[asskickingboots]

This upcoming game is going to be on my first anniversary to Mrs. AKB, so she decided that rather than me selling the tickets to be with her that she wanted to come with. I brought her to a game years ago as a sort of weird unofficial date, so this is almost like a first time together at Arrowhead. Thinking about bringing our wedding cake topper with. Should be a lot of fun.

To D or not to D
Another simply amazing performance by our defense that outscored the Broncos offense across 3-1/2 quarters (6-3) until a garbage time TD with less than 6 minutes in the game. Another kind of baffling under-performance by the offense.

I still have an abundance of faith in the offense to figure things out. Struggling against a really good Denver defense might not be the worst indicator. The Chiefs just have too much talent, too much history, to not believe in them. Even the one INT was another tipped pass by Tyreek, something I think is correctable even this late into the season.

However, if the defense keeps performing this way it won't matter if the offense performs average. After starting the year the first 5 games allowing 29+ points in each game, the defense hasn't allowed more than 17 points the last 5, averaging 12.4 ppg in that span and that is a number bloated by at least a couple meaningless garbage time TDs. It's really been trending better than that recently, and this is long enough it isn't strictly a fluke.

Oh, but, but.,..
Oh, but the Broncos had a ridiculous 20 play, 88 yard drive that yielded no points, so the Chiefs D is just really lucky! Not really. First off, 4.4 yards per play isn't overwhelming. The Broncos went for it on 4th down 3 times that drive. so that's 12 plays of that drive yielded a combined 2 first downs.  The Broncos were playing like a desperate loser since the start of the second quarter and would have been far more likely to screw up sooner rather than continually succeeding on 4th the rest of the drive / game.

Oh, but Broncos had 167 more yards than the Chiefs! Oh, but Javonte Williams put up 178 scrimmage yards! And? This is a common thread in games where an offense does stuff like give up turnovers. The Broncos gave up 2 INTs including a pick 6, muffed a punt deep in their territory, and turned the ball over on downs twice (once when it still mattered). You can gain a lot of yards when your team gives up points and shortened field position to the opponent consistently.

That's effectively 5 turnovers on drives that lead to ZERO points (or -6 points if you'd rather), no positive change in field position, and still accounted for over half (210) of their worthless padded yards. It'd be like having a 10" donkey dick that was eternally flaccid. It certainly isn't worth bragging about, it wouldn't even work as a hood ornament. And that isn't even including the 3 three and outs.

Consistency matters. If you intend to win a relatively low scoring game you need to consistently win the field position game, and the Broncos were far more consistently bad.

The Playoff Race
Every AFC Division leader is 8-4. 8 AFC teams have 4 or 5 losses. The Chiefs gotta be feeling fucking adorable at the moment. Like a spoiled rich girl, none of their previous fuck ups seem to be hanging over their head. Only the Patriots could claim to be anywhere near as hot as the Chiefs, and does anyone truly think Mac Jones is gonna outduel Mahomes in January? Maybe we'll get a clearer idea after tonight's game against Buffalo.

The AFC is a mess and we're in position to reap the benefits.

The Raidughs
One of my favorite things to say that has bitten me in the ass before is we've seen this game before. It's perhaps too dismissive or cavalier when we're talking about division rivals that have been chasing our ass for over a half decade with no greater realistic goal or desire in sight than winning a mini-Super Bowl by scraping by a narrow and likely undeserved win against us.

That being said, a bizarre OT win against a then reeling and not healthy Cowboys team is the only spot of glory in a 4 out of 5 loss streak for the flailing Raiders. Chaos is the glue that holds the team together right now, so I think we're more likely to see them fully implode rather than suddenly becoming a bastion of competence.

I think the Chiefs got this one easy.

[asskickingboots]

Off Topic
Last thread I mentioned I still had a lot of Christmas decorations to do. This is why. The cats were of no help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdqB3T5nq2k

I have a big, fancy Christmas village, most of which my wife already had from before we were married. Her mom is the main culprit for why. We now have about 50 major pieces including a bunch of houses, businesses, 3 fountains, 3 churches, a wedding chapel, fire station, pet adoption center, a ski lift, a windmill, and other assorted crap.

The major improvement I made this year was building a place to put curtains against the back (ordered 2 more black curtain sets for the left side, thought I had enough) so people won't feel awkward staring into my house whether we're in the living room in our jammies eating cereal whilst watching Burn Notice for the fourth time or not. Next year I plan on making an all new table topper to put these on that'll be bigger, fancier, expandable, easier to disassemble / reassmble, and easier to hide wires with. Got the design down pat, should work nicely.

