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Keeler: Chiefs go to 2-0 by making turnovers a weapon instead of a weakness
For new-look Chiefs, emphasis on "take care of the football" could be key to season success
By SEAN KEELERFS Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Bill Belichicks of the world would like you to think the NFL is quantum physics, that it floats above your feeble, Triceratops brain and on some higher, purer level of academia.
Which, as Einstein liked to say, is utter horse crap. (Of course, he sounded smarter when he said it.)
Exhibit A: A year ago at this time, the Kansas City Chiefs had played two games, turned it over six times and collected zero takeaways. They were 0-2, had been outscored 75-41 and were on their way to a 2-14 dumpster fire of an autumn.
Exhibit B: After a 17-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the 2013 Chiefs have snatched four takeaways and have yet to turn it over. They're 2-0. They've outscored the opposition 45-18.
Lesson No. 1: Take care of the football in the NFL, you win. You don't, you lose.
Lesson No. 2: Always remember Lesson No. 1.
Simple, right? Congratulations, kids. You just received your doctorate.
"It's takeaways and points," coach Andy Reid said after winning his home debut, lifting the new-look Chiefs to their best start since 2010. "On both sides of the ball, we keep it nice and simple.
"We try to eliminate the turnovers and we try to score points on offense. The opposite way, don't let them score and have some takeaways, and normally good things happen."
There's no complex formula here, no magic wand. It's a fine line, the great demoralizer, the great equalizer. It can give a defense life and reduce an offensive coordinator to tears. In the right hands, it's an absolute weapon.
"It's every day, man -- it's every day in practice," said Chiefs safety Eric Berry, whose fumble recovery with 38 seconds left in the third quarter helped set up the game-clinching field goal. "Every time we're touching off, tagging off on the run in practice, we're going after the ball, trying to get interceptions.
"We're just trying to get the ball out, because we know that puts our offense in a good position to score and puts them in position to make a play. So that's a big emphasis during practice and it's starting to become second nature for the whole team. It's very important, and it's paying dividends."
In a league in which everybody's got gladiators in their corner, turnovers are the X factor, the thing that swings the pendulum. On Sunday, the visitors turned it over twice in the second half while in their own territory, miscues that eventually led to those fateful three points. The Chiefs' giveaways: Zero. In Week 1, the Cowboys were plus-five on turnover count at home and knocked off the New York Giants.
Again, it ain't rocket science.
"We know, firsthand, from last week," Dallas owner/general manager Jerry Jones said, "that when you are minus-two in turnovers, you have a real uphill battle."
For the second straight game, the boys in red got a little bit of something from everybody. But the single most pivotal moment might have come on that aforementioned takeaway, the result of Chiefs linebacker Akeem Jordan stripping Cowboys tailback Lance Dunbar as he went down after a 4-yard reception. Berry wound up with the rock at the Kansas City 47, then returned it 22 yards to the Cowboys' 31.
"We knew that we needed a turnover -- that was the mind-set," said safety Kendrick Lewis, who collected a tackle for a loss and a pass breakup. "And on the defense, we talked to each other on the sidelines, we were telling each other, 'We need the ball, go get the ball,' and that's how we went out there and swarmed together as a defense and were able to come up with two big-time plays."
Last year: Minus-6. This year: Plus-4. So what's the secret: Personnel? Mind-set? All of the above?
"Got a good quarterback," running back Jamaal Charles said, matter-of-factly.
Matt Cassel is gone, but the pain lives on. The Chiefs don't necessarily need Alex Smith to be brilliant all the time to win -- not with this defense, not with this punter.
But they absolutely, unequivocally need him to be better than awful. And Smith was several stages above that, for the second week in a row.
"A lot of it is mind-set," tackle Donald Stephenson said. "We all grew up playing ball and (were) taught to hang onto the ball, stuff like that, doing certain things in pass protections. But sometimes, it bounces off the helmet the wrong way and kind of the wrong thing (happens) and it keeps rolling. So it's a little bit of both."
And the afternoon wasn't flawless, by any stretch: Those Chiefs had three drives that started in Dallas territory and came away with only those three points to show for it. The Cowboys made life hell on rookie right tackle Eric Fisher and kept the heat on Smith for much of the afternoon, sacking him four times.
"You adjust. Whatever you get beat on, you remember it," said Stephenson, who was pressed into relief duty in the second quarter when left tackle Branden Albert was recovering from a shoulder injury. "That way, when you come in during the halftime (break), you talk about it getting fixed and then go out and play. You know, as we prepared (for) this game, there (were) just a couple of things that they showed that sometimes you don't see on film.
"We're digging deep into the bag. That's how it is in this league. It takes everybody."
It takes a new coach, a new front office, a new quarterback, a new collective mind-set. Sometimes, it takes a new uniform combo -- in this case, red tops and red bottoms, believed to be a franchise first. Sometimes, it takes new pregame introductions -- now done individually, with the help of giant flamethrowers.
But the more the aesthetics change, the more the basic tenets remain the same. And the numbers don't lie: Last fall, the top four teams in the AFC in turnover margin all reached the postseason.
Throw in the top four in plus/minus in '10 and the top four in '11, and 11 of those 12 clubs wound up in the playoffs. Compare that with the bottom four in turnover margin in '10, '11 and '12, where nine of the 12 ended up missing the party.
Throw in the top four in plus/minus in '10 and the top four in '11, and 11 of those 12 clubs wound up in the playoffs. Compare that with the bottom four in turnover margin in '10, '11 and '12, where nine of the 12 ended up missing the party.
Lesson No. 3: Did we mention Lesson No. 1?
"(There's) a reason why coaches preach it so much," Stephenson said. "It's probably the most truthful thing in stats."
Last year, that truth hurt. This year? This year, it's positively beautiful.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter @seankeeler or email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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DETROIT, MI - Kid Rock, Live Nation and Ticketmaster appear to be entertainment trailblazers with a $20 tickets promotion for his summer "Rebel Soul" tour that might not ever be duplicated in the industry.
The idea of offering $20 tickets for all shows in every section, including seven shows at Clarkston's DTE Energy Music Theatre, sends a bold message to Kid Rock's fans that their guy is determined to be and stay original in a crowded marketplace, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief Pollstar, an industry publication.
"I think Kid Rock plans to be around for a while and is probably hoping to be touring five years from now and still making a good living," Bongiovanni said. "He's treating his audience very well, and the thing about this promotion is that everyone can see it's a good deal - whether it's the beer prices or the $20 tickets."
The marketplace in Metro Detroit is jam-packed this spring and summer. Bob Seger, Kendrick Lamar and The Black Crowes kicked of this month an incredibly busy year of concerts for the region.
Bongiovanni said it's unlikely other performers or acts can duplicate Kid Rock's $20 promotion unless they teamed up with a Live Nation, Ticketmaster, or other promoters and offer the same deal in venues operated and serviced by the same companies.
The idea of having a multiple city tour in concert venues owned and operated by a variety of separate entities would likely make a $20 promotion - or something similar - practically impossible, Bongiovanni said.
"This deal is only possible because Live Nation bought into it," Bongiovanni said. "Kid Rock is playing all Live Nation facilities, and obviously the fact the facilities were able to lower the concession prices was big. They made that deal for the entire tour. Unless that that cooperation happens (in the future), you're not going to see a lot of other acts going out and doing it.
"You can't do a conventional tour where you're going out to 50 different arenas with 50 different operators and cut the same kind of deal."
Kid Rock has admitted publicly this promotion is a risky move.
He told Rolling Stone this month that he's "been meeting with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino for years, trying to figure out how to fix the concert industry" and added entertainers are "all so overpaid."
Bongiovanni said he doesn't expect Kid Rock, Live Nation or Ticketmaster to get rich from the promotion, but does expect money made.
""Nobody is going to get really rich on this thing," Bongiovanni said. "Although, I would hope in this day and age you can still make money on a $20 ticket. You may not get fabulously rich, but we're only 20 to 30 years removed from when that was the conventional ticket price."
The dates for Kid Rock's seven shows at DTE: Aug. 9-11, Aug. 14, Aug. 16-17 and Aug. 19. As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, some tickets appeared to still be available for those seven shows via Ticketmaster.
The only way Bongionvanni said Kid Rock's $20 promotion as a bad moves was if there were problems selling the tickets. That doesn't appear to be the case.
"You know, $20 is the kind of ticket price where you don't really have to plan six months in advance to budget for it," Bongiovanni said. "It can be more of a spur of the moment purchase. And the fact they are having the $4 beers means it's not going to cost you a fortune to go out and enjoy yourself."
Although Kid Rock's promotion is an innovative move, Bongiovanni doesn't expect it to help drive ticket prices down for shows throughout the industry anytime soon.
""The biggest artists continue to push the envelope," Bongiovanni said. "At what point do The Rolling Stones (and other bands) price themselves out of the real world? It hasn't happened yet, but (high prices) definitely limit the audience that can attend."
Would you go see Kid Rock for $20 (plus fees)? Did you buy tickets for any of his shows? What do you think of his promotion? What's your ticket price threshold for a concert?
Let us know in our comments section.

