Giants at Chiefs - Week 4 - Record: 4-0

You must know if you don't already that my favorite major league baseball team is the San Francisco Giants. I was born near Kansas City, but my parents moved to the bay area where I grew up. So whenever I see the matchup between the Giants and the Chiefs, I'm wondering if I'm being asked about who I favor more.

The baseball Giants have won two World Series in the past three years, but this year they have been abysmal, almost finishing in the cellar of their own division. The football Giants have won two of the last six Super Bowls themselves, but this year they have suffered injuries and a major drop in their play, and they came into Arrowhead with an 0-3 record.

It was just the kind of game the Chiefs could be down for after they've shot out to a 3-0.

It looked for much of it like the Giants were going to give us a run. It was 10-7 for a long time, and it should've been 10-10 if their kicker didn't brick a gimme field goal. Their only touchdown was yet another big play the Chiefs gave up, a long TD pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz. It did look like the Giants were very capable of using the Manning-to-Hicks-or-Cruz connections to beat us.

Not to be.

As the game progressed our defense just got tougher and tougher and tougher. They started to wear down their O-line and finally got to Manning, sacking him a few times, even forcing a fumble once. With that much pressure Manning had trouble being consistent enough to make things happen offensively for the Giants. I've always seen Manning as a tremendously resourceful quarterback, making something from nothing at least once every three plays. That's what has always done the Giants well.

The Chiefs messed that up just enough to make it extraordinarily difficult to Manning to do anything meaningful at all.

Thing is, it was still close midway into the second half! Our offense was not getting Jamaal untracked, our receivers were not getting separation enough, or they were just plain dropping balls. Errgh. Just wait -- don't mean to be a downer, but that receiver thing will kill us unless it gets fixed. That super nice catch and score by Bowe late can't disguise the worries I have about us being able to do that kind of thing in the clutch when needed.

The most electrifying part of the game was McCluster's punt return. Sure enough, just before that, more than any other time, I was shouting to him at the television set, come on Dexter, time to run one back -- it's time. I was kind of stunned when he did. Now I'm not going to try to brag or be a big shot and say I called it, because I admit I do frequently will my players to do great things at the TV all the time. But I will say that indeed this was one of those more particularly directed times.

His run was a thing of McCluster beauty. The turns and twists and cuts he made to break free were spectacular. Just like that, it was 17-7, and the way our defense was playing and the way our offense was able to grind late, this game was ours at that point.

Sure enough, with about nine minutes left, we started that grinding, again. We actually got a 53-yard field goal from Succop, but a penalty on the Giants gave us a first down, and we just did more grinding until Smith hit Charles with a TD pass to make it 24-7. Third game in a row with exceptional running clock late.

As for the overall, everyone is surely feeling great about this, the 4-0 start, all that. But one simple thing I can think is that the Chiefs have always done well against NFC teams, and so far we've beaten three NFC teams. Yes, this Chiefs team is a fine team. Yes, it seems only Chiefs fans know that this team has had beast talent, but with no quarterback and no coach, and subsequently few wins. Now that we have them we're doing what we should be doing.

The question is, will we continue the run against AFC teams? Next week we are visiting the Titans, a pretty decent AFC team from what little that I gather. How will we do against the other fine teams in our own division, especially the phenomenally good Broncos?

I must close with a couple brief notes about former Chiefs.

First, I'd say a few Chiefs fans were watching the NFL Network Tuesday night for the premiere showing of one of the most poignant editions in their A Football Life series, the one on Derrick Thomas. So much of it made me sad inside, from his father's legacy to his tragic death to, yes, all of the crushing playoff losses. Interestingly I discovered that probably his worst game Derrick ever had was that Monday night game with Denver, that Monday in November of 1998 when I myself left it all behind and didn't watch the Chiefs or anything about them for five years.

On that Monday night it seemed all the Chiefs frustrations of eight years of the most wretched luck any team could ever have were packed into Derrick. He had all kinds of personal foul penalties during an embarrassing loss to Denver who themselves, with his buddy former-Chief Neil Smith, would go on to another Super Bowl win, their second in a row.

Thing is, I had no idea all that with Derrick happened that night. Yes, it was a good time to take a very long break from it all myself. Only I still wept when he died in 2000, and I wept again just seeing it all again this past Tuesday night.

Fast forward to 2003, when I resumed a small involvement in sports again, committing to just watching the Chiefs. It was a good year to do it, that year we blasted outta the gate refusing to lose until the tenth game of the season. We had so many weapons, what with Trent Green and Priest Holmes and Willie Roaf and all of them, but the most exciting player of all was unquestionably

Dante Hall.

I am the announcer of my son's high school football games, and in just catching some basic facts about the visiting team for this past Friday night's game, I surfed around at the school's website.

Guess what I discovered.

That Dante Hall was a running backs-special teams coach for the team.

Sure enough, I arrived early for the game, caught where he was at the corner of the field coaching his return specialists (of course!) and taking advantage of my on-field pass, I made my way to introduce myself to him. He greeted me with an engaging smile, we chatted for a few minutes, and I told him my son was a kick returner too but was injured.

After the game Hall actually sought out my son to chat with him as well, encouraging him to work hard to get back on the football field.

How great was that! Later Friday night my son and I talked and smiled and went back and looked over all the videos and stories about Hall's legendary exploits just reveling in the moment of being able to meet and speak with easily one of the greatest Chiefs ever.

And I can now only think about McCluster's splendid punt return today to just magnify the meaning of all of that. Afterwards they showed him on the sideline, naturally, with his arms crossed in that iconic "X" pattern.

Just too great.
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Chiefs at Eagles - Week 3 - Record: 3-0

A lot on this game, but first, some personal history related to Chiefs-Eagles games. (I do have a take on this one, so if you want to get right to it, just scroll down and it's there. It's all good.)

On Sunday, October 22, 1972, my father, brother and I were returning from a weekend trip to Yosemite National Park, which was about 100 miles or so away from our home. We were there without my mother because barely a month before she and my father had gotten a divorce. So, here's Yosemite, something for a dad to do with his boys on a weekend to show he was still there. That's cool.

I distinctly remember something from that drive home, and that was listening to the radio to the NFL scores of the day. Sure enough they said that Kansas City had defeated Philadelphia, 21-20. I remember being pretty stoked about that, even though I didn't follow everything quite so fastidiously -- I was only 11.

Turns out later sometime, I don't remember when, that the broadcaster got it wrong. It was actually Philadelphia that beat Kansas City 21-20, and I remember that kinda got to me. Wow. I can't trust my parents to stay together, now I can't trust these people to get the score right so my already fragile emotions don't get further yanked around.

Thing is, I thought, hmm, what actually did happen in that game, and what was the context? In fact I didn't even know it was a scant few weeks after my parent's divorce until I looked it up. Do you know what happened in that game?

Well, the Chiefs had already lost their first two games ever at Arrowhead that year, including an opening day home loss to the eventual undefeated Dolphins. But they had won three games on the road, so they were sporting a 3-2 record, not too bad especially coming off a terrific season that ended on that infamous Christmas day playoff loss.

So into Arrowhead come the Eagles who had no wins at all, 0-5. Sure enough the first half featured three touchdown passes thrown by the immortal Eagles QB Pete Liske. Yeah, Pete Liske. The Chiefs could only muster the 20 the rest of the way.

The Eagles would go on to get a grand total of one more win that year, while the Chiefs slogged to an 8-6 record and would get nowhere near the playoffs, a streak that would last another 13 years.

Because of the odd ways they did interleague scheduling for many of those years, the Chiefs and Eagles would not face each other again for another 20 years.

That game was on October 11, 1992, and this time the Dave Krieg-led Chiefs got the touchdown they needed to actually win the game, 24-17. Here's the personal note though, I don't remember a thing about that game because, strangely enough, my stepfather had died suddenly just that week before the game. I was at my mother's consoling her and helping her make arrangements. So, yeah, weird, two Chiefs-Eagles games 20 years apart are preceded by my mom losing a husband each time.

The Chiefs-Eagles game after that was a Chiefs spanking, but only one of the two they had against the Eagles before this year's game. Thing about this one was that it was part of a streak to start the 1998 season when I was sure we were going to dominate the NFL -- finally! -- before we utterly tanked beginning my own sports swearing-off in November of that year. For five years following, yes, truly I knew not a thing about the Chiefs, or mostly anything else in sports. Today I still do nothing with any of it except -- I simply can't help it -- watch Chiefs games.

The Chiefs-Eagles affair in 2005 was two games before I started this blog. I remember it well too because, while the 2005 season was actually a pretty dang good one for us -- we finished 10-6 -- this game was probably the most devastating one of them all. We shot out to a 17-0 lead, at Arrowhead no less, and then, it evaporated just like that. We actually got crushed, the final was 37-31, but it really wasn't that close. If we had that game, we'd've gotten in the playoffs, and taken the place of the eventual Super Bowl winning Steelers.

Now to this game. The way I look at this game is that there were five key things that were both good and bad, but the good of each was just a little bit better, and that got us the win. Here they are, in no order of importance:

1. The Vertical Passing Game. The Bad: We just don't have one. Our receivers are just not getting separation for Alex Smith to get that ball down the field. It is the main concern I have about this Chiefs team, and I believe this is going to really kill us in the future. Stinkin' Jon Baldwin. The Good That Was Just a Little Bit Better: That Donnie Avery slant catch & run. Wow, that we could get away with that, what, three or four times, big-time during this game. Thing is you'd think if that was all we had they'd just shut it down for good, but we could do it because we actually executed it so damn well. Alex Smith got the timing down perfectly each time, our receivers hit their marks beautifully for the wedge needed for big yardage, and Avery's speed made it a big play every time.

