Chiefs in the playoffs!
Dear BBTF reader --
I understand this is a baseball website, which is why I’ve kept this to the blogpen section. But I just had to post about the 9-7 Chiefs making the playoffs. A little bit of history may be in order.
January 2003: The Kansas City Chiefs blunder a 13-3 (including an 9-0 start) and lose to the Indianapolis Colts after their bye week. I was in attendance. I walked out, heartbroken. No punts were exchanged in this game, the first (and only, I’m pretty sure) NFL playoff game without a punt. Such talent and momentum is wasted in one three-hour window. Super Bowl dreams are broken again.
December 2005: It’s Dick Vermiel’s last year in KC and with the Chiefs feeling heat to be successful (any number of their tremendous but aged vets such as Willie Roaf, Will Shields, etc. were bound to retire soon), the Chiefs fall short of the playoffs. They have the talent to succeed—Football Outsiders later calls them one of the greatest teams in history never to make the playoffs—but never do. Through stupid mistakes and bad luck, the Chiefs (10-6, a game better than this year’s squad) fall short of the playoffs. The Pittsburgh Steelers sneak in their place and parlay that spot into a Super Bowl victory.
December 23, 2006: The Chiefs are in low spirits. In Herm Edwards’ first year coaching the Chiefs, Trent Green has been hit in a way that I can only describe as being ”Trent Greened”, Willie Roaf retired, Priest Holmes didn’t return to action, offensive tackle play has been inferior, and the most valuable player is Larry Johnson, followed very closely by the punter. Things don’t look good. The Chiefs saw a 7-4 record turn to a 7-7 record in a hurry. They’re about to play the Oakland Raiders in their second-to-last game of the year. Here’s the Yahoo! story‘s lede for the Chiefs/Raiders preview:
The Kansas City Chiefs are frustrated, their playoff hopes likely gone.
They went on to win. And things still aren’t looking good…
December 31, 2006
*11:55 a.m.: The Chiefs are still in bad shape to make the playoffs, or even finish the year with a over-.500 record. The Chiefs will play the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team in a similar boat who must claw and scratch and need help from other teams to steal the last AFC Wild Card spot. From the Lawrence Journal-World preview of the Jaguars/Chiefs game:
The path to the playoffs is clear for Kansas City.
If the Chiefs beat Jacksonville, and Denver loses to San Francisco, and both Cincinnati and Tennessee either lose or tie, the Chiefs are in.
If any of those teams win — all three are playing at home — then Kansas City skips the postseason for the eighth time in nine years, something coach Herm Edwards seemed almost resigned to Tuesday.
*Appx. 3:00 p.m.: The Chiefs won. The Patriots, as expected, handled the Tennessee Titans despite some close scores here and there. The underdog Steelers took a close game to overtime, following a would-be-winning missed kick off the foot of Shayne Graham for the Cincinnati Bengals, and then won it.
*Appx. 3:05 p.m.: Wow. I guess the Chiefs have a decent shot, eh? All they need is for the 49ers to beat the Broncos. With the Broncos playing for survival and the 49ers playing for pride, though, what chance did they stand?
*Appx. 6:15 p.m.: (Head explodes) Whaaaaaaa? ... They did it, they did it, they did it. The Chiefs are in, they’re in, they’re in, they’re in, they’re in, they’re in. Following an intense NFL match taken to overtime, the Niners win. I haven’t been this nervous—I paced around, stood up and sat down, paced some more, and yelled “play smart and protect that ball!” at Frank Gore, while screaming “hummina-hummina-hummina” to a distressed Jay Cutler—for this long in years.
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I cannot do justice to how I feel. I’m amazed, and I’m more happy about the Chiefs than I was in 2003. They very well might lose in the first round to the Indy Colts (gunning for 2003 revenge?), but that doesn’t even matter. The Chiefs got very lucky and slipped their way into a playoff pool of the best… (looks around)… er… second-best game in the world. The Chiefs just did to the Broncos what the Steelers did to the Chiefs last year. Maybe the Chiefs have some small chance to win the Vince Lombardi trophy for the late and great Lamar Hunt, the founder and former owner of the Chiefs (and the AFL, which became the AFC conference). But that’s all that matters—the Chiefs still have a chance! That’s all I could ask for.
