Raiders at Chiefs - Week 16 - Record: 6-9

Remember Christmas Day 2004? The Chiefs and the Raiders, at Arrowhead, a wild back-and-forth affair that ended with one of the best Christmas gifts a Chiefs fan could ever have. Down 30-28 with a minute left, Dante Hall takes the kick-off and splendidly scampers deep into Raiders territory so we can kick the game-winning field goal. Final score: Chiefs 31, Raiders 30.

It was a nice Christmas gift to have at the close of a miserable season that year when we went off to lose too many games in really stupid ways. Well, yeah -- sorry. You're right. What other kinds of ways do the Chiefs lose games?

We got no such Christmas gift this year -- and it's at the end of a season that was typically stupid.

Okay, okay, it's Christmas, I shouldn't be so Scroogely.

It was nice that Dexter McCluster finally got untracked and zipped for the yards and yards and yards he should be zipping regularly after getting a screen pass -- this one in the last minute of regulation to set up the tying score that gave us a chance to win. Okay, okay, so there was something nice.

But there wasn't much else.

For one thing we just don't have that "X Factor." Yes, for as overrated as some say Dante Hall was, he was still a gamer, a go-to-guy, a leader -- and I'm sorry, he was an exciting player who did get the job done on the field when it needed getting done.

In contrast, one play typified the way the Chiefs play football today -- at least the way the offense plays football. We were driving at about midfield, and QB Kyle Orton had to scamble out of the pocket and run. He got the first down, except... you know what happened.

The ref put the ball at an awful spot.

4th and half-an-inch. Literally, it was half-an-inch.

So they give the ball to Jackie Battle, who on virtually every one of his runs he chugs for about two more yards after getting hit. He really does, the guy is a genius at that.

But here his mind is telling him, "All I need is half-an-inch."

He gets a quarter-of-an-inch.

Grrreat. The Raiders zip on down, kick a field goal to make it 13-6, a score that really allowed them to win it in overtime.

The point is, why isn't this team thinking about just getting tons of yardage -- as many tons of yardage as they could get on any play they run? Every other play Battle has the ball he's getting three, four yards -- why not now? And if the other team has 57 guys lined up right at the point where the runner is going to try to get the first down, then why can't we do other things, such as, ohhh, pass to the guy who should be wide open and get the first down that way?

It's because we just don't have that "X Factor" mentality. We just don't.

Maybe this is a good thing, however.

After the wonderfully splendiferous win over Green Bay last week, I started getting scared the Chiefs would go ahead and make Romeo Crennel our permanent head coach. Yikes. Sorry, but we need a true solid leader-type to take the troops into battle. I love Romeo Crennel, his defense is the best thing about this team, but he's not head-coach material.

Clark, Scott, please please please please please please please please please please please go insane to find the next Bill Parcells or Bill Belichick or Bill Walsh -- why are all the great coaches named Bill? Well there ya go, start looking at guys named Bill, but not Todd or Herman or John or Frank or Gunther or any of the guys who are just not going to get us to the promised land.

Fact is with Romeo at the helm this game was a disaster. Yet again we got close to the end zone and failed time after time after time. We had a complete breakdown on the special teams line when we got two field goals blocked. And the penalties just piled up again.

The Raiders themselves were getting penalized themselves out of their rear ends -- but we were matching them penalty for penalty, how wretched was that. (The Raiders, BTW, are on pace to break the record for most penalties by a team, set by - ::sigh:: - the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs, who had over 150 for the season. That's about ten a game. I simply did not know that -- still, eerrr-rahlphff [gratuitous upchuck noise]. 1998 was the year I stopped paying attention to sports cold turkey -- now I know some of why...)

So yeah, the best thing for Chiefs fans to do in this last game is endure -- I know it will be very difficult -- to endure the Chiefs looking miserable in a final season loss to the Broncos. This will ensure a number of things:

1. A better slot in the draft so we have a better shot at getting that future Hall-of-Fame quarterback we so desperately need.

2. Chiefs management seeing that Romeo Crennel is not the guy and Bill Exceptionallyterrificprofootballcoach is.

3. The Raiders will be booted from the playoffs. I mean, come on, how bad is this. If the Chiefs beat the Broncos and the Raiders win, the Raiders go into the playoffs. I mean we can put up with a lot -- hey, we're Chiefs fans -- but this goes beyond the pale...

Now yes, I will never root against the Chiefs, ever, in any game. But the fact is this.

A Chiefs win helps the Raiders.

The humanity!
_

Packers at Chiefs - Week 15 - Record: 6-8

I really don't think there has ever been a Chiefs game I have witnessed in which I was going so far up and so far down with my range of emotions than I was with this game.

And I will tell you right here -- and you have every right to refuse to believe me in the most abject way possible --

I really did feel we were going to win this game.

For some reason, through the entire week, I just had this feeling deep in my gut that we were not only going to make this close, but we were going to flat out win it. I just felt that the team would rally around the new coach. That late in the season at home we could take down a top team like the Packers. That Kyle Orton was going to show that he could still perform at the top level of QB play in the NFL.

We got the kickoff to start the game, and I was flying high just watching our team do something it has just never done, not for a long time.

They were executing a long, grinding, sustained, solid, sure-ground-gaining drive.

And one of the things I thought about was how much this just wouldn't've happened with Todd Haley in there. It just wouldn't've. I don't think there is a single Chiefs fan who did not share this exact sentiment. Romeo Crennel put together the ideal game plan to take on the Packers. It really came down to one simple thing, and it worked beautifully.

Keep Aaron Rodgers off the field.

Through the game we had clock-chewing drives, giving Rodgers many fewer opportunities to do his magic.

Another thing that blew me away was something the announcers said right outta the gate. The Packers were something like 31st, I think it was, in total defense.

Guh???

An undefeated team with the 31st ranked defense in the entire league??? They added that the Packers have always taken advantage of turnovers. Makes perfect sense. Cough up the ball and Rodgers gets more chances. In fact Orton was with Denver when the Packers blasted them earlier in the season, and he threw three picks in that game.

Well, for one, we had no turnovers on the day -- again, very controlled, time-managed offensive football.

And another, Orton was magnificent today. Something close to 20 for 30, about 300 yards, hitting his receivers at clutch moments, letting them get good separation -- how splendid was that to watch for once. And he threw to ten different receivers, how's that for decision-making at quarterback. With his leadership the offense as a whole pounded out over 400 yards.

400 yards? The Chiefs? When was the last time you saw those two things written so closely to each other?

But then there were those emotional drops. My insides were a roller-coaster through this one. The guy who roughed the punter when we stopped the Packers in their first series. Give Rodgers a second chance?! Are you insane?! Let the guy kick it to Alberta, Canada for all we care! And how about all the times we simply could not finish the drive. How many 18-yard field goals did Succop have today? Four? And that one time we had 2nd and 1 from the Packer three and couldn't even get a first down on three successive plays! Aaaaaagh! (There goes my heart, doing that huge loop-da-loop...)

Well, there's work to be done there.

But our defense. How great were they today. I do think a lot of it was the offense being on the field long enough to keep them rested so they could fire out when they needed to be in there. They had a handful of sacks on Rodgers and kept him flustered enough all the other times.

A lot of that was due to our fantastic defensive back work. Wow. Again they showed they are one of the best. And that's without Eric Berry in there. Yes, I'd love to see more push on the D-line, and more aggression from the linebackers. Good thing Derrick Johnson is having a career year to keep things decent in that area.

No question this is a wonderful win for us. Can't help but be reminded of the Steelers win a couple years ago. But we can't say too much about what this means in the grand scheme of Chiefsdom. It really doesn't mean a whole lot except that we showed the NFL world that the Chiefs can play football.

For now, that's pretty dang fine.
_

Chiefs at Jets - Week 14 - Record: 5-8

There was a commercial aired during the first quarter of this game that featured a dais upon which stood a really good pro prospect smiling in front of several camera flash bulbs going off. He was being handed a check by some exec who said to him, "You'd better cash that now before you get hurt ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha..." Sitting just to their right was an actor playing his coach, and he looked exactly like Todd Haley, I swear. At that moment he had the most harrowing look of dread come over his face as he started thinking of all the bad things that could indeed happen to his prized new player.

I don't know what the commercial was selling or anything of that, something about some financial firm accepting photographs of a check, I don't know. But one of the coach's graphically portrayed portends was this guy walking into the street looking at his cell phone at the exact time a huge bus approachs to plow into him.

What was amazing was that this guy looked so much like Todd Haley, it just made me think. That bus is not imaginary, but real. And it has a name. All Chiefs fans know it.

The Curse of Odin's Revenge.

A major feature of the Curse is our inability to do anything meaningful against AFC East teams. The Curse's most gruesome feature is something I've written about at length in this blog, our 0-9 playoff record against old AFC East teams since our last Super Bowl win and the 1970 merger (0-3 to both Miami and Indianapolis, 0-2 to Buffalo, 0-1 to New York). In fact, the highlight of this game for the Chiefs was the one-minute highlight reel the CBS broadcast team showed of the Chiefs win over the Jets in the '69 divisional playoff game. Yes, that was the last time we have beaten an AFC East team in the playoffs -- 42 years ago.

The Curse has reared its ugly head this year. Here were the scores of all our games against AFC East opponents:

Week 1 - Buffalo: 41-7 loss.
Week 9 - Miami: 31-3 loss.
Week 11 - New England: 34-3 loss.
Week 14 - New York: 37-10 loss.

Let's see, that's AFC East team 143 points, Chiefs 23. AFC East team 18 touchdowns, Chiefs 2.

