Final Ten Things About the 2017 Season

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About the 2017 Chiefs Season

10. Now that I’ve had a chance to down a half bottle of Pepto and had a couple hours sleep, I think I can now reason clearly. I want to begin by saying I don’t think any informed Chiefs fan expected this team to be a Super Bowl contender. And you can say that first going into the season after Spencer Ware got hurt, or last going into the playoffs after the team had lost five out of six, and went ‘Oh-for-the-State-of-New York" during November and December. If we didn’t lose to the Titans, we probably would have lost badly to either Pittsburgh or New England on the road. I’ll explain why I think that later when I get to the “Follow the Money” arguments. As far as last night’s soul crushing debacle, it will be the game known as the “Forward Progress Game” to join the annals of other great Chiefs home disasters. The specifics of the game have been talked to death already. I’ll just add a few things. The Chiefs blew an 18 point second half lead at home. They had five yards of total offense in the third quarter. K-Hunt had only 11 carries. KC only rushed for two first downs. On the flip side, Tennessee rushed for 202 yards. Titans had a pick and a fumbled punt; and should have had two other fumbles on Mariota that accounted for a 12-point swing in the game, thanks to the newly retired Mr. Triplette. Buttkicker carried on the storied tradition of Stenerud, Lowrey and the Kicker Who Shall Remain Nameless by doinking a critical kick in the third quarter. Special teams had stupid penalties to kill game momentum, including a personal foul that erased a roughing the kicker penalty that would have sustained a Chiefs drive. Alex Smith was given an opportunity to get the team into field goal range to win, and failed once again; proving he is not a quarterback that can lead a team to victory in a critical situation. Cumulatively, the team has now lost ten of their last eleven post season contests, including six straight at home. Is it possible for us to defer a home game? I don’t see any reason for us to ever host a playoff game in Arrowhead ever again. Let’s just offer the opponent home field advantage. We’ll have a better shot, and it won’t cost our fans hundreds of wasted playoff dollars.

9. About Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs Culture: In the history of the NFL, teams are 67-4 when leading by 18 or more points a halftime. Andy Reid owns two of those miserable losses - The Andrew Luck Colts game, and last night. I heard another stat last night that Andy Reid has the 9th most NFL regular season victories, and the third most NFL playoff losses. I think Andy is basically the second coming of Marty. There’s been great coaches who could not win the big one like John McKay, Don Coryell and Chuck Knox. At least Marv Levy and Bud Grant got to the Super Bowl more than once. Also, much like Marty, Reid is developing a coaching “tree” where former Chiefs assistant coaches leave and find greatness somewhere else. Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy and Bruce Arians all worked for Marty. Doug Pederson in Philly worked for Reid, and now a bunch of teams want to talk to Nagy about a head coaching spot. You can even argue that organizationally, others have left our culture to have a shot at greatness. Pioli and Haley are both still in the big dance. John Dorsey has an exciting future in Cleveland with both the number one and number four overall picks in the upcoming 2018 draft. Chris Ballard is rebuilding the Colts. As far as this latest collapse, Reid didn’t even have the stones to criticize Triplette after the game, because “he didn’t want to get fined.” Thanks for speaking up on behalf of your team, the fans and the organization, Andy. Even if you get fined, you’ll still be able to afford as many trips to Golden Corral as you can handle.

8. The overview of the offense is not all gloom and doom. The Chiefs have a lot to look forward to next year. Assuming the Chiefs deal off Smith, let’s assume they get a second round pick for him- we won’t have a first rounder this year as Buffalo will be laughing all the way to the draft podium with our first round pick- but we should be able to pick up a couple of decent players with two second round picks. We’ll get Spencer Ware and Chris Conley back from injury. We’ll have Kelce, Hill and K-Hunt all back, and all in their prime. And Mahomie will have a full compliment of weapons -more than just Albert Wilson- at his disposal. Four of our offensive line -Schwartz, Fisher, Canadian Doc and Fulton, are above average. Our schedule will be a killer since we finished first in division. We’ll probably miss the playoffs altogether next year. But if you’re gonna break the kid in, might as well throw him up against the best the league has to offer to accelerate his learning curve. You can't beat the best until you've had experience playing against the best. At least the team will be fun to watch, and not a slow lingering death spiral like watching an Alex Smith half like last night.

