Pardon me for sounding cynical, but
this week's post won't be an unbiased look at the X's and O's of
today's game in Denver, because this game is almost entirely
meaningless to me. This year, Peyton's offense outscores their
opponent by 10.4 points on average. This season's average Chiefs game
is an 11.9 point loss. A Chiefs fan might be better off rooting for
the Jaguars this Sunday, more-so than their own own team. So, let's
think about the future (some more) in order to keep this topic from
getting depressing.
First, a much-needed dose of
positivity: Jamaal, Tamba, Derrick Johnson, and Eric Berry are all
Pro Bowlers entering the primes of their careers. Unless KC wins
today, overcoming a 16 point spread and the inescapable malaise of a
lost season, the Chiefs will have the first pick of the draft to
rebuild around. There it is again: rebuild. That dirty, dirty word. I
suppose that brings us to the big pile of negativity we have left to
pick away at throughout the off-season.
Well, nobody came here to read a book,
so I can't even list all the problems here at once. I'll be happily
going into depth about all these issues in the coming months, but for
now I'll be brief in addressing the most dire and immediate needs for
this franchise. I'm not breaking any news or making a lot of bold
statements here; the changes that need to take place are obvious to
anyone paying attention. The real question- the variables up for
analysis here- aren't about whether or not they should happen.
Most of the issues now revolve around the If's and the When's. The
off-season is really just a different season altogether, with
different players playing different games while still hoping to reach
the same successful outcome. So please, before the new (off)season
begins, let's just try to get our ducks in a row here.
Let's start with an easy one; Matt
Cassel's starting days in KC are over. I don't need any more proof of
that after seeing him holding a clipboard while a career back-up took
the reigns of the offense that was built around Cassel before this
season began. Management made it very clear that Cassel had to
really, seriously suck to lose his starting job, and that's exactly
what he did. Keeping a guy like that around doesn't seem beneficial,
and Matt probably wants out at this point, too. Whether Brady Quinn
is a reliable back-up is an entirely different discussion, but it's
low on a very long list of priorities.
So, who's next then? Let's go ahead
and assume we'll be spending that draft pick on a QB, considering
that to be the most obvious hole in the team. Thanks to our
league-leading volume of failure, we've nearly ensured the first pick
now, so all my hypotheses about Jason Campbell and Alex Smith and
Michael Vick are officially going on the back-burner. For now. There
will be plenty of time to break down Geno vs. Barkley, but today I'll
only say that I'm leaning towards the freakishly athletic guy with a
great arm over a product of a system that churns out perennial
under-achievers like hotcakes. Neither one of them has been properly
tested. Neither has shown signs of being Joe Montana or Tom Brady.
Neither one has even played well against elite college defenses.
There are no guarantees that we'll even go for these two guys. Why
not go with a proven winner like AJ McCarron from Alabama? Why not
pull one of those previously mentioned veteran QBs off the
back-burner, then draft Manti Te'o to play next to Derrick Johnson
and terrify offenses for years to come?
There's just too many options right
now for me to have a strong enough opinion on the whole thing. I know
I'm supposed to figure out my opinion and explain it passionately,
but what can I say? The variables are countless, and the (off)season
has yet to even begin. That's my opinion. These upcoming months will
be long ones for Chiefs fan, but they will also be extremely
intriguing. For that, I am totally passionate. I might dare say,
hopeful.
I wish I could just end the article on
that note. I wish I could sit back and dream about the pieces we have
here, and allow that to give me enough hope to start theorizing about
next year's epic journey to the Super Bowl. The unavoidable truth,
though, puts all that hope in jeopardy. None of those pieces matter
if they aren't properly utilized, and that will not happen unless the
second and third most powerful men in the franchise are fired. All of
these variables rest in the hands of someone who may or may not be in
power for a week, a month, or five years. Everything hinges on the
decision to fire Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel, and only one man can
make that decision. I don't know what Clark Hunt wants to do, and I
don't know if he knows what
he wants to do. Every moment the new beginning doesn't come is a
waste of time, so these decisions need to come quickly, just to get
the whole damn organization out of football Limbo.
Coach Crennel has to go. In a business
where winning means everything, the men in control of the business
have to cut their losses when no proper explanation for failure has
been given. I need more than just my fingers and toes to count the
times Romeo told the press "I don't know" when they asked him what went wrong, following one embarrassing loss after another.
That's an irreparable problem. Or rather, it's an easily fixable
problem involving an irreparable relationship between a coach and his
beleaguered, deflated team.
Scott Pioli is the decision-maker
behind every decision you hate as a Chiefs fan. Matt Cassel was
unfairly presented as a franchise quarterback, and then lambasted
accordingly. That was Scott Pioli's call. The overall discomfort and
inconsistency that came from changing coaches and coordinators has
crippled the team beyond comprehension. Every firing and every
rehiring was a choice that Scott Pioli made. Maybe I'll have lots of
time to explain why he should lose his job. Or maybe, he will be
fired, quickly and mercifully at the season's end, and none of my
complaints will matter anymore. We as fans can only hope, as Clark
Hunt sits and thinks.
The way Romeo dealt with, and will
continue to deal with witnessing his own player pulling the trigger
on himself is just as commendable and inspiring as anything ever
witnessed in professional sports. The same goes for Scott Pioli-
someone for which I simultaneously harbor venomous resentment and
the utmost moral respect. Although this game is capable of inducing
powerful, raw emotion, the game, itself, is emotionless. At its core,
it is a business. The business plan for the Chiefs' franchise isn't
working properly with either of them in their positions, so they
absolutely have to go. Speaking of Romeo, I like the man, but nobody
likes the product he's provided, so you won't find many people
disagreeing with the sentiment to replace him. Not as many seem sure
that Hunt is willing to fire Pioli that quickly. If I were in the
owner's shoes, I'd feel like I'd be doing the guy a favor by letting
him go. Does Pioli really want to be here? Does this embarrassment
help anybody or anybody's career?
So here we are, with few answers and
countless questions, waiting for the ball to drop. After the regular
season's final game, that totally different game begins, but until
decisions about Romeo and Pioli are made, the Chiefs organization
doesn't know how to play the game. They don't even get to read the
rulebook. Without making the changes, nobody knows where they want
the team to go, so until the moment changes are made, they're
losing the game already.
My
plea to Mr. Hunt is simple: don't make the mistake of waiting any
longer than the end of the regular season. If he can't make the
decision as early as many fans and myself would like, it will hurt,
but not as much as if he made the wrong decision and Pioli was
contracted to call the shots next year. It would hurt in the short
term to waste time with deliberation, but making the wrong choice
means crippling the organization long into the future. I guess I'm
saying if it takes too much time to change what has to be changed,
but it still happens, I'll save my tears for a later time.
We
would all rather see Christmas come late than not come at all.
