BOLT ANALYSIS: WEEK 3 -- WHEN A WIN IS JUST A WIN.

I found myself guilty of watching two or three games at the same time yesterday. I’m not talking about our “NFL Sunday Ticket” which turns our San Gabriel residential area into a wondrous sports book every Sunday. And Tara got it for free! I’m talking about the two or three games I watched while I was watching the dreadful game we were subjected to. Not only did I watch the Chargers survive with a win against the sad sack Chiefs…I also saw our team struggling against the Raiders, the Bills, the Jets, etc. That is my problem, followers, I must follow my own advice and focus on the team lined up in front of me. It is hard, however, not to get caught up in thinking “If we are life and death to beat this poor team…what is to become of us when we play a real team”. I know…I need to stop watching games that have not been played yet. But, I gots to keep it real, and that is what I’m feeling.




Now, lets talk about the game we played yesterday. The Chiefs came in as defending AFC West Champions but everyone knew they were in utter disarray. Having lost their best defensive back, best running back, and best tight end in the first couple of weeks. They had also been destroyed in their first two games…giving up about 90 points and scoring 10. So, should be a Bolts blowout right? Vegas thought so…making the Boyz 14 point favorites. Well, the first half was straight outta last year, with the Chargers utterly dominant yet unable to score. The half was punctuated by two awful Rivers interceptions, sandwiched around a lot of ball control, some good drives and some very nice Ryan Mathews runs. Another very good game from the kid…nice work Ryan. Yet, 10-0 at the half felt like a loss (remember the Jets playoff game a few years ago). We had 211 yards, they had 34. We had 14 first downs, they had 0. Despite the awful play, they had missed a field goal and stumbled their way to nothin’. Yet, I sat there seething…pacing…mumbling to myself, knowing this was not going to get much better.



And, it didn’t. A three and out to start the second half, a special teams hiccup to give them great field position, and the Chiefs began to warm up…with Cassell finding their only good player Dwayne Bowe for a long pass and then a touchdown. Really? After all that dominance…we were up by 3? Yep. A good follow-up drive got us back up by 10…with Rivers looking comfortable for a few minutes and Mathews again getting to the zone. But….it was short lived as the Chiefs embarked on a 10 minute drive that seemed to never end. Kept going by ridiculous penalties against Cason and LaBoy for taps on helmets…Seriously, what is the League coming to? Those were simply contact with a helmet…they did not impact the play…they were not malicious. I am all for the League protecting players…but man, those were some itchy trigger fingers. After all that, the Chiefs had to settle for a field goal. We copied that after another long drive stalled…keeping the lead at 10. Cheers to Nick Novak…two for two on field goals, one from 41 yards. Good for him. We need him to stay confident.



Yet, the Chiefs would drive again….finding the end zone at the end of another long drive….their receivers finding holes in our soft zone. Anyone who thought (as I did) that we had found our long time starter in Antoine Cason, needs to take a step back. This guy has had two awful games…out of position, getting beat on crossing routes, not understanding the zone. I’m worried, because I thought he really looked good. When Jammer went out with his hamstring, it was clear we backed off the man to man and they started finding seams. We need an answer to this….it cannot continue. The lowly Chiefs had made it 20-17 and, after some nice plays, we found ourselves with a 4th and 1 and once again all of you were treated to the absurdity of our coaching staff. Despite everyone in the universe knowing it was going to be a QB keeper up the middle (did you look at their defense?!)..not only did Philip make a half assed attempt to back into the entire Chiefs team…but he snapped the ball with 22 seconds left on the clock! 22! Now, realize, the Chiefs had burned all 3 of their timeouts…because they are a bad team. The clock was ticking mercilessly. We had no reason to do that. Not only did we not convert, we gave them 22 seconds we did not need to. May sound like a minor issue, but once again we are not a smart team. Clock management is huge…that is on the QB and coach. Bad.



First play after the stop was a big gainer. KC had all the momentum in the world and plenty of time to tie or even win this game. Despite being only 12-15 yards from field goal range, Cassell threw a bizarre little pass right into Weddle’s gut and the game was over. Don’t pretend that was a great play…he got trapped on a blitz and found himself in no-mans land. However, he was smart enough to notice it was a screen and put himself in position to block the outside. The pass was just bad enough to end it. What it was was a game-ending play, and that is good enough I guess.



OK. So, that was the bad stuff on the field. Now, for the good stuff. We are 2-1. We won the game. We have the same record as New England, the Jets, the Steelers, the Raiders, etc. We are OK. You only play 16…just beat whomever is in front of you right? We did that. We have another game at home next week. Against a 0-3 team in Miami. This should be a positive, but…part of me is scared, followers, that the players we have come to rely on just don’t look too good. Rivers had a horrible game, looking confused and frustrated the whole time. I mentioned Cason already. I am sick and tired of waiting for Larry English to do something…he is non-existent out there. Gates, Sanders, and Luiget did not play due to injuries after only two games…and Jammer, Garay, Cesaire, and others went down with new injuries. What is going on? Worst of all…we just seem panicky…not playing with confidence.



All right, that is enough, lets focus on the next game. No fear. The ANALYSIS does not believe in fear. We are 2-0 at home. We are 1-0 in the Division. It’s early…lets tell ourselves that. It’s early and, for the second time this year, we won a game we probably would have lost last year. But please keep practicing Boyz….’cuz you need it.