See, the NFL is supposed to have this thing called parity. Really. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love for the Chiefs to blast every opponent they have, but if I can't have that I'd at least like them to be in every game. And the fact is the whole operation is designed to make it that way.

There is just no way we can have the luck we have against the AFC East and it not be because of The Curse. I'm just waiting for the day when that thing will finally be lifted somehow, by some miracle. Maybe it will be when we do make that splendidly wonderful decision in the draft to take a QB very high and he's actually very good. Wistful ::sigh:: there if you didn't catch it...

But here's something else that I just have to make mention of.

Remember that old NFL Films clip of Marv Levy yelling "You overofficious jerk!" on the sidelines? I'm pretty sure it was when he was with the Chiefs. All we were doing today was yell that at the television screen.

There was that one drive that got the Jets their last touchdown, and practically the entire drive was penalty yardage against the Chiefs. About half were mildly earned, but the other calls, just wretched overofficiating. The most atrocious was the pass interference call against Kendrick Lewis on their wide receiver who replays showed actually was the one who pushed Lewis to get into position.

If you read the relatively new book Scorecasting, make sure you read the section on why home teams generally always have the advantage in all pro team sports. There are all kinds of presumed reasons: home teams have the fans, the comforts of home, not having to travel, all that stuff. But none of it really pans out, and the authors looked at it all with a precision examination and guess what they found.

It is the reffing.

And it isn't necessarily the refs being evil or anything, it is just their decision-making is indeed colored by the atmosphere, the pressure, and in some cases just responding to the cues from whatever powers-that-be about who should be winning.

Now, I'm the first to refuse to blame a game on the refs. Not because we shouldn't make excuses for bad ref calls or even that it all evens out (because it never does for the Chiefs, really, it doesn't), but just because they're human, and that's cool, that's fine. They even use instant replay. (Even though that never really helps the Chiefs either, as all Chiefs fan know, but I'll save that for another post.)

What we do need to cover for whatever reffing there might be is the drafted and developed top quarterback. The Willie Roafs and Will Shields back on the O-line. The Buck Buchanans and Curly Culps back on the D-line.

And yeah, we still need a coach who can call the right plays at the right times in the right games and just have his team damn well take care of business. I mean, I will tell you, I was actually cheering Todd Haley for getting that unsportsmanlike conduct call against him for jawing at the refs because they so deserved it. They really did. You go Todd, let 'em have it. And I do mean that, this isn't one of those facetious making-fun kind of things. He boldly did what was necessary to stand up for his team when the refs were being, in the famous words of Marv Levy, "jerks."

But really. This is Todd Haley's legacy? This?

We should just flat-out have a football club from the front office on down that does the job.

And is no longer crushed by The Curse.
_

Chiefs at Bears - Week 13 - Record: 5-7

The kind of luck the Chiefs have was shining in all its brilliant awfulness when brand spankin' new quarterback Kyle Orton bounded into the game, only to have a defender destroy his right index finger while he was throwing a pass on his very first play as a Chief.

You.

Have.

Got.

To.

Be.

Kidding.

Me.

I almost shook my head right off my body. This is great, just great. Todd Haley pulls Tyler Palko, who however not-that-great he is talent-wise is still playing his heart out, and then has to put him right back in and tell him to lead the charge again against one of the NFC's best after unceremoniously being sent right to the bench.

Turns out Palko was a big part of getting us the one play we needed to win the game. For all the awful awfulness of the typical Chiefs luck, we got a stadium-full of luck on the last play of the first half. We're watching this thing in our man cave screaming at Todd Haley (as we often do, naturally), this time to just try for the field goal and get those three points on the board. It'd have been a 56-yard attempt for Succop, but at least our chances would have been better than a desperation Hail Mary pass.

In what has to be about the most total reversal of fortune you can get after something like the Kyle Orton incident, Palko jukes and dukes to allow our guys to get down the field, and fires that thing perfectly, right into the middle of the expected crowd in the endzone. Widely celebrated Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher bats it down, right into the waiting hands of Dexter McCluster.

Touchdown Chiefs.

How about that.

The Chiefs win it on a Hail Mary.

Granted it wasn't at the end of the game, but it turned out to be the only touchdown of the game, and the difference for the Chiefs victory, final score, 10-3.

Talk about luck going our way for this one.

The crack-up was that the announcers were talking about this being the first touchdown for the Chiefs since 1793. As if this play really relieved our offensive barrenness. Sure it won us the game, but come on, should it really count in ending this drought of 57,002 straight drives without a touchdown? I just don't think it should.

Please. We're still pathetic on offense. Come on, when was the last time we've scored two touchdowns in a single game? The Oakland game? Are you serious? No, wait, it was the San Diego game, but still. We only got two in that game, and so what. That was still ages ago.

Again mention must be made of our defense. Yes, the Bears lost their really good back Matt Forte to injury early, but then we lost Eric Berry eons ago, so we're even. Whatever the case, our defensive guys were beast yet again. The stat of the day was our seven sacks on their quarterback. How on earth did we do that?

Could be their poor offensive line play. Could be the effects of that conditioning that's been helping us all year. Could be the inexperience of their second-string QB. Could be our inspired play. Could be superb play-calling by Romeo Crennel. Whatever the case, we kept them to a single field goal for the entire game. Now its a total of six opponent points allowed for the past six quarters of NFL play.

And that is with an offense that had no more than four plays in a series far too often. That is, our defense was always on the field. Without much rest they still played with heart and with skill.

Wow. Could Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson be bringing more to the table than we think? Oh, I can't get my hopes up too much. Except Jackson had his first sack of the year today! Yay! Except that was his first?

We still have a long way to go.
_

Steelers at Chiefs - Week 12 - Record: 4-7

I'm pretty sure it was a first for the Kansas City Chiefs: two back-to-back prime-time television appearances. Check it out, I think it was indeed the only time in our history we've been on Monday night, then Sunday night the next week.

Oh that we'd be good enough to deserve that, and just as importantly to have it happen again like it does all the time for the Patriotses and Steelerses and Giantses and Cowboyses. That ::Sigh:: you heard from me should resound across the galaxy. I can't imagine the next time we'll get even a single prime-time slot.

What to say about this game? Our defense was truly beast in this one, and I am even happy to give at least the smallest of shout-outs to Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson. Oh, they're still not what they should be, but they joined a truly inspired group to stick it to Pittsburgh, who got but a single field goal in the second half.

But our offense? It isn't just lame but sickening. When was the last time we've scored a touchdown? 1932? I think it was in September of that year if I'm not mistaken, just before FDR was elected president. Someone check that for me, but I'm pretty sure it's been that long.

And here's the thing. We aren't even close to scoring a touchdown. I think we've been in the red zone this year about as many times as the poles shift and thousands flock to Antarctica to sunbath. Seriously, whenever we're even in the red zone from any kind of extended drive, I'm ecstatic about our amazing achievement and marvelling at how incredibly impossible it is. How awful is that. That this is what I have to cheer for.

Our defense played the game of their lives last night. Our line stood them up, and they harrassed Roethlisberger mercilessly. Our linebackers were crazed animals out there, Derrick Johnson and Justin Houston in particular were stellar. And our D-backs, Flowers et al, just smothering blankets, that's all, they just suffocated their receivers. What a joy to hear the NBC announcers Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth gush about how great we were playing.

Except that, just like the wretchedly putrid Chiefs luck, the last words from those guys were something along the lines of, "What an awful putrid wretched ugly pathetic pitiful weak horrible [about 57 other negative superlatives here] play that was." That's what fans across the country were left with about the Chiefs. A phenomenal defensive performance poisoned by the impression of Chiefs abject ineptitude.

And it was well deserved. Very well deserved.

For you see, the Chiefs simply cannot win unless everyone plays splendidly. It is unfair, but without a Hall-of-Fame quarterback in there and a coach who gets us over that last hurdle to be a contending NFL franchise, we simply cannot afford to have anyone not play up to speed every down.

Sure enough, this week that guy was Dwayne Bowe.

Virtually every single week all Chiefs fans are singing the praises of this very gifted football player. But last night he did us in.

With a chance to win the game on a last minute drive, he signaled to QB Tyler Palko that he was going to extend his pattern deeper. Palko saw it, threw in that direction, yet Bowe cut his route too shallow. And after the ball was thrown still within his reach, he gave the most piddly effort with a jump that barely got his feet off the ground, he kept his arms down, and he allowed the ball to sail right into the hands of a Steeler defender.

For Bowe fans who protest, Bowe earlier had dropped a pass that was an easy touchdown when he allowed the D-back to dictate the coverage. It was an easily catchable ball that would've allowed him to crawl into the endzone for a touchdown.

This is why without that future Hall-of-Famer at quarterback we can't win anything. Just not going to happen. Sure Palko is a back-up, but it's not going to happen with Cassel in there either. We picked up Kyle Orton after Denver decided to make the Tim Tebow experiment permanent, but is he the answer? Really, look deep in your soul, is he really going to make a difference?

The reason it is so important in this instance is that you need that guy to read those coverages and have such a focused connection with his receivers that he'll have solid completions to them all the way through each touchdown drive. Lots of them, every game. I did like some of what Palko did last night, he was playing gutsy ball, and actually showed some spunk. But he never really got that connection, and even with the Bowe last-play-awfulness, he still threw into quintuple coverage.

So as it stands, we're in the middle of a stretch when we play all four of the "final four" NFL playoff teams from last year (Pit, Chi, NYJ, GB). That's by virtue of being a division winner last year. Yhee.

For what it's worth, maybe, just maybe in April we'll draft high enough and we'll be lucky enough (hahahahahaha) that the next best quarterback will be a guy only a few notches down from Andrew Luck in talent, or even better, the equivalent of Tom Brady talent who our new coach can develop.

