Final Note - The NFL's Revenge Is Still In Healthy Seething Mode
In case you didn't notice, for a third straight year and fifth of the last six, no Old-AFL team is playing in the Super Bowl.
I did write at length about this last year, but it still blows me away that those Old-AFL teams (which will henceforth just be known as the AFL) are still sucking big-time when it comes to anything Super Bowlish. Hey, they can't even get there. Just so you know what those teams are, to refresh: Kansas City, Tennessee, Buffalo, Oakland, New York, New England, Denver, San Diego, Miami, and Cincinnati.
When you look at these teams, particularly as a big fan of that whole AFL thing, you can't help but think of them with a great deal of pride. How they rose from their humble 1960's beginnings, how the "Foolish Club" managed to wiggle their way into the vaunted NFL with the merger of 1970, how they brought so many cool innovations into what is the NFL today.
But if you remember, the "Old-NFL" really didn't take too kindly to the smart-ass Jets beating the Colts in 68. And they really really didn't like the Chiefs doing it to the Vikings the very next year when they blabbed all over the place that the Jets win was the flukiest of flukes. It took the Chiefs to show that the AFL was for real.
Thing is, it was almost as if the Chiefs blew it by rubbing the NFL's face in it.
Here's one more evidence I've assembled that shows just how inept the AFL teams have been on-the-whole since that Chiefs Super Bowl win. Here's the question, think about this: Since the merger, exactly how many AFL teams have won titles in two different time periods with two wholly different teams?
Just in case you don't want to think that hard, I can give you the answer.
Zero.
Here's the brutal truth.
The Raiders came the closest. They won in 76, then again in 80 and 83. You could almost say they half-way did it, but there were guys from the 76 team on the 80 team and guys from the 80 team on the 83 team. The 76 guys were much more scarce on the 80 team because that team was more of that earlier 70's fine Raiders team eventually getting their long-sought-after title, but the 83 team had a few more 80 guys on it, and both were quarterbacked and coached by the same guy both years (Jim Plunkett and Tom Flores, respectively).
Other than that, absolutely nada. There have been only three other AFL teams to even win a Super Bowl since 1970. Miami won in 72 and 73, but only those two years. Denver won in 97 and 98, but only then. And New England won in 01, 03, and 04, and only then. Since 1970 KC, Ten, Buf, NY, SD, and Cin all have big fat Super Bowl oh-fers.
Now let's look at the Old-NFL teams in this regard.
Start with Pittsburgh, who won in the 70's (74, 75, 78, 79) AND the aughts (05, 08). Again, two totally different eras with two totally completely different teams and everything.
Then there's Dallas, who won in the 70's (71, 77) and then in the 90's (92, 93, 95).
Then there're the New York Giants, who won in the 80's (86, 90) and the aughts (07).
Then there's Indianapolis, who won in 70 when in Baltimore, then again in 06.
Then there's San Francisco, who could be argued to have been so good for so long that it was one good solid team effort from 81 to 94. Even though the organization that sustained that excellence was generally consistently stable throughout, you can't deny that the 81 team was completely and totally different from the 94 team.
Then there's Washington, who in some ways was kind of like the Raiders situation in that the Super Bowls were all relatively close together. That is, the "different era" qualification wasn't as clear-cut as the other NFLers. After all they were all coached by Joe Gibbs. But the 82 team was truly a completely different team than the 91 team as far as on-field personnel. The time differential from first to last for the Raiders: eight years. That for the Redskins: ten.
Then there's Green Bay, who may not count if we're just talking about Super Bowls since the merger. Their first Super Bowl wins were before it, in 66 and 67. They won it again in 96. But they could very well make this academic if they win this Sunday, which would make them the first team to win Super Bowls in three completely different eras.
So really, for all intents and purposes, the history of Super Bowlosity has been very ugly for the AFLers. AFL teams with championship greatness in at least two wholly different eras: zero. NFL teams with that kind of greatness: seven. Overall tally since that 1970 merger -- NFL: 31. AFL: 10. Oh, and that 31st hasn't even happened yet, but will this Sunday, Green Bay or Pittsburgh.
I've spoken of Odin's revenge as clobbering the Chiefs, but it can't be denied it has extended to the entire AFL. It is indeed just as much the NFL's revenge, still resplendent in all its rage.
And since this enterprise is only about the Chiefs and the Chiefs doing great Super Bowl kinds of things, I think it is wholly incumbent on the Chiefs to make up for it. So I must add a few notes about what the Chiefs must do to break the spell, to vanquish the curse that has befallen the entire endeavor that Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt worked so hard to bring about.
I usually finish up the season with a note to the current Chiefs general manager, and this is no different. Thing is, I've pretty much already said what needs to be said last week. This is just an elaboration of that one thing.
I went ahead and looked at other team's quarterback situations as far as their success in drafting and developing (D&D) that one key guy. I made an initial attempt to go through the draft histories of every team in the NFL, but that proved to be too daunting. Sure I'd have liked to have seen what the success rate of other teams is like, but I know there'd be those teams with great success like Peyton Manning for Indianapolis, and the busts like Tim Couch for Cleveland the very next year. Every team has their booms and busts in this area, I get that.
I just want the Chiefs to be among the most successful ones, and it is clear they've been among the lamest. Once again, the key is that the Chiefs never, not a single time in their fifty year history have ever drafted and developed a quarterback who's been worth a damn.
So what I did do is look at each team in our division. I noted only the QB's drafted in the top seven for every year since the time of the merger.
If you'll allow me, by team:
Denver: They didn't pick John Elway in the draft, but in 83 Elway announced he would not play for Indianapolis, so the Broncos traded for him right away and it was as if he'd been drafted by them. He went on to have a great career, winning them two Super Bowls. Other than that, the Broncos did draft Jay Cutler with the 11th overall pick in 06, and he led the Bears this year to the NFC title game. They had a high-pick bust in Tommy Maddux in 92 (25th overall), but they got so much mileage out of Elway that it didn't much matter. So far, Denver's D&D QB situation outclasses KC's by miles.
Oakland: One of the only things that makes KC's dreadful D&D QB situation barely tolerable is that Oakland's has been just as wretched. Think Marc Wilson (15th overall in 80), Todd Marinovich (24th overall in 91), and JaMarcus Russell (1st overall in 07). I can't say I'm not unpleased about all this, as every warm-blooded Chiefs fan certainly can't. But the fact is Oakland still had great playoff and even Super Bowl success with the guys they picked up from elsewhere, much like KC has tried to do its entire existence. They got fantastic play from Jim Plunkett in the early 80's and Rich Gannon in the early 2000's. And it must be said that Ken Stabler was drafted and he did do wonderful things for the Raiders through the early 70's (including that 76 Super Bowl). That clearly gives the D&D QB situation edge to Oakland over KC.
San Diego: Funny that the Chargers are renowned for one of the greatest QB draft busts of all time, Ryan Leaf in 98, but in a twist San Diego has actually made some of the best QB draft picks of any NFL team. They got marvelous work from Dan Fouts (3rd round, 64th overall in 73). Ironically for the Chiefs they picked Trent Green in 93 in the 8th round at 222 overall. Drew Brees, a guy who got the Chargers into the playoffs, led the Saints the 09 Super Bowl title, and is considered one of the best in the game now, was plucked in 01 in the 2nd round, 32 overall. And the Chargers were somehow blessed to get the first pick in 04 which they used to get Eli Manning, but this would only get even better for the Chargers because they traded Manning for Philip Rivers and other fine players who have helped the Chargers dominate the AFC West though the 2000's. Rivers himself has become one of the best QB's in the NFL. So the D&D QB edge here? SD by light years over the Chiefs.
And now for the Chiefs. Come on, be brave now.
The only even remotely bright spot was Mike Livingston, drafted way back in 68 (just a few picks before Ken Stabler, by the way) but a guy who never emerged as a true, solid D&D guy. The catch is that no Chiefs fan can dismiss the fact that when Len Dawson went down in the middle of our Super Bowl season, Livingston held his own and carried the load, indeed quite admirably so. For that we are eternally grateful to the only guy who was ever purely Chiefs-drafted and did anything, even if it was for that one, glorious moment.
Other than that, it gets extraordinarily ugly.
We had Len Dawson go for so long and Livingston play for so long with a weak Chiefs team in the 70's that our next meaningful QB pick was all the way out in 1979. Steve Fuller was taken 23rd overall that year, and to say he was a bust is an understatement. He was very highly touted out of Clemson, and to be honest I remember two things about Fuller. One was that when the 49er scouts were checking him out they actually liked better the guy he was throwing to, Dwight Clark. The other was that in making one last effort at being a fine QB with Chicago, he was overwhelmed in the 84 NFC title game against those same 49ers. Oh well.
Bill Kenney came along and did well, but we still knew we needed someone really good to take the reins. Welcome to one of the greatest QB busts of all time, considering the character of that draft. The famous 1983 class of drafted QB's included the great John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino, as well as the very good Ken O'Brien and Tony Eason. But selected as the second of that bunch (yes, way before Kelly and Marino) was Todd Blackledge. Looking at the guy you'd have thought this was a no-brainer, the guy looked like a truly studly quarterback. But sadly, this is a team victimized by Odin's Revenge. Turned out he simply could not read NFL defenses and no amount of grand eloquent coaching could change that.
In 89 and 92 we picked up notorious forgettables Mike Elkins and Matt Blundin, respectively. Notorious because they were so highly selected (32 and 40 overall, respectively). Forgettable because, um, who are these guys again? I just remember watching those drafts and each time thinking in the depths of my horrifically scarred heart that this guy was going to be that guy, that one D&D guy who's going to be the first for the Chiefs, the first to actually make things happen out there on a regular basis. Didn't happen -- in the worst way, and I really forget why. I don't think either of them played more than a handful of games at all, ever, for anyone.
We grasped a bit for that guy down in the draft a bit with Steve Stenstrom in 95 and Pat Barnes in 97 (interestingly from Stanford and Cal respectively), but they didn't cut it. A lot because you just can't get Super Bowl quality play from a 4th round pick unless it is some spectacular Joe Montana-like miracle selection. But a lot because, you know, Odin, all that, you know...
