Week 4 - Patsies 14 at Chiefs 41

Way to kick off this amazing sports week in KC - Monday Night Football, playoff baseball, Sporting KC soccer and NASCAR at Kansas Speedway. A 41-14 pasting of the Patriots - a game that wasn't actually as close as the score indicates.

I'm not sure if this was more a case of, "Who the hell are these Chiefs?" or, "Who the hell are these Patriots?" The Patsies have had a rough year, but this is ridiculous. Can you even conceive of THE Tom Brady getting benched on Monday Night Football, after throwing two picks (one a pick-6) and losing a fumble? The badly depleted Chiefs defense put a clown suit on one of the most vaunted QB's in the history of the NFL.

I feel compelled to say that I am not a big fan of the whole "Guinness Book - Loudest Stadium" thing. Seattle started it, in their semi-enclosed, Kansas City architect-designed, corporate-sponsor-whore building, by calling in Guinness. And it's bull crap. Whether or not you reach a particular decibel level is not relevant unless you know WHEN to make noise to impact the game, and when to shut up to help your team. Arrowhead is deafening. I know. I've been there. It's rock-concert loud. But only when it's supposed to be. That said, the crowd at Arrowhead didn't just beat the Seattle number, they annihilated it. They beat it as badly as the team on the field beat the Patriots. The decibel A-scale (audible sound) is measured logarithmically. Every 5 decibel increase in the number is equal to a doubling of the sound level. So the 142.2 number they put up is nearly twice as loud as Seattle's 137.6. And they took the reading on a Larson-Davis 831! I have always trusted L-D for my sound recording instruments. They are the best on the market.

Offense: Number - 303 - the most yards given up in a half by the Pats in the Belichik era. Can we all stop with the "game manager" label now? Alex Smith is a very good quarterback. He is not yet an elite QB. You have to put some trophies in the case to earn that moniker. But I can't think of very many teams in the NFL where he wouldn't be an upgrade from what they have. Hell, last night New England fans would have traded QBs! Alex was 20 of 26 for 248 yards, 3 TD's and 0 turnovers and a 144.4 rating. That's called winning. Great to have Jamaal back. Not just for his game-breaking talents, but did you see some of the blocks he threw? The difference between Alex running for his life, and having time to put up those numbers is due to Jamaal's sure hands and great blitz reads. That said, the Knile factor is pretty exciting - both backs at or near 100 yards. The old "thunder & lightning" combo. And I absolutely loved the play calling last night. That three-tight-end set is brilliant. Opposing D's have no clue what's coming. The O-line played better. They still need shoring on the right side, which will come next week when Stephenson returns. Kelce had another impressive game - 8 catches for 93 yards. D-Bowe loves the national audience, apparently with his best performance in over a year, 5 catches out of 6 targets for 81 yards. And every one of those 5 grabs was for a first down. For one night, this looked like the Trent Green/Priest Holmes Chiefs. And they have finally figured out the formula for beating the best QB's - chew up the clock, dominate the time of possession and keep him safely on the bench. 

Defense: For playing wounded, they picked a good day to all show up for work. They went three games with no turnovers, but made up for lost time at the best time - in PRIME TIME. Shawn Smith picked off Brady when Edelman cut off his route. Then Hussein Abdullah snagged one he ran in for a TD - for which he was rewarded with the "stupidest penalty ever called™". Tamba had a huge strip-sack that led to a KC TD. Houston added a couple of sacks, as well. Big Macs for everybody! Tamba looked pretty fleet for an old lineman, as he went out in respectable pass coverage. Big Dontari Poe even got in on the offensive side, playing decoy fullback on a goal line pass play. They seemed to let up on the gas when Brady was benched, allowing some garbage points, but overall, no complaints.

 Specials: Let's start by mentioning we have the best punter in the NFL. His services were not needed much, but when they were, he delivered. Pinning the Pats back on the 1 yard line on the drive where Tamba got the strip. The Duke Didn't Doink. Santos made all of his kicks, and the only one returned was caused by the "stupidest penalty ever called™" on Hussein Abdullah, for simply falling to his knees in the endzone. No celebration, no game delay. Nothing offensive. Nothing disrespectful. HEY NFL...

Throw Him A Bone: Jamaal Charles - playing through pain, simply did everything. Running, catching, blocking - and Three TD's. He's a beast.

Doggity Dog: Frankie Hammond, Jr. has no clue what he's doing. He looks completely lost out there, whether fielding punts or playing wide out, he's a warm body taking up space waiting for Mamba to return.

Next up - The Chiefs head to the left coast to take on Alex's old team, the Niners at Blue Jean Park - another late start. Set your DVR to 3:25 CDT.

Tailgating Recipe:
New England Chowdah!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks (reserve tender leaves) trimmed, quartered lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 pound potatoes, cut into 1/2- inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour to distribute evenly. Add the stock, juice from 2 cans of chopped clams (reserve clams), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly (the mixture will thicken), and then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Garnish with celery leaves.