Chiefs Mid-season Report 2019

Chiefs back into the play-offs or stroll to the Super Bowl?

Could this be a tale of two halves?

As the Chiefs head for their bye week, it's a good idea to take stock.

First the record : the boys in red stand at 7 and 4 - just a half game ahead of the Raiders and, having whumped on the Chargers - as usual, they are seemingly well placed to win the AFC West. But the journey has not been without incident nor lacking in drama.

Looking at the losses there is an easy pattern to discern. Losses to the Colts, Packers and Texans were hard enough to take and the loss to the Titans smacked more of a team on the slide than one on the way to the Super Bowl. 

Commonality can be found in the almost complete inability of the Chiefs to even slow down the opponents run game much less stop it. It has been one step up and two down for most weeks. Couple that with the injury to St Patrick and a perfect storm is on the horizon.

With five games left four of them are winnable. And, in order to finish as Division winners they will need to beat the Raiders at Arrowhead and even if they lose to the Patriots at Foxborough they will only have to beat the Bears and finish the season by embarrassing the Bolts at home in the last game to stroll into the post-season.  The problem is the NFL becomes more and more competitive and less predictable with every passing day.

The problems are there for all to see. More opaque are the solutions.

My thoughts : we must get a run game and I mean a real run game - not the collection of has - beens and no-hopers they currently employ.  Mahomes providing the bulk of the running game is a recipe for disaster.

On defence, the Chiefs have flattered to deceive on many occasions. They give up a ton of yardage and then make a play to hold the opponents to a field goal. The pass-rush has been better lately, but the run defence sucks – and sucks bit time!

What about the remaining opponents?

From Arrowhead Pride: "The bye week is a good time to get a glimpse at how the rest of the NFL is playing — especially this late in the season. The Chiefs have five remaining opponents, and all but the Los Angeles Chargers are playing on Sunday. You already know about the Raiders and the Patriots. The Chiefs will face the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears Weeks 15 and 16."

On paper, the remaining schedule doesn’t look too forbidding.

Unfortunately, as already noted, the game ain’t played on paper – it’s gridiron football and as the season get towards the end the emphasis starts to ratchet towards the run game (on offence particularly, but also on defence). Both areas are great causes for concern - if not panic stations.

The Play-offs

Again from Arrowhead Pride: "We all know which teams are the most likely to be contending against the Chiefs in the championship round of the AFC play-offs. But it’s also important to consider which teams the Chiefs could face in the early stages of post-season play.

It’s hard to truly believe in the 7-3 Buffalo Bills — but that doesn’t mean they are a team to overlook. They play great defence — especially against the pass — and can make enough plays with the offensive playmakers on their roster. Second-year quarterback Josh Allen will have another chance to prove himself in this Week 13 match-up against a tough Denver defence.

We should also keep an eye on the 5-5 Pittsburgh Steelers, 5-5 Tennessee Titans, 4-6 Cleveland Browns and the 4-6 Jacksonville Jaguars."

As Thanksgiving approaches the Chiefs have a lot to be thankful for and a ton of things that may stick in the throat like week-old turkey sandwich. Of course, so do most other teams. My gut feeling is that the game next week against the Raiders at Arrowhead will determining how the season progresses. Win and we stroll into the play-offs: lose and we start building for next season by getting a real running back and a better than sub-par defence.  It's all to play for.

Brexit v The Civil War

Boris Causes Train Wreck?

We live in strange times. We may agree that parallels with the American Civil War may seem over - dramatic and inflated, but can we be sure that this is so?

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. - Abraham Lincoln

Honest Abe knew better than he said. The print media is awash with rumours of a general election as the only way to make Brexit progress. Problem is the heavyweights of the opposition parties are not really biting on this foul - tasting option. And Boris has no real prospect of conning MP s into voting, turkey - like for a Christmas poll. So, he blusters and fumes whilst the electorate snoozes.

Meanwhile the EU has agreed an extension, of unspecified length. Sort of.

Fortunately for Boris never say never can be consigned to the dustbin. Without batting an eyelid, Jeremy Corbin has seen the light, or has been on an unscheduled visit to the middle East for a Damascene moment not including his Hamas pals, as he has agreed to an early general election. Parliament is currently arguing about the date. It will be early December - almost certainly.

Hang on the masses cry, what happened to the fixed term parliament act?

Answer - Parliament just votes to ignore it-when it suits them - which is pretty much whenever they like. Clear? I thought not.

The background : David Cameron had an election which he failed to win, but he did persuade the Liberal Democrats to join in a coalition so he could govern. Part of the price he had to pay was the fixed term parliament act which specified that there has to be a general election every five years. The Liberal Democrats were thereby assured that he couldn't pull the rug on them when he thought he could get away with it. So far so good.

Eventually another election duly rolls around and, in no small measure owing to their penchant for climbing into bed with the Tories - along with Dave's promise to hold a referendum on membership of the EU, the Liberal Democrats got all the blame for the crap that happened and none of the credit for anything good. They got slaughtered at the polls and Cameron got an unexpected overall Tory government. One result of which was the EU referendum of 2016. Having promised the vote in order to blind-side the loonies led by Nigel Farage, poor David had little choice but to deliver.

It remains to be seen whether Boris may inherit the whirlwind sown by Cameron. For, we wait to see what Nigel will do. I suspect that the Tories must have had a nod and a wink from the Brexit party to the effect that some sort of election pact is going to be available. Maybe a clear run for Nigel and some of his cronies to swap membership of the EU parliament for tacit Tory support in some constituencies? Who knows? Update: the Brexit party has had their launch and Nigel has offered Boris a deal as I predicted. The Tories are currently saying not on your Nelly. Can they sustain this position? It all depends on the polls, if they start to slip Nigel may be back in the game. The campaign is only five weeks - that's five times longer than the old adage "a week is a long time in politics". Watch this space.

Why does Mal say this is most likely? Simples : I can't see how else a Brexit majority can be conjured after the election. The diatribe from Boris and his new best buddy Nigel will be that if the voters support Labour, the Liberal Democrats or anyone else they will get no Brexit at all or Brino at best.

This could work for Boris and he's a gambler at heart.

The house divided may be closer than we think.

Update, we vote on 12 Dec. As I predicted, Nigel has whimped out and done a deal with Boris. The Brexit Party will not put up candidates in constituencies where the Tory candidate is a Brexiteer. So, Boris should win. He's the bookies favourite. We'll see!