the week six picks

"I miss the sound of your voice.
The loudest thing in my head.
And I ache to remember,
All the violent, sweet, perfect words that you said.

If I could walk on water,
If I could tell you what's next,
I'd make you believe,
I'd make you forget,

So come on get higher,
Loosen my lips,
Faith and desire,
In the swing of your hips,
Just pull me down hard,
And drown me in love ..."

-- "Come on Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson. I've heard Sugarland's version. It's decent. But it's not the original. The way Matt nails "I hear angels and devils and God when you COME ... on. HOLD ... on. Jennifer Nettles can't nail it like he does. The way he sings it just ... ooh. Just, ooh. Perfectly nails the moment. Without the Cialus bath tub. The original still rules.

And the reason for this song pick? Just keep reading until the completely uninspiring, rambling, "where the hell is this guy going with this ... oh, got it, ten paragraphs later" Chiefs prediction. It's a Steve "17 page printout" classic! Its an Old School Thursday! Or, at least a "we're 9 days away, start buying your tickets now!" Pimpin' Thursday! If, you know, I was old (shut up Dusty!), was in school, was a pimp, and this was posting on a Thursday ...

--------------------

Last Week SU: 7-7-0
Season to Date SU: 47-29-0

Last Week ATS: 8-6-0
Season to Date ATS: 39-35-2

Last Week Upset / Week: no bueno.
Season to Date Upset / Week: 2-3
This Week's Upset / Week: If I'm going down, I'm going down in flames with two of the three most irrational, "what the f*ck" lines of the week. Its a Two For Weekend! raiders (+6 1/2) over 49ers, and donkeys (+3) over Jets. How the raiders are a touchdown underdog to a winless team coached by a guy the players have quit on, is beyond me. And the Jets? Come on. You know under the "God Hates Steve" rule, that the two teams I live and die with are doomed to always lose in denver ...

The Non-Chiefs Predictions:

(Yup, this is the week that swings the season. I love a TON of dogs this week. Either I look like a genius ... or the gambling idiot I've been for fifteen years and counting. There's a reason why I provide this column as a "public service" to the gambling community. Although to be fair, I think I'm better ... screw that, I KNOW I'm better than 95% of the blackjack community, and at least on par with 85% of the pai gow community ...)

* Chargers (-8) 49, at Rams 3.
* at Patriots 35, Ravens (+3) 34.
* at Bucs (+4) 20, Saints 17.
* Falcons (+2 1/2) 38, at Eagles 13.
* at Giants 30, Lions (+10 1/2) 20.
* at Bears (-6 1/2) 34, Seahawks 6.
* Dolphins 21 (NL / Pick), at Packers 20.
* at Steelers (-13 1/2) 51, Browns 3.
* at donkeys (+3) 31, Jets 26.
* raiders (+6 1/2) 27, at 49ers 3.
* Cowboys (+1 1/2) 28, at Vikings 20.
* at Redskins (+3) 20, Colts 13.
* at Jaguars (+3) 24, Titans 20.

The Chiefs Prediction:

(I apologize in advance: this is one of those classic Steve “what the hell is he talking about? This makes no sense … oh, twenty paragraphs later, he makes the point. Got it” commentaries. To be fair, I was long overdue for one of these bad boys. Also to be fair – I am typing this at 11:30 at night, after attending a very interesting fund raiser for a charitable organization that I not only completely endorse … I think, given my political leanings on every other social and most economic issues, most readers would be shocked to know I not only completely endorse, but financially support. (Which means I wasn't at a Hillary 2012 fund raiser. Although I'd happily attend and donate anytime, anywhere, anyplace.)

Well, ok, not every reader would be stunned -- some of you know I am not … whoops, saving that for another blog post later, to try to recruit someone, anyone, to help out a fantastic organization that actually, to steal a phrase from my former employer that sounds more stupid and ridiculous in hindsight than it did at the time they used it, an organization that actually “lives its values” …)

------------------------------------

There’s a fantastic website out there for Chiefs fans, www.kcchiefsgames.com, that I’ve been pulling up while I’ve been busy working this week. (Since the good folks at “Company Steve Works For” have blocked the ability to stream 980, 610, 810, and XM on our network now, I have to have something for background noise. I give it two weeks before this site is blocked. It took them about three weeks to figure out (probably thanks to my constant online streaming) that XM wasn’t blocked …)

Today, I don’t know why, but the second game I “watched” was the raiders defeat in the Y2K bowl. Watching it in hindsight made it even more painful than I remember, to be honest.