2. Our Offensive Line. The Bad: For most of the game they played far more on the poor side than the good side. They got penalties, they allowed QB sacks, they couldn't get Jamaal untracked. It was very discouraging. The Good That Was Just a Little Bit Better: For the second game in a row the O-line stepped up when we needed it and did the grinding-down-clock thing to ice the game. We took, what, eight minutes off the clock when Philly really needed to get the ball back. They actually started opening things up for our backs, and yeah, a lot of that was Jamaal Charles, but they also gave Smith enough protection for a few of those dump-off passes you also gotta have.

3. The Big Play. The Bad: We got utterly roasted on three big plays that didn't have to happen. Can you believe Michael Vick's 61-yard run was the longest of his career? Michael Vick??? That was the longest? They also got a nice 20-something-yard arching touchdown pass from Vick and a 41-yard touchdown run in which their guy just hit a small crease in the line and was gone. The Good That Was Just a Little Bit Better: Our opportunistic defense. We do have a decent defense, but tonight they stepped it up to force Philly into five turnovers. Yes, some of that was them bouncing snaps off their butts, but some of it was indeed our defense just being beast out there. And just look at Justin Houston, who's emerging as -- dare I say it -- another Derrick Thomas. Okay okay, I won't go so far to say he's there yet, by any means, there's still lots of career ahead of him -- but wow.

4. Being in-synch. The Bad: Being out-of-synch. We really did look all over the place out there. Especially in the red zone, we really looked inept on too many plays. Too many times the Eagles were all over anything we tried to do. The Good That Was Just a Little Bit Better: Alex Smith's patience. Wow, did that help us out. He got sacked five times, but the odd thing is that this was actually a really good thing. He's proven he's not going to try to make something out of nothing. He really knows when to take advantage of things but only when you really can. Hey, if you suffer five yard losses on two plays of a series but can get 20 on one, it's all good. This reminds me of Eli Manning's play, and ya know, if Alex Smith can get us two rings, I'm perfectly fine with that.

5. The Overall Game Approach. The Bad: All the penalties, the formation problems, the confusion, the unnecessary timeouts to try to fix it all. Ergh. The Good That Was Just a Little Bit Better: Our coaching. Yes, the blame for all that bad stuff is on Andy Reid, but ya know? I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. The key little-bit-better thing is that it looks like the team is working hard to get it all going, and it's not easy. The whole system is new, and this is the NFL. It really does look like the coaching staff does have things in order, and are committed to making it work. Right after the game Reid had a microphone in his face and the very first Chiefs oriented thing he said after all the sentimental "I'm back in Philly" stuff was "We have a lot of work to do." He sees it, he knows about it, and he and his guys will get it done.

Hey, that we're 3-0 with all of that happening? I mean, after last year?

And just so you know, my mom is fine.
_

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

We've already matched our entire win total of last year in the second week of the season. Get out the fancy flatware, Nelly, we've got to celebrate!

It was quite a close, riveting affair, however -- my son texted me saying he lost some hair watching that 4th quarter. But the wonderfully felicitous thing about it is --

WE WON!

Yowza yowza, we actually won a one-point game. Really, when was the last time that happened? Okay, okay, I did take a moment and go back through all of our wins through the years past until I got to the last one we won by one point. Sure those games don't happen that often anyway, really, close games are mostly margins of three points, four points, seven points, for good reason. But hey, can you believe it? Do you know when it was? Our last one-point victory?

Back on Christmas day, 2004, when we beat the Raiders 31-30. Remember that game? When Dante Hall made that great runback on the kick to get us the winning field goal?

Well, anyway, let's get into this game.

I thought it would turn on that phantom defensive holding call by Eric Berry just before he picked off a pass to Jason Whitten. After that they kicked a field goal to make it 17-16 with lots of time left. With the pick we'd have the ball at midfield with a four-point lead.

As it was after that FG we got the ball and ran clock. Yes we got help from a pass interference call ourselves that the Cowboys railed against, but I'm sorry, their guy did push Donnie Avery to the ground. It was clear. But the best of it was Jamaal Charles and our offensive line very effectively grinding it out against a very good Dallas defense. Cuh-lutch.

As for our other offensive play, it was truly beast at the beginning of each half. First half: splendid drive for a touchdown, but I wonder! What the bloomers was Alex Smith doing running all the time? Second half: another great drive capped by a sweet Dwayne Bowe slant pass for our second touchdown.

We have to confess that we did get a lot of help. That pass Dez Bryant dropped late in the game was big. We benefitted a lot from some sweet turnovers, but a lot of that is the product of a fiercely alert defense. I am concerned about our pass rush -- Tony Romo had way too much time out there, but then they were saying the Dallas O-line is pretty dang good.

If that's the case, then this win was big. I really don't know much about Dallas, but they looked pretty good out there to me. And wow --

We actually beat them.

How crazy is that. How delightfully crazy is that for Chiefs fans who've had to endure one of the worst seasons of quarterback hell. How crazy that here we have a quarterback who is -- crazy!!! -- actually making fine plays out there!

How great is this, too, considering that in the history of the Cowboys-Chiefs rivalry, the Chiefs have not done very well at all. Remember, these two franchises battled it out for supremacy in Dallas until it was the AFL's Texans that got pushed out. Perversely that was actually a pretty great thing, because it gave birth to the Kansas City Chiefs, but still...

You still gotta beat Dallas. You just gotta.

And today, we did.
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Chiefs at Jaguars - Week One - Record: 1-0

'Nkay, it has to be said. It is indeed the first and foremost thing that needs to be said.

When, I say, when was the last time you saw a quarterback performance like that from a Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback? And please, I'm not saying today's effort from Alex Smith was anything so super wonderful. I mean our offense pretty much stalled in the entire second half, and we were not playing a very good team to begin with.

But come on.

That we actually had at all any meaningful production from our quarterback is cause for a robust celebration. We may, yes, we may actually have, for once, a genuinely contending team.

A lot of that is not just because of Alex Smith. It was very clear that

- Our offensive line played extremely well. Eric Fisher sealed the outside well and provided fine pass protection. The return of Rodney Hudson in the middle I believe is the difference maker.

- Jamaal Charles run up and down the field again. He had a quad strain at one point so let's hope he's healthy and can keep going, but Cyrus Gray and Knile Davis looked good in relief.

- Our pass rush was quite ferocious, and Justin Houston looks like he's gained a step. Dontari Poe was beast in the middle, even batting down a pass at one point. Our defensive game plan even allowed Tyson Jackson to get a sack! It's all good!

- We actually had somewhat of a vertical passing game! It looks like they've found the magical potion to unleash Dexter McCluster. He ran great routes, caught some good long passes. Fine touchdown plays from Junior Hemingway and Donnie Avery were very sweet to watch, and showed what a difference a whole new coaching staff makes. Last year we just wouldn't have made those plays -- ahem, no real quarterback, no real coach.

But hey, the irony. For years the best thing about our Chiefs has been their punting team led by Dustin Colquitt. On the whole Colquitt and the special teams had a good day, but the irony: the worst thing the Chiefs endured today was a blocked punt that went for a safety.

We aren't all there altogether yet. We had the usual breakdowns most teams have, I mean, again, we couldn't get a single offensive score in the second half. Cause for concern?...

But then again, that we got three touchdowns out of the gate, the first two of them touchdown passes -- wow, touchdown passes and the Chiefs. The Chiefs and touchdown passes. The joy of seeing those two things together. Aaahh...
_

Chiefs Season Preview 2013

I guess I'd better sit down here and pound out something to say about what I'm thinking about
the Chiefs this year. I say that because last year I'd written more in this blog that I had in any other year, because of the unique nature of the season. We had a decent team, actually, just a miserable coach and an even more miserable quarterback situation. A 2-14 record was the pukifyingly ignoble result. Last year's therapy was really just a set up to this preview, which really could be encapsulated in the simple idea that after the team thoroughly cleaned house and brought in quality personnel from top to bottom, there are indeed high expectations.

Of course I could write all about Andy Reid and Alex Smith, or even make mention of GM John Dorsey and pine hopefully for the most boffo decisions in the front office, but hey, it's just a given that they've got to be beast there for us to be beast on the field.

So what of that team? Just some brief thoughts beyond the standard expectations from this crew, just broken down what I think is the key to the offense, the key to the defense, and the key to the more long-term future of the Kansas City Chiefs, and each involves a single player.

The key to the defense: Dontari Poe.

I'm going to start there, and the key here is indeed the behemoth nose tackle we got last year with our number one pick and something like 11th overall. It was a learning year for the guy, but this year he's got to be the linchpin of a defensive line that must not only stand up the opposing offense but flat-out push it back.

I think our run defense should be pretty decent -- Derrick Johnson is still quick, Justin Houston's got another year of experience, Eric Berry has laser instincts for the ball, and ya know? I think Tyson Jackson does have it in him to do decently against the run.

Our defensive backfield still looks solid with the help of a fine pick-up in Sean Smith, but for our pass defense to work, we have got to win the battle at the line of scrimmage. If Poe is a stand-up -- and yes push-back -- kind of guy, then we should be fine on defense.

If he isn't, then a mediocre 8-8 season is very possible. I know many would think that's great compared to last year, but I'm sorry. We do have the talent to be 10-6, with a respectable coach and QB as we now have -- so 8-8 would be a disappointment.

The key to the offense: Wait for it... Junior Hemingway.

Huh? Who's that?

Yeah, right, who is that. In the small portion of preseason action I saw, this guy looked like our best receiver not Dwayne Bowe. Yes, a couple weeks ago I was planning to put Jonathan Baldwin's name here, yeah, as the key to the offense. That was merely because he had to have stepped up his game for us to really be effective offensively.

