Bill Grigsby

Forty years ago Green Bay met Kansas City in the very first game between the upstart American Football League and the well established National Football League. It was called the World Championship and would evolve into the Super Bowl as we know it today. Green Bay would win that initial contest 35 to 10 but the game was a battle through the first half with the Packers leading just 14 to 10.

Now here we are forty years later and these two teams are leading their divisions. The Packers are an offensive powerhouse led by Brett Favre. The Chiefs are still looking for an offense but defensively, led by Jared Allen, they are a tough nut to crack. The game has all the glitter of a championship encounter but the Chiefs have their local crowd that could mean the difference. Favre, however, is a veteran of the wars and the crowds so it will take a lot to rattle the old pro. Expect a great game – a low score - and a Chiefs win.

Five of the Chiefs next seven games will be played at Arrowhead. This is the bye week so its time for the injured to get well and the offensive coordinator to dream up new game ending plots to keep the home folks in suspense. Green Bay comes to town on November 4th and there is no reason to believe that this encounter will be any different than replays of the Raider game last week – which was another nail-biter down to the final gun. And it doesn’t get any easier down the road with Denver coming here and then the Chiefs take a side trip to Indianapolis.

Kansas City needs to develop a more aggressive mode of attack – since the L.J. up the middles and swing passes for two or three yards are easy prey for good defensive gurus. The red zone has turned into no man’s land and threes are often the best we can muster – someday our luck will run out. One long run by Larry and one long pass to Bowe was about the size of it in Oakland – fortunately the Chiefs had the likes of Jared Allen and his defensive buddies there to bail out a lackluster offensive program. I marvel at winning four of the last five – so let’s take ‘ em anyway we can – a win is a win is a win.

It has been a spell since the Chiefs lost in Oakland so here we go again. Kansas City has dominated the series lately. In fact; this is the ninth meeting the Chiefs will have had with the Raiders, winning the last eight in a row out there and here at Arrowhead. The Raiders are better than they have been but are still vulnerable. Daunte Culpepper is the quarterback and will be a tough-nut to crack. But with the way “Jared’s Raiders” are doing their own raiding with pass rushes and sacks; the Chiefs should prevail. However, and I must add however, if we continue to play it close to the vest it could be a long afternoon. Larry Johnson had a better day against the Bengals but he is a long way off the form that netted him a multi-millionaire-dollar contract. If Huard uses Gonzalez, Bowe and Webb in an aggressive fashion we could have a big day but if we must count on LJ for the win, forget it. After this contest the Chiefs get a week off; so with a vacation ahead our boys can let it call hang out.

Figure this out – my boys go to San Diego and beat’em up pretty good. Makes one think, wow, we ought to kick the Jaguars good – well, I saw it and you probably did too. Our Chiefs or is it my Chiefs looked like anything but a playoff contender Sunday before the sellout crowd at Arrowhead. In fact the million dollar man gained only ten yards – heck I did that much just going to the head. Now add this to the weekend tale. San Diego - big losers to the Chiefs a week ago; sneak into Denver and wear out the Broncos on their home turf 41 to 3. That’s hard to fathom. Now Cincy comes to town – the same Bengal team that put our Trent Green in the hospital last year and out of action for several weeks. The Bengals are one and three so you would think it will be a cake walk. We shall see – since the Chiefs will be starting Brodie. I still like K.C. but if we count on LJ, watch out.

Home again – this time we play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars and they can be tough – after all they beat up on the Denver Broncos in Denver. Jack Del Rio’s team is coming off a bye weekend so they will be rested. The Chiefs defense is one of the best in the NFL but the offense needs a jump start on occasion and will definitely need extra enthusiasm against the Del Rio gang. Last year the Chiefs won a high scoring battle at Arrowhead 35 to 30; but you can bet this will be a great match up. The Chiefs will be playing four of their next five games at home with a bye week thrown in; so it is time to get a cushion, Chiefs will win.