Sunday, October 15, 2006
Just a Few NFL Thoughts
Kansas City Chiefs v/ Pittsburgh Steelers:
First: The Steelers defense made the Chiefs offense look sad. The game was over before half-time and the Chiefs had only managed to put up 42 yards of offense. If the Steelers were looking a little sickly before this week, they sure seem better now.
Second: Johnson’s post-interception tackle of Troy Polamalu might not have been illegal (it wasn’t) but it certainly wasn’t very nice. Actually, it was less the tackle that bothered me than it was Johnson’s attitude after he pulled Polamalu down by his hair; it wasn’t what you would call a classy play on his part.
Third: Here in Denver, they actually switched coverage from the KC game with something like 10 minutes left so that we could watch the closer Miami game. That doesn’t happen often and, for local KC fans, it cant’ feel very good.
Dallas v/ Houston
First: What’s this? A story about TO that isn’t negative in tone? Shocking.
Second: Dallas beat up the sad (but not, so far, as sad as the Raiders) Houston Texans. The tough thing about beating a team like Houston is that no one is impressed. If you beat them, well, so what? You were supposed to beat them. If you lose, well, that’s another story entirely.
Third: Which is, of course, why I’m a little worried about tonight’s Broncos-Raiders game.
Miami v/ New York Jets
First: Are the Dolphins better with Harrington instead of Daunte Cullpepper? Cullpepper, like Kurt Warner seems to be, might see his brilliant career end on a sad, injury-plagued note. What
Second: Miami still didn’t win, but it seemed like there was at least a chance.
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Comments & Trackbacks
The Steelers didn’t make the Chief’s defense look sad. The Chief’s defense is sad.
I feel bad for Chief’s fans this year. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be an easy one.
It was one game, in Pittsburgh, playing the Super Bowl champs in game that the Steelers had to win to keep playoff hopes alive. That’s the same situation that led to Chiefs beating SF (with the #4 offense in the NFL) 41-0 just two weeks ago. Oh, and we went into Pittsburgh with a 2nd-string QB and 3rd-string LT.
This was the first of a tough 3-game stretch in which KC plays both Super Bowl participants...going 3-0 in that stretch would be a miracle; losing to the Steelers was the most likely loss. It’s what KC does against SD and Seattle at home that will reveal KC’s chances for the post-season.
What amazes me is Shanahan’s ability to get his team to do enough to win. The Chiefs went into Invesco and forced Denver into overtime despite Plummer playing it safe and not throwing INTs. Yet despite that being such a close game, Denver is now 5-1 and KC 2-3. [shakes head] That’s why Shanahan is one of the best coaches in the league.
KC is still coming together as a team with 23 new players, a new head coach, and a new O Coordinator. We’re probably not as good as we looked against SF, but not as bad as we looked against Pittsburgh. We still have a chance to challenge for a wildcard spot, but are probably still at least a year away from having a chance to contend for the Super Bowl.