Royals Clinch AL Central Division

It is 11:43 PM CST and the night is still young in the Kansas City Metro. The Kansas City Royals just clinched the American League Central Division for the first time ever, and their first divisional win since 1985. The 1985 MLB Post Season started off for the Royals when they won the American League West Division and later went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the League Championship Series. That post season ended with the Royals edging out the St. Louis Cardinals four games to three, in a I-70 Series World Series.

As I sat there watching the game in my apartment my emotions were building as Fox Sports Midwest's coverage switched to a live feed of Royals employees covering the clubhouse locker room with plastic and wheeling in carts of champagne and beer. That eight second clip triggered nostalgia from the 2014 Postseason when the underdog, Royals, swept the American League Divisional Series, and American League Championship Series leading to a heart-breaking World Series loss to the Giants.

Coming off of the 2014 Postseason MLB announcers, analysts, and sports anchors projected that the Royals would finish fourth in the AL Central, with many of them admitting that they thought the Royals making it to the World Series was a fluke. It is clear to see that the 2014 Royals Postseason run was not a fluke due to the fact that the Royals were the first team in the MLB to win their division. Now that the division race is over the Royals need to keep winning so they can get home field advantage in the Postseason and bring the Fall Classic back to Kauffman Stadium which only comes with one downside, Joe Buck.

Chiefs VS. Broncos Recap

As I sat on my chair stunned by disbelief from watching Jamaal Charles fumble the ball with 43 seconds left in the game, resulting in a touchdown that sealed the win for the Broncos, I couldn’t help but think “why would you not take a knee?”

This past Thursday the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Denver Broncos on prime time television. Going into the game the Chiefs were projected to outscore the Broncos and take a fairly easy win.This seemed like it was going to happen early on when the Chiefs got two 2^nd quarter touchdowns from a 34 yard Jamaal Charles run and a pick-six from Rookie Marcus Peters.

With the Chiefs up 14-0 late in the second quarter, Peyton Manning started to pick apart the Chiefs Rookie Cornerback Marcus Peters, and back up Cornerback Jamell Fleming. Manning targeted his key receivers, Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, for short passes that resulted in quick downfield progression and passing touchdowns for the Broncos.

The inexperienced defensive backs were not the only issue that the Chiefs ran into during their 31-24 loss. The more severe issue was the fact the Chiefs had 5 turnovers. Two interceptions from Quarterback Alex Smith, a muffed punt return from De’Anthony Thomas, and two fumbles from star running back Jamaal Charles, with one of Charles’s fumbles resulting in a scoop-and-score for the Broncos with 43 seconds left in the 4^th quarter to lose the game. There were two main issues with this play call; the first issue was that we had no timeouts and needed to go at least 60 yards for a comfortable field goal attempt, secondly was the issue we did not kneel the ball and go into overtime. 

The two main issues the Chiefs need to improve upon before next weeks Monday Night Football game against the Packers is to limit costly turnovers, especially in the red zone. Lastly they need to improve defensive coverage, because Aaron Rodgers is another elite quarterback capable of picking apart out inexperienced defensive backs.

Royals 2015 MLB Postseason

         With the 2015 MLB regular season winding down the "Royals Magic Number" to clinch the division is four. This means that any combination of the Kansas City Royals winning and the Minnesota Twins losing four times would result in the Royals clinching the American League Central Division, which they have never done.

         The 2015 season for the Royals has had its downs, but mostly it’s been ecstasy coming off of a devastating 2014 World Series loss. Many people thought that the runner-up finish was a fluke, but this season shows that the Royals are here to be playoff contenders for the 2015 Postseason. 

         The issue the Royals have been running into this season is not lack of hitting or run support like we saw last year, but it is the issue of starting pitching. This issue is very serious entering the Postseason where we will be facing AL teams that are offensive juggernauts like the Yankees, and Blue Jays.

         With Dayton Moore not bringing back James Shields and the early season injury that left Jason Vargas out for the season, the Royals had to find good pitching fast. Acquiring Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the trade deadline was bound to be a surefire move for the starting rotation but that has been all but true. Aside from Cueto struggling there has been the ongoing issue of what to do with Danny Duffy and Jeremy Guthrie  who have sky high ERA's. Those issues aside we have seen good years from Volquez, Ventura, and Young, but those guys can only pitch so much in the Postseason.

         The few Royals starting pitchers that are banged up will have to dig deep this postseason and find some way to not give up runs because our offense can only do so much. If they can’t find a way to have good quality starts the Royals could be heading to offseason workouts a lot earlier than expected.