Well, not 'nee more.

So, yeah, trading Baldwin means that now here's yet another instance, in 2011, of the Chiefs forgoing a truly decent quarterback draft pick for some other guy who didn't pan out -- in this instance Colin Kaepernick and Andy Dalton both selected a few picks after Baldwin. In fact I should say my cousin has put together an analysis of all the times the Chiefs have drafted a bust -- or, to be fair, just someone who didn't get it done -- before some quarterback was drafted who went on to do fine things for their team. If he puts it together in some published form I'll share it here.

But to the key to the offense, I firmly believe it is in our wide receiver situation. Sure we have Dwayne Bowe, but I'm always concerned about him. Come on, how many of you Chiefs fans just cringe when you see him break off his route unexpectedly, drop passes thrown to him right on the numbers -- but then he forces you to tearfully forgive him when he makes that top-of-the-highlight-reel juggling catch or reaches half-way up the grandstands for another of his patented sideline grabs?

Then there's, who? Dexter McCluster? Maybe Reid will be the one to finally know how to use him. Anthony Fasano? What a phenomenally great pick-up at tight end, but that's tight end -- you can only go so far with that. The however many other wide receivers we are shuffling around and trying to fit in these last days of cuts and pickups? Chinese fire drills feature more stability and organization. Oh to have a -- ahem -- Jon Baldwin. In fact, I was thinking, are Calvin Johnson and Jon Baldwin that much different in size, speed, all that stuff? Ya know? I don't think so! It's just... yeah, you can stop laughing now.

Thing is we really really needed Baldwin not to be such a monumental bust. And the guy we got for him, A.J. Jenkins, is he going to get it done? Dunno, maybe at this point we should just be thankful we got something for Baldwin.

Enter Junior Hemingway. Again, he looked pretty decent the times I watched him -- running his routes nicely, getting nice separation, showing nice fundamentals... But errgh. Will it translate into a nice vertical passing game that I really wonder about -- having a nice Alex Smith in there now notwithstanding.

The key to the future: Drafting that quarterback we can actually have and hold dear and watch take us to the promised land.

Oh, please don't get me wrong. I fully expect Alex Smith to take us to the promised land sometime over the next three or four years. I do, I mean that.

But the evidence from The Quarterback Project is simply too brazenly obvious to be ignored. At some point sometime very very very very very very soon the Chiefs

SIMPLY MUST

Be in a position in the draft to have a top flight quarterback drop into our laps, and get one whom they can develop through the years to be their mainstay for years and years and years. The Chiefs are the only team in NFL history to never have that happen -- or at least have the wherewithal to make it happen. Really, look it up, right there in The Quarterback Project.

Never.

Never for them; at least once for every other NFL team in their history.

Now I've said this before, but I'm convinced that most of it has to do with the Chiefs wretched luck in having picks where they can snatch up that guy. My cousin feels it is just typical Chiefs ineptitude -- they always grab some Todd Blackledge or Matt Blundin but pass on every Brett Favre and Joe Flacco. It is obviously a combination of both, but both together mean the Chiefs have been majorly hosed in the area for years and years and... okay, I'll stop now.

As it is we've got I imagine a good three or four years for Alex Smith to shine. But during that time it is imperative that we get that quarterback -- first round somewhere, maybe in the most remote way second round -- yes Seattle's Russell Wilson was a third-rounder but they are rarer than any decent Chiefs quarterback draft.

Well, enough about that. It's a given. What we've got now is this year. And what we need this year to complement the Jamaal Charleses and Eric Fishers and Brandon Flowerses is that fierce defensive line which I do believe is well within our reach, and a downfield passing attack which I think is the one area that may be a critical deficiency.

In all of this there is no question Clark Hunt must be commended for his massive overhaul in those critical areas and his commitment to excellence that is looking very contagious, and as such this season holds great promise for some very good things to happen.

Looking forward it all!
_

2013 Chiefs Draft - the Dog or Cat Version

Ever see that contrast between dogs and cats that's gone around the web in Facebook posts and the like? You know the one. "A dog's brain: 'I get to chase after the ball -- MY FAVORITE THING!' 'I get to go for a walk -- MY FAVORITE THING!' 'I get to have dinner -- MY FAVORITE THING!'..." Then there is "A cat's brain: 'These upright walking people still seem to have it in for me. I must continue to work hard at being amused when they dangle string in my face while I plot my escape. That square-headed one particularly dislikes me, maybe I can drive him crazy by doing very odd things in the litter box...'" You know.

Well, this Chiefs offseason and draft situation has had me alternating between my dog brain and my cat brain.

Here's my dog brain.

"We got a proven winning coach in Andy Reid -- MY FAVORITE THING!" "We got Alex Smith a proven No. 1 draft pick dude to play quarterback -- MY FAVORITE THING!" "We got Eric Fisher with the top draft pick so now Jamaal will run wild over defenses and our QB will have days to spend in the pocket -- MY FAVORITE THING!" "We signed Dwayne Bowe to a long-term deal when it seemed he was lost -- MY FAVORITE THING!" "Everyone will be healthy and ready to play come opening day -- MY FAVORITE THING!"

My cat brain:

"We are the one team in all of NFL-anything, ever, who needs a drafted and developed quarterback and for the first time in -- what is it, 57 years? -- there isn't a franchise guy there for us. So we have to spend two high picks to get another 49ers QB. Haven't we heard that song a thousand times before? We could've very much used those picks. And with our number one overall pick we get a tackle. Great. We already have good tackles. What we need is D-line help, and we desperately need a middle linebacker. Our best are Tamba and D.J, and both of them are gettin' up there in age. And everyone says Jon Baldwin is all that, but ya know? I haven't seen it yet, have you?"

Now, just so you know, my cat brain does get the best of me. This is precisely why I know nothing about what we did in the draft except that we got Eric Fisher. Couldn't avoid it, when you're the team with the No. 1 pick overall it tends to get into the news cycle. Beyond his name, I don't know a thing about him.

And other picks? Haven't the faintest. Were we able to trade Branden Albert and get those high picks back? Dunno, because either way my cat brain starts to kick in.

Saw a news tease about the "grade" your team got. Oh that's rich. Love that. Before my sports celibacy I'd be riveted to whatever "grade" some football dweeb would give the Chiefs draft. If it was an "A" I'd go "Damn straight," and when that Chiefs draft class proceeded to generally suck it'd only make me mad. If we got anything less than a "B" then I'd sneer and then get really depressed and then later get even more depressed when they were right. And really, no pundit wants to be so mean to a team to give it less than a "B" so if you got a "C" that meant your team really sucked in the draft. I'm sure the 2009 draft earned us a C-, what a joke. That draft was a definite F minus-minus-minus.

So yeah, sometimes my dog brain keeps me eagerly looking forward to this season. But my cat brain keeps me grounded knowing that it's best just to watch on September 8 and see what's what.

That's when we'll know for sure.
_

So Is THIS the New Era That's Beginning NOW?

How often have we Chiefs fans hoped for the start of a new era when this would be the time of destiny, finally, for the Kansas City Chiefs. Most recently it happened when we had a spiffy new coach -- Todd Haley yay! -- and a spiffy new quarterback -- Matt Cassel yay! -- right at the beginning of the 2010 season when we'd gotten all the kinks out through the '09 season and we were ready to start dominating. The 2010 season really did look like that start, except that Matt Cassel was, well, Matt Cassel.

I'm blogging now at a time when I never blog, right smack in the middle of the off-season because this again looks like one of those times. Suuure this could be just one of those ugly situations when we are yet again being teased into thinking this is thuh time.

But this is different.

We got our new general manager, and I imagine he's feverishly cogitating about the combine and what to do with the draft. I know nothing about John Dorsey, not a thing but his name, so I guess he's probably doing those things. I'm just hoping he's doing them well.

We got our new head coach, and I imagine he's in the mix of that too. I only know that Andy Reid was with the Eagles for quite a while, got them to a Super Bowl once, and one acquaintance even said he was good working with quarterbacks. But that's it.

Now the final piece that we needed has been put in place.

We got our new quarterback.

I do know a bit more about Alex Smith just because my radar works so well and I pick up so much from the pro football noise that I can't help but hear. Obviously one of the weirdest things everyone is surely talking about is he is yet another 49er quarterback to come over to the Chiefs. That, I believe, is just a weird coincidence, but it definitely is one of those intriguing trivia things.

The key thing is that he had established himself as a genuinely studly quarterback before 49ers' coach Jim Harbaugh decided he'd rather have Colin Kaepernick in there instead. I did catch that before Smith had that concussion against the Rams this past season, that he had a rating of 140 and for the something-like three or four games just prior to it he had more touchdown passes than incompletions. Did you get that? More touchdown passes than incompletions. I don't think any of our quarterbacks last year had a touchdown pass -- er, oh, they did? Oh, wasn't sure about that, but I guess they did. Hmm. I imagine they did, but I don't think many noticed.

So what's the deal with Smith and the Chiefs? Well, for one, he was a No. 1 overall pick, so he can join the other QB's in the AFC West with that notoriety. One thing that makes me nervous was that he was very erratic for a long time, but then blossomed under Jim Harbaugh and his confidence in him. Will Andy Reid be able to do the same? If he's as good with quarterbacks as it is said he is, then this should be fantastic.

