It's Only Fitting That This Was a Brady Quinn Line: "Now I'm Done."

I’m writing this on a laptop (Editor's Note: So, uh, no clean-copy expectations), which I hate, and it’s quarter of one in the morning, which is ridiculous. More importantly: I haven’t written much of anything in over four months. That’s the worst thing of all. ‘Cept it’s not.

No.

The worst thing of all is the Kansas City Chiefs Football Club.

Somewhere in the middle of all those axes of suck lies the fact that the period of my life in which I, to date, have spent the most time consistently writing was an era that centered on these same Chiefs. I mean, my life has always centered on the Chiefs, and by “these same” I don’t mean this 2012 team, but by this point, it’s unimportant.

My life, for as long as I can remember has revolved around the successes and failures of Lamar Hunt’s football team, and in this moment, on this early, second morning of November, I can say that that will no longer be true.

Where I’m going with this doesn’t need to be long-winded. It’s best summarized by two distinct memories in two unique venues, some six or seven years ago, in which two grown men who’ve never met one another offered me the same answer to the same question. I don’t remember if I asked them on the same Sunday, or even in the midst of the same season, but it’s irrelevant.

The two separate conversations involved me asking them how they could be so nonchalant about fill-in-the-blank Chiefs loss, and they both answered identically:

“I tell you, Blair,” they said. “I used to care so much. I used to live and die with this football team, and I reached a point in my life where other things became more important than being letdown game after game, year after year. So, I just don’t care anymore.”

Those words hurt. I carried them with me, like an irreparable wound, winter after winter, vowing never to become that guy. And tonight, courtesy of Thursday Night Football and the NFL Network, I have officially become that guy.

This is how much I don’t care: Stats about not having leads and history lessons regarding how tight-rolled my acid-wash jean cuffs were the last time a quarterback drafted by the Chiefs that won a game for the Chiefs aren’t even fazing me. I don’t care that the crew at the desk unofficially declared us the laughingstock of the league, and I certainly couldn’t be more apathetic about next year’s draft positioning.

The fact remains that I am officially too old, too busy, and if so be it – so be it – too boring to stake all my claims in what this franchise might or might not accomplish on Sunday.

I don’t care.

So the media can take to the printed pages and the airwaves tomorrow morning and talk about whether or not Scott Pioli or Romeo Crennel will be fired, or whether or not now’s the appropriate time to do so. They can take calls and print letters from season-ticket holders that say they won’t renew. And they can compile stats that pit this team against the worst of all time.

I’m done giving the thing any energy.

The landscape that encompasses the National Football League is too big for me to tie myself with the team that bears my city’s name, and there aren’t enough hours in the week to warrant keeping tabs on how much worse this team will be this week than they were the prior.

Like Andy Dufresne said in The Shawshank Redemption: “It’s time to get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.”

I’ve died a little bit each year of the past three decades. I’ve got a life to live, and it can no longer be shackled to the anvil around the ankles that the red-and-gold team at Truman Sports Complex represents.

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Thinking Out Loud: 'Arrowhead Anxiety' Piece Confuses

Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star writes, in addition to solid columns for the newspaper, a blog for the paper's Web site. You should check it out, and participate in his Twitter Tuesday feature, but don't do what I'm doing in this post. That's not the point of the feature.

I put this together as a post, not because I want to make Mellinger work harder by clicking a link, or because I’m interested in page views; the only traffic this blog gets comes from random Google image searches from a silly feature we used to do a few years ago, and why change that now? The thought is that it’s easier for him to read all of it in one place, rather than trying to piece together @mentions –- no way I can keep this to 140 characters or less -- from my Twitter handle. That said…

I thought Kent Babb’s Arrowhead Anxiety piece was a great example of journalism and reporting. I told him so, and asked him how he felt about it, but got no response.

The reason I wanted to know how he felt about it is similar to why I’m asking you about it today: What does this story do for the Kansas City community and the Chiefs fan base? Is it designed to show Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli that there are ways around their efforts toward secrecy and accountability?

Does it aim to show Chiefs fans that the organization’s brass is, perhaps, focusing on the wrong things? Is it a quiet vote for Todd Haley’s on-an-island methods of madness? Does it suggest that Romeo Crennel (and really any head coach Pioli hires) is, in a sense, being set up for failure?

I mean, I just don’t get it. So the Chiefs general manager keeps tabs on a candy wrapper in a stair well, and pores over phone logs, and makes staff-department members feel as though they’re not allowed to comingle, or that their moves are monitored. If the organization is committed to winning championships, and we know fans of the team want the same, how does exposing the regime’s heavy-handedness advance anything beyond the essence of one particular piece of journalism?

I feel like the media members in this community are either admitted fans of the teams they cover, or they’re adept enough to maintain the expected role of an impartial reporter, but they’re quietly rooting for the success of the clubs they cover. It’s no secret that Babb does a fantastic job as a Chiefs beat writer, and he appears to wish well for the club and its personnel on the field. I’m just having a hard time understanding the point of the piece.

My guess is that Babb is proud of the piece, or he wouldn’t have submitted it, but my confusion centers on how it advances discussion. Are we supposed to be mad at the Chiefs? Are we supposed to think that a lot of those employees are thin-skinned, or that people, for the most part, don’t like change?

The Kansas City Chiefs kept a lot of their front-office administrators in place until the Carl Peterson era came in, and when they made changes, the club went from a joke to a serious, annual, post-season contender. It wasn’t enough, and change was necessary again. This time, the change included the owner, and perhaps Lamar Hunt’s son is going to be less loyal than his father was, all at the expense of winning a Super Bowl.

Maybe Scott Pioli is a little nutty, and maybe the point of the piece was to show that. Or maybe it was just to get readers to think, regardless of direction.
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Queue the "Dukes of Hazzard" Theme Song

Alright. Got a day off, and I've got plenty to say about my re-entrance into the realm of industry hospitality, and I'm certain that will entertain a grand total of nobody. In the interim, however, I've got to sort out a few things about the good ol' Kansas City Chiefs, the good ol' Denver Broncos, and the good-ol'-boy-network known as the National Football League.

If you're unfamiliar with my ramblings on this blog, it may be news to you that I am not a fan of Colorado's professional football club. I'm not going to bash them today, though. They stunned everyone -- most notably Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers -- yesterday by advancing to the divisional round of the NFL's post-season. Yes, the Steelers were badly hobbled, and no, nobody thought Tim Tebow and company would orchestrate a 300-yard-passing afternoon. Here's the long and short of the contest, though: You're the number-one passing defense in the league. You lose the coin toss to start overtime, and you therefore, are perhaps thinking of coming up with some huge defensive schemes and plays in order to gain possession of the football.

Yes, that was the debut of new post-season overtime rules, so yes -- you might want to come out prepared for the first play from scrimmage. And, by "prepared," I mean send someone into pass coverage. Someone. Anyone. I mean, you don't wanna get torched on an 80-yard touchdown pass and get sent packing before the first overtime commercial break, do you?

Nevertheless, a Denver win. Congratulations to John Fox and his squad.

That brings me to today, though, and if you are familiar with my tiresome drawl on this site, you know that I think the incestuous nature of this league is filthy and disgusting. Every regular season concludes with some head-coaching vacancies, and inevitably, the same old retreads get drug out from behind the last wood shed to which they were cast, and we see the same has-beens give it a go in a new city.

It's annoying, yes, but for the most part, tolerable.

There appears, though, to be some sort of leap-year cycle in football, wherein the whole concept of good ol' boys giving their good, old pals new jobs in different regimes, finds new ceilings, and right now we're in the midst of one of those unprecedented -- at least in my football-viewing liftime -- heights.

I'm not documenting all of this to educate anyone. Rather, it's an exercise for myself, one in which I can attempt to make some sense of it all.

Several seasons ago, Mike Shanahan was fired by Pat Bowlen, and shortly thereafter, Clark Hunt and newly appointed Scott Pioli opted to not retain the services of Herman Edwards. As you may know, Pioli -- then dubbed the top G.M. candidate in football -- is betrothed to a young woman whose father goes by the name of Bill Parcells.

Now, us fans (and lowly bloggers) never know what really goes on inside the NFL's inner circles, so we're left to speculate, and this is what I'm doing here, so keep that in mind.

Pioli gets the job in Kansas City, and it was reported that he wanted to -- shocker -- go to the New England Patriots staff and pick his coach from that crew of knuckleheads, his choice being none other than then-Patriots-offensive-coordinator Josh McDaniels. Denver Bronco G.M. Brian Xander, however, beat him to the punch and hired McDaniels first. This left Pioli to go all Galactic and call up his father-in-law for some advice.

Parcells, having worked with Todd Haley in both New York and Dallas, recommended the then-Arizona-Cardinals offensive coordinator, who happened to have just been one Santonio Holmes touchdown catch away from winning a Super Bowl, so it made sense.

Next, Pioli needed a quarterback for his Chiefs, so he -- shocker -- went to the New England well again, and pulled a trade to get the then-franchise-tagged Matt Cassel, which was who McDaniels also wanted to get to call signals for his Broncos. Somehow, word of this Denver-based desire leaked out, and pissed off then-incumbent-starter Jay Cutler, who threw a tantrum and demanded a trade, which he got.

The swap of Cutler for Kyle Orton, if I remember correctly, netted the Broncos a nice bundle of draft picks, which McDaniels then, quite literally, blew the following season, so he could obtain the services of Tebow. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, Pioli went -- yes, a third shocker -- back to his Foxboro roots once more and obtained the services of Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel to coordinate both sides of the non-special-teams football.

In the midst of McDaniels' and Haley's second seasons in charge of their respective clubs, the former's squad crushed the latter's and an infamous post-game display of unaffection ensued:



Later in the campaign, Haley's Chiefs (barely) defeated McDaniels' Broncos and the latter was relieved of his duties, courtesy of both a late-season collapse and some hidden-camera shenanigans that McDaniels likely -- shocker number four -- learned from watching his boss Bill Belichick in New England.

That brings us to this year, which featured McDaniels leading an inept St. Louis Rams offense to a two-win effort, and Haley getting fired with three games to go in the regular season. Mind you, the future of the Denver franchise that McDaniels rolled the dice on (read: #15) took over the starting job for Orton, and the former Bear was cut. Kansas City, being without the services of Matt Cassel, claimed Orton off of the waiver wire, and promptly defeated the lossless, defending-Super Bowl-champion Green Bay Packers.

The Chiefs then lose an overtime contest to the Oakland Raiders, courtesy of not one, but two, field-goal attempts blocked by former Patriot Richard Seymour. Kansas City then travelled to Denver, and won a snooze fest over the Broncos, 7-3. It should be noted that said snooze fest featured Orton returning to Denver to defeat his former backup. Tebow and crew, however, eked into the playoffs thanks to a San Diego Chargers victory over the Raiders.

As the buzz of the regular season was still fizzling, New England sent the NFL TPS reports to obtain the services of the now-fired-from-St. Louis McDaniels, who, rumor had it, Pioli had been eyeballing for some position or other in Kansas City.

Following the conclusion of yesterday's wildcard weekend, McDaniels is now on the Patriot staff as an offensive assistant, and will be the club's coordinator next season, meaning that his first assignment is to help guide New England to victory over the franchise that fired him, a franchise led by the quarterback for whom he mortgaged the club's draft picks obtained in the Cutler-Orton trade.

And, back in the midwest, the Chiefs have named Crennel the new head coach, while the Rams appear ready to ink a deal with Jeff Fisher. Reports from Twitter over the weekend indicated that the recently fired Haley and Tony Sparano will be involved in hedging the new offensive plan for St. Louis. Sparano is coming off a once-impressive, mostly disappointing tenure as main man in Miami, and was put there by Parcells. Parcells, no longer employed by the Dolphins, is suspected to be replaced by Carl Peterson, who Scott Pioli replaced in Kansas City.

Basically, the only fresh face in the mix is John Fox in Denver. He has McDaniels' old job and McDaniels' old quarterback. Kansas City has Denver's old quarterback, New England's old quarterback (both of whom are also McDaniels' old quarterbacks), New England's old defensive coordinator, and if you want to add another layer to the mix: the third quarterback on the Chiefs roster is a kid out of Iowa, one of Pioli's favorite places to draft since he's chums with coach Kirk Ferentz.

Haley's in line to take (some form of) McDaniels' old job, along with Sparano, who came from Parcells, who will likely be replaced by Peterson. And McDaniels, in case you didn't catch it, is charged with attempting to defeat the signal caller he so coveted two drafts ago.

In other NFL playoff news, the Saints -- semi-loaded with former Chargers A.J. Smith decided not to keep -- will attempt to knock off Jim Harbaugh (former Bear QB) and the San Francisco 49ers, while the Packers will take on Eli Manning -- who refused to play for the team (San Diego) that drafted him and the New York Giants. Tom Coughlin's Giants made a mockery of the Thomas Dimitroff (another branch of the Pioli tree)'s Atlanta Falcons yesterday, leaving Tony Gonzalez -- who didn't want to stick around for yet another Kansas City rebuild -- with one less playoff win than Tim Tebow (Editor's Note: I'm still kicking myself for not tweeting that first yesterday.).

The other AFC matchup will feature Harbaugh's brother John and the Baltimore Ravens versus the Houston Texans, led by former Shanahan assistant Gary Kubiak.

So, there. None of that's news, really. I just had to suss it out for myself, and decide, after doing so, if I really felt as coated in six layers of Arkansas-truck-bed sibling lust as I thought I did.

