Week 8 - Lambs 7 at Chiefs 34

Lamb - It's what's for dinner.

It took the guys a little while to get rolling, but once they found that extra gear, this thing became a rout. The Lambs faked some of the same trickery they pulled on the Champs last week, but the Kool Aid Man would have none of it. Hard to believe that in five meetings, this is Andy Reid's first win over Jeff Fisher. It couldn't have come at a better time. The Chiefs are coming into the soft underbelly of their otherwise brutal schedule, with a home game against the reeling Jets, and then on the road vs the Bills. KC is now tied in the loss column with San Diego, who has yet to have their bye week. I don't want to gloss over just how many ridiculous penalties St. Louis had. They punished themselves repeatedly with cheap shots and stupid, Raider-esque fouls. Oh, and for the record, I liked Donovan McNabb as the color announcer. He was very funny.

Offense: Alex Smith was Mr. Efficiency, only missing on 4 attempts. That 85.7%, believe it or not, sets a Chiefs franchise record for the most accurate passing day by any QB with over 20 attempts. The only downside is that, once again the WR's not named Bowe were invisible. However Bowe and both Fasano and Kelce had big days, and Charles had 44 yards on 4 receptions. But this game was not won by the air force. The ground troops dominated this battle. Jamaal Charles has carried the rock across the goal line more times than any other player the past two seasons. Four more than Julius Thomas of the Broncos and five more than Marshawn Lynch of the Seahawks. He padded that resume with two more yesterday. Knile (singular, Donovan) Davis also put up two scores. One from scrimmage, and one on the opening kickoff of the second half. All-in-all, add in Alex Smith's scrambling and you have 34 carries between them for 143 yards and three TD's. As good as the run blocking was, the pass blocking was about that bad. And Mr #1 Overall, Eric Fisher got beat like a rented mule by Robert Quinn. And when he wasn't, he was guilty of boneheaded, drive-killing penalties.

Defense: What can you say? Everyone was having fun. Ron Parker, in his fifth game filling in for the injured pro-bowler, Eric Berry, made a statement. An interception and a sack in the first half that killed St Louis drives. The sack was huge because it came on third and goal, and forced them to attempt a field goal that sailed wide right. Justin Houston added three sacks, taking his place as the NFL sack leader at the halfway point of the season. Rookie Dee Ford got in on his first NFL sack, which he shared with Allen Bailey, who also had 1.5 sacks. But the five sacks alone don't tell the story of how badly Ram's QB Austin Davis was harassed, and how well covered his receivers were by that patchwork young secondary, which came up big again, for the third straight game. Big Macs for everybody!

Specials: The best special teams performance by KC in a very long time. The Duke managed to make all of his kicks, including a text-book perfect 53 yarder. Colquitt - the best punter in the NFL - dropped three more punts inside the 20, pinning St. Louis into holes they couldn't get out of. The Mamba didn't really get loose on punt returns, although he did have one nice 14 yarder. Knile Davis broke the back of the Cardinals on the first play of the second half, taking the opening kickoff 99 yards for a score.

Throw him a bone: Any number of people could have gotten the bone today. Knile Davis, Jamaal Charles, Justin Houston - but I'm going to give it to Ron Parker. You don't expect an all-pro performance out of the guys below the surface on your depth chart. But he gave one in this game.

Doggity Dog: If little is expected of second-teamers like Parker, a lot is expected of the number one overall pick in the draft, and Eric Fisher continues to disappoint. He's pretty good a run blocking, but his pass blocking is not worthy of his draft position, and his stupid penalties only make things worse.

Next up - The low-flying Jets stumble into Arrowhead next Sunday at noon.

Tailgating recipe:

Lamb chops with mint pesto and honey mustard sauce:

2 lamb chops per serving, tossed in Tuscan olive oil and lightly salted with sea salt
Sear over med-high heat to desired internal temp (about 4 min per side for medium-rare)
Fresh black pepper to taste

Mint Pesto:

Combine in food processor and run to desired texture.