And what about his length of service for us? If we can get four or five good solid years from him, I think that'll be awesome. But for it to work, we've got to get that much. On the other hand this just smacks of the typical "Let's just get some QB off the scrap heap" Chiefs tactic we've all come to so justifiably revile. It does represent many more years of just not having that originally drafted and developed guy, but hey, if Smith comes through, I think we can wait on that little bit more. The only thing is, we still have to draft a guy who'll replace him, and that'll have to be in the next two or three years. Question: Will that freak Smith out, seeing Colin Kaepernick's face in whoever that is? This makes me nervous too.

Was the price too high? Giving up two second round picks for him? It does seem kind of steep, but remember. You - have - got - to - have - that - guy - be - great - if - you - hope - to - contend. You have got to! We Chiefs fans know oh-so-well what it means to have a solid quarterback. Oh do we know!

We actually have good skill at several key positions. This makes me think the move should be to not trade down with the No. 1 to get more picks, and instead go with taking that No. 1 guy. If that guy is going to be a game-changer, whoever he is wherever he plays, then he could really help get this team to the highest levels of contention now that we've got our QB.

From my perspective, just seeing what I saw all last year, we so need linebacker help, we need a corner, and we need to address our wide receiver situation big-time.

As it is I have to add that I've been finishing up Ten-Gallon War about the pro football battle for Dallas between the very new AFL Texans and NFL Cowboys. Even though everyone was pretty amicable and was simply taking care of business, I was amazed at how utterly crappy the NFL was in manipulating things to Lamar's disadvantage. The striking irony for Chiefs fans reading this is that as sad as you were to see Lamar force his hand by moving the team to KC, you knew that it had to happen for the Chiefs to be born at all!

But about Lamar, this book gave me even more of a feel for the extraordinary commitment and industrious work Lamar put into his team. Yes, I still believe that his later distractions were plainly detrimental to the Chiefs, but the amazingly novel and phenomenally attentive things he did to build the Chiefs and all things Chiefs certainly make him worthy of our respect. Not that we never had it, but it was truly eye-opening to behold the expanse of that effort.

We're all just hoping that after all these 50-plus years of Lamar's vision we can get back to being a perennielly exceptional pro football team, and right now it does look promising, in a truly realistic way. And it isn't just getting Reid and Smith, it is that this team is coming together with the football, yes football leadership of Clark Hunt. I have to think other teams wanted Reid, but we got him. I have to think other teams wanted Smith, but we got him.

I imagine I'll be back here with a post after the draft in April since we do have that No. 1 pick, which will be another major piece of this what-is-now quite an exciting time for Chiefs fans. I won't be watching or following any of it, but I'm sure my radar will pick it up.

Until then...
_

The Quarterback Project - Post-Super Bowl 2013 Edition

I'm sitting here up and wide awake at 2:30 am because a bug has hammered me and I just can't sleep. Has that ever happened to you? Your body is going crazy trying to fight off germs that it has no sense to get the chemicals in your brain to mix together like they do on most other nights so you can sleep.

Well, I called in sick for work so I can just sleep tomorrow. It's all good.

But I still can't sleep now, so I'm just going to take this time right now to share some thoughts about the Chiefs and pro football and the Super Bowl that Lamar Hunt coined and we have been nowhere close for eons.

I watched the Super Bowl because my NFC team is the 49ers, because while I was born near Kansas City, all of my family is from there, and I love the city -- I was brought up most of my life in or near the Bay Area. The Super Bowl itself was a thrilling game with the Niners mounting a furious comeback, even though they didn't quite catch the Ravens. Disappointed, but it was still a good game.

Besides, the highlight of the Super Bowl was the announcement of the Chiefs first overall pick of the entire NFL draft! Did you catch it?! We've got Leon Sandcastle! Awright! Woo-hoo! Well, anyway, the promo was for the NFL Network to get us to watch the NFL combine activities, but I'm telling you, I look forward to seeing what's what about Leon Sandcastle!

It's all delightful fun. The funny thing is, everyone in the room watching the game with me mentioned how much the name was simply too much like another Chiefs player who has been the subject of great revulsion of late. Wonder who it is...

Thought too about the Chiefs game I attended in October. What was the team the Chiefs actually almost beat that day? These very same Ravens. We held them to 9 points, and yet today against a fine Niners defense they went off for 34. Something to be encouraged about. I still can't help but think about watching Matt Cassel back at Arrowhead in that Ravens game throwing that ball away when he had Jon Baldwin breaking wide open just two plays before the Ravens knocked him out, effectively for his career, really.

So yeah, that leads to the major question of all questions. You know what it is.

What will happen with that quarterback situation?

Will we get Alex Smith? Every Chiefs fan is waiting with bated breath to see. Still, it will be yet another long time before we get our own drafted and developed quarterback out there winning ball games. Remember, our last win by a D&D guy was September 12, 1987. Just looking at that is harrowing. Today they said Ravens' QB Joe Flacco has won something like 60 games for the Ravens since they drafted him.

That's over a period of five seasons.

We haven't had a single solitary win from a Chiefs D&D guy for 26 years.

And I also thought of this. When was the last time we actually had a really good solid QB performance from a Chiefs D&D guy in a game? That game Sept 12 '87 was a classic Blackledge puke, we only won on the legs of Paul Palmer and Christian Okoye. It certainly wasn't the last-game win in '86 against the Steelers to get us into the playoffs -- all that was special teams, remember?

I mean, come on. When was it? I'm talkin' at least 30 for 40 passing, at least 320 yards, at least 3 TD's and at least 0 INT's. I am indeed asking right now very plainly: when was the last time a Chiefs D&D quarterback had a game like that? In fact -- oh this starts to get very gruesome --

Has there ever even been one?

See, you've really only got Mike Livingston, Steve Fuller, and Todd Blackledge to choose from here. Really, have any of those guys had that sterling performance that makes an entire team and city proud to have been led by a marvelous, talented signal-caller? And even if they did, how many times did it happen?

I shudder right now, I really do, I shudder to think.

Today Joe Flacco played like a champion, and sorry, but as the administrator of this depressing endeavor "The Quarterback Project" I can only still shake my head. It hurts, I tell you -- it hurts. I don't know what his actual numbers were for today's Super Bowl, I don't really care to look -- but I'd bet they were something along the lines of 30 for 40, 320 yards...

See, here's the thing. My latest foray into looking-at-all-this quarterback stuff is to see which QB's have been drafted and where, and I did it all the way back to the '70 merger. I found that very rarely do Round 3 or lower guys ever pan out. This year it looks like Russell Wilson is a keeper for Seattle, and yes, the Chiefs could have had him but, well...

I've also found that guys taken in Round 2 aren't really a whole lot better. Here are the Round 2 QB's drafted from 2006 to 2010, and now is the time these guys should be shining brightly as studly NFL quarterbacks: Kellen Clemens, Tarvaris Jackson, Kevin Kolb, John Beck, Drew Stanton, Trent Edwards, Pat White, Jimmy Clausen. Sorry, but none of these guys are lighting it up, and likely will not.

On the other hand in 2011 two guys were taken in Round 2 who are genuine QB studs: the Bengals' Andy Dalton and the 49ers' Colin Kaepernick. You may know this latter guy, he might be more familiar as the QB who merely led the Niners to the Super Bowl. They were both taken very high in that round, however, so it was almost as if they were first rounders.

Thing is, again, the Chiefs could've had any of them -- Flacco, Kaepernick, Dalton.

In 2011 instead of Kaepernick (who even though he was on the losing end played terrifically today, just by-the-way in case you didn't notice) we took Jon Baldwin at 26 overall (Kaeparnick was taken 36th overall). Now, if Baldwin can be coached to not try to make insanely goofy circus catches on every play (and we have the quarterback to make it easier on him) and he becomes as studly as a, say, Anquan Boldin, I'll eat my words. But come on...

Who'd you rather have on the Chiefs right now?

Then there is Joe Flacco, who was taken 18th overall in 2008. We took Glenn Dorsey with the 5th overall pick and Branden Albert with the 15th that year. Hey, I do kind of like these guys, my Chiefs' very, very deep red rose-colored glasses tell me that I do.

But wow. With our ruthless inability to get that D&D guy, we really should've picked up Flacco. And really! Come on! It wasn't like we had anyone really there who we had committed to! This was 2008!!! The guy we had in there was Tyler Thigpen and we actually thought Brodie Croyle was anything!

Yes, I know this sounds like sour grapes whining, spilt milk crying, yeah yeah. Yes I know this is all based on hindsight, everyone's an expert using that. But my goodness gracious glory-be -- the word I like (as it were) in all of this is ruthless.

Yes, the Chiefs have just been utterly, utterly ruthless in failing to get that drafted and developed quarterback.

Thing is I'm just not going to get into all I want to share with Quarterback Project stuff. There's more, but it'll have to wait. Lot's of things to get to, in due time.

For now I have to close with just some final thoughts about the Lamar Hunt biography I finished reading. It was quite engaging and I let the author Michael MacCambridge know in an email. He graciously replied which was really cool.

Yes, as you know I went into this read just asking what in the world could it have been about Lamar that has had the Chiefs so miserable with their pro football success over the many years. And yes I did see a number of confirmations, many of which were amplified by MacCambridge's exposition. I have to believe his obsessive involvement with all the pro tennis and pro soccer stuff kept him from really being in more of the details of Chiefs success. I have to believe that his terrible involvement in his brothers' silver manipulation scheme was also a prominent factor.

There was a very brief anecdote MacCambridge shared which really stood out to me that demonstrated the results of Lamar's -- for want of a much better word -- negligence. He'd written that when Carl Peterson took over in 1989, he had to completely revamp the entire Chiefs culture. MacCambridge spoke of a Bible study several employees were holding, and people from the new administration had to just stand them up and tell them what's what.