subset: commoncrawl


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Modern Partridge Farming By Chris Hodgson £10.00+P&P
A comprehensive book about rearing and releasing partridges in the UK. It is written by one of England's foremost rearers of both Grey and Red-legged partridges, and describes breeding pens, egg collection, incubation and hatching. There are chapters on rearing partridges from day old through to 14 to 16 weeks when they are released into the wild.
This book is also for those people who rear a few pheasants and want to try partridges as well; it describes the rearing field, the pens, shelters, houses, water, food and explains the importance of monitoring the birds through to release. There is also an excellent chapter on partridge diseases by one of England's foremost avian vets, Alan Beynon.


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There will be no tax increase in the Lower Dauphin School District for 2013-14, according to the proposed budget presented to the school board Monday night.
That will mark the fifth time in the past six years that the district has not increased taxes, but it also means it has not replaced 33 staff members who have retired or resigned over the past three years. Those include 20 professional staff and 13 paraprofessionals.
This year, the district will not replace one high school health and physical education teacher and one elementary school teacher, according to superintendent Sherri Smith.
The $56.6 million budget is 2.36 percent higher than last year's budget.
The board had voted over the winter to stay under the 2.1 percent tax increase allowed by the state without an exception or a referendum.
Since then district officials have been able to whittle away at the expenses, and learned they would receive $252,000 more than originally expected from the state, Smith said.
The state provides 33 percent of the district's funds, local revenues provide 65 percent, and the federal government provides one percent.
As with most area school districts, the increase in pensions is responsible for the greatest increase in expenses. The district's portion of pensions will increase by $592,000 compared to last year. By the 2015-16 school year, pensions will increase by another $1.6 million, Smith said.
In coming years, "it will be hard to be able to absorb the impacts," she said.
Non-personnel expenditures for next year will include replacing the fire alarm system at the middle school, replacing the phone systems at Londonderry and East Hanover Elementary, repairing the roof at Nye Elementary, upgrading the camera system at the high school and purchasing new textbooks.
The budget will be on display in the district office. The board will pass a final budget at their June 10 meeting.
The millage rate will remain at 18.42 mills, or $1,842 for a property owner with a home assessed at $100,000.