For example, I had totally forgotten that the Chiefs were up 14-0 before the offense even stepped on the field. I remembered Vanover’s punt return after the raiders first punt to put us up 7-0, that was still clear as a bell in my head. I’d totally forgotten that the next snap the raiders took … was a Pick Six to James Hasty.

One thing I hadn’t forgotten though, or at least remembered after watching this, was the noise level after Hasty took it to the house. That was another “Steve hits his seat and cries” moment, after re-seeing it. I watched this game sitting next to Jason in his seats in 109. (The pre “Steve Pederson of Tailgating” Years! That was a fun three year stretch after college, for sure. Sadly, I don’t even think we could schedule another “Restore the Tradition” tailgate at this point with “him” still in the picture. That’s … that’s tragic).

Anyways, I know I was crying. I mean, are you kidding me? A must-win, playoffs-on-the-line game against either your most hated or second most hated team (or co-most hated team, in a lot of cases), and five snaps in, you’re up 14-0? Holy cow! Of course I’m shedding tears faster than I shed the t-shirt on an 85 degree sunny day! (anyone who’s tailgated with me on said 85 degree sunny day voice) sweet Jesus, that’s Speedy Gonzalez fast!!!

There were moments in there on the raiders next series (another punt that led to a field goal for the Chiefs) where you couldn’t completely hear Ian Eagle and his craptacular partner actually call the game, it was so loud. I want that again, Chiefs fans. I want that stadium that loud next Sunday. It can happen, if y’all show up and do your part.

(dusty at bowling league last night voice, channeling his “color of money” bad self) Come on. Everybody’s doing it. Come on.

(Possibly the ultimate “you had to be there” moment of the year for me so far. We’ve somehow won game one against a better team, and I didn’t crack 100. For our team to win, we need (a) a crappy game from the opposition, (b) me to top 150, and (c) DJ to push 200. Oh, and Katie to at least push 100. None of us were close in game one other than Katie … and we still won comfortably, thanks to their 220 bowler failing to crack 150.

Infuriated, I storm out, and grab the Jets hat to wear, to at least have something to throw when I hit the “oh no! we suck again!’ moment. DJ, after last year’s “Steve taunts me after bad game / I throw bowling ball at his head in anger” moment that will live (in hindsight, in hilarious) infamy, takes a huge risk -- he sees how absolutely p*ssed off I am after posting our team’s first open in game two (in fairness, it was in the 3rd frame, I opened ok in game two) … and drops the Paul Newman phrases from that movie. “Come on. Everyone’s doing it (getting a mark). Come on, everyone’s doing it”. Brought this “house” down. I could not stop laughing. You gotta love the kid. I mean, how do you respond to that? The perfect phrase at the perfect time. I like to think I trained him well. That, or he caught lightning in a bottle and nailed it once in 2010. It can’t be the latter – this is the “shut up and no!” kid after all, and that doesn’t happen without me to make fun of …)

Oh, back to the Chiefs / raiders ramble. Your craptacular partner? Mark May. Steve Buerelein, I apologize sir. You are no longer the most clueless, inept, incompetent, “I want to meet you just to throw a beer bottle at you, you p*ss me off so much with your commentary” broadcaster to ever call a Chiefs game. Mark May has taken over first place on that list.

(Another craptacular moment? The last time a Chiefs team p*ssed away a gimme playoff berth at home? Granted, it was week four, but even then, you left the stadium knowing “oh crap, this is gonna bite us in the ass come December”. (And it did – we win this game, we get the 6th seed in the AFC, which only gave you … the Super Bowl champs that year, the Steelers. God bless it). That game? The Eagles game in 2005. The Chiefs led 17-0 after a quarter (and 23-7 two possessions later). Just like this game, we rolled early, choked in the middle, and couldn’t rally late. Note to self: if the Chiefs ever get up 17-0 in a do-or-die game again, immediately begin to panic).

As awful as May was though (not even the always rock solid, and highly underrated, Ian Eagle could save this disaster), he kept stressing something that Jon Gruden told them in the production meeting, and it really struck a chord with me.

“Jon Gruden said this is a must win game for his team. They must finish 8-8. Because in order to move up, in order to take the next step, you have to beat the teams that are better than you, especially in your division”.