Now Bible studies are great -- I'm a Christian man myself -- and I think Bible studies can be had with fellow employees when the time is appropriate. I'm sad that it was about a Bible study that the woeful condition of the Chiefs culture had to be exposed. The idea: Have a Bible study when you have a Bible study...

But when working on the job for the Chiefs be doing that.

I'm sorry, Lamar being preoccupied with so much of that other stuff just killed our team. I really believe that.

To his credit however, it was very encouraging to read about his very fond affection for the team, for Kansas City (I don't think for a second his being loosely based in Dallas had anything to do with any Chiefs badness), for Arrowhead Stadium, for the fans, and for everything that could be labeled Chiefs. Yes, very sadly, I think he just did a poor job of administrating as an owner.

But I have to say that his devotion to the Chiefs and to pro football did do a lot of wonderful, positive things. No matter what, I will always have the most tremendous amount of respect for Lamar as a person, as a professional, and yes as our founder and owner.

This does lead to the final thing in the post. (Wow, can't believe I'm holding up this long. It's already 3:15 in the morning. But I'm still not sleepy. Ergh...)

That final word is that Lamar was indeed such a fine, decent, and just flat-out awesome individual. That he was driven to succeed and seek excellence in everything he touched, there is nothing but respect anyone can have for him and his legacy. Here's the really, really great thing about that, for us right now...

His son.

Clark does seem to me to have a lot of those traits, and he's still young and ambitious. As I wrote earlier the more football he can master, the better the Chiefs will be. That he was so courageously forceful about taking care of business after the Scott Pioli implosion just shows that the very best of Lamar will translate into Chiefs success...

And even more.

Until April when we can officially name Leon Sandcastle as our No. 1 Superstud!...
_

No Chiefs Game Today - But With the Right Kind of Leadership...

Oh the woeful Old-AFL teams.

Today it was the Patriots suffering in the final throes of this year's embarrassment. Yes, AFL fans, yet again there will not be an AFL team winning the Super Bowl. Indeed there won't even be one in it. This year's AFC representative will be the Baltimore Ravens, and it will not be an AFL team, namely the Bengals Bills Broncos Chargers Chiefs Dolphins Jets Patriots Raiders or Titans.

I did my own little statistical study of AFL appearances and wins in playoff games since the last AFL team won the whole thing, eight years ago when the Patriots did it. There are ten AFL teams in the AFC, and six not-AFL teams. That gives the AFL a 63% chance to do great playoff things, while the not-AFL'ers-in-the AFC (Browns Colts Jaguars Ravens Steelers Texans) have a 37% chance. And yet, of the 87 AFC playoff spots there have been since '04, 45 have been taken by the non-AFL'ers, to 42 for the AFL'ers.

And wins? That's even worse. 26 post-season games have been won by the non-AFL'ers, to only 17 for the AFL'ers. Again, that non-AFL success is with only six teams of the 16 in the AFC. Oh, and by the way, eight of those 17 were won by New England. And, um, how many of the remaining nine were by the Chiefs?...

Okay, everyone who's a true genuine Lamar Hunt fan, everyone together now...

::SIGHHHHHH::

Still, this must mean that it is time. I know I've said this before, but THIS IS THE TIME. The time is now, NOW when it has to be, the time for the Chiefs to explode as THE representative of that proud AFL contingent and BE that team that starts to dominate. We're due, we are so due.

Let's get right to it. I want to first finish up this year by looking at the dregs of the past so we can ever-so revel in the great success of the future. As I promised before, here for my last post of the 2012 season is

The Worst Seasons of the Kansas City Chiefs - All-Time

(Again, all kinds of rabid discourse about the placement is not only allowed by wholeheartedly encouraged. Here they are in my opinion. Brace yourselves -- the reminiscing here will be quite wrenching.)

Now, before I start, there were all kinds of honorable mentions that I at least have to get on the page. In fact, please know that really -- any of these years could be on the list of top five, so no argument there. 1987, 1999, 2007, 2004, 1988, 2008, 1977, and certainly I could mention at least a little something about each, most I think somehow involving Frank Gansz. Hey, just about any year in the 70's and 80's is eligible. Thing is I really want to get to the meatier awfulness. Besides, any Chiefs fan certainly knows the horror that encapsulates each of those years.

So once again, the ickiness please.

5. 1998

I absolutely have to put this year in the top five because it was the year that did me in. It was November 17, 1998, on that very day when I made the firmly bold decision to be, ta-dah, sports celibate. Really. I simply could not take it anymore. In fact, I wrote a whole post in a blog series a few years ago detailing all of this, the short version is that the Chiefs kicked-living-ass outta the gate, then utterly, utterly collapsed. Just hearing Bubby Brister ramble for a 30-plus-yard touchdown run to help the Broncos beat us on Monday night at Arrowhead was just too much to take.

Yes, I cracked.

That was it. When I recently looked back at the results from the rest of that season for the first time since that day, I noted that we pretty much stank the rest of the year, too. Weird. Didn't know a thing about it. Didn't know a thing about anything Chiefs until in 2003 I did decide I'd allow myself the pleasure (as it was) to just watch or listen to games on Sunday -- nothing else.

4. 2011

Yes, I had to put last year way up here in the top five of Chiefs abysmalosity simply because of the insane string of ACL injuries we suffered right at the beginning of the season which sunk the whole season before it even really started. I mean seriously, I cannot think of any other team in the history of anything that had happen what we had happen.

First it was Tony Moeaki, then it was Eric Berry, then it was Jamaal Charles. Three of our very best, gone. We ended up getting shellacked each of the first three games we played, until, hey! We started playing better! We actually won a few games, and ironically it was said the reason was our exceptional pre-season conditioning. The problem was that every one of the AFC East teams just shredded us and Todd Haley showed he just could not handle a whole franchise as a head coach.

I could add how awful our quarterback situation was then, too, but ya know? Maybe this whole thing is a blessing in disguise, to the extent that maybe, just maybe, Chiefs management will really fully see the catastrophe that is signing some 57th round draft pick barely-capable-as-a-back-up to be the team's savior.

We have all new leadership people -- head coach, general manager, all that -- that's great. But if we keep Matt Cassel around I'm going to be really angry. The whole point is that we have just got to see through a guy like Cassel who admittedly looked so much like a quarterback that it was easy for someone less perceptive to fail to see he had nothing.

Same thing for Brady Quinn. It should've been the same thing for Steve Fuller, Todd Blackledge, the rest of the quarterback flunkie parade through our history.

Well, now we have way more perceptive people running things, right?

3. 1996

Did you notice that for all the wonderfulness the 1990's were for the Chiefs, when you look at it, it really did suck actually. Look at all the years that appear on at least one Chiefs Game Today "Worst" list (the other list is here): 1994 (ouch), then 1995 (OW-ee ouch), then this one (don't worry I'll get to the gory details), then 1997 (::groannn::), then 1998. Throw 1999 in there, yeah, the one when the Raiders beat us at home on the last day of the season keeping us from getting into the playoffs, and you've got quite an agonizing decade there.

1996 was easily one of the worst, and would've made the "Playoff Edition Worst" because of the nature of what happened, except that, ahem, we didn't make the playoffs.

Why? Well, let's see. We dominate Detroit at their place on Thanksgiving and only have to win one more game to get right back into the playoffs, as we should of course -- we'd been there six straight times. It was becoming a habit except that we still had to get to that Super Bowl. So, let's go do the getting-to-the-Super-Bowl thing. Except we can't beat the Raiders at their place. Fair enough, we'd blistered the Raiders over and over during 90's. I figure they could win one or two.

Indy is next at home, perfect revenge game from the previous year's stunning playoff loss to them, except we can't beat them then either.

So we're at 9-6 for the last game of the year in Buffalo, and we just can't beat them either. We're now at an unbelievable 9-7 but hey! We still have a chance to back in to the playoffs if Jacksonville loses to Atlanta. At the end of that game Atlanta drives down to the Jaguars one-yard line, and can't score the touchdown. But hey! A field goal from all-time super-kicker Morten Anderson, will still win it! Yay!

Except that Anderson misses the 18-yard chip-shot of all chip-shots.

You - have - got - to - be - kidding - me.

2. 1974

This was the year that truly got the misery of all things Chiefs going for years, and years, and years, and -- okay I'll stop now.

Now I didn't know a thing, really, about what happened with the Chiefs during those years. Yes, I was still a passionate fan, but I was into high school stuff and when you're a teenager there're just so many other things pulling on you.

But guess what.

Right now I'm reading the Lamar Hunt biography by Michael MacCambridge, remember? And sure enough, this was really the year that sunk us. The Chiefs actually had winning seasons in '72 and '73, hard to believe but they did.

Then the wheels started to come off, and the reasons are ones we all know too well. Hank started becoming too autocratic, and this drove Jack Steadman nuts. Stram was summarily fired after the season and without him Steadman just fumbled all the football-oriented decisions the Chiefs had to make. To his credit he hired Jim Schaaf in 1976 to do all that, but, come on, Jim Schaaf. More years of Chiefs misery.

Another reason was the typical one that hammers any franchise for years on end: Really dumb player moves. The Chiefs had some of the most notoriously idiotic trades and signings, and all this was coupled with the more famous and indeed very profound factor of hanging on to guys way past their primes. Of course a huge part of all that was our ruthless failure to draft and develop a quarterback, and I think around 1974 was when the idea was calcified that we could pluck another Len Dawson from somewhere anytime we wanted and be just fine.

The one thing I had always considered was a perfectly good reason for Chiefs woefulness but never heard much about was one confirmed by the book. Sure enough: Lamar was just spending too much of his time and energy with all that pro tennis and pro soccer crap.