Verdict: I do.

Gross.

Go Broncos! (Note: No, not really.)
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Bye-Week Rant II: Talking Chiefs, Broncos, Baseball, and Media with Old No. 7

Technically, we're past the bye week, but regardless of how your favorite NFL team is playing, I imagine most pro-football fans would agree that the bye week is the toughest stretch of the gridiron season. To help kill these 14 days, Old No. 7 and I sat down to talk, among other things, AFC West. And if this chatter interests you, check out our conversation from two years ago, or my Chiefs free-agent post.

bankmeister: This past spring you said you were certain the NFL would miss some games thanks to the lockout. Share with me what your thought process was regarding such conviction. What was your foundation for it beyond the dolla’-dolla’ bill?

Old No. 7: At that time, it seemed to me that the owners were steadfast in their resolve to break the union. To be more precise, there was a faction of hard-line asshole owners who appeared ready to sacrifice the season in order to absolutely crush the players with the new collective-bargaining agreement. They wanted to radically alter the previous arrangement and swing hundreds of millions of dollars their way. The union, to their credit, was unwilling to agree to such a horrendously shitty deal. Thus, I thought we’d miss games.

Fortunately for people who like watching football, those hard-line owners were overruled by more reasonable dudes. Make no mistake: the owners still “won” this negotiation. They got shithauls of concessions, and all they had to give up was some mandatory practice time. Owners don’t care about practice time, and coaches weren’t represented at the bargaining table. It was a moderately bad deal for the players, but they’re still rich, and so are the owners, and we got a season. Hoo-ray.

bankmeister: If you feel that the work stoppage hurt teams, how do you quantify it? It seems that this year has seen all-time highs in terms of season-ending injuries, specifically with ACL and Achilles’ heel blowouts. Explore the theory that a lot of these guys simply can’t be trusted to keep in top shape on their own during the off-season.

Old No. 7: The lockout hurt everyone the same, from the standpoint that no one could work out or sign players while it was going on. Sure, this affected some teams more than others. Veteran teams that brought most everyone back were most likely affected the least due to their continuity, whereas younger teams/players and clubs that fundamentally altered their foundations might have seen more disruption. But what’s done is done, and that’s the cost of doing business in the NFL. They needed a new CBA, it’s clear that both sides needed a doomsday deadline to take negotiations seriously, and we got a deal. Do you feel that the lockout’s impact was not distributed evenly among all 32 teams?

bankmeister: No. I think it seems pretty clear that everyone was hurt on an equal level.

Old No. 7: Right. I would absolutely dispute that we’ve seen more injuries than normal this year, specifically more ACLs or Achilles’es. I recall speculation from almost every season in recent memory about this phenomenon, yet when someone actually digs through the data we find out that it’s not true. It’s football, and guys get hurt. Plus, what little I know about physiology tells me that what’s at risk if players are not in top condition are muscle and tendon (like hamstring) pulls, not ligament tears. ACLs are neither in shape nor not in shape; they just are. They get torn from violent, unnatural movements, not a lack of conditioning. My observation is that the vast majority of NFL players keep themselves in premium condition year round, lockout or no, and I haven’t seen any evidence to the contrary that’s anything more than anecdotal.

bankmeister: Interesting. Obviously, it’s too new still, but tell me about your initial thoughts on being a Denver Broncos season-ticket holder.

Old No. 7: Other than the fact that it sucked up a buttload of money I didn’t have, I love it. I’ve attended one game, which was happily the only game Denver won this year. The weather was beautiful, my kids were well-behaved, and going to a game live is nearly always a blast.

And luckily, I was able to recoup most of my costs for the season package. Friends and family purchased some games, and I sold the rest online. In fact, I parted ways with my final tickets just last week. For this I must thank Our Lord and Savior Tim Tebow. His legions of slack-jawed, inbred disciples have created far more demand for Bronco seats.

bankmeister: Slack-jawed and inbred? You have Chiefs fans in the Tebow fan club?

Old No. 7: Zing! I look at these tickets as an investment for my family. Going to a few games a year will become our traditional ritual, and when my kids are spoiled teenagers this will be one more tedious, embarrassing exercise to be tolerated with their loser dad. I can’t wait! Also, it’s possible that in 15 years the Broncos won’t be terrible.

bankmeister: Speaking of losers, when Josh McDaniels was handed a pink slip, you talked about the lack of importance in finding “the right guy” to replace him, that the team’s problems were huge in terms of personnel, that it was more important to get some quality talent in the building, develop the roster, and reassess the coaching situation after a few seasons. Has that philosophy changed at all or remained the same? How?

Old No. 7: I feel exactly the same.

bankmeister: Tell me about John Fox five weeks in, and what’s the deal with Knowshon Moreno? Is he struggling to stay healthy? Does he really only have 10 carries on the season? What’s your confidence level that he’ll bounce back and be a contributor?

Old No. 7: Fox first: He’s coached five games, and the talent level on his team is atrocious. I’m trying to be patient before passing judgment. Allow me to reveal at this time that right now I’m following the Denver Broncos in a much different way than I ever have. I watch the games, and I consume national football media like Pro Football Talk and ESPN, and I text Cecil and a few other friends, and that’s it. I don’t catch any local Denver media outside an occasional random bit on the evening news. I quit reading Bronco blogs. When it became clear that the only theme anyone covering the Broncos this year wanted to pursue was Tim Tebow, I checked out.

So I have a very limited frame of reference when it comes to assessing Fox and this team other than the results. And I have to tell you, it’s pretty nice. You know me, I normally love all the chatter and speculation and talk-radio soap opera, but I simply can’t do the Tebow thing. It’s an affront to logic. I will say that Fox seems competent, and I’m willing to buy into his commitment to rebuild the team via defense and the running game. The roster does not allow this yet, but I’ll give it some time. I’ve heard sporadic complaints about his conservative play-calling, and I’ve heard yahoos call for his job. But I prefer to ignore the ignorant mob.

As for Knowshon, he’s been hurt a lot. He doesn’t get massive, catastrophic injuries, but he’s suffered an endless string of nagging little boo-boos that cause him to miss parts of games and a couple weeks here and there. This makes it impossible to say with any certainty whether he’s good or not, but I’m just going to speculate that he’s fucking terrible. I think he’s a miserable bitch, a horrible football player, and a bad person.

Look, running backs are the most disposable, replaceable commodity in professional football. There are a few that are special, and everyone else is reliant on scheme, health and luck. Knowshon is not special. He’s fast and athletic, and if he found himself in the right situation someday he might be able to put up some fine numbers. But there is absolutely nothing separating him from about a hundred backup RBs in the NFL right now. I mean, he’s been benched in favor of Willis McGahee, who I’m pretty sure played high school football with Bill Cosby.

bankmeister: Wait. What? Miserable bitch? Horrible football player? Bad person? I thought he was (initially) regarded as one of the best selections y’all’ve made in the last six or seven years.

I’m no draftnik (at least not on the level of Cecil), so I have no idea what the conventional wisdom is or was on Knowshon’s pick. I loved his skills, and when he was drafted I loved the idea of what he might do for the Broncos. I do remember McDaniels justifying the selection by talking about how polished of a receiver Knowshon was for a college RB, but McDaniels’ offense rarely throws the ball to running backs. And again, he can’t stay healthy.

Adrian Peterson was a top-10 pick who was worth it. Darren McFadden overcame injuries to get to that point as well. But by and large, NFL teams have abandoned the idea of burning high picks on RBs. They’re also starting to sour on giving elite RBs big extensions. Given the volatility at the position, I think I’m on board with both trends. Knowshon has not been worth the resources spent to acquire him, although I don’t actually think he’s a bad person. He might truly be a swell dude.

Last year, you said something to the effect of, “Kyle Orton is a beacon of light in a steaming cesspool of suck.” We revisited that topic not long ago, and you seemed to still support the notion. In my estimation, his play seemed solid enough through two, maybe two and-a-half weeks. Did his performance fall off enough to warrant the benching, or is it the ol’ gotta-see-what-the-young-kid’s-got kind of thing?

Old No. 7: Because of my rabid distaste for Tebow, I’ve been accused of being an Orton apologist or even a full-fledged Orton fan. I’m neither. I think he got a raw deal from the fans and the media, but he absolutely played himself out of his job. Orton quarterbacked the Broncos at a reasonably high level for two and a half months last year before sucking and giving way to Tebow. This year, he’s been insanely bad. I still think he could help some team out there in a situation where he is not mercilessly booed by his home fans after every incompletion.

bankmeister: Switching gears, you and I seem to have gone in opposite-baseball directions in the past 18 months. I know you’ve always been a superfan, but you seem to have gone to even another level. Is this accurate, or am I misreading?

Old No. 7: I don’t think the intensity of my baseball fandom has increased at all. If anything, the time demands of my rapidly multiplying offspring have made me follow baseball a lot less. What I’ve done is transformed myself into a much more efficient baseball fan through technology and acquired knowledge.

Sabermetrics is part of this because it allows me to cut through 90 per cent of the romanticized garbage in which traditional baseball coverage traffics. Either this team/player/manager/strategic decision works, or he/it doesn’t. And if he/it works, then the data will prove it. This saves time and eliminates a lot of BS.
I’ve also selected a small group of incredibly talented baseball writers to read and follow on Twitter. And thus I can stay on top of the game, even if I don’t have time to watch a ton of actual games. I’d imagine that this is the same approach you apply to your beloved hockey, no?

bankmeister: Yes and no. I mean, the television is almost never on in our house anymore. Our evenings –- thanks, as you mentioned, to the offspring -– are absolutely slammed, and by the time the dishes are done, it’s pillow-thirty. I do follow the NHL’s feed, a few Blues handles, and good old Buccigross, but Blues games haven’t been televised by my cable provider for a couple of seasons now, so I’m pretty much out of the loop, save the occasional rarity.

What did you make of the Boston Globe article regarding your Red Sox?

Old No. 7: The particular article you reference was horrible. It encapsulates everything I dislike about being a Red Sox fan, namely other Red Sox fans, the Boston media, and the suffocating narcissism of the entire enterprise.
The 2011 Red Sox choked, pure and simple. They choked as a team, and every single element of the team contributed to their demise. Every player, every manager and coach, every member of the front office. I get that when things go this wrong after expectations have been raised so high, heads roll. Terry Francona and Theo Epstein are gone, which is insane to me. You know how I feel about managers and how their impact is completely overvalued. That being said, making Francona the scapegoat for this mess is beyond stupid. He’s eminently competent in that position, as is Theo in his. I don’t know how much of their departures were quitting, or getting fired, but it doesn’t matter. They’re scapegoats for the failures of others.

This is why that Globe article was such an abortion of the dying art of journalism. It threw every tired, disproved stereotype of a losing team into a giant shitpile with no attempt to perform a rational autopsy of the season. It was pure gossip and spite, which is fine from the standpoint that millions of people take the Red Sox way too seriously and they’re angry. But to stick that load of crap under the banner of a reputable American publication was embarrassing. Call me a naïve sap, but I still believe a little bit in the integrity of certain media entities. I know you do, too. I hope you would hold your hometown Star to a higher standard than what appears in that story.

Now, I have one burning question for you, and it’s this:

The way you follow the Chiefs is much, much different from how I follow the Broncos. You live in Kansas City, whereas I no longer live in Denver. You’re immersed in discussion of your team, which of course has its benefits and drawbacks. Prior to Tebow’s arrival in Denver, I loved the constant hubbub of Bronco Nation. I love the year-round speculation about the roster, management, the blind homerism, the definitive ignorance of all of us fools. Because we were all in it together.

As I said, I’ve checked out for a while. I think I’ll be back, but I kind of like stepping away from the nutbag echo chamber that is obsessively following my team 24/7/365. I may consider staying.

How much enjoyment do you derive from following the Chiefs? I’m not talking about enjoying the wins or hating the losses, I’m talking about The Process. What you read in the Star, what you listen to on the radio, what you inhale on the blogs, what you ingest from the dude at the grocery store or the bar. Does all of this make your Chief fandom more or less pleasant?

bankmeister: Bear with me while I draw a long, non-parallel answer up for you: I’m always behind the times. When the world went CD and DVD, I clutched my cassette and VHS tapes as if they were my last possession. I still own zero high-definition televisions, I don’t D.V. the Rs, and my phone, while perfectly functional, is not of the smart variety. There are always setbacks –- some more significant than others –- that go with this stubbornness, but I always seem to hold out for some reason. I tell you that to tell you this: Tweets come to my phone in SMS form when I select this option from particular followers.

By and large, this methodology might be the biggest love/hate relationship I’ve ever experienced. It’s a constant juggle to unselect the phone option on followers that tweet a lot, but not a lot of their tweets are of significant, immediate interest. My latest example would be the almighty Joe Posnanski. Since he moved, he’s no longer talking Royals or Chiefs, or anything of real interest to me. In short, he’s tweeting MLB playoffs, Penn State football, Apple products, and commercials, and it’s driving me insane. In fact, I may, once we wrap this up, unclick that icon on his page.

As I’m sure yours does, too, my phone buzzes a lot. I get texts from friends and family, radio stations, and the SMS tweets. Therefore, many many times since joining Twitter, I’ve wanted to smash the thing on the ground. For example, at that Broncos @ Chiefs game a couple years ago where Denver scored like 17 touchdowns to our two field goals and our wives drank eight liters of Schnapps, I was following your boy Whitlock at the time, and I think he tweeted 20-plus times during that contest.

