Week 11 - Seahags 20 at Chiefs 24

Nothing beats a nice roasted and stuffed bird this time of year.

I admit it, I don't like the Seahawks. And not because of Dave Krieg getting sacked 7 times by Derrick Thomas, and almost an 8th when he threw a hail-mary that somehow found Paul Skansi in the endzone to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead. I was at that game. If ever there was a moment you can say the air went out of a stadium... And it's not because of their contrived and bogus attempts to steal Arrowhead's decades old recognition as America's loudest outdoor stadium. And it's not because "I'm jealous" of their recent success. It's because they are a very dirty team with a notorious cheater for a head coach. Pete Carroll is classless. His USC team had to vacate a national title and had a Heisman Trophy revoked - the first time in NCAA history. His teams not only cheat, they play dirty, they talk trash. The Seahags are the most penalized team in the NFL the last three seasons. They lead the league in unnecessary roughness penalties - nearly twice the NFL average. They have more than twice the NFL average in penalty yards. They've had more players ejected than any other NFL team. Carroll doesn't just cheat during games. He was caught cheating during the off-season and fined $300,000 by the league. Pete Carroll is the role model for what's wrong with football. It sure felt good to out-tough them yesterday. And that's exactly what the Chiefs did. KC stood up the Seahawks and smashed them in their squawking beaks. And with the Rams dismantling Peyton Manning and the Donkeys, KC is tied for the division lead and controls its own destiny.

Offense: In this day and age, 190 rushing yards to 108 passing yards is almost unheard of. And for both teams to finish with more yards on the ground than in the air - simply never happens any more. But it did at Arrowhead, yesterday. This was a ground war between two of the best RB's in the League, Jamaal Charles and Marshawn Lynch, and two of the NFL's better running QB's, Russell Wilson and Alex Smith. Again, the Chiefs WR's couldn't find paydirt, but Charles and Davis did. The first KC drive was masterful. They executed 15 plays for 86 yards in 9:01 that only saw two 3rd downs (both 3rd & 1), capping it off with a 1 yard run by JC. That drive broke a Seattle 29 game streak without giving up a score on an opponent's opening drive. The next drive was the exact opposite style, with the exact same result. There were 4 plays for 80 yards in 2:13 that never saw a 2nd down, that also ended with JC reaching the endzone. I was impressed by De'Anthony Thomas. Not just his running, but his downfield blocking for JC. The tiny man was even seen taking two guys out on one run. The down side for the O's - they coughed up two fumbles, and neither of them was by Knile Davis! JC and Kelce each provided Seattle with early Christmas presents and a short field, which resulted in 10 points. Seattle's vaunted defense frankly did not look as impressive as Buffalo's did last week. I know they have injuries, but so do the Chiefs - so does everyone 11 weeks into the NFL season. But Jamaal shredded them and Smith out-managed them. There were no sacks by Seattle, which is pretty remarkable given the way Smith has been harassed this year. KC lost the turnover battle, the time of possession, the total yardage, in fact pretty much every stat on the sheet except the important one - the scoreboard.

Defense: I know defenses hate to be labeled "bend but don't break", but can someone give me a better description of what we saw yesterday? They didn't force any turnovers. They were gashed a few times by big plays. They gave up 204 rushing yards - 71 of them by the quarterback. But when it was crunch time, they did the crunching. Three stops on fourth down in the fourth quarter. That's getting it done. Due to Seattle's notorious rushing attack, the Chiefs didn't do much of their characteristic blitzing. Candidly, despite the 2 sacks and the times Wilson was chased out of the pocket, it was mostly a game defended by a surprisingly tight - even though thinned by injuries - defensive backfield. Last week's hero, Ron Parker got schooled a few times early, but also came up with some nice plays. In the end, however, it was all about what Kool Aid Man calls "The Bigs" (he'd know). The fat boys up front, who spent much of their day chasing Russell Wilson from behind,  did the heavy lifting when it mattered.  Special shout out to the Kool Aid Man. With one TO in his pocket, he challenged the spot of the ball, and forced a fourth down, which his Bigs used to stuff Marshawn Lynch and turn the ball over on downs. Oh, and Doug Baldwin - shut up. You ran a borderline pick route in the end zone, and then whine about incidental contact by Sean Smith, when the KC D-backs didn't bite on it? You weren't catching that ball anyway, unless you were suddenly 17 feet tall. And thanks to the stop on fourth and goal, the D's streak continues of no rushing TDs allowed in a game.

