Hanging Half a Hundred

Mitch Holthus quoted linebacker Reggie Ragland before kickoff, “We will play them in Mexico City. We will play in LA. We will play them in the parking lot or we will play them in the bathroom, but we are gonna play.”

In my short few years of following every heartbeat of the Chiefs, rarely have I heard the tones and inflections of our beloved Mitch Holthus, sink in such despair and boom. One minute, he had me raising my hands in the air with joy taking a sip from my Chiefs’ glass and the next I was balling my fists in frustration pacing my man cave like a caged animal. 

Legendary college head football coach Berry Switzer, of the Oklahoma Sooners used to say, “We’re going to go out there and hang half a hundred on them.” On Monday night, in what was the highest scoring Monday Night Football game in NFL history, the Kansas City Chiefs and the LA Rams did just that.

Since the beginning of the season, this game was billed as the heavyweight match of the season - a potential super bowl preview. A lot of times, when games are so highly touted, they do not live up to the hype, but I believe this one surpassed it. 

The fireworks started the moment Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker put toe to leather at kick off. They would not stop until the clock read double zeros - 3 hours and 42 minutes later. On a night where every single play left the outcome of the game hanging in the balance and absolutely every single snap mattered, the Chiefs showed an incredible amount of fight. Several times in the game, the Chiefs were behind, but the resilience of this team is something to be admired.

When they were down 13-0 in the first quarter, instead of accepting defeat and folding, they exploded. 

Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes, completed 33 of 46 passes for 478 yards, 6 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions. Even though Mahomes was racking up more stats, he also had the Rams defensive line in his face or on top of him several times throughout the night. One moment, the Mahomes was at the bottom of a pile of Rams, the ball raked out of his grasp and ran in for a defensive Rams touchdown. The next minute, Mahomes would air out a 73-yard bomb to Tyreek Hill. The Cheetah was loose, sprinting into the end zone. This roller coaster of emotions continued all night, as Mahomes, at one point even visible bleeding from his forehead, would play the hardest I have seen him play so far, trading touchdowns for touchdowns with the Rams. Even while being slammed to the turf by Rams defenders, he always got back up and kept fighting.

                On the way to 51 points, Mahomes, generous as always, spread the wealth to a bevy of different receivers. Most notably Mahomes assisted Tyreek “the Cheetah” Hill and Travis Kelce to double digit performances. Kelce would log 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown, The Cheetah had a total of 215 yards on 10 catches and a pair of touchdowns. Justin Houston mauled Rams QB Jared Goff, knocking the ball loose, which was promptly scooped up off the turf and ran in for a defensive touchdown by Allen “the Hulk” Baily. The Chiefs front 7 would make a sucker out of Goff, sacking him 5 times for a loss of 34 yards and 7 quarterback hurries.

The Chiefs have broken some sort of a record in every game this season. Last night’s game was no exception. Collectively, both teams would wrack up 11 offensive scores, 3 defensive touchdowns and 3 field goals. The 105 points total would set an NFL record for the most points scored in a Monday Night Football game in league history. Unfortunately, the points left on the field will haunt the Chiefs. 

Make no mistake, the Chiefs showed an absolutely astounding amount of fight and resilience, but through penalties, sack strips and 14 points put up by the Rams defense, they would fall just 3 points short of tying the game and a touchdown to win it all. Do not fret,  Chiefs fans. Our boys in red move to 9-2 which is still the best record in the AFC. They are still very much in playoff contention.

The Chiefs will take this loss into their bye week. They will need this time to rest and recover from a physical and emotional game. They return to Arrowhead on December 2^nd to defeat divisional rivals, the Oakland Raiders.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, football fanZ

Looking Ahead?

At the beginning of last week, there was much concern among fans and media, that the Chiefs would get so caught up in looking ahead (to the looming Monday night game in Mexico City on November 19^th) that they would forget about playing host to the Arizona Cardinals in Arrowhead on November 11^th.

But on Sunday afternoon, it took 3 bombs from Mahomes to Hill, in a 3 play drive that took 56 seconds off the clock. By the time the game clock had lapsed a minute, Tyreek Hill had jumped into the stands with his first of two touchdown celebrations, and the Chiefs were on the board.

The Chiefs had not been stuck with their heads in the clouds looking ahead at all.

This first touchdown, was the 30^th touchdown pass of Patrick Mahomes’ career, which was a 37 yard bomb to Tyreek Hill in the end zone. This tied him with Len Dawson for most touchdown passes in a single season. This record had been held for 54 years and took Dawson the entire season to accomplish. Just a little over half way through the season, Mahomes broke that record with his 31^st touchdown pass. The Chiefs had 3^rd and goal, from the Cardinals 14 yard line. The football zinged out of Mahomes hands and to Tyreek Hill in the end zone for a 14 yard record-breaking touchdown.

Hill finished the game with 7 receptions for 117 yards and two touchdowns, not to mention 20 rushing yards on his only carry of the day. The only blemish on the usual outstanding offensive performance, was the 5 sacks the Cardinals managed on the Chiefs star quarterback.