Oh that we'd just have that luck. Then maybe we'll get back on prime-time before the next ice age.
_

Chiefs at Patriots - Week 11 - Record: 4-6

Well, I thought the score would be 45-3, literally, I did think that. Turned out to be only 34-3. Good thing.

Thing is, this was still an extraordinarily painful loss. The Miami loss? That was mostly a surprise, especially for people who after four straight wins thought the Chiefs were all that. The Denver loss? That was just disappointment in a team that allowed the option to beat them.

But this just hurt.

I think some of that was the fact that we actually played New England well in the first quarter. There was actually that tiny bit of hope that we could actually go in there and do something splendid and show our merit for being on Monday Night Football. But after a nice juicy gain by a resurgent Thomas Jones, we got a holding penalty on 7'9" 420-pound tight end Leonard Pope when he was blocking a 3'11" 125-pound New England grunt that looked way more like a hold than it actually was. At the cost of making this much more melodramatic by saying that was the turning point in what was destined to be a blowout anyhow, it went downhill from there.

I think what hurt most was just that this New England team is still so good, and this Kansas City team is still so bad. And I just can't deny that a lot of that is all the delightful St. Patty's luck that drops into the lap of a New England team, and all the wretched Curse of Odin's Revenge misfortune that never fails to afflict the Chiefs.

At the beginning of the game the announcers touted New England's boffo new tight end, some guy named Gronkowski I think -- I don't know because I don't pay any attention to any other team at any other time as much as I can help it. Please note that this was the first time I'd been introduced to this guy, never heard of him before.

But all I could think about was, how come they have him and we don't? How come they still have all kinds of great players leading the Patriots on to playoff appearance after playoff appearance after playoff appearance, and

We just don't?

This hurts because I always think about that game on November 27, 2005. Almost six years ago to the day. We played wonderfully and beat the Patriots, the reigning Super Bowl champs, 26-16. I actually thought -- yes, take a few moments to split some gutstrings laughing, I'll let you -- that this was the turning point. That the transition was ecstatically happening. I mean, that always happens, doesn't it? The poorer teams get the higher picks and the winning teams always have to fall back in the pack, right? That through years of painful awfulness we now earned the right to be in the upper echelon of contenders? Right? Right?

Well, after that game we won again to go 8-4, but then lost two crushing games to Dallas and New York, ended up 10-6, and failed to even make the playoffs. New England, meanwhile, went 4-1, got into the playoffs, and while they didn't get into the Super Bowl they still won a playoff game that year. Two years later they went undefeated while the Chiefs floundered at 4-12. In fact, here's the brutal reality since then, up to date. It is so frighteningly ugly you may want to avert your eyes.

New England's record since that Nov 27 2005 game, including playoffs: 81-26, a winning pct. of .757. They've won 3 of every 4 games they've played. And while they haven't won a Super Bowl in that time, they've still made the playoffs five times, and won five postseason games over that stretch.

Kansas City's record over that same period, including playoffs: 36-63, a winning pct. of .364. That's nearly a clip of losing 2 of every 3 games. Sorry, but that is repulsive. They've made the playoffs twice, and each time they were blown out in their first game.

Getting back to the Patriot's tight end Gronkowski -- this whole thing says a ton. This guy was a beast last night, scoring two touchdowns. I wonder, where did the Patriots draft him? I can't imagine for two seconds they got him high, because the Pats record has been so good, and as such they've had to have drafted low. If that's the case, then could they have drafted him after the 3rd pick in the '09 draft? After the Chiefs used the 3rd pick overall to select the now-completely-invisible Tyson Jackson? This just kills me, it just kills me. It may not have been Gronkowski that year, I just haven't any idea. But what other super-stud players out there ready to make the Chiefs look silly were drafted after Jackson?

Many will say, "Oh you just can't complain with hindsight, it just isn't fair." I respond to that with, Why can't I? Who says I can't? "Oh sure you know now, but there's no way you could know then."

But that's a lot of the point. We should be knowing then. And even so, I've been given to the consideration that the Chiefs have had the worst luck in just not being in the right place in the draft to get what we need. A team like the Patriots, they're in the right place all the time. It is luck, but it is also front office wisdom.

Do the Chiefs have that? I do think we should give Scott Pioli a chance, a guy who worked for a long time in that fine New England front office. But this is precisely why I pay no attention to anything outside of Chiefs games, because these thoughts just drive me insane. To wit: When he was with New England, was Pioli actually in the mix of successful player decision-making, or was it all really just Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, some other Patriot top guy? Or was Pioli just holding their towels and daydreaming about Dancing With the Stars while they were going over team-building strategy?

While I do work really hard to limit my hatred of other teams to the acceptably healthy disdain for the Raiders, I do let my jealousies of teams who continue to be successful at our expense eat me up. As it is, another of those teams is up next week, the Pittsburgh Steelers, supposedly to be played on Sunday night -- yet another primetime showcase for the Chiefs. I say supposedly because NBC could flex us right off that slot, I suppose that would be the merciful thing to do. But that decision would be a clear statement that yet again, the Chiefs are so bad they don't deserve to be in prime time. That hurts. And even if they keep them on the evening airwaves, it's only because they want to showcase the Steelers. ::Sigh::

But yeah, I don't blame them. Who could. It still hurts though.

Yes, our injuries have really clobbered us. But then, that's again just the awful, awful luck of the Chiefs.

BTW, I was at a college basketball game of a friend's son a week ago, and outside the arena in the hall there was a poster that elucidated the factual reality of ACL injuries. Turns out that among the general population they occur at a 60 in 100,000 clip . I did the math and found that this is the same as 3 in 5,000. The NFL has about 1,400 to 1,500 players out there playing on teams in a given year. So that's about one ACL every three years for the entire NFL. Even if you reasonably say that NFL players are more likely to suffer ACL's that the general population, even that doesn't detract from the fact that the Chiefs got hammered by the misfortune of having three of their top players taken out for the year because of it.

So then, if there are, oh, ten players on each team who are really pretty good, Pro-Bowl type players, then, lessee... And we know that it's about 3 in 5,000 chance that it'll happen to anyone anywhere anyhey... Annnnd that means that the average for getting an ACL for any of those ten players on any given team is, like, one every sixty years or so...  Annnd the Chiefs themselves have about ten reasonably decent players, among them Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry, and Tony Moeaki... So that means for the Chiefs, having your team ripped apart by ACL injuries to your top guys is 3 in 10 while for everyone else the average is 3 in 5,000...

Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch.

Last night one of the announcers said something very profound, and that is just that even with the injuries, these guys are still NFL players, highly paid and expected to perform. Problem: you just can't do that against a team that has all the luck and skill to keep a team going strong, while your team is floundering in misfortune and inability to cope with it.

That's the New England problem, and why even though we knew what was coming, it still hurt like hell.
_

Broncos at Chiefs - Week 10 - Record: 4-5

The agonizingly woeful ignominy of being anything related to the Chiefs -- player, fan, doesn't matter -- was highlighted in brilliant blazing colors across the sky by this wretchedly profound irony:

First, rookie Chiefs wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin made probably the most amazing catch of the century, when on a long pass he reached both arms around the defender, grabbed the ball behind the defender's back, and held on for the catch as he fell to the ground clutching the ball all the way. Big, big, big time play in a game that was still close and was in desperate need of a good Chiefs score to make it interesting.

Instead the play was called back, for even though the Broncos guy committed pass interference, Steve Breaston was called for illegal formation -- he wasn't off the line enough. Never mind that this call is never made in the NFL -- never ever never ever ever ever. And I know, in all the NFL games I've seen I'll watch right there on the screen receivers who should be a bit more off the line, right there on the line and they are never flagged for it. And here we are. Only the Chiefs.

Anyway, the penalties offset, and the play had to be done over again.

Only only only only only the Chiefs.

And that's not even the irony. Here's the thing that makes this so ironic.

The Broncos offense completed two passes.

Two passes.

Two passes the entire game. And one of them was pass that traveled about a yard and the receiver took it about 12 yards more.

It was the second pass that killed us, a 60-something yard TD bomb in the 4th quarter that made the score 17-7 Denver. Party over.

Two passes, party over.

Only the Chiefs.

What the Broncos did was run all over us, even after their two top backs were injured early and did not return.

Now, did you get that? Denver did not have their top two running backs, and they still ran all over us -- even using the option. Did you get that? Their offense ran the option about half the time, and were reasonably successful with it. Did you get THAT? An NFL team was able to run the option against an NFL defense. That only happens in a fantasy world.

Unless, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs defense is a fantasy defense, which I am beginning to believe that it is. As in, this team just does not have a real defense.

I've said this a hundred times before, and I really hope that ten years from now when we may actually be a playoff contender I just won't have to say it again, but here goes:

The reason we haven't had any sustained playoff action in the past several years, and we won't for the next several, is two reasons. Let's just share them again so we all know it, and perhaps Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli will know it and they'll do everything they can to avoid it. And amazingly, it has very little to do with Todd Haley!

Okay, okay, here're the two. No surprise because it's so obvious:

1. We have simply refused, in the worstest of all worst ways, to draft and develop a quarterback who'll be solid enough for years to give us the chance to truly compete in this league. Matt Cassel was awful again today, and yes, I'm joining the chorus of Chiefs fans who are starting to call for Tyler Palko to start and Ricky Stanzi to get snaps to see if he'll indeed be the next Tom Brady. Let's get going Chiefs management. Don't futz around anymore with this trying to pick off the shelf some QB from other team's reject pile. Yes yes yes we had fun with a fine people like Trent Green, but please -- this is just not the way to build a championship team. It isn't isn't isn't so stop it already.