The point is that I love Twitter, but I have purposely refrained from purchasing a smart phone because I make unhealthy commitments to things that jazz me up, i.e. this blog when we started it, Sports-Talk Radio, Twitter, etc., and then I struggle to adjust. Right now, I don’t really read the Chiefs blogs anymore, but I’ll follow a link if it sounds appealing on Twitter, and I definitely take in every word from the guys at the Star. Also, the Sports Talk stuff has sort of spun out of control for me. These days they announce what times they’ll be doing certain segments and I make significant commitments to try and catch them.

The worst part is that they usually drive me bananas. Translation: I almost always disagree and find myself needing to drive to the nearest playground so’s I can punch a few kids in the neck. The Sports-Talk relationship is just like the Twitter-SMS thing: I might like it a little better if I could find the right balance.

To finally get to an answer, I freaking hate it. Everyone’s an expert. Everyone’s “leaking” stuff. Everyone knows that if the Chiefs would only do things their way, they’d already have a Lombardi being wheeled out to them on a pedestal. It’s absurd, and frankly, nothing sounds better than what you’ve described as your current regimen for Bronco consumption.

Old No. 7: And what is your current take on Todd Haley and Scott Pioli? I’m not asking what the consensus in KC is and how you agree or disagree with that consensus. I’m asking if you think these guys are the right guys for the job and if you think they’ll stick long-term.

bankmeister: It’s really hard to parse through that thought process while avoiding the consensus, but here goes: I like Scott Pioli’s approach, and more importantly, I really liked it when he got here. Right now it’s tough because a lot of his draft picks haven’t panned out, and as I let that thought out, I wonder whether or not that’s simply the case with front offices across the league. I mean, I guess it’d be cool if you had a formula like quarterback rating or one of your sabermetric deal-y-bobs that could translate successful-pick ratios into quantitative form. In the end, much more time is needed. I really can’t see Clark Hunt firing Pioli anytime soon unless things get wicked ugly. And more importantly in my book, I don’t think Pioli should fire Haley anytime soon.

I’ve really come to appreciate his style of coaching. The number of key players that have really thrived under him in two seasons and change is admirable, and he’s got a great sense of humor, too. Also, I can relate to a guy who fails triumphantly to keep his emotions in check. Lord knows I’ve done that a few hundred times only to recognize later how stupid I looked.

Back to you for the wrap: Everyone’s hoping that they’ll win “The Price is Right” showcase that comes with Andrew Luck. Is it too early for you to be thinking 2012? Do you want your team to nab this kid? The good old Stanford Redux? Or are there other guys in the NCAA that would equally suit you? Do you have faith in Fox, etc. to have a solid draft in April?

Old No. 7: Yes, I want Luck. I have very little doubt that he’ll be at least a high-quality NFL QB, and there’s a strong chance he’ll be a franchise player.
There are simply too many moving parts, however, to actually plan or wish for that to become reality. The Broncos would need to lose an awful lot of football games, which, of course, they’re doing anyway. Other teams would have to lose even more. Luck could get hurt. A meteor could strike the earth’s surface. There’s a lot that can happen between now and April. But assuming the current status quo stays in place, yeah, I’m all like Suck For Luck.
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Bye-Week Rant: 2011 Free Agency and Chiefs Criticism

If you’ve ever spent any time with the Tao Te Ching, you know that the world is referred to as the 10,000 things. As a kid, these 10,000 things -– when focused on Kansas City Chiefs football –- resembled an easy-to-read bar graph; absorption as a fan was either relatively high or relatively low. This, of course changed as my mind matured, and access to the National Football League and its teams developed.

Of course none of us lay fans are behind the closed doors of upper-management offices, but things like sports-talk radio and the Internet have spawned incredible growth regarding thought and conversation about our teams. We then all become, in varying degrees, armchair general managers. I have no problem with this. I do it. You do it. We all dabble.

It was easy for Chiefs fans to recognize that Carl Peterson, while among the best GMs in his initial five years in Kansas City, was in charge of the franchise way too long, and by being so his glaring deficiencies at handling coaches and personnel became more and more exposed. The 10,000 things rose and fell with patterns recognizable. Although different, the same was true with Scott Pioli when he came in. It seemed unanimous that this was the hire to make, and Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt pulled the trigger.

Herman Edwards was not retained, and as the 2008 season’s playoffs wore on and the Arizona Cardinals continued to stay alive, it became clear that Todd Haley would be Pioli’s coach of choice. I didn’t get that at first, but I quickly warmed up to the idea that coaches that appear to be jerks are the ones that have the most success. Pioli’s acquisition of quarterback Matt Cassel was astonishing in terms of both the actual choice itself and the dollars spent on him, but it made some sense because Pioli had spent time with Cassel in New England.

What followed was a foreign sense of secrecy and the small organizational changes that slowly shaped the identity of this new regime. This was a touch confusing in that, in this time of access, things around the league just seem to get out, the Chiefs quick to become an exception.

It seemed, though, that the organization was on the right track. They double the win total of the previous season in their first campaign, and in the second, they win 10 games, the division, and the right to go to the playoffs. Clearer than ever was the obvious rise of the 10,000 things.

Then the lockout happened, and when it was over, things immediately grayed.

Web sites began to publish and identify the fact that Kansas City had developed a trend of spending fewer salary-cap dollars than most teams over a stretch that nearly paralleled Hunt’s inheriting his father’s role as head white guy in charge. As the 2011 free-agency period came and went, fans, spurred by frequent and emphatic media-personality reports, felt their frustrations grow with regard to the notion that, for at least this season, the Chiefs spent $30 million less than the cap ceiling. Speculation supposes that the franchise will continue this trend until 2013 when the NFL will impose a cap floor.

As we’re all aware, criticisms run high and frequent when a team is losing, and the horrible pair of games to start Kansas City’s season magnified the media’s lack-of-spending finger pointing. Negative energy toward the regime multiplied with reports that Haley’s training-camp plan was foolish and flawed, that Haley is disliked by his boss and vice versa. Even worse: the sub-story to that last gripe that continues to imply that Pioli leaks, with consistency, notions to national writers that support such boss-to-subordinate disproval. All of this has left the 10,000 things at One Arrowhead Drive resembling a rookie meteorologist with bunk equipment. At least in the fans’ eyes.

In many ways this is all too familiar and the comparison stretches the non-existent tracks of the never-built rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex. All you have to do is look across the parking lot at the Royals franchise and examine Dayton Moore’s five-year tenure. It’s a bit fruitless to go over every move he’s made, but basically it began with -– and is still grounded in –- Moore’s token phrase: “Trust the process.”

Fans didn’t want to, though. I mean, at first they did: Moore’s first summer yielded something insane like 14 transactions, and naturally with them came the first batch of criticism toward the most-regarded (prior to his hiring) general-manager prospect in baseball. The problem was that fans were already terribly jaded. They suffered through the Allard Baird regime, watched key players develop in the system and leave for big free-agency money.

As though a seamless transition of gripe wove Baird and Moore into the same brass suit, it wasn’t long before the pitchforks came out of the barns. Moore has made mistakes, and I think he announced that he would make some before he erred, and has since acknowledged the same. I’m sure it’s not a list he likes to pore over each day –- Jose Guillen’s contract, Mike Jacobs, Yuniesky Betancourt, and still worst of all in my mind, Jason Kendall. It was plain to see, though, that Moore was filling holes, biding time, putting Band-Aids on the big-league roster, while we were asked to trust his process of building a successful farm system, developing scouting in Latin America, and putting the “right baseball people” in place in the organization.

Headed into the 2010 off-season, baseball personalities across the country almost unanimously labeled Moore’s farm the best in baseball. But still, there were doubters.

“Great,” one (of many) skeptic said. “He can load the minors with talent, but can he do it at the big-league level?”

This was far from an uncommon sentiment.

This year, the first batch of prospects arrived, and for the first time in many, many seasons, genuine excitement began to simmer within the fan base. The club played as close to .500 baseball (in stretches) as they have in eight years, and did a lot of things statistically well in the second half of the season. Moore’s big show will begin this April and he will be judged harsher than ever over the course of the next two campaigns.

Back over at Arrowhead, Pioli is suffering similar situationally. He’s conducted himself in fashions different (read: less appealing) than Moore, but only a few. He and his head coach have in fact used the phrase “it’s a process” on several occasions, but their tagline comes back to finding “the right 53 guys,” and acquiring and developing personnel "through the draft."

And this is where the 10,000 things get real fuzzy.

At the root of it all, is this question: Why is this so difficult for fans to accept? What is so wrong with allowing this new regime to examine, and then choose to pursue or pass on free agents? Why the obsession with spending all (or more) of the Hunt family money? What if Pioli, et al pored over the list of free agents and acquired (or at least attempted to obtain) the players they felt fit the right-53 mold? What is it that’s so blinding about looking across the TSC parking lot and at very least offering an acceptance nod that Moore’s plan appears on the verge of success?

This $30 million issue has flirted with obsession. At times it’s been sickening. And at the end of it, I’m drawn back to the argument I used to have with fellow Chiefs fans about the last leg of the Carl Peterson era. In sum, my sentiment mirrored everyone else’s in wanting him replaced. The lone difference, however, was that I was not qualified to name even one candidate to fill that role. I’m simply uneducated in that regard. I don’t know names of top-tier guys in franchises across the league. Heck, I couldn’t even name but two or three general managers when Peterson was still in office. Conversations were frustrating, but similar, in that they all went like this:

“Carl Peterson needs to be fired,” Guy A said.

“I know,” I said. “But who do you hire?”

Guy A: “I don’t care. Just fire him.”

There’s only one word for this response, and believe me, I heard it dozens of times: preposterous. It’s a simple philosophy that really scatters the 10,000 things of fandom and that is that you can’t steadfastly identify the problem if you have no solution.

I stand by this now as firmly as I did then: Firing Carl Peterson was not the solution. Finding his replacement was. My buddy Old No. 7 and I have discussed this a bit and his opinion was this: As a fan I’m entitled to believe and proclaim that a G.M. should be fired, even if I have no idea who his successor should be. Playing armchair G.M. is just the same as playing armchair quarterback. I support this team, and it’s my right to suggest organizational and positional changes.

I saw his point then, and I still see it now, but that’s not going to make anything happen. I suspect, though, that many Chiefs fans view this lack of free-agency-dollar spending in ways similar to my buddy and Guy A: Dudes are out there; spend the money. Otherwise, you simply look cheap.

The primary flaw in my stance is that when it comes to my teams, I tend to be Stevie Wonder with optimism. I wanna give guys a chance. I wanted to give Trey Hillman a chance. I felt that he was Moore’s first hire; we should give Moore the benefit of the doubt, his success in Japan could translate. I was pretty far off the mark on that one, but I wanted to give him a chance to the point of criticizing Moore for binding Hillman’s hands to some of the aforementioned Band-Aids. Turns out it was a much larger problem than that, and I see that now.

With the trio of Hunt (money), Pioli (say so), and Haley (front lines), my optimism hasn’t wavered, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

That said, here’s a look at some of the key areas of the Kansas City Chiefs roster heading into the 2011 season, and keep in mind the right-guy/draft-based mantra:

Quarterback

What they did:

The Chiefs drafted Ricky Stanzi in the fifth round of the draft, did not renew the contract of Brodie Croyle, and later signed Stanzi (July 28) to a contract. Tyler Palko was already under contract. With starting QB Matt Cassel in year three of his allegedly front-loaded five year, $63 million deal, the position’s needs were -- like it or not -- addressed.

Who else was out there:

We’re not going to look at who else was available on the free-agent market (19 signings of all sizes and dollars), but if you want to make a realistic argument that the Chiefs could cut ties with Cassel and his contract money after two years, I’m all ears.

Running Back/Fullback

The Chiefs drafted fullback Shane Bannon in the seventh round of the draft and signed him to a deal on July 28. They also signed Le’Ron McClain on August 3. They waived RB Tervaris Johnson in late August, Bannon in early September, then added him to the practice squad before releasing him from it, too. Most recently, RB Shaun Draughn joined the PS.

Who else was out there:

We’re not going to look at who else was available on the free-agent market (27 signings) because with the addition of McClain to a ball-carrying committee that included Jackie Battle (nice for the occasional spell), Thomas Jones (despite the lackluster performance we’ve seen through five 2011 games, Jones was dependable in ’10), and arguably the best back in the league in Jamaal Charles, the position’s needs were addressed. If you want to fault the Chiefs for not spending salary-cap dollars on a fourth running back -– and let’s not forget Dexter McCluster -- in case one, i.e. Charles, were to get hurt for the season, then frankly I’m interested in seeing your 53-man roster.

Wide Receiver

What they did:

After a career/Pro Bowl year from Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs went big in the draft and gambled on Jonathan Baldwin in the first round of the draft. They signed a dude named Josue Paul on July 27, released Chris Chambers the following day, and on the 28th, they acquired Todd Haley-guy Steve Breaston (five-year deal). That same day, Terrance Copper signed a contract, and on the 30th, Zeke Markshausen agreed to a deal. On August 10th it was Keary Colbert joining the team, and in late August, Chris Manno, Paul, and Chandler Williams departed. Markshausen, Jeremy Horne, and Verran Tucker were waived, and ultimately, Horne made it back to the practice squad before joining the team once more.