Specials: There were only two punts by KC. But we still have the NFL's best punter. One of his punts was perfectly downed at the 4 yard line. The tiny Brazillian made his only FG, which now runs him to 11 in a row after a very shaky start. Knile Davis did a great job on kickoff returns, posting a nearly 32 yard average, and DAT had one solid punt return that resulted in a dirty, cheating Seahawk - Ricardo Lockett - being ejected from the game for punching Kurt Coleman in the face. You have to be a pretty special brand of stupid to fist-punch a guy wearing a helmet.

Throw Him A Bone: Who but Jamaal Charles? It was the JC Show all day. Despite the fumble, he was on fire. Earlier in the week, one of the Seattle defenders said, "Kansas City is easy to figure out. Shut down #25 and make them beat you with their passing game." Yeah, how'd that work out for you? I'll refresh your memory - 159 rushing yards, a staggering 8.0 yard per carry average and two touchdowns.

Doggity Dog: This one is tough. No one stands out as having had a really bad game. That's what it takes to out tough the meanest team in football. I think I'm going to go with James Michael Johnson. He had three tackles, but he also was the one most responsible for allowing Marshawn Lynch to pile up 124 yards, almost entirely up the gut.

Next up - At the Black Hole against the hapless Faders on Thursday night at 7:25 PM CST.

Tailgating Recipe:
How about a simple cocktail to keep you warm?

I call this one The Dizzy Irish Monk.

1 part Dizzy Three espresso-infused vodka (any coffee vodka could be subbed, in a pinch)
1 part Bailey's Irish Cream (or similar Irish cream liqueur)
1 part Frangelico (or similar hazelnut liqueur)

Stir together. Can be served over ice, straight up or even warmed (which is how I like it!)

Week 10 - Chiefs 17 at Bills 13

Now that's football! A real slobber-knocker in cold, rainy weather. It took both guts and guile to get the W.

It's often hard to quantify what coaching does on game day to help win or lose. Occasionally blatant things like clock management or trick plays, sure, but play-by-play, throughout the course of a game coaching is less visible than player execution. A couple of plays in this game, however had the Kool-Aid man's autograph all over them. Most notably the two runs on which the Chiefs scored their two touchdowns. The play-action to Sherman and then pitch to Jamaal Charles on 4th and 1 that led to a 39 yard gallop into the end zone. And then the naked bootleg by Alex Smith, finished by the quarterback putting his head down and plowing through a safety at the goal line. The game was full of tough playing, and more than one cheap, dirty shot by the Bills. Tamba Hali got pissed off after being punched in the gut repeatedly. Alex Smith was speared after he gave himself up on a slide. Jamaal Charles was slammed about 2 yards out of bounds. Only the spearing was flagged. On the late hit, there was no flag for that, but the Chiefs were called for holding on that play. The officiating was pretty suspect, but there were a few that favored both teams.

Offense: Can I take back last week's accolades about the offensive line play? They were mauled by the front seven of Buffalo. Absolutely shredded. They gave up six sacks and ten pressures, three batted passed and one jump ball that could easily have been picked off. If not for Alex Smith's feet, it could have been a lot worse. The run blocking didn't fare much better most of the afternoon. Jamaal had three consecutive runs to begin the game that went for negative yardage. It took him five carries to get back to zero. The Bills, with their bye week and homefield, found a way to neutralize Charles and Kelce most of the day. Ultimately Charles did wind up with 118 total yards from scrimmage, but most of that came in the fourth quarter. I have been happy to see D. Bowe step up his game the last few weeks. He's becoming a guy you can go to in traffic to pick up a tough first down. With his size, that's what you'd hope he could do. Now if they can only find a consistent flier who can actually catch a ball, to put on the other side, we'd have something. Still no WR TD's, but TD's were hard to come by in this one. One of the Chiefs' best weapons the last several games has been the three-tight-end formation. Unfortunately, with Harris suffering a broken foot in practice, that was scrapped this week. It's the kind of formation that would have been nice to have against such an aggressive defense. And would be nice to have next week against a similarly nasty Seattle defense. The big take away for me is just how tough Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith are, when they need to be.

