FanPost

Role Reversal and The Way Things Change

So I posted before the game against Jacksonville that I thought it was our most important game of the year to date. My reasoning was that we needed to show that we could dominate an average team and come back from a couple of tough losses if we wanted to consider ourselves a legitimate playoff team.

Well guess what happened? They made me sweat. We entered the half only up one (and only leading because of a GREAT goal line stand by our defense). Even with a little over five minutes to go in the 3rd, I was still sweating. The Jags had the ball and were down one, about to start marching down the field like they had all day.

Then everything went right for us. The pick six, the defense overall stepping up, our offense overwhelming the Jaguars for another two touchdowns.

So did our Kansas City Chiefs pass my test? Even after making us sweat for a good portion of the game?

Well... yeah.

When you look at what happened this game, it becomes apparent. The Jaguars played way over their heads and about as well as they could play for about two and a half quarters, being led by Todd Bouman playing just as well or better than any QB the Jaguars have fielded all year. But what was the result of them playing their hearts out on the road?

They were still losing. And eventually, Bouman and the Jaguars came back down to earth, at which point we proceeded to score 21 unanswered points and blow them completely out of the water.

The reason I find this so interesting is that it's a total role reversal of what used to happen during Chiefs games. Occasionally, we'd find our Chiefs playing hard against a superior team (which was pretty much every team we played the last few years). Then our lack of talent/coaching/chemistry/whatever would catch up and we'd be overwhelmed.

Now, it's different. An average team playing their best football was able to keep up with us, but that was it. They weren't able to take a significant lead, and they couldn't really get any solid momentum built up. Our team was superior, and that came through in the end. Sound familiar (hint: it's what happened to us a billion times in the last three years, only the other way around)?

This is DESPITE the fact that we were uncharacteristically sloppy. We had more penalties than normal, including a couple of PI's that were... questionable. But we overcame those mistakes to still blow the Jaguars out, rather than allowing those mistakes to be our excuse to fold.

Against an average team, we can make some mistakes and still win big. We're not a team that has to play perfect to win anymore. My how things have changed.

P.S. on a side note, is anyone else just praying that Eric Berry starts figuring out coverage enough to get a few more picks? Because that guy is electric with the ball....

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.