Words to that effect, over and over and over again as the Chiefs blew the lead … and then the second half was a thrilling back-and-forth, 2003 Colts playoff game type affair where the last team with the ball, would win.

(It’s an amazing last minute. Rich Gannon converts the 5th and 19 … excuse me, 4th and 19 that everyone missed. And yes, I purposely rewound it. Your referee, of “Tuck Rule” infamy two January’s later, Walt Coleman called the personal foul was after the play was completed on 2nd down … yet the raiders came out afterwards in 2nd and 16 (2 yard run to 2 minute warning), then 3rd and 14 (incomplete), then 4th and 14 (incomplete), then a delay of game, making it 5th and 19. But I digress. Gannon drilled a 21 yard pass to tim brown. The raiders tied it on a Joe Nedney 38 yarder with 30 seconds left. 28 seconds later, the Chiefs were trying a 44 yarder to win that just missed left. Really cool last minute of action, really cool. As much as I hate the 5th down … come on, we gave up a 21 yard pass to their best receiver on (down questionable) and 19. That’s on us far more than the ref.)

(Another cool moment: :06 left, and it’s in a booth review. Joe Horn has made a catch to get the Chiefs to the raiders 27. It’s ruled a catch. Only, it wasn’t a catch. Horn clearly didn’t maintain possession. Referee Walt Coleman announces the pass was incomplete. Because Horn had stayed in bounds, however, the clock had kept moving until the booth stepped in within a couple seconds to review it, it was that blatant a bad call. Chiefs didn’t even have time to call their last timeout, the booth stepped in so quickly.

And the crowd gets what the refs missed. As Ian Eagle is in the booth questioning why the refs didn’t put more time on the clock (since the clock should have stopped at the incompletion), 75,000 plus are audibly screaming “Fix The Clock! Fix The Clock! Fix The Clock!”, and the chant started within about 10 seconds of Coleman’s ruling. Don’t tell me Chiefs fans aren’t the most knowledgeable fans on the planet. Eagle even acknowledges the chant while he’s asking why the clock hasn’t been adjusted. Coleman panics … and puts :02 back on the clock, taking it to :08. Plenty of time to run the same freaking play, to the same freaking receiver, only this time he gets out of bounds instead of falling and losing the ball, setting up the final field goal attempt. That moment gave me a Chris Matthews tingle-in-the-leg feeling, that a fanbase, with so much on the line at that moment, instantaneously recognized an officiating gaffe. Not two plays later recognition, immediate recognition. I mention it, because the only other time I’ve ever seen someone in that stadium so acutely aware of clock management? Was mike shanarat in the 2005 donkeys game, immediately after “The Stand”. He bought his team a free timeout by noticing “hey, if our guy was stopped short on 4th down with 2:07 to play, why is the clock now reading 2:00”. Just saying. shanarat’s smart … but we got him beat.)

Anyways, May keeps noting that Gruden, his team 7-8, a non-factor for the playoffs, viewed it as a must-win game. Because he wanted to drill into his team that if they could win this game, they could beat anybody.

The rest, of course, is history. Gruden would lead the raiders to the next two AFC West championships, losing in the AFC Title Game to the eventual champion Ravens in 2000, and losing a gut-wrencher in The Tuck Rule Game to the eventual champion Patriots in 2001. Bill Callahan picked up where Gruden left off, winning the 2002 AFC West championship, and winning the AFC, before losing to Gruden’s Bucs in the Super Bowl. The game here to close the 1999 season, was the springboard for a helluva 3 year run for those guys.

I mention this, for three reasons.

1. I could not agree more with Coach Gruden. To be the best, you have to beat the best, especially the best in your division, no matter where you play them at.

2. To be the best, you have to beat the teams that are at least as good as you are, no matter where you play them at.

3. The 2010 Chiefs have already done (1). Sunday, they get another chance to do (2).

Remember how these guys closed 2009? After losing three straight home games, two of them one-score outcomes we lost as favorites (ugh), the Chiefs hit the road to face the AFC North champion Bengals, and another team unquestionably better than we were, within our own division – the denver broncos. A game that they had to win to stay alive for postseason consideration.

The Chiefs played well at Cincinnati, losing by 3. They took the field at denver a 3-12 also ran that hadn’t beaten anyone of note, unless you count a .500 Steelers team at home in a fluky upset fueled by turnovers and crappy Steelers special teams “of note”. And for the record, I don’t.

