Season Review

By Jon Cartwright

Hi folks – it’s been a hectic season of football, but now that there is only one game left (at the time of writing), I am already starting to get withdrawal symptoms! The only cure was to look back over a few highs and lows of the season…

Week 1: v Titans LOST 10-26, record 0-1

So we entered week 1 wondering if a repeat of 2013’s great 11-5 record was possible. There was some concern over the tougher looking schedule, and the fact we hadn’t done much to fix the weakness at wide receiver, but otherwise it was all systems go and we had some quiet confidence.

That didn’t last! Pretty much everything that could go wrong in our opener did. Despite being at home to a team seen as one of the NFL’s weakest, Alex Smith was picked 3 times and the offence just couldn’t get going. Worse still, both Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito went down with season-ending injuries. A comprehensive defeat, and painful memories of the 2-14 season were stirring…

Week 2: at Broncos LOST 17-24, record 0-2

Another bad week. True, the performance was certainly better, to the extent that Alex Smith out-passed Peyton Manning, and the score was close to the end. But this was a second defeat to start the season, and with both Jamaal Charges and Eric Berry leaving the game with injuries, the team was looking worryingly threadbare so early in the season.

Week 3: at Dolphins WON 34-15, record 1-2

The Dolphins came into this one after a bad loss to the Bills – so at least one of the teams in this game would get a much-needed tonic!

Against all expectation, it was our Chiefs! The O-line gave little protection to Alex Smith and he was repeatedly sacked – but even despite this he was a mile better than Ryan Tannehill on the night. In JC’s absence, both Knile Davis and Cyrus Gray rushed for TDs, while Joe McKnight leapt from obscurity to haul in two scoring passes. Travis Kelce also scored his first touchdown for the Chiefs and Sunday nights finally felt good again!

Week 4: v Patriots WON 41-14, record 2-2

Our toughest game yet, as the Pats came to Arrowhead?

That’s not how it turned out, as Andy Reid’s boys managed to do even better than last week’s

performance… Kelce scored again, Husain Abdullah ran in a pick-six, and Jamaal Charles returned from injury to score a hat-trick. The dominance was such that we were treated to the rare sight of Tom Brady being benched in the final quarter.

Week 5: at 49ers LOST 17-22, record 2-3

Travis Kelce scored yet again, rookie De’Anthony Thomas scored his first TD for the Chiefs, and we led away in San Francisco in the last quarter, looking for a third big name scalp in succession. Sadly we were undone late on as the 49ers went for – and made – a trick play on 4th and 1, which helped them to a narrow victory.

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: at Chargers WON 23-20, record 3-3

Amazing that a week 7 game can be a must-win, but that was certainly how this one felt. Coming off a bye week, we were facing divisional rivals who were already at 5-1, and we surely couldn’t afford to fall further behind them?

JC made us smile with a weaving TD run, which ended with him taking the franchise rushing record and simultaneously knocking ex-teammate Brandon Flowers off his feet! Amazingly, Anthony Sherman showed he could do just as well with a similarly mazy run to the line. All square at 20-20 late on, Alex Smith drove us close with three good passes, and Cairo Santos then held his nerve to score the game-clinching field goal.

Week 8: v Rams WON 34-7, record 4-3

The Rams scored early in this one, but then they were done. We ran riot for the remainder of the game – Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis both scored twice, and Knile’s 99-yard kick-off return to start the second half was the highlight. Justin Houston feasted on three sacks, and our depressing start to the year had somehow turned into a winning record!

Week 9: v Jets WON 24-10, record 5-3

We were now approaching games with real optimism, and the Jets game gave us a pretty straightforward victory. Kelce and Charles both scored yet again – but the highlight was certainly Anthony Fasano’s improbable score when he was sitting on the turf as a deflected pass dropped into his lap! Justin Houston added to his sack count and Josh Mauga laid a big hit onto Michael Vick.

