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.