It's A Festivus Miracle!

If you're like me and know that today is the recognized date for the celebration of Festivus, then Happy Festivus! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then let me explain.

Festivus was invented and made popular by the television show Seinfeld. Festivus is an alternative to Christmas and looks to avoid the commercialism that is associated with the holiday season. Instead of a Christmas tree, an unadorned aluminum pole (I find tinsel distracting) is used. Also with Festivus, there are a couple of practices that one goes through before Festivus can properly be celebrated. These are the "airing of grievances", in which everyone tells everyone else how they have disappointed them over the last year, and the "feats of strength," where someone has to wrestle the head of household down to the floor.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, I've decided to have a Festivus celebration of my own on this blog. I am going to have my airing of grievances and my feats of strength with the Kansas City Chiefs this season. But for the feats of strength, there will be no wrestling involved; instead I will list strengths of the Chiefs this season and things that I believe we can build on in the future. Enjoy.

Airing of Grievances

• 3rd and short conversions: Chiefs have the number one rushing team in the NFL in 2010 but one of the lowest 3rd and short conversion rates. This is not typical of a good running team. On third down overall, we are ranked 22 in the league with a 35.26% conversion rate. On a combined percentage of 3rd and short and 4th and short, we are 29 in the league with 46.2%. This is unacceptable with our running game.
• The Texans game: If the Chiefs end up not making it to the playoffs this year, I will not blame it on any game in the later part of the season. I will put the blame on the defensive meltdown in the 4th quarter against the Houston Texans. Up 24-14 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, the Chiefs went on to lose the game with 28 seconds remaining on an Andre Johnson touchdown catch. 31-35. Sickening.
• Brandon Carr: Brandon Carr is having the greatest season of his career, but he just can't catch a football.
• San Diego Chargers: The Chargers are on their usual end of the season run to the playoffs. The only thing different about this year compared to years in the past is that the Chiefs are in their way. The Chargers just won't get the hint; the AFC West has been theirs 4 years in a row, it's the Chiefs' time to shine. 
• Lauren Cassel: Yes, this is Matt Cassel's wife. Lauren tried her best to convince her husband not to play last Sunday against the Rams. I would understand this sense of wanting to protect her husband, but she is a former USC volleyball player. She's an athlete, she knows that you can't just ask another athlete not to play when it matters most.

Feats of Strength

• Running Game: Jamaal Charles is having an unbelievable year and Thomas Jones is being as solid as ever. Thanks to these two we have the #1 rushing game in the NFL with 168.6 yards per game.
• Charlie Weis: When Weis came to KC this offseason, one of the things he said was "The first thing I wanted to do was help fix the quarterback." I'm not saying that Cassel was broken before Weis came but it is clear that Cassel is blossoming under the guidance of Weis.
• Romeo Crennel: Crennel has provided some legitimacy and consistency to the Chiefs defense this season. He constantly confuses quarterbacks with his game-plan and blitz schemes. Also, our leading tackler, Derrick Johnson, would probably have left when free agency hit (because of how he lost his starting job last season) instead of signing an extension if it wasn't for Crennel. That's my opinion at least.
• Oakland Raiders: Thanks for beating San Diego twice.
• Arrowhead Stadium: New body, Same soul. This is very true. The Chiefs are 6-0 at Arrowhead this season and end with back-to-back home games. We have a chance to get back to our historical Arrowhead dominance in December. Thank you to all fans that have attended.
• Lauren Cassel: I came down hard on Lauren earlier putting her on the airing of grievances. Lauren has supported her husband all season and Matt said that she is a large reason for his continued success. That gets her on the feats of strength.

If you have any more grievances or strengths, go ahead and add them to the comment boxes. After all, it's a Festivus for the rest of us!