Chiefs vs. Chargers: Winning The Bet

Greetings, Bolts From The Blue.

As you know, John Gennaro and I made a bet on the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers Monday Night Football game: The winner gets a front page post on the loser's blog.

So here I am. Oh, I'm Joel from Arrowhead Pride, by the way.

No, don't worry. I'm not here to gloat -- although, after losing two straight years to you all (and 80-21 last year) I think some gloating would be warranted.

I just wanted to give you a few of my thoughts on the experience at Arrowhead last night.

First off, the stadium was rockin' for a few reasons. The first Monday Night Football game at Arrowhead in seven years. The debut of the much anticipated 2010 rookie class. The opening of the renovated Arrowhead Stadium, along with a pregame video, fireworks and light show (here's a good video of the pre-game stuff).

There were a lot of reasons Chiefs fans were excited last night but the biggest of all was that the Chiefs were facing the best. It's no secret the Chargers have dominated the Chiefs and the AFC West over the last few years. So for the Chiefs to beat them best, it makes it that much sweeter.

As for the game itself, I knew the Chiefs wouldn't be able to win in a conventional way. You won't see Matt Cassel throw for under 70 yards and the Chiefs win very often but the extras in the game were just huge. From Dexter McCluster's return, to the delay of game penalties to Derrick Johnson's forced fumble on Ryan Mathews, everything just seemed to fall into place.

Even with all of that, there the Chargers were, with seconds remaining on the clock, and just five yards from sending it into overtime. You saw the game so you know what happened next.

I know it was a tough game for all of you but for at least one week you'll have to share the AFC West spotlight.

Great game for Chiefs fans. A hell of a game for both team's fans to watch. And it was for all the country to see.

Take it easy, Bolts From The Blue. Thanks for a great start to the opening of the 2010 NFL season. We'll see ya'll December 12th at Qualcomm.