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.