[asskickingboots]

Expanding on the playoffs

https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/lists/af...k-13-2021/

In Right Now
1. New England Patriots (9-4) [AFC East leader]
2. Tennessee Titans (8-4) [AFC South leader]
3. Baltimore Ravens (8-4) [AFC North leader]
4. Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) [AFC West leader]
5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-5)
6. Cincinnati Bengals (7-5)
7. Buffalo Bills (7-5)

In The Hunt
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5-1)
9. Indianapolis Colts (7-6)
10. Las Vegas Raiders (6-6)
11. Cleveland Browns (6-6)
12. Denver Broncos (6-6)
13. Miami Dolphins (6-7)

No Realistic Path
14. New York Jets (3-9)
16. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10)*

Eliminated
15. Houston Texans (2-10)*

I think the Titans are the weakest of the division leaders, so they're lucky that Indy is only 7-6. They don't even look like a wildcard team without Henry. They may have built up enough of a lead to hold on to their division and certainly enough to hold on to a playoff spot, but if and until Henry returns healthy they aren't a real threat. The only thing they have going for them is the weakest remaining strength of schedule in the entire NFL, but one of the reasons why that looks good is they play the 2-10 Texans again... whom they lost to in Week 13.

Speaking of remaining strength of schedule, remember when everyone was going on about the Chiefs had a really difficult one? Look at it now.

https://www.eatdrinkandsleepfootball.com...%20rows%20

Now it's only the 10th most difficult remaining, 6 of the 9 teams in front of them are supposed AFC playoff hopefuls too. Of the teams not already occupying a wildcard spot, the Colts and the Steelers are the most likely to eek into the playoffs, but honestly it's as if 9 teams are fighting for 3 wildcard spots.

[NOLA]

Off Topic
Last thread I mentioned I still had a lot of Christmas decorations to do. This is why. The cats were of no help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdqB3T5nq2k

I have a big, fancy Christmas village, most of which my wife already had from before we were married. Her mom is the main culprit for why. We now have about 50 major pieces including a bunch of houses, businesses, 3 fountains, 3 churches, a wedding chapel, fire station, pet adoption center, a ski lift, a windmill, and other assorted crap.

The major improvement I made this year was building a place to put curtains against the back (ordered 2 more black curtain sets for the left side, thought I had enough) so people won't feel awkward staring into my house whether we're in the living room in our jammies eating cereal whilst watching Burn Notice for the fourth time or not. Next year I plan on making an all new table topper to put these on that'll be bigger, fancier, expandable, easier to disassemble / reassmble, and easier to hide wires with. Got the design down pat, should work nicely.

That's quite the village!

[asskickingboots]

Off Topic
Last thread I mentioned I still had a lot of Christmas decorations to do. This is why. The cats were of no help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdqB3T5nq2k

I have a big, fancy Christmas village, most of which my wife already had from before we were married. Her mom is the main culprit for why. We now have about 50 major pieces including a bunch of houses, businesses, 3 fountains, 3 churches, a wedding chapel, fire station, pet adoption center, a ski lift, a windmill, and other assorted crap.

The major improvement I made this year was building a place to put curtains against the back (ordered 2 more black curtain sets for the left side, thought I had enough) so people won't feel awkward staring into my house whether we're in the living room in our jammies eating cereal whilst watching Burn Notice for the fourth time or not. Next year I plan on making an all new table topper to put these on that'll be bigger, fancier, expandable, easier to disassemble / reassmble, and easier to hide wires with. Got the design down pat, should work nicely.

That's quite the village!

Thanks!

I still got a lot of plans for it in the future so I'll be sure to update you guys every year. I'm just glad at the moment I still have (half) a living room for one month out of the year, though I know that'll eventually change.

[asskickingboots]

Stealing this from a different comment section:

Mahomes is on a 16 game pace for around 4500 yards, 33 TDs, and 15 interceptions. To put that into perspective; Arron Rodgers has never passed for 4500 yards in a 16 game season and has thrown for more for fewer than 33 TDS 8 times in his 13 years as a starter.  The only way Mahomes has dropped back to the pack among quarterbacks is his 12 interceptions. Rodgers has never had more than 11 in a season but Tom Brady has had more than 12 or more ten times in his career including last year when the Bucs won the Super Bowl. 12, 12, 14, and 12 interceptions in four of his Super Bowl winning seasons and has thrown more than 12 interceptions 8 times in his career.

So, the numbers make the claim that Mahomes is somehow an average quarterback this year absurd. He just hasn't been the unreal quarterback he has been. He has still by any objective measure put up a year equal to an average year by even the best quarterbacks of all time.

I feel this is right on the money. As I've pointed out before this disappointing offense is still the 3rd yardage offense in the NFL. Scoring is down and turnovers are up and that matters, but our idea of disappointing with Mahomes at the helm is a bit twisted.

