Chiefs Vs. Colts: The Best And The Worst

R.I.P. Suck For Luck ~ Week 2 - Week 5, 2011

I remained firmly on the fence when it came to the Suck For Luck crusade, simply because there was no reason to hop down on either side quite yet. I do believe Andrew Luck will be a super duper star in the NFL, but until the Chiefs played the Vikings and Colts (two other strong contenders in the Sweepstakes), there was no rush to decide. However, the point is now moot, and the movement is now dead (sparing a Godfather offer to trade up - a fun argument in itself).

Don't worry though, folks. There's a new campaign in town now, one that's much richer and will serve a greater impact on your life…

Best movement for Kansas City - Todd Haley encouraging the entire city to not shave until the Chiefs lose a game. Alright, I made the part up about him encouraging the city to take part, but he did state his intention of doing so. But the thought of the Chiefs streaking ahead to 6-3, Haley smelling his way out of all future postgame handshakes, and beards flowing around town as if it were biblical times is one beautiful sight.

(Note: I spent the next 30 minutes trying to create a name for this movement with a rhyme for beards and wins, similar to Suck For Luck, but failed miserably. Anybody who cracks the case gets a seat on the executive beard.)

Lets ride with it…

The Best and Worst w/ His Dirkness:

Best game of his career - Bill Muir. Thought I was going Matt Cassel there didn't ya? That's my dominating off speed game. For as much criticism as I've hurled Muir's way, he deserves credit today. He called a brilliant second half latter three quarters on Sunday. Against a defense specifically designed to play with big leads, the Chiefs scored four touchdowns in a six drive stretch (and then closed the game with their next drive). Despite going down 17 points twice in the game, they never abandoned the running game, kept Matt Cassel relatively clean, and for the second week in a row, stretched the field to great success. The best part were the adjustments made during the game. Dexter McCluster not gonna show up to work today? Fine, get him out. Jackie Battle ripping off huge chunks of yardage? Keep feeding him the ball. Colts CB gets injured on a play? Go right after him (game winning TD to Breaston). Muir isn't someone I had high hopes for coming into the year (would much rather have seen Zorn earn playcalling duties), and while I'm still not sold on him for the long term, he brought his A-game yesterday.

Best game of his career - Dwayne Bowe. I say this without looking at his stats at all. I've just never felt that he has been more unstoppaBowe. He was a man amongst boys on the field. His burst on that slant pass for a TD was insane (he's got the kind of RAC you'd write home about). Defensive backs don't want to tackle this guy. He's even turned me into a believer on one of my least favorite plays in football - the fade pass in the end zone. I usually only endorse this play if you're the vastly inferior team, but with Bowe I'm all for it.

Best debate for the commenters - Where does Bowe rank among the elite WR of the NFL? I stirred up quite a buzz on Twitter when (in the heat of the moment) I suggested Bowe could be the best WR in the NFL right now. I retreated off that claim, conceding that Larry Fitzgerald is better, but I wouldn't go much further than that. The Johnsons, Andre and Calvin, are always hurt (However, I'd put Andre ahead of him, Calvin isn't complete enough of a WR). Last week, Roddy White looked like Dallas Clark did this week (thanks for playing, Dallas!). Hakeem Nicks, Vincent Jackson, and Wes Welker feel like his peers, but they all have much more accomplished QB's throwing to them. So go ahead commenters, tell me how crazy I am for calling D-Pro Bowe the third best WR in the NFL.

Best motivation for Dwayne Bowe - Contract year and Todd Haley. In other words, if we fire Haley and pay Bowe, don't expect to see the same player next year. However, if we keep Haley and franchise Bowe, then expect the rise of D-Bowe to continue.

Best hope for the future - If Johnny Baldwin can give this team anything, then the Chiefs will be set at WR. I've already gone a little Bowe crazy (clearly was the story of the game to me), but how bout some love for Steve Breaston as well. He looks stupid fast. His cut to score the touchdown right before half defied atleast three scientific laws. If Baldwin can just be solid, then whoever Kansas City's quarterback is will be a very happy man.

Best bet you're watching two bad teams - They combine for three timeouts on their opening drives of the game. And the Chiefs had the audacity to call the exact same motion crazy play after their timeout. The pass going through DMc's hands was a foregone conclusion. Way too much cuteness in the first quarter.

Best Solomon Wilcots insight - "Peyton Manning does so much, I think he'll be very difficult to replace." He was also stumped about how the Chiefs running game isn't as good as last year. It's never the most obvious answer is it, Solomon?

Best job of officiating - Nullifying the personal foul call on Andy Studebaker. With his back to the play, he had no idea the ball skipped into the hands of Garcon (onh hun huh). It's easy to criticize officials, so I thought I'd give them some dap this time.

Worst month to be Matt Cassel - September. The trend is there. Cassel has started out the past two years with horrible games the first two weeks of the season (QB Ratings of those four games: 68.0, 46.1, 64.5, 44.5). Then something clicks in that third game (San Francisco last year, at San Diego this year). I've thought and I've thought about this, but have little in the explanation department, outside of him just needing a few games to warm up. Can this be fixed somehow? Cassel is two more good games away from reintroducing the debate of whether he can be the future QB of this team.

Worst mystery play - Cassel pass incomplete short middle to Thomas Jones. Sunspots strike again as nobody in Kansas City got to see this play, and given the result, maybe it was for the best.

Best fantasy addition of the week - Jackie Battle. Not since my preseason fantasy league of 2009 has Battle been such a hot commodity. It'll be interesting to see if Battle is a one hitter quitter or a legitimate NFL running back.

Worst question to ask about somebody - Remember when he used to be good? Unfortunately, that's been the theme of Brandon Flowers' season. What ha-happened? It's blossoming into more than just a funky slumpy party. Worse yet, go back and look at his effort on the Colts touchdown run just before halftime (1:10 in the 2nd quarter). If he gets involved in that play, he most likely prevents a touchdown from being scored.

Worst way to lose that game - Curtis Painter led touchdown drive assisted by the offsides call on Jalil Brown. I'd just like to take this opportunity to apologize to Jalil (and the rest of the Brown family) for what was a dark, dark 30 seconds of my existence. And bringing his dog into it? Not cool.

Best trend to follow - NFL comeback hysteria. Seems like every week there's another team erasing a three score deficit. The fun even spread over into the college game this week with my Huskers completing their biggest comeback of all time.

Best part about the win - We have an actual NFL season now! This isn't the 2007-2009 seasons that we feared this year was becoming. The Chiefs have a legitimately big game against the Oakland Raiders the next time they hit the field, and that's something I thought this season would be completely void of after two weeks. Can't wait.

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