Chargers at Chiefs - Week 15 - Record: 2-12

How about just a smorgasbord of the wild crazy things that are banging around in my head after this madness.

Not too many times does a team lose a game up 21-10 at the two-minute warning. I know I could go on and on about how such a crappy team as this could allow such a thing to happen. I won't because what I see is a team working like crazy out there to win games, yet their luck is just awful. Yes, our defense should have stopped them, but you can't fail to secure an on-sides kick and expect a young defense to just jaunt back out on the field and not be at least a bit tired.

The key was our damned offensive line, again. Yeah, I'm layin' on them, as it seems I always do. But I'm sorry, you can probably see it is justified when twice on third and inches we can't get that clutch first down that would prolong drives so the opponent wouldn't even have a shot at getting two quick scores in under two minutes of gametime left.

The officiating was not the best either, and while we got helped by some cheesy calls that went against the Chargers, we got clobbered the most when it sure seemed like Jamaal Charles had that first down and we got a terrible spot. Those are the kinds of things we needed. But, oh well...

The key is that we're just not a team that can get the job done. Tyler Thigpen, for his part, threw the ball okay and did those spiffy quarterback draws again, but with 31 seconds left and a great chance for us to get in field goal range, he ran around on the first play getting only a few yards and losing tons of time. Our kicker then was handed a very makeable 50 yard shot at the win, and that went wide left--alas, that kicker curse continues.

I've been reading David Harris' The Genius about 49ers coach Bill Walsh. My goodness, the number of times his team had awful losses like this one when rebuilding, it almost crushed him before he could do anything. I don't think Herm Edwards has the intellectual gravitas as Walsh, but I know he has the systematic and emotional wherewithal to put a team together.

See, that's really the key. I like Edwards' "spread offense," that's great and all, but it is clear from The Genius-- and it is obvious from looking at this Chiefs team-- that a coach with a brilliant game plan is not nearly enough.

Ya gotta have the guns. And all the pieces need to work together so finely. This is axiomatic.

I think Edwards can accomplish this, really, but this young team must come together and Carl Peterson has got to do the best damn job drafting and developing he's ever done.

So yeah. Peterson is getting his chance handed to him, with a shot at high picks in each round. Hey, we still have a shot at the top pick--hyeah, we're still in the hunt for worst record in the NFL. Of course the Lions have that distinction at this point, still 0-14. Don't think we've got a real shot at it? In case you don't recall, the Lions have lost 21 of 22.

Last year they were starting out okay, then reeled off six straight losses before beating, yes, you got it, the Chiefs. Now they're 0-15 since then. So yeah. The Lions last 22 games, all losses except that one. They can certainly beat the Chiefs.

Here's to just hoping yet another crappy demoralizing loss is inspiring and not destroying. Maybe the early 1980's Niners story can be the early 2010's story for the Chiefs.
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