Who else was out there:

Twenty-three wide receivers signed deals during free agency, but again, none of them seemed like worthy pursuits if you head into the season anticipating a repeat performance from Bowe, immediate impact from your first-round pick, and you’ve added Breaston to the mix. What’s more: You’ve made two cuts and tried out five other guys for the position before inking a deal with Colbert. In sum, you have what you anticipate to be your one, two, and three, plus Colbert, Horne, and Jerheme Urban (already under contract) for when you want to go four and five deep. Just like the Charles injury, you can’t anticipate the Baldwin setback. You took a risk on the personality of Baldwin, and it perhaps cost you some early-season offensive production, but even if you’re willing to roll those dice, you don’t sign another middle-to-top tier wide out as a safety net.

Tight End:

Critics of the Chiefs' spending tendencies are quick to mention that this team lacks depth. In the positions we’ve addressed so far, they do not. If you’re required to build a 53-man roster, then dress only 46 on game day, you’ve got 22 starters on offense and defense combined, a punter, a kicker, and a long snapper bring you to 25. That leaves 21 spots for special teams, substitutions and sub packages. In my estimation, those slots have to be reserved for backup quarterbacks, running backs, a fullback, tight ends, two or three backup offensive linemen, and then the rest are defensive guys; your nickel and dime packages, your linebackers and linemen that spell your starters.

What they did:

Kansas City’s plan was to have Tony Moeaki as the primary pass-catching tight end with Leonard Pope and Anthony Becht as their blocking TEs. Becht, however, was hurt, so they bring in Jake O’Connell after having waived him. In late July, they signed Charlie Gantt to a contract and cut Brad Cottam. Gantt and Cody Slate (who they signed last winter) were later waived. Like the situations with Charles and Baldwin, the Moeaki injury was unforeseen, so I don’t have a problem with these three TEs qualifying the position’s needs as addressed. Pope and O’Connell are primarily going to provide pass protection and run-blocking schemes with either of them being targeted for the occasional pass. Moeaki had a pretty huge rookie season, so he’s your go-to guy.

Maybe this was short-sighted of the Chiefs, though. There were 13 tight-end signings in free agency, but the big names were spoken for, which leaves the Chiefs with the option of basically finding themselves another Pope or O’Connell on the market when they’ve already got those guys in house. Nevertheless...

Who else was out there:

1) Jeff King signed with Arizona before the Moeaki injury.
2) Ben Hartsock signed with Carolina before the Moeaki injury.
3) Todd Heap signed with Arizona before the Moeaki injury.
4) Daniel Fells signed with Denver before the Moeaki injury.
5) Zach Miller signed with Seattle before the Moeaki injury.
6) Marcedes Lewis was franchised by Jacksonville pre-lockout.
7) Kevin Boss signed with Oakland before the Moeaki injury.
8) Lee Smith was cut by the Patriots after the Moeaki injury and then 30 other teams passed on him before he was claimed by the Bills. He has yet to see the field.
9) Chris Gronkowski had seven catches and a touchdown through 14 career games for Dallas, who cut him this off-season. Indianapolis claimed him off of waivers.
10) Dante Rosario saw action in six Carolina Panther games last year, but was waived with the addition of Jeremy Shockey. Miami signed him post-Moeaki injury, then cut him. Denver signed him, but have yet to award him any live action.
11) Dan Gronkowski was cut by Denver (after they traded for him a year prior), and picked up by the Patriots who cut him after two games.
12) Jason Witten signed a five-year $37 million extension with Dallas.

But what about this year?

The Chiefs did all that was necessary and available in making the position better. They have three things left to do: 1) hope for a healthy Moeaki for all of 2010, 2) anticipate that he won’t be, and address the position through the draft, and 3) focus on stopping the tight end on the other end of the ball.

Offensive Line

What they did:

Now we get into the meat and potatoes of Kansas City free-agency action (or lack thereof if that's your perspective), which is a good time to remember the gripe: The Chiefs have $30 million in salary-cap space lying around in the Hunt family bank account. KC decided to get rid of veteran Brian Waters, a move I suspect leaves a 50/50 split with fans. Waters was a foundation for this club, and I imagine many fans wanted him retained for sentimental reasons.

The team, however, selected Jon Asamoah in the third round of last year’s draft, and has theoretically been grooming him as the club’s right guard ever since. At left guard is Ryan Lilja, and at center Casey Wiegmann. Two thousand eleven second-round pick Rodney Hudson is the backup to these three linemen. At left tackle is Branden Albert, whose backup is Jared Gaither. At right tackle is Barry Richardson; Steve Maneri is second on the depth chart. Gaither was acquired in free agency, and Maneri was a waiver claim.

Offensive line is a special unit, one that requires talent, repetition, and unity first in order to succeed. It’s possible that through weeks one and two, the Chiefs’ big men were still gaining that. It’s possible that they showed improvement in protection and scheme in week three, and even more in week four, and if that’s the case, then the backups -– the free agent, the waiver claim, and the rookie -– have yet to even be judged.

Who else was out there:

1) T Doug Free signed a four-year $32 million ($17 guaranteed) extension with Dallas.
2) The Giants added C David Baas.
3) Former Raider G Robert Gallery signed a three-year deal with Seattle.
4) T Jermon Bushrod agreed to stay with New Orleans for two more years.
5) T Tyson Clabo remained a Falcon.
6) Arizona resigned C Lyle Sendlein with a multi-year deal.
7) G Davin Joseph agreed to stay with Tampa on seven-year terms.
8) Tampa also inked T Jeremy Trueblood for two more seasons.
9) St. Louis and G Harvey Dahl signed a four-year deal (his third team in six years).
10) Philadelphia signed G Evan Mathis (his fourth team in six years).
11) Washington added two-time Pro Bowler T Jammal Brown for five years.
12) Arizona resigned G Deuce Litui.
13) New England resigned T Matt Light.
14) John Greco (four career starts) became a Brown via a draft-pick trade with St. Louis.
15) T Ryan Harris signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia and was cut last month.
16) C Jonathan Goodwin (one Pro Bowl) signed a three-year $10.9 million ($4 million guaranteed) deal with San Francisco.
17) New Orleans and C Olin Kreutz (six Pro Bowls in 13 seasons) signed a one-year deal.
18) Washington added T Sean Locklear (does not appear to have seen action this year).
19) The Redskins also added C Donovan Raiola (does not appear to have played).
20) Carolina signed C Ryan Kalil to a six-year $49 million ($28 million guaranteed) extension.
21) T Joe Thomas and Cleveland agreed to a seven-year $84 million ($44 million guaranteed) extension.
22) Baltimore acquired T Bryant McKinnie for two years, $7.5 million.
23) Cincinnati and T Andrew Whitworth extended their deal four more years.
24) The Bengals also inked a four-year extension with C Kyle Cook.
25) G Caleb Schlauderaff became a Jet via trade with Green Bay, who took the guard in the sixth round of this year’s draft..
26) The aforementioned Brian Waters got $5.5 million for two years in New England.
27) G Kyle DeVan (logged nine games with Indianapolis two years ago) was added to the Eagles via waiver claim.
28) Baltimore signed C Andre Gurode (five Pro Bowls in nine seasons with Dallas) to a one-year deal.
29) Seattle claimed T Jarriel King (zero pro snaps) off of waivers.
30) Dallas signed G Derrick Dockery (third team in eight seasons, but 16 starts in his first seven).
31) Miami added G/C Ryan Cook (zero snaps this year).
32) Denver signed Tony Hills to a two-year deal (three games last year in Pittsburgh; no snaps this year).
33) Sam Young became a Bill via waiver claim (two games for Dallas last year; no snaps this year).

As you can see, there was a fair amount of offensive-line action in free agency, but as I mentioned, this unit in Kansas City is still showing its potential to gel, and in the event of injury, there are viable options at backup, even if they include someone who’s not yet healthy, an unproven rookie, and a waiver claim. Until the moment that one of their services is needed, though, it’s unfair to judge.

It should also be noted that the Chiefs signed Chris Harr, Mike Ingersoll, Butch Lewis, and David Mims to deals in late July. All four were later waived. They also resigned Ryan O’Callaghan (currently on Injured Reserve), agreed to new deals with Wiegmann and Richardson, and have played musical-practice-squad spots with Butch Lewis and Lucas Patterson. This is not to say that other teams don’t follow similar suit, but Kansas City has, at least, given significant attention to their offensive line needs, and if you think any of those 33 free agents would have been a better deal for this team, then bear in mind the following: 12 were extensions or new deals with whom they already played; two are journeymen; 10 have little-to-no experience or were cut shortly after being acquired by a team. Nine remained.

Of those, one was Waters, one was a known locker-room cancer, and most of the rest signed big-money deals, a move you don’t want to make when you’re relatively certain who your starting five will be. You could argue, though, that getting a free-agent offensive lineman might have benefited the Chiefs, but the different part of that lineup would’ve needed just as much time to get into rhythm as the line that’s already in place has needed.

But what about this year?

The only thing you need to know is that nine of those 35 players are playing for teams with a better record than the Chiefs, and most of them have more wins for reasons that are not limited to the play of the offensive line.

Defensive Line

What they did:

It’s possible that the Chiefs did more to shore up their defensive line than any other area of the roster this off-season. With their second third-round pick in the draft they took defensive lineman Alvin Bailey, and in the sixth round they selected another in Jerrell Powe. Contracts for other defensive linemen included deals with the following: DL Brandon Bair, DL Harold Ayodele (later waived, along with DL Dion Gales), and DT Anthony Toribio (who was waived and put on the practice squad). In late July they signed veteran DT Kelly Gregg, and in early August, KC acquired DL Amon Gordon.

The defensive-line portion of the depth chart, then, is full of guys who’ve become Chiefs as recent as this summer and as long ago as three seasons (Glenn Dorsey). Wallace Gilberry became a Chief in the summer of 2008 (and signed a new deal this July) as well, and currently holds the second spot behind Dorsey at right defensive end. For my money, that’s a unit that’s getting significant time to work together, and all in all, you have a nice average age.

If you’re thinking about the departure of Shaun Smith, he’s played in four games with Tennessee, logging seven tackles and an assist. Through three with KC, Gregg has five tackles, four assists, and a pass deflection. Ron Edwards was a Herman Edwards Band-Aid. He didn’t play terribly in the Haley regime, but I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.

Who else was out there:

1) Washington signed a six-year deal with DT Barry Cofield (FR, 2 T, 2 A on the season).
2) Carolina nabbed the aforementioned Edwards (put on Injured Reserve in August) in a three-year $8.25 million deal.
3) San Francisco and DE Ray McDonald (2.5 S, 7 T, A on the season) agreed to five-year, $20 million ($7 million guaranteed) terms.
4) New England acquired Albert Hanynesworth (2 T) via draft-pick-trade with Washington.
5) Philadelphia signed DE Jason Babin (7 S, PD, FF, 10 T, 2 A so far) to a five-year deal.
6) Washington gave DE Stephen Bowen (2.5 S, 8 T, 2 A on the year) a five-year contract worth $27.5 million ($12.5 million guaranteed).
7) DT Alan Branch (6 T, 5 A) agreed to two-year terms with Seattle in a deal valued at $8 million (half guaranteed).
8) Marcus Spears (3 T) and Dallas shook hands over five years and $19.2 million extension.
9) Chicago gave Vernon Gholston (5 T, 5 A) a contract.
10) DT Justin Bannan (2 PD, 6 T, A) became a Ram.
11) Philadelphia coughed up $25 million for DT Cullen Jenkins (4 S, FR, 8 T, 2 A).
12) Cleveland acquired DT Brodrick Bunkley via a trade with Philadelphia. The tackle did not report, however, and the trade was voided. A new deal sent him to Denver, where he’s recorded 5 T, 2 A.
13) Washington got DE Vonnie Holiday (Editor’s Note: As Chiefs fans, we already know Holliday is a terrible football player, so we won’t bother with his stats.) as part of a trade for Tim Hightower.
14) Denver offered DE Ty Warren (Note: If he’s played, he hasn’t recorded any stats.) a two-year $10 million ($2.5 million guaranteed) deal.
15) Philly gave DT Anthony Hargrove a one-year deal.
16) The Eagles also signed DT Derek Landri (released him last month, then signed him again) for one season.
17) New England acquired DE Shaun Ellis (3 T) for one year.
18) The Patriots also signed DE Andre Carter (.5 S, 7 T, 3 A).
19) Jacksonville signed Matt Roth (2 S, 4T) to a one-year, $3 million deal.
20) Indianapolis signed DE Tyler Brayton (2 A).
21) Minnesota landed DE Styles G. White (waived last month).
22) DT Kyle Williams (PD, 4 T, 5 A) signed a six-year $39 million ($17 million guaranteed) deal with Buffalo.
23) DT Clinton McDonald (6 T, 5 A) became a Seahawk via trade with Cleveland.
24) DE George Selvie (T) was claimed by Carolina off of the waiver wire.
25) Cleveland selected DL Emmanuel Stephens (2 T, A) via waiver claim.
26) Seattle signed DT Anthony Hargrove (4 T, 2 A) after Philadelphia cut him.