·       3/4 cup packed mint leaves

·       2 scallions, thick sliced (including greens)

·       2 medium garlic cloves

·       1/4 cup sunflower seeds
·       1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

·       2 tablespoons Meyer lemon olive oil

·       Sea salt to taste

Honey Mustard Sauce:
Whisk together

·       1/2-cup sweet/spicy mustard (like Boulevard Pale Ale mustard)

·       2 tablespoons clover honey

·       1 tablespoon Ginger white balsamic vinegar

Week 7 - Chiefs 23 at Bolts 20

¡Cabe e é Bom! (It's up and it's Good! - in Portuguese)

It's a good time to be a KC sports fan, for a change, eh? Tomorrow Kansas City will host a World Series game for the first time in 10,586 days. GO ROYALS!

And this was a game the Chiefs had to have in order to have any hope of a postseason this year. Had they fallen three full games behind San Diego and Denver with head-to-head losses against both, it would have taken a miracle to dig out of that hole. And for the third time in six games, the Offense had the ball inside 2:00 with a chance to win. Hey, one out of three looks better than 0-3 - just ask the Angels and the Orioles. Today, the former "Duke of Doink" actually won the game with a 48-yarder with 21 seconds left to play, and rather than Alex Smith throwing the game-ending pick on the final drive "Mr MVP" Phyllis Rivers got to wet the bed this time. It's a division, road win. I'll take it.

Offense: Let me go on record saying the Kansas City Chiefs have the worst wide receiving corps in the National Football League. They drop more balls than the St Agnes Parish Bingo-palooza. Junior Hemingway had a sure TD planted right in his breadbasket, and he made it look like it had been dipped in bacon grease, forcing a punt. Bowe had an easy catch go right through his hands that would have give KC a first and goal at the 10, relegating the Chiefs to a field goal.  A.J. Jenkins lost track of the sideline on what would have been a walk-in touchdown. All that said, after Brandon Flowers' bone-head whack of Jamaal Charles took himself out of the game, Bowe came on with a pretty decent day - 5 grabs for 84 yards, and a couple of key first downs. Speaking of Jamaal - He broke the Chiefs all-time rushing record, previously held by Priest Holmes, on a mind-bending, 16 yard cut-back run and helicopter leap into the endzone for KC's first TD. A play where our old buddy Brandon cleaned his own clock. And then Jamaal was the first one to congratulate Anthony "Sausage" Sherman, who simply wasn't going to be denied the endzone! (h/t Phil) A word about a pet peeve of mine. Offensive pass interference. Specifically "pick" plays. Anthony Fasano was flagged for a OPI negating a nice catch for a first down by Travis Kelce. This is a play the Denver Broncos run all day, everyday, and NEVER get flagged for. And on replay, you can see that the defender is actually holding Fasano. Grrrrr. The line gave up three sacks and a bunch of pressures, but blocked well for the run. Overall, the Chiefs were very effective running the ball on a defense that coming in was one of the best in the league at stopping the run, and they got points when they needed them, and they owned the clock - 39 minutes to 21. Sometimes the best defense is to keep their offense on the bench.
Jamaal Charles sets Chiefs rushing record on this crazy run

Defense: The walking wounded did a nice job, for the most part. Once again with Ron Parker subbing for Eric Berry, who has now missed four games, and five weeks with an ankle sprain. Other people are stepping up. The inexperienced guys in the backfield - Coleman, Fleming and Gaines - had a solid game. Gaines made a highlight reel play in the end zone in front of Allen, to keep 6 off the board. Rivers is going to hit his targets, but they came up with big plays on several occasions. Coleman was out of position on Gates' TD, but made up for it with the game-clinching INT. Fleming was victimized by the worst pass interference call I've seen in a coon's age. The Kool-Aid man was so furious I thought he was going to blow his sweet, refreshing beverage all over the line judge. The front seven kept good pressure on Rivers much of the afternoon, sacking him twice - one each for Hali and Houston - including a strip that unfortunately, Rivers was able to reel in. And big Josh Mauga may have played his best game as a Chief. He looked Derrick Johnson-like, knifing in to blow up plays and making 5 tackles.

