1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Monday “Football-Playing with Fury”
“Football–Played with Fury”
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CHARGERS-CHIEFS..It was everything you would want in this rivalry, everything except a Bolts victory. The old dog coach, Andy Reid, outschemed the smart young guy, Brandon Staley. The Chiefs made adjustments in the 2nd half, to pound the football and to pressure gaps and cause Chargers breakdowns.
And Patrick Mahomes outdueled a frustrated Justin Herbert, doing what super stars do, driving the Chiefs 75-yards in (1:15) for a game winning TD. And Travis Kelce does what he always does against the Chargers, catching 3-TD passes, blowing by star safety Derwin James time and time again to win hand to hand combat.
The game turned when the Chiefs pounded the ball on the ground in the second half behind rookie RB-Isaiah Pachecho’s 107-yard night.
And Steve Spagnolo’s defense manned up and won the tough guy macho play at the line of scrimmage in the second half, choking off the run game, sacking Herbert 5-times, hitting him 10-times, and pretty much controlling the turf war after halftime.
Staley had few answers. His offensive line fell apart after halftime giving up big hits, pressures and the sacks that caved in Herbert’s pocket.
When it was over the Chargers skidded to (5-5), their wildcard hopes damaged, considering they have to go back out on the road, and still have tough games to play.
Same as it almost has always been. Mahomes is (7-2) vs the Chargers. He is (56-17) as a starter in his career.
The Chargers are (3-15) against KC dating back to 2014. They are (0-5) at So Fi Stadium against KC-their home games turned in road games by all the fans wearing ‘red’. In fact the Chiefs have won 7-games in a row against the Chargers here, here being in LA and before that in San Diego.
Tough night, hung in their throwing haymakers against the AFC-West champs. The Bolts, a very good quarterback, just not a complete football team yet to beat all the things Kansas City seems to be.
The Chiefs played with a fury; the Chargers just don’t have that yet.
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TROJANS-BRUINS…That was ‘Electric’ at the Rose Bowl. You knew USC was going to move the ball all night long, and they did, 648-yards in all. You expected UCLA to stay in a shootout against a leaky defense and they did for 507-yards of real estate.
But no one could have imagined the Trojans defense, the ones giving up (394YPG), coming up with 4-takeaways and that decided things on Saturday night As the Trojans kept going down the field, UCLA kept putting the ball in tough spots, and the end result was 3-interceptions and a fumble recovery on plays Bruins QB-Dorain Thompson-Robinson should have never tried to make. And this from a 4th year starter.
Trojans QB-Caleb Williams is dynamic, dangerous, and daring. He finished the night with (502) all purpose yards. He threw lasers. He moved the pocket. He scrambled. And he was so diverse his backup tailback Adam Jones bullied his way for (122Y) in the win. And then there was the Pitt-transfer WR-Jordan Addison and his (12R-178Y) night.
The Bruins defense stayed in there and brawled but just could not hold up.
USC survived a traumatic first quarter. Bad play calls. Burned timeouts. Delay of game penalties. Holding calls. Questionable game management. 2-missed field goals. Failed 4th downs. The red zone became a Black Hole. And then the Trojans found their zen.
USC established itself as a terrorist on offense, and is now within 1-spot of being in the playoffs. Of course they are headed to the Pac 12-Championship game against an equally dangerous Oregon Ducks team. You wonder if both would wind up in the Final 4-of college football.
The Trojans are (10-1) and their Transfer U-blueprint has been amazing. The fastbreak offense is something we have not seen much in Cardinal & Gold. Lincoln Riley is indeed a mad scientist with Xs and Os.
The Bruins are (8-3) a fine season, but this is the final season for the quarterback and his thousand yard running back, and you wonder if Chip Kelly’s program falls off the radar again. But for one night, the Bruins in Blue resembled the ‘blur’ offense that Kelly used to run in Oregon.
Hope the rest of the nation was watching this game, a postcard from a football conference that seems on the way back.
The Victory Bell will reside in Heritage Hall for the next year.
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It was indeed a frantic weekend for the teams atop the poll. Near attacks I imagine too for the decision makers in the College Football Playoff Poll.
Georgia won.
Unbeaten Ohio State was pushed to the wall by Illinois and finally won
Michigan needed 4-field goals, many in the final quarter to stay unbeaten
TCU went to the final (:02) to get a game winning field goal to stay 4th in polls.
Next weekend, Scarlet & Gray vs Maize & Blue, so someone, Michigan-Ohio State will drop from the top. The echos of Woody-vs-Bo will be everywhere in Columbus-and-Ann Arbor. And then we have the conference championship games after that. Are you ready for some football?
Time these teams play with a fury’
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Two weeks ago in Jacksonville, the Raiders o-line had pulling linemen running into each other like Keystone Cops. The Bolts were doing the same plays last night. It is week 11, not preseason. There is a reason why teams win and they lose. It is inexcusable for a professional to run the wrong direction at this point of the season. Mental errors are on the entire staff and all players. When those happen in practice they must be fixed immediately so it doesn’t happen in a game. When they happen in games, it is proof the team doesn’t care.