Risk: The probability or threat of quantifiable damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be avoided through preemptive action.Alright, it's high time that I wrote about football, if nothing else to appease the masses. Week 7 approacheth, and this country once again has tunnel vision for its love, its current pastime - football. It makes sense that as time has progressed, the more we've become enchanted with football. We're a society that needs to have its desires met, and quickly! With the advancement of technology, information has become accessible to us at the push of a button. In Kansas City, Google has unleashed its own Internet service provider called Google Fiber. With a fiber-optic mode of transference, connection speeds soar to 1,000 Mbps, or 100 times faster than today's basic broadband connection. You literally don't have to wait a second. Remember the temperance and fortitude that we used to demonstrate with dial-up Internet? It was like some form of cruel flaggelation, watching that bar slowly load. What character that imbued upon us! No longer. With smart phones, we can be anywhere and have immediate access to the information we need...I mean want. It's overwhelming trying to keep up with the progress. I don't even know which iPhone or Droid they're on now. Today's rule of thumb for technology - the "buyer beware", is that whatever you purchase, it will be rendered obsolete in about six months by its successor. You know that cool, Samsung Galaxy Quatro, or whatever the hell it's called nowadays (I did just use nowadays, in channeling my inner old fogey)? Yeah, it's not gonna' be cool soon. I hope this rant serves to illustrate that along with our progress, we've become a society that needs, needs, needs NOW! You know those spoiled brat kids that get whatever they want and demand that their parents give them that thing of their heart's desire because they know they'll get it? We're those kids, only we can't hide behind the screen of being immature toddlers. Need proof? Go down to your nearest Apple Store the day they release the next iPhone. You'll see consumers lining up for half a block, probably witness a fight, and then watch as the people walk out of the store with their new merch, only to see their heads turn to the next shiny thing before they get to their car. We've become a nation that collectively suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder due to the rapid pace with which we live. It should be no surprise that football has chop-blocked the other sports in a popularity contest. It's a game of bursts, and it's entertaining as hell. Down, down, down, punt, commercial break. Whew. Oh! It's back on! Down, down, first down! ...down, down, first down! TOUCHDOWN! Commercial break. It makes a sport like baseball seem tame or boring. Baseball, which utilizes space. Space with which to observe, to take in with heightened awareness all that is happening on the field before that suspenseful moment when the pitch is thrown. Baseball calls for the art of patience in its viewership...an art that is quickly becoming extinct. The following analogy is offered - Baseball : old man asleep on his rocking chair :: football : meth addict with Funyons. And Lord knows we love our Funyons - the root word being 'fun'.
To be clear, I love me some football. I had the privilege of growing up in Kansas football heyday in the 90's, when the Chiefs would win their division seemingly every year, and the KSU Wildcats were national title contenders in the late 90's and early 2000's under Bill Snyder. Football had since lost much of its luster in Kansas City. Arrowhead Stadium, which was one of the more feared visiting venues to play in, known for its passionate and raucous fan base, had been incapacitated due to the ease with which opposing teams could come into KC and win. But the fans hadn't disappeared. They just lay dormant, waiting for the opportunity to wake up...
They're awake. With a win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon, by a score of 23-7, the Kansas City Chiefs moved to 6-0, and subsequently snapped a streak of six years in a row that the Raiders had come into Arrowhead Stadium and won. A New Orleans Saints loss to the Patriots vaulted the Chiefs into elite company with their division rivals the Denver Broncos, as one of only two undefeated teams left in the NFL. Truth be told, I did not think my first NFL blog post would be concerning the Chiefs. I do not intend for Shades of Blue to be overly Kansas City-centric and coming off a 2012 season in which the Chiefs went 2-14, let's face it - they weren't exactly portending relevance. But they've forced my hand. Being the most surprising success story in the NFL will do that.
