Play to the Whistle

The most exciting plays - the ones with the on-fire offense and 85 yard bombs caught for touchdowns - are the ones that will trickle down to many a future generation of Chiefs fans.  But what should not be forgotten about this Chiefs team lead by a unicorn quarterback, are those games that produce only a few sparks but lead to winning the game anyway.

Those games are not made of high octane offense, flashy plays and gaudy stats, but rather a tenacity and true grit that would make John Wayne proud. Sunday’s game in Detroit was just such a game.

It was a grueling battle against a foe that is rarely faced. Some might say that when the Chiefs travel to the lands of their divisional rivals - those are always tough games. But the enemy you know is always preferred over the enemy you do not and that is the sort of challenge that awaited the Chiefs in Lion Country in more ways than one.

In the week leading up to the game against the Lions, much was made of this being the first game for Mahomes in a dome. Everyone assumed that the Chiefs would roll into Detroit, tame the Lions and head home with ease, so I gave no credence to any notion of the dome causing Mahomes any sort of an issue. I cannot say for sure if it was the dome, which serviced to magnify the shouts of the Lions fans into a deafening roar, but it was clear from kick off that the Chiefs were struggling from the start.

It would be easy to focus on all the things that went wrong for the Chiefs in this game. But in my opinion, this game showed more than a team’s weakness but what is perhaps one of its hidden strengths - the tenacity and sheer fortitude of the team as a whole to accomplish the goal of winning the game. 

Case in point: the Lions offense stood on the Chiefs 1 yard line, preparing to claw into the hearts of the Chiefs and their fans. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford handed the ball off to his running back Kerryon Johnson, who had torched the Chiefs defense all day. Johnson plunged forward into the Chiefs line, only to be stopped just short of the goal line. At that moment all motion ceased on the field and spectators believed the play to be over. Chiefs’ cornerback Bashaud Breeland knew better because he heard no whistle – the only way to signal the end of a play. He scooped up the ball and ran it back 99 yards for a Chiefs touchdown, completely uncontested. 

Mitch Holthus’ signature catch phrase of “touchdown, Kan-Sas City” did not come until minutes later, when the play was reviewed and determined that contrary to popular belief, the play had never stopped. The points came, as did the catch phrase, and when Holthus shouted it, I have never heard him do so with such surprise and pure joy, then on that 99 yard return, that no one thought mattered.

Play to the whistle” he declared, “Don’t ever assume a play is dead just because it has stopped. Until that whistle is blown, there is still a chance to make a play.”

The rest of the game went much in the same vain. The Chiefs defense would be carved up for over 400 yards by Stafford and his pride of Lions, while the Chiefs offense would lose as many fumbles as they scored touchdowns. But when those touchdowns came, they did not come on the arm of Mahomes on an effortless pass, but in grueling, churning runs by Lesean “Shady” McCoy and Darrel Williams. 

It has been said that football is a game of yards but this football game was a game of inches. 24 seconds before game’s end, the Chiefs were on the Lions’ 1 yard line. Mahomes having just delivered a fiery sideline speech to his offense and orchestrated a 13 play 76 yard drive, he just needed a field goal to tie and a touchdown to win. I sat on the couch and said to my buddy sitting next to me, “Screw the tie, let’s get the TD and get the hell out of dodge.” The Chiefs must have had heard my plea, for the ball was snapped to Mahomes, handed off to Williams who was literally pushed and shoved by two offensive linemen into the end zone which gave the Chiefs a 33-30 lead with 20 seconds to go in the game. The Lions would come storming back and attempt a Hail Mary pass into the end zone, but it would be batted down by Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill. Lions fans wanted a flag for pass interference, but in the words of Holthus, “they won’t get it” and the intense game blessedly ended.

Yes, Chiefs did 100 things wrong, had as many fumbles as they did offensive touchdowns and Patrick Mahomes had only his second game with no touchdown passes. They caused penalty flags, missed a field goal and the defense was carved up. They played in Lions territory, in a dome in a hostile environment. But you know what? THEY WON!!!

For your blind quarterback, games like this show grit and determination. They show Chiefs’ fans and the rest of the football universe, that when the flashy plays and gaudy stats fail, you still shouldn’t count out the Kansas City Chiefs.