In the late 90's, early 00's, Chiefs management seemed to think Elvis Grbac or Trent Green would be playing forever, and they didn't draft a QB again until 06, and they got -- yes the flunkie parade goes on -- Brodie Croyle. Yes, I thought the very same thing then, also... This'll be the guy. He'll get us there. He'll be the first one. Yay. As it is Croyle has started ten games since that time (that is is only ten is rotten enough) and his record is a -- I'm really trying to think of an adjective that is worse than shameful, but I can't think of it right now, I guess I don't need to though, because the record says enough -- 0-10.
Now, here's the thing. Scott Pioli and Todd Haley, here's the thing. Chiefs fans around the universe are talking to you.
That you haven't drafted and started developing a QB since the wayward Croyle attempt in 06 is bad enough. That you had to fiddle around with someone like Tyler Thigpen for so long is really awful. That you think Matt Cassel is the answer is not as bad because the guy is a gamer, plays decently, and had a fine year at least before the Raiders and Ravens games.
But it is reprehensibly inexcusable if you don't get your asses into the draft right now and get the next guy who'll take us to the promised land.
Everyone in the division and most everyone in the entire league has embarrassed us with their ability to draft and develop a good quarterback at least every once in a while.
Right now the Steelers are in the promised land for the third time with a guy at the helm who was the 11th pick overall a few years ago. It isn't some castoff or traded-for guy who'd already spent most of his professional wad with another team. Right now the Packers are in the promised land for what will probably be the first of several times with a guy who was the 24th pick overall a few years ago, a guy who is arguably the single instrumental reason they are there. It wasn't some veteran superstud who's wiping up the last vestiges of a great career -- remember how everyone hated the Packers for jettisoning Brett Favre so unceremoniously? What are those fans thinking now?
Remember how the Chiefs got great, proud play from Joe Montana at the very tail end of his career? For that I am indeed very grateful -- the dude got us to the AFC title game in 93. But that was it.
So in conclusion to this mostly fine 2010 year for the Chiefs, here's the real deal. The real deal if we actually want to be truly promised land-bound.
Mr. Pioli, get that guy you need. Get the one you know is a pro guy, a pro-game guy, a clutch player who gets the job done deep in the playoffs, and get him high. We've got, what, the 24th overall pick or something like that this year? Again Aaron Rodgers was a 24th pick. Drew Brees was 32nd. Dan Fouts was 64th for cryin' out loud.
And Mr. Haley, brush up on your quarterback coaching skills. Come on, this is why we got you -- you got the Cardinals into the Super Bowl three years ago, you are an offensive guy -- get going channeling Bill Walsh big-time because you're going to be developing him. Really Mr. Haley, this is your moment of glory, this is it. If you can't develop whoever Mr. Pioli gets you're worth little because the promised land is all we're after, and you ain't getting there without this guy.
We ain't breaking the curse unless we finally, finally get the best D&D QB guy there is for the next ten years. It is that simple.
And then, and then for the Chiefs, for all of the faithful AFLers, for the legacy of Lamar Hunt who came up with the "Super Bowl," we can avenge ourselves and restore the AFL's rightful place in pro football.
Hey, and maybe, just maybe the Chiefs will soon be the first AFL team to get that second-era Super Bowl.
Get that guy.
_
(Just a quick note about "the merger" for those who aren't quite clear on the concept. The American Football League lasted from 1960 to 1969, and throughout the decade it increased in popularity and gained more stature. The National Football League worked out an arrangement beginning with the 1970 season in which the AFL would join the NFL and become the American Football Conference -- with the new National Football Conference comprising most of the NFL's teams. To even out the teams [in 1969 there were 16 NFL teams to the 10 AFL teams], Pittsburgh, Baltimore [later Indianapolis], and Cleveland [later the Baltimore Ravens] offered to become AFC teams. The entire enterprise would be under the NFL heading.)
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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Post Season Report - One Single Thing the Chiefs Need Most
I am a recovering Chiefs addict.
Because of that, I don't see, watch, read, or listen to anything other than Chiefs games on Sunday. While I've already shared some of the key parts of my sports celibacy, there are some reasons that rise above the rest that keep me from paying any attention to any sports things. One of the problems, however, is that my radar picks up sports things all over the place -- well, I really should say things-that-affect-my-teams type of things.
As far as the NFL goes, I only care about the Chiefs. But everything else in the NFL does affect the Chiefs. For instance, I would've only paid attention to teams like Dallas and Seattle to the extent that they shared the record for most consecutive playoff losses with the Chiefs. Now that the Chiefs are the sole holder of that distinction (with seven, see last post), I must now manage the serious disconsolation attending that fact.
I am also always picking up whatever the Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers are doing because whatever happens with our AFC West rivals affects how the Chiefs do through the season -- although again, I never deliberately pay a single lick of attention to any of their games or progress.
I can't. Knowing the things that so viciously rack the Chiefs just too deeply shreds my soul. So even though I step way back from all the Chiefsitude off the field, it is one reason I write about it. I admit this blog is part of the good therapy for a recovering Chiefs addict. But before you scamper away fearing this is just one pathetic whine session, please bear with me because it does get to a critical aspect of the Kansas City Chiefs and their future.
Yesterday was no different in the plain fact that my Chiefs-things radar locked on to two gnawing things that have happened with some regularity, and is certainly one of the most profound reasons this fan is so resolutely celibate. I don't have a clue as to what happened in these two events, because beholding them for any length of time requires enduring torment that is best avoided altogether.
Those two things were that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers won yet another playoff game. (I will tell you one reason I was eager for an Atlanta win was because I was really rooting for Tony Gonzales and hoping he'd finally get some Super Bowl glory. Sadly, it won't happen this year and probably never will.)
Here's the context, just so you know. I don't necessarily have any animosity toward the Steelers and Packers. My affection for the Raiders is miles beneath any consideration I have for these two teams. If it were any two other teams doing the same thing, I'd be just as jealous. It doesn't matter. (Oh, and yeah, the intense jealosy -- not good. Another perfectly fine justification for staying so far away.)
I will say the one key thing about them in particular is that they are small market teams and ones that are wildly successful. I've always lamented how the Chiefs are a small market team and as such will never get the advantages the Grand Sports Powers-That-Be afford the Patriotses and Giantses. I think the Steelers get a lot of recognition because they've had such a fine organization and a rich winnning history, and the Packers catch the media's eyes simply because they are in the smallest market in professional sports and have this small-guy darling status in the media, kind of like Notre Dame does in college football. The Chiefs have just been done in by poor front office management and wretched playoff stupidness (again, see last post).
So yeah, the aggravation stirred up by the intense jealosy in all of this is just too much. Please know that I'm terrific with small market teams doing great and sticking it to the Powers-That-Be who zealouly labor to manipulate competitive integrity! I just want it to be the Chiefs doing that, that's all.
I can't neglect to share the gory details with you.
Remember just before the '96 season -- I'm pretty sure it was then -- Sports Illustrated had on its cover three key Packers guys (in a spiffy fold-out front cover) right next to three key Kansas City Chiefs guys. "Next Super Bowl: Packers vs. Chiefs" or something like that. Well, the Packers did go on to the Super Bowl that year, and won it. But they did it against the Patriots, and that was even before they had Tom Brady. (Oh, and the Chiefs didn't even get to the playoffs that year, starting 9-4 but losing their last three games.)
Do you know how many playoff games the Packers have won since that SI cover? Eleven. Do you know how many the Chiefs have won since that time? Don't bother, the number wasn't even invented until the Mayans did it. In fact the Packers have won a total of 14 playoff games since the Chiefs last one a single one. (Oh, don't worry, there's a very good reason for that, one which I'm getting to, stay tuned!...)
Then there is the Steelers. Remember when we beat them in the '93 playoffs? Saturday, January 8th (in 1994). What a wonderful, wonderful game. The Chiefs played them hard, trailed by a touchdown in the last minute, got a clutch pass from Joe Montana (what other kind are there?) to Tim Barnett in the back of the endzone at the very end of regulation, and then got a splendidly splendid field goal from Nick Lowery in overtime to win it.
Oh yeah, we were finally on our way. We were finally a perenniel contender. We were finally among the elite of the NFL. We were finally going to have playoff victory after playoff victory and be wonderful and splendid and all the rest of it.
Well, ahem. While we did win our next playoff game that year against Houston, that would be the very last playoff game we would ever win. Now, how many playoff victories do you think Pittsburgh has had since then? :: Gulp ::
Seventeen.
They've also had two Super Bowl victories, and one of the reasons the Steelers are so successful and the Chiefs aren't is demonstrated in what happened in those games. It is as if the Steelers have precisely the opposite what the Chiefs have, and that is beneficially opportunistically fortunate things. The Chiefs just have rotten stupid things anytime they're in a postseason game.
Remember, the '05 Super Bowl? The Seahawks dominated that game. But the Steelers won going away, 21-10. Huh? There were four amazing critical plays in that game that either went against the Seahawks dooming them and their intrepid play, or going for the Steelers and giving them the whopping edge. I don't remember all of them, but one was a play in which they had a fourth and 57 or something like that and QB Roethlisberger scrambled all around then heaved a pass on his back feet all the way across the field for a touchdown -- I mean it was something incredibly stupid like that. Stupid? Yeah, stupid because not only do the Chiefs never get these kinds of things happening for them in any playoff game, they are always victims of them!
Look at the Super Bowl win over Arizona. Everyone knows about the two plays that ended each half. The Steelers won the game on an incredible final-play tiptoe reception by Santonio Holmes at the side of the endzone. But they also got that interception return by James Harrison at the end of the first half that went all the way across the field, and he barely got into the endzone by the teensiest of margins with no time left on the clock.
I have to tell you: do you know what I was thinking after watching that? Here was exactly the very thought I had. Ready?
"That would never happen for the Chiefs."