The two most important positions on a football team are the head coach and the starting quarterback. The coach teaches, orchestrates game plans, calls or sanctions plays...he's the puppet master of what you see going on in the game. The quarterback acts as the general on the field. The 2013 Kansas City Chiefs have new personnel at both positions (and a new general manager to boot), giving them arguably the biggest facelift of any team this year in the NFL. All Kansas City can say in response is, "Thank God." Those changes were sorely needed, and with the signing of Andy Reid as head coach and trading for Alex Smith at quarterback, there was an atmosphere of excitement surrounding this Kansas City team in the offseason. But I don't even think the most hopeful of Kansas City fans would have thought the Chiefs would be 6-0. I don't think Andy Reid thought it would happen, I don't think Alex Smith did...nobody saw this coming. So how did they get here?
Despite only winning two games all season in 2012, the Chiefs managed to have six pro-bowlers represent their squad - four on defense, one on offense, and one on special teams. There were only eight NFL teams last season that had six or more pro-bowlers. The other seven - Houston (9), San Francisco (9), Denver (7), Minnesota (7), New England (7), Baltimore (6), and Seattle (6) all went to the playoffs. The Ravens, also with six pro-bowlers, won the Super Bowl as a wildcard. Yet the Chiefs went 2-14 and secured the top overall draft spot as the worst team in the NFL. One of these things is not like the other! Talent was clearly not the issue for the Chiefs. This was a dream job for the unemployed head coaches of the world.
A good boss doesn't walk into a new place of work and force their employees to be something they're not. That would be poorly managing the talent and skill of your work force. No, a good boss will create opportunities for their employees to utilize their strengths for the betterment of the company. Companies like Google don't micromanage labor to a degree that suffocates the workers; they create space for employees to hone their skills in producing something remarkable. And the results tend to speak for themselves. That is precisely what Andy Reid has done as the head coach of the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs aren't winning this season by parading around the Greatest Show on Turf, like their 6-0 rival Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos. They aren't scoring fifty points a game and out-gunning their opponents. They did that in the early 2000's under Dick Vermeil and never won a playoff game. That's not who these 2013 Chiefs are, and that's not who Andy Reid is trying to make them into.
 |
| One of the Chiefs' ten sacks on Terrelle Pryor |
One pro-bowler on special teams. Dustin Colquitt is a punter, but don't allow the fact that he only comes onto the field for about five snaps throughout the course of a game prove cynical for you. A punter can be a weapon, and one that becomes exponentially more valuable to a team like the Chiefs, whose success relies upon making life cumbersome for opposing offenses. It can prove difficult even for an elite defense to mitigate the opponent's score when they have to start possessions on a shortened field. Of Dustin Colquitt's forty punts so far this season, he has pinned the opposing offense inside their own twenty yard line nineteen times. Even this calculus dropout can quickly figure based on that statistic that half of the time this guy kicks the ball off his golden foot, the other offense has to go a long ways to score. In addition to Colquitt, the Chiefs' special teams unit boasts one of the quicker, shiftier kick returners in the league in Dexter McCluster. His electrifying punt return at the end of the third quarter against the Giants was crucial in blowing the game wide open and allowing momentum to carry the Chiefs in the fourth quarter to a blowout win at home. McCluster reminds many Chiefs fans of The X-Factor, Dante Hall, and that is by no means depressing.
One pro-bowler on offense. The Chiefs were miserable offensively last season, and they're not much better at this juncture of the season. They are averaging a mere 207 passing yards a game, with only seven passing touchdowns on the year. Peyton Manning threw for seven touchdowns in the first game of the season! The strength of the offense lies in pro-bowl running back Jamaal Charles and a respectable rushing attack that averages 119 yards a game. Charles is arguably a top-three running back in the NFL. He is explosive in the open field, a surprisingly effective goal line running back (Charles has all five of the Chiefs' rushing touchdowns), and an adept receiver - second on the team with 300 receiving yards. This is an offense that can effectively run the ball and utilizes a prudent, low-risk passing attack that should prove more lethal once Alex Smith and Dwayne Bowe begin to play in sync.The passing game is clearly not stellar. In fact, Alex Smith leads the twenty-sixth ranked passing offense in the league so far this season. It's true - Smith is not Peyton Manning. He can't put up Star Wars statistics like Manning or Brees can. He's not electric in the open field like Vick, Kaepernick, or RGIII. He doesn't have the temerity or the poise of Russell Wilson, and he doesn't look as good in a sweater after the game as Tom Brady does. He's just kind of blah, like vanilla ice cream on top of white cake. Even his name "Alex Smith" is about as generic as you can find. The guy's about as bland a quarterback as can be, but the Chiefs sought hard after him because he is exactly what they need.