They had nothing to play for in denver. The donkeys had everything to play for. Just like the Chiefs and the raiders in the Y2K Bowl.

Chiefs 44, donkeys 20. Jamaal Charles sets a franchise record with 259 yards rushing. DJ returns two interceptions for touchdowns. The Chiefs absolutely took the donkeys, a superior team within the division for at least five of the last six years (the one year I give KC, 2006, is a coin flip, since both finished 9-7 and 1-1 against each other), and took them to the woodshed.

Remember how these guys opened 2010? Facing the defending AFC West Champion Chargers. A team we’d lost 5 straight to, all in embarrassing, most in blowout fashion. A team that had the AFC’s best record last year at 13-3. A team that had won the AFC West 5 of the last 6 years, hadn’t finished below .500 since 2003, has three playoff wins in the last three years, and was (is?) the unquestioned King of the Hill of the division. And we took it to them. Ran it on them all night. Built a lead. Never gave it up. And when push came to shove, we found out what this defense was made of, stopping first and goal. Stuffing second and goal. Rattling Phyllis Rivers on 3rd and goal. And humiliating him on 4th and goal. Four shots against the 31st ranked defense last year, from 6 yards out, and Rivers and his team failed. The Chiefs succeeded.

Point 1 – to be the best, you have to beat the best, especially the best in your division. No matter where you play them. We’ve done that.

Point 2? Sunday, we get a second crack at it.

The Chiefs played well last Sunday. They certainly played well enough to win. Two crucial brain farts (the 4th and 2 decision, D Bowe’s dropped touchdown) killed us. And yet still, realize this – as frustrating as D Bowe’s drop was (and I believe I dropped the “God F*cking Dammit!” blast about 55 times while tossing the stress towel against the chair at DJ and Kellie’s, so yeah, it was “frustrating”, to say the least), as frustrating as that was, WHY was it frustrating?

(Because the Chiefs had the ball, with a shot to take the lead, at Indianapolis, in the 4th quarter).

This wasn’t some drop down 30-7 in a game everyone not named “Steve” or “Gregg” has tuned off. This was a drop in a 9-6 game (that should have been 9-9, ugh, not taking the points still pisses me off, and its been five days. I need to let it go. In time, I guess I will …), a drop in a 9-6 game that we not only had a shot to win … we had a very REALISTIC shot to win. This wasn’t some fluky “what the hell is happening here?!?!” game against Indy, like the 2007 defeat (we lost 13-10 on a field goal as time expired). This wasn’t a “the Colts clearly don’t take us seriously, and they’re just going through the motions” game like that one was.

This was a “holy crap! These guys are hammering peyton manning! These guys are moving the ball! The Brandon Brothers can cover! This team … might be … (gulp) … could be … (hyperventilating) … worth hopping on the bandwagon for!” game.

www.arrowheadpride.com, another multiple-times-a-day visit site for me, has an awesome editor (Joel Thurman) who is a huge stats guy, just like me. (So be warned – if you aren’t a big “Inside the Numbers” person, you’ll probably skip half the stuff he posts. But if you’re a stats geek like me, or just ever wondered “how did Steve know what they were gonna do before they were gonna do it”? Check out his site. The trending, the stats, the “when they face 3rd and whatever, they do this 93% of the time this season” facts are all there for your perusal).

He allowed a guest editor to post this week to post a column on the 2010 Chiefs so far, and how they project. And he has a fascinating article, comparing the 2010 Chiefs … to the last time a Pioli team entered year two of the “rebuild” phase. The 2001 New England Patriots. In case you don’t feel like reading it, here’s the gist of it:

1. As bad as most Chiefs fans think Cassel has been … he’s perfectly on line via projections to match Tom Brady’s 2001 numbers. Oh, and the Chiefs have a complete reversal of the 2001 Pats record after four games – they were 1-3. We’re 3-1.

2. As bad as most Chiefs fans think Bowe has been … he’s perfectly on line via projections to match the Patriots 2nd WR numbers. (The only sucky thing? We don’t have a Troy Brown … yet. I still think Chris Chambers will be heard from before this season is said and done).

But most awesome of all …

3. Both true statistics after four games … and full season projection wise … the 2010 Chiefs defense projects BETTER than the 2001 Patriots defense.

Which was 5th against the run, 1st against the pass, 3rd in scoring … and oh yeah, completely befuddled Mike Martz and the “Greatest Show on Turf” when it counted the most.