That's what I thought. Yes I'm sure bazillions of fans of other teams felt the same way about their team, that's cool. But really now, seeing how the Chiefs play in the postseason over the few years they've been in it, we have proof: it really really wouldn't happen for the Chiefs.
Let's get right to the most practical reason the Packers and Steelers do so well. And I'm going to focus on one critically important thing, something I've shared before but again have to get off my chest.
Yes it could be said the Packers and Steelers just have excellent front offices. Well, we're working on that -- I do really like Clark Hunt, following the lead of his dad and having that bold commitment to the Chiefs. I also really like Scott Pioli's leadership and I have faith in his ability to get good players -- his last draft was exceptional. There is the idea that if we have people like that it'll be more likely we'll get the right mix of players to do well, precisely what Pittsburgh and Green Bay have been able to do for so long.
But there is that other major ingredient that the Chiefs have so sorely lacked, and it is indeed one I've mentioned often before. It is no surprise. You may have even guessed what it is through reading all of this sad Chiefs woefulness. What have the Steelers and Packers had consistently that the Chiefs have never had?
A great drafted and developed quarterback.
Yesteryear it was Terry Bradshaw and Brett Favre. These years it is Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers.
Both of those guys are truly great quarterbacks. Roethlisberger has been controversial for his off-field problems and on-field inconsistency, but when it comes to winning he simply gets the job done. He's gutsy and talented and has already won two Super Bowls. That says enough.
Rodgers is up-and-coming -- and I must say I take this from what I catch here-and-there because, again, I just pay so little attention to it -- but he is one of the very best in the NFL right now. Not only did he effectively send one of the greatest ever, Favre, packing, but he has led his team from the No. 6 seed in the playoffs to the NFC Championship game.
Now, this leads us to the Chiefs quarterback situation.
I promise I'm not going to rag all over Matt Cassel. Everyone knows what a stinky game he had against the Raiders, and what an even stinkier game he had against the Ravens. Everyone knows that he was one of the studlier quarterbacks before those games, even overcoming an appendectomy to return and play great against St. Louis, and then against Tennessee. Everyone knows he had a great year overall with the services of only one good wide receiver, and he plays with great dedication and intensity.
I like Matt Cassel.
But the fact is the Curse of Odin's Revenge is extraordinarily powerful. It must be overcome with something much, much more potent than anything the Chiefs have thrown at it in the past. It requires not just a very good quarterback.
It requires a great quarteback.
Now, I've written about this before. Just about everything that needs to be said about having a great quarterback is right there. I really don't need to add anything to it, except to amplify a critical point in this conversation: He has to be drafted.
The Chiefs have never drafted and developed a truly great quarterback. When you look at that list from my post in 2008, of the ten Hall-of-Fame calibur great quarterbacks, seven of them were drafted by the teams they took to Super Bowl success. Only Unitas, Elway, and Young were not, and Unitas and Elway didn't play a single game with the team that drafted them, starting their fine play with their eventual Super Bowl teams.
It simply comes down to this. It is as plain, as clear, as simple as this.
Scott Pioli must draft the best possible quarterback he can, the Chiefs front office must do anything and everything to develop him, and the coaches must teach him how to deftly play the position at the highest levels of NFL competition.
Thuh end.
That's it. Right there. That's the secret.
Yes I know there is so much that goes into it. Yes, there are so many variables to it all. The Chiefs have even tried to do this kind of thing (Brodie Croyle, anybody?) This is exactly why the Chiefs have got to have the right mix of things going on. I've already shared I have faith in Pioli, I also have faith in Todd Haley -- it seems he's really learning and growing and as he gets there we'll have a solid foundation upon which to build our great quarterback situation.
This would require Matt Cassel to do well in the next few years so our guy can develop. Hey, maybe, just maybe Cassel himself can grow into being a great quarterback himself. That'd be awesome, I really hope it happens.
But the fact is this fan doesn't want to win just one playoff game over the next 17 years (oh that we'd have even one playoff win, how delightful :: whimper :: ) I want to have 20. With a half-dozen Super Bowl titles in there.
So yeah. We do need a bruising middle linebacker. If the best player in the draft at that position is available we've gotta snatch him. We do need another wide receiver. We still need offensive and defensive line help, no question, we have needs.
But here's the thing Chiefs fans. If we don't draft a guy who's going to be the next Ben Roethlisberger or Aaron Rodgers right now and get going with this thing right now, we are going to have a really hard time overcoming Odin's Revenge. It is just never going to end.
And wait until you see the postseason stats then, in another 17 years. It's already brutally depressing. It's already blasted my red-and-gold-bleeding heart all over the place.
There's only one way that's going end.
_
(A quick note about how I may note so much about all this when I've made a firm commitment to sport celibacy. As I've shared, when things happen here and there and my finely-tuned sports radar just picks it up. I may see something on a television at a restaurant, my son may simply have a game on in the other room, or we may be invited to attend a Super Bowl party. I am sports celibate, but I am not anti-social. I also do allow myself the privilege of scanning past sports information to augment the meaning of my blog takes.)
_
I am a recovering Chiefs addict.
Because of that, I don't see, watch, read, or listen to anything other than Chiefs games on Sunday. While I've already shared some of the key parts of my sports celibacy, there are some reasons that rise above the rest that keep me from paying any attention to any sports things. One of the problems, however, is that my radar picks up sports things all over the place -- well, I really should say things-that-affect-my-teams type of things.
As far as the NFL goes, I only care about the Chiefs. But everything else in the NFL does affect the Chiefs. For instance, I would've only paid attention to teams like Dallas and Seattle to the extent that they shared the record for most consecutive playoff losses with the Chiefs. Now that the Chiefs are the sole holder of that distinction (with seven, see last post), I must now manage the serious disconsolation attending that fact.
I am also always picking up whatever the Raiders, Broncos, and Chargers are doing because whatever happens with our AFC West rivals affects how the Chiefs do through the season -- although again, I never deliberately pay a single lick of attention to any of their games or progress.
I can't. Knowing the things that so viciously rack the Chiefs just too deeply shreds my soul. So even though I step way back from all the Chiefsitude off the field, it is one reason I write about it. I admit this blog is part of the good therapy for a recovering Chiefs addict. But before you scamper away fearing this is just one pathetic whine session, please bear with me because it does get to a critical aspect of the Kansas City Chiefs and their future.
Yesterday was no different in the plain fact that my Chiefs-things radar locked on to two gnawing things that have happened with some regularity, and is certainly one of the most profound reasons this fan is so resolutely celibate. I don't have a clue as to what happened in these two events, because beholding them for any length of time requires enduring torment that is best avoided altogether.
Those two things were that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers won yet another playoff game. (I will tell you one reason I was eager for an Atlanta win was because I was really rooting for Tony Gonzales and hoping he'd finally get some Super Bowl glory. Sadly, it won't happen this year and probably never will.)
Here's the context, just so you know. I don't necessarily have any animosity toward the Steelers and Packers. My affection for the Raiders is miles beneath any consideration I have for these two teams. If it were any two other teams doing the same thing, I'd be just as jealous. It doesn't matter. (Oh, and yeah, the intense jealosy -- not good. Another perfectly fine justification for staying so far away.)
I will say the one key thing about them in particular is that they are small market teams and ones that are wildly successful. I've always lamented how the Chiefs are a small market team and as such will never get the advantages the Grand Sports Powers-That-Be afford the Patriotses and Giantses. I think the Steelers get a lot of recognition because they've had such a fine organization and a rich winnning history, and the Packers catch the media's eyes simply because they are in the smallest market in professional sports and have this small-guy darling status in the media, kind of like Notre Dame does in college football. The Chiefs have just been done in by poor front office management and wretched playoff stupidness (again, see last post).
So yeah, the aggravation stirred up by the intense jealosy in all of this is just too much. Please know that I'm terrific with small market teams doing great and sticking it to the Powers-That-Be who zealouly labor to manipulate competitive integrity! I just want it to be the Chiefs doing that, that's all.
I can't neglect to share the gory details with you.
Remember just before the '96 season -- I'm pretty sure it was then -- Sports Illustrated had on its cover three key Packers guys (in a spiffy fold-out front cover) right next to three key Kansas City Chiefs guys. "Next Super Bowl: Packers vs. Chiefs" or something like that. Well, the Packers did go on to the Super Bowl that year, and won it. But they did it against the Patriots, and that was even before they had Tom Brady. (Oh, and the Chiefs didn't even get to the playoffs that year, starting 9-4 but losing their last three games.)
Do you know how many playoff games the Packers have won since that SI cover? Eleven. Do you know how many the Chiefs have won since that time? Don't bother, the number wasn't even invented until the Mayans did it. In fact the Packers have won a total of 14 playoff games since the Chiefs last one a single one. (Oh, don't worry, there's a very good reason for that, one which I'm getting to, stay tuned!...)
Then there is the Steelers. Remember when we beat them in the '93 playoffs? Saturday, January 8th (in 1994). What a wonderful, wonderful game. The Chiefs played them hard, trailed by a touchdown in the last minute, got a clutch pass from Joe Montana (what other kind are there?) to Tim Barnett in the back of the endzone at the very end of regulation, and then got a splendidly splendid field goal from Nick Lowery in overtime to win it.
Oh yeah, we were finally on our way. We were finally a perenniel contender. We were finally among the elite of the NFL. We were finally going to have playoff victory after playoff victory and be wonderful and splendid and all the rest of it.
Well, ahem. While we did win our next playoff game that year against Houston, that would be the very last playoff game we would ever win. Now, how many playoff victories do you think Pittsburgh has had since then? :: Gulp ::
Seventeen.
They've also had two Super Bowl victories, and one of the reasons the Steelers are so successful and the Chiefs aren't is demonstrated in what happened in those games. It is as if the Steelers have precisely the opposite what the Chiefs have, and that is beneficially opportunistically fortunate things. The Chiefs just have rotten stupid things anytime they're in a postseason game.