Week 10: at Bills WON 17-13, record 6-3

It looked like the team had slipped up here, as we were struggling at 13-3 down well into the second half. Two quick touchdowns saved our blushes, and the key play was a punt fumble recovery by ‘Sausage’ Sherman – great special teams play turned a desperate punt out of the end zone into possession deep in Bills territory.

The win here meant we had beaten all four AFC East teams, a year after we had a similar 100% record against the NFC East.

Week 11: v Seahawks WON 24-20, record 7-3

Time to show the Seahawks what a loud stadium is really like!

Jamaal put in a great effort, racking up over 150 rushing yards, but we were troubled by Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, both of whom were putting in great rushing performances of their own. In the end our defence won us this game, making three separate 4th down stops in the final quarter as we held on in a thriller. Five wins in a row since bye week, and this team was looking great!

Week 12: at Raiders LOST 20-24, record 7-4

Ouch. Down to earth with a bang.

A lot of UK Chiefs fans were up very late to watch this – it would all have been worth it for a win, but we somehow lost to our rivals, the winless Raiders. The main problem early on was unheralded running back Latavius Murray. Then, at the death, when we looked like we might just scrape home, we were undone by a Derek Carr-led 80 yard game winning drive.

The result was disappointing – but it was put into context a few days later when the news came out that Eric Berry was being checked out for a possible (and later confirmed) cancer. This was the kind of news that would take the shine off any season regardless of results.

Week 13: v Broncos LOST 16-29, record 7-5

For the second week, UK fans had a late – and disappointing – night. Another low profile running back got the better of us, CJ Anderson this time. Although Fasano and Charles both got touchdowns, in truth we were never really in this game.

Week 14: at Cardinals LOST 14-17, record 7-6

What is it with unknown RBs? This time it was the turn of Kenwynn Williams – a second year player with no yards of any kind coming into the game – to get a 100 yard performance against us. Jamaal’s scores kept us in this, but our chances ended with a controversial call to deny Travis Kelce a pass completion late in the game. This 3-game losing skid had put our chances of post-season football very much in doubt.

Week 15: v Raiders WON 31-13, record 8-6

If there’s one good way to get back on track, it’ll be a home game against the Raiders…! De’Anthony Thomas scored a great punt return early on to set this moving, and a dazzling three touchdown spell in the third quarter killed the game. The last of these three was the best, as a short pass to Knile Davis in space allowed him to race away and turn a short gain into a 70-yard score.

Week 16: at Steelers LOST 12-20, record 8-7

Two games to go, and two wins would give us a certain play-off spot. But this game turned out to be very disappointing: we reached the red zone 6 times, but only converted that into 4 field goals and no touchdowns. Alex Smith out-passed Big Ben even though he got little protection again, but the Steelers made more of the big plays.

Week 17: v Chargers WON 19-7, record 9-7

The good news – we’d reached week 17 still in the hunt. The bad news – we needed to win and also get favours elsewhere: unlikely away wins for both the Browns and Jags. And our quarterback was out injured!

Incredibly, it almost happened – Chase Daniels came in and led us to the win, and at one point every other game was going our way. But it wasn’t to be – we finished with a winning record for the second season running (which we hadn’t done since 2006), but no play-off place. The 20-year wait for that post-season win goes on…

A highlight to close the season was more success for sack-monster Justin Houston, his 22nd sack of an amazing season seeing him win this season’s crown, and take the Chiefs’ franchise record.

It’s odd – coming into the season, 9 and 7 sounded about right for our chances. But the season had so many ups and down, that after week 1 I thought we would struggle to get even a handful of wins, while after beating the Seahawks I thought we were certainties for double figures!

Whatever happens, we’ve beaten both Superbowl teams this season, which nobody else across the NFL can claim. The team feels like it is well run, and we have great players on both side of the ball. Big issues for the off-season are to hang onto some key free agents without blowing the salary cap – and to strengthen the O-line and wide receiver core (where have we heard that before!). With a lot of draft picks coming our way for once, we have the chance to unearth a few gems to strengthen the side.

Only a little over 8 months till this all starts up again!!

And until then, best wishes of course to #29. Fingers crossed for good news.