Battle Red Blog
The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 14:
Houston Bested a Defensive Master: If you love you some defense, this was your game. The Texans brought in their #1 ranked unit into Arrowhead Stadium, the laboratory of defensive mastermind Steve Spagnuolo. “Spags” especially showcased his prowess in a dominant 3rd quarter, when his squad held Houston to -2 yards on four drives. This all came after Stroud torched KC with many a deep connection to Nico Collins in the 1st half. Kansas City’s best overall defender, DT Chris Jones, wreaked havoc on a lower-tier offensive line. However, Houston’s D proved one better. They held QB Patrick Mahomes to the worst game of his career (14 of 33 for 160 yards, 3 INTs). Yes, the Chiefs rushed for 126 yards, but take out Mahomes 59 yards in scrambles, and the Chiefs only mustered 67 yards on 22 carries. As a defense, you will take that all day. When the game was on the line, it was the Houston defense that made the big stops, stopping KC on two 4th down conversion attempts and netting two INTs in the 4th Quarter. The Most Interesting Defense in the World elevated its game in arguably a season-best performance.
Not a great CJ Stroud, but an effective one: The two halves of Stroud showed up again. In the 1st half, Stroud built off of his performance in the second half of the Indy game, going 12 of 19 for 171 yards and a TD. While sacked twice, Stroud also moved around to avoid KC defenders, finding Nico Collins for huge gains against the Chiefs’ defense. However, the second half proved a far different affair. Stroud only managed 32 passing yards, starting the half 0 for 8 (he finished the second half 3 of 12). He was sacked once but was under constant pressure. Yet, for all of the struggles, Stroud did not succumb to the big mistake. He threw the ball away vs trying for the big play, which can lead to major lost yardage/turnovers. On the 2nd half sack, RT Trent Brown got beaten too quickly for Stroud to do anything. At least he led the offense to points when they had the short fields in the 4th.
The 4th Quarter of a must-win game, and it was the Chiefs that folded: In a must-win game, in front of the loudest crowd in the NFL, you figure the Chiefs would find a way to win, like they have so often these past 7 years. That did not happen. Mahomes threw two INTs. TE Travis Kelce was bad (more later). Rice had a key drop. Then you have Andy Reid. One maybe could see the logic in going for it on 4th down when it was 4th and 1 with Mahomes, Kelce, et...