Remember, the '05 Super Bowl? The Seahawks dominated that game. But the Steelers won going away, 21-10. Huh? There were four amazing critical plays in that game that either went against the Seahawks dooming them and their intrepid play, or going for the Steelers and giving them the whopping edge. I don't remember all of them, but one was a play in which they had a fourth and 57 or something like that and QB Roethlisberger scrambled all around then heaved a pass on his back feet all the way across the field for a touchdown -- I mean it was something incredibly stupid like that. Stupid? Yeah, stupid because not only do the Chiefs never get these kinds of things happening for them in any playoff game, they are always victims of them!
Look at the Super Bowl win over Arizona. Everyone knows about the two plays that ended each half. The Steelers won the game on an incredible final-play tiptoe reception by Santonio Holmes at the side of the endzone. But they also got that interception return by James Harrison at the end of the first half that went all the way across the field, and he barely got into the endzone by the teensiest of margins with no time left on the clock.
I have to tell you: do you know what I was thinking after watching that? Here was exactly the very thought I had. Ready?
"That would never happen for the Chiefs."
That's what I thought. Yes I'm sure bazillions of fans of other teams felt the same way about their team, that's cool. But really now, seeing how the Chiefs play in the postseason over the few years they've been in it, we have proof: it really really wouldn't happen for the Chiefs.
Let's get right to the most practical reason the Packers and Steelers do so well. And I'm going to focus on one critically important thing, something I've shared before but again have to get off my chest.
Yes it could be said the Packers and Steelers just have excellent front offices. Well, we're working on that -- I do really like Clark Hunt, following the lead of his dad and having that bold commitment to the Chiefs. I also really like Scott Pioli's leadership and I have faith in his ability to get good players -- his last draft was exceptional. There is the idea that if we have people like that it'll be more likely we'll get the right mix of players to do well, precisely what Pittsburgh and Green Bay have been able to do for so long.
But there is that other major ingredient that the Chiefs have so sorely lacked, and it is indeed one I've mentioned often before. It is no surprise. You may have even guessed what it is through reading all of this sad Chiefs woefulness. What have the Steelers and Packers had consistently that the Chiefs have never had?
A great drafted and developed quarterback.
Yesteryear it was Terry Bradshaw and Brett Favre. These years it is Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers.
Both of those guys are truly great quarterbacks. Roethlisberger has been controversial for his off-field problems and on-field inconsistency, but when it comes to winning he simply gets the job done. He's gutsy and talented and has already won two Super Bowls. That says enough.
Rodgers is up-and-coming -- and I must say I take this from what I catch here-and-there because, again, I just pay so little attention to it -- but he is one of the very best in the NFL right now. Not only did he effectively send one of the greatest ever, Favre, packing, but he has led his team from the No. 6 seed in the playoffs to the NFC Championship game.
Now, this leads us to the Chiefs quarterback situation.
I promise I'm not going to rag all over Matt Cassel. Everyone knows what a stinky game he had against the Raiders, and what an even stinkier game he had against the Ravens. Everyone knows that he was one of the studlier quarterbacks before those games, even overcoming an appendectomy to return and play great against St. Louis, and then against Tennessee. Everyone knows he had a great year overall with the services of only one good wide receiver, and he plays with great dedication and intensity.
I like Matt Cassel.
But the fact is the Curse of Odin's Revenge is extraordinarily powerful. It must be overcome with something much, much more potent than anything the Chiefs have thrown at it in the past. It requires not just a very good quarterback.
It requires a great quarteback.
Now, I've written about this before. Just about everything that needs to be said about having a great quarterback is right there. I really don't need to add anything to it, except to amplify a critical point in this conversation: He has to be drafted.
The Chiefs have never drafted and developed a truly great quarterback. When you look at that list from my post in 2008, of the ten Hall-of-Fame calibur great quarterbacks, seven of them were drafted by the teams they took to Super Bowl success. Only Unitas, Elway, and Young were not, and Unitas and Elway didn't play a single game with the team that drafted them, starting their fine play with their eventual Super Bowl teams.
It simply comes down to this. It is as plain, as clear, as simple as this.
Scott Pioli must draft the best possible quarterback he can, the Chiefs front office must do anything and everything to develop him, and the coaches must teach him how to deftly play the position at the highest levels of NFL competition.
Thuh end.
That's it. Right there. That's the secret.
Yes I know there is so much that goes into it. Yes, there are so many variables to it all. The Chiefs have even tried to do this kind of thing (Brodie Croyle, anybody?) This is exactly why the Chiefs have got to have the right mix of things going on. I've already shared I have faith in Pioli, I also have faith in Todd Haley -- it seems he's really learning and growing and as he gets there we'll have a solid foundation upon which to build our great quarterback situation.
This would require Matt Cassel to do well in the next few years so our guy can develop. Hey, maybe, just maybe Cassel himself can grow into being a great quarterback himself. That'd be awesome, I really hope it happens.
But the fact is this fan doesn't want to win just one playoff game over the next 17 years (oh that we'd have even one playoff win, how delightful :: whimper :: ) I want to have 20. With a half-dozen Super Bowl titles in there.
So yeah. We do need a bruising middle linebacker. If the best player in the draft at that position is available we've gotta snatch him. We do need another wide receiver. We still need offensive and defensive line help, no question, we have needs.
But here's the thing Chiefs fans. If we don't draft a guy who's going to be the next Ben Roethlisberger or Aaron Rodgers right now and get going with this thing right now, we are going to have a really hard time overcoming Odin's Revenge. It is just never going to end.
And wait until you see the postseason stats then, in another 17 years. It's already brutally depressing. It's already blasted my red-and-gold-bleeding heart all over the place.
There's only one way that's going end.
_
(A quick note about how I may note so much about all this when I've made a firm commitment to sport celibacy. As I've shared, when things happen here and there and my finely-tuned sports radar just picks it up. I may see something on a television at a restaurant, my son may simply have a game on in the other room, or we may be invited to attend a Super Bowl party. I am sports celibate, but I am not anti-social. I also do allow myself the privilege of scanning past sports information to augment the meaning of my blog takes.)
_
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Ravens at Chiefs - Wild-Card Playoff Game
It just doesn't seem to matter.
Do you feel that way any time the Chiefs get into the playoffs now?
Please know that I had no illusions about the Chiefs chances -- everyone and his uncle knew the Ravens were a better team. But I will tell you there was a chink in those illusions yesterday when the 7-9 Seahawks, a team we beat handily at their place, played inspired ball and took out the world champion Saints. I thought, yep, in the NFL anything can happen, the playoffs are always wide open, and we are so due to win a playoff game that our postseason losing just can't keep going like this.
But for the Chiefs, it just doesn't seem to matter.
No matter what, we just can't win a playoff game. Needless to say our cherished team now holds a quite ignominious record: longest continuous streak of playoff losses in NFL history. It is now at seven. When you think about it, this kind of record is very hard to get. If you are a playoff team it must mean you're pretty good, and you're going to win at least one playoff game every once in a while. But, yeah...
It just doesn't seem to matter.
No matter what we do we just can't shake the Curse of Odin's Revenge.
Here it is, in all its rotten colors. Since our glorious Super Bowl win in '69, we have hit the playoff trail a total of 12 times. 41 years, 12 times. That percentage alone stinks. Of those 12 times, we have had a one-&-out in ten of them.
Ten.
Ten TEN TEN one-&-outs. We're presently at six straight and still going.
It just doesn't seem to matter in any of them.
We could be better than the other team (Den 97, Ind 95 and 03) and it doesn't matter. We could be worse than them and hope for a good swing our way (NYJ 86, Ind 06, Bal 10) and it doesn't matter. We could be evenly matched with them and at the end of the game just happen to golly-gosh find ourselves on the winning end (Mia 71 and 90, SD 92, Mia 94) and it doesn't matter.
We could be in close games (Mia 71, 90, and 94, Ind 95, Den 97) and it doesn't matter. We could be in blowouts -- naturally always be on the losing end (NYJ 86, SD 92, Ind 03 and 06, Bal 10) and it doesn't matter. We could even be home (Mia 71, Ind 95, Den 97, Ind 03, Bal 10) where the Chiefs are supposed to be so devastatingly invincible -- in the postseason we only play in feeble Arrow-through-the-heart Stadium.
It simply plainly utterly doesn't matter.
All of this putridtude comes with the services of six different coaches (three of them are or should be in the Hall of Fame -- Stram, Vermeil, and Schottenheimer) and eleven different quarterbacks who have in their resumes a total of 26 Pro-Bowl appearances among them (yes, 15 of them were for Len Dawson and Joe Montana, but did you know that Bill Kenney, Dave Kreig, Elvis Grbac, Rich Gannon, and Trent Green were also all Pro-Bowlers at least once?)
You may say "What about those two years in that time we did win?" I know. But there was only one of those games that I believe we actually played a really good solid game, and that was the Houston game in January of 1994, our very last playoff win of any kind. ::Sigh:: Our offense was pitiful in the Oakland game of 91 and we won mostly because the Raiders played so poorly, and we barely eeked out the 93 Pittsburgh game in OT. Yes we played well enough to win those games so those Chiefs teams wholly deserve the credit, I'm great with that and proud to chalk up those dubyas. The main point is this, again...
Of the twelve trips in, ten were one-&-outs. No matter what, it just doesn't seem to matter. The kind of playoff awfultude we endure just never seems to afflict any other team. Every team sometimes gets a nice playoff performance, things that happen in the game that are good and fun and result in a win. Just sometimes. The Chiefs just always have some kind of repulsive playoff-game leprosy.
Here's a key thing: all ten one-&-outs seem to have similar characteristics. Just lots of stupid wretched things that happen to us every single time. Let me regale you with some, things that wiggled their way into our game today big-time.
Stupid distractions. This whole thing with Charlie Weis leaving to be offensive coordinator at Florida. Not a distraction they all said. Of course it was! I know Todd Haley has to get a good feel for how he wants his coaching staff, I know he really wants to do offensive coordinator stuff and he wants to see how that works out with his staff and Weis just may not have fit in with that. Whatever all the reasons are, it just reminds me of when Paul Hackett said he was going to USC just before the Denver game of 97. It was just a stupid thing that got in the way of our 100% commitment to excellence by every one in the organization. Sorry, but I just never see this crap happening with other truly contending teams.