Defense: They didn't get the big sacks (only one), and they did give up a few big plays. But they made the big plays when they needed them. No one in upstate New York had a bigger day than Ron Parker. He's a cornerback who has played strong safety most of this season, due to the injury to Eric Berry, but he was back in his natural habitat yesterday. Bob Sutton broke from his usual alignment, to have Parker lineup against rookie phenom, Sammy Watkins, regardless of which side of the field he was on. As a result, despite 10 targets, including three in or near the end zone, Watkins finished the day with 4 catches for 27 yards and no scores. But Parker's biggest play came when he tomahawked the ball out of Bryce Brown's hand, saving a sure touchdown, and giving the ball back to the Chiefs on a touchback. That TD would have put the Bills up 17-3 midway through the third quarter. The Chiefs D was particularly nasty in the red zone. The Bills had four drives that made it inside KC's 20, and only had 6 points on two chip-shot field goals to show for it.

Specials: Special teams had a mixed bag. DeAnthony Thomas had one nice kickoff return for 38 yards, but he was awful on punt returns - fielding balls he should have let go, and letting balls go he should have fair caught. Colquitt had a punt that should have died on the one, but the coverage team blew it. On the other hand, Wilson and Sherman teamed up to strip Leodis McKelvin on a punt return, setting up the go-ahead TD two plays later. Santos made his only field goal, but his kick offs are still way too short, giving up 84 yards in kickoff returns.

Throw Him A Bone: Who else but Ron Parker. He was playing out of his mind - 8 tackles, three passes deflected, a forced fumble that saved a touchdown, and a near interception on fourth down from the KC 15, that killed the Bills' last real threat to win.

Doggity Dog: The entire O-line was brutal, but I'm giving the newspaper on the muzzle to DeAnthony Thomas, who consistently misplayed punts, pinning the Chiefs deep. In a hostile environment on the road, in a low-scoring defensive battle, those yards matter.

Next up: The world champion Seattle Seahawks (that's still hard to say) bring their limping, but still dangerous game to Arrowhead at noon on Sunday.

Tailgating Recipe:
Time to think about Thanksgiving week tailgating. This one comes from my good friend Marc "Mr. Cheezwhiz" Chechik. A fantastic musician from St. Louis. Check out his band Melody Den. Their CD makes a great stocking stuffer.

Chechik Cranberries.

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

The juice and zest of one orange and one lemon

2 bags fresh cranberries

1 cinnamon stick

Directions: 

Rinse cranberries with cold water. In a medium saucepan, add sugar, water, lemon juice and orange juice. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and add cranberries, cinnamon stick and zest. Return to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until cranberries start to burst, about 10 - 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Pour sauce into a serving bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Remove cinnamon stick before serving.

Serve chilled.

Week 9 - Jets 10 at Chiefs 24

The word "tailspin" comes to mind. The Jets are just "plane" bad.

As for the Chiefs, you needed to remain in your seat with your tray table stowed and your seat belt securely fastened for the first quarter take-off of this one, but once KC reached cruising altitude, they put it on auto-pilot, and you were free to move about the cabin. The Chiefs did enough to win, and then just enjoyed the in-flight service in the second-half. They avoided any significant turbulence, while cruising to a lopsided victory at home against one of the three worst teams in the NFL.

Offense: This is becoming a pretty well-oiled machine. Alex Smith may not be flashy, but he's very efficient. I've been hard on the O-line this year, justifiably, but it gets better every week. This week was one of the best group performances we've seen this season. Smith suffered just one sack for 3 yards, throwing for nearly 200 yards and 2 TD's (*) in the first half, while the running game put up over 100 yards and a score of its own. The (*) goes to one of those plays that haunt bad teams and benefit good teams. ESPN's website called it the "Butt TD". Anthony Fasano fell down and missed his block on Muhammad Wilkerson, who batted down Smith's pass into the end zone. Unfortunately for the Jets, he batted it right into the waiting lap of Fasano, who was sitting upon his arse, a foot from the goal line. Fasano rolled over and placed the ball on the chalk for a score. The one critique - and I admit, it was irrelevant to the outcome of this game - why in the world were the Chiefs throwing the ball on their last drive in the fourth quarter? Just before the two-minute warning, Charles picks up 4 yards around end. But then for some strange reason, Smith throws incomplete to Bowe, inexplicably stopping the clock. On the next play, Smith is in the shotgun, obviously planning another pass, and suffers his lone sack of the day. Once again, KC gives up no turnovers. After the three INT's in game one, Smith has had just one in the subsequent 7 games. Of QB's with over 100 pass attempts, only Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson have fewer than four.