Specials: Credit where due. I have been hard on Cairo Santos. Today, he came up big (or as big as anyone 4 ft 7 can - Does he have to buy those cleats in the Youth dept at Dick's?). His kickoffs were decent, and he was 2 for 2 in field goal attempts, including the 48 yarder that won the game. Toub has apparently figured out some things. They were generally better across the board. Colquitt dropped two inside the 20, but had one unfortunate touchback. Mamba is really fun to watch, but hurt the team on at least one punt he should have fair-caught, but let it roll to the 5 yard line. It looked like he may have lost it in the sun, but either way, he reminds me of Dante Hall in that feeling of exhilaration you get every time he touches the ball.

Throw him a bone: Congratulations #25 - you now stand alone as the greatest running back in Kansas City Chiefs history. This is an elite group that includes Heisman winners Mike Garrett and Marcus Allen, the "Swiss Army Knife" Ed Podolak,  the "Nigerian Nightmare" Christian Okoye, Larry "Diapers" Johnson and the man you surpassed yesterday, Priest Holmes. And you got there in fewer carries than any of them, by having a ridiculous 5.4 yard-per-carry average that is the best in the history of the NFL. Better than Jim Brown, better than Gayle Sayers, better than Barry Sanders, better than anyone who ever carried a pigskin.

Doggity Dog: Junior Hemingway. Sorry you got hurt, but maybe that means Wilson or someone else can get some reps with the 1's. You are a serious disappointment.

Next up, hosting the St Louis Lambs, who are fresh off a win against the defending champs that had more trickery than a David Copperfield show at Caesar's Palace. The prestigious "Governor's Cup" is on the line! Set your DVRs for High Noon at Arrowhead.

Tailgating Recipe:

Orange Baked Chicken with Mr. Doggity's Bajan Hot Sauce recipe

Recipe submitted by my tailgating buddy, Mr. George Blowfish:

Preheat oven to 375. (These can also be done on the grill)

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts on a baking sheet.

In a bowl - 1 tsp ea garlic powder, onion powder, Old Bay, plus a pinch of sea salt & ground pepper, couple shakes of Mr. Doggity's Bajan Hot Sauce (or any mustard-based Caribbean-style hot sauce), 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil.

Brush the chicken with mixture.

Pour about 2 fingers of OJ into the pan with the chicken. Cover with foil, bake for about an hour. Flip chicken at 30 min and add more OJ .

10 min before the chicken is done, pull the chicken, drain most of the juice into a saucepan to make a glaze.

To the saucepan, add 1 tsp brown sugar, a dash of OJ, and a shot of the Hot Sauce. Put the chicken back in the oven until glaze is ready.

On high heat and cook glaze down until it thickens. Stir so it doesn't burn. Pull the chicken out and brush it with the glaze. The chicken will be tender and moist, and the glaze adds a hot, sweet kick. Yummy.

Week 6 - BYE WEEK!

Next week - Chiefs will go to sunny San Diego to play the red-hot Bolts at 3:05 PM CDT

Week 5 - Griefs 17 at Niners 22

Hey, at least the Royals won, right? Look, I never expected to win this game. I saw this game on the schedule and marked it as a probable loss. The frustrating part is - they could have and should have won this game. Unfortunately, our old nemesis, Jim Harbaugh out coached the Kool Aid man today. I know "it was hot" - get me a waaaamulance. That should have been to the advantage of the team wearing white shirts, who spent training camp in Missouri's heat and humidity, over the guys in the dark shirts who live in the Bay area, where you have to wear sweaters in August.

But did I mention the Royals won?

Offensive: One of Reid's greatest attributes is his loyalty to his players, but it is often also his undoing. Today was the latter. In trying to get everyone involved in the offense, he refuses to run with what's working. And he can't seem to go more than one week without abandoning the running game. He has what Phil Simms called the best running back combo in the NFL - Charles and Davis - and yet they only got the rock 17 times between them. In the first half, the Chiefs offense dominated the time of possession, ran over the vaunted 49er D with a near-perfect mix of pass and run. And then Reid completely abandoned it. By the game's end the Niners owned the clock and the scoreboard. Amid all the hype about Alex Smith vs Colin Kaepernick, the real glaring difference between these teams is in their respective ability to catch the ball (or not). Brandon Lloyd (of Blue Springs, MO) made the catch that defines that difference. With Sean Smith practically wearing his jersey, he made a circus catch around Smith's arm, and fought him all the way to the ground, coming up with a huge first down. By contrast, in similar situations, Dwayne Bowe had balls bounce off his stone hands. Our receivers only really have two issues they need to work through. They can't get separation and they can't catch. Other than that, they're great. The INT that ended the game was so horribly reminiscent of another former 49er QB we picked up - Elvis Grbac. It was badly overthrown, but in that situation, he shouldn't have even been targeting Fasano. Kelce is your hot TE. And Bowe and Jenkins are along the sidelines, where they can get out of bounds and maybe steal another play before the 2:00 warning. Yes, the Chiefs were victimized by really poor "homer" officiating. The ball placement was horrid all day, and never in KC's favor. But in the end, it was coaching and execution. The Chiefs stepped on their own tail, and lost a winnable game.