As you can see, there are roughly three DEs and one DT that were signed for big money, and have made an impact through five games. Here’s the problem with the Chiefs going after any of those guys: Signing either of the DEs would essentially mean giving up on Dorsey, Jackson, or both, and it’s too early to do that. With the DT, I simply don’t see Pioli bringing in a free agent and signing him to a $25 million deal. Besides, Philly’s playing a 4-3, and in the Chiefs’ 3-4, LB Tamba Hali is playing better football then that FA DT, and he’s a guy KC gave a new deal to in the off-season. My question, then, is where would you have had the Chiefs spend salary-cap dollars in the defensive front? To me it appears they spent wisely in-house, brought in a couple of free agents to plug in while they continue to develop their draft picks, and have gotten decent production out of nearly the entire unit.

And the Chiefs D-line this year?

We know Gregg’s stats. Tyson Jackson has 2 PD, 6 T, 8 A, while Glenn Dorsey has 7 T, 12 A. Aside from the reminder that the jury’s still out on Jackson and Dorsey, Gregg was obviously an improvement, simply based on Edwards’ unavailability and non-noteworthy play prior. If the numbers on Jackson and Dorsey seem small, remember that the 3-4 is meant for DL guys to gum up the works, which frees LBs to make plays. With that in mind, their stats are pretty good/could be better.


Linebackers

What they did:

The Chiefs knew they’d stay pat with Hali and Derrick Johnson at linebacker, but were interested in adding to the corps that consisted of Jovan Belcher, Andy Studebaker, and Demorrio Williams. In the third round, they nabbed Justin Houston, and in the fifth took Gabe Miller. The also signed Amara Kamara, Brandon Siler, waived Eric Bakhtiari, Michael Johnson, Kamara, Pierre Walters, and Justin Cole –- Miller went on IR, while Cole made the practice squad. This left their depth chart with Houston, Belcher, Johnson, and Hali as starters. Studebaker and Williams back up, while Cory Greenwood and Cameron Sheffield fill third- and second-string spots, respectively. Johnson was given a new deal last year, while Hali’s new off-season contract cemented this duo as the leaders.

Who else was out there:

1) Takeo Spikes became a Charger.
2) Detroit signed a two-year deal with Justin Durant (2 S, INT, 11 PD, FF, 246 T in four years).
3) Clint Session inked a five-year, $29 million ($11.5 million guaranteed) with Jacksonville.
4) Cincinnati acquired Thomas Howard (4 S, 7 INT, 25 PD, 335 T in five seasons) for two years, $6.5 million.
5) Carolina extended Jon Beason’s deal -– five years, $50 million ($25 million guaranteed).
6) Arizona negotiated terms for Stewart Bradley (3 S, 3 INT, 14 PD, FF, 156 T in three seasons).
7) Philadelphia resigned Akeem Jordan (S, 2 INT, 7 PD, 113 T) to a one-year deal first, then renegotiated to two.
8) Detroit locked up Stephen Tulloch (5.5 S, 2 INT, 12 PD, 325 T in five seasons) for the year with a $3.25 million deal.
9) Buffalo gave Nick Barnett (15.5 S, 9 INT, 37 PD, 3 FF, 596 T in eight seasons) three years, $12 million (half guaranteed).
10) Manny Lawson (14.5 S, 2 INT, 16 PD, 6 FF, 185 T in five seasons) signed a one-year, $3 million deal with Cincinnati.
11) Indianapolis signed Ernie Sims (4.5 S, INT, 10PD, 5 FF, 331 T in five seasons).
12) The Jets added David Harris for four years, $36 million ($ 29.5 guaranteed).
13) St. Louis signed Brady Poppinga (5 S, 2 INT, 8 PD, 2 FF, 187 T in six seasons).
14) Pittsburgh resigned LaMarr Woodley for six years, $61.5 million ($ 45 million guaranteed).
15) The Jets signed Aaron Maybin (S, FF, 15 T in two seasons).
16) Pittsburgh extended Lawrence Timmons with a five-year, $50 million deal.
17) San Diego signed Na’il Diggs (11.5 S, 5 INT, 30 PD, 4 FF, 496 T in 10 seasons) for one year.
18) Cleveland claimed Quinton Spears (zero NFL snaps) off of waivers.
19) Minnesota did the same with Xavier Adibi (42 T in three seasons).
20) Oakland signed Ricky Brown (4 PD, 3 FF, 74 T in five seasons).
21) Minnesota and Chad Greenway (6.5 S, 5 INT, 17 PD, 7 FF, 367 T in five seasons) agreed to a new five-year, $40 million deal.
22) New England claimed A.J. Edds off of waivers.
23) Pittsburgh signed Troy Polamalu to a new four-year deal.

So we see a few free-agency similarities when comparing the transactions of linebackers with those of both the offensive and defensive linemen. Obvious talent with Spikes, but he’s entering his 14th season, and there are several guys with good career numbers on the list that are younger.

What about this year then?

Six of the 23 names were extensions or new deals for guys previously with a team that had become a free agent. Roughly eight of those were guys of low-caliber talent/production, and two were perhaps too old, leaving about seven potential candidates for the Kansas City Chiefs to pursue, but let’s look at all of the linebackers that were free agents, and compare their performances with those of the Chiefs.

Free Agents:

Spikes: S, 2 PD, 17 T, 20 A
Durant: 18 T, 3 A
Session: 9 T, 7 A
Howard: 19 T, 13 A
Beason: 4 T
Bradley: PD, 8 T, 5 A
Tulloch: S, 2 PD, FR, 28 T, 4 A
Barnett: 2 INT, TD, 3 PD, FF, 24 T, 18 A
Lawson: 3 PD, 5 T, 4 A
Sims: T, 2 A
Harris: 2 S, INT, TD, 2 PD, 22 T, 9 A
Poppinga: PD, 16 T, A
Woodley: 3 S, INT, 2 PD, 12 T, 7 A
Maybin: S, FF, T, A
Timmons: 3 PD, 21 T, 9 A
Diggs: T, 4 A
Spears: n/a
Adibi: n/a
Brown: n/a
Greenway: PD, 27 T, 6 A
Edds: T, A
Polamalu: S, 6 PD, FR, TD, 23 T, 12 A

Chiefs:

Justin Houston: PD, 10 T, 2 A
Jovan Belcher: PD, 19 T, 11 A
Derrick Johnson: 4 PD, 23 T, 8 A
Tamba Hali: 4 S, 18 T, 11 A

It’s evident that there are a few playmakers on those lists. Of note: KC’s Derrick Johnson is tied with Polamalu, ahead of Spikes, and one behind Barnett in tackles. He’s also right in the mix in terms of assists. Hali, as you can see, leads all linebackers with sacks, and is right in the thick of things with tackles and assists. You of course recall that the Chiefs resigned both of these guys to new deals in the last year and-a-half. Houston is a rookie, and is producing better in a couple categories than many on the list, and he’s yet to start a game. Belcher tied or better than Houston in all of the categories, perhaps thanks to five starts. Also, a mere five of the 23 listed play for teams that currently have a better record than Kansas City.

Secondary:

We’re not going to examine the secondary, for the simple reason that you have Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr continuing to play mostly solid football at the cornerback position. They have occasional coverage breakdowns, but are still borderline top-tier. You enter the season with Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis at safety, and of course no one counted on Berry being lost for the season in the first quarter of play of the 2011 campaign. If you want to argue for depth, though, they selected Jalil Brown in the fourth round, signed Travis Daniels, Javes Lewis, waived Javes Lewis, Mario Russell, Demond Washington, Quinten Lawrence (later added to practice squad), released Jackie Bates, resigned Jon McGraw, signed Sabby Pisictelli, signed and waived Reshard Langford and Ricky Price as well.

So like every other position, and much like every other team in the league, they gave the secondary noteworthy consideration in terms of bringing in guys, signing the decent ones, waiving those deemed inferior.

The point, though, is that the whole thing’s a process. This is year three of the Scott Pioli regime, and the secondary is a microcosm of what the Chiefs are doing at every position: retaining the best talent while continuing to develop depth. So even though the defensive-back portion of the depth chart looks solid, you draft a cornerback to continue to develop. Therefore, I fault the Chiefs for nothing in this area.

Special Teams:

There’s not much need to focus on this portion of the team, because for the most part, you’re set at place kicker and punter, and the Chiefs special-teams unit has performed fairly well.

Where that leaves us, then, is the assumption that the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, secondary, and special-teams portions of the team were set, and that if there was supposed to be more movement in free agency, then the traffic should have happened on either line or in the linebacking corps.

Your challenge, then, is to select players from those areas, the dollars that come with them, and puzzle-piece them into the Chiefs salary cap. The tricks will be to know which guaranteed dollars go into this season, which go into upcoming seasons, and how the future-seasons dollars will impact contracts that are already on the Kansas City payroll for the next couple of years. Oh, and don't gorget signing-bonus money. You wanted your chance to play G.M., to have the checkbook for the season. Now do it.

In addition to meeting salary-cap restrictions, your argument has to include evidence that those you sign will mesh with the talent in place, and system fundamentals. I’ll wait for you to assemble your roster, to make some sense of these jumbled 10,000 things. Hit me up on Twitter when you’re done.
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Friday Morning Fracas: Chiefs Fans Visit a Familiar Neighborhood: Hell

Wednesday morning: I didn’t want to write about the Chiefs two days in a row, but after listening to Danny Parkins Monday morning/afternoon and Bob Fescoe yesterday morning, I was left with no choice. I think both of these cats do a good show and put out mostly quality SportsTalkRadio, but Fescoe’s program, on the drive to work yesterday morning, left me sick to my stomach. I mean, my guts were in such knots that I had to pop a couple of Tums, drink some water, chew some gum, and engage in some deep-breathing exercises all to avoid having to pull over. No exaggeration.

Understand, this had nothing to do with either on-air personality, rather the content of discussion, the alleged rift between Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, and Head Coach Todd Haley.

I texted Danny’s show Monday when he was talking about the “Monday Morning Quarterback” column by Peter King, and the Mike Silver bit from Yahoo wherein the fate of the Chiefs is variably addressed. To paraphrase, King said he doesn’t think the Chiefs can recover from this miserly start, and that it’s only a matter of time before Haley gets the ax. This supposition is based on the fact that, according to King, Chiefs Chairman of the Board Clark “Hunt and Pioli are close.”

Far more damning was Silver’s story, which said that tension between Pioli and Haley “is the worst-kept secret in NFL circles,” that if the former canned the latter, the top choice for replacement would be none other than Josh McDaniels, which is massive barf material, but...not now.

What I said via text to Parkins, though, was that it all feels like hearsay, that we should have some sort of direct evidence of such a claim of tension and unrest. After a few moments, he mentioned that several folks had texted in similar sentiments, and for lack of a better word, he lambasted the bulk of us, implying that we supposed that national figures such as King and Silver, as well as local writers like Sam Mellinger and Kent Babb, were all making this stuff up.

And this is where some clarity is needed.

I have not, for one moment, imagined that this stuff has been fabricated. I have not entertained, for even a nanosecond, the possibility of inventing these sorts of stories for ratings and readership. It’s much simpler than that:

I am physically and mentally incapable of believing it.

Wednesday afternoon: Okay. Some fantastic headway was made this morning when Fescoe and Josh Klingler had Michael Holley on the air to discuss his new book, War Room. Admittedly, it sounds like an awesome read. Arrowhead Pride published a post about the interview, and what’s not important are the controversial details, rather what the author had to say about the relationship between Pioli and Haley. In sum, it would appear to be a perfectly normal GM/HC coexistence.

Wednesday evening: Nick Wright had Silver on his show today, and I feel even better. Silver stayed the course with the assertion that Pioli and Haley don’t get along, but he also added key phrases such as, “I don’t know for a fact that Pioli’s (forcing Haley’s hand/being handcuffed by Hunt’s lack of interest in spending),” and it all resonated with me in one sense: speculation.

I'll say this one final time: I mean no disrespect to anyone locally or nationally when I say that; it's just my opinion.

Friday morning: With all of these layers, the entire notion is really pretty soap opera-y, and in essence, foolish, but if you strip it down, it really freaking matters. The brass trifecta of Hunt, Pioli, and Haley, has to get along; they have to be on the same page, or the thing won’t work. And at the core of it all lays the ultimate exposure to the pain threshold and tolerance level of Chiefs Nation. At least for my generation. In the early-mid ‘80s, it was a given that the Chiefs would field a crappy team every year, and it didn’t weigh too heavy on us. Our fathers and uncles would close their eyes and shake their heads with gentle disappointment, still not too far removed from the great Chiefs teams for whom they had season tickets at Municipal Stadium, for whom they hosted playoff parties in their first-purchased homes.

I used to hear my mom say, game after game, season after season that “they need to fire the entire front office.”

Then, one day, they did. Well, some of them, anyway. We had our run with Carl and Marty, and if you think back on it, Carl’s infamous five-year plan was pretty accurate; in his fifth year, we were a game removed from the Super Bowl. The problem was that it was mostly downhill after that, and, following the trend, ownership kept a regime in place far too long.

I say mostly downhill because coming off the heels of that fifth year, Kansas City entered a span where within nine years, the Chiefs thrice went 13-3, had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a first-round bye, only to get bounced in their first post-season contest. These contests, of course, would be: the Lin Elliot game, the lone post-season meeting with the Denver Broncos where they came in as a Wildcard, greased in road-cooking officiating, and cheated their way to victory, and the Colts game under Dick Vermeil in which there were zero punts.

Vermeil’s retirement was inevitable. Hell, he didn’t want to come out of it in the first place. Rather, it appeared he was doing his ol' pal Carl a favor. A favor to save Carl's ass. A favor that came with a big giant paycheck. And it almost worked, too. Almost. I thought he was a great coach. Unfortunately, the defense was way too neglected, the essential opposite of Marty (Editor’s Note: We’re not forgetting you, Coach Cunningham. We’re just in a hurry, and your .500 record over two seasons is, frankly, small beans in the massive chili pot.). And I’ll never forget Carl’s press conference when he hired Vermeil’s successor.