Stupid reffing. How about the overofficiating against the Chiefs? Yes, you are never supposed to complain about the officiating because often enough it comes back in your favor. I'm good with that, I really am, especially when it comes back in the Chiefs favor fair and square -- exxxcept that in the playoffs, it just never does. The Ravens just flat outplayed us today, but my goodness, Eric Berry was called for a phantom defensive holding call, Glenn Dorsey was clearly held on a key first down run by their guy, and on one of their punts a linemen barely flinched and they called him offside giving them a game-breaker first down. And those spots at the marker that went their way and didn't go ours -- I was pulling out so much of my hair that I had to get hair plugs at half-time, then resumed pulling them out.
Stupid really-stupid things. Needless to say there is all the head-shaking type of stuff that goes against us. The field-goals-bonking-off-the-uprights kind of things, you know those incessent misfortunes that keep your stomach twisting because they just never seem to stop. Off the top of my head, Verran Tucker today made a great catch and had his toe on one foot out of bounds. Here's another one, they punted the ball and got it to bounce at the one nanoinch line and dribble back to the one (and it didn't even count because they got a first down on that lineman offside call). When we punted it went down to the one nanoinch line where our downer had one of his butthairs barely in the endzone, in there enough to bring it back out to the twenty.
Stupid collapses in some key areas of our game that are not merely break-downs but catastrophes. Probably the worst of all is the axiomatic Chiefs playoff truth that however well we did something in the regular season we just can't do it in the playoffs. It's as if we leave all of our talent on towel hooks in the locker room. Happens every time we walk on the postseason football field. Every single damn year we get the chance.
So here is today's lack-of-what-we-did-so-well-in-the-regular-season:
1. Matt Cassel. He had been doing so much to prove that he wasn't some schizo out there, but I'm afraid I'm back to being very concerned. I actually thought our offensive line was going to a problem, but they actually played great. It was Cassel who really really sucked out there today. He had nothing, and he had absolutely zero confidence in himself. Sorry, but even the most vitriolic detractors have to admit that is just not like him. When he could throw the ball he didn't and got sacked. When he did he threw it poorly or right into the hands of the other team. I'm pretty sure he had more interceptions in the Raiders and Ravens games than he had all year. Check it out, I'm pretty sure that's a fact.
2. Holding on to the ball. During the year we had an extraordinarily low 14 giveaways. During the game broadcast they actually put up a graphic there with Chiefs alongside a few really great Super Bowl type teams who'd also had only 14 in their seasons. Today we had five. A lot of this was Baltimore's fine defense, which we knew was going to be a factor, but still! Couldn't we have protected the ball way better, like we did so well during the year? Why do we fail to do it so spectacularly now?!
3. Smart, solid coaching. I don't think Todd Haley really knew what he had to do to beat Baltimore. When the score was 10-7 he went for it on fourth down deep in their territory when a field goal would've tied it and kept things really close. Instead we utterly failed and they took over the game at that point, simply because Baltimore is a team that can take over a game with a 10-7 lead. He also played his defensive backfield deep containment game far too long and far too softly, and their QB Joe Flacco just picked us apart underneath. Their tight end had ten catches, and at one point I saw Tamba Hali trying to cover one of their wideouts.
One of the key things we didn't really have at all in the regular season that was bad and was just as bad in this game was any kind of decent receiving situation to compliment the justifiably studly Dwayne Bowe. In this respect you can't blame Matt Cassel when a defense can so easily take out your only true threat -- I think the closest a football got to Bowe all day was when he walked past the encased signed one in the Hall-of-Fame room there at the New Arrowhead. The Ravens could swamp Bowe because we simply had no one else.
Here was the deal with the rest of our receiving core: Chris Chambers, benched for whatever reason. Verran Tucker, picked up off the practice squad earlier in the year. Kevin Curtis, a cancer-survivor signed on Tuesday (mind you nothing against him being a cancer-surviver, that's great, it's just that he was signed Tuesday). I didn't see Terrance Copper anywhere, but did it matter? You can't expect to succeed in a playoff game with that kind of wide receiver situation. Yeah, the eye-gouging stats here were brutal: our wide-outs caught a total of two passes for eight yards.
The fact is Chiefs playoff football is never being able to overcome our awful things like this receiving travesty, and never being able to take advantage of the good things we do do. Again, you simply can't feel any other way than
It just doesn't seem to matter.
I have to close this season with a kudos to the Chiefs for what they did accomplish. After all they did win the AFC West when everyone was just hoping we'd even come close to a ten-win season. This game was a good one in the sense that I continued to see great things from our getting-better youngsters like Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles. It was fun watching Tamba Hali play like a rampaging bull out there. And I was very encouraged by our offensive line, who in spite of some slip-ups by Branden Albert, upheld their end of the bargain today.
In a perverse way I no longer have to be stressed about the NFL record for most consecutive playoff losses. We already have it, so it's a done deal. Nothing anyone can do about it, and I know why it is happening. In that respect ultimately maybe it will then be the motivating factor that gets Todd Haley to hit the playbook that much more fiercely, that gets Scott Pioli to scour the draft boards that much more rigorously, that gets the whole team will step it up that much more because they are getting slammed with what it truly takes to be a champion.
This Odin's Revenge thing is truly awful. Maybe from all of this our top people will get it done to take it out.
Maybe something like this is exactly what we need.
_
(A quick note about the above opinions regarding the nature of past games and teams. The Mia 94 game was a close one at a 27-17 final score because we were fully in contention throughout. The Ind 03 game was a blowout even at 38-31 because we were always two scores down and never able to really catch up. And briefly, the Mia 71 was at home but not at Arrowhead. One may argue about the team quality assessments, but I consider Super Bowl champion Den 97 the best team in the NFL that year, except for Kansas City. The Chiefs were just better, but were done in as usual by the typical playoff stupidness. And some may say that Marv Levy is one of the coaches who is/should be in the Hall-of-Fame, but I've only counted those who got to the playoffs. Levy did come close to getting the Chiefs in the playoffs in 1981. Still, if we count him that makes four such coaches and we still haven't gotten it done. Sigh.)
_
It just doesn't seem to matter.
Do you feel that way any time the Chiefs get into the playoffs now?
Please know that I had no illusions about the Chiefs chances -- everyone and his uncle knew the Ravens were a better team. But I will tell you there was a chink in those illusions yesterday when the 7-9 Seahawks, a team we beat handily at their place, played inspired ball and took out the world champion Saints. I thought, yep, in the NFL anything can happen, the playoffs are always wide open, and we are so due to win a playoff game that our postseason losing just can't keep going like this.
But for the Chiefs, it just doesn't seem to matter.
No matter what, we just can't win a playoff game. Needless to say our cherished team now holds a quite ignominious record: longest continuous streak of playoff losses in NFL history. It is now at seven. When you think about it, this kind of record is very hard to get. If you are a playoff team it must mean you're pretty good, and you're going to win at least one playoff game every once in a while. But, yeah...
It just doesn't seem to matter.
No matter what we do we just can't shake the Curse of Odin's Revenge.
Here it is, in all its rotten colors. Since our glorious Super Bowl win in '69, we have hit the playoff trail a total of 12 times. 41 years, 12 times. That percentage alone stinks. Of those 12 times, we have had a one-&-out in ten of them.
Ten.
Ten TEN TEN one-&-outs. We're presently at six straight and still going.
It just doesn't seem to matter in any of them.
We could be better than the other team (Den 97, Ind 95 and 03) and it doesn't matter. We could be worse than them and hope for a good swing our way (NYJ 86, Ind 06, Bal 10) and it doesn't matter. We could be evenly matched with them and at the end of the game just happen to golly-gosh find ourselves on the winning end (Mia 71 and 90, SD 92, Mia 94) and it doesn't matter.
We could be in close games (Mia 71, 90, and 94, Ind 95, Den 97) and it doesn't matter. We could be in blowouts -- naturally always be on the losing end (NYJ 86, SD 92, Ind 03 and 06, Bal 10) and it doesn't matter. We could even be home (Mia 71, Ind 95, Den 97, Ind 03, Bal 10) where the Chiefs are supposed to be so devastatingly invincible -- in the postseason we only play in feeble Arrow-through-the-heart Stadium.
It simply plainly utterly doesn't matter.
All of this putridtude comes with the services of six different coaches (three of them are or should be in the Hall of Fame -- Stram, Vermeil, and Schottenheimer) and eleven different quarterbacks who have in their resumes a total of 26 Pro-Bowl appearances among them (yes, 15 of them were for Len Dawson and Joe Montana, but did you know that Bill Kenney, Dave Kreig, Elvis Grbac, Rich Gannon, and Trent Green were also all Pro-Bowlers at least once?)
You may say "What about those two years in that time we did win?" I know. But there was only one of those games that I believe we actually played a really good solid game, and that was the Houston game in January of 1994, our very last playoff win of any kind. ::Sigh:: Our offense was pitiful in the Oakland game of 91 and we won mostly because the Raiders played so poorly, and we barely eeked out the 93 Pittsburgh game in OT. Yes we played well enough to win those games so those Chiefs teams wholly deserve the credit, I'm great with that and proud to chalk up those dubyas. The main point is this, again...
Of the twelve trips in, ten were one-&-outs. No matter what, it just doesn't seem to matter. The kind of playoff awfultude we endure just never seems to afflict any other team. Every team sometimes gets a nice playoff performance, things that happen in the game that are good and fun and result in a win. Just sometimes. The Chiefs just always have some kind of repulsive playoff-game leprosy.
Here's a key thing: all ten one-&-outs seem to have similar characteristics. Just lots of stupid wretched things that happen to us every single time. Let me regale you with some, things that wiggled their way into our game today big-time.
