[lex24]

No, you don’t have to conclude they were “out-coached.” You may conclude they were out-played. The Colts looked a bit sluggish. Perhaps the weather contributed - dome teams sometimes struggle in bad weather.

Hell, the greatest kicker in history missed a chippie and an extra point. Is that on the special teams coach?

Frankly I thought Andrew looked a bit tentative. Quarterback coach?

The Chiefs are a better team, playing at home with a week off.

Players determine games. They got outplayed.

Rarely these days does a W-L result surprise me.  This one did, as I felt the Colts would win. 

It seems a bit silly to say this, but in playoff football especially, the first play of a game can tell a lot. The Colts were stuffed for a 3 yd loss on first play of game. Though they got 10 back on next play, they did fail on 3rd - as they would the ENTIRE game - and that pretty much was the end, as the Colts were behind in every measure from then on until the clock struck 0:00 in the 4th quarter.

When the #1 3rd down conversion offense in the NFL doesn't convert a single 3rd down the whole game (0-9), against the #31 run defense in NFL, with one of the best OLs in the NFL, and a pretty damn good QB, you have to conclude the Colts were completely out-coached and unprepared. To use one of Bill Walsh's favorite concepts, the Chiefs beat the Colts to the punch all game long. The Colts were undisciplined, several players were not focused, and it was on both sides of the ball.  That's coaching.

Luck didn't play great, but his receivers let him down a lot. The Chiefs only converted 4-14 on 3rd down, but that's because A) they had the ball so much (almost 40 minutes!), and had so many 1st downs on 1st and 2nd down, it hardly mattered.  Moreover, they were 3-4 on 4th down, and most of their 3rd down failures were when they were up 24-7, 24-13, and 31-13 and more interested in running clock.

Just really hard to believe a team that won 10/11 games could play such a stinker of a game. But give the Chiefs credit. They were the better prepared and more focused team.  They put 25 years of playoff futility behind them and Pat Mahomes laid claim to the Top QB in the NFL mantle.

[lex24]

No, you don’t have to conclude they were “out-coached.” You may conclude they were out-played. The Colts looked a bit sluggish. Perhaps the weather contributed - dome teams sometimes struggle in bad weather.

Hell, the greatest kicker in history missed a chippie and an extra point. Is that on the special teams coach?

Frankly I thought Andrew looked a bit tentative. Quarterback coach?

The Chiefs are a better team, playing at home with a week off.

Players determine games. They got outplayed.

Rarely these days does a W-L result surprise me.  This one did, as I felt the Colts would win. 

It seems a bit silly to say this, but in playoff football especially, the first play of a game can tell a lot. The Colts were stuffed for a 3 yd loss on first play of game. Though they got 10 back on next play, they did fail on 3rd - as they would the ENTIRE game - and that pretty much was the end, as the Colts were behind in every measure from then on until the clock struck 0:00 in the 4th quarter.

When the #1 3rd down conversion offense in the NFL doesn't convert a single 3rd down the whole game (0-9), against the #31 run defense in NFL, with one of the best OLs in the NFL, and a pretty damn good QB, you have to conclude the Colts were completely out-coached and unprepared. To use one of Bill Walsh's favorite concepts, the Chiefs beat the Colts to the punch all game long. The Colts were undisciplined, several players were not focused, and it was on both sides of the ball.  That's coaching.

Luck didn't play great, but his receivers let him down a lot. The Chiefs only converted 4-14 on 3rd down, but that's because A) they had the ball so much (almost 40 minutes!), and had so many 1st downs on 1st and 2nd down, it hardly mattered.  Moreover, they were 3-4 on 4th down, and most of their 3rd down failures were when they were up 24-7, 24-13, and 31-13 and more interested in running clock.

Just really hard to believe a team that won 10/11 games could play such a stinker of a game. But give the Chiefs credit. They were the better prepared and more focused team.  They put 25 years of playoff futility behind them and Pat Mahomes laid claim to the Top QB in the NFL mantle.