2. The defensive linemen who we've selected in the highest rounds of draft after draft after draft have simply refused, in the worstest of all worst ways, to play like they should. Should we again go over the list of all the Junior Siavii's and Eric Downing's and Eddie Freeman's there are? Remember Ryan Sims, picked sixth overall (2002). Add to that Glenn Dorsey, fifth overall (2008), and Tyson Jackson, third overall (2009) (Third. Third. I'm going to cry right now...) That's the reason Denver's third-string backs ran all over us today, and we haven't the faintest of chances to do anything for the next few years -- there's no one there up front to tackle anybody!

Even more depressing is that, really, to give Denver credit, their O-line was outstanding, and is one of the youngest in the NFL. Great. So a division rival will now have one of the best O-lines in the league for years upon years to come. And our defense is, well....

Only any good in a fantasy world.

::Whimper::
_

Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 9 - Record: 4-4

Ahh, it is actually a good feeling to know that things are back to the way they should be. Isn't it?

The Chiefs defense: vanilla pudding. The opponent's offense: a chain saw.

The Chiefs offense: a spitwad. The opponent's defense: a reinforced concrete wall.

The fun times could only last so long. Last Monday night we beat a poorly coached, injury-depleted Chargers team and then only barely when we just played tougher than they did and we got an extraordinarily timely fumble recovery.

The three wins before that were close games against a very bad Minnesota team, a very very bad Indianapolis team, and an Oakland team who found themselves very abruptly without a quarterback or their star running back.

This game showed us what kind of team we really are.

But don't be sad! Be glad! These kind of games are the truth clarifying events that will hopefully get things to happen for some kind of playoff contention activity to happen around, oh, say 2015 -- if we're lucky.

Since it is the halfway point for us, let's review quickly the five keys to the season I shared before the first game, and see where the Chiefs are for each.

No. 1: Todd Haley has to be a big-time big-game head coach. Many think that his work at getting the Chiefs to 4-3 after the 0-3 start is remarkable. Nah, I just think they've played weak teams and they've gotten breaks. Don't get me wrong, I've loved seeing them win. I always do no matter what.

But I haven't changed my mind. Todd Haley needs to get fired. Today we played an 0-7 team with a back-up quarterback and we simply did not know what the heck to do on both sides of the ball. It wasn't just a matter of us not having the players. We didn't execute plays, we didn't tackle, we didn't cover receivers, we didn't hit our marks. We yet again had too many stupid stupid stupid penalties, and we just plain looked stupid out there. The snap that Dustin Colquitt did not put down for Ryan Succop to kick the field goal was just a graphic reflection of what this team looked like. And I'm sorry, but the "But they were tired after playing on Monday Night" excuse just does not hold water for a second.

It is Todd Haley's doing.

He may be a great rah-rah guy, but this team is still a train wreck. Just wait until we play New England. Pittsburgh. New York. Green Bay. In fact the only team we play without a winning record the rest of the way is Denver.

Chance it'll happen: 75%. The 25% chance it didn't happen is pretty evident now.

No. 2: Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson really need to start playing like the top draft picks they were. This is another huge disappointment. That these guys have not played like they should've up to now is just too telling. It does not take this long for guys who should be better to show they can really do it.

Dorsey is just too slow for the NFL game, and Jackson can't see the field with the vision a D-lineman needs to have at this level. Far, far too often Dorsey just can't get enough of a push to disrupt the opponent's passing game, and far, far too often Jackson lets a runner slip past him when he should be coming off his block to make the hit.

Chance it'll happen: 55%. No surprise that the 45% it wouldn't happen has materialized. This is one of the more crushing situations because these guys were drafted so, so high. Yet again more highly drafted Chiefs D-linemen just turning into busts.

No. 3: We must absorb the loss of Brian Waters on the O-line. This is probably the one area I'd actually give to the Chiefs. Jon Asamoah has actually done decently, and the fact that Jackie Battle has been a wonderful surprise in replacing Jamaal Charles has been testament to that fact. Our O-line has actually been okay at supporting the run, and today's poor sack day I think was more Matt Cassel just not throwing the ball than the failure of the line.

Chance it'll happen: 80%. I don't think we're better, just about as good. We could be much better, and maybe we would with Waters. But I still think we've done pretty well considering.

No. 4: Matt Cassel has got to show Hall-of-Fame characteristics as a signal-caller. Not. Waaay not. Today was a classic example. Sorry, but the "He just had a bad day" excuse doesn't cut it. He just has too many of these days. Not all the time, I agree. Sometimes he's really good, I know.

But we will not win anything with him in there.

Today he showed that he just doesn't have enough confidence in himself to fire the ball in the creases and seams where it just needs to be thrown. Contending-team quarterbacks regularly throw the ball into those places only they can throw, amazing everyone. Matt Cassel just does not do that much. He's a gamer, he's a leader, he's a competitor -- all that, awesome, he has Pro Bowl qualities in those areas.

Today was an unmitigated disaster of a day for Cassel, but it just revealed that we have got to get ready to put the ball into someone else's hands.

Will that be the next best quarterback after Andrew Luck who we can snatch up in the draft? Will that be Ricky Stanzi whom a good QB-developing coach not-Todd-Haley will turn into a Hall-of-Famer? It definitely must be one of those two options if we hope to be a true contender within the next ten years.

Chance it'll happen: 30%. Definitely the right call here. Very little chance that it would happen, and it didn't.

No. 5: Wide receivers must step it up, a lot. This is definitely one area of success, big-time. Mostly just because of the Chiefs pick-up of Steve Breaston. What a find. The guy has been a stud out there. One of the brighest areas of otherwise woeful Chiefsitude this year.

A shout-out can also be made for Jonathan Baldwin, who looks like a fantastic player, although he really showed his rookie-ness out there today. On one play Cassel, to his credit, threw a strike to Baldwin in the endzone, but he simply turned the wrong way. Once he gets on track, he will be a fantastic target for our new QB next year.

And Bowe. He was simply awesome again today.

Chances it'll happen: 65%. This is definitely a happenin.' Breaston is a vet, but could he be around for a few more years when we gel with Bowe and Baldwin? Funny, I didn't know this, but he's been around the same number of years as Bowe, five. Can both these guys be around for a No. 1 QB pick or developed-Ricky-Stanzi Super Bowl run in a few years?

Oh that'd be sweet.

For now, brutal reality.
_

Chargers at Chiefs - Week 8 - Record: 4-3

Awright! We got another Monday night game! We're earning some respect! Awright!!!

Not.

Please know that I was thrilled that we got a primetime affair. But I just happen to be cynical Missouri-style, which means my attitude carries with it a great deal of grit. We still don't get showcased nearly as much as the Packers or Steelers, Cowboys or Patriots. These teams get something like 57 primetime games a year.

"Oh but you're a small market team that hasn't won playoff stuff a lot..."

So what. I do know that we must showcase a fine team to get in a big show like MNF, so that's cool. I'm with you. But here's another thing that steams me. We do get our one Monday Night slot, yet the powers-that-be give it to us on...

Halloween.

Gimme a break and a half.

I'm frustrated because that's a night when I usually have serious family obligations. I do have small children. So yeah, because of travelling and events happening, I essentially was able to catch only two parts of the game.

The first was delightful to watch. Think it was around the end of the first quarter, start of the second. I caught our defense playing with a pretty decent measure of team speed. I mean contending-team-like team speed! Surprise! The line was really firing out after Philip Rivers! Our linebackers were really mixing things up! And our D-backfield was smothering receivers as they are splendidly prone to do! When we got the ball shortly thereafter, here were the plays I saw, in order:

1. Jackie Battle pounding forward for a couple.
2. Matt Cassel squirting out of the pocket and hustling close to a first down (and without doing that weinie slide thing).
3. Le'ron McClain catching a floater and hanging on even after getting illegally hammered by a San Diego defender.
4. Cassel holding on in the pocket then firing a deep strike to finally-out-there-playing well Jonathan Baldwin -- touchdown!

After participating in more family-oriented items, I returned to see that we were holding on to a 20-12 lead. Except that, aagh, sure enough Philip Rivers was there, yet again carving us up like Thanksgiving turkey (wait, that holiday is still down the way a bit).

But carving us up he was. Our D-linemen were breaking through but he was just zipping away from them. We must've had 57 D-backs in coverage and he still threaded the needle. Yeah, yeah, I had no hair left. They get the TD by an inch. They get the two-point conversion by an inch. I'm thinkin' yet again, they're going to break our hearts.

The despair turned deeper when we got nuthin', punted, and allowed Rivers to start carving away again. He got them all the way down to the KC 15 with mere seconds left -- enough time for one more play then the agonizing field goal.

One more play for good measure, which...

Rivers phumbled (the way a top mainstream news site wrote it) right into the Chiefs eager clutches.

OT, a Chargers three-and-out, a stout Chiefs drive, and a Succup FG made it a great Chiefs night. Except that ergh, we had to listen to it on the radio driving home, called by the pukiest sycophantic Chargers announcers. I was almost more glad we won to stick to those guys than just that we got the job done.

So we're now in first place because Todd Haley won't shave his beard. It had better do for the Chiefs what Brian Wilson's beard did for the San Francisco Giants last year, that's all I can say.
_

Chiefs at Raiders - Week 7 - Record: 3-3

Why is Todd Haley continuing to torment us all? Why why WHY?

I still really truly believe in the depths of my heart that this guy just flat-out cannot run a professional football team. And yet now he goes out there and really puts the screws to a decent Raiders team in our fourth road game in the first six of the season.

Granted the Raiders had a completely wretched quarterback situation. Their starter, Kyle Boller, came in to start after Jason Campbell was injured last week. He played abysmally. They had picked up traditionally studly QB Carson Palmer during the week, but he had no time to become familiar with the Raiders offense. He still came in half-way through and predictably was just as bad.