Defense: The run defense continues to struggle against good backs, but to its credit, KC hasn't given up a single rushing TD this season. The pass defense remains one of the NFL's best, (zero 300 yard passing games rendered this year) despite injury depletion. This feat is thanks largely to the play of Hali, Poe, Bailey and Houston, up front, and surprisingly solid secondary play from a patchwork of D-backs. Justin Houston is a beast. He's always been a very good pass-rusher, but he's becoming something else. He's now becoming a run-stopper, an occasional coverage guy who still manages to pick up a sack or two every game. He's had at least one sack in every game except Denver this year. He's on pace to break DT's team record, and possibly even threaten Michael Strahan's NFL record. The comparisons to Derrick Thomas are bound to start. It will take this level of performance over a few more years to justify it, fully. Thomas had 11 seasons, nine of them at pro-bowl level, compared to Houston's 3-1/2 years and two pro bowls. However, Houston is - at this point in his career - a better all around football player than DT. The continuing injuries to the defensive backfield may start to take a toll against better competition, but this week, it didn't matter. It was good to see #29 on the field, even in a limited capacity, after 5 games out of the line up. The downside, another week goes by without forcing a turnover. But hey, that's just a number. The only stat that ultimately matters is on the scoreboard.

Specials: I'm sorry. I do not understand squibbing kickoffs. I know Harvin is a great runner, but frankly, against a better offense, this could have been disastrous. In fact, it would have been anyway, if not for the soccer-style slide tackle by the Brazilian Enfante - which is unfortunately a penalty in the NFL. I'd much rather kick touchbacks on the off-chance that Harvin breaks one, rather than give the offense the ball on the 35 yard line to start every drive - and STILL almost give up the home run. On the good-guy side, Mamba only had one kickoff return, but it was a Doozy. A 78-yard streak that was only kept out of the end-zone by his shoestrings. He also had an 18 yard punt return average, and was smart enough to let a touchback sail over his head.

Throw Him A Bone: Today's bone goes to linebacker Justin Houston, who had four tackles, two for sacks (Big Macs for everybody!). Houston is turning into a special player. The kind of guy who may one day join yesterday's inductee, Priest Holmes, and find his name in big black letters on the facia of the upper deck at Arrowhead. String several years like this together.... Let's not get ahead of ourselves. For this day, Houston was the man.

Doggity Dog: I don't like piling on the little runt, but Cairo Santos gets the newspaper on the nose today. I know his coach told him to squib kick, but they were ugly squib kicks, and were highly ineffective - consistently giving the Jets great field position. Thankfully they were too inept to capitalize on it. If these kicks were suppose to stop a "home run", they failed miserably. The only thing that prevented a touchdown runback was Santos himself getting flagged for illegal tripping. Learn to tackle, you wuss. That guy's only 5'11" and 185, and he's named Percival.

Next up - The Chiefs take their winning streak on the road, as they shuffle off to Buffalo for some hot wings and cold weather. A big test with significant playoff implications, and a pretty solid chance of lake-effect snow. Bring your parkas and set your DVR's for noon on Sunday.

Tailgating Recipe:

This comes from my friend Todd Zimmer of Roeland Park, KS, who makes "Zim's Hot Sauce" - my go-to hot sauce. If you want to substitute, you can use Frank's, Texas Pete's, or any similarly thick hot sauce. But my recommendation is to pick up some Zim's! www.zims-sauces.com

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

2 cups sour cream

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 Lbs thick sliced bacon, cooked in Zim’s Bufsas sauce & crumbled

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Zim’s Bufsas hot sauce

Assorted crackers

Directions:

1. Cook one side of the bacon in a frying pan. Flip bacon over and put a stripe of Zim’s down the middle of each strip.

After second side is done, flip once again to caramelize Zim’s onto the bacon. Quickly remove from pan, place on paper towels and let cool. Chop or crumble bacon.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, onion and mayonnaise until smooth. Fold in Zim’s bacon, 3 cups of cheddar cheese and Zim’s Bufsas. Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 375° F for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.