Chiefs Preview -- First Broncos Game of the Season, Part II

I won't be able to pound out a post-Chiefs Game Today blog post tonight after a relatively late game. I've got work very early tomorrow, so much of what I would say then I'm going to say now. Really, I think as Chiefs fans we all know what this game means.

If we lose, we could probably guess why right now. If we win, we can make a concise note about the key reasons, celebrate a bit, and continue hoping for good play moving forward into a nice playoff run.

Before I get into the whys and wheretofores of tonight's game, I'd like to preface it with a bit more about The Quarterback Project. Yes, this enterprise doesn't end. It always has its continuing elements. Here's an additional one I'd just been thinking about.

As I've mentioned a few times before in this blog, besides being a Chiefs fan I'm a big Golden State Warriors fan, been so for over 40 years. Right now pro basketball's Warriors are considered the "evil empire" because they are so good, and I'm lapping it up. Even though adding Kevin Durant has made them close to unstoppable, they got good because of terrific drafting decisions and solid coaching/management skill.

Case in point: the 2009 NBA Draft.

I thought about this because last night the Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves, and beat them convincingly 115-102. Back in 2009 the Timberwolves had the Nos. 5 and 6 picks in the draft. With those picks they took two point guards, Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, respectively. While Flynn has been out of basketball for years, Rubio did play last night, and he went up against the No. 7 pick in the draft, a player by the name of Stephen Curry.

Here were last night's lines for each: Rubio, 2-5 shooting, 0-2 on three-pointers, 6 points scored total. Curry, 13-19 shooting, 4-8 on threes, 34 points.

The Timberwolves are a team loaded with top-draft pick talent including two future superstars, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, and they may indeed be a force in that future, certainly. But they have a very disappointing 5-11 record so far while the Warriors are at 15-2. What's the difference? I believe it is the critical distinction in the organization, the management, the coaching, and the overall atmosphere these top people bring to the play on the court, or in football's case, the field.

Kevin Durant is thriving in Golden State, much of it because he wanted to come to that kind of environment. The coaching is significant here because the Warriors play a fiercely free-flowing kind of basketball, with lots of passing off of crisp court movement, good looks, and open shot opportunities. They are blistering the league in assists, and it shows on the scoreboard.

Now you have my favorite NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Back in 2000, the New England Patriots selected Tom Brady and the rest is history, of course. Point is since then the quarterbacks for the Chiefs have been Elvis Grbac (2000), Trent Green (2001-2006), Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle (2007), Tyler Thigpen (2008), Matt Cassel (2009-2012), and Alex Smith (2013-present). Seven different quarterbacks combining to get the Chiefs a single playoff win in that time period (the one we got just last year against the Texans). I'm pretty sure Tom Brady has 157 post-season wins over the same time period, something like that many.

This is all a standard violently wrenching part of the Quarterback Project, as is this part:

All of those Chiefs quarterbacks were not drafted, except for one. That one was Brodie Croyle, but he almost doesn't count he was so bad. While Croyle lost all ten of his starts for the Chiefs, he did have tools -- that were not well-developed by coaches who could do the job of getting him there.

Now I don't believe Croyle was going to get us anywhere, he just wasn't that good, so it may have been a good thing we didn't hang our hopes on him. And I appreciate the hard work any player and any coach contributes to this thing Kansas City Chiefs, it is hard to win NFL games, I'm not putting anyone down. Everyone compares their team to the Patriots, I know that -- everyone likes being a Monday morning general manager. 

If only my team could be like the Patriots. Everyone says that about their team.

But for these purposes here, it is, yes, indeed the whole thing with the

Drafted and developed quarterback.

The key addition to the project but one that is very not novel at all:

Putting that guy an environment that drives players to win football games.

All this stuff about the Warriors and Timberwolves and Chiefs and Patriots comes down to this about tonight's game:

We win if we play like we mean it.

Everyone knows the Chiefs have the talent. Our defense is good, and we face a Broncos offense that has a rookie quarterback and a shaky running game. The Broncos defense is exceptional with no injury issues, but ya know?

