Conquering the Black Hole

I remember listening to my first Chiefs/Raiders game. I had only been in Kansas City about two months. It was pouring down rain in Oakland. Mitch Holthus was describing the Raiders’ field to me, and I could hardly believe his words. Holthus dubbed the Oakland Coliseum as the “Black Hole” of football fields. Not only was this field completely flooded on this particular day, it was covered in mud and possibly human sewage. Sparks flew in the tunnel the players ran out of due to the storm. 

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

For better or worse, the Oakland Coliseum has a rich history, both in football and in baseball. The Oakland Coliseum is the last of its kind housing both the Oakland A’s in baseball and the Raiders in football with both teams sharing the field two months out of the year. For years now Raiders home games during September and parts of October are played on the infield and part of the pitcher’s mound. Not only is it confusing for football spectators but for NFL players it was like playing on “a cement parking lot” and running as fast as you could only to “jump in the air and do a belly flop on the pavement.”

This and many more factors have made the Oakland Coliseum one of the worst and most notorious out of all 32. Raider Nation, however, has learned to embrace it, coining the term “Black Hole” with a positive connotation to it that ensures that it live up to its reputation. The team and the rest of the NFL however, do not embrace this part of Raider culture. In 2017 it was announced that the team would call Las Vegas home beginning in the 2020 season – making them the first NFL team to call the city home.

But until then, the Raiders will continue to play on this dual purpose, yet dangerous field until baseball season concludes for the A’s. And yesterday’s game was no exception. The “Black Hole” of Raiders’ Nation nearly threatened to break the spirit of Chiefs’ Kingdom. This was a big game for the Raiders. They wanted to end their last home game in Oakland by stomping their AFC west rivals. And Raider Nation had the same sentiment for as soon as the National Anthem ended and kickoff was about to take place, a rousing rumbling chant of “F*** the Chiefs” began to engulf the stadium.

During the first quarter, it seemed that the angry chants of Raider Nation within the “Black Hole” Oakland Coliseum was getting to our beloved Chiefs. Mahomes still hobbled on his ankle from his injury from the week prior. Tyreek “The Cheetah” Hill watched on the sidelines with his arm in a sling. Eric Fisher left with an injury during the first offensive series. Raiders’ rookie running back, Josh Jacobs, showed them up with chunk plays – even one as long as 51 yards at one point. With the sting from the venomous rumblings of Raider Nation in their ears, the Chiefs ended the first quarter 10-0. It was a moment all of Chiefs Kingdom had feared – that Andy Reid had finally run out of plays and our super human quarterback lost his luster.

I slumped on my couch – already dejected so early in the game, resigned to the fact that we might lose and give the Raiders one final home opener victory in Oakland. 

But as first quarter turned into second quarter, my hopes were restored...with a vengeance.

Patrick Mahomes put together a second quarter rarely seen in football today, finishing the quarter with 278 yards passing, four touchdown throws – making him only the second in league history to do so. This left Raiders Nation silent as a tomb at halftime with the score being 28-10 Chiefs as the teams left at the half. 

The second half proved to be easier than the first but not without its share of challenges. The Chiefs’ defense used a mix of interceptions and sacks to make sure the Raiders didn’t reach the end zone. By the end of the day, Mahomes had thrown 443 yards – making him the first player in NFL history to throw for over 800 yards in the first two games of the season with NO interceptions.

What had seemingly looked to be the last opening day victory for the Raiders in Oakland – turned out to be the Chiefs’ last opening day victory in the “Black Hole.” While the “Black Hole” will now be a thing of the past for football fans, the intense rivalry between these two teams will last for lifetimes to come. 

Next up is the Chiefs’ home opener at Arrowhead against the Baltimore Ravens with their own form of a super hero quarterback.

Stay tuned.

If You Can't Stand the Heat

The last 7 months have been quite a whirlwind in Kansas City football for being the offseason.

We’ve seen fan favorites cut or traded, league favorites signing to the Chiefs to call Kansas City home and even some fresh-faced college kids starting their NFL career with Kansas City. 

After training camp and preseason games, we all went back and forth in our minds as to what this upcoming season had for our MVP quarterback and the rest of our beloved Chiefs.

Finally, the week of the first game signaling the beginning of NFL season arrived. The Chiefs were headed to Jacksonville to face off against the Jaguars in their first game since January.

Former Indiananoplis Colts’ head coach (and even former Chiefs’ defensive coordinator), Tony Dungy spent this week proclaiming that the heat and the humidity in Jacksonville would quickly melt the wings of the Chiefs’ high-flying offense and the defense would quickly become fatigued as the game drew on.