Taking a walk down memory lane, Smith was president of his senior class in high school and graduated a semester early with a 4.4 GPA. With 64 matriculated credit hours, he was able to graduate as an economics major in two years at Utah and subsequently began work on a Master's degree before being drafted as the number one overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. You know when an NCAA game is broadcast on television, and they cycle through the players while showing their degrees? How many do you remember pursuing a degree in economics (or anything other than communications or recreational science for that matter)? The economics classes have clearly sunk in; Alex plays like a quarterback who understands the concept of risk-reward all too well. His conservative play has prompted others to call him a game manager, which is a back-handed compliment to a quarterback who plays with caution. Smith does not have a propensity to throw down field, but he also tends not to turn the ball over. In 216 passing attempts, he has thrown just three interceptions. Drew Brees, widely considered a top-three quarterback, has five picks in just twenty one more attempts. Tony Romo also only has three interceptions, but he threw yet another costly pick against Denver on the last drive of the game, tacking on one more to the laundry list of crucial mistakes made by Romo at pivotal game moments. Romo has yet to buck his reputation as a choke artist.
What Alex Smith brings to the table is his intellect, and to Kansas City, it's an invaluable attribute. With a defense as good as Kansas City's, the focus offensively shouldn't be to field a superior caliber offense; instead, it should be to exercise prudence, play within the offense's capabilities, and limit turnovers. In other words, you're playing not to hurt yourself through mistakes. The Chiefs need a quarterback who understands this and can sacrifice blowing up the stat sheets in order to play smart and win games. The wits of Alex Smith are testified to on the football field by impeccable decision making. The Chiefs currently hold a +12 turnover margin over their foes. It's a glaring factor as to why they continue to win week after week. Going three-and-out and being forced to punt is not going to kill this football team. Turning the ball over will. You can make a strong argument that Alex Smith isn't helping the Chiefs, but you can make a damn good argument that he's not hurting them either. That's something that can't be said of Tony Romo in relation to his 3-3 Cowboys. Dallas can have the gunslinger and the 500 yard passing games. Kansas City will take the game manager and the undefeated record. They'll gladly take Alex Smith.
Now all this game managing and prudent play is not Andy Reid's particular cup of tea, and for that, I will give him all the credit in the world. In sacrificing his desired style of play for posterity's sake in order to capitalize on the skill set of this team, Reid has given the Chiefs their best chance of succeeding. When so many ego-driven head coaches would have turned over every rock to install their system, call their plays, and effectively make it their team, Andy Reid has humbly adopted the identity of this team and made them better by sharpening those facets that had potential to cut. They play phenomenal defense, they have great special teams contributors, and they operate a smart offense that doesn't turn the ball over. That's been an age-old football recipe for success, and the Chiefs are proving that it still can taste so good. I never thought I'd hear fans in Kansas City exclaiming happily this reminds me of Marty-ball! But at 6-0, this Chiefs team has put Kansas City on cloud nine. Many outsiders remain critical of the team's offensive deficiencies, seeing the undefeated record as something of a mirage. They say the Chiefs are a good team but shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and New England. Well I just did. Kansas City is ecstatic to have elite football again. Chiefs fans just set a record in the fourth quarter of the game against Oakland on Sunday, when Arrowhead Stadium's clamor reached 137.5 decibels. Though their play might not be the loudest in the league, the Chiefs are making a deafening noise, even if it can only be heard in Kansas City.Now excuse me while I go grab some white cake a la mode...
No comments:
Post a Comment