So yeah, the Chiefs got six interceptions on the day (yay!) but was it us, or was it their quarterback? I'd really like to think that our D-backs are as good as I've always said they were, but I don't know.

Why is Todd Haley doing this to us?

In fact, the radio guy today said that Scott Pioli was a nanosecond away from firing Todd Haley in the middle of the Colts game when we were down 24-7.

Grreat. Then we came back.

Then we go and win the thing outright.

Now Todd Haley is doing his "good coach" impersonation.

I'm going crazy, I really am.

We're already fully out of the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Some half-dozen teams it seems are 0-6 or something as bad. Now we're amazingly a scant single game behind first-place San Diego, who we play next Monday night at home.

So what's it going to be Todd: a world championship (or at least for now, a splendidly inspired run at one), a 3-13 final record so that we may still get a remote shot at Andrew Luck, or -- are we going to end up with the worst of the worstest scenarios of all?...

A painfully underwhelming 8-8 record, a 17th pick in the draft to get someone who just can't help us (namely someone not Andrew Luck), and more absence from any playoff contention?

We still commit too many stupid penalties -- offsides, too many men on the field, excessive celebrations -- ergh these bug... are you paying attention Todd Haley? And Matt Cassel -- ergh. One minute he's doing something utterly spectacular, the next he's throwing a pass like the one where he had an eternity to throw the ball, and he lofts this balloon up for any of the 57 Raiders players, coaches, or fans to swoop under it and pick it off -- needless to say, one did.

Yes, I am quite cynical. That's just me. I only write because I'm a Chiefs fan and I want to see them win the Super Bowl. I know they do too. We all do, I'm saying nothing revolutionary here, I know. And hey, any time they beat the Raiders it is a cause for celebration.

I'm celebrating, I really am. I'm thrilled that we destroyed them in their yard.

But Todd Haley, sorry...

He's still driving me crazy...
_

Chiefs at Colts - Week 5 - Record: 2-3

Yes, it's true. Todd Haley is driving me insane. Certifiably.

The guy should be fired, still, but he's now doing things that make it less and less likely that he'll be fired. Like:

Getting Matt Cassel and his wide receivers to work together to form a real passing offense. Haley's pick-up of Steve Breaston is now looking like an act of genius (aaagh!) because the guy has been such a stud for us. Yesterday both Bowe and Breaston had two TD catches apiece, and every time they've done their thing I've called them "beast," in the very positive sense quite often used these days. As I thought about it, it works on a different level, as in "B"-st, the letter "B" referring to the first letters of their names.

In fact yesterday Bowe had a catch in the endzone that'll be at the very top of the year's highlight reel, if it isn't already the catch of the year. He was running that patented out-pattern at the side of the endzone with Cassel tossing it up for him to grab. With the defender running into him (clear pass interference) he grappled for the ball behind the guy's back, juggled it a number of times, then snagged it as he fell to the turf.

Cassel himself showed yesterday his never-say-die approach to the game, bringing us back from a 17-0 and later 24-7 deficit. One play on our TD last drive exemplified his resolve. He ran out of the pocket, tucked the ball in, and didn't do the weinie QB slide -- instead he ducked his head and run forward for a couple more yards, getting hammered at the end of the play.

Our defense lit it up in the 2nd half as well, and this led my son to text me about something those close to what's going on with the Chiefs have started to point out. All that oppressive physical conditioning that Haley put the team through just before the season started is paying off now.

When we get to the second half, we are now dominating other teams that are tiring out. Come to think of it, yes, starting with the San Diego game, we've been playing very, very well in the 2nd half.

Now, can a 2nd half team be a contender? I still don't think so, not with this team. Remember, we still played a weak Colts team without Peyton Manning, and it was still very close.

And I still think Haley should go, except that he still did find a replacement for Jamaal Charles, for now anyway. Jackie Battle stepped in yesterday and played marvelously. And he is working out rearranging a defense that was designed around Eric Berry, and at least in the last three games it has played relatively decently.

Aaaagh! Todd Haley is making me crazy, that's all.
_

Vikings at Chiefs - Week 4 - Record: 1-3

Okay, so let me get this straight. For Matt Cassel to have a fire lit under his rear end and play well, we need him to get into a sideline shouting match with Todd Haley after one of Haley's plays typically fails? Hey, I'm all in favor of the Bill Parcells style of kickin' player-ass to get them going, but I'm sorry.

I really think Haley has about three Super Bowl victories to go before he is in Parcells' class.

What got it done for the Chiefs today was a blending of all the things that got them into the playoffs last year.

They were, in no particular order:

- Cassel playing like the take-no-prisoners QB that he can be.

- Bowe having one of his patented phenomenal days, with his one beautifully wonderfully excellently touchdown play standing out (and it was indeed vintage Bowe because he bobbled the catch terribly before doing his geniusness on the field).

- Our defensive backs so in the face of the Vikings receivers that Flowers, Carr et al didn't have to take off their jerseys at the end of the game, they were already in the Vikings receivers mouths.

- Tamba Hali getting two clutch sacks and being all over Donovan McNabb like maggots on meat.

- Solid special teams play that included a long run-back on a punt from Gilbert Arenas, a booming 60+ punt from Dustin Colquitt, and five big-time field goals from Ryan Succup including two from 50 yards out.

What we also got were two bonuses that (gulp!) may give the Chiefs the ever-so slightest chance of being slightly competitive this year. (Oh I have no illusions about the slightest of slightosital nature of our chances -- they are still exceedingly slight...)

1. The fine play of another wide receiver. Steve Breaston has proven that he is not another Mark Bradley or Chris Chambers. He has been all over the field, making great plays (last week's catch against San Diego had to have been at the top of the highlight reel all week), and just being a very solid go-to guy when we need him.

2. Stalwart play from our defensive front. Can you believe it? I actually liked what I saw from Tyson Jackson today. And that was with Wallace Gilberry in there still doing better than Jackson. Our overall defensive scheme held super-back Adrian Peterson under 100 yards on the day, and that is really saying something.

Will I still give Todd Haley a break? Nah. Any team can beat any other team on any given Sunday. Today we got good performances from all our guys, at home, in a close contest, against a less-than-mediocre Minnesota team.

So the crusade still moves forward. We should still replace Haley with Jim Zorn (oh my -- don't get me wrong -- just for the rest of the season!) and find someone who'll

Get the job done every single week.
_

Chiefs at Chargers - Week 3 - Record: 0-3

So can we fire Todd Haley now???

Do not let the close 20-17 score fool you. This was a disaster from start to finish, only made close because San Diego had their own injury problems and Norv Turner is still their head coach lousing things up on their side. The Chargers should've won this game 40-10, really. This is a good team that is woefully coached, and oh do we know about that.

Probably the most telling evidence today was the fact that we had to burn all three of our timeouts expressly because we simply couldn't get the right personnel on the field for the right plays, situations that are standard procedure for any team registered to play in the NFL.

We actually had a chance to actually pull this one out (I know! It would've been a miracle!) With a minute left, Haley called a screen pass that was thrown right into the hands of a defender. Screen passes are wonderful plays, especially when you've got a guy like Dexter McCluster, but they must be executed with the greatest precision. The one we tried on that last offensive play fell apart -- simply because Todd Haley cannot get this team to execute as it should.

Sure there are a lot of things that enter into the mix of a loss like this one. Our offensive line is not playing as well as I'd hoped. We're missing key scoring chances (Succup missed his third FG in as many games). We can't get fumbles to fall into our defenders hands. We can't get our teams to mesh at the same times (In the first half our offense stank but our defense played okay. In the second half our offense took off but our defense went soft... Sigh.)

Yes, our injury situation is awful, but it is made worse by the fact that it'll most likely be continued to keep being used as an excuse to keep Todd Haley around. Come on, every other play is a play that just goes haywire because the players look like they don't know what they're supposed to be doing out there.

But hey. At least we're still on track to get some Luck, yes, Luck in caps, and every Chiefs fan across the vast arrays multiuniverses knows what that means.
_

Chiefs at Lions - Week 2 - Record: 0-2

Okay, this isn't the "Fire Todd Haley" blog, but it certainly could be. No, it is simply "The Chiefs Game Today," and it is indeed about the Chiefs, and not the coach.

But the "Fire Todd Haley" theme will indeed be running through the course of this blog, this year, this season, and however many more miserable units of time we'll have to endure having Haley as coach until the day he isn't our coach any more.

Yes, today we faced what may indeed be a very good Lions team. They did look very good today, however awful the Chiefs looked. And I take nothing away from the Lions -- they themselves have been so bad for so long that I do wish them well. Thing is, if they play like this regularly, they should win a playoff game this year, leaving only the Bengals as the one NFL team that would have a longer drought without a playoff win than the Chiefs. (Unless, of course, the Bengals win a playoff game too, then... Well, we know the Chiefs won't be winning any playoff games this year.)

Here's the deal for the rest of the year. It is easy, it is simple, it is quite uncomplicated.

We need three things to be a Super Bowl contending team.

Just three. That's all. I don't ask for much. We do have a lot of things in place that are good. Again, I do like our team's owner, I do like our team's general manager, I like a lot about this team. I like a lot of the players. I could list a bunch of things I like about the Chiefs.

But these three things are in such awful, wretched, pathetic, putrid, and any-other-such-adjective that they really are the focus of what needs to happen for the Chiefs for however long it takes for them to happen.

The three things we need are:

- A head coach.

- A quarterback.

- Some luck.

