Chiefs at Jets - Week 17 - Record: 4-12

I was ready to watch the first and only prime-time national broadcast of a Chiefs game all year, and instead there on the TV was Tennessee-Indy. Ahh, yes, flexed right off the air. They've had the Patriots on prime-time, what, 57 times this year?

Actually, I'd known this game was going to get flexed out back in October. The powers-that-be will hand over their grandmothers to the Janjaweed if it means getting the Patriots on all networks as they were Saturday night. The Chiefs, meanwhile... But who can blame them. It's a no-brainer, showcasing a team that has four times the number of wins on the season than the Chiefs do.

And so it goes. Last night the Pats set the record for wins in a 16-game season at the Meadowlands, and the next day at the very same place the Chiefs let the Jets run right down the field in OT to beat them. The ignomy of it all.

Speaking of the Chiefs and Patriots, here's a goofy stat, just for fun since this is it for our season. Go back three NFL weekends in which the Chiefs won and the Patriots lost. Now if we're talking three deep in which the Patriots won and Chiefs lost, that's two weekends ago. But for Chiefs won - Patriots lost? Here ya are:

One such weekend back (in other words, the last time this happened): Last year, November 5-- Chiefs beat the Rams and Patriots lose to the Colts.

Two such weekends back: End of the 2005 season, January 1-- Chiefs over the Bengals, Patriots downed by the Dolphins.

Here it is, three such weekends back: Middle of that 2005 season, well over two years ago, November 27-- Chiefs beat the Patriots. Since that day, when it seemed surely the Patriots were on the downside and the Chiefs had only bright upside ahead of them, the Patriots record (including postseason) has been 35-7. The Chiefs record has been 16-22. Abyssmally pukifying.

As it is for now, we set our own team record for consecutive losses with nine (and counting as we go into next year). We tied the team record with most losses in a season.

What is it, by the way, with years ending in "7"? Get this:

1967 - We just come off playing in the first ever Super Bowl, and this year we get blown out by a dominant Raiders team. We don't even make the playoffs.

1977 - Arguably the worst Chiefs year ever. We go 2-12 with two head coaches neither of whom are ever heard from again. Need I say more.

1987 - We can't even get good scabs to come in and play well enough for this mess to mean anything. Remember when we hired Frank Ganz to head coach merely on the strength of a phenomenal special teams performance the year before against the Steelers that got us into the playoffs for the first time in eons? Yes, I try to forget too.

1997 - Just as bad, really, as the horribly wretched years in which we lost a lot, this year we win a lot, refuse to give up a second half touchdown for practically the entire season, and then in the playoffs against the Broncos we give up a second half TD that turns out to be the game-winner because Stoyanovich's FG attempt bonked off the upright and later, with seconds to play, Grbac just doesn't see Anders wide open in the flat near the goal line. Okay, yes, I'm being a bit maniacal about it, but hey, I'm a Chiefs fan. It's okay.

2007 - Why say anything more about it? It was all there just now before your eyes.

What a difference a year makes. Remember last year, last weekend of play? We were going gah-gah when our 1 in 16 chance came through and we miraculously squeezed into the playoffs. Ahh, memories of Santonio Holmes diving into the end zone, Joe Nedney whacking that FG through in OT, and of course Larry Johnson running all over Jacksonville.

This year what we've got left is two things that are decent, so I'll leave you for the off-season with them. Hey, in my gruesome curmudgeonly soul is a mildly positive streak...

1. We've got a high draft spot, I think it's something like four or five. That's cool. I must say I have tremendous cynicism about hoping in the draft. Memories of Percy Snow and Trezelle Jenkins fill my mind, as well as visions of stratospheric picks like Tony Mandarich and Ryan Leaf dancing in the air. I just always have this dread we'll get another one of those.

But yeah, can't be so pessimistic. After all we did get a great wide-out in Dwayne Bowe last year, so the very best can happen too.

Finally, the very best thing to just think about until September (and to think about often) is that

2. The Chiefs have and have always had the best damn tight end the world of pro football has ever known. Tony Gonzales picked up the record for most catches ever by a tight end, so at least we can take great pride in that.

At least Santa gave us that nice gift a long time ago. Here's to opening a few more of those gifts in April.