In the press box at Arrowhead

As write this, I am sitting in the press box at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs PR people aren't sure what the NFL policy on blogging is during games, so I thought I should get this out of the way before kickoff.

It's 11:45 p.m. and the stadium appears to be half empty. Maybe there will be some who come in late, but I doubt the stadium will be full today. I've heard some Chiefs fans say for a while that the only way for Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards to "get the message" is to stop going to the games. It looks like maybe the fans have finally decided to act but we'll see once kickoff gets here...

It's about noon now....the lower bowl is filling up more but the second and third decks are still only about half full.

(About 3:00 left in the second quarter) Shhh! I'm cheating by updating now....But what the Chiefs are doing on offense today, considering where they were about a month ago, is stunning.

When Thigpen caught the touchdown pass, there was such a buzz in the press box that we were admonished to quiet down. Someone said after that, "We're just amazed to see any offense, give us a break!"

(7:20 p.m.) One thing I learned today is that if I'm going to blog a Chiefs' game but the NFL won't let me do it live is: Jot down those random thoughts I'm having and insert them into the blog once it's over. I had a few nice thoughts during the course of things that I've forgotten about now. (You'd think, what with being an experienced journalist and all, I'd know this, but I guess I was thinking of blogging as a different art than reporting).

Another thing: A team led by Jeff Garica is never out of a game.

Another thing: Though I wrote after the Oakland game that Tyler Thigpen wasn't an NFL quarterback at that time, he's probably made the adjustment to becoming one faster than I've seen, even with Peyton Manning. But Thigpen started with a lesser pedigree than Manning too.

What the Chiefs did in the first half was perfectly suited for Thigpen and his personnel. If they had stuck to the plan rather than getting into milk-the-clock mode a little too early, they could have held on to win.

However, the defensive secondary had too many injuries to overcome. Herman Edwards said in his post-game press conference that the Chiefs were tying to "hide" inexperienced defensive backs. But when they're out there for a long time, most quarterbacks will find them and exploit them.

The Chiefs had more positives today, especially on offense, than negative.