I am not exactly sure what to say after this loss where nothing was shown but a pathetic, dispiccable display of what some people might call football (only if they had been tailgaiting since Thursday found themselves at Kaufmann stadium watching the game).
Bill Simmons wrote in an article on ESPN.com last week that he will go the rest of the season under the assumption that head coach Todd Haley had already lost this team and basically that this team is going nowhere. While I am not as quick to judge as Mr. Simmons, I will say, he could be right.
As I mentioned in my last "State of the Franchise" post, what was supposed to be so great about all the offseason changes at One Arrowhead drive was the culture shift that took place. The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons successfully changed their losing fortunes in 2008 by cleaning house and changing the culture. This was supposed to be the Chiefs this year. Scot Pioli was supposed to bring his front office Acumen to the Cheifs and help turn them into the Patriots West. Todd Haley was supposed to come in with his ability to evaluate talent, his offensive wizardry and no-nonsense approach and help turn us into winners.
I was not as optimistic as some and predicted a 6-10 season, which I would actually be very happy with and would show improvement leading into next season. However, after the atrocious 0-3 start the Chiefs have gotten themselves into, I see no more than 4 wins and fully expect another 2-14 season to be an unfortunate reality.
Conventional wisdom tells us, in the NFL, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. Such is true, however, even in a loss you usually hope there are things you can take away from it that make you a better team heading into the next week. The reason Herm Edwards had to go last year was because this was not the case, the team constantly made the same mistakes, had the same achilies heel, and showed no signs of improvement. Edwards had to go.
With Haley coming in, you could handle the losses if the improvement was there. There were some bright spots in the first two weeks that could be seen as a positive. However, this week seemed like a step back. The playcalling was, dare I say it, Herm Edwards-like in its conservatism. Haley showed a lack of faith in his quarterback and his team in general. While this lack of faith is probably warranted, it begs the question of what is to be done about it. Haley and Pioli came in with the intention of building a team the right way. EVeryone who has played a franchise on Madden or a dynasty on NCCA Football video games knows the sure way to win is to make your offensive and defensive lines really good. If at all possible, concentrate on the offensive first, if you can run the ball and control the clock your d-line just needs to be passable until they can catch up.
This is not the steps Pioli took. Maybe it's because he was a former d-lineman, maybe it's because...I don't know. What I do know is they spent two draft picks on our d-line and we only have two serviceable offensive linemen on this whole team. I cannot understand what is going on with this team and I do not understand what Haley is doing...
When the camera showed Haley on the sidelines, especially after his team sputtered to another miserable 3 and out, I did not see what was expected. A fiery personality I expected to see some yelling or at least some brooding looks. I saw neither. What I saw was the face of a man who knew he has a terrible team, there was nothing else he could do, and had come to the realization that he was in way over his head.
I spend too much time thinking and talking football to think that all the changes would mean overnight success. However, I did think there would be more positives at this point. I see no difference between this team and last years epically bad team. Our new shiny front office, coach, and quarterback still cannot make up for a team that makes mistakes and kills itself on a regular basis. The Chiefs are expansion team bad. Nobody knows each other, nobody works well with each other, there are 53 individuals on this roster, which is in stark contrast to the "right 53" Pioli and Haley are looking for. This comes down to coaching. These players have to be coached and schemed to be put into the position to be successful, they need to be able to know they can work together and rely on each other so when the time comes there is no hesitation. This team has more work to do than I originally thought. In the offseason I thought we were gearing up to compete next year and then maybe think Super Bowl in 2011, now I see Super Bowl thoughts at the earliest being 2012. Can't wait...
Final Thoughts:
What has been the constant with the Royals all my life was their completel ineptitude. No matter what happened, no matter how bad it got, nothing really seemed to surprise you. Royals lose 19 in a row? Sounds about right. Royals lose 100 games 4 out of 5 years? Saw that coming. Royals haven't made the playoffs since they won the World Series? Wait, the Royals made the playoffs once? You get my point. However, since the late 1980's the Chiefs have remained respectable and been very competitive. Those days are over. The Chiefs are not competitive and not respectable.
Everyone in the league is laughing at the hapless Chiefs and chalking up a W on their schedule if they play the Chiefs. I think last week against the Raiders may have been the punch in the gut that finally took the wind right out of me. I will always love the Chiefs, I will go to every game, and I will root for them until the day I die. However, the surprise factor is no longer there. The fans were hoping against hope, but everyone in Arrowhead Stadium two Sundays ago KNEW the Raiders were gonna march right down the field and score. Everyone KNEW they were gonna convert that 3rd and 18 with less than 2 minutes to play. Everyone knew. All hope was lost when Darren McFadden rumbled into that endzone.
The days of fooling ourselves as Chiefs fans are over. There is nobody to blame anymore and nothing left to say. The Chiefs are not a talented football team that plays bad, undisicplined football. This can be turned around, and I think Pioli and Haley are capable but it will be a long road and they may lose a lot of fans in the process (although they will never lose this one). I say good luck, the Chiefs will be a tough sell the next couple of years and it is gonna be a long, ugly season...I wanna cry...
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