That's the critical leadership deficit right there.

It just cannot be said enough. You don't want your owner meddling in things he doesn't know anything about, but you gotta have him there supporting the team with 100% of his football attention.

I can't say that I don't see Clark doing that right now as the Chiefs prepare (really hopefully) for the next era of Chiefs football. He did aggressively snatch up highly respected Andy Reid, and the fact that he did means he really has a authentic desire for the Chiefs to excel. I personally still think we have to rely on retreads too much, but maybe Reid will be a good fit for now. The key is that Clark is proactive in the best way he can be, and that's so critically important if we mean business.

So before I give my last assessment of things, I must not forget to slot in here the number one top most awful season in Chiefs history. It is none other than

TA-DAAAH!

1. 2012

I really don't think anyone would disagree with this pick. There was just so much atrociousness about this season that it is simply unparalleled. Not even close. The not leading a game until mid-season stuff. The having such terrible quarterback performances stuff. The Keystone Kops play of our offense and sometimes our defense stuff. That we have five pro-bowlers from this team and not a coach to get the best from them stuff. The "We're so bad we can't even be bad in the right year" stuff regarding not having that future Hall-of-Fame quarterback there for us to get with our No. 1 overall draft pick.

I could go on and on. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of the splendidly best of the ferociously worst that this season was.

As for now, we have that pick.

Again, I don't know who's in the draft or what. As I told you, I go way out of my way to avoid looking at any of that stuff -- yeah, it does, it really does... It drives me crazy.

I already know the marquee signal-caller is just not there. Is there some guy who is such a stud at whatever position he is at that he'd really single-handedly make this team a serious contender? If we do have enough good players like those pro-bowlers with whom to put this guy into the mix, then yeah, maybe we should keep the pick and get that studliest guy on the board. The problem is that no player at any position other than quarterback can ever really turn a team around that dramatically.

This is why I think we should find some team that is salivating for that guy at No. 1, trade down for five or six draft picks (at least), and really stock up on some solid players over the next two or three years. We'll have to use two of those picks to go get Alex Smith -- erghck, another retread QB and another former 49er one at that, but hey, it's what we got -- then use another to snatch up a Matt Barkley or Geno Smith who as far as I know should be available lower in the draft.

I dunno. Just my idea.

I had to say this about Scott Pioli, and it didn't work out real well. Now I have to say it again, this time about our new general manager John Dorsey. It's gotta be better this time, it just has to be. Here goes:

Pleeeeeease make good personnel decisions.

You know, John, we have to be the next dominant team from the old-AFL, you do know that don't you John? You do know that some AFL'er is soooo due for this, and that team has to be the Chiefs, you do know that John, don't you?

Okay, good thing we got that cleared up.

Because John, let's face it, I have got to have a lot more good seasons to choose from to put in the next "Best Chiefs Seasons Ever" post and there just can't be any more to add to the "Most Rotten Seasons" list. I am perfectly happy with the next "Top Five Best" list -- wait, how about a "Top Ten Best" list, there will be so many to choose from -- a list that'll include lots of years beginning with "one"s and "two"s, you know 16, 17, 23, 25, hey, I'm great with one to add that is 13.

Did you get that John?

On to 2013, the next NEW beginning of THE truly great era of Chiefs football!
_

No Chiefs Playoff Game Again - But Great Reminiscing About Our Best Seasons!

I'm chomping at the bit to get into so many things regarding pro football and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Again I want to get into what the deal is with the AFL, sometime. Again the old-AFL teams are sucking, today it was the Broncos collapsing. I didn't see any of it except for the very end of regulation when with a half-minute left the Broncos safety completely blew the coverage allowing a Ravens receiver to catch a 70-yard game-tying touchdown pass. I know the Ravens went on to win it. I could go into all of it much more, as I have, but the curse against the entire AFL is still raging big-time.

And the thing about all this is I am about halfway through Michael MacCambridge's book on Lamar Hunt. I can't deny that I am eagerly looking for anything, anything that would portend why his prized possession, the Kansas City Chiefs professional football outfit, has just been so abysmal through the years particularly in light of the fact that for some of those years we've had pretty dang great teams.

I'm just not finding anything conclusive. Are we just that unlucky? Are we just that inept in putting together a team that actually gels together on the field? Is it as simple as we just haven't drafted and developed a studly quarterback ever?

Well, there is a lot to write about, and I will at some point, but today is just a day to share with you my considerations for the five very best Chiefs seasons ever, ranked from five all the way up to No. 1 (Bet you can't guess what that season was!...)

So without further adieu, here is

The Best Kansas City Chiefs Seasons Ever

5. 1966

As poor as the Chiefs have been through their fifty years with really making anything happen playoffs-wise, it was a bit of a challenge to come up with just five to call the best. You'll note that not on the list are fine years like 1986 (a final-regular-season win getting us a splendidly surprising playoff spot), 1991 (beating the Raiders at the end of the regular season then again the very next week in the playoffs), 2003 (a sizzling 9-0 start), or 2006 (just for what happened on that one single day: New Year's Eve of that year).

I could not refuse, however, to put the 1966 season on the list even though I personally knew nothing about it. I was five years old then and just paid no attention at all to any of this. I do know that we hammered the defending AFL champion Bills in the playoff game for the AFL title, and I do know that the win catapulted us into the very first Super Bowl of them all. Only thing is we got hammered ourselves by the Packers.

4. 1990

Yes, this was a year when the Chiefs suffered not one but two of the team's most devastating losses of all-time. Yes, two in one year. How did it make the list?

Well, it was because outside of those two losses, really, everything about this year was ethereal. We'd just come out of the first full year of the Carl Peterson-Marty Schottenheimer era, 1989, when we played well and actually finished with a winning record. What a refreshing thing to have happen after the thoroughly atrocious 70's and 80's.

We watched Derrick Thomas explode on everyone. We watched Christian Okoye rumble over everyone. And we watched Steve DeBerg have the season of his life, throwing for I think was 23 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions. What? Steve DeBerg?

The clincher about DeBerg was how he played down the stretch, with that broken finger. Do you remember how he played like crazy to win the final regular season game at Chicago, with the cast on that finger waggling around? He played like it didn't even bother him. His sublimely gutsy play for our Chiefs is one of the prime reasons this season is on the list.

Sadly, it isn't higher because of those two awful games. One was at home against Seattle when Derrick Thomas was busy setting the single game record for sacks with seven, only to have Dave Kreig elude the eighth and throw a game-winning TD pass with no time left to win it for the Seahawks. I don't think I'd ever been as shellshocked as I was immediately after any regular season Chiefs game as I was after that one.

If we'd have closed this game out like we should have, we'd have had a 12-4 record instead of 11-5, would've won the division and avoided having to play Miami on the road in the first game of the playoffs. That by the way was the second game, one in which we were ahead 16-3 as the fourth quarter began, and, well... Ahem, we're only talking about the good things about this season, aren't we.

I have to add one of those good things that makes '90 so special is that it started an unprecedented string of six straight playoff appearances for the Chiefs. It would've been eight if not for one missed chip-shot field goal that would've allowed the Chiefs to back into a playoff spot they themselves blew a chance to get in 1996, but still.

3. 1993

This was Joe Montana's first year of two with the Chiefs, and what a phenomenally enjoyable year it was for Chiefs fans. Right away the team did exceptionally well, going a long way to show that Joe still had it. The team never lost two games in a row and won the division. Joe got help through the year from also-very-fine quarterback Dave Kreig, but overall he really did a lot to reinvigorate Chiefs football, not just for Kansas City and Chiefs fans, but for all of the NFL and professional sports.

He certainly showed his skills where he made the biggest name for himself, in the postseason. First he took care of Pittsburgh, throwing a strike to Tim Barnett in the back of the endzone on the last play of regulation to lead to the overtime win. Then he carved up Houston when their defense was all we heard about the entire week.

There have been only two seasons in Chiefs history -- yes, alas, it is true, only two -- that have seen at least two playoff wins by the Chiefs, and this was one of them.

2. 1981

What a magical, magical season this was. We didn't make the playoffs because we just weren't good enough, but even so, the thrill of seeing our Chiefs blast out to an 8-4 record was unparalleled. Just because we'd been so pathetically mediocre for so long. Just because we'd utterly pasted the Raiders twice. Just because we were playing with such heart and soul.

And just because we got to marvel at Joe Delaney.

One of the things I've discovered in Lamar Hunt's biography is just how tragic our Chiefs history is. I'd known about what happened to Mack Lee Hill, and there was the stunning Derrick Thomas accident, and of course this year there was the Jovan Belcher horrificness, but I hadn't any idea about this young player Stone Johnson during the earliest Chiefs years, a player who broke his neck in a game and later died.

Of course there was Joe Delaney. The heroically tragic nature of what happened to him makes this season easily one of the most bittersweet, and every one of even the most nominal Chiefs fans knows it.

1. 1969

To no surprise to anyone, the one year we won the Super Bowl is tops, by far.

Yes, I could say a bazillion things everyone already knows about it. I'm not, just because the placement here is exactly as it should be -- nothing could keep it from being most justifiably right here. I just don't have to try to argue for it. Much of why is just for you to see all the other picks of mine for No.s 2 to 5 for you to enjoy revving up your thinking about whether you agree or disagree.

I have to say it is hard not to regale the masses with the splendor that is Super Bowl IV: Jan's long field goals crushing the Vikings' spirit early, Hank's ingenious game plan famously highlighted by his delightful sideline loquacity ("65 toss power trap"!), that Dawson-to-Taylor quick-out touchdown pass to clinch it - a play indelibably planted in our minds as the hallmark of Chiefs greatness.

