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

There is something in me that considers it my faithful duty to let those who may be a bit unclear about why a team does well or not well why precisely it is that is the way it happens. Oh I admit I'm not right down in there, I don't know all the details, I'm not trying to boast at all about being some football genius. Come on, I'm just a measly sports team fanatic blogging like a nutball just like any other guy with a keyboard.

But I am a passionate Chiefs fan and committed cynic. That means I work real hard to bravely face brutal truths. I've got a job to do dammit.

I will get to what I think the key reason is that we lost this one, but first I cannot refuse to offer something quite positive. Indeed it is wonderfully positive, considering I had thoughts of a 63-0 headache today. Literally I thought it would be that bad.

Instead we took the Patriots right down to the wire. Sure some of our strong performance could be simply because Tom Brady was knocked out early and never returned. But there is tremendous promise in what I saw today.

Tony Gonzalez was his stellar self. New offensive coordinator Chan Gailey did great mixing things up a bit--finally! Our defense did phenomenally in light of how young and inexperienced it is. This rookie back Jamaal Charles showed some spunk. And hey, wow, I can't believe Brodie Croyle had some ganas out there and made some plays. Damon Huard relieved him after a shoulder injury and got us a clutch TD pass.

Two key notes to make here. Yeah, some brutal reality.

First, what's with the inconsistency of Dwayne Bowe? In the first half it was the Randy Moss show, he snagged everything with a pigskin on it anywhere around him. Bowe, the guy with definite Randy Moss-class big-time potential, handled every pigskin thing near him as though he had been dipped in grease. In the second half Bowe wiped some of the grease off, but he's got to get it all off if we hope to have any success at all this season. Really, he's all we've got at wide receiver. We've got to hope we get production from this new guy from Baltimore, Devard Darling--the guy who caught that big-time 50 yard pass to get us down to the New England five yard-line late.

Secondly, ahem. Yes, here's where the brutal truth comes in. Plug your ears if you don't want to hear it, especially since you should know what it is. You should know because it is still the bane of our beloved Chiefs team.

Whimper.

Our poor, sad, woeful offensive line.

We're trying to patch that right side with journeymen and fill that critical left tackle spot with an extraordinarily untested rookie. I will hope the very best for these guys, you know I will root for them with every fiber of my being.

But please allow me tell you what I thought as Darling was galloping for 50 yards with under a minute left in the game. All that was in my head was "Score. Score. Score. Just score the touchdown. You've got to score..." This is because of what I was thinking as he was dragged down just five yards from getting us that game-tying TD. What was going on in my mind? Nothing other than this:

This offensive line won't be able to get us into the end zone.

The key play among the following four was when Larry Johnson was given the ball and was stopped cold. Two, three years ago--wouldn't have happened. Would've been 17-17. Just like that.

With an OL exposed like that, the Patriots only needed to rush a couple linemen and still put pressure on the QB, and then flood the endzone with defenders knocking away anything thrown to two of the finest receivers in the league, Gonzalez and Bowe.

On the whole, however, a pretty decent start to a rebuilding effort that, really, won't start to show dividends for a couple years. We have a lot of young players and the genesis of a super defense, at least it will be fun watching them grow.