7. The defense is a lot of gloom and doom. It needs a fix, top to bottom. it needs to start by putting Bob Sutton in assisted living. I suggest sending about 500 of those “Fear Nothing Attack Everything” towels along so his caretakers can wipe his bottom with them. The Titans did not punt in the second half. Not once. Titans were 8 for 13 on third down, and that’s after basically doing nothing the entire first half. Their three points in the first half were gifted by Mr. Triplette. KC defense gave up six yards per play. And where Dick LeBeau made adjustments to shut out KC in the second half, once Sutton lost Chris Jones, his defense went to total shit. It seemed the longer the third down distance to gain, the more Mariota liked it. The fans did all they could do to contribute to the defense. One fan induced penalty actually hurt the team. KC had Mariota stopped, but Triplette called delay of game, which gave the Titans another chance. Mariota then picked up the first down on a scramble, sustaining a 91 yard drive. It was one of those kinds of snake bit moments that fit perfectly to the narrative.

6. I think the biggest problem defensively all season was lack of pass rush. Coming out of training camp, Sutton was counting on Hali, Ford, Houston and Chris Jones to provide the pressure. Hali should have been cut, but the team just let him hang around and draw a paycheck. Ford was useless and injured. Houston is being paid JJ Watt money but disappeared in this game. His only play was to pick up a Mariota fumble, but that play was blown dead by our pal Mr. Triplette. DJ was a liability on pass coverage and was not sent on the blitz nearly enough. He was more dangerous than Houston. The only shining star was Reggie Ragland, who looks like he’ll be a reliable run stopper and a thumper. K-Pass is a puppy and is a project. Chris Jones went out hurt, and his injury -along with the cheap shot that put Kelce out with a concussion- was the momentum swing Tennessee was looking for. They came out in the second half, kicked ass and didn’t look back. That is EXACTLY what the Chiefs should have done. Instead, we got the Andy Reid turtle show.

5. Our defensive secondary needs a total overhaul. One of the reasons they were so bad as a group was the lack of pass rush, giving opposing receivers tons of time to work open. We have two reliable secondary players: Eric Berry, who was lost on a Thursday night game injury to open the season; and Marcus Peters, who is a loose cannon and a head case. The rest of the group are marginal to terrible. Sorensen takes bad angles. Parker flat out cannot tackle. Nelson is injury prone. Murray got beat by Decker for the go ahead TD last night. Gaines, Acker, Smith, Mitchell are all the same guy. That is to say, always chasing somebody downfield on the way to giving up a TD or a DPI. Revis needs to be given his gold watch and sent to the golf course. Veach has been pretty good a snagging guys off other teams practice squads. He needs to scour every single opportunity -including the CFL- to find some reasonably decent defensive backs. Guys who are not afraid to come up and hit in run support, and who can turn their head around. Who knows what Berry will be like coming off his injury? Who knows if Peters can keep from being suspended week after week after week? I would trade Peters for a first round pick, and take another starting corner in the draft. Deal Peters while his value is at a premium. I’m sure Chucky would love to have him in Vegas.

4. I would also make a coaching change in special teams. Dave Toub lived off reputation, and did a poor job. Special teams production on punt and kickoff was terrible, especially on kickoff. We started drive after drive after drive inside the 20 yard line because of Toub’s insistence of running out kickoffs. Penalties in special teams never got solved. Colquitt’s contract is up. I would let him go, just like Denver let his brother go; and draft that kid Dickson off the Texas Longhorns with a third round pick. If he’s not available, go get Corey Fatony from Mizzou with a fifth round pick. Buttkicker was a fine addition. I think he’ll be around for a long time. I was very disappointed that he missed his only kick in the playoffs, but I’m willing to chalk that up to Rookie Yips and kicking in cold weather. It wasn’t a gimme kick, but he had enough leg. He just pulled it. Even if he hits it, the way the defense was playing, Mariota probably would have found a way to get Succop another chance to win. There needs to be some accountability with this coaching staff. Cutting Toub loose would send a message that nobody should get too comfy and ride their reputation. Devin Hester’s career is way back in the rear view mirror now.

3. Alex Smith needs to go. He’s not a bad quarterback, he’s just not a killer and a winner. The reason he needs to go is two fold. One: he’s had his shot to shine here and failed. Five years is plenty. His trade value will never be higher than now. Second: If we keep him for one more year, we’ll be lucky to get close to the same level of play. Next year's schedule looks to be as tough or tougher than this year’s schedule. Additionally, Smith has a history of injury. He made it through this year OK, but he’ll be a year older and a step slower. Also, he’s a free agent after his contract expires. Might as well get something for him while we can. Chiefs fans have had our fill of San Francisco cast offs. DeBerg, Bono, Montana, Grbac and now Smith. Enough. Let’s get on with Mahomie. Let him take his lumps next year, and start building something. Tyler Bray should be toast too. I’m hoping Veach signs a veteran backup -a Nick Foles type- or pulls somebody off a practice squad who could be the next Tyrod Taylor or Teddy Bridgewater. And if Mahomie gets hurt, we’re screwed anyway. So go for it. Let the kid play.