Verbatim (or at least very close), he said, “I believe this young man to be the premiere coach in the National Football League. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the new head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Herman Edwards.”

You could not hire the most talented team of script writers in all the Hollywoods to come up with famouser last words than those.

The point of it all is this: In the ‘80s, we channeled our inner Andy Dufresne, and “crawled…through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.”

In the ‘90s, we saw the first of two biblical passages replace The Shawshank Redemption, the initial one being the story of Abraham, where Chiefs fans and all of their long-term suffering finally saw a plant bear fruit, only to be asked by a higher power to sacrifice its bearings out of faith. Next, we became Job, quiet in our hope that righteousness would prevail even as God destroyed our flocks (made us suffer through Greg Robinson defenses), burned our herds (gave us Larry Johnson), stole our camels (Willie Roaf, Will Shields), knocked down our homes (hired Herman Edwards), killed our offspring (kept Carl in the fold), and cast our faces with boils (most of Herman’s draft picks). Yet, in faith, we sat. And waited. And waited.

And finally, with Clark now in charge, a ray of sunlight forced its way through the thick den of clouds, and we were given Pioli, who begot us Haley, who doubled the win total of Herman’s final campaign and showed improvement en route. And our perseverance was rewarded with a 10-win campaign (easy schedule, albeit), and a playoff berth. It didn’t end pretty, but it was as though we could smell the abundant crops in our fields, hear the echoing laughter or our dozens of healthy children playing in the pasture, our gorgeous spouses by our sides, our bank accounts flush with cash.

In a flash, though, a storm in the form of 89-10 rumbled in and lingers, booming and cackling overhead, all of us aware that in one fell unleashing, all of our everything could be destroyed. So we sit, and we wait once more.

I can do this no longer.

I have no patience left in me to wait, season after season, for all the chips to fall in line. It’s a bad front office, it’s a bad coach, a tough schedule, a season full of injuries, an unbalanced team, poor personnel, stacked competition. It’s always something. For, literally, decades, we’ve been putting on our dunce caps and our donkey ears, squinting our eyes and sticking out our buck teeth as we, in unison, say, “Next year…”

This was supposed to be it. The Pioli. The Haley. The Clark that made both happen. Winning championships. Starting now. No more shenanigans.

And now what? Pioli and Haley don’t get along? How can that be? How can you be stamped as the top general-manager prospect in the nation, and make your first hire a guy with whom you might not coexist well? You’re surrounded by football people from several generations that have histories of working with him. I find it impossible that the homework was not done in this situation. I find it preposterous that Haley’s job is in jeopardy.

I find it ridiculous that this rumor’s wings bear such strength, and even more, I find it insufferable should the wait for a Lombardi have encountered yet another obstacle. I can’t do it. I can’t wait for another hire, sit through another rebuild, and wait for draft picks to pan out (or not) once more. This run had the silver lining. It had the young blood in charge, the new face running the show, the jerk (My pal Old No. 7, when I said, “I don’t know if I like Haley; he seems like a jerk” upon his hiring, replied, “Dude, jerks might be jerks, but they win championships.”) with the headset, the perfect match to assemble talent.

I can’t wait around for a reload, and I certainly can’t pick a new team. If this thing blows up, I might have to walk away from football, which means, in a sense, I’ll have to rewire a serious portion of my life. And believe me: I don’t know the first thing about electricity.
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I Present to You, Apologism, and His Name is Brodie Croyle

Some seven or eight days ago, the 2011 NFL season commenced, and I'll be damned if it's not going to be a long one. Some two or three seasons ago, I never, in my wildest dreams, would've envisioned that a season worse than either of the Kansas City Chiefs' campaigns between 2007-09 could exist. It now appears entirely possible, but that's not what I want to discuss today.

Some six or seven years ago I joined my first (and last) fantasy baseball league, and while I’m tempted to bore you with how-not-to-run-a-franchise highlights, I’ll note the detail that is most relevant to this post: Our league jumped around from server to server for a few years, and that, friends, is a sad thing for one reason: Gone are some absolute message-board gems. You’ll have to take my word on that and stay with me as we move quickly from the humorous into matters of serious measure.

In the fall of 2004, I was accepted to grad school, slated to begin the following fall semester, which meant I had to get a place of my own. That February I did, and courtesy of the best sous chef schedule every heard of in all the restaurant histories of forever -– M-W (open), Th (close), Fri (mid), Sat/Sun (off) –- I suddenly found myself with free time on Saturdays. By the following March, the college-football season already over, I did manage to, by happenstance, get my fair share of ESPN footage of the quarterbacks entering the NFL draft class. I was most impressed with the arm and the accuracy of Alabama’s Brodie Croyle.

In and around the bubble of time in which I saw said Croyle footage, it didn’t occur to me that the Chiefs would seriously pursue him as a potential draft pick, but the thought of Kansas City nabbing him did cross my mind.

By the time draft weekend rolled around, I remember being on our fantasy-baseball Web site and seeing my boy Gerard Portmanteau post a message with the subject heading “Screamin’ Jay Cutler.” Obviously, when I clicked on it, I confirmed what I already knew to be true: The Vanderbilt signal caller had been nabbed by the Denver Broncos.

I immediately went into panic mode, ever fearful that Denver would ultimately find their Elway-throne heir, and given that Mike Shanahan was still at the franchise reigns, a sinking feeling came over me that this pick would be right on the money. I suppose that, until that moment, I’d not given much thought to a young quarterback being drafted by the Chiefs, but that was because Trent Green was still under center, and for the most part, playing pretty solid with decent consistency.

But now, the wager was on the table, and it was time to raise, or at least call our divisional counterpart’s selection. KC went with Tamba Hali and Bernard Pollard in rounds one and two, and then, in round three, opted for Croyle. And I was ecstatic.

Having never been a big college football fan, I was unaware of Croyle’s NCAA injury history until I did some digging. Naturally I discovered how much time he’d missed, and that he’d been an animal in high school, but missed his senior year by way of a torn ACL. A freshman redshirt, Croyle started for every contest in his sophomore season, but missed significant time the following two seasons via a shoulder injury and a tear of the ACL in the other knee. In the 2005 season, he straight lit it up.

Misguided as I might’ve been, I went all in on the Brodie Croyle bandwagon. Hell, I practically built the thing from scratch and drove it, at times alone, over terrain Oregon Trail survivors would’ve deemed rough. When Green went down and ultimately ended his time in red and gold, I was pumped for Croyle to step up and be the first legitimate Division I quarterback the Kansas City Chiefs had drafted and developed in my football-viewing lifetime. When I say that, I don’t mean to discount Todd Blackledge class of ’83, 40 games as a Chief –- but I do mean to say that I’m speaking of a quarterback that gets drafted, developed, and plays well over a significant portion of their career. Blackledge went 13-11 in Kansas City with a completion percentage below 50, threw 29 TDs to 38 picks and had a rating of 62. He was also drafted instead of Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, and Elway.

Translated: I wanted this kid to be the man, the bees’ knees, and the predominant jersey seen on Sundays at Arrowhead. He turned out, to my chagrin, to be the glass man, the man with knees as fragile as bees’, and to date, I’ve seen one other person rock a number 12, other than myself.

Words cannot describe the pain I have felt, the pain my fellow Chiefs fans have felt, watching one of two types of Kansas City football teams over the years: 1) a drafted, semi-developed quarterback under center for a really, really shitty team, or 2) a decent-to-good team with a free-agent quarterback of sorts that, for varying reasons, can’t get the Chiefs back to the status of champions.

All that said, my friends and colleagues have listened to me rant and rave about Croyle, obnoxiously be his biggest supporter since that fateful April day that occurred more than five years ago. Like my pal Old No. 7 said, “that body of work appears to be incomplete,” which meant, in precisely this many words: Croyle couldn’t make it through high school or college without injury, so why would he suddenly be able to do so in the pros?

I just thought he would. I thought it’d be that kind of situation where the wounds heal and you come back stronger. I thought those Beowulf forearms would be launching lasers into extra-padded receiver gloves for, at minimum, eight or nine years. I thought that, shitty as the team was -– and make no mistake: The Chiefs were nothing shy of shitty from tick one of the Herman Edwards regime until the batteries of that watch expired -– that Croyle would be the foundation upon which the house of greatness was built.

I thought the Crimson Tide alum would be the end to one of the most awful sports-fan droughts imaginable. I thought he would become a Kansas City icon, that his hot wife would have five-star service for evermore. And yes, I thought that many a friend and colleague would have a touch of crow on their collective dinner plate, that in the end, it wouldn’t matter, because we’d forget about it (Editor’s Note: At least until I got drunk enough to obnoxiously remind everyone) as we feasted on smoked meat at each other’s Super Bowl parties.

And as this abbreviated 2011 off-season started and stopped, the writing was all but on the wall. The Chiefs, having selected Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi in the draft, eventually signed him to a deal, and then signed Tyler Palko as well (Note: The latter of which was, in my opinion, a mistake, but my opinion, as I’ve just addressed, is faulty at best.), meaning that the free-agent Croyle would not be resigned in Kansas City.

As the pre-season began and progressed, the play of Palko began to suggest that my opinion might hold a Dixie cup of water after all (Note: For the record, I still think the Matt Cassel signing was a Band-Aid, one with little adhesive at best.). And then, the Arizona Cardinals made news, signing Croyle to their club. There it was, then: my new billboard for the ’11 campaign. Kevin Kolb goes down for the season; Croyle comes in and mops up the NFC West competition. The latest version of my Croyle bromance, however, was terminated 10 days into its existence when the Cardinals released him.

It must, then, be stated that this looks like the end of the NFL road for Croyle, that he’ll probably move back to Rainbow City (Note: What a terrible town name.), and do some kind of Alabama football-related work, perhaps in pee wee, or at the high school level. The only thing that’s certain is that he will not be the leader to take Chiefs Nation back to the Promised Land, a region they’ve only been close to once in the last 40-plus years.

Let’s then have a look at the snaps Brodie Croyle took in his Kansas City tenure:

2006

October 1 vs. SF, week four, 0-41 W

Stats: three attempts for -3 yards, no scores, long of -1

The deets: This was Croyle’s first NFL action, and by “action” I mean presence on the field in an in-game situation.

Interpretation: He took the final three snaps of regulation –- all clock-draining knees –- to finalize the 49er dismantling.

October 15 @PIT, week six, 7-45 L

The deets: With 6:49 left in the contest, and the Chiefs trailing, Croyle’s first sequence of plays was perhaps a harbinger of things to come: run, incomplete (Jeff Webb), sack, punt. Although Pittsburgh punted on the ensuing possession as well, it only got worse for Croyle next time out: incompletion (Eddie Kennison), interception (intended for Kris Wilson) returned for a touchdown.

They get the ball back, obviously, and go completion, run, completion headed into the two-minute warning, and on the other side of it: completion, run, and deep ball for another pick.

Interpretation: So you hang that first turnover on the kid, and you wave the late-game Hail Mary one, as those happen all the time. The biggest thing to note about this game, though, is that it was the day after the infamous Passion Party, which you can Google if you like; I’m too ashamed to link to it.

For my money, this should’ve been a sign of what would come with Herman Edwards captaining the ship. He should’ve been canned after this game.

2007

September 16 @ CHI, week two, 10-20 L

Stats: 4/4, 55 yards, long of 32

The deets: This is the first game in which Croyle would get legitimate live action, and this is a fresh reminder of how terrible this Chiefs team was: Chicago players of the game: Cedric Benson, Bernard Berrian, and Rex Grossman. As for Croyle, he again came in late in the fourth, and was immediately sacked, just like Huard had been all day. The play was nullified, though, when sacker Tommie Harris was flagged for a facemask penalty. He then hit Michael Bennett for a short loss, Samie Parker for a 10-yard gain, Jeff Webb for a 32-yard gain, Bennett for five more yards, then Bennett again for 10 yards, who fumbled, turning the ball over to Chicago on their own 14 with two and-a-half minutes left.

Interpretation: A score there puts the Chiefs –- albeit with little time -– within a field goal, and had they won, Croyle would’ve been 1-0 in games played.

October 7 vs JAX, week five, 7-17 L

Stats: 6/13, 83 yards, 1 TD, long of 35

The deets: Croyle comes in –- again, late in the fourth -– to try to change the fate of his trailing squad, one that’s down this time 17-zip at home. His first play is an eight-yard gain to Tony Gonzalez, but it’s followed by successive incompletions to Larry Johnson and Webb; Chiefs punt. His second drive begins with an 11-yard gain to Kolby Smith, and incompletion to Parker, and a completion to Gonzalez.

On the next play, he’s sacked, and fumbles, but recovers it himself. This is followed by a 10-yard gain to Smith, a clock-stopping spike, a 35-yard completion to Dwayne Bowe, three incompletions (Bowe, Webb, Gonzalez), and a fourth-down touchdown to Parker with only enough time left on the clock to kick the point after touchdown.

Interpretation: The Chiefs couldn’t score for three-plus quarters, and only did so once Croyle entered the game.