Stupid distractions. This whole thing with Charlie Weis leaving to be offensive coordinator at Florida. Not a distraction they all said. Of course it was! I know Todd Haley has to get a good feel for how he wants his coaching staff, I know he really wants to do offensive coordinator stuff and he wants to see how that works out with his staff and Weis just may not have fit in with that. Whatever all the reasons are, it just reminds me of when Paul Hackett said he was going to USC just before the Denver game of 97. It was just a stupid thing that got in the way of our 100% commitment to excellence by every one in the organization. Sorry, but I just never see this crap happening with other truly contending teams.
Stupid reffing. How about the overofficiating against the Chiefs? Yes, you are never supposed to complain about the officiating because often enough it comes back in your favor. I'm good with that, I really am, especially when it comes back in the Chiefs favor fair and square -- exxxcept that in the playoffs, it just never does. The Ravens just flat outplayed us today, but my goodness, Eric Berry was called for a phantom defensive holding call, Glenn Dorsey was clearly held on a key first down run by their guy, and on one of their punts a linemen barely flinched and they called him offside giving them a game-breaker first down. And those spots at the marker that went their way and didn't go ours -- I was pulling out so much of my hair that I had to get hair plugs at half-time, then resumed pulling them out.
Stupid really-stupid things. Needless to say there is all the head-shaking type of stuff that goes against us. The field-goals-bonking-off-the-uprights kind of things, you know those incessent misfortunes that keep your stomach twisting because they just never seem to stop. Off the top of my head, Verran Tucker today made a great catch and had his toe on one foot out of bounds. Here's another one, they punted the ball and got it to bounce at the one nanoinch line and dribble back to the one (and it didn't even count because they got a first down on that lineman offside call). When we punted it went down to the one nanoinch line where our downer had one of his butthairs barely in the endzone, in there enough to bring it back out to the twenty.
Stupid collapses in some key areas of our game that are not merely break-downs but catastrophes. Probably the worst of all is the axiomatic Chiefs playoff truth that however well we did something in the regular season we just can't do it in the playoffs. It's as if we leave all of our talent on towel hooks in the locker room. Happens every time we walk on the postseason football field. Every single damn year we get the chance.
So here is today's lack-of-what-we-did-so-well-in-the-regular-season:
1. Matt Cassel. He had been doing so much to prove that he wasn't some schizo out there, but I'm afraid I'm back to being very concerned. I actually thought our offensive line was going to a problem, but they actually played great. It was Cassel who really really sucked out there today. He had nothing, and he had absolutely zero confidence in himself. Sorry, but even the most vitriolic detractors have to admit that is just not like him. When he could throw the ball he didn't and got sacked. When he did he threw it poorly or right into the hands of the other team. I'm pretty sure he had more interceptions in the Raiders and Ravens games than he had all year. Check it out, I'm pretty sure that's a fact.
2. Holding on to the ball. During the year we had an extraordinarily low 14 giveaways. During the game broadcast they actually put up a graphic there with Chiefs alongside a few really great Super Bowl type teams who'd also had only 14 in their seasons. Today we had five. A lot of this was Baltimore's fine defense, which we knew was going to be a factor, but still! Couldn't we have protected the ball way better, like we did so well during the year? Why do we fail to do it so spectacularly now?!
3. Smart, solid coaching. I don't think Todd Haley really knew what he had to do to beat Baltimore. When the score was 10-7 he went for it on fourth down deep in their territory when a field goal would've tied it and kept things really close. Instead we utterly failed and they took over the game at that point, simply because Baltimore is a team that can take over a game with a 10-7 lead. He also played his defensive backfield deep containment game far too long and far too softly, and their QB Joe Flacco just picked us apart underneath. Their tight end had ten catches, and at one point I saw Tamba Hali trying to cover one of their wideouts.
One of the key things we didn't really have at all in the regular season that was bad and was just as bad in this game was any kind of decent receiving situation to compliment the justifiably studly Dwayne Bowe. In this respect you can't blame Matt Cassel when a defense can so easily take out your only true threat -- I think the closest a football got to Bowe all day was when he walked past the encased signed one in the Hall-of-Fame room there at the New Arrowhead. The Ravens could swamp Bowe because we simply had no one else.
Here was the deal with the rest of our receiving core: Chris Chambers, benched for whatever reason. Verran Tucker, picked up off the practice squad earlier in the year. Kevin Curtis, a cancer-survivor signed on Tuesday (mind you nothing against him being a cancer-surviver, that's great, it's just that he was signed Tuesday). I didn't see Terrance Copper anywhere, but did it matter? You can't expect to succeed in a playoff game with that kind of wide receiver situation. Yeah, the eye-gouging stats here were brutal: our wide-outs caught a total of two passes for eight yards.
The fact is Chiefs playoff football is never being able to overcome our awful things like this receiving travesty, and never being able to take advantage of the good things we do do. Again, you simply can't feel any other way than
It just doesn't seem to matter.
I have to close this season with a kudos to the Chiefs for what they did accomplish. After all they did win the AFC West when everyone was just hoping we'd even come close to a ten-win season. This game was a good one in the sense that I continued to see great things from our getting-better youngsters like Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles. It was fun watching Tamba Hali play like a rampaging bull out there. And I was very encouraged by our offensive line, who in spite of some slip-ups by Branden Albert, upheld their end of the bargain today.
In a perverse way I no longer have to be stressed about the NFL record for most consecutive playoff losses. We already have it, so it's a done deal. Nothing anyone can do about it, and I know why it is happening. In that respect ultimately maybe it will then be the motivating factor that gets Todd Haley to hit the playbook that much more fiercely, that gets Scott Pioli to scour the draft boards that much more rigorously, that gets the whole team will step it up that much more because they are getting slammed with what it truly takes to be a champion.
This Odin's Revenge thing is truly awful. Maybe from all of this our top people will get it done to take it out.
Maybe something like this is exactly what we need.
_
(A quick note about the above opinions regarding the nature of past games and teams. The Mia 94 game was a close one at a 27-17 final score because we were fully in contention throughout. The Ind 03 game was a blowout even at 38-31 because we were always two scores down and never able to really catch up. And briefly, the Mia 71 was at home but not at Arrowhead. One may argue about the team quality assessments, but I consider Super Bowl champion Den 97 the best team in the NFL that year, except for Kansas City. The Chiefs were just better, but were done in as usual by the typical playoff stupidness. And some may say that Marv Levy is one of the coaches who is/should be in the Hall-of-Fame, but I've only counted those who got to the playoffs. Levy did come close to getting the Chiefs in the playoffs in 1981. Still, if we count him that makes four such coaches and we still haven't gotten it done. Sigh.)
_
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Ravens at Chiefs - Playoff Game Preview
So now for the good -- what needs to happen for the Chiefs to beat the Ravens this Sunday. We already know that the Chiefs had a very poor game coming in and the Ravens are a very good team the likes of which the Chiefs have not faced this year. So let's just accept that going in and go over a bit of what the Chiefs genuinely do well that can get them the dubya.
They run the ball exceptionally well, this almost goes without saying. The Chiefs rushing game led the NFL by far. Jamaal Charles is an All-Pro who toyed with breaking Jim Brown's all-time NFL record for most rushing yards per carry. I didn't stay and see it, did he get it? He was at around that record of 6.4 throughout the game. Whatever the case, Charles is a game-breaker, and the Chiefs are a terrific big play team. They also get solid chunks of yardage from Thomas Jones, and coach Todd Haley uses the tandem very well. If the Chiefs can get that part of their game going and keep the game close so they stay a critical factor, they have a great chance.
I have to add that our offensive line has got to step it up. They have played extraordinarily well at times this year, particularly in games after poor showings. This game would definitely fit that description. The Raiders debacle may be a wonderful blessing if those five can pick out where they missed it and how they get back in it and open those holes for the backs. I also noted that Brian Waters was selected to another Pro Bowl. Kudos to Brian -- I'm looking forward to seeing him blow out some nice lanes for our backs.
That O-line must also play like maniacs in protecting Matt Cassel. He was smothered in the Raiders game, but I think at least some of that was Cassel just not doing things like stepping up and just flat-out getting rid of the football. That has been a tick in Cassel's game since he's been with the Chiefs, but the fact is, this year he has turned it around and shown he can play extraordinary football.
That presents another great thing about this team. Our quarterback. Cassel has really had a spectacular season. His phenomenal TD to INT ratio is a testament to his terrific decision-making. He is also a real gamer who will not tolerate losing. That intense fortitude rubs off on the whole team.
Cassel also has a receiver who is yet another Chiefs All-Pro, Dwayne Bowe. That combination is one of the best in football. And even though you gotta wonder when the opponent's defense will triple cover Bowe -- it just seems the other Chiefs receivers never get the ball -- the Cassel-to-Bowe connection has been reliable all season long. That long touchdown pass-play in the Tennessee game when Bowe plucked a strike from Cassel between five Titans defenders was a thing of beauty. It'll be a challenge against the very tough Baltimore defense, but if Cassel and Bowe are in sync we'll be fine.
Our defense has had those few awful games this year, but it has also had those several stellar games. It has ranked in the top half of all NFL defenses through the year. Tamba Hali should have been an All-Pro, and by himself had, what, 14, 15 sacks this year? Remember when the entire team was at or near a record low of sacks for the whole year?
If we can get a good game from Derrick Johnson, we should be able to stuff the Ravens offense. He's always been inconsistent, but this year he's stepped it up and done splendidly in several games.
Our defensive backfield is one of the team's strengths. Brandon Flowers has had an off year, but he's still good. Brandon Carr can play great at the other corner. Our new rookie safety Eric Berry has learned and learned and learned some more, and he has become a true NFL player out there.
An added fine thing is the team's excellent turnover ratio. They haven't gotten a whopping number of turnovers, but they've rarely turned the ball over. When they're on, the Chiefs do a great job of controlling the tempo of a game. Get that awesome running game churning, mix in those crisp Cassel to Bowe passes, and play solid containment defense -- all things we've done really well -- and we'll win.
