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.
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