(Another neat stat – the Texans offense took 13 snaps in the first quarter last Sunday. They trailed 21-0 after that quarter. Of their 13 plays, 9 were considered “negative” – meaning loss of more than 4.6 yards (the average play in a game gains 4.6 yards), turnover, or sack. The Chiefs, through 4 games, have 17 negative plays total.)

What do I think is going to happen on Sunday? I think, as mentioned earlier this week, the Chiefs are going to open up the playbook. I think you’re finally going to get a Chris Chambers sighting (or two) this week. I think the Chiefs are going to bait Brian Cushing into rushing the passer, opening the middle of the field for Moeaki and Chambers (and Charles out of the backfield on the delayed screen / delayed middle route). I think you’re going to see the most aggressive, down the field, vertically-oriented playcalling the Chiefs have done since Al Saunders was calling the shots in the booth.

(Another neat stat – the Chiefs have 9 sacks this year, which puts them squarely in the middle of the pack, tied for 18th. The NFL leaders have 18, but all except 4 teams have 12 or fewer. Why is this neat? Because 8 of the 9 sacks, occurred on a four man rush. 8 of the 9 were generated when our defensive line and Tamba Hali or DJ were the only four guys rushing the passer. That’s awesome. If your front four (or in our case, front three and Hali or DJ, whichever one isn’t covering the TE / RB safety valve) is generating a pass rush that knocks the passer down with the ball twice a game? You don’t have to blitz. You can then afford to let the Brandon Brothers play man on the corners, let Eric Berry and Jon McGraw play the cover two, and your two linebackers can react to the QB attempting to scramble, cover the third receiver, hell they can pick their nose at that point, you’ve effectively shut down the opposition’s vertical attack. Case in point – the INT the Chiefs had on Manning, was directly because of this exact stat. We only rushed four, they couldn’t block Hali outside or Dorsey inside. Manning had to step up and away, and throw off his front foot, never a good thing. Where cover 2 safety support Jon McGraw had the perfect read, could wait on the throw, and picked it off. Just like the Saints LB in the Super Bowl last year with his Pick Six that sealed the Saints win, the exact same thing happened. If your front four generates a rush on its own, you don’t have to blitz. And if you don’t have to blitz, you can drop up to eight into coverage, to cover at most 5 guys, usually four if your front rush is working that well. To quote the great Homer J. Simpson: “I like those odds!”

As great as Gunther’s defenses were in the 1990s … what made them great was the front four. His first couple years, you had Saleaumua, Neil Smith, Pellum McDaniels, and DT rushing the passer. The later years, you had Dan Williams, Chester McGlockton, Eric Hicks, and DT. If you’ve got two decent corners (Hasty and Carter) and a safety worth a damn (Collins) to go with it, you’re set. To say nothing of having 59 as your middle valve. You can beat anybody with those guys on the field. Anybody. The reason Gun’s second tour of duty failed wasn’t the secondary – I’d go to play with Law, Warfield and Surtain any day against any team, especially with Jerome Woods, Scott Fujita, (eventually, again) Donnie Edwards and the underrated Kawika Mitchell providing the cover two support, it failed because our front four sucked. Nobody other than John Browning for a couple years, and Leslie O’Neal for a game, was worth a damn.)

So, the latest long winded point is this – for the first time since 1999, we’ve got a defense that can beat anybody. The Texans offense is good. But they’re stoppable. If the Chiefs front four can generate the rush they did against Indy, the pressure they’ve put on every opponent so far save San Diego (the secondary won that game for us; Rivers had plenty of time to throw, he just couldn’t find an open receiver save for Gates’ bomb to end the 3rd quarter), it not only will at least slow down the passing game, it will throttle the run. (Like we did for 55 minutes against the Colts. The last drive? My guess is, they were exhausted. The Chiefs were on the field for 6 plays for the first 11 minutes of the quarter. They were gassed. That’s why Mike Hart found the holes he did to put Indy up 10.)

Gary Kubiak admitted this week he abandoned the run last week, in the 2nd quarter, down 21-0. You can ask “why”, as I did – any decent offense can usually make a game of it if you’re down 21 with 45 minutes to go, as long as you stick to the script and what works for you. I would also ask “why not” though, as in “why not put them in this position again”?