November 11 vs. DEN, week 10, 11-27 L

Stats: 17/30, 162 yards, INT, long of 18

The deets: Brodie’s first third-quarter appearance finds the Chiefs down 20-8. The second-year QB leads the Chiefs on a 13-play drive that results in a field goal. KC’s defense holds the Broncos on the ensuing possession, and Croyle marches the Chiefs from their own 10 to the Denver 35, where a field-goal attempt sails wide left. Croyle returns, this time to run his first no-huddle live action, and, as was frequently the case under the wizardly Edwards/Solari regime, a run play was called on first down. A sack, incompletion, and punt soon followed. Croyle got another no-huddle opportunity, which resulted in two short completions to incompletions and a Champ Bailey interception when Croyle targeted Bowe on third down. Denver, simply trying to burn the clock, turned the ball over on four downs, and still another no-huddle go for Croyle and company.

The drive started on the Kansas City 26, and ended on the Denver 15 when Croyle was sacked for a significant loss.

Interpretation: Brodie made his share of errors on this day, but a few more interesting stats for that afternoon look like this:

• The Chiefs rushed for 67 yards on the day while Denver put up 141.

• The Broncos surrendered one sack for a loss of six yards; KC 4-28.

• Denver turned the ball over once, while the Chiefs coughed it up four times.

November 18 @ IND, week 11, 10-13 L

Stats: 19/27, 169 yards, TD, long of 21

The deets: Brodie’s first start, at the RCA Dome no less. Opening drive starts at KC 33, features four runs, two Croyle completions before a punt. Drive two: two runs and an incompletion. Drive three (still scoreless after two missed Adam Vinatieri field-goal attempt misses): starts at the Chiefs 36, features five runs, four Croyle completions (one incomplete), and goes to the IND 25. Chiefs miss a field goal, but get an ensuing Peyton Manning interception on the first play of the drive, leading to two runs, one Croyle completion, and a KC FG.

Colts punt, Croyle goes 2/4, hands off once, Chiefs miss another FG. This, by the way, was Dave Rayner missing these tries. Rayner of the replaced-Justin-Medlock fame. The Medlock the Chiefs drafted in the fifth round of that year’s draft. The draft in which Mason Crosby was still available. The draft in which defensive-unit and offensive-line needs were much higher than kicking. The year in which former Chiefs place kicker Lawrence Tynes won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants. The Super Bowl in which, yes, Eli Manning connected with David Tyree for the catch, but the final score –- 17-14 –- featured the difference of Tynes first-quarter field goal from 32 yards out. Rayner, through two quarters missed from 43 and 45. In a dome. But I digress.

Colts punt again. Ensuing Chiefs drive: Run, run, sack from the shotgun formation. Colts tie. Chiefs, with over a minute left, run two rushing plays and let the first-half clock expire. Colts punt on their first drive of the second half. Croyle completes, scrambles for four (nullified by holding), hands off, throws incomplete, and Chiefs punt.

The Colts march down the field for a touchdown.

Kansas City’s next drive starts at the 23. It features four runs, six Croyle passes (four caught, two not) before Croyle hits Bowe for 19 yards and a score. Colts punt; Chiefs go three and out (negative rush, one incompletion, and one 11-yard pass-and-catch). Colts punt. Chiefs -– three rushes, two Croyle completions and a sack –- do, too. Colts kick a field goal, leaving the Chiefs three seconds: Croyle completes a pass; Chiefs try shenanigans via lateral, fumble. Game over.

Interpretation: Chiefs lose by a field goal to the defending Super Bowl champions. At their house.

November 25 vs. OAK, week 12, 20-17 L

Stats: 12/23, 145 yards, INT, long of 24

The deets: Chiefs get the ball to start the game, and surprise –- they run on first down for a two-yard gain. Croyle scrambles on second, completes, but is then picked off trying to find Bowe on third down. Raiders kick a field goal. The Chiefs shock the world with a run play on their next first down, and Croyle connects with Bowe on second for a first. This time they actually do shock the world and call a pass play on first but Croyle, unable to find anyone open, throws it away. Clearly paranoid after that, the play calling then features six runs on the next seven plays, the lone pass attempt incomplete as Croyle again sought Bowe. The seventh play of the drive is a rushing touchdown for KC.

Raiders punt, Chiefs retaliate with vicious run-run-pass-punt ensuing drive. But wait -– there was trickery involved: That pass play on third down was a draw play, so -– shocker -– it was a run, too. Kansas City punts. Oakland gets a field goal. Solari calls a first-down pass play again, and it’s incomplete. Two Croyle completions then precede four runs and another incompletion. One more run and a Croyle scramble set up a Chiefs FG.

Raiders fumble on the third play of their next drive; KC recovers. The Chiefs, with the ball again, pass on first, but see the completion negated by a penalty. Two incompletions follow, and on comes Dustin Colquitt. Raiders stall, punt, and leave the Chiefs with 32 seconds in the half. Croyle is sacked, they rush for four yards, and the QB takes a knee.

Raiders punt to open the second, Chiefs call three rushes, earn two penalties, and Croyle throws incomplete, looking for Bowe (thus far every incompletion of his has targeted Bowe, Kolby Smith, or Gilbert Harris). Raiders start on their own 35, assemble a touchdown drive. Croyle scrambles on first (Chiefs get a first down via penalty), is sacked on first, and the Chiefs call a run on second. He connects with Gonzalez for a first down, is sacked again, hits Parker, hands off twice, touchdown Chiefs, capping a 63-yard, nine play drive.

Raiders punt, Chiefs call three run plays (one of which nets a first), and Croyle connects with Bowe. Two more runs (and another penalty) precede a Croyle completion, a Croyle incompletion, and yes, another Rayner miss, this time from 33. Daunte Culpepper throws two passes for 63 yards, and Justin Fargas runs one in from 14; Oakland takes the lead. The Chiefs, at their own 25, start with a penalty, go Croyle complete, rush, Croyle incomplete (Kris Wilson), Croyle complete, rush, Croyle incomplete (Webb), rush, Croyle complete, rush, Croyle complete, Croyle complete, fall one yard shy of the first-down marker, and lose the spot challenge.

They then, in their infinite wisdom, lose one yard on an actual Herman Edwards fourth-down attempt, and turn the ball over on downs, leaving the Raiders to rush and kneel to end it.

Interpretation: This, as many Chiefs-Raiders games are, was a sloppy, highly penalized contest with mostly poor play calling, but a fair amount of execution. Too many drops, too many sacks, and all in all, a game Kansas City should’ve won on more than one occasion.

December 9 @ DEN, week 14, 7-41 L

Stats: 15/29, 132 yards, TD, INT, long of 22

The deets: Damon Huard returned as the starter in week 12 and the Chargers easily handled Kansas City, but it was back to Brodie for this lovely trip to Colorado. Denver started the game with the ball, and four plays, one and-a-half minutes later, they were in the end zone. Drive one for the Chiefs featured one short pass, two tiny runs, and a punt. Denver took just under four minutes to go 84 yards and make it a two-score lead. Kansas City’s next drive included two penalties, two Croyle completions, one rush, and a punt.

Then Denver punted, and Kansas City went three and out with one rush and two Croyle incompletions (Wilson and Gonzalez targeted). Denver punted again. Croyle incomplete (Bowe), one-yard rush, Croyle incomplete (Bowe (but penalty on Denver)), Croyle complete, four rushes, Croyle sacked. Croyle complete, rush, Croyle incomplete (Bowe). Another penalty followed, as did a Croyle completion, another QB sack, a completion to Bowe, another penalty, and a 15-yard strike to Gonzalez for a touchdown.

Denver needed just over four minutes to go 79 yards and score again. Inside the two-minute warning, a short rush preceded two Croyle incompletions (both Webb), and a punt. Denver needed one minute, 11 seconds to get from their own 15 to within range for a 37-yard field goal. Kansas City started the second half with a three and out (two poor runs and a Croyle incompletion (Wilson)). The Broncos chewed up six-plus minutes in obtaining their next field goal. KC retaliated by throwing an incompletion, and then an interception, which resulted in another home-team touchdown.

Chiefs with the ball again go complete pass, sack, sack/fumble: Denver ball. This time the Broncos only needed 42 seconds to get in the end zone. Every good coach knows, though, that down 41-7 in the third, you line up in the shotgun and run a draw play on first down. That was followed by a penalty, two Croyle incompletions (Gonzalez, Bowe), and a Colquitt punt. The following drive looked familiar: incomplete (Bowe), negative rush, negative-pass play from shotgun, punt. It got crazy after that, though: incomplete pass (Boomer Grigsby), two rushes for no gain, punt. And the final drive: incomplete (Gonzalez), five straight completions, sack/fumble. Denver ball, victory formation.

Interpretation: It’s tough, without the game tape, to use stats to say what happened in this game. (Note: Actually, it's not. The Chiefs got pounded by Denver in this contest.) Educated guesses, however, would say that a) the Chiefs were now on a seven-year streak of never winning in this building, b) this team was too undisciplined, evidenced by numerous penalties in each game examined in the ’07 season, c) the defense –- looking at you, Herm I’m-a-defense-guy Edwards –- was despicable, d) Kolby Smith might’ve had a nice 150-yard-game in his first NFL start two weeks prior, but that was at home and against a shitty Raiders team. You don’t feature Smith up the middle (13 rushes for 12 yards) on the road in Denver, and e) the passing game sputtered at best. It looked like Croyle was trying to spread the targets around, but there were way too many incompletions, be they the fault of the receivers, quarterback, or both. Either way you slice it, that was a ridiculously terrible display of professional football.

December 16 vs. TEN, week 15, 26-17 L

Stats: 25/43, 217 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, long of 23

The deets: Tennessee opened the game with an eight-play, three-and-a-half minute touchdown drive. Kansas City responded with incomplete (Bowe), incomplete (Kennison), complete but short, punt. Titans punt, Chiefs feature three completions, one incomplete pass (Bowe), punt. Titans punt. Chiefs: three runs, Croyle completion, three straight runs, Croyle incompletion (Bowe), penalty, Croyle completion, run, Croyle incompletion (Smith), Croyle to Parker for a touchdown.

Titans punt, Chiefs fumble the punt, Titans recover. They kick a field goal to go up three. Chiefs: incomplete (Wilson), run, end around, two completions, penalty, incomplete (Gonzalez), two completions, incomplete (Gonzalez), run, completion, run, incomplete (Gonzalez), Croyle to Wilson for a touchdown. Tennessee punts, Chiefs go completion, run, run to end the half.

To start the second it’s complete, complete, incomplete (Bowe), punt. Titans kick a field goal. Chiefs with the ball again go three runs, two penalties, three straight completions, penalty, two completions, incomplete (fleaflicker to Webb), complete, incomplete, field goal. Titans use one and-a-quarter minutes, three plays to score a touchdown. Croyle, targeting Gonzalez, is picked off on the first play of the drive, and the Titans kick a field goal.

Chiefs go four runs, two incompletions (both to Webb), and punt. Titans kick another field goal. Chiefs: incomplete (Kennison), complete, run, complete, then Croyle (again targeting Gonzalez) is picked off. Tennessee kills the remaining four minutes and change.

Interpretation: This does not look like a great game for Croyle, but it’s not a bad one (three early scoring drives), either. It’s tough to imagine defenses struggling to scheme when Kolby Smith is your running back, and when you’re passing, you’re either looking for Gonzalez, Bowe, Webb, or Smith. Special teams appeared to have been pretty unspecial as well.

December 23 @ DET, week 16, 20-25 L

Stats: 9/12, 69 yards, INT, long of 29

The deets: Lions punt to open, Chiefs go complete, run, complete, run, penalty, two completions, run, two completions, incomplete (Jackie Battle), punt. Detroit scores a touchdown; Kansas City goes two short completions, incomplete (Gonzalez), punt blocked for a safety. Detroit follows up the safety with a field goal.

KC goes complete, run, Croyle (looking Gonzalez) intercepted for a pick six. He was penalized on the play, and replaced (via injury) by Huard, who went 24/36 for 305 yards, 2 TD, and a long of 34. In relief, Huard led three touchdown drives (the third with a missed two-point conversion. Detroit mustered only six points via two field goals after the Chiefs made the substitution.

Interpretation: Kansas City was down 19 when the QB switch was made, and this one looks much worse than it actually was. Kansas City’s defense and special teams had allowed a touchdown, a field goal, and a safety -– also known as every possible way you can score in football -– prior to Croyle’s pick six. That Huard came in and was able to rally is a high mark for him and a negative for Croyle, but when Croyle was in, the defense wasn’t helping keep Detroit off of the scoreboard, and, in my biased estimation, this pick six can be lumped into the rookie-mistake category.

December 30 @ NYJ, week 16, 10-13 L

Stats: 20/43, 195 yards, TD, long of 26

The deets: The Jets turned the ball over on downs on the first drive, and the Chiefs responded by going three and out: two Kolby Smith runs and one short Croyle completion (also to Smith). Jets punt. Chiefs go run, Croyle incompletion (Gonzalez), penalty, sack, punt. Jets punt. Two-yard rush by Jackie Battle, Croyle complete, Croyle incomplete (Gonzalez), punt. Jets score a touchdown.

Croyle goes incomplete (Battle), complete to Gonzalez but for no gain, incomplete (Jason Dunn), Chiefs punt but get the ball back for roughing the kicker. Two runs get the Chiefs seven yards, and a Croyle pass to Webb goes for no gain. Chiefs line up in punt formation, but fake it and get a first. Croyle throws three incompletions (two to Gonzalez, one to Battle), and this time they really do punt. Jets go three and out.

