. -6 points.

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10. On a TD by the Colts, Darius Harris missed his assignment and was not in place to defend against the pass. Harris had a great game with 13 Tackles, but that breakdown, likely due to unfamiliarity, allowed 7 points to go up on the board for Indy. -7 points.

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11. The tipped pass from Mahomes ends the Chiefs last possession. That was a good play by the Colts, but it ended the game in a loss when the Colts intercepted the tipped ball. A tipped ball that is intercepted should not be scored as an INT against the QB, but it does, and it was Patrick’s first of the season. -“-x” points.

12. The offensive line was porous on pass protection and blocked poorly for the ground game. Or, at least, their coordination with the RBs was horrid.

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When you consider the first error as setting a stage for a string of mishaps throughout the game, the muffed Kickoff return catch by Skyy Moore could have been the cause – but it wasn’t. A Championship team recovers from single errors and plays the game from an error-free standpoint going forward. Unfortunately, that’s what didn’t happen for the Chiefs. Instead, the Chiefs, as a team, did everything they could to lose that game.

Above, I listed Twelve (12) items. From that tally, you can play with the numbers your way but the figure at which I arrive at a figure of 22 points that the Chiefs could have tallied… but didn’t… and… the Chiefs handed over 2 TDs due to playing errors. So, 14 points are given to the opponent. Why 14? Their PK didn’t miss an XP.

If you examine the errors made as I have, the Chiefs should(?) have, and indeed, could have, scored in the game. Moreover, the mistakes made resulted in 14 points that the Chiefs gifted to the Colts during the game. That then becomes a 30+ PPG for the Chiefs and Six Points subtracted from Colt’s total of 20 points.

Vanity of Vanities, it looks like I am striving after wind.

I have no clue how to guesstimate the “X” points numerically. To put it bluntly, the Chiefs did everything they could to lose this game, and lose it they did.

As a result, the Chiefs lead the AFC W 2-1 but are tied in the overall outlook with Denver, but show based on the in-conference game vs. the Chargers, which the Chiefs won. Unfortunately, Jimmy Garoppolo committed a player error, stepping out of the back of the end zone in the Frisco-Denver game. The Garoppolo boo-boo gave the Broncos the win on a 2-point swing as they won the game 11-10. Had the Chiefs not shot themselves so often in the foot, they would be leading the division 3-0. It’s too bad Jimmy G. flubbed up in the game against the Broncos on Sunday Night.

After Sunday’s game, I opted not to finish the night with the Bronco’s game. I was already disappointed and miffed horribly. The result was a night hearing: “Things that go bump in the night.”

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Of things going bump. I already suffer from insomnia, and the fact that I heard things go bump in the night and came to startling awakeness didn’t help. I woke up needing coffee the following day, but had to run to the Market to replenish my supply before I could brew a pot. 

My Bottom Line Doesn’t Change

I figured a couple of ways that the Chiefs would have won the game, the first being the 3-point conversion that Ammendola ended up missing — or, just giving the Chiefs one of the two TDs… or, Just assuming that Ammendola’s missed FG was not a miss and the Chiefs thus tie things up at the end of the game, which then goes to OT. All my mental machinations were for naught. The Chiefs handed the Colts their first win, and that’s in the books. I was thinking about games 4 through 7 after a win vs. the Colts. The complexity and toughness of the Chief’s schedule become a more difficult path attempting to go 6-1 at the Bye. What I meant was, starting out 3-0 would be great. I then would allow a loss in the next few games. I’ll be truthful: my scratched article plotted a route to a 7-0 record. That’s not possible now, of course.

Crying Over Spilt Milk Does No Good

The Chiefs will get to work this week and shake off the dog-bitten loss. Drat. What more can be said? Get going, Chiefs. There is a ton to be done between now and week 18.

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David Bell – ArrowheadOne

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