[mabbott]

Stealing this from a different comment section:

Mahomes is on a 16 game pace for around 4500 yards, 33 TDs, and 15 interceptions. To put that into perspective; Arron Rodgers has never passed for 4500 yards in a 16 game season and has thrown for more for fewer than 33 TDS 8 times in his 13 years as a starter.  The only way Mahomes has dropped back to the pack among quarterbacks is his 12 interceptions. Rodgers has never had more than 11 in a season but Tom Brady has had more than 12 or more ten times in his career including last year when the Bucs won the Super Bowl. 12, 12, 14, and 12 interceptions in four of his Super Bowl winning seasons and has thrown more than 12 interceptions 8 times in his career.

So, the numbers make the claim that Mahomes is somehow an average quarterback this year absurd. He just hasn't been the unreal quarterback he has been. He has still by any objective measure put up a year equal to an average year by even the best quarterbacks of all time.

I feel this is right on the money. As I've pointed out before this disappointing offense is still the 3rd yardage offense in the NFL. Scoring is down and turnovers are up and that matters, but our idea of disappointing with Mahomes at the helm is a bit twisted.

Somewhere else Mahomes "sucked"... I think that is absurd!  He performed at a Hall of Fame level and now that he is performing at a Top 5-10 level, now he sucks... people get used to excellence that they lose appreciation of great.

[Chi-town_Chief]

Stealing this from a different comment section:

Mahomes is on a 16 game pace for around 4500 yards, 33 TDs, and 15 interceptions. To put that into perspective; Arron Rodgers has never passed for 4500 yards in a 16 game season and has thrown for more for fewer than 33 TDS 8 times in his 13 years as a starter.  The only way Mahomes has dropped back to the pack among quarterbacks is his 12 interceptions. Rodgers has never had more than 11 in a season but Tom Brady has had more than 12 or more ten times in his career including last year when the Bucs won the Super Bowl. 12, 12, 14, and 12 interceptions in four of his Super Bowl winning seasons and has thrown more than 12 interceptions 8 times in his career.

So, the numbers make the claim that Mahomes is somehow an average quarterback this year absurd. He just hasn't been the unreal quarterback he has been. He has still by any objective measure put up a year equal to an average year by even the best quarterbacks of all time.

I feel this is right on the money. As I've pointed out before this disappointing offense is still the 3rd yardage offense in the NFL. Scoring is down and turnovers are up and that matters, but our idea of disappointing with Mahomes at the helm is a bit twisted.

So you don't think it's time time to start henne?

[mabbott]

Stealing this from a different comment section:

Mahomes is on a 16 game pace for around 4500 yards, 33 TDs, and 15 interceptions. To put that into perspective; Arron Rodgers has never passed for 4500 yards in a 16 game season and has thrown for more for fewer than 33 TDS 8 times in his 13 years as a starter.  The only way Mahomes has dropped back to the pack among quarterbacks is his 12 interceptions. Rodgers has never had more than 11 in a season but Tom Brady has had more than 12 or more ten times in his career including last year when the Bucs won the Super Bowl. 12, 12, 14, and 12 interceptions in four of his Super Bowl winning seasons and has thrown more than 12 interceptions 8 times in his career.

So, the numbers make the claim that Mahomes is somehow an average quarterback this year absurd. He just hasn't been the unreal quarterback he has been. He has still by any objective measure put up a year equal to an average year by even the best quarterbacks of all time.

I feel this is right on the money. As I've pointed out before this disappointing offense is still the 3rd yardage offense in the NFL. Scoring is down and turnovers are up and that matters, but our idea of disappointing with Mahomes at the helm is a bit twisted.

So you don't think it's time time to start henne?

I'm hoping Henne gets his ONE game when it doesn't matter!!!

[asskickingboots]

Final Injury Report

https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/lists/ka...ry-report/

For the Chiefs:
CB Lammons is Out
OT Niang and CB Fenton are Questionable

Missing a special teams ace hopefully shouldn't matter a lot.

Reid's comments made it sound like Niang and Fenton would be available though.

They probably wouldn't call on Niang after an injury anyway since Wylie is available and he owned Crosby. Raiders fans are convinced Crosby was held all game, but if you look at their sites they think that every game and not one mentioned anything about the Chiefs double-teaming and chipping him often and effectively which is what I saw.

For the Raiders:
TE Waller, DE Nassib, and LB Onwuasor are all Out
LB Perryman is Doubtful
DT Jefferson and LB Lee were Limited in practice, but should be available

The Raiders have more injuries, in particular they should be thin at LB and seeing Waller listed as out should help the Chiefs.