Our special teams have also done well, and I should add that it feels real good to have a very good punter to keep the offense on their heels, and -- yes, we can say it! -- a very dependable kicker whom we will really need when so many Ravens games come down to a field goal to win it.
Finally I can't neglect to comment on the coaching. Todd Haley is definitely a Coach of the Year candidate. He has steadfastly molded the character of this team, and he is a never-say-die tactician. Some of his decisions this year have been puzzling, but more times than not he's done some wonderfully innovative things and they've worked. He's not splashy, he doesn't overreach, and gets the most from what he has.
The main intangible is the New Arrowhead. If the fans can be in the game and roaring as they should be, that could be an extra little thing that could shake the Ravens. In what should be a close game, that notorious Arrowhead crowd could be a gamebreaker.
The best part is that if we can explode with three or four big plays like we are so capable of, it may not even be close.
Go Chiefs!
_
So now for the good -- what needs to happen for the Chiefs to beat the Ravens this Sunday. We already know that the Chiefs had a very poor game coming in and the Ravens are a very good team the likes of which the Chiefs have not faced this year. So let's just accept that going in and go over a bit of what the Chiefs genuinely do well that can get them the dubya.
They run the ball exceptionally well, this almost goes without saying. The Chiefs rushing game led the NFL by far. Jamaal Charles is an All-Pro who toyed with breaking Jim Brown's all-time NFL record for most rushing yards per carry. I didn't stay and see it, did he get it? He was at around that record of 6.4 throughout the game. Whatever the case, Charles is a game-breaker, and the Chiefs are a terrific big play team. They also get solid chunks of yardage from Thomas Jones, and coach Todd Haley uses the tandem very well. If the Chiefs can get that part of their game going and keep the game close so they stay a critical factor, they have a great chance.
I have to add that our offensive line has got to step it up. They have played extraordinarily well at times this year, particularly in games after poor showings. This game would definitely fit that description. The Raiders debacle may be a wonderful blessing if those five can pick out where they missed it and how they get back in it and open those holes for the backs. I also noted that Brian Waters was selected to another Pro Bowl. Kudos to Brian -- I'm looking forward to seeing him blow out some nice lanes for our backs.
That O-line must also play like maniacs in protecting Matt Cassel. He was smothered in the Raiders game, but I think at least some of that was Cassel just not doing things like stepping up and just flat-out getting rid of the football. That has been a tick in Cassel's game since he's been with the Chiefs, but the fact is, this year he has turned it around and shown he can play extraordinary football.
That presents another great thing about this team. Our quarterback. Cassel has really had a spectacular season. His phenomenal TD to INT ratio is a testament to his terrific decision-making. He is also a real gamer who will not tolerate losing. That intense fortitude rubs off on the whole team.
Cassel also has a receiver who is yet another Chiefs All-Pro, Dwayne Bowe. That combination is one of the best in football. And even though you gotta wonder when the opponent's defense will triple cover Bowe -- it just seems the other Chiefs receivers never get the ball -- the Cassel-to-Bowe connection has been reliable all season long. That long touchdown pass-play in the Tennessee game when Bowe plucked a strike from Cassel between five Titans defenders was a thing of beauty. It'll be a challenge against the very tough Baltimore defense, but if Cassel and Bowe are in sync we'll be fine.
Our defense has had those few awful games this year, but it has also had those several stellar games. It has ranked in the top half of all NFL defenses through the year. Tamba Hali should have been an All-Pro, and by himself had, what, 14, 15 sacks this year? Remember when the entire team was at or near a record low of sacks for the whole year?
If we can get a good game from Derrick Johnson, we should be able to stuff the Ravens offense. He's always been inconsistent, but this year he's stepped it up and done splendidly in several games.
Our defensive backfield is one of the team's strengths. Brandon Flowers has had an off year, but he's still good. Brandon Carr can play great at the other corner. Our new rookie safety Eric Berry has learned and learned and learned some more, and he has become a true NFL player out there.
An added fine thing is the team's excellent turnover ratio. They haven't gotten a whopping number of turnovers, but they've rarely turned the ball over. When they're on, the Chiefs do a great job of controlling the tempo of a game. Get that awesome running game churning, mix in those crisp Cassel to Bowe passes, and play solid containment defense -- all things we've done really well -- and we'll win.
Our special teams have also done well, and I should add that it feels real good to have a very good punter to keep the offense on their heels, and -- yes, we can say it! -- a very dependable kicker whom we will really need when so many Ravens games come down to a field goal to win it.
Finally I can't neglect to comment on the coaching. Todd Haley is definitely a Coach of the Year candidate. He has steadfastly molded the character of this team, and he is a never-say-die tactician. Some of his decisions this year have been puzzling, but more times than not he's done some wonderfully innovative things and they've worked. He's not splashy, he doesn't overreach, and gets the most from what he has.
The main intangible is the New Arrowhead. If the fans can be in the game and roaring as they should be, that could be an extra little thing that could shake the Ravens. In what should be a close game, that notorious Arrowhead crowd could be a gamebreaker.
The best part is that if we can explode with three or four big plays like we are so capable of, it may not even be close.
Go Chiefs!
_
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Raiders at Chiefs - Week 17 - Record: 10-6
This is a playoff team?
I have to tell you there are a number of feelings that came back to me today. Feelings I've had in the past. Let me share each one with you.
1. This reminded me of the San Diego game three weeks ago, when we got shellacked there too. It was so similar to the extent that our line on both sides of the ball just got their asses stood up. It happened in the Denver game at there place where we also got blasted. Today the Raiders O-line and D-line just made silly putty with our guys. When we had the ball Raiders were all over us in the backfield -- our runners got nowhere and our QB's were sacked six times. When they had the ball our defenders looked like they were running backwards. This is a playoff team?
2. It reminded me of 2003 when we stormed outta the gate at 9-0, then just started to get really tired. Our defense was just not keeping up with the opponents' offensive weapons as the season wore on, and it really hit us in that first playoff game when a young Peyton Manning really took us apart and beat us at home. This loss to the Raiders, by the way, was our first at "The New Arrowhead." The way we looked today I just don't have much hope for next week's New Arrowhead game. We couldn't stop a very aggressive Raiders team that is generally mediocre, what on earth are we going to do against a really good aggressive team like the Jets or Ravens?
3. It reminded me of how much I loathe the Raiders. It's not personal -- it's just the Chiefs-Raiders thing. They've now beaten us four straight at home, and it was the first win by either team over the other by a score more than a scant touchdown or so for eons. The last big-scoring blowout was 49-31 back in 2000. (I should say the Raiders beat us 23-8 in '08, so there is that.) Hard to believe but the last blowout of any sort by the Chiefs over the Raiders, even with all our success against Oakland through the 2000's, was opening day of 1998, when we won 28-8. This was also the first time the Raiders swept us since 2001. It is just representative of the ugly truth that you can have wild success over a team for a long period of time, but sometime, somehow, it is going to come back around and they're going to kick your ass.
4. It just reminded me of all those games this year when I was just convinced we were just not a very good team. The ugly fourth quarter of the Houston game. The Buffalo game when we had to scratch and claw for a win. The San Diego game when I just knew we were not that good a team, after which I questioned my bad-team assessment when we beat St. Louis and Tennessee, but now am back to thinking we're just a bad team trying to wear a good-team mask.
The painful reality is that we have not had one single proven win against a good team like the Jets or Ravens all year long. We beat each team in the NFC West. Whuppy -- they all suck. We got clobbered in three of our divisional games, one by each team, Denver, San Diego, and now Oakland. The other AFC division we played, the South, also kind of sucks, with Indy right now barely trying to squeak into the playoffs.
Add to this the prospect of facing a couple of really awful stat situations, especially in light of how bad we played today. I do plan to preview the Chiefs playoff game later, but I just have to get all the bad off my shoulders now. Get it out of the way. Next blog time it'll be all good. For now, the brutal truth.
First, you must know that the Chiefs hold the record for most consecutive playoff losses in a row. Yes, the NFL record. They share it with Dallas and Seattle, by the way, at six straight futile postseason efforts. The trick is that Dallas' and Seattle's streaks both ended at six. The Chiefs' record is still active. Just for your information: If you remember, after we got wonderful playoff wins in 1993 against Pittsburgh and then Houston, we lost the AFC Championship to the Bills in Buffalo -- that was the first loss in the series. Then in 1994 we lost to the Dolphins, one and out -- two straight losses. In 1995 we lost to Indianapolis, one and out -- three straight. In 1997 we lost to Denver, one and out -- four straight. In 2003 we lost to Indianapolis again, one and out -- five straight. In 2006 we lost to Indianapolis again, one and out yet again -- six straight. Now, what is going to happen when we face a better Jets or Ravens team next week at an Arrowhead stadium that has probably been as cursed with rotten playoff luck as Marty Schottenheimer was? Get ready for sole possession of the NFL record for sustained playoff rottenness.
Second, do you know how many times the Chiefs have won the division and had a playoff victory? The answer is a whopping two. Yes, in the grand 50+ years of pro football wonderfulness in Kansas City, there have been exactly two years when the Chiefs have won the division and went on to win at least one playoff game. Just for your information: those years were 1966 and 1993. In '66 we beat Buffalo then lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl. '93 was when we beat Pittsburgh and Houston, the last year, by the way, we've even won a playoff game at all. Only Cincinnati and Detroit have longer streaks. I did once assemble the same number of playoff wins for the other three AFC West teams in years they won the division. It was a bunch. I've got the paper with that info on it somewhere and don't want to look for it, but trust me, it was a bunch for each. For the Chiefs, two. And what about the Super Bowl year of '69? Remember? We didn't win the division that year. We were the wild-card team from the AFL. Our overall postseason record since that Super Bowl win? Just for your information: 3-11. I call it Odin's revenge, the curse the Scandinavian god put on us for beating Minnesota. Yes, that's right, 3-11. Extraordinarily pukifying.
I know this is depressing, but I have to vent. Please, indulge me. Be a Chiefs fan with me. Thank you. Don't worry, there's more.