I've already written a ton about a lot of this, but here's the latest:

A head coach. Is there still anyone with a nanoliter of brain cell matter who thinks Haley needs to stay leading this team for one more nanosecond? If so, raise your hand. I thought so.

Come on people, there is no way in the world an NFL team can do what this one has done over the past two regular season games, over the past four altogether including the final game last year and the playoff game, and still hang around. It just doesn't happen.

No no no no NO it doesn't have to do with turnovers, and it doesn't have to do with lack of talent. Turnovers happen but that's just the game. Some teams have better talent than others, but not by this much of a margin.

No, sorry.

This is coaching.

Haley's inadequacy was evident today after the opening coin toss. When you have a team like this one, who uses the run best with the score as close as possible, you want the ball with the score 0-0 at the beginning of the game. Well, the Chiefs won the toss, then deferred to receive the ball at the start of the second half. Yes, I know in the grand scheme of the game it didn't mean anything! The point is that this is the NFL where the talent is not so disparate and there is always the possibility any team can beat any other team on any Sunday!

What happened was Detroit stormed down the field, scored a touchdown, and instantly we were on our heels. And it was worse when we got the kickoff at the beginning of the second half, down then 20-3. So what was the point?

Listen. Let me make this perfectly clear. I am one of those guys who always always wants to hang on to a coach we already have for far too long! I was one of the last guys to support Herm Edwards! I was even with him to the very end, on his side, championing him to stay! I liked John Mackovic! For cryin' out loud I even liked Frank Gansz! (Okay, okay, I admit, not for that long.) I only disliked Marty Schottenheimer after he got fired and that was because I was just so mad at him for being such a choke in the playoffs!

This is one instance, however, when it is categorical. Todd Haley simply cannot stay. He should be fired, and right now. No "Let's give him a bit more time." No "He's just had some rough luck." No "It was the lockout's fault." Or any other excuse.

Take care of business now and get us a coach, even if interim, so we can have a good solid coach.

A quarterback. Today was another nail in the coffin of Matt Cassel, and another point for the case to get the best QB in the draft next year for the long-term future.

The nail was Cassel's complete inability to move the ball through the air. Sure Bowe dropped a couple of passes, but only a few times did he get decent separation. The other receivers were worthless, yet again, and it wasn't entirely their fault. And some of the six turnovers today were interceptions in which Cassel just threw very poor passes.

The point earned for my incessently strident case for a QB was in seeing what first-overall-pick-in-the-draft Matthew Stafford could do for the Lions. What is the main reason the Lions are going to compete this year? Everyone knows the answer:

They have a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

You could see it all over Stafford today. He fired the ball right where it needed to be, he knew what was going on, he brimmed with confidence. He still looked a little raw, but I'd sure rather be the team to have a Matthew Stafford getting all ready to make us a true contender right now. Instead we've got a seventh round pick who in college was a career backup throwing a grand total of 24 passes, and absolutely no one even remotely in the mix getting groomed to take this team farther than one playoff game.

Some luck. We are so due for this. We are so due for luck it isn't even funny.

Instead we keep getting the worst worst worst luck you can possibly get.

How's this for our luck? In fact, this will say it all, really.

Here's a simple question for you: How many teams have any players who suffer season-ending anterior cruciate ligament damage ever? I mean of all 144 North American team professional sports teams (football, baseball, basketball, hockey), of all the thousands of players in that mix who play hard and stress their knees day in a day out, how many teams mind-you have a history of having even a single player endure a critically damaging ACL injury?

30 of those teams? Maybe 40 as the most conservative guess? And how many players? Most of them just one. For their entire histories. If any single team has two or three in their entire existence, that's a lot.

Well guess what, completely, thoroughly, and abjectly luckless Chiefs fans.

We've already had two, and may even have a third in three weeks.

That, friends, is not only phenomenally incredible, but that it has happened to three of our very best players makes the odds for this kind of thing to happen simply astrostratogalacticable.

Tony Moeaki against Green Bay: ACL tear and out for the season. Eric Berry against Buffalo: ACL tear and out for the season. Jamaal Charles today against the Lions: it is inconclusive as of this writing, but if you watched it you have to admit it really looked like an ACL tear before he was carted off the field and out of the rest of the game.

This season is making that train wreck look like playtime in the sandbox.

Too much. Absolutely too much. Enough writing for now. This just too much.

Thank goodness I have a whole week to find even more gruesome adjectives that will describe next week's affair with San Diego. I really don't know if I'll find them. I'm already scared that I won't be able to find them for Pittsburgh, and New England -- several weeks from now!

But hey, maybe Clark and Scott will do the right thing with their head coaching situation before then, and there will be just one little thing this year that'll make me a nanoliter less depressed.
_

Bills at Chiefs - Week 1 - Record: 0-1

Okay, let's just get this out of the way. No need to pull any punches, every Chiefs fan is thinking it, let's just be honest. Let's just get this thing over with and be done with.

It's time to fire Todd Haley.

What? After the first game of the season? Are you kidding me?

Now, who on earth is actually saying those words I just typed in underline right there? Maybe Clark Hunt, and maybe Scott Pioli, and maybe even Todd Haley's mom. But I really don't think anyone else is thinking those words. I really don't.

Let's look at the facts. And this is from someone who pays absolutely zero attention to anything else except the game. I don't read or hear any remarks from any columnist or announcer anywhere anyplace.

I'm just looking at the facts as they are out there on the bare naked field of play.

I have to start with the complete ineptitude of the entire coaching program, revealed in bright bold colors yesterday. This is 100% Todd Haley's responsibility. I can accept that maybe our guys were really, really affected by the lockout. What I can't accept is the catastrophe that was our attempt to overcome it. There is no reason in the world our guys should not have been better prepared for this one. Our exhibition efforts were abysmal and those who say the preseason means nothing only needs to look at the train wreck that is this team. How many of you could see this coming, watching us waddle around in the four "meaningless" games before the season opened?

What was that? Everyone? Everyone and his uncle could see this coming? What a surprise! (Bitter sarcasm purely intended.)

The fact that the offensive line coach was calling in the plays from the booth is something that just appalled me. The complete failure of Haley to get down precisely what he wants to do offensively through the couple of years he's been at the helm is inexusable. The fact that people like Charlie Weis have come and gone means we absolutely cannot get any coherence on offense. Did you see the train wreck out there on the field yesterday? (Whupp, I already used that metaphor, "train wreck," sorry -- 'cept that it's a pretty dang good one for this team so I may actually use it a few more times. Get ready.)

I guess my question is, don't these guys really want to coach for Haley? Chan Gailey, the guy coaching on the other side for the Bills, was unceremoniously fired by Haley and a lot was said about that. Why? Was there a lot more to it than just professional disagreement?

I can't really say, I'll give the guy that, there may be things about Haley that are very good and nice and positive. But when I look at Haley on the sidelines he just looks angry all the time, like he's going to have a meltdown if his idea or his play or his thing just doesn't work right -- that it is all about him. His whole demeanor just smacks of "this is all about me, so everybody make me look good."

Some may say this is just one game. But the fact (oh those facts) is that this is the third straight home game in which the Chiefs have been utterly, utterly blasted -- again, at home. Not just beaten but blasted. I felt awful for all the fans there, packed house at Arrowhead, ready to watch an at-least watchable game. The stadium was empty by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

This season is over, especially since we lost Eric Berry to an ACL injury. That is just a killer. The one guy who we can really put genuine hope in, the next Ronnie-Lott-Troy-Polamalu guy -- a real defensive playmaker -- gone. And gone after the very first scrimmage play of the game. Just unreal.

That makes it now four straight years of first picks in the draft who aren't going to have any real impact at all. The four? This year (Jonathan Baldwin who got injured in a fight in the locker room -- ahem, did you know your players were doing that Todd Haley?), last year (Berry), and the two previous years (Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey -- did you see our run defense yesterday? -- it'd be funny if I weren't so upset about my pathetic team right now.)

Um, sorry, but I'm just not going to go over all the systemic failures in yesterday's game. The loss of Eric Berry alone doesn't explain this train wreck (okay, I won't use it again...)

I'm just going to say this.

Clark. Clark Hunt, listen up.

Find a coach who really, actually, truly knows what he's doing. I happened to catch a bit of the 49ers game yesterday, the one that featured a Niners team whose management fired do-nothing coach Mike Singletary and went out and paid money to get do-something coach Jim Harbaugh. The very predictable result? They handled a good Seahawks team simply because they'd

Been coached.

Even if you can't get that guy right now, still: jettison Haley, get a decent interim guy to manage the team for right now, and be looking for the next studly sideline general. Who cares if we suck this year; in fact our only hope is to suck enough to get a high enough draft pick to select the top QB in the draft next year.

Come on you guys, Clark, Scott, any other major Chiefs personnel, please... have you no humanity. You have millions of fans who every week deck themselves in red and gold and all other Chiefs accoutrements no matter how silly. They adore your team, Clark.

Please, we all beg you, let's make the firmest of all firm commitments right now. Stop pissing away year after year after year of contention because we absolutely refuse to get a highly drafted quarterback and nurture him. Let's get a coach who can do what no other Chiefs coach in all of our history has been able to do:

Skillfully develop that guy.

Don't believe me? Look at the Indianapolis Colts. For every single year they have had Peyton Manning they have been on the lips of everyone who speaks of the top echelon teams in the NFL. Every single year. Yesterday was the first game in eons he didn't play and look. The Colts were right back to mediocre.

Now this blog post isn't about Matt Cassel. I like him, I really do.

But he will not get us to the promised land.

And he won't get us there especially when Todd Haley is our coach.