Well, I guess I did right there end up saying some things about this, but there is so much more.
I'll just finally add this.

I whine and moan and complain about the terrible stuff that has happened to the Chiefs through the years. But hey, we're entitled to do that. I go crazy with my obsessively querulous inquiries into what exactly is going on over there at Arrowhead. But hey, it's a hobby of mine. I'm convinced it is something, something: the most rotten luck or the dullest thickheadedness about drafting a quarterback or some curse or some conspiracy or the due punishment for H.L's bigamy coming back to kill us year after year after year.

But there is still 1969.

We had everything going for us, everything came together as it should, and we turned the football world upside down.

No matter what, that year vindicated Lamar Hunt and all his hard work to bring a fine thing to the people of Kansas City, as well as -- even more significantly for that matter -- to all who work for or just plain enjoy professional sports.

And I'd say that is a lot more people than even that. So far the book makes it clear, but, hey, I'm still reading...
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(For the record: As you know I am reading Michael MacCambridge's biography of Lamar Hunt, and in his narrative about the 1990's he pointed out that the Montana-Young "revenge" game happened in 1994. I had originally put that it had happened in 1993. I've since excised that reference from the 1993 portion of this blog post. My apologies.)

No Chiefs Game Today During the Playoffs - As Usual

There is not only no Chiefs playoff game today, but there are two other things the Chiefs do not have today, a scant one week after the end of the 2012 regular season.

Romeo Crennel and Scott Pioli.

Crennel was fired straight away on Monday, and as such became this year's fired Chiefs coach. You might recall Todd Haley had that honor last year. The Chiefs went out and snapped up Andy Reid who'd been fired by the Eagles, and as usual I just don't know what to think about this. I pay the littlest attention to any of it, but what I know is this.

Positive: He led the Eagles through one of its greatest periods of success, the early 2000's, even reaching the Super Bowl one of those years. Negative: He was just fired from a team I'd been hearing was abysmal this year -- how much of that was Reid? Again, I really work hard not to know stuff that'll get me to think this guy is just a hopeless retread, because there is still that part of me deep inside that reeeally wants Clark to go down deep somewhere and get the guy he knows is the next Bill Walsh. Except that would require him to know football.

Again, I only say this not to disrespect Clark at all -- I mean, hey, maybe Clark is taking care of the business he needs to, maybe because of his record of success with the Eagles Reid can be the leader we so desperately need and get the coaching job done that so needs to be done here. So as it is we just need to wait and see.

The Chiefs took a bit longer to let Pioli go, this inevitability being finalized Friday. All I can think about regarding Scott was two things: 2009 draft, and the most tepid front office leadership. When he came in everyone was high on him remaking the Chiefs in the champion calibur Patriots mold. Except that Pioli was just really bad at it. It is sad because as it looks, for now, his 2010, 2011, and 2012 drafts actually look pretty decent.

But oh that 2009 draft.  Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch. It seemed he thought he'd oh-so-cleverly turn the tables on everyone and get whoever he thought would just be Chiefs studs, and it was an unmitigated catastrophe.

1st round: Tyson Jackson -- What are you doing? Everyone knew he shouldn't have been picked that high, and Jackson has been predictably mediocre at best, far from what a No. 3 pick overall has got to give a franchise. We simply didn't get the guy who could've really been beast for us and instead have a guy who's done work any decent free agent could've been doing.

2nd round: pick traded for Matt Cassel -- My brother back east, a New England follower, was the first to tell me -- above the hopeful din of all Chiefs fans -- that this guy was just not that good. I was really really really hoping he was wrong. We all thought he was during the 2010 season when he played way over his head with a healthy team going against a weak schedule. Then came the final game that year against the Raiders and the playoff game against the Ravens and the emperor was seen with absolutely no clothes on. Too bad Pioli didn't notice because the last two years have been quarterback hell for the Chiefs.

3rd to 6th round: a bunch of nobodies. I really don't think any of those guys played a single down for the Chiefs. (I'm sure they did but I don't remember.) I don't even know any of their names right now.

7th round: last pick of them all Ryan Succop -- This guy sometimes makes amazing field goals, but other times -- like way too many times this year -- he completely doinks easy ones. "What a great player this Mr. Irrelevant is!" is what I've always heard, but after this year, he's scaring me.

One rotten draft, especially one as utterly disasterous as this one was, can kill a general manager.

At this point I don't know what the Chiefs are doing with their personnel manager. Are they bringing in some seasoned guy? I think I'd heard somewhere Bill Polian was going to help out. Is Andy Reid doing it? I try not to pay any attention because unless they bring on a resurrected Bill Walsh, something about it will just make me mad.

As it is, I want to commence my year-end feature, the best and the worst of past Chiefs seasons. I will tell you that I've finally started reading Michael MacCambridge's biography of Lamar Hunt. It is thoroughly engaging and I've discovered some interested things, but not really substantive enough to see what's what with the history of the Chiefs. I've got lots of reading to do yet.

It is that history -- 50 years worth this year -- that is the occasion for the first episode, this one "Top Five Worst Seasons - Playoff Runs (Or Lack Thereof)" I had thought, what were the absolute worst seasons in Chiefs history, but I realized a few of them were how shocked we were by playoff losses. The regular season itself may have been splendid -- but then we went into the playoffs. As you can easily see, all of the following are pukifying one-and-out affairs after their prospects were the most promising.

So without further ado, here are Dave Beck's

Top Five Worst Kansas City Chiefs Seasons - Playoff Run (Or Lack Thereof) Edition

(And please, feel free to vehemently disagree. But I do think your own assessment will be pretty close.)

5. 1968

The Chiefs had roared to a 12-2 record, yet their arch rival Raiders did exactly the same leading to a playoff game that had the Raiders shredding the Chiefs 41-6. Because I was too young to know anything about this game first-hand I can't offer any emotional connection to the loss, but that it was to the Raiders and we'd been beaten so badly I can't imagine how this couldn't make the top five list.

4. 1994

We'd started off wonderfully, keeping up our fine play heading to another playoff appearance. I remember beating Bill Belichick's Browns and feeling good about our chances when we suffered two stunningly crushing, very close losses to the Seahawks and Broncos. We barely got into the playoffs after a nifty final regular season victory over the Raiders in Los Angeles, which was Joe Montana's last win of his career.

But in Miami our three best players made critical errors to keep us from having a solid chance to win. Montana himself threw a terrible interception when we were at the Miami two-yard line. Marcus Allen allowed a Miami defender to just take the ball right out of his arms after a good catch for good yardage. And Derrick Thomas committed an awful defensive holding call on a Miami 3rd-and-long when we really needed the ball back. The final score: 27-17, and it was actually much closer than that.

3. 1995

We'd rocketed to a 13-3 regular season record and faced a very mediocre Colts team at home when Marty Schottenheimer had one of his worst postseason coaching meltdowns (and that's saying something). All the bogging down our offense did was inexplicable except that he just never had it in him to win playoff games.

There was no reason Lin Elliot should have had to have the opportunity to miss those three field goals, but then I wasn't surprised thinking back to the time when I thought, "Hmm, we're picking up Lin Elliot who Jimmie Johnson of the Cowboys summarily fired after he messed up too many times -- nah, there's just no way Elliot's going to cost us any major game." Well, Lin, the third worst Chiefs playoff loss, here's to you. Final score: 10-7, and I still ::whimper:: every time I see that number combination.

2. 1997

This playoff game was so ugly and so wrenching that it could've easily been No. 1 on the list. The only reason it isn't is because we all know what No. 1 is.

How many awful awful awfully awful things were there about this game. From the minute referee Jerry Markbreit took the field I just knew. In fact, I did what I did with Lin Elliot: "Jerry Markbreit has been such a killer ref to us, there's just no way he could be that to us today. It just ain't happenin'." It happened.

The Broncos put illegal substances on their jerseys to gain a clear advantage at the line of scrimmage, and were allowed to totally get away with it. There was the thoroughly cheap holding penalty on a made Pete Stoyanovich field goal (think about it, how many times is anyone called for holding on a field goal attempt) that required him to kick it again only to have it bonk off the upright. That was so critical because we ended up losing 14-10.

We could have even won the thing in the last seconds when we were close to the Broncos goal line, if only Elvis had hit Kimble Anders in the flat instead of throwing that easily swatted-away duck. That was about as painful as it can get, except for...

1. 1971

One of the worst playoff losses any team could ever have to endure, that record long overtime affair that forever jabs at the hearts of anyone affectionately connected to the Chiefs. This was probably, man-for-man, an even better Chiefs team than the '69 team that won it all. We were not only better than the Dolphins, but we played better than the Dolphins and had chance after chance after chance to win the thing.

In fact, we were too good. The reason is because one of the key plays that killed us was a wonderfully designed fake field goal run that went awry because snapper Bobby Bell thought kicker Jan Stenarud didn't get the call because he looked so good at pretending like he was really going to try to kick the field goal instead. So Bell snaps it for the field goal when everyone else is preparing for the fake-out play, and of course everything gets messed up, Jan misses the field he wasn't supposed to be kicking, and, well...

I didn't see every single thing in the game that day because it was Christmas day and as a ten year-old boy I was playing with all my cousins at my uncle's house. But I do remember one haunting image, I'll never forget it. After Ed Podolak had already had one of the greatest single-game performances in NFL history, he still went crazy on Miami running that punt back in overtime, all the way down the sideline deeeep into Miami territory. Of course again the impossible followed, Stenarud missing another field goal that would have won the game.

Instead the Dolphins took it 27-24, another of those number combinations when put together just make any inveterate Chiefs fan grimace. The greatest irony is that if we'd won, and gone on to beat Baltimore the next week, we'd have faced Dallas in the Super Bowl.

