Not Taking Back The Take

I’ve been getting serious smack flak for my blog and chatroom takes about the Chiefs’ supposedly wicked new defense (see "Not Buying It" take below). So, in the wake of Sunday night's game, I’ll take a nibble of the humble pie, because a loss is a loss. But I’m still not buying the hype.

First off, I don’t want to hear that the zebra-revoked touchdown to Moss wasn’t a touchdown. You can have the other zebra-revoked touchdown, although that was bogus, too. But if you don’t want to give us that Moss touchdown, at least for the sake of this discussion, then I suggest you start following synchronized swimming or ice dancing, because that was a horrible football call to anyone who loves the game of football.

Okay, so we’ve established that the Raiders put three touchdowns on the board. Now let’s look at time of possession. The Chiefs had the ball for 34:34 and the Raiders had the ball for 25:26. The Chiefs had the ball for almost the entire third quarter. Props for that go to the Chiefs’ offense, not to the Chiefs’ defense and their extended Gatorade breaks.

Click here to check out the AFC's "total defense" rankings through week two. Who do you see toward the bottom of the list just one slot ahead of the Raiders? That's right, your Kansas City Chiefs. I’m not saying that the Chiefs’ defense isn’t improved over last year, but this was hardly a dominant performance. Talk smack all you want about the Raiders, but I ain't going to eat the whole humble pie, because I still stand by my take.