The Chiefs offense can take them.

They really can, and everyone knows it. Tyreek Hill flies past everyone and has great football awareness. Chris Conley is a strong go-to receiver. Spencer Ware finds holes and runs over people. Charcandrick West is quick and slippery. Travis Kelce is one of the best tight ends in the game, not only strong and quick but wildly competitive. Our offensive line is solid and stable, bookended by two of the best tackles in the game.

And then there's Alex Smith.

For the 38th time in this blog and the 5,291st time anywhere -- he's smart, he's versatile, he's athletic, he's a strong, careful manager of the game plan. These are all things that contribute to a team scoring at least 30 points a game.

But we all know, we're not. We are so not. We're struggling to score touchdowns and have the worst time converting 3rd downs. It's like a disease, it really feels like that watching it.

And as I emphasized in the previous preview post, this is because our coaching is simply not getting him untracked. Where is the play action? Where is that jet sweep and all the things that can happen off that? Where the read option? Where are the quarterback draws to use Smith's running ability to open things up? Where's the halfback option pass? -- Don't tell me we can never do that because if we took some chances especially against this kind of defense, we'd practice it and make it work.

I visited my passionate Chiefs fan uncle this Thanksgiving, and he asked, where's the no-huddle catch-them-by-surprise offense? Great call!

Here's another one: Where in blazes is De'Anthony Thomas? He was used splendidly in 2014 and half of 2015 to open up that offense. He's there, he's right there, but I've only seen him a handful of times out there.

Where are all these things?

They're not there because I'm not convinced we have the gravitas coming from on high to make those kinds of things happen. Sure Clark Hunt runs a top-notch organization -- that's awesome, I actually think he's done wonders for the Chiefs. Sure John Dorsey has made some terrific calls in acquiring these fine players. Sure Andy Reid is one of the most respected coaches in the NFL, that's true.

But are these guys filling our players with the deep, incisive, ferocious drive to win?

Um, kinda like you see in the eyes of the players on a team like the Patriots?

Do you see this too?

Here's the key for tonight:

We're playing tonight.

Here we are, in prime time, and sure enough, over the past several years, the Chiefs have generally sucked under the lights and cameras of the big time. You know what I'vd seen? I've seen the Chiefs players overwhelmed by it all and for some reason they just seem to be always playing on their heels.

The Patriot way is totally opposite that. That team rams it down your throat in prime time -- and just about every other time they take the field. They are the ones who make you play on your heels.

Ironically, the one prime time game I think of when I think of one of the very few Chiefs prime time successes was the game on that Thursday in late September, 2014, when the Chiefs shellacked the Patriots, 41-14. But ya know?

That's about it. There isn't much more. You can check out the disconsolation of prime-time Chiefs football from this great fan post at Arrowhead Pride.

Some of the worst lowlights: Against the Broncos in prime time the Chiefs are miserable. Since NBC had Sunday night football games the Chiefs are 0-5 whenever they've played in that prime-time slot -- and it seems like they've played the Broncos in every one of those games. Guess what? The Chiefs play the Broncos again in on Sunday night football in four weeks. At least they're scheduled to.

So what about tonight? Let's be honest. We do have a good enough team to win and show the country the Chiefs are for real. We have serious injury issues, but Dorsey and Reid have worked hard at infusing this team with some decent depth. Really, we have no excuse. You know the talent we have, the major question of all questions is

Will we take it to them?

Will we really look like we mean business in the NFL? Will we play like we can and be coached to play like we can and watch Alex Smith throw the ball down the field out of sets that get those receivers open like we can and

Win this football game?

So yeah, for tonight's blog post I'm not going to write much. I may even blog during the game, we'll see how I feel. But I do know about what I'm going to behold, I really think all Chiefs fans do. It'll be either the same-ol same-ol in prime time, seeing a flaccid wilting effort, or we'll joy to a team alive and energetic and inspired to do what it definitely can pleasing everyone who is a fan of good, solid football.
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