I could think of a dozen other things to say about each one. If I had some time I may do some more research and flesh these out sharing other items of note. Yeah, I know, why -- they're all so depressing. But hey, we've got to commiserate. Us Chiefs fans are so used to it. To a large extent it's all we got.

But because it is so tough to take I'm going to avoid doing any honorable mentions with this piece. Some may bring up 1992's ridiculous shutout loss to the Chargers, or 2003's shocking loss to the Colts when we just barely could not keep up with Peyton Manning, or any of a few others. See, that's one of those things that is just as depressing, how few playoff appearances we even have to choose from. We'll be getting to the worst Chiefs seasons overall in two weeks, but next week it'll be fun.

Next week since we'll still not be in the playoffs, I plan to put down what I think are the five best Chiefs seasons in their 50 year history. It hasn't been all awful through the years. So until then...

Yay Clark for getting Andy Reid who'll find a way to get us a good quarterback so we'll win for once...!

Yay!
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Chiefs at Broncos - Week 17 - Record: 2-14

When I started this blog back in 2005, I envisioned just writing a bit about each game, enjoy how we were doing, revel in recognizing the best of our team and lament about the not-as-best with honest and clear assessments. Each game would be about the game and pretty just the game, and maybe I'd add some about where we were at in relation to the rest of the teams and our playoff possibilities to the extent that I knew.

It'd be fun.

Well, this year it has been an entirely different endeavor. I've actually barely talked about items within each game, because the implications of what is going on right now with this team overall have been so pressing. This year it has purely been therapy, because I am such a passionate Chiefs fan and the Chiefs of 2012 were so utterly, astoundingly, sublimely wretched that this writing has probably been the only thing that keeps me sane through it all.

I've never written in this blog as much as I have this year. I've had to.

Here're the things that I simply have to splurch onto this post, just because I have to. I can't help it.

The abysmalosity of this season, wrapped up today in a typically underwhelming hammering by the Broncos:

We reached (and far surpassed) the minus-200 point differential plateau, or Marianas-sized trench as it should be. Very few teams reach it. Only the worst of the worst do. We barely beat two sucky teams this year, while they were saying Denver's only three losses were to three of the best in the NFL.

I think they said Denver had five players with 40+ receptions on the year. I'm pretty sure we didn't have one. I could think of a dozen different statistical evidences of just how atrocious the Chiefs performance was this year. There are so many it is hard to bring them to mind to put them down. Things like other team's quarterbacks who've thrown for five or six touchdowns in a game. I think we've had, what, eight or nine TD passes all year. Look it up! I'm sure it's close to that.

We were 0-12 against the conference this year. Think about that. I'd bet in the history of the NFL only winless teams like the 2008 Lions or 1976 Bucs could claim that. There're probably a couple 1-15 teams whose sole win was against an opposite conference team, but if you looked it up I'd bet only the worst of the worst went winless against every other team in their own conference.

Our best receiver is our punter. While the Broncos were making one-handed grabs for touchdowns left and right, our receivers were bumbling about as usual. But with the second-to-last punt on the day, Dustin Colquitt had a snap sail on him and he reached up with his right hand and -- wow! -- what a spectacular one-handed grab! No touchdown though, just another punt. Yay.

Meanwhile to get to his last punt of the day, we had 4th-and-2 with two-minutes left. And we punt the ball. At that point Denver kneels for three straight plays. Sure with the score 38-3 it didn't matter a whole lot, but it was just an indication of how lame this team is, especially its coaching. Romeo Crennel said he was proud of his men for never giving up. Yay. He still can't respect them enough to go for it on that 4th-and-2 just to make the statement, to stay in there and give it your all even when all is lost. Even though it was Brady Quinn, still. The crutch that Crennel had for a bad leg meant more than that in this game.

I saw earlier this week that Matt Cassell was dead last in QB rating, 66-point-something. I'd seen Brady Quinn's mark even worse, 60-point-something. I'm sure it didn't get any better today. So there ya go. The Chiefs 2012 quarterback performance. I just don't know how you could get any worse than that. I mean, I don't know how they arrange the quarterback rating, but I'm pretty sure that to get a rating lower than 60 you've got to complete only three passes for minus-18 yards, throw six interceptions, and get sacked seven times. Wait, didn't that happen to us a couple games this year?...

Otherwise, a couple of playing-against-Denver memories.

Remember the final game of the season three years ago, in Denver? We sucked then too but we'd had Scott Pioli and Todd Haley for just one full year, the first year of the rebuilding process? Remember that? We went into Denver and pasted them. Derrick Johnson had something like 14 pick-six's. I exaggerate, but if you remember that game you know what I'm talking about. It was splendid. Well, this year was supposed to be the full fruition of what was supposed to be, what was supposed to be coming out of that game. Today it should be us going into the playoffs with home-field advantage throughout, not Denver. But then, they have Peyton Manning and we've had Matt Cassel. Yeeeee-ah.

Remember that game late in the 1990 season, the one against a reeling Denver team when Steve DeBerg hit Rob Thomas and he ran up the sideline for a game-sealing touchdown? I treasure that play in my heart because it just represented a turning point when the Chiefs got to be great for a while after Denver had for so many years. In fact in the 90's the Chiefs had the best regular season record of any NFL team except the Bills. Better than the Cowboys, the 49ers, the Packers, and the Broncos. Except all of those teams had Super Bowls wins that decade and the Chiefs had... well, you can guess. So now we're back to really sucking and the Broncos dominating.

During the gamecast today they'd said Crennel is as good as gone, but Pioli may stay. Whatever the case, this Chiefs team needs leadership like nothing else. One of those critically wonderful things that someone like Peyton Manning provides is that leadership. So it can't be emphasized enough:

If Clark Hunt is going to build a winning team here, he's got to know football to make the best football happen in Kansas City. (See last post.)

If Scott Pioli is going to show that he's all about that leadership he's got to get out of that funk that it is about him and make it about Kansas City.

As it is those two have got an uphill climb because the most harrowing thing of all is not even that we had the crappiest of crappy seasons. It is that for the first time in however many years there isn't a marquee franchise quarterback in the draft at the time we're picking No. 1.

Every Chiefs fan knows how much we need a drafted and developed quarterback, and for the umpteen-gazillionth time that guy is just not going to be there when we draft. And we're drafting No. 1. How stinkin' rotten is that Curse.

As it looks right now we're faced with picking some other quarterback off the retread pile for the -- okay, I won't write "umpteen-gazillioth time" again -- and seeing what happens with that. But it won't mean anything until we

Get that leadership.

I truly believe that leadership deficit is what is killing us. Look at our talent. It seems others think we've got the talent too, because at the beginning of the year most thought we'd contend. But look what happened. At least a dozen of our best players just played waaay crappier than anyone thought. In any normal instance maybe a few of them would be crappier than people think, but for us this year there were that many? That's a result of a leadership deficit.

And while Clark Hunt is getting football, Scott Pioli needs to get on with hiring that fantastic coach and ultimately drafting and developing that quarterback. Please-oh-please, Chiefs fans are begging you, don't get a retread coach -- sheez we're already faced with having to get a retread quarterback from somewhere.

For cryin' out loud, 1987 is the last time a Chiefs D&D quarterback won a game for us. There ya go, there's another stat to look up. It'd require scouring games and some counting or just some computer wizadry by some sabermetrics guy. But here it is: Which team is second-to-last with number of wins by a their own D&D quarterback since 1987? That is, since that September game in 1987 -- 25 years ago -- the Chiefs have had zero wins from their own D&D quarterback. How many is the next fewest? It's got to be at least 20 or 30, and if it's any higher it's just that much more of a brutally ugly testament to the Chiefs abject futility in this area.

So how does Pioli do that if he can't get one with the No. 1 pick? Could he trade down? Is there any way he can get a Ricky Williams-type trade going, that one where I think it was the Saints traded all their picks to get Williams in the draft? Why can't Pioli show some leadership ganas and swing that kind of a deal, then we can get lots of picks and still get a Matt Barkley or Geno Smith at No. 17 or somewhere like that? Look what the Hershel Walker trade did for Dallas. Is there no team who's salivating over the guy we'd otherwise get at No. 1 but will do us no good, some team that will give up their entire farm system for that pick?

Whatever Pioli (or yeah, whoever the GM is) does, it has got to be about what the Chiefs here need more than anything else.

LEADERSHIP.

When we get that, then we'll contend.

As it is, I've got a lot more banging around in my head, and just not enough space here or time right now to get to it. So without the Chiefs in the playoffs this year yet again, I thought I'd use the next three weekends to blog on three things, just to reminisce about these first 50 years of Chiefs football.

Next week I'm planning to put in a blog post about what I consider the five worst Chiefs seasons when they were in the playoffs. Oh the heartbreaks from those years give us a lot to choose from there. Anyway, you'll get to commiserate with me then, and you can agree, disagree -- it'll be great fun.

The following week I'm planning to put in a blog post about what I consider the five best overall seasons in Chiefs history. That will definitely be the funnest. Good wholesome reminiscing then.

The week after that I'll put in what should be my last blog of the year: the five worst Chiefs seasons overall. I had to split up the "Worst Seasons" category because there were bad playoff results and just plain bad seasons.

Guess what'll be No. 1 on that list.

But then, from that point, we've just got to hope it'll get better. It looks so grim right now, and there's certainly no reason it can't get worse -- but wow, it has just got to be hard for it to get any worse than it was this year. The Curse simply can't be that awful can it?

Let's just hope once again that to get going Clark truly really actually does

Football.
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