Some of these observations have been discussed here ad nauseum, and that's fine. Your choice to continue to read.

Here are some quick hit thoughts:

1. The Chiefs just went 5-2 against the toughest schedule in the NFL with a ton of key players missing. We'd all have taken that to start the season. Hell, at the end of the Steelers game, Alex Smith had to engineer his final drive with ALL BACKUPS at receiver. And yet we almost won the game. So freaking weird -- but we survived and did very well on the front half of the schedule.

2. The Chiefs lost two games by a hair. Both were marred by atrocious officiating that benefited the opponent, and neither victory seems replicable by the opponent. It doesn't seem likely that the Steelers can completely -- and I mean completely -- shut down our offense for an entire half, again. It doesn't seem likely that another pass will bounce off someone's facemask and into Antonio Brown's arms. It doesn't seem likely that they will have $100k in fines with almost none of their unnecessary roughness calls flagged. It doesn't seem likely that the Raiders can get officiating THAT favorable again.

3. The Chiefs can very possibly go 2-0 from now into the bye week, and after the bye week, life gets a LOT easier. Denver is winnable, and depending on Ezekiel Elliot's status, and how Sutton wants to approach the Dallas offensive line, both games are winnable. After the bye week, we have a ton of games in our favor: we go play the Giants, host the Bills, and visit the Jets. We host the Raiders and Chargers and Dolphins. The toughest game of that slate is visiting the Broncos, and they're a mess. It's not unthinkable that the Chiefs go 9-0 to close the season. Even if they go 7-2, that's 12-4 and likely enough for us to outpace the Steelers for the #1 seed.

4. The Chiefs are also getting their starting interior OL back, a starting CB back, and maybe Tamba Hali. That's massive, as Fulton's been fine but kicked us in the nuts with the botched snap against the Steelers. Cam Erving has just been every ounce of terrible I feared he would be aside from surviving the Texans game. This team needs to figure out what's going on with Erving, and if he's salvageable. Right now it looks like the Browns won that trade going away. But the elevation from Erving to LDT is so massive it could legitimately change our entire offense. Steven Nelson is overrated on CP but the best thing about him returning is keeping Gaines off the field. I actually think a Houston/Ford/Zombo rotation is functional but if Tamba somehow manages to be a Chief again, it allows us to potentially bench Houston for a week against a soft opponent if it means getting him fully healthy again. I think that dude's playing with a couple dings, and there's no world where we win a Super Bowl if he's not playing 100%.

5. The defensive scheme has held together well this season in limiting points -- until the defense played their 3rd game in 11 days against a Raiders squad with their season on the line. It's infuriating to watch, but it's managed to keep everybody under control except the Raiders. And that Raiders game was just unreasonable -- who asks a team to play an evening game then turn around and play a Thursday game ON THE ROAD. That's unreasonable, and it's perfectly understandable if the defense was gassed.

6. That said, the secondary's complete inability to defend jump balls, and the DL's ability to play really good OLs is cause for concern. HOWEVER -- Sutton's plan of sending a couple fatties at opposing OLs only works if the OLs suck. Many of them do, fortunately, but teams like the Raiders and Steelers have outstanding OLs and they are manhandling us. Sutton must adjust, he absolutely must. We'll see if he does against Dallas, which has the league's best OL. And boy -- teams are just airing it out, aren't they? This will be our Achilles heel all season, and it's one of the reasons why I'm starting to think this team is not going to extend Mitchell past the 2018 season. Expect them to start shopping and drafting long corners with ballskills soon. Yeesh. Let's hope we don't face the Falcons in the Super Bowl if we get that far, because Julio Jones will destroy us.

7. What really matters is the playoffs: the Chiefs are the most likely to win the AFCW, will almost certainly get a playoff spot, and are currently only behind the Steelers for the #1 overall seed. This is the heart of the mini-bye. The team (and you guys) need to understand that despite all of our foibles, we have as good a chance at the #1 overall seed as anybody in the AFC. We're still easily in the seat for a first round bye, and nobody in the AFCW should be able to take this division from us. But we absolutely must find a way to outpace the Steelers. I can't foresee a Super Bowl trip if we have to go there for an AFCCG.

8. Alex Smith is still an MVP candidate. Kareem Hunt is still a Top 3 RB in the NFL. Kelce and Hill are still weapons. The DL is loaded with talent. Houston is still a great player. And our secondary does have talented players all over it. All of this is true. It's really really easy to hate on this team's weaknesses, but understand that all teams have them. Every team has a Phillip Gaines -- even the Steelers. Every team makes calculated decisions to give up things like rushing yards so they can shut down things like passing yards. Every team has aging vets who are well past their prime and holding on for dear life like DJ and Tamba. Every team has youngsters starting way ahead of schedule because of injuries like Eric Murray. But not every team has our weapons. Not every team has Justin Houston and Marcus Peters. Not every team has a QB in the MVP hunt and one of the league's best trio of playmakers. And not every team has a Top 5 head coach in the NFL.
[Reply]