Kansa City starJan 19, 1980
I would have & I think I did put money on the Chiefs settling down with a huge bowl of pop corn and
fighting over the clicker by now. Instead they served me up a “HUGE” helping of Crow (smoked) and lit a bag of meatman's dog **** on fire, put it on my porch and rang the bell!
Somehow the Kansas City Chiefs are still in it!?!? They have managed to win 3 Play off games on the road!Against the AFC”S best! Who woulda thunk it? Seattle, however is a different story. They have not lost a game since week 2 to Tampa (39-13). A game in which Tamps was able to keep the ball out of John Sullivan's hands with a amazing 40-20 minutes of possession. They held the Sea hawks to 255 total 179 in the air and 73 on the ground. They scored on 8 of their 15 drives and ran up 513 total yards 193 of them on the ground. Fast forward perfect season later (14 Regular & 2 Post season wins) only three teams came within a Touchdown! (Oak,SF,TB). 12 games with a margin of victory more than 17.
7 of those games they scored 40 or more including 66 against LA and 83 against Washington! The chiefs fell victim 31-17 (The official box score was incorrect.) In a game that saw the chiefs offense struggle. Unable to move the ball early and then again late in the game! If the Chiefs are to have a chance they can't try and play from behind. Keeping the ball from Sullivan and his cronies is a must.
While Sullivan burned up the league all season with 5400+ yards, 67% Completions 54 TD's 11 INT's and 5 sacks. AMAZING ! In his third straight season making the post season Sullivan is 2-0 with Seattle and 5-2 over all. Interestingly enough losing to the Sea hawks in the CC in 1977! In turn Azevado or “ACE” (as he has refereed to lately) turned in another steady performance. ACE threw for over 4000 yards and a 66% completion rate. His 25 TD's to 21 INT's are concerning but he was only sacked 4 times for 40 yards. A complete flip flop from his first two seasons when he was sacked 61 times but only threw 15 INT's. I see that largely a part of the changes in the game the last 2 seasons.
Ace has improved over the course of the season 11 of his INT's came in the first 4 weeks of the season when the Chiefs were 1-3. A Birght spot for the Chiefs may be that Walter has 7 TD's & 3 INT's in 3 post season games with a 66% completions and a 92.90 QB rating. While in two Post season games Sullivan's numbers are not as good. In two games he ha thrown 2 TD's to 4 INT's with a 69.38 QB rating! Don't expect that to continue! This guy is a MONSTER! It will take all that the chiefs can muster to keep him in check! Don't forget about John Jackson the 90 SPD terror that has 2100+ yards
and 11 TD's 1000+ on the ground (4.7in per) and in the air (79.9 rec) How do you defend this guy! You go dow the list Gonzolez, Hall, Lokken, Hyslop , Taylor It's freaking bone chilling!
If the Chiefsare to win they need everyone to a man to contribute and pull more than his weight! There are 11 Players that have rings from the previous administration. Theymay be a Lil long in the tooth these long time assets are the heart of this team and they need to lead and inspire the younger players like Mitchel, Remely, Forgey, Jones Black, and Hanning! We are going to miss Frank Bell, Mathew Smith, Kevin Taylor And Thomas Martinez. Theyhave a chance to do what S timel others like Keith Willis, Chareles Varney, Jimmy Chow and the many other long Chiefs will miss out on due to the passage of Time. The Chiefs can “RISE UP” and win this thing. We ca close out the 70”s on top inspire they future of this franchise moving into a new decade! No matter what happens tomorrow the Chiefs will come home winners in our hearts. I close in wishing “good luck” to the sea hawks and awest (not toomuch)and I can say with conviction that this team I doubted for much of this season has won me over. So let's throw the fatted sow and a brisket or two in the smoker and see if the Chiefs can pull just one more out of ….well...you know.....GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!
R Cunningham
Sports editor and chiefs fan