For the Chiefs to be a Super Bowl contending team, it is categorical. It is imperative. It is unequivocal. It is everything that is true factual actual and any other superlatively descriptive word that implies factitude:

We need a quarterback that will be in the Hall of Fame, and we need a coach that'll get him there.

It is that simple.

Sure these things don't just drop from the sky. It is very hard work and requires a ton of luck (which the Chiefs are soooo due to get in huge massive slabs). Sure we need great forbearance and patience from Clark, Scott, and all Chiefs fans.

But it has to start right now.

Again, who on this planet who even remotely have any affinity for the Chiefs isn't saying in no uncertain terms, "Fire Todd Haley now"?

Okay, so yeah, let's get to it...

Fire Todd Haley now!
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Chiefs Preview 2011

Last night I caught much of the exhibition affair with the Packers, yes, that's the one, the one with all the fumbles and dropped passes eventuating in a one-point loss. Yes, a loss even though most of our starters were out there for the entirety. This does not bode well, as exhibition play is always about getting all your rookies and free agents a shot at showing what they can do. We finished it 0-4, which I'm pretty sure is what it was last year.

After the game we watched the last part of the horror film The Ring, about a very creepy zombie girl who comes out of the television and frightens the viewer so thoroughly that it causes not only death but gruesome physical disfigurement. Funny, when I turned off my computer shortly thereafter the giant "KC" arrowhead on my desktop went a very spooky shade of black and gray just before the screen went blank. That never happens.

Of course, I could only think.

Are this year's Kansas City Chiefs going to come out of my television set and scare the bejeebers out of us this year?

I do have some serious concerns about these guys, and I'll share them as I round up the five keys to this season. For each and every one, I'll put down a percentage possibility that I think the team will address them and play well. That is, if it says "70%" that means I think they've got a 70% chance to make the good thing happen and do well. Really, if they do all of them, we're going to the Super Bowl. If they don't, then it's just another zombie year.

Those keys to 2011 in order of importance:

No. 1: Todd Haley has to be a big-time big-game head coach. I really think he has the potential to be a fine head coach, but when I watch him I just sense he is too concerned about how he's doing. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I just get that sense. He's got to jettison all that worry and just have confidence in what he's doing.

It all starts in the front office, and I really like what Clark Hunt is doing in his dedication to the team, and I think Scott Pioli has made some great personnel moves to really start building this team. The key question is will Todd Haley have learned enough in his couple of years already at the helm to really start being a solid, winning head coach?

Chance it'll happen: 75%. Not too bad, because I do think the guy has the smarts and potential. Whether he allows it to flourish without being too self-absorbed is the key here.

No. 2: Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson really need to start playing like the top draft picks they were. It is axiomatic that games are won at the line of scrimmage, and these guys are really going to have to show they have All-Pro skill if we are going to have a chance. They actually do pretty decently with the pass rush -- with a lot of help from Tamba Hali -- but they absolutely must step it up defending the run.

We've been waiting a long time for them to come around. This year is the make-or-break year.

Chance it'll happen: 55%. Not too high, just because if they were something, we'd have seen it by now. I'm sorry -- I just haven't seen it. I just fear Jackson is going to be one of Pioli's major busts. And I have to add that these guys should be better simply because the Chiefs have a very good defensive backfield to help them. Even with that, will they be better? Ehh. Gotta show us there in the Show Me State.

No. 3: We must absorb the loss of Brian Waters on the O-line. This dude was studly, but his discontent eventually led him out when he got the chance. They're sticking somewhat heralded Jon Asamoah in that space and we'll see if he can open up space for our fine runners.

I really believe the key to the Chiefs offensive success this year is Dexter McCluster. This guy is phenomenal, and Todd Haley has shown his confidence in him. The question is, how much will teams now key on that patented shallow-flat route McCluster is so good at running?

Chance it'll happen: 80%. Little bit more confidence in this area, simply because I'm counting on Jamaal Charles being as good as he was last year.

No. 4: Matt Cassel has got to show Hall-of-Fame characteristics as a signal-caller. Oh yeah, how high can one's expectations get? I know, I know. But as I've documented thoroughly in this blog, only HOF QB's get you to the promised land. Is Cassel good? Yeah. Is he great? Nah. Can he be great? I dunno.

Again, I like the guy. He's a leader, a winner, and take-no-prisoners guy. For cryin' out loud he's an All-Pro QB. I know, I know. But I have to admit I'm not sold on the guy and he's just got to step it up for us. A tall order? Yeah.

Chance it'll happen: 30%. Now that's the chance he'll actually turn into a Hall-of-Fame QB. If he's close, maybe, just maybe he can still get us to the promised land.

No. 5: Wide receivers must step it up, a lot. How Cassel does depends a great deal on this critical aspect of our offense, something that was dreadful last year. Sure we have Dwayne Bowe, who is extraordinary. But the rest of the WR corps have been downright abysmal. We picked up vets Steve Breaston and Jerheme Urban. Are these guys really going to be the answer to helping Bowe, or are they going to end up like major busts Mark Bradley and Chris Chambers?

Chances it'll happen: 65%. Who's to say it couldn't happen, but I just keep thinking of Bradley and Chambers. Rookie Jonathan Baldwin is highly touted, but it'll take time for him to develop.

Those are the five keys in my mind. Again, if the Chiefs can make it happen in these areas, we're at least AFC West champs -- and hey, maybe we'll win a playoff game! Yay! If not, Chiefs fans will be feeling a lot like the guy who spent too much time watching the ugly zombie come out of the television.
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Final Note - The NFL's Revenge Is Still In Healthy Seething Mode

In case you didn't notice, for a third straight year and fifth of the last six, no Old-AFL team is playing in the Super Bowl.

I did write at length about this last year, but it still blows me away that those Old-AFL teams (which will henceforth just be known as the AFL) are still sucking big-time when it comes to anything Super Bowlish. Hey, they can't even get there. Just so you know what those teams are, to refresh: Kansas City, Tennessee, Buffalo, Oakland, New York, New England, Denver, San Diego, Miami, and Cincinnati.

When you look at these teams, particularly as a big fan of that whole AFL thing, you can't help but think of them with a great deal of pride. How they rose from their humble 1960's beginnings, how the "Foolish Club" managed to wiggle their way into the vaunted NFL with the merger of 1970, how they brought so many cool innovations into what is the NFL today.

But if you remember, the "Old-NFL" really didn't take too kindly to the smart-ass Jets beating the Colts in 68. And they really really didn't like the Chiefs doing it to the Vikings the very next year when they blabbed all over the place that the Jets win was the flukiest of flukes. It took the Chiefs to show that the AFL was for real.

Thing is, it was almost as if the Chiefs blew it by rubbing the NFL's face in it.

Here's one more evidence I've assembled that shows just how inept the AFL teams have been on-the-whole since that Chiefs Super Bowl win. Here's the question, think about this: Since the merger, exactly how many AFL teams have won titles in two different time periods with two wholly different teams?

Just in case you don't want to think that hard, I can give you the answer.

Zero.

Here's the brutal truth.

The Raiders came the closest. They won in 76, then again in 80 and 83. You could almost say they half-way did it, but there were guys from the 76 team on the 80 team and guys from the 80 team on the 83 team. The 76 guys were much more scarce on the 80 team because that team was more of that earlier 70's fine Raiders team eventually getting their long-sought-after title, but the 83 team had a few more 80 guys on it, and both were quarterbacked and coached by the same guy both years (Jim Plunkett and Tom Flores, respectively).

Other than that, absolutely nada. There have been only three other AFL teams to even win a Super Bowl since 1970. Miami won in 72 and 73, but only those two years. Denver won in 97 and 98, but only then. And New England won in 01, 03, and 04, and only then. Since 1970 KC, Ten, Buf, NY, SD, and Cin all have big fat Super Bowl oh-fers.

Now let's look at the Old-NFL teams in this regard.

Start with Pittsburgh, who won in the 70's (74, 75, 78, 79) AND the aughts (05, 08). Again, two totally different eras with two totally completely different teams and everything.

Then there's Dallas, who won in the 70's (71, 77) and then in the 90's (92, 93, 95).

Then there're the New York Giants, who won in the 80's (86, 90) and the aughts (07).

Then there's Indianapolis, who won in 70 when in Baltimore, then again in 06.

Then there's San Francisco, who could be argued to have been so good for so long that it was one good solid team effort from 81 to 94. Even though the organization that sustained that excellence was generally consistently stable throughout, you can't deny that the 81 team was completely and totally different from the 94 team.

Then there's Washington, who in some ways was kind of  like the Raiders situation in that the Super Bowls were all relatively close together. That is, the "different era" qualification wasn't as clear-cut as the other NFLers. After all they were all coached by Joe Gibbs. But the 82 team was truly a completely different team than the 91 team as far as on-field personnel. The time differential from first to last for the Raiders: eight years. That for the Redskins: ten.

Then there's Green Bay, who may not count if we're just talking about Super Bowls since the merger. Their first Super Bowl wins were before it, in 66 and 67. They won it again in 96. But they could very well make this academic if they win this Sunday, which would make them the first team to win Super Bowls in three completely different eras.

So really, for all intents and purposes, the history of Super Bowlosity has been very ugly for the AFLers. AFL teams with championship greatness in at least two wholly different eras: zero. NFL teams with that kind of greatness: seven. Overall tally since that 1970 merger -- NFL: 31. AFL: 10. Oh, and that 31st hasn't even happened yet, but will this Sunday, Green Bay or Pittsburgh.

I've spoken of Odin's revenge as clobbering the Chiefs, but it can't be denied it has extended to the entire AFL. It is indeed just as much the NFL's revenge, still resplendent in all its rage.