Croyle completes a pass, two running plays are called, Croyle goes incomplete (Webb), and the Chiefs settle for three. Jets chew up nearly five minutes, answer the field goal. To start the second half, the Chiefs see Croyle complete a pass, call a run, another completion, an incompletion, a penalty on Croyle for intentional grounding, and another imcompletion (Bowe), then punt.

The Jets go three and out. The Chiefs see a Croyle incompletion, a penalty, and two Croyle incompletions (Gonzalez, Webb). Chiefs punt. The Jets turn it over on downs again, and the Chiefs go run, penalty, run, sack, but via another penalty, see the play expunged. What followed: completion, run, incompletion (Parker), incompletion (Gonzalez), punt. Jets punt.

Chiefs go Croyle completion squared, run, Croyle incomplete (Webb), run, Croyle incomplete (Wilson), punt. Jets punt. (Note: Thrilling game, huh?)

Run, Croyle complete, Croyle scramble, Croyle incomplete (Bowe), Croyle sacked, punt. Jets punt.

Run, Croyle complete, Croyle incomplete (Gonzalez), Croyle complete twice, Croyle incomplete (Webb), Croyle complete twice, Croyle to Webb for a touchdown. Jets punt.

Croyle incomplete (Webb), Croyle complete twice, Croyle incomplete (Gonzalez), Croyle complete, Croyle sacked, Chiefs punt.

In overtime, the Jets go from their own 30 to the Chiefs 15 in five minutes, and kick the game-winning field goal.

Interpretation: This game looked much worse for Croyle than the previous contest, in that there were way too many incompletions. More specifically, there were way too many incompletions to the best tight end to ever play the game. In his defense, he was sacked too often, and had ridiculously poor play calling from lifetime-offensive-line-coach-turned-coordinator Mike Solari, and really, zero talent (aside from Gonzalez) around him. John Welbourne must’ve been flagged 20 times for false start that season, and he was one of the veterans. Casey Wiegmann and Brian Waters hold their own, but Will Svitek and Damion McIntosch at tackle were just atrocious.

So, Croyle gets next to no protection, has Jackie Battle and Kolby Smith in the running game to balance out his “passing game,” and when he drops back to throw, he’s got: Samie Parker –- after being cut by the Chiefs was cut by four teams in one year, got bounced from the UFL, and last year played in the AFL; Jeff Webb –- one touchdown in three years with the Chiefs before getting bounced from the CFL and landing in the UFL; Dwayne Bowe –- basically a complete knucklehead until Todd Haley got here; Kris Wilson –- 52 catches in seven seasons; Jason Dunn -– who, at the time was playing with crushed soda cans for knees; and Gonzalez to look for.

That’s some fantastic personnel, there, Herman Edwards. Add to it that the play calling is either so unimaginative, or so terrified for Croyle’s life, that they next to never sniff out a decent-sized play. Critics and fans will always say that great quarterbacks will rise to the challenge in the face of adversity, but at what time do you make the adversity last call?

2008

September 7 @ NWE, week one, 10-17 L

Stats: 11/19, 88 yards, long of 20

The deets: A strong start for the Chiefs as they open the season against the Patriots in a game that featured Matt Cassel as the leading passer (for New England), Larry Johnson (allegedly resigned by Miami) (Update: Nevermind!)as the leading rusher, and Randy Moss (staring at retirement) as the leading receiver. New England fumbled on the opening drive, resulting in a Johnson run, a Croyle completion, and a Croyle incompletion (Webb) followed by a punt. Bernard Pollard knocked Tom Brady out for the game/season courtesy of a totally legit hit, and Moss fumbled, resulting in another Chiefs turnover.

KC’s drive: Two runs, penalty. Two runs, Croyle completion, run. Croyle completion, run. Two Croyle incompletions (Mike Cox!, Jamaal Charles), and another punt. Patriots score a touchdown on the ensuing drive.

KC with the ball again: Run, run, Croyle complete. Punt. NE with the ball again, and they punt. KC gets it back: Croyle incomplete (Bowe), Croyle complete (Bowe), Croyle incomplete (Bowe), punt. NE punts again.

KC one more time: Run, run, Croyle complete, Croyle incomplete (Bowe). Croyle complete, run, run. Croyle completes two to Gonzalez, then incomplete to Bowe. Run, incomplete (Bowe), Chiefs kick a field goal.

First drive after the half: Run, two completions, five runs, Croyle sacked and hurt. Chiefs punt. Patriots score a touchdown. Huard in at quarterback for KC, 10 plays, five minutes, touchdown strike to Bowe (after connecting with Bowe twice on the drive).

Interpretation: It’s clear now, that things are not looking up for Croyle. He’s frequently hurt, and while he occasionally puts together scoring drives, passes seem to fall incomplete with receivers when other passers hit those same receivers in the same game. The chips are not falling in his favor.

October 19 vs. TEN, week seven, 10-34 L

Stats: 9/10, 63 yards, long of 22

The deets: Croyle complete, run, Croyle complete, punt to start the game. Tennessee, with their first shot at it, splits the uprights. KC, take two: Run, run, penalty, incomplete (Mark Bradley), punt. Tennessee retaliates with a touchdown.

Croyle complete twice, penalty, Croyle complete, run, complete, complete, penalty. Croyle completes two, and on the second, gets pancaked by Albert Haynesworth; does not return. On the next play of the drive, Nick Novak missed a field-goal chance. Tennessee scores, Huard fumbles, recovers, Novak misses again. (Note: Nice sign, Herm.) Huard looks terrible, gets sacked, hurt, in comes Tyler Thigpen. (Note: Nice O-line, guys.)

Interpretation: This team is an absolute disaster. There’re penalties on nearly every offensive possession. The run game is a joke, and there’s still no talent at wide receiver outside of the potential in Bowe. There’re days when Huard can make things happen, and there’re days when he cannot. He’s old, and like Croyle, had already taken a beating through six weeks of the season.

2009

September 13 @ BAL, week one, 24-38 L

Stats: 16/24, 177 yards, 2 TD, long of 50

The deets: Another season, another opener, another three and out to start. The drive featured two runs and a Croyle incompletion (Sean Ryan). Chiefs punt, Ravens get a field goal. Croyle complete, Croyle sacked, Croyle incomplete, Chiefs punt. Ravens score a touchdown on their ensuing possession.

Chiefs again: Run, two Croyle completions, punt. Next possession: three runs, featuring Johnson, Tyler Thigpen, and Charles. Then a punt. Baltimore with a three and out of their own, but the punt is blocked and the Chiefs score a touchdown. Ravens miss a field goal at the end of their next drive.

Kansas City with the ball: Penalty, run, run, Croyle completion, run, run, Croyle completion, run, Croyle completion, and the first half expires.

Ravens marching to open the half. Derrick Johnson with a Joe Flacco pick, and a healthy return. Run, penalty, Croyle to Bowe for a touchdown. Ravens answer the touchdown.

Chiefs’ turn: Run, run, Croyle complete, penalty, punt. Ravens punt, too.

Next drive: Run, run, Croyle complete, run, Croyle incomplete (Ryan), Croyle incomplete (Bradley). Chiefs get a field goal. Ravens answer with a touchdown.

Here we go again: Croyle complete, Croyle incomplete (Bradley), three straight Croyle completions, Croyle to Ryan for a touchdown. Ravens answer with a touchdown.

One more time: Croyle sacked, incomplete twice (Bowe, Ryan), sacked again, KC turns it over on downs. Ravens score a touchdown, and on the final drive, Croyle throws two completions, one incomplete (Ryan) as time expires.

Interpretation: There is no mistake that this was Brodie Croyle’s best game as a Kansas City Chief. And it was opening day, on the road, in Baltimore. Tough crowd, very tough team. He was far from perfect, still throwing too many incompletions, but he didn’t turn it over, either. Without looking at the tape, it’s tough to say whether or not the sacks were because he didn’t recognize the pressure, or because the protection wasn’t there. The likelihood is that it was a combination of the two. Every quarterback is going to get sacked, and you’re only better if you can at least attempt to gauge when that’s about to happen. On the other hand, it’s the Baltimore Ravens. Give the man some credit, and know that he put up 116.1 passer rating on that afternoon.

What’s more: New regime, new coach and coaching staff, slightly improved personnel and new a new mentality, and look at what the boy was capable of.

November 29 @ SDG, week 12, 14-43 L

Stats: 1/2, 3 yards; I'll bet you can guess the long.

The deets: Late in mop-up duty, getting smoked by San Diego, some backups come in, and as the Matt Cassel era had long since been ushered in, it was time for some Croyle action: Run, incomplete (Bobby Wade), complete, punt.

Interpretation: Does it matter when it’s clear that the game is out of hand?

December 6 vs. DEN, week 13, 13-44 L

Stats: 6/14, 50 yards, long of 13

The deets: First drive in the third quarter, Brodie Croyle suddenly comes into the game and lines up in the punt formation. He throws incomplete to Tim Gafford on fourth down, a would’ve-been first-down play. I don’t need the game tape for that one. I was right there behind him. He was under some pressure, but got the throw off. Receiver should’ve had it.

Croyle back in late in the third, and completes a pass. Charles scores a touchdown on the next play. On their next possession, however, he throws three straight incompletions (Quinten Lawrence, Lance Long, Wade), and KC punts.

Next possession: Croyle complete twice, run, incomplete (Wade). Complete, complete, three incompletions (Long, Wade twice), complete, Chiefs turn it over on downs.

Interpretation: One of the biggest shitholes of a game I’ve ever attended or watched. Not even a top-10-of-all-time QB’s going to save your team from defeat when the team lets a sorry Denver team run all over them at home.

2010

December 12 @ SD, week 14, 0-31 L

Stats: 7/17, 40 yards, long of 16

The deets: Chiefs start with the ball first: four runs, a Croyle completion, and a punt. In seven plays, six minutes, San Diego goes for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Chiefs: Run, Croyle completion, Croyle incomplete (Terrence Copper), punt. Chargers punt, too.

Croyle sacked, Chiefs run, Croyle complete, punt. This time it’s nine plays, five minutes, 69 yards to a Charger touchdown.

Chiefs: Run, run, Croyle complete, run, Croyle incomplete (Bowe), Croyle complete, punt. Nine plays, less than three minutes, and 80 yards later, San Diego has their third touchdown of the half.

Croyle goes incomplete (Bowe), complete, complete, incomplete (Bowe), is sacked as the half expires.

To start the second, San Diego marches, but Philip Rivers is ultimately picked off by Eric Berry. KC retaliates by going run, run, incomplete (Bowe), punt.

The Chargers are putting together another drive, but Rivers is sacked by Tamba Hali, and he fumbles, which is recoverd by Wallace Gilberry. Chiefs with the ball: run, run, penalty, incomplete (Bowe), punt.

Chargers punt, Chiefs go sack, incomplete (Bowe), incomplete (Charles), punt. Chargers answer with a field goal.

Chiefs go penalty, two incompletions (both to Verran Tucker), sack, punt. San Diego has a big return, and on the ensuing drive, scores with ease their fourth touchdown of the game. Chiefs bring in backups, kneel.

Interpretation: Anybody that watched this game and decided during it or afterwards that Croyle was garbage and solely to blame for this loss was delusional. Make no mistake: This was Croyle’s worst start as a pro. By far. But the way the team as a whole played was a joke. I said it then, and I say it again today: When Matt Cassel didn’t get on that plane, it was like the rest of the team didn’t either. And that’s not to take anything away from San Diego.

They’re a good team, they’re at home, and they’re looking to get back at the Chiefs for the season-opening loss to them in Kansas City. Add to that they’re finally -– in typical Charger fashion –- firing on all late-season cylinders, and wholly aware that the Chiefs will be starting their backup. But the running game for KC never got going; the offensive line couldn’t protect Croyle, and frankly –- save for the two turnovers created by the defense –- the whole team looked terrible.

More often than not, it’s up to your quarterback to make something happen. He has to be the spark plug to get points on the board, especially when the whole team is struggling, and Croyle, in this contest, didn’t do that. He didn’t come close, really. You blame the offensive line and scheming for lack of protection, but you also blame him for not sensing pressure and getting rid of the football. Again, without the tape, it’s hard to imagine why there were so many incompletions, especially five to Bowe, who was having a monster year.

I put some of the onus on him. Going through each of these games, there are so many Bowe drops, that it’s like his confidence in Croyle checked out months and months ago, yet the guys that are barely hanging on to a roster spot are catching most balls thrown their way. All in all though, it was a team loss, and anyone that places it solely on Croyle is being unfair, deliberate or not.

December 26 vs. TEN, week 15, 14-34 W

Stats: 1/2, -2 yards; Again: You got the long.

The deets: It’s 34-7 Chiefs when Croyle comes in late in the third quarter. Run, completion, intercepted (intended for Bowe). Cassel back in to finish the game.

Interpretation: Not a good sign for Croyle, but it’s no surprise that Bowe was targeted on that pick.

Not a pretty picture for a guy that was, in my mind, going to lead us to salvation, but as I said: pretty shitty football team all around. The point of it all, though, was to announce my misguided man crush, to briefly address my reasons for having them, and to admit the erroneousness of their existence.

There, then. It has been shouted from the mountaintops, decreed from the balconies of edifices, echoed across the plains and in and out of forests.

I was wrong about Brodie Croyle. The next time the Chiefs serve me pudding, I’ll wait for the proof.
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