And then Sunday came. The temperatures in Jacksonville reached the high 90’s – even triple digits on the field. And you bet our Chiefs were determined to prove Dungy wrong.

I sat on my couch, wearing my Mahomes shirt, holding my almost 3 month old son, while my 2 and half year old daughter ran around the house, yelling, “Footbah! Footbah!” All 3 of us waiting in anticipation to hear that boisterous voice – The Voice of the Chiefs, Mitch Holthus declare in an excited tone that football season – Chiefs’ football season – had begun.

Within 96 seconds of the kick-off, NFL MVP, Patrick Mahomes at 3^rd and 3, lofted a pass to Sammy Watkins who proceeded to sprint 67 yards into the end zone, marking the first of many touchdowns for the season. (Watch Watkins' amazing touchdown run here.)

The first game proved to be eventful string of injuries and out in out brawls on the field. The Jags starting quarterback, Nick Foles went down in the first quarter, leaving the game with an injury. Our Cheetah, Tyreek Hill was carted off the field after the third drive with a shoulder injury. Even our unicorn quarterback was not immune when he was sacked during the fourth offensive drive, leaving fans breathless as he limped off the field with some assistance from coaching staff. Thankfully, he emerged from the blue medical tent, a few short minutes later walking around with a wrapped up ankle, ready to continue, shaking off what turned out to be a rolled ankle and the heat of a thousand suns.

The heat had claimed a few casualties already but not for Chiefs’ Sammy Watkins. After his 67 yard touchdown run, Watkins ended up having a monstrous day on the field. He finished the game, clocking in 2 yards shy of 200 yards on the day with 9 receptions and 3 touchdowns.

The heat seemed to get to more of the Jags than the Chiefs. Tempers flared throughout the game on both sides. The biggest brawl seemed to be between Jags linebacker, Miles Jack and Chiefs’ receiver, Demarcus Robinson in the end zone after a play. Jack was not happy with something and decided to shove and even throw a few punches to not just Robinson, but a few more Chiefs. The Chiefs were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and Jack would be ejected – not willingly though. He literally had to be dragged off the field by his teammates, the refs and his coaching staff.

At one point Mitch noted in the 3^rd quarter, while Jags’ helmets were pointing downward as if in prayers for the game clock to strike 0, Chiefs’ helmets were still up straight and facing forward, ready to continue the attack. The Chiefs offense swam through the humidity, racking up 40 points on the day. That’s 40 points without the Cheetah, wide receiver and having a mildly injured star quarterback.

The Chiefs’ defense wasn’t without its share of challenges for the day. Our defense would have to face two Jags quarterbacks. After Foles injury, true rookie, Gardner Minshew II, stepped up. Being the college football fan that I am, I recognized Minshew’s name when it was announced. I followed his career at Washington State and knew that he would prove to be a good match for our Chiefs’ D.

Minshew also wore #15 and the comparisons to Mahomes didn’t stop there. Minshew, like Mahomes, didn’t give up and was consistently making something out of nothing with effort, throwing for 22-25 completions. The Chiefs defense struggled at first but found their footing when Minshew threw a pass and was immediately buried by a pile of red and white. 

The bright flash that was the Chiefs’ defense continued to shine throughout the day. Minshew and his Jags were at the Chiefs’ 25 yard line, 25 yards away from pay dirt. The Chiefs forced a fumble that they quickly recovered, putting a nail in the Jags’ coffin.

At the end of a little over 3 hours, the heat had definitely taken its toll on both teams. Injuries on both teams on both sides of the ball, fighting a hard battle of the first game of the 2019-2020 season. The Chiefs would stand victorious with 40 points over a team that only allowed a max 15 points for visiting teams in the previous season. The Jags were able to rack up 26 points, but dragged themselves to their locker room, dejected and defeated by the heat – and I’m not just referring to the weather.

The Chiefs started their season on fire.

Elsewhere in the NFL, 346 miles away in Miami, the Baltimore Ravens completely eviscerated the Miami Dolphins with a final score of 59-10 – the most points scored in a season opener since 1995. The Ravens’ starting quarterback, Lamar Jackson and wide receiver (a former Oklahoma Sooner) Marquise Brown. This should be a warning to Chiefs’ fans when they return home in two weeks for their home opener to play Jackson, Brown and the rest of the Ravens.

But before that predictably eventful game, our boys head to Oakland to play the Raiders.

Your BQB will be listening intently to share with you all the action from the game.

Until next time.