Third, if we do get the Jets, we are facing an 0-9 ongoing playoff record against teams from the old AFC East division. 0-9. After we beat the Joe Namath Jets in the '69 playoffs (the year before there was even an AFC East) our postseason losses against old AFC East teams has been in this order (its like a repulsively ugly tapestry, really): Mia-NYJ-Mia-Buf-Buf-Mia-Ind-Ind-Ind. All losses, to zero wins against any of them since. What's funny is none of the teams was New England. Think what it'll be like if we actually got so far as to face New England in the playoffs this year. ::Shudder::
So yeah, right now I'm kinda just coasting along, just shuffling through with my thoughts about how proud I am of this team winning the division. I mean that, after all that today's-game and yesteryears'-playoff blight, I can honestly tell you I am still really proud of these guys. They are a year or two away, during which we can hope for a couple more solid Scott Pioli drafts like he had this year and not like the one the year before when he drafted Tyson Jackson far too high. I hear rumers of an NFL lockout next year, but I know nothing about it because I'm only watching the Chiefs on Sunday. If there is no NFL next year, no big deal. I'd want to see my Chiefs finally start doing well for a while, certainly, to see them actually have a chance in the playoffs. But, whatever.
Yeah I know I'm looking past next week. Don't worry, next week I will be sitting eagerly in front of the television hoping like crazy the Chiefs' good team will show up. It may be best that I think they'll suck so if they come away with a win, it'll feel great, the exact opposite feeling of those postseason instances when we should've won going away like the '98 Denver game or the '03 Indy game. And if we lose, then no big -- we're still that year or two away anyway.
I still have hope for this year though. Maybe we can be that team with the character to play well after having our faces planted on the turf -- we've done it a few times this year. Maybe Todd Haley will have the game plan to answer a horribly wretched loss -- he's done it before. Maybe the New Arrowhead mystique will be a significant part of turning away Odin's revenge this year. Maybe after all those pukifyingly rotten loss statistics, we're due. Maybe we'll just flat-out be that team that gets hot at the right time.
I hope. I really do.
And I'm also hoping to get to a preview this week, to simply go over what really must happen in real reality for the Chiefs to finally break the spell.
_
(1/7/11 note: I have to add that upon further review I saw that the Raiders also beat the Chiefs 24-0 in 2002. I'd forgotten about that blowout simply because it was a loss by a demoralized Chiefs team completely out of contention in wet rainy Oakland on the last day of the season in which the Raiders would go on to romp through the playoffs on the way to the Super Bowl. Yhee. I can add, though, that it was nice when the Buccaneers whomped on them once they got there.)
This is a playoff team?
I have to tell you there are a number of feelings that came back to me today. Feelings I've had in the past. Let me share each one with you.
1. This reminded me of the San Diego game three weeks ago, when we got shellacked there too. It was so similar to the extent that our line on both sides of the ball just got their asses stood up. It happened in the Denver game at there place where we also got blasted. Today the Raiders O-line and D-line just made silly putty with our guys. When we had the ball Raiders were all over us in the backfield -- our runners got nowhere and our QB's were sacked six times. When they had the ball our defenders looked like they were running backwards. This is a playoff team?
2. It reminded me of 2003 when we stormed outta the gate at 9-0, then just started to get really tired. Our defense was just not keeping up with the opponents' offensive weapons as the season wore on, and it really hit us in that first playoff game when a young Peyton Manning really took us apart and beat us at home. This loss to the Raiders, by the way, was our first at "The New Arrowhead." The way we looked today I just don't have much hope for next week's New Arrowhead game. We couldn't stop a very aggressive Raiders team that is generally mediocre, what on earth are we going to do against a really good aggressive team like the Jets or Ravens?
3. It reminded me of how much I loathe the Raiders. It's not personal -- it's just the Chiefs-Raiders thing. They've now beaten us four straight at home, and it was the first win by either team over the other by a score more than a scant touchdown or so for eons. The last big-scoring blowout was 49-31 back in 2000. (I should say the Raiders beat us 23-8 in '08, so there is that.) Hard to believe but the last blowout of any sort by the Chiefs over the Raiders, even with all our success against Oakland through the 2000's, was opening day of 1998, when we won 28-8. This was also the first time the Raiders swept us since 2001. It is just representative of the ugly truth that you can have wild success over a team for a long period of time, but sometime, somehow, it is going to come back around and they're going to kick your ass.
4. It just reminded me of all those games this year when I was just convinced we were just not a very good team. The ugly fourth quarter of the Houston game. The Buffalo game when we had to scratch and claw for a win. The San Diego game when I just knew we were not that good a team, after which I questioned my bad-team assessment when we beat St. Louis and Tennessee, but now am back to thinking we're just a bad team trying to wear a good-team mask.
The painful reality is that we have not had one single proven win against a good team like the Jets or Ravens all year long. We beat each team in the NFC West. Whuppy -- they all suck. We got clobbered in three of our divisional games, one by each team, Denver, San Diego, and now Oakland. The other AFC division we played, the South, also kind of sucks, with Indy right now barely trying to squeak into the playoffs.
Add to this the prospect of facing a couple of really awful stat situations, especially in light of how bad we played today. I do plan to preview the Chiefs playoff game later, but I just have to get all the bad off my shoulders now. Get it out of the way. Next blog time it'll be all good. For now, the brutal truth.
First, you must know that the Chiefs hold the record for most consecutive playoff losses in a row. Yes, the NFL record. They share it with Dallas and Seattle, by the way, at six straight futile postseason efforts. The trick is that Dallas' and Seattle's streaks both ended at six. The Chiefs' record is still active. Just for your information: If you remember, after we got wonderful playoff wins in 1993 against Pittsburgh and then Houston, we lost the AFC Championship to the Bills in Buffalo -- that was the first loss in the series. Then in 1994 we lost to the Dolphins, one and out -- two straight losses. In 1995 we lost to Indianapolis, one and out -- three straight. In 1997 we lost to Denver, one and out -- four straight. In 2003 we lost to Indianapolis again, one and out -- five straight. In 2006 we lost to Indianapolis again, one and out yet again -- six straight. Now, what is going to happen when we face a better Jets or Ravens team next week at an Arrowhead stadium that has probably been as cursed with rotten playoff luck as Marty Schottenheimer was? Get ready for sole possession of the NFL record for sustained playoff rottenness.
Second, do you know how many times the Chiefs have won the division and had a playoff victory? The answer is a whopping two. Yes, in the grand 50+ years of pro football wonderfulness in Kansas City, there have been exactly two years when the Chiefs have won the division and went on to win at least one playoff game. Just for your information: those years were 1966 and 1993. In '66 we beat Buffalo then lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl. '93 was when we beat Pittsburgh and Houston, the last year, by the way, we've even won a playoff game at all. Only Cincinnati and Detroit have longer streaks. I did once assemble the same number of playoff wins for the other three AFC West teams in years they won the division. It was a bunch. I've got the paper with that info on it somewhere and don't want to look for it, but trust me, it was a bunch for each. For the Chiefs, two. And what about the Super Bowl year of '69? Remember? We didn't win the division that year. We were the wild-card team from the AFL. Our overall postseason record since that Super Bowl win? Just for your information: 3-11. I call it Odin's revenge, the curse the Scandinavian god put on us for beating Minnesota. Yes, that's right, 3-11. Extraordinarily pukifying.
I know this is depressing, but I have to vent. Please, indulge me. Be a Chiefs fan with me. Thank you. Don't worry, there's more.
Third, if we do get the Jets, we are facing an 0-9 ongoing playoff record against teams from the old AFC East division. 0-9. After we beat the Joe Namath Jets in the '69 playoffs (the year before there was even an AFC East) our postseason losses against old AFC East teams has been in this order (its like a repulsively ugly tapestry, really): Mia-NYJ-Mia-Buf-Buf-Mia-Ind-Ind-Ind. All losses, to zero wins against any of them since. What's funny is none of the teams was New England. Think what it'll be like if we actually got so far as to face New England in the playoffs this year. ::Shudder::
So yeah, right now I'm kinda just coasting along, just shuffling through with my thoughts about how proud I am of this team winning the division. I mean that, after all that today's-game and yesteryears'-playoff blight, I can honestly tell you I am still really proud of these guys. They are a year or two away, during which we can hope for a couple more solid Scott Pioli drafts like he had this year and not like the one the year before when he drafted Tyson Jackson far too high. I hear rumers of an NFL lockout next year, but I know nothing about it because I'm only watching the Chiefs on Sunday. If there is no NFL next year, no big deal. I'd want to see my Chiefs finally start doing well for a while, certainly, to see them actually have a chance in the playoffs. But, whatever.
Yeah I know I'm looking past next week. Don't worry, next week I will be sitting eagerly in front of the television hoping like crazy the Chiefs' good team will show up. It may be best that I think they'll suck so if they come away with a win, it'll feel great, the exact opposite feeling of those postseason instances when we should've won going away like the '98 Denver game or the '03 Indy game. And if we lose, then no big -- we're still that year or two away anyway.
I still have hope for this year though. Maybe we can be that team with the character to play well after having our faces planted on the turf -- we've done it a few times this year. Maybe Todd Haley will have the game plan to answer a horribly wretched loss -- he's done it before. Maybe the New Arrowhead mystique will be a significant part of turning away Odin's revenge this year. Maybe after all those pukifyingly rotten loss statistics, we're due. Maybe we'll just flat-out be that team that gets hot at the right time.
I hope. I really do.
And I'm also hoping to get to a preview this week, to simply go over what really must happen in real reality for the Chiefs to finally break the spell.
_
(1/7/11 note: I have to add that upon further review I saw that the Raiders also beat the Chiefs 24-0 in 2002. I'd forgotten about that blowout simply because it was a loss by a demoralized Chiefs team completely out of contention in wet rainy Oakland on the last day of the season in which the Raiders would go on to romp through the playoffs on the way to the Super Bowl. Yhee. I can add, though, that it was nice when the Buccaneers whomped on them once they got there.)
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