2. Finally, the organization, especially CHunt, deserves heavy criticism. Only three other NFL teams are remotely as futile as our Chiefs: The Jets, Lions and expansion Browns. The original Browns are now the Ravens and have won two super bowls since we were last there. It’s going on fifty years since the Chiefs won a championship. The PR and Marketing Weasels keep pushing this narrative of how Kansas City is a special, rich heritage franchise, and a storied team and a glorious, admired organization. The truth is the exact opposite. To the rest of the league, especially the rest of the AFC West- the Chiefs are a laughing stock. A punchline. A pants wetting, choking, pathetic bunch of inept losers. What hurts most is, that’s the truth. Teams that are true storied franchises like Pittsburgh, New England, Green Bay, Dallas and Denver - and you can even throw in the Raiders- expect Super Bowls. Anything less is an unacceptable embarrassment and abject failure. Green Bay went out and got Rodgers when Favre was done. Denver went out and got Peyton Manning. The Raiders just spent $100 million to get a decent head coach to rebuild their franchise. Here in Kansas City, we get AFC West Divisional Championships, and that’s it. Nothing else is expected, nothing else is achieved. It’s the core of the organizational culture, and it hasn’t changed since the days of Lamar and Steadman, or Lamar and King Carl, or CHunt and Pioli, and now CHunt and Andy Reid. I don’t put this on Veach. Reid is our real GM and Veach is an enabler. Dorsey was the fall guy for last year. Sutton will most likely be the fall guy for this year. CHunt seems to care more about hobnobbing with Roger Goodell and the other Billionaire owners than actually being driven to win for Kansas City. Jerry Jones is a giant pain in the league’s ass, but nobody can deny his singluar, focused drive to win. He’ll do literally anything to win. Here, CHunt is more interested in giving up home games to play in London, and I’m sure he’ll be all in for us to play in Mexico next year against the Rams. The Hunt family doesn’t even bother to live here. In the long run, we might be better off if CHunt sexually harassed his secretary ala Jerry Richardson, and is forced to sell the team. Or move the team to Mexico City, and KC would get an expansion franchise, or a relocation, like maybe the Chargers. At least the Chargers have been to the Super Bowl since 1969. When Andy demurred from criticizing Triplette last night “Because He Didn’t Want To Get Fined, “ CHunt should have been in front of the press screaming bloody murder about getting jobbed in his own house. But nary a peep. I’m sure at the end of the month when we get our bills for 2018 season tickets, the email will talk about “a disappointing ending to a great season where we won our second AFC West Crown.” Yeah, great. That basically equals the Royals winning back to back Cactus League Championships.

1. So that’s it - we end with another epic Chiefs poop stain in the ole’ tighty whiteys. Finally, as far as "follow the money": The NFL is in trouble. A court case a few years back established that the NFL does not owe the consumer a fair or legitimate contest. Buying a ticket only guarantees an “entertainment experience.” With jerks like Papa John screaming bloody murder at Goodell, officiating crew chiefs like Mr. Triplette allowed to butcher a game and then walk away scott free, empty seats in stadiums and declining viewership, the league really needs Patriots vs. Steelers in the AFC Championship, and probably Atlanta vs. Whoever Else in the NFC. That would be the best for ratings. They’d drool for a Pats-Falcons rematch. I also think the league wants a lovable loser. The Chiefs are like the Cubs or Red Sox of the NFL. Good enough to be interesting, nice little side show in flyover country, but never good enough to go be the prime time headliner. And history shows us that's been the case for decades and decades and decades and decades…and decades. Cubs fans and Red Sox fans waited nearly 100 years -both in media markets much larger than Kansas City. And we’re only halfway there. As for me, I’m going to get together with the wife and we’ll decide whether we’re in or out for 2018. Last year I dropped one of my three tickets. This year I may just cry “Uncle” and stop going altogether. Its not worth the treasure or time to watch this horror movie six times in a row. Mahomie may be the only thing that changes my mind. If they bring Smith back, I’m going to have a really hard time with the chosen direction of this franchise. If things don’t radically change, then the joke is once again on me.

