45 Seconds: Never assume against the Kansas City Chiefs

“You know what, that's something about assume, you shouldn't assume. Because you know what happens when you assume. Yeah.” - Former Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel in 2012

I was the proud owner of a Kansas City Chiefs season ticket back in 2012. Yes, that 2012. The worst Chiefs season of my existence. My friends and I decided to get them together, and made Super Bowl jokes when the Chiefs raced out to a 14-0 lead on the Arizona Cardinals in the first preseason game. Peyton Hillis! Turns out, that was about the only highlight that year. It’s hard to explain, but I have some level of fondness to that season, beside the Jovan Belcher incident.

The Chiefs were bad. I don’t need to explain that to you.

But the material we had as Chiefs fans to laugh at our pain was at an all-time high. Fire Pioli banners, blackouts in the stands, and 610 Sports Radio’s Danny Parkins and Carrington Harrison kept, in my opinion, the greatest bit in KC sports radio going for a full season.

I opened this week’s 45 seconds with a Romeo Crennel quote. One of several random, nonsensical, utterly hilarious moments from his weekly and post-game press conferences. Danny and Carrington would stop the show to spend a few minutes a day on Romeo drops. They’d play them on loop, add commentary, or sometimes just let them run on their own merit (Which, of course, they were able to). I laughed out loud in my cubicle. A lot. Sometimes they couldn’t keep from laughing themselves. Romeo drops made that season a little more bearable.

That quote was him trying to backtrack statements he made about Steve Breaston not knowing the game plan and later reading his quote word for word, which read exactly like someone accusing a player of not knowing the game plan.

My friends and I quote Romeo drops to this day. One of my buddies saved them all by clipping the sound bites from 610, and then made an entire playlist out of Romeo drop themed songs for tailgates (Ex: “I mean boom.” - Here Comes the Boom). He would even edit the drop into the song when he could.

To this day, I’ve never heard the word osmosis used in an NFL press conference.

In a losing effort: “Tell me, would you rather it be a competitive game, or would you rather it be a 40-10 score?” Well, Romeo, I’d rather try to win the game than just try to keep it close.

On long snappers: “If you can take the ball, and throw it between your legs backwards, you can make a pretty good living in this league.” He should do this for every position.

Like I said, odd fondness. Great memories with great friends. I have Romeo Crennel to thank for them.

Anyways, back to football and the Chiefs victory over the Houston Texans. As you know, Crennel has settled in on the Texans staff as the associate head coach. Well, Romeo, do you know what happens when you assume?

The Chiefs caught Houston asleep for a quick pass off a fake motion by Hunt for an easy ten yards.

Hunt normally ends up behind quarterback Alex Smith when they motion into that formation. From my charting work, that was the most used formation in the Patriots game. They’ve motioned Kareem Hunt from out wide of this formation (or the same formation with tighter splits by the receiver) into the backfield six different times in the first three games. Here they are doing it against the Eagles:

Houston had seen this look before. It’s on tape several times. They’d seen Hunt motion into the backfield and into that frequently used formation. They were ready for it. Except they assumed. As Hunt starts his motion, nose tackle DJ Reader and ILB Benardrick McKinney were communicating adjustments as the ball was being snapped.

And Jadeveon Clowney (No. 90)...

This play was sold well by Smith, the offensive line and Hunt. The Texans assumed it was the same look they’d seen frequently on film during the first quarter of the season. They paid for it, surrendering ten easy yards.

Maybe Romeo drops need to make their way to Houston? They could learn a thing or two from them.