My beloved Chiefs travelled to Indianapolis today to face a team few thought they’d have a chance to beat. For the first time in ages, they started a quarterback they’d drafted… Brodie Croyle.
It was apparent from the get-go that the Chiefs were going to try to protect Brodie from himself. For most of the day, Chiefs coaches stuck to their conservative play-calling ways. At no time was it more apparent that they didn’t completely trust Brodie in his first start than just before the half. With 1:18 to go, a full compliment of timeouts, and the ball on the 23 yard line, coaching staff decided to stick to the ground and run out the clock rather than trying to execute the two-minute drill… hardly the conventional call given that the Colts were to receive the second half kickoff.
Yes… the play-calling handcuffed him.
For the majority of the day, the passing playbook consisted of short dumpoffs and quick throws to WR at the line of scrimmage. All well and good if you’re trying to promote a high completion percentage… but not all that great to keep the chains moving and score points.
Thankfully, we didn’t wait until it was too late to open things up. With just less than three minutes to go in the third quarter, we turned Brodie lose, and it paid off.
With the Chiefs on the move, and at the Colts 40… boom. Brodie uncorks an 18 yard completion over the middle to Tony Gonzalez. After a short run up the middle, Brodie started slinging again. Incomplete deep to Gonzo in the end zone, and then the gem of the day… an absolutely incredible 19 yard touchdown pass threaded down the sideline to D-Bowe, who made an unbelievable catch, securing the ball with his legs after coming down in the end zone.
Unfortunately, coaching staff put Brodie back in the box afterwards. With the game tied once again, it was apparently time to revert to short dumpoffs and running plays. We didn’t sniff midfield again in the fourth quarter on two drives, and with 6:59 left in game, the Colts took over, marching down the field, running out the clock, and winning with a FG with 4 seconds on the clock.
Only a miraculous ending could bring the Chiefs victory, and it simply wasn’t to be. I’m still not sure why we tried to emulate the Stanford band play rather than Flutie’s hail Mary, especially given the arm strength Brodie has and that we’ve got D-Bowe and Gonzo to run deep… either one of them can outjump about anyone for a last minute bomb. Oh well… odds on either play succeeding are still almost zero.
The positives?
Well, the defense played very well today, except for the last drive, when we desperately needed a stop. They kept us in the game in spite of our offensive game plan. Who expects the Colts to be held to 13 points? Who expects to hold Manning to only 163 yards on 16 of 32 passing?
Brodie played very well also… especially given the handcuffs he had to wear all day. 19 of 27 with one TD isn’t a bad first start.
The last positive? Well… the Chargers lost too, so we’re 4-6, and they’re 5-5. Playoffs still aren’t out of the question at this point, even if we’re clearly not a playoff-caliber team. The benefit of playing in one of the worst divisions in football. Who’d have thought that would be the case last year?
Sounds like what Shula did to Brodie at Bama.