KANSAS CITY 23, GREEN BAY 19

Well . . . this was nothing like the game I expected, but it still went down to the wire!

But, the game started just as predicted.  Kansas City received the opening kickoff and marched the length of the field on their first possession with Darrel Williams scoring a rushing touchdown from 2 yards out.  But, the Packers answered on their first possession with a 75 yard drive of their own, with Aaron Rodgers connecting with Aaron Jones from 3 yards out to tie the game.

Remarkably, that was the lone touchdown that Green Bay scored!  Their remaining points all came from four Mason Crosby field goals, and, get this . . . all were 28 yards or shorter!  The Packers had the ball at or inside the Chiefs’ ten yard line four times and could only come away with 3-pointers!  And, they truly dominated time of possession running off 64 plays and accumulating 411 yards to Kansas City’s 312.  But, if you can’t score TD’s . . . . well . . . .

Still, they had a 19-7 lead heading into the final period . . . and, here’s something truly amazing.  Patrick Mahomes was injured back in the first quarter.  Now, the way I treat injuries is that non-skilled players (lineman and defenders) who are injured during the contest are done for the game and have to be replaced.  But, because I use a strict quota system of runs and passes, if a skilled player is hurt, he stays in, but EVERY run, pass, scramble or sack is impacted negatively.  So, that meant that every pass Mahomes threw and every scramble he had for the remainder of the game was read in a less favorable column . . . and, believe me . . . this is a big deal.  Not only that, but for “match-up” purposes, he went from a “5” rated quarterback to a “1” rated quarterback.  And this was for 3½ quarters!

But, the Chiefs defense kept Rodgers and the Packers out of the end zone and came up with three takeaways in the 4^th quarter – a fumble recovery and two interceptions – each leading to a KC score.  And, it was Mahomes, who had a rushing quota (not couting scrambles) of only ONE run for the entire game.  I called that run from the Green Bay 10 yard line, and rolled a 33 to score what turned out to be the game-winning TD with only 1:05 left to play!

Not the offensive shootout I expected . . . but a great and very exciting game, and a fitting end to a very fun tournament!!!

And, CONGRATULATIONS to Ron Jones, who won the contest!  He picked the Chiefs to win and had the closest score to the actual outcome of this game!!  Ron, I will need you to email me your t-shirt size and a mailing address.