Arrowhead Angst

 Last Sunday's game against the Chargers was an important moment in Chiefs football history. It wasn't pretty, but it was definitely important. The exact moment came with about three minutes left in the second quarter. The offense was succeeding only in giving the bad guys the ball, and the defense was getting gouged for huge pass plays. Three turnovers prior to this point, including two from the team's savior Jamaal Charles, guaranteed an uphill battle.

Then Matt Cassel throws another bad pass that's tipped for another interception, his second of three in the game. Donald Butler runs the pick back for a 21 point lead, and every heart in Chiefs Nation sinks.

This moment marked the lowest point for fans in the Scott Pioli era. Firing Todd Haley mid-season brought plenty of fear and uncertainty to a justifiably cynical fan-base, but it was matched almost immediately with hope for the future. That hope has now been extinguished with a miserable start to a critical season. By starting the year with three embarrassing losses in four games, the Chiefs have made the reality of their incompetence painfully clear.

The upcoming weeks are going to be nasty. Most of the reporting on defensive schemes and rookie progress will be overshadowed by rumors about the most important men in the franchise getting fired. Talk will shift from “Will Devon Wylie ever be a key contributor to this offense?” to “What does Romeo/Pioli/Cassel have to do to keep his job?” and then, possibly, to “Would Bill Cowher coach here?” Fans will spill their hatred out onto the forums with no remorse. The online petitions to “can Cassel” will be innumerable by season's end. And here's the worst part about all the hate: nobody can blame Chiefs fans for a second.

At some point in the coming weeks, depending on when and where Clark Hunt makes major changes, the chatter about firing this guy and hiring that guy will begin. Eventually, someone will say the two most obscene, vulgar words ever heard in Kansas City- "rebuilding process." It hurts my soul just to type such an awful phrase. The process means bad football for at least a full season. It means new coaches arguing with new coordinators, and most importantly, it means wasting the primes of this roster's most talented players. Chiefs fans have been waiting patiently through these processes since Scott Pioli's arrival. This isn't baseball- an NFL franchise cannot spend five years rebuilding without losing fans. Paramount to all other concerns is the sickening silence in Arrowhead to start the second half last week. Fans weren't exactly satisfied with the product on the field last year, but the home crowd was still rarely quiet. At least they cared enough to boo with enthusiasm.

So before everyone dives into the non-football football talk, let's take a minute to look at the game that put Kansas City in this very uncomfortable position.

Sunday's game against San Diego was not a blowout, and that is what makes it the ugliest game of the season so far. The story begins and ends with turnovers, with two fumbles from Jamaal, one from Shaun Draughn, and three interceptions from Matt Cassel. The first three turnovers, including a pick thrown by Cassel on the opening drive, came in the first 21 minutes of play and gave San Diego the ball within the KC 30. The fourth was a pick-six. What followed should have been another boring blowout, but thanks to an exhausted Chiefs defense making stop after stop, Kansas City found themselves in perfect comeback position in the second half.

This defense limited the damage from five first-half turnovers, then forced three consecutive 3-and-outs in the 3^rd quarter to give the offense great field position and several opportunities to close the gap. Then, with inaccurate passing and his signature 4 yard throws on 3^rd and long, Matt Cassel handed the ball over to Philip Rivers' offense, over and over and over again. This pattern of the offense flopping after the defense holds strong for them isn't something only an expert can see. It's the same formula for bad football this Chiefs franchise has shoved down their fans' throats all season long. And it all comes back to Matt Cassel.

Cassel has problems finding wide open receivers, and when he does, he overthrows them. He can't handle pressure and he loves to check it down on long 3^rd downs. When coaches are asked about Cassel, they spend the majority of the time politely commenting on his ability to manage the game and avoid turnovers. This year, he's guilty for 7 picks and 3 fumbles in four games. Everything about Matt Cassel makes him unqualified to lead this offense. And yet, Scott Pioli insists he's the man to take Kansas City to the Super Bowl.

After firing two head coaches and decimating the Chiefs front office, Cassel is still Pioli's Golden Boy, completely untouchable, regardless of how much he holds this team back. I'll have more on Pioli later this week; the ugly situation he's putting this entire franchise in deserves its own article. So, before I start demanding heads on pikes, let's take a look at the upcoming action on the field. If you think this tough match-up against Baltimore comes at the worst possible time, you aren't alone.

The Ravens are an evolving team, what with Joe Flacco showing huge improvement and the notoriously dominant defense growing old. Baltimore sits at 3^rd in the NFL in yards gained, and Flacco is 3^rd among all quarterbacks in total passing yards. But, the once-terrifying Ravens D is 23^rd in overall yards allowed and 29^th in passing. Unfortunately, since Cassel only trusts himself enough to consistently target two guys on the field (Bowe and Charles), that shouldn't matter much. Let's take a look at my five reasonably cynical predictions for Sunday.

1. Chiefs fans in Arrowhead can only shake their heads in shame, as Flacco burns the defense down the middle (another disconcerting trend), and Ray Lewis turns Cassel into blood-soaked, flesh-colored jelly. Maybe that last part is my repressed rage surfacing as macabre daydreams, but you get it. Chiefs lose, 37-16.
   
   
2. This game looks to be one-sided, and an early deficit will make the Chiefs way more pass-happy than anyone would like to see. This means Cassel spends the day throwing into the teeth of a cover defense while avoiding a heavy blitz on passing downs. That means turnovers. Plus, have I mentioned how Matt Cassel stares down his intended receiver every single mother-flopping time he throws the ball? Yeah, it's a problem. The Ravens have forced six fumbles and four picks already, so expect Matt to continue his crappy year with two more costly turnovers.
   
   
3. Eric Berry had an awful time covering Antonio Gates last week, and was called for blatant interference in several key moments of the game. Look for the similarly beefy Dennis Pitta to give #29 fits and record his fourth game with five receptions this season.
   
   
4. Tamba Hali gets pumped up in games like this, when all seems lost and the Chiefs are the town's laughing stock. Not even Sandra Bullock can save Michael Oher from Hali's blitz today. Tamba gets at least one sack and four hits on the quarterback.
   
   
5. I'm putting the over/under for Bowe pointing to his own name at 1.5 for the season. Since I expect a bad loss, there should be plenty of garbage time for Bowe to rack up stats, so today I'm going with over. The team's 1-3 you idiot, knock it off.

Not many uplifting predictions, I know. It's not a very uplifting season either, damn it. But if all this disappointment seems like too much to take, do me this favor:

Relax, take a deep breath, and say Ropati Pitoitua five times fast. Seriously. It helps. Don't judge me until you've said it out loud.