Weekend Leftovers. KC Chiefs, Hannibal Pirates, Mizzou, Cardinals & St. Louis Rams

Inefficient. In a word, that sums up the weekend with one exception.

Shuffle (Stumble & fumble, actually)  off through Buffalo..  Kansas City outgains Buffalo in total yardage but winds up on the wrong end of a 35-17 pounding.  A lot of those yards came late after the game was no longer in doubt.  Chiefs offense didn’t get it in gear until the last, ill fated drive in the first half.  The o-line looked flat and listless. Dwayne Bowe showed up to play, so did Peyton Hillis and Matt Cassel. But they didn’t get much help from the guys paid to block.   The Chiefs also gave up a punt return for a touchdown.  To my way of thinking, no one should ever return a punt or kick for a touchdown if the guys covering the kick are old enough to possess drivers licenses.

Nice start Friday for the Hannibal Pirates down in Mexico. First play from scrimmage goes for a 60 yard touchdown run for Mitch Nichols.  Justin Price turned in a solid game on defense including an interception that set up Hannibal’s second touchdown.  The game wound up on the running clock, but Hannibal lost opportunities to turn the turboclock on sooner due to penalties and other miscues.  Odds are that the Pirates iron out the problems and play more efficient football as the season progresses. The problems were the sort of little things that solid teams clean up by playoff time.  Hannibal went to the Show Me Bowl in ’06 in no small part because they were very good in avoiding little mistakes that hurt against good or great football teams.

Missouri held off Arizona State 24-20. Tigers were up 24-7 late and needed a goal line stand to keep the lead in the final minutes.  Penalties slowed the Tigers down along with some other minor breakdowns. Thing is, minor problems that Mizzou could survive against Arizona State are the sort of things that mean losses against the top quarter of the Southeastern Conference.  Nice effort by Corbin Berkstresser at QB on Saturday night.  The Tigers won’t suffer if Berkstresser has to play a lot this season. However, the margin for error is razor thin for Missouri next weekend in the “other” Columbia.  We’ll have the broadcast on the air on News Talk 1070 KHMO beginning at 1:30 Saturday.

Stumble over the doormat? TCU 20 Kansas 6. The Horned Frogs win their first Big 12 game in Lawrence. Even though Kansas is no longer a conference rival, the Jayhawks loss got a big cheer at Faurot when it was announced at halftime Saturday.

The inefficient theme extended to baseball. The Cardinals had chances at wins on Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles. Missed offensive opportunities didn’t help.  The Cards did break through in the 12th to get a split in L.A. to maintain their lead for the second wild card berth.  Inefficiency, defensive woes and all, the Cardinals are still in pretty solid shape to get to October again. A lot can happen between now and the end of the regular season. Remember last year?

The Exception. Rams 31, Redskins 28. Rams trail early and get the win. Sam Bradford threw for three touchdowns. Darryl Richardson and Stephen  Jackson combine for over 140 yards rushing.  Danny Amendola had a huge day. 15 catches and 160 yards. The defense did a decent job of containing RG-III.  Keeping up with San Francisco in the NFC West might not be easy, but one thing at a time.  On to Chicago for a game with the Bears.