The Rumble
We are about to witness the game of the year on Sunday. Simply put, this is the game everyone wants to see. It has the potential to change the top dog in the NFL. Roll out the old champs and bring on the new champs, or can the old champs muster up one more big fight to stay on top of the mountain? This reminds me of a great rumble from Boxing History.
The scene was 1974. The old Champion was Muhammad Ali. He was a champion of beautiful footwork, lightning speed to score points, and an early-in-career champion like the 2019 Chiefs. His opponent was George Foreman, a stronger puncher who could knock out any opponent in a split second. The strategy Ali employed to fight his opponent’s obvious strength advantage was to allow Foreman to waste all of his punches. Ali confronted Foreman and would then curl up in a technique Ali would later refer to as rope-a-dope. Ali’s technique was to lean on the ropes and allow Foreman to throw massive punches to his body. For seven rounds, it appeared as though Foreman was winning because he was throwing all of the punches. However, in round eight, after Ali was sure that Foreman had thrown plenty of punches and was truly gassed, Ali flipped the switch. In split seconds in the middle of the 8th round, Ali hit Foreman with bomb punches. Ali delivered the knockout in one flurry of speed and power and reclaimed his title. The fight is referred to as the “rumble in the jungle”.
There have been so many stories written this week about all of the sub-plots in this week’s game, and I wonder about the game in the game: where will these Chiefs find their opening to deliver the knockout blow?
In Ali’s case, he had to have a strategy that Foreman had never seen before. His element of surprise was masterful. In the case of this game, I believe the element of surprise would be an all-out Air Assault. Think about it.
These Bills have recrafted their offensive approach. They are a run-first team now; they play disciplined zone defense. They built their defense to stop the way the Chiefs have attacked teams the past two years with short passes and sound defense. The Bills have surrounded their running back, James Cook, with a solid offensive line built to control games, dictate the pace, and make their opponents one-dimensional. This strategy has worked well and has taken them to this game.
The Chiefs showed us what could be in the game vs the Steelers. Patrick Mahomes threw for 320 yards in that game with 3 TD’s. Travis Kelce, X man, and Hollywood combined for 200 yards in receiving. Patrick Mahomes delivered the ball the quickest to his receivers compared to any game all year and the second quickest of his entire career.
This game was the Chief’s most dominating all-around performance all year. The offense clicked all game long against a rock-solid Steelers defense. The Chiefs defense stuffed a solid Steelers running offense. I was sure that, watching that game, the Chiefs would score over 30 points, but it appeared that they held back. Why give the other teams tape on what they could do? And then, in an instant, the Chiefs shut things down. The starters rested against the Broncos, and the Chiefs didn’t need to play a high-scoring attack to defeat the Texans.
The Steelers game, is a window into how the Chiefs will play this game. Let’s put this game in the hands of what we Chief fans believe is the best player in the entire league. Why overcomplicate things? Let our best player dictate the pace. If the Chiefs come out swinging, this will surprise the Bills and deliver the knockout blow. Let’s go!