And since this enterprise is only about the Chiefs and the Chiefs doing great Super Bowl kinds of things, I think it is wholly incumbent on the Chiefs to make up for it. So I must add a few notes about what the Chiefs must do to break the spell, to vanquish the curse that has befallen the entire endeavor that Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt worked so hard to bring about.

I usually finish up the season with a note to the current Chiefs general manager, and this is no different. Thing is, I've pretty much already said what needs to be said last week. This is just an elaboration of that one thing.

I went ahead and looked at other team's quarterback situations as far as their success in drafting and developing (D&D) that one key guy. I made an initial attempt to go through the draft histories of every team in the NFL, but that proved to be too daunting. Sure I'd have liked to have seen what the success rate of other teams is like, but I know there'd be those teams with great success like Peyton Manning for Indianapolis, and the busts like Tim Couch for Cleveland the very next year. Every team has their booms and busts in this area, I get that.

I just want the Chiefs to be among the most successful ones, and it is clear they've been among the lamest. Once again, the key is that the Chiefs never, not a single time in their fifty year history have ever drafted and developed a quarterback who's been worth a damn.

So what I did do is look at each team in our division. I noted only the QB's drafted in the top seven for every year since the time of the merger.

If you'll allow me, by team:

Denver: They didn't pick John Elway in the draft, but in 83 Elway announced he would not play for Indianapolis, so the Broncos traded for him right away and it was as if he'd been drafted by them. He went on to have a great career, winning them two Super Bowls. Other than that, the Broncos did draft Jay Cutler with the 11th overall pick in 06, and he led the Bears this year to the NFC title game. They had a high-pick bust in Tommy Maddux in 92 (25th overall), but they got so much mileage out of Elway that it didn't much matter. So far, Denver's D&D QB situation outclasses KC's by miles.

Oakland: One of the only things that makes KC's dreadful D&D QB situation barely tolerable is that Oakland's has been just as wretched. Think Marc Wilson (15th overall in 80), Todd Marinovich (24th overall in 91), and JaMarcus Russell (1st overall in 07). I can't say I'm not unpleased about all this, as every warm-blooded Chiefs fan certainly can't. But the fact is Oakland still had great playoff and even Super Bowl success with the guys they picked up from elsewhere, much like KC has tried to do its entire existence. They got fantastic play from Jim Plunkett in the early 80's and Rich Gannon in the early 2000's. And it must be said that Ken Stabler was drafted and he did do wonderful things for the Raiders through the early 70's (including that 76 Super Bowl). That clearly gives the D&D QB situation edge to Oakland over KC.

San Diego: Funny that the Chargers are renowned for one of the greatest QB draft busts of all time, Ryan Leaf in 98, but in a twist San Diego has actually made some of the best QB draft picks of any NFL team. They got marvelous work from Dan Fouts (3rd round, 64th overall in 73). Ironically for the Chiefs they picked Trent Green in 93 in the 8th round at 222 overall. Drew Brees, a guy who got the Chargers into the playoffs, led the Saints the 09 Super Bowl title, and is considered one of the best in the game now, was plucked in 01 in the 2nd round, 32 overall. And the Chargers were somehow blessed to get the first pick in 04 which they used to get Eli Manning, but this would only get even better for the Chargers because they traded Manning for Philip Rivers and other fine players who have helped the Chargers dominate the AFC West though the 2000's. Rivers himself has become one of the best QB's in the NFL. So the D&D QB edge here? SD by light years over the Chiefs.

And now for the Chiefs. Come on, be brave now.

The only even remotely bright spot was Mike Livingston, drafted way back in 68 (just a few picks before Ken Stabler, by the way) but a guy who never emerged as a true, solid D&D guy. The catch is that no Chiefs fan can dismiss the fact that when Len Dawson went down in the middle of our Super Bowl season, Livingston held his own and carried the load, indeed quite admirably so. For that we are eternally grateful to the only guy who was ever purely Chiefs-drafted and did anything, even if it was for that one, glorious moment.

Other than that, it gets extraordinarily ugly.

We had Len Dawson go for so long and Livingston play for so long with a weak Chiefs team in the 70's that our next meaningful QB pick was all the way out in 1979. Steve Fuller was taken 23rd overall that year, and to say he was a bust is an understatement. He was very highly touted out of Clemson, and to be honest I remember two things about Fuller. One was that when the 49er scouts were checking him out they actually liked better the guy he was throwing to, Dwight Clark. The other was that in making one last effort at being a fine QB with Chicago, he was overwhelmed in the 84 NFC title game against those same 49ers. Oh well.

Bill Kenney came along and did well, but we still knew we needed someone really good to take the reins. Welcome to one of the greatest QB busts of all time, considering the character of that draft. The famous 1983 class of drafted QB's included the great John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino, as well as the very good Ken O'Brien and Tony Eason. But selected as the second of that bunch (yes, way before Kelly and Marino) was Todd Blackledge. Looking at the guy you'd have thought this was a no-brainer, the guy looked like a truly studly quarterback. But sadly, this is a team victimized by Odin's Revenge. Turned out he simply could not read NFL defenses and no amount of grand eloquent coaching could change that.

In 89 and 92 we picked up notorious forgettables Mike Elkins and Matt Blundin, respectively. Notorious because they were so highly selected (32 and 40 overall, respectively). Forgettable because, um, who are these guys again? I just remember watching those drafts and each time thinking in the depths of my horrifically scarred heart that this guy was going to be that guy, that one D&D guy who's going to be the first for the Chiefs, the first to actually make things happen out there on a regular basis. Didn't happen -- in the worst way, and I really forget why. I don't think either of them played more than a handful of games at all, ever, for anyone.

We grasped a bit for that guy down in the draft a bit with Steve Stenstrom in 95 and Pat Barnes in 97 (interestingly from Stanford and Cal respectively), but they didn't cut it. A lot because you just can't get Super Bowl quality play from a 4th round pick unless it is some spectacular Joe Montana-like miracle selection. But a lot because, you know, Odin, all that, you know...

In the late 90's, early 00's, Chiefs management seemed to think Elvis Grbac or Trent Green would be playing forever, and they didn't draft a QB again until 06, and they got -- yes the flunkie parade goes on -- Brodie Croyle. Yes, I thought the very same thing then, also... This'll be the guy. He'll get us there. He'll be the first one. Yay. As it is Croyle has started ten games since that time (that is is only ten is rotten enough) and his record is a -- I'm really trying to think of an adjective that is worse than shameful, but I can't think of it right now, I guess I don't need to though, because the record says enough -- 0-10.

Now, here's the thing. Scott Pioli and Todd Haley, here's the thing. Chiefs fans around the universe are talking to you.

That you haven't drafted and started developing a QB since the wayward Croyle attempt in 06 is bad enough. That you had to fiddle around with someone like Tyler Thigpen for so long is really awful. That you think Matt Cassel is the answer is not as bad because the guy is a gamer, plays decently, and had a fine year at least before the Raiders and Ravens games.

But it is reprehensibly inexcusable if you don't get your asses into the draft right now and get the next guy who'll take us to the promised land.

Everyone in the division and most everyone in the entire league has embarrassed us with their ability to draft and develop a good quarterback at least every once in a while.

Right now the Steelers are in the promised land for the third time with a guy at the helm who was the 11th pick overall a few years ago. It isn't some castoff or traded-for guy who'd already spent most of his professional wad with another team. Right now the Packers are in the promised land for what will probably be the first of several times with a guy who was the 24th pick overall a few years ago, a guy who is arguably the single instrumental reason they are there. It wasn't some veteran superstud who's wiping up the last vestiges of a great career -- remember how everyone hated the Packers for jettisoning Brett Favre so unceremoniously? What are those fans thinking now?

Remember how the Chiefs got great, proud play from Joe Montana at the very tail end of his career? For that I am indeed very grateful -- the dude got us to the AFC title game in 93. But that was it.

So in conclusion to this mostly fine 2010 year for the Chiefs, here's the real deal. The real deal if we actually want to be truly promised land-bound.

Mr. Pioli, get that guy you need. Get the one you know is a pro guy, a pro-game guy, a clutch player who gets the job done deep in the playoffs, and get him high. We've got, what, the 24th overall pick or something like that this year? Again Aaron Rodgers was a 24th pick. Drew Brees was 32nd. Dan Fouts was 64th for cryin' out loud.

And Mr. Haley, brush up on your quarterback coaching skills. Come on, this is why we got you -- you got the Cardinals into the Super Bowl three years ago, you are an offensive guy -- get going channeling Bill Walsh big-time because you're going to be developing him. Really Mr. Haley, this is your moment of glory, this is it. If you can't develop whoever Mr. Pioli gets you're worth little because the promised land is all we're after, and you ain't getting there without this guy.

We ain't breaking the curse unless we finally, finally get the best D&D QB guy there is for the next ten years. It is that simple.

And then, and then for the Chiefs, for all of the faithful AFLers, for the legacy of Lamar Hunt who came up with the "Super Bowl," we can avenge ourselves and restore the AFL's rightful place in pro football.

Hey, and maybe, just maybe the Chiefs will soon be the first AFL team to get that second-era Super Bowl.

Get that guy.
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(Just a quick note about "the merger" for those who aren't quite clear on the concept. The American Football League lasted from 1960 to 1969, and throughout the decade it increased in popularity and gained more stature. The National Football League worked out an arrangement beginning with the 1970 season in which the AFL would join the NFL and become the American Football Conference -- with the new National Football Conference comprising most of the NFL's teams. To even out the teams [in 1969 there were 16 NFL teams to the 10 AFL teams], Pittsburgh, Baltimore [later Indianapolis], and Cleveland [later the Baltimore Ravens] offered to become AFC teams. The entire enterprise would be under the NFL heading.)
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