On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs defense made Cardinals rookie quarterback Josh Rosen very uncomfortable with the return of Chiefs’ veteran pass rusher Justin Houston. When Cardinals’ QB Josh Rosen passed the ball to running back David Johnson, Houston reached up and snagged the ball out of the air - letting everyone know, that after a month of dealing with an injury - he was back.

The Chiefs continued to be right up in Rosen’s business all afternoon. Defensive lineman, Chris Jones, spent more time in the Cardinals back field than Cards running back David Johnson. Jones, the proverbial bull in the China shop, sacked Josh Rosen twice, forcing a fumble, logging a couple more tackles, two passes batted down and three more hits on the quarterback. One of those sacks on Cards was done almost using one of Rosen’s own lineman. 

To add to the Dee Ford, Justin Houston and Allen Baily (referred to as the Hulk by Mitch Holthus) also took the QB for a ride down the opposite end of the field. All three logged sacks against Rosen. Rosen would fight desperately for a comeback win, down 26 to 14 in the 4th, but his long pass would be intercepted by Stephen Nelson, bringing the attempt to a screeching halt and sealing yet another Chiefs victory and stifling any notions that anyone might have had about the Chiefs getting caught looking ahead.

The Chiefs next big test looms ahead. On Monday, November 19^th, the Chiefs will face arguably the best team in the NFC, the LA Rams, in Mexico City. It has been stated that while the Chiefs have one of the most high-powered offenses in the AFC, the Rams boast that same claim in the NFC. In case that were not enough to set the stage for a dramatic showdown, the Chiefs will be paying a visit to an old friend. Former Chief, Marcus Peters, cut by the Chiefs in the 2018 off season, now a Rams’ cornerback is eager to face his old teammates.  So the Monday night battle is sure to be one for the ages, and the Blind QB will be there to guide you through every play.

Domination Vs. Desperation

Sunday’s match-up can be seen as the sequel to a game in Lubbock Texas two years ago. Mayfield of the Oklahoma Sooners and Mahomes of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, faced off in an epic offensive game that would go down in college football history, as both QBs helped define the term “gunslinger” and both teams’ offenses had a collective total of over 1,700 yards. 

Sunday’s game was the long awaited rematch of the two outstanding quarterbacks. And while both QBs completely lived up to what we expect from them, one lead a team dominating the NFL with touchdowns and teamwork while the other lead a team desperate for a win.

The Cleveland Browns came into the game with a 2-5 record and even a tie. They fired head coach Hugh Jackson the week before. Let’s be honest, for Baker Mayfield and the Browns, all bets were off and they had nothing to lose. The desperation emanated from each play on the field

.

The Chiefs, on the other hand, continued to dominate the field. Their offense was studded with all the usual weapons and carved up the Browns’ defense, complete with a few injuries for 499 yards (375 of which were through the air). Mahomes racked up his 8^th consecutive game for passing for over 300 yards. Mahomes now has 29 touchdown passes and has thrown for 3,185 yards - the most by any quarterback in a 10 game stretch in NFL history. While Mahomes continued his record shattering season, he also blazed the trail for two other Chiefs stars for five touchdowns between the two of them.

The Batman-and-Robin-like partnership that is Mahomes and Hunt, accounted for 3 touchdowns Sunday. The first came on a screen play that Hunt turned into a 50 yard catch and dash for the end zone. At the Browns 1 yard line, Mahomes handed off the ball almost calmly to Hunt, and he plowed his way through defenders straight into the end zone. The Chiefs blocked a punt and two plays later, Hunt ran it in from 10 yards out. 

Mahomes zipped a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce from 13 yards out, throwing the football through a window about the size of a cereal box, and also throw another one up for #87 to come down with in the end zone. This one for 11 yards.

The Browns, when met with manageable fourth downs, did not even take a moment to think, before leaving the offense on the field to pick up that down. When the Browns scored a touchdown, there was no pause before they would go for two, unfortunately, none of those attempts would be successful. This speaks to a team completely out of options, willing to try anything and everything but to no avail.

Mahomes finished the day 23-32 for 375 yards and throwing for 3 of the 5 KC touchdowns and one interception. Kareem Hunt finished the day with 91 yards on 17 carries, 2 touchdowns running and one receiving, and the big tight end # 87 wrapped up his performance with 7 receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Chiefs’ defenders, Anthony “Hitch” Hitchens and Stephen Nelson both recorded 8 solo tackles and the defense coming up with 3 tackles for loss and two sacks of Browns QB Baker Mayfield.

The Browns finished up with 21 points. Mayfield finished the day 29-42 for 297 yards and 1 interception. A fantastic performance by a fantastic quarterback, but it fell short of that 2016 shootout in Lubbock. It was not enough to slow down the Chiefs, who asserted their dominance once again.

Next week, on the 100^th anniversary of Veterans’ Day, the Chiefs will host Josh Rosen and the Arizona Cardinals back at Arrowhead stadium and your own Blind QB will be on top of all the action to watch Mahomes and the Chiefs continue dominating the NFL.

Stay tuned football fanz!