Thanks for reading, and considering my thoughts and observations. Have a nice off-season everyone. See you around.

[Molitoth]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I think we should trade Peters so instead of just getting torched on one side of the field it can be both.

lol

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I think we should trade Peters so instead of just getting torched on one side of the field it can be both.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Good idea. Lets just completely rip the ass out of this defense instead of supplementing the 5 talented guys we already have.

Which 5 are you talking about?

[Best22]

Originally Posted by bricks

Peters value is at a premium right now; with him the defense still sucks but is in need of a major overhaul.

What difference does it make if we keep him provided that the defense still sucks? They’re still gonna suck anyway provided that they keep Sutton. Peters is only one guy. One piece to the puzzle that isn’t even as important compared to other areas of the defense like def coordinator, pass rusher, etc.

The message is quite simple defense needs a rebuild and at this point in time it’s about getting our priorities in order. They could trade Peters and maybe get a 1st rounder for him? That would be excellent value and I’d do it in a heartbeat if it means getting a top pass rusher through the draft. Even if we can’t find a better corner to replace him, we could still get excellent value for him in return and address other important areas of the defense. Jmo.

*Besides we shouldn’t even be thinking about keeping Peters at this point. We should be thinking about stripping this whole defense down and rebuilding it from the bottom up. We just have to rebuild there and in order to do that, we need the best possible value by getting the best draft pick possible or trying to as many draft picks as possible. You want good value? You need to give up something to get something good in return. That’s how it goes sometimes. Something has to give.

Heck, I’d Trade him and Alex Smith to Cleveland.

The D isn't that bad. How about keep our young talented defenders, release DJ and Hali, draft defenders, maybe get someone in FA, then find a new DC. They shouldn't have to hold teams to 14ppg considering the talent we have on the other side of the ball.

[Chief_For_Life58]

It comes back to the ownership. Jerry Jones, The Rooneys, Robert Kraft, Al Davis back in his prime, you think those guys would even let Andy Reid even back to the locker room after giving up a 21-3 lead at halftime against the shitty playoff team this year? Andy Reid should be fired immediately for that total team loss. But Clark does not care if we win superbowls or not, i've said this for 5 years now being apart of this board, he sees the chiefs as another asset in his portfolio. He does not give a shit if we win superbowls or not, he hands the keys to the gm/hc and says ok talk to you next month thanks.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

Which 5 are you talking about?

Jones, Houston, Ragland, Peters, Berry.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Chief_For_Life58

It comes back to the ownership. Jerry Jones, The Rooneys, Robert Kraft, Al Davis back in his prime, you think those guys would even let Andy Reid even back to the locker room after giving up a 21-3 lead at halftime against the shitty playoff team this year? Andy Reid should be fired immediately for that total team loss. But Clark does not care if we win superbowls or not, i've said this for 5 years now being apart of this board, he sees the chiefs as another asset in his portfolio. He does not give a shit if we win superbowls or not, he hands the keys to the gm/hc and says ok talk to you next month thanks.

[Chief_For_Life58]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

How am I incorrect? The Hunts fly in sunday morning and fly back to dallas sunday afternoon. They dont care whats going on here. They have their mls team, a shit ton of real estate, the chiefs, and god knows what else, they care about the bottom line. They dont come to the stadium everyday and try and figure out how to make this team better. Theyre sitting at dallas country club checking their bank accounts sitting at the pool. Prove me wrong

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Chief_For_Life58

How am I incorrect? The Hunts fly in sunday morning and fly back to dallas sunday afternoon. They dont care whats going on here. They have their mls team, a shit ton of real estate, the chiefs, and god knows what else, they care about the bottom line. They dont come to the stadium everyday and try and figure out how to make this team better. Theyre sitting at dallas country club checking their bank accounts sitting at the pool. Prove me wrong

Treasure Bath!!!

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Chief_For_Life58

How am I incorrect? The Hunts fly in sunday morning and fly back to dallas sunday afternoon. They dont care whats going on here. They have their mls team, a shit ton of real estate, the chiefs, and god knows what else, they care about the bottom line. They dont come to the stadium everyday and try and figure out how to make this team better. Theyre sitting at dallas country club checking their bank accounts sitting at the pool. Prove me wrong

Well first off you have no "proof" of anything its just conjecture. Your comments about sitting around checking their bank account is nothing but sour grapes nonsense because your mad the team lost.