I envision a sneaky blitz on an early 3rd down out of the Chiefs, because you’ve got nothing to lose that early on. Its why I loved the onside kick last week so much. Who cares if Indy has a short field to open the game? It’s the first drive of the game! The Chiefs have scored first in one of their four games so far. We have yet to score on our first possession. Has that crippled our ability to win? Take risks in the first quarter, as long as they’re calculated, reasonable games. (Giving up gimme points on a 4th and 2 at the 6 is not a “reasonable, calculated gamble”. That’s “mentally retarded”).

I truly believe the front four can generate the rush on Schaub that we need – because we’re gonna need McGraw, Berry, and Lewis in the cover two / three a lot of the afternoon. This is a damned good offensive team. We’ve got to have the front four generate the pressure, and either DJ/Hali (whoever doesn’t rush) and Williams or Belcher stop Foster for minimal gains. A gain of two up the middle? Not a bad defensive play. Mike Hart juking, weaving, through about 5 defenders 16 yards for a touchdown? That’s not a good defensive play.

Special teams wise, just keep on keeping on. Ryan Succup is turning into the best kicker we’ve had since Pete Stoyanovich prior to that oakland game described in the opening. Dusty C, I love the guy. He’s my favorite punter we’ve had since One-Ball Louie. And not just because of the constant “Dusty C higher than …” jokes after his punts that crack me up for some reason.

Dex and Arenas give us a one-two punch I’m not sure we’ve really ever had. (We tried it in 2006, with Dante Hall running on fumes and “F*ck” Ed Drummond. I still hate that guy). Just continue to average 40 yards a punt, not outkick your coverage. (As Ryan Lefebvre would note: if you’re going to outpunt your coverage, make sure you do it in picking your significant other. That’s when you not only want to outpunt your coverage, you want to punt that sucker so far beyond the coverage units that she’s too awestruck to see your flaws. I obviously haven’t found that chica yet. Anyways.)

Continue having teams start drives inside their 30 after kickoffs. Continue the penalty free returns. Keep holding onto the ball. Keep consistently making everything inside of 40, and regularly make everything inside of 50. (Outside of 50 is a total crapshoot, even if the roof is closed on Sunday as it likely will be. Be fair here).

At the end of the day … I envision a breakthrough. These guys can do it. No less a football expert than Peter King of Sports Illustrated has pegged the Chiefs to win this week. Both the Sports Guy and Cousin Sal could not figure out the line; it made “no sense” to Sal (who is dominating with his picks so far ATS, you can check him out at ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live site).

I believe in this team. I love the fact that on Tuesday, 12 days before the Jaguars game, the Chiefs began selling standing room only tickets. The only way a NFL team can sell SRO tickets? Is if they’ve already met the league definition of a sellout. This town is buying into these guys. Hopefully, you are too.

These teams have played four times when it counts, three at Reliant (which, and I am being dead serious here, is without question THE nicest NFL stadium I have ever stepped foot into. And I’ve been to my fair share of NFL facilities. They have awesome fans, a kick ass tailgating atmosphere that will remind you of Arrowhead 5 years ago, and the stadium itself is beyond state-of-the-art. And did I mention, at least 3 years ago when I was there … they had $4 draws? $4 draws! What the hell?!?! A team that actually gives a sh*t about its prices? An owner who doesn’t gouge his fans for every penny he can squeeze out of them? God bless you Bob McNair! And Arte Moreno in MLB with the Angels, whose first act as owner … was to slash beer prices in half. In not even remotely shocking news, the Angels have made the playoffs in 5 of Moreno’s 6 years as owner, this year being the sole outlier. Seriously, how do we get that here?!?!).

Only one of the four games has been even remotely competitive … in 2004. When the Texans rallied from down 14 in the second half to beat the Chiefs 27-24. Probably the only game that, if posted at KC Chiefs Games, I would never click on. Too many painful memories from that day. (For what it’s worth, the donkeys playoff loss in 1997 is up on this dude’s site. I’ve hovered over it about 10 times already … and I can’t bring myself to click on it. But eventually, I will. If only to toss something at the monitor when the final drive implodes. Like most folks on their 21st birthday, I went to bed completely intoxicated. Unlike most folks, I was intoxicated for ALL the wrong reasons … but that Texans game? Never. Never going to retwatch a second of it, unless I’m forced to by the CBS feed on Sunday).

Every other game has been at least a 17 point margin. So we’re due for a middle of the road, relatively comfortable two score game in this series.

Chiefs (+5) 30, at Texans 21. Bring on the Jaguars on a short week, fresh off a physical war against the Titans …