Chiefs Chronicles: The Heeeeere's Carson Edition- 2024 Season Week 18
Change The Channel... Carson's On, The NFL Needs To Change An Award Name, I'm Getting Closer, & Other Stuff
Change The Channel... Carson's On!
I’ll bet you read that (⬆️) and thought I meant you should tune away* from Carson Wentz today.
(* To use the old parlance- in the time before digital streaming all TVs & radios had to be “tuned in” to the channel or station you wanted. That note was for the kids in the audience.)
Nothing could be further from the truth! It was just a reference to what we would say (my parents and grandparents more than me) when 11:30 rolled around every night from 1962 through 1992. For the 30 years that Johnny Carson was doing his thing on the Tonight Show, it was just what you did at 11:30. If you haven’t watched classic Tonight Show clips in a while (or ever), do yourself a favor and go for a deep dive on YouTube- funny is funny, regardless of the era.
That isn’t the Carson we’re concerned with today, though. I’m sure that we all want a good look at Carson Wentz, the Chiefs new(ish) backup, in an actual game. Every sports show I’ve watched lately has talked about how well he played for the Rams last year in a similar situation, and it has gotten me even more excited to see him in action.
(Note: Not to mention the fact that it’s a divisional game against Denver and beating them and Sean Payton, thus knocking them out of the playoffs, would be sooo sweet! But you all don’t need me to tell you that.)
Carson Wentz is a guy who everyone was crowning the NFL’s “Next Franchise QB” a few years ago. Wait, I just looked it up and he was drafted in 2016. Nine years is more than a few years ago, I guess (my time sense is wrecked).
Anyway.
After some good things with the Eagles early on, his career flew WAY off the rails. Starting in 2020 he went from the Eagles to the Colts, the Colts to the Commanders, and the Commanders to the Rams- spending just a year in each city and experiencing varying levels (mostly low) of success.
This offseason he signed with the Chiefs and now he’s on the road to redemption. We know that Andy Reid is all about helping guys get second chances (which, to be fair, has backfired on him more than a few times)- whether it be from a so-far disappointing career or personal/legal troubles.
Who could forget what Reid and the Chiefs did for Nick Foles career? I’m sure Carson Wentz is hoping for a similar career boost, so he’s going to come out firing against the Broncos and looking to win. This is his audition to possibly be a starter somewhere next year in an NFL starved for competent QB play.
Plus, he’s got that whole crazy The Prince & the Pauper thing going on with Prince Harry! If you’re unfamiliar with the Mark Twain story think of the plots for these movies: Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, Dave with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, or The Princess Switch with Vanessa Hudgens (that one’s for my Chiefs Chronicles Swifties- I’m thinking they’ve never seen or heard of the other two), which are all loose adaptations of the The Prince & the Pauper.
Ok, so now you know the basic story, but maybe you still don’t know how it could apply to Carson Wentz.
Check this out and, in the words of Bart Simpson…
(Quick Conspiracy Theory: Now I don’t want to get an online rumor started, but has anyone ever asked exactly where King Charles III (then Prince Charles) was in late March/early April of 1992? If he was in North Carolina, then a certain monarch may need to take a paternity test to prove he isn’t the father.)
Since the story we’re discussing isn’t about brothers (half or otherwise), but rather two people who look very alike (AKA doppelgangers… or so the Germans would have us believe) there’s just one more question for us to ask:
Is the Chiefs backup QB actually a British noble and a member of the Royal Family?
I think, all things considered, the answer is pretty obvious and I have a feeling that the post-game, victory press conference with him will go something like this:
The NFL Needs To Change An Award Name
This section was planned for last week sometime and, before I could get to it, the always amazing Seth Keysor covered the topic in The Chief in the North Newsletter on Substack. Here that is and, if you haven’t read his stuff yet, it is worth far more than the pittance he charges per year:
My two cents on the the topic are as follows:
He’s correct, obviously. Taking a team with this many critical injuries and a (for most of the year) sputtering offense to a 15-1 record going into Week 18, plus locking up the #1 seed in the AFC (a week early) in a loaded conference, and doing all of that in pursuit of an unprecedented NFL Three-Peat? Andy should be a lock.
Since the award is never given to the best coach, but rather to the coach with the most surprising results, the award should be renamed.
I propose the new name of the award should be:
The NFL Coach Who Exceeded Our Low Expectations By Winning An Amazing Amount of Games With What We Were Absolutely Sure Was A Lousy & Untalented Roster of The Year Award
If the NFL listens to me and changes the name of this award, there won’t be a need for Chiefs fans to get mad every year that Andy Reid doesn’t get it- or even receive a vote. With the accurate name that I’ve proposed, we wouldn’t want him to get it anyway. Let coaches who can’t win it all take home their consolation prize.
We know we have the best coach in the NFL and we’ve got the record and NFL Championships to prove it.
I'm Getting Closer
To quote a great man, “Missed it by that much.”
For the Christmas day game I predicted a blowout and the Chiefs came through for me getting a 29-10 victory over the Steelers. My score prediction was 42-14, which would have been a 28-point win. Instead, they won by 19.
I’ll take it.
It’s the final week of the regular season, half the team is resting, and the Chiefs got into Denver late yesterday. It would probably be a smart thing for me to predict a close game or even a loss.
Lucky for you, I’m not smart.
Following my pattern of always predicting a Chiefs win (and a blowout) has worked out OK in the win department (15-1 BABY!!!), so I’m going to do it again.
Today, Carson Wentz and his motley band of second through fourth stringers are going to spoil the Broncos season and do it this way:
Chief beat the Broncos by a score of 31-14
Lock it in!!!
Final Thoughts
This isn’t the latest I’ve gotten Chiefs Chronicles out, but it’s close. I’m working on the last second thing, I swear!
Since there’s such a long break coming up for the Chiefs I’m hoping to get some of my backlogged stories/ideas out to you over the next couple weeks. You know me, though. Don’t believe it until you see it.
Thanks for reading and, as always…
GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