I could easily argue Clark has done what he needs to do, he is paying top money for coaches and players and he signed off on giving 2 1st round draft picks for a franchise QB.

All you are doing is barking the same old nonsense regardless off whats actually been taking place.

I am fully aware of our teams failures but guess what, a ton of that blame goes on the QB and we will have a new one.

In a nutshell your argument is because the latest result was the same (playoff loss) it means the methods and standards are all just the same but in reality there is proof in Mahomes that there has in fact been a change in method and belief.

We have a very young and pretty talented offense, we need to retool on defense.

Clark didn't give Hali a DJ those terrible contracts and he didn't blow Houston's knee out 2 years ago or Eric Berry's Achilles. He did however ensure Berry was resigned even though it was expensive.

I get it we lost a game in epic fashion, again. I was at the ****ing game, it sucked.

The reality is there is a really bright future with this team if they hit on this next off season.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Well first off you have no "proof" of anything its just conjecture. Your comments about sitting around checking their bank account is nothing but sour grapes nonsense because your mad the team lost.

I could easily argue Clark has done what he needs to do, he is paying top money for coaches and players and he signed off on giving 2 1st round draft picks for a franchise QB.

All you are doing is barking the same old nonsense regardless off whats actually been taking place.

I am fully aware of our teams failures but guess what, a ton of that blame goes on the QB and we will have a new one.

In a nutshell your argument is because the latest result was the same (playoff loss) it means the methods and standards are all just the same but in reality there is proof in Mahomes that there has in fact been a change in method and belief.

We have a very young and pretty talented offense, we need to retool on defense.

Clark didn't give Hali a DJ those terrible contracts and he didn't blow Houston's knee out 2 years ago or Eric Berry's Achilles. He did however ensure Berry was resigned even though it was expensive.

I get it we lost a game in epic fashion, again. I was at the ****ing game, it sucked.

The reality is there is a really bright future with this team if they hit on this next off season.

Yep. One side of the ball is good. Get a new DC and a bit more talent and we'll be off to a very good start. If we can just get this defense to be middle of the pack- I think it will be enough to be in the hunt for real.

[cooper barrett]

I've made suggestions to let Clark know the natives are upset, Boycotting a game, no parking revenues. and **** his threats to move...Hunt Midwest would crash and burn...

Peters isn't going anywhere without his replacement coming in trade. Big shoes to fill IMHO

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by tmax63

Berry and has always been a liability against the run.

What the **** is this shit?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

There’s a zero percent chance I’m trading Peters. Advocating for this is some nonsense. The chiefs need more passionate defensive players.

Trading Peters would be absolutely ****ing stupid.

Also, I'm ****ing tired of hearing how "Great" John Dorsey was as a GM, when he ****ed up time and time and time again.

3rd rounder on Russell, 3rd rounder for Maclin, 6th rounder for Maclin, shitty ****ing free agency deals that left more than $70 million in Dead Cap Space in 2017 with more in 2018.

Had Dorsey been a competent GM that drafted well and avoided big time contracts in Free Agency, this team would likely have more depth and would have been able to survive all of their injuries to starters.

Guys like Sorensen, Murray, Jarvis Jenkins, Bryan Witzmann, Demetrious Harris and Orson Charles should be fringe roster guys, not guys that see high snap counts each week.

Veach has got his work cut out for him this offseason and trading Peters would be the worst way to start out the new League Year.

[bricks]

Originally Posted by Best22

The D isn't that bad. How about keep our young talented defenders, release DJ and Hali, draft defenders, maybe get someone in FA, then find a new DC. They shouldn't have to hold teams to 14ppg considering the talent we have on the other side of the ball.

I disagree. This defense is horrible. The only thing that justifies Sutton keeping his job is the amount of ppg his defenses give up. But still.....I’m not so sure about that and I’ll get to that later.

if you really look at this defense, they give up yards at will. So easy to knock off and push around, lacks attitude, adjustments, players aren’t put into position to succeed, etc. Yeah there is some good talent here and there but also some dead weight as well.

*But yeah I’ve had it though with this defense because blowing two leads in the playoffs of a combined 46 points definitely outweighs the average amount of ppg they give up in the regular season.

Maybe keeping our young def players is or isn’t the better option? But we do need draft picks, especially a 1st rounder since we compromised our own to Buffalo for Mahomes. Gotta give up something to get something sometimes and maybe we are better off trading one of our young players?