Nov. 23, 2019

By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net

The Kansas City Chiefs have reached the point in their 2019 season where it’s time to enjoy a “bye” week. Chiefs players, coaches and fans are all in agreement this is a good time for the team to take a break to rest and recover from what so far has been an up and down season.

On the field this year the Chiefs play has given their fans reasons to feel joy and frustration. Watching who is on the field playing for the Chiefs has brought delight and frustration to their fan base. Heading into the team’s one bye week everyone thought the Chiefs would be in first place in the AFC West Division and they have accomplished that. However many fans thought the team would arrive to this point in a different fashion and most probably predicted a better record than 7-4.

The Chiefs starting the season off with a bang as the team won their first four games, three of them coming on the road. Then the Chiefs lost back to back home games that not many followers saw coming. Since that 4-0 start the Chiefs have gone 3-4 as the team watched the injuries to starters pile up. After such a joyful start the team gave Chiefs kingdom a sense of disappointment.

Evidence of this up and down journey that the team is on in 2019 was highlighted in a home win against Minnesota and the very next week in a road loss at Tennessee. The Chiefs snuck past the Vikings 26-23 thanks to a 44 yard field goal to tie the game followed by a game winning 54 yard field goal both made by kicker Harrison Butker. Just seven days later the always reliable special teams unit wasn’t so special as the team saw a blocked field goal attempt and a bad snap on another attempt end the Chiefs day with a 35-32 loss.

Injuries to key players for the Chiefs have been the lead story for several weeks now. While many Chiefs fans knew at the outset of the season they may see different members of the defense play various roles thanks to a new defense being implemented no one saw coming so many lineup changes on offense. Just about everyone has missed a game or two starting with WR Tyreek Hill who was hurt in the week one game at Jacksonville. The injury bug even struck QB Pat Mahomes who missed two whole games and part of another. The offensive unit point totals have been down in 2019 compared to a year ago thanks in large part to an ever changing offensive line as players are lost to injuries.

Looking forward to the last month of the season the Chiefs are in a good spot thanks to the schedule maker and the team appears to be getting back a few healthy players. The final month kicks off on the 1st of December as the Chiefs host division rival Oakland. Later in the month the Chiefs host Denver and the LA Chargers, all division rivals as the team hopes to win another division championship. Fans will enjoy seeing the team be featured on national television. The Chiefs games against Oakland and at New England are in the coveted 3:25 p.m. Sunday afternoon time slot. The Chiefs road game at Chicago is on Sunday Night Football with a 7:20 kickoff on December 22. When the regular season ends I see the Chiefs showing an 11-5 record and for the fourth year in a row be the AFC West Division Champion. That’s What I REID Into it for this week.

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