Another Look At Misery

The one fallacy in waiting a day to objectively react to a game like yesterday’s is that you have to relive it again when you sit down to write the blog. I hadn’t thought much about the game all day, but now I feel my blood starting to boil again. So, with that being said, let’s try to get through this as painlessly as possible, shall we?

Storm The Cassel – Matt Cassel didn’t have a monster day or anything (15-29, 184 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT), but he made a couple of big throws when his team needed them. I didn’t feel like the Rams got to him enough, and I don’t really remember an instance of somebody on our defense really nailing him to the ground. It seemed like Sam Bradford had somebody in his face every time he dropped back, but Cassel had too much time.

Thunder And Lightning – Obviously the tandem of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones put the hurting on the Rams defense. Charles had 126 yards and a score, and Jones finished with 62 yards and a touchdown of his own. I will say the defense did a better job against Jones than I expected (22 carries), but Charles was pretty dynamic all day. It’s tough to keep those guys under wraps all day, but you can’t give up close to 200 yards on the ground and expect to win.

Something’s Different – It’s hard for me to say whether or not the shortcomings of the offense were directly related to the Chiefs 3-4 defense, but it was difficult to watch for most of the game. After the first drive of the game, the offense was pretty much nonexistent until the fourth quarter. Between the penalties and dropped passes, it was not something I want to see again.

Home Field Advantage – There were plenty of Chiefs fans in the Dome, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the game. There were more open seats than I anticipated, which was a disappointment, but the crowd was a nonfactor. I was really hoping the Dome would be rocking, but that wasn’t the case.

I think we have gone over the trainwreck that was yesterday’s game enough at this point. So let’s just put this one behind us and look forward. This team is still in a great position to win the division, but if they dwell on this game, it won’t happen. On the injury front, Chris Long has a bruised left thigh, and Britt Miller is done for the year with a torn ACL. Ken Darby and Illini Mike are both hoping to practice this week, so things are improving on that front.