As I sat listening to one of my favorite philosophers, Dr. John (the musician, not to be confused with Dr. Phil or any other poser), I was struck by how much one of his songs seemed to hit the situation of the Chiefs right on the head. He was singing how we should “accentuate the positive, eliminate all the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mr, In-Between”. So, in own biased way I am going to try and put the season up to this point in perspective.
Before I get started, though, I have to say how wonderful it was to once again be at Arrowhead on opening day. There’s no place like it and no fans like Chief fans. Even with the slight rain during tailgate time there were no problems, as the folks next to us allowed us under their canopy in a spirit of sharing common to all Chiefs. My grill got extra use in return by cooking some of their stuff for them. My dad got his picture taken with X-Factor (can’t wait to show THAT to my mother) and the National Anthem fly-over was superb. Okay, on with it.
Accentuate the Positive–Our defense has performed admirably to this point. Except for the no-huddle, hurry-up drive and the other touchdown drive, I have no complaints about the defense. My only concern is that we should have perhaps used a time-out somewhere in there to get some fresh legs and to let our defense catch it’s breath. Otherwise, no complaints. Against the Donkeys, I was very happy to see Plummer have to get up off the ground once in a while as our linemen introduced themselves. Again, except for the drive in overtime I thought our defense did a superb job. When we held them to a field goal, after a first and goal on the two, I had visions of our great defenses of the past somehow suiting up once again. Well done, defense, well done.
Eliminate all the Negative—Fumbles, fumbles, fumbles. I believe we are 0-2 because of fumbles. Magnificent opening drive against Denver and a fumble. Dante fumbles and the Bengals score. Eliminate the fumbles and I firmly believe that we are undefeated at this point. I may be stretching it, but it illustrates how crucial those fumbles are.
Latch on to the Affirmative–Keep the defense improving. More blitzes (I love blitzes, I really do). I am impressed with our run defense especially. The linebackers are light years from last year and the tackling seems to be tremendously improved–finishing a tackle and wrapping up seemed almost non-existent last year. Our penalties seem to have decreased as well.
Don’t Mess with Mr. In-Between–Open up the offense some. We do not need to get so predictable that the other team knows what is coming as soon as we line up. I know that Huard is not Green, but he is no rookie, either. At least give them the opportunity and the chance to either succeed or fail. We will never know unless they are given the go-ahead to at least try. Yes, our offensive tackles are suspect, but they are professionals and should be able to either handle it. If not, get someone who can. But, we will never know what they can or cannot do if they are not asked or expected to do certain things. Larry Johnson will get his yards, that is not even a worry. Dink and dunk passes work up to a point and then something else must be tried. It was a very good plan against Denver, but it probably won’t work against too many other teams without some variation.
Finally, I wish all the best for Trent Green on his recovery, not just as a football player but as a person who has suffered a horrible injury. I wish to express my appreciation to the Jumbo-Tron operator for not showing the replay of that hit. I went three days before I could bring myself to watch it. To this day I am still amazed, shocked and in disbelief as to how the league could not impose ANY consequence of ANY kind on either the player or the official. Heck, even the officials who blew the Oklahoma-Oregon game got a game suspension.
We will do well this season. I feel much better after these two games, even if they are losses, than I thought I would. Have faith, Chiefs fans.
