Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: These Aren't the Same Old Boring Chiefs

1. Remember the Chiefs? Yeah, they're good

Outside of Kansas City, we have all forgotten the Chiefs. Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

We've been dazzled by Cam Newton. The steadiness of Tom Brady. The historical greatness of the Denver defense. The ruthlessness of Ben Roethlisberger. Meanwhile, the Chiefs have plodded along, away from the headlines, lulling the rest of the sport to sleep.

At one point, the Chiefs lost five straight games. They've since won seven straight. During the streak, there have been few cheap wins. They beat the Steelers. They won at Denver and Oakland.

What have we missed? It comes down to three things:

First, this Chiefs team has slowly developed into one of the mentally toughest in football. It is only the second team in NFL history, according to the NFL, to win at least seven straight games after a losing streak of at least five games. The only other team to do that was the 1970 Bengals.

Second, they are scoring. These are not the same old Chiefs, with Alex Smith avoiding throws more than 15 yards downfield and receivers allergic to touchdowns. The offense is solid, and the defense can score too. They've averaged more than 29 points per game during the win streak, even after scoring only 10 in a downpour against the Chargers on Sunday.

The last reason, the biggest reason, is Smith. He has always been known as a game manager. Many have used that term as a slur; to me, it's always been a positive. So much of football is about not making mistakes and letting the other guy implode.

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

This year, Smith has managed to add explosiveness to his game. In 13 games, he already has more completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns on passes of 20 yards or more than he had in 15 games last year, according to Pro Football Focus. And he's done it without sacrificing the greatest part of his game: his ability to avoid interceptions.

This, more than any other reason, is behind the Chiefs' resurgence after their disastrous start.

Consider this statistic from the NFL: On Sunday, Smith threw his first interception in the past 10 games. His first one. He hadn't thrown an interception in his previous 312 attempts. That's the second-longest streak in league history. Only Brady's 358 attempts without an interception is longer.

Smith's been known for not throwing a lot of picks—he hasn't had more than seven in a season since 2010—but now he's doing it while attempting more deep passes and doing more damage on those passes.

Smith should receive strong MVP consideration. Newton will get the award—and he deserves it—but Smith should be in the conversation right behind Newton and Brady and slightly ahead of Russell Wilson.

Chiefs fans know all of this, but excuse the rest of us for losing track of one of the great surprises in the sport.

They're not flashy. They're not sexy. They're just good.

2. Cover-up

Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images

The movie Concussion deals not just with the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but also with the NFL's attempt to discredit that discovery.

This story by the Wall Street Journal's Jeanne Marie Laskas does a remarkable job of laying out, step by step, what the NFL did. It is not a pretty picture.

That's all I'll say on this for now. Read the story. Read it carefully.

3. Cam Newton continues to redefine the position

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

As Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith points out, Newton already has 40 rushing touchdowns in his career. No quarterback in his first five seasons has come close to that number. Daunte Culpepper is the closest with 26.

Smith writes:

"

There's a long list of Hall of Fame running backs who had fewer rushing touchdowns in their first five seasons than Newton. Gale Sayers had 39. Thurman Thomas had 35. Jerome Bettis had 31. O.J. Simpson had 30. Larry Csonka had 27. John Riggins had 25.

"

Steve Young has the career record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 43. Newton, at 26 years old, is only three away. He will obliterate the record, and it's possible it will be decades before anyone passes him.

4. The incredible Todd Gurley

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Across the league, whenever I asked a scout why Gurley had slowed from his initial crazy-hot start, I got the same response: the mythical rookie wall.

Quietly, that was the belief of many in the sport: Gurley was tired and overused, and rookies aren't used to the frantic pace and extreme violence of professional football. These scouts believed Gurley's numbers would continue to slow.

They didn't. Instead, on Sunday, he had 140 yards and two touchdowns. After climbing over that mythical wall, Gurley's back on his way to stardom.

He now has five games with at least 125 rushing yards. The only rookie with more such games? It's the great Eric Dickerson with seven in 1983, according to the NFL.

5. How good has Russell Wilson been?

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

He's playing at a historic pace, doing things during this incredible stretch that few have done before.

Wilson has passed for at least three scores with no picks in four straight games. The NFL says this ties Wilson for the longest such streak in league history. Who else has done it? Brady in 2007, Peyton Manning in 2013 and 2014, and Aaron Rodgers in 2014. Only Brady, with 17 touchdown passes during his streak, had more than Wilson's 16.

Going further on the same note, this from ESPN's Trey Wingo:

6. Scout on Doug Baldwin: 'More angular ... scary'

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Doug Baldwin has been the recipient of many of Wilson's passes during the streak. Baldwin in the past has been, to be fair, rather average. He never displayed this type of speed or explosion out of his breaks.

I asked one scout what's the difference between Baldwin then and now? Crisper routes.

"His route running is more angular," the scout said. "I've watched him for several years, and he was never this scary. I think what you see is the result of hard work."

7. Unique company for Mike Tomlin

Gary Landers/Associated Press

In beating the Bengals, head coach Mike Tomlin got his 90th win. The NFL says the Steelers are the first franchise in league history with three coaches who have at least 90 wins. The others are Chuck Noll (193) and Bill Cowher (149).

8. Pacman Jones is still an idiot

Frank Victores/Associated Press

I've heard repeatedly how much Pacman Jones has supposedly changed from his dumbassery ways of the past, but then he records this NSFW garbage.

Roger Goodell will want to send Pacman to the Phantom Zone with Zod for this video. Just unacceptable in the modern sport.

So, yes, Pacman Jones is still an idiot.

9. Two great quotes on Johnny Manziel

David Richard/Associated Press

I thought these two quotes from NBC analysts Tony Dungy (a future Hall of Famer) and Rodney Harrison (the former Patriots defensive back) best exemplified why people who are not Johnny Manziel fans have such difficulty believing he will be a productive player—despite so many people apparently wanting him to be. Both spoke about Manziel during NBC's pregame broadcast Sunday.

Harrison: "I still think you have to find a starting quarterback. He's good. He's a really good athlete, so I'd keep him on the roster. But if I'm a guy in that locker room, I don't want to play with Johnny Manziel, because I simply can't trust him."

Dungy: "And that's your biggest problem as a head coach when you draft Manziel. You're three years down the road, and you don't know what you have. You don't know if you have a guy you can depend on. That's why I would not have drafted him."

10. Patriots' dominance

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Sometimes, the hatred for the Patriots obscures just how incredible this franchise's run has been. In beating Houston, the Patriots secured another 11-win season. They now have at least 11 wins in six straight seasons.

How impressive is that? It's just one season shy of the 2003-09 Colts' NFL record.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.