Defense: The bad - Mauga and James Michael are NOT Mays and DJ. And they badly miss DeVito. SF gashed them between the tackles all day long. Mauga's game-leading tackling was mostly from behind. Between Gore and Hyde, plus the feet of Kaepernick, they put up 171 yards rushing. Just smash-mouth football. Former Niner, Marcus Cooper was the victim of a hard shove from Stevie Johnson that completely threw him off his coverage, resulting in SF's only TD. The Good: The rush was not always there, but it showed up late. On one drive, Kap was sacked on three consecutive plays. On one play, Poe just threw the right guard into the stands and blew up the pocket, flushing Kap into the waiting arms of Allen Bailey. Overall the coverage wasn't bad. However, as noted above, SF has big, physical guys who can actually catch a football. Still in all, the D kept holding them to long field goals. Unfortunately, their kicker can make long field goals.

Special Bus: This was the worst special teams performance in the Reid era, and one of the worst I've seen out of the Chiefs since the 1995 season's playoff loss to Jim Harbaugh and the Colts. About the only good was the return of Mamba - DeAnthony Thomas. He was electrifying in his first NFL touch - a 28 yard punt return. He is going to be a special player if he can stay on the field. Even the best punter in the NFL had a terrible day, mostly caused by a touchback that should have never happened. Phillip Gaines was in perfect position to down the punt inside the 5, possibly even the 1, when the back judge threw one of the best special teams blocks you'll ever see. What the hell was he doing there? I know he's supposed to watch down the goal line for the touchback, but can't he do that from a step into the endzone, rather than standing in the field of play, in the way of the coverage unit? The Duke of Doink didn't miss any field goals. So there's that. But his kickoffs remain short and returnable. The specials were punked on a fake punt where they looked completely lost. The D had forced a fourth quarter stop and a 54 yard FG attempt, only to have 12 men on the field - a foul that gave SF a first down. The perfect metaphor for this day came on the final FG by SF, when Chris Owens and Phillip Gaines ran into each other, and knocked each other out of the game.

Throw him a Bone: I have to give it to The Mamba - DeAnthony Thomas. A 28 yard punt return and a really good looking catch out of the backfield with a tight-rope walk down the sideline for a touchdown. I'm looking forward to a lot more Mamba this year.

Doggity Dog: No choice but the Kool Aid Man, Andy Reid. Poor game plan. Poor game management. On this day, the Royals played near flawless ball, while the Chiefs got Yosted.

Next up - I guarantee they won't lose - They have a BYE - then the following week, they hit the road back west to play the red-hot Phyllis Rivers, Antonio Gates, and the division-leading Bolts in yet another late game.

Tailgating Recipe:
Caribbean Shrimp Kabobs

Ingredients:
1 pound large raw shrimp (>20 count), peeled and deveined
1 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp Hot Sauce (I use a Caribbean habanero-based sauce)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup bell pepper - cut into squares
1/2 cup sweet onions - cut into squares
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
2 Tbsp good Olive Oil
1 tsp Jerk seasoning.
4-6 skewers

Directions:
Mix pineapple juice, lime juice, salt and hot sauce together and pour into a gallon size zipper bag along with the shrimp. Marinate shrimp in the mixture for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Place shrimp, veggies and pineapple on skewers, alternating pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with jerk spice. Grill (or pan sear) about 4 minutes per side, until shrimp are opaque.

Serve as an appetizer or over rice as a main dish.