Koufax

Both plays were obvious on replay, probably not obvious on a sideline view. I can't blame Rex for not challenging those two, but whoever looked at them in the booth and didn't tell him to challenge probably shouldn't have that responsibility next week. Woods also has to relax the "hell yes I caught it" act which I expect influenced Rex's decision. But maybe Hogan can dial his act up a little. Rex as HC is in charge of deciding who is in the booth reviewing, how they pass information to him, and what he decides to do based on that information. Twice that failed the Bills, and if the same guy said "challenge it! Woods caught it!" rather than that being Rex reacting to a player, then it is three.

This loss wipes out any chance of going 11-5, but was the hardest game left on our schedule, and the most likely for us to lose if we were going to go 10-6. 10-6 gets us in to the playoffs. It is actually more likely that we make the playoffs at 9-7 then we miss them at 10-6, with a number of plausible paths to the former, but some pretty creative configurations needed for the latter. But the issue is unless we win our sixth game, we could also go 5-11 or 7-9uaron. New England wouldn't have lost this game, New England wouldn't be 5-6, but you know if it happened, their evening of being pissed would be over, and starting right now it would be "we are on to Houston". So I'm cool if they want to fire/demote/reassign whoever was responsible for challenges. I'm fine if Rex gives Roman and Taylor an ultimatum of targeting Sammy every half and not just running deep sideline routes into safety help. But things will start to seem more reasonable and doable if we can find our way to 6-6 and look at the last quarter of our schedule and the chances that we go on winning streak. So above all #WeAreOnToHouston.

This one is tough to swallow, but the season is alive and we have to find a way to beat the Texans and get to 6-6. 1) Rex is taking a lot of heat, but someone else is to blame for the challenges, and Roman/Tyrod are responsible for not getting Sammy the ball in the second half. I still think Rex is an excellent coach, and I'm not as down on him after this one as some are. 2) Their OL was hurting as much as our DL, so I would have liked to see better pressure and creativity. Smith is a good runner and smart, but I think creativity could have gotten some pressure on him. 3) Going for two early was worse than the missed extra point. We will never know, but being down 7 instead of 8 could have been a big difference. 4) Back to Sammy, the first blame is on Roman. There were so many deep sideline routes even after he got the safety help. Call a play where Tyrod can target him without throwing deep into double coverage. Second blame is on Tyrod. Understand the game, and find a way to get to him on the progression at least a few more times even with the bad play calling. Third is on Rex. Don't let Roman exist in a vacuum. After a no catch third quarter, go over to him and say "Greg, call some plays to get the ball to Sammy". 5) Hard to play without four different Williams. I'm glad we didn't have a fifth Williams today to be unavailable. Did I mention shaking this off, beating the Texans, and getting to 6-6? 10-6 is a long way away, but we have a winnable home game leading into a weaker three game stretch before the Jets at home. Need to get to 6-6 first, but a lot of good things can happen. At 9-7 we would need a miracle, but 10-6 will get us in with the remaining schedules for the other contenders. Today was a key game and a tough one to lose, but not a playoff game. NEXT Sunday is the first of five playoff games. And hit the playoffs at 10-6 and a five game winning streak would certainly be a good place to be. But the Texans and their four game winning streak is going to be a challenge and we have to be up for it.

Too early to try for 2 anyway. Kick it.

Coaching was horrible today. Rex has to answer for the people upstairs who had him 0-for-3 on the plays to challenge. Rex has to answer for Roman/Tyrod refusing to throw to Sammy in the second half, including on the game on the line drive. I don't blame Rex for the defense as their OL injuries and our DL injuries balanced out to a tough scheme with a mobile QB, but I sure do blame Rex for being where the buck stops on both of the inexcusable issues other coaches were responsible for.

No, but I will shake this off and root for 6-6 against the Texans.

Can't sugar coat this one. Pure coaching garbage. Blaming Roman and the guys upstairs even more than Rex, but those are guys that answer to Rex and he is responsible for.

Challenge the spot is all you can do right?

Postgame: "Had a good half, but golly...we have to try to find a way to get Sammy the ball..." And now 0 for 3 in challenge opportunities....JOKE!!!! And now we waste a timeout that we could have "lost" in the challenge if it weren't somehow given to us.

Or the decision to go for 2 last time instead of kicking it. We would be down 7 now which is how football works.

Also, please remember when Rex went for two way to soon. I'm still a Rex fan, and have more questions for Roman overall, but that was too early for math and time to just take the point.

Any chance the Colts can sign Kelvin Sheppard and trade him back to us? I would really appreciate some better football to be played right about now.

Thanks Jerry! That was great for our season!

Remember the first half when Taylor would actually throw the ball to Watkins? Remember how good an idea was that? Could we please consider doing that again?

Yeah, that was pretty quick on the score, and probably fair to give up down 8.

Only if you are a Norwood PTSD loser. If you root for this team into November you sure as hell root for them down 5 with a half to go. But they better start playing better football pretty soon.

Now would be a good time to start playing better football, because the last 20 game minutes of football hasn't been very fun and we need to win this game and still can.

Rex 0-for-2 in what to challenge. Although that advice has to come from upstairs and somebody not giving him the info he needs quickly enough.

We have known for a while Alex Smith excels at throwing deep balls. Wait...no he doesn't. WTF is going on? It doesn't help that my must win fantasy matchup is going against Maclin and Kelce. Need a scoring drive here to take control again.

Dodged a bullet. 30 minutes from a win, hoping their LT doesn't come back and we can pressure Smith in the second half.

Concussion protocol for the #1 pick LT would be nice, but I hope he is fine and able to return to practice later this week...

There better not be 3 KC points off of that series....that was not a good sequence.

32 minutes left. I don't think anything looms. We are winning and about to get the ball. Just keep playing football.

However the blame falls, there was some pretty poor play calling and execution among the HC/OC/QB. Watkins is an awesome decoy and definitely created openings for others, but he has to get the ball. I love the deep balls, and I love the short possession passes, but intermediate routes especially over the middle are being underused. And I love letting Shady work and leaving most read options in his hands, and I know NE was working hard to keep TT contained with their pass rush, but I think there were some windows for TT keeping the ball on options or having a couple designed runs which would have opened up space more. But the biggest thing is to get the ball to Sammy more on intermediate routes and let him be a little more Andre Reed. There were plays where he was open and whether it is on the QB Execution or the Read Progression of the play the OC calls, TT never looked at him. #TenTargetsForWatkins

Lots went right, lots went wrong. No fun to have Dareus and Mario not be able to play 60 with Kyle already out. Need to get Watkins the ball. Bad officiating today, but the net wasn't a difference maker. Clock management was off and so was Tyrod. Zero runs by him before the injury seems to be something the Pats worked to make happen, but I would have liked some keep me honest plays. Unreal to shut down Gronk. I won't bore anybody by telling you I needed him in single digits to keep my fantasy season alive, but scheme and execution really worked there. This was probably a game we drop in a 15-1 fairy tale, so I was excited to be in it down to the last second. We need to hope that Tyrod has a strain and not a break, because this team is better than people think and ready for a good finish.