Sorry. Rant over. I’m just too happy not to post.
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Even if the result is not in your favor, some unnamed source will call it "a moral victory". Maybe that same "unnamed source" will run twenty seconds off the clock with the team down two touchdowns and the two minute warning approaching. Just keep those positive thoughts coming.
I don't know what it is about him, but Herm Edwards drives me nuts. On the sideline, he either looks confused or mad. Maybe he's a really good motivating, practicing coach, but on the field he looks as awkward as Tommy Lasorda's uniform.
Well, whoever is GM after Matt Millen will have the easiest job in the history of mankind.
It's amazing how KC has avoided a disastrous season, but also hasn't won a playoff game since Keith Cash was on the team.
Also, do you go with Green or Huard? I've been a big Trent apologist, but I have to concede Huard seems to be the way to go for the playoffs. Trent doesn't look like the same player he was before the hit.
Luckily, it appears that this draft added some very real talent to the defense in Tamba Hali, Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard -- most of whom I'll admit appeared foolish to me for awhile in many aspects -- and have bolstered a defense that needed it.
Now, one or two solid young DTs, some improvement in linebacker depth (and Bell's OLB spot), and some young CBs, and that defense could be in shape for some years to go.
The offense is in much worse shape. The offensive line in three years will likely have no or very few starters from this year's line. And the depth needs work along with the starters. There has never been a good corps of WRs, and Eddie Kennison grows grayer by the day. Tony Gonzalez may be gone next year, but if not, won't last more than three years in KC. Trent Green is in his waning years as well, and as mentioned doesn't seem to be as spry as he was pre-Trent Greened. The O-line, WRs, FB, and QB positions need starters and need depth. Larry Johnson seems to be the only permanent offensive player here to stay.
But, ignoring the dark future for a bit (as Carl Peterson must be doing, too), I can see the Chiefs surprising some teams much like the Steelers last year. For one, the Chiefs match up well against the Colts, perhaps the second-best team in the AFC playoffs for KC to play. They have a very weak interior defensively, very exploitable by LJ. And even the secondary with Mike Doss and whoever else look weak when being thrashed by Gonzalez and Kennison. The Cover 2 seems to be a bit more containing against Manning's offensive onslaught, plus the Chiefs seem strong against the run, so I think Addai and Rhodes might be neutralized. I don't know, I just like the Chiefs' matchup.
Looking ahead, a Patriots game doesn't look very fun, a Ravens game looks very, very scary -- they seem to be a very similar team to us, but are better at every aspect of the game -- but a Chargers game would be okay, and obviously a Jets game would be better than the first two teams mentioned. But against any team, as the saying goes, on any given Sunday...
My personal Chiefs playoff prediction: Beat the Colts, Lose to the Chargers (but I think this could be a very close game).
You know, that's the thing… I try not to get caught up in that. I prefer to look at it in terms of difference: Baseball is different from Football, not better or worse, and vice versa. They are two completely different games, and that's very cool on it’s own merit. Debating which one is “better” often results in a Billy Madison styled "Donkey Kong sucks... no you suck!" type of argument.
And who really wants that?
They are both great games. Baseball is, personally, my favorite sport, but I don’t run around questioning the moral integrity of hardcore football fans that might happen to hate Baseball. Hey, it’s all opinion.
And K.C. fans, beware of Herm managing the clock in a post-season game. Hell, beware of Herm managing anything. If Lawrence Tynes is set up for a difficult 47 yard field goal to beat Indy when he could have been bought closer by more aggressive play calling, just remember you have been warned.
After all, YOU PLAY NOT TO LOSE THE GAME!
And all this from a Bears fan.
REX PLAYOFF MVP 07 #######
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