Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs: Dumpster Fire DÃ©jÃ Vu

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Kansas City Chiefs were publicly humiliated on national prime time television on Sunday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated them in every imaginable way. For me it was as hard of game to watch as any Chiefs game in recent memory. For the third time in four games they came out completely flat and found themselves in a huge hole early in the game and things didn’t get any better from there. The end result left many KC fans questioning how this team could possibly be 2-2 at this point in the season. Despite the .500 record, I can’t help but be struck with an alarming sense of déjà vu. The Chiefs started out last season 1-5 and there are far too many similarities with how things are going early this season for my liking. It feels like we are watching the same early season dumpster fire play out again right before our eyes.

Don’t believe me?

Check out this extended passage from the opening of one of my pieces during that 1-5 start last season:

On Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs lost…..again. The Chiefs gave what can only be described as a lackluster effort…..again. The offense was a complete and total failure and bordered on complete incompetence …..again.

The popular definition of insanity is as follows:

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

By that definition the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs are clearly insane. The Chiefs continue to make the same mistakes over and over and not only are they not changing anything they don’t even seem to think they should. That may be the most frustrating part of this entire train wreck of a season. Chiefs fans have no hope for the future because the things that so clearly need to be addressed in order for the team to move forward are simply being ignored by the organization. The Chiefs seem to want us all to believe that its just bad luck that a team that was believed to be a playoff caliber team has started 1-5. They want us to believe that if they just keep doing what they’re doing eventually things will come around.

Again, isn’t that the definition of insanity?

Look, I get it. A team has to present a united front. They can’t just start throwing people under the bus when they lose a few games. There is value in organizational stability and protecting people from criticism. The problem is at some point that stability and protection eventually turns into a lack of accountability. Andy Reid would have you believe that he is the king of accountability. After every loss he stands up there at the podium and says something to the effect of “It’s my fault, I need to do a better job.” Then he goes out the next week and does everything the exact same all over again.

Somebody has to hold this team accountable. Not just say the words, but back it up with action. I have personally come to the conclusion that the Chiefs suffer from a toxic combination of having a head coach, defensive coordinator, and quarterback that are all too “even keel”. Again, you need stability in an organization in order to maintain success over a long period. However, football is such a physical game that you also need to be able to harness your emotions to rise above certain situations.

Be honest, I could have just written that whole thing almost word for word about this season and nobody would have batted an eye. That’s inexcusable.

It’s inexcusable to start three of your first four games this horribly. The Chiefs have been outscored in the first half by the Chargers, Texans, and Steelers by a combined score of 63-6. I don’t care if you’re 2-2, that’s pathetic. The fact that this is the second season in a row where the team has looked completely unmotivated and unprepared early in the season makes you have to question the make up of this team. I don’t care if you point the finger at the coaching staff, the players, or both. There is a problem that has to be figured out.

When a team looks completely unmotivated and unprepared the head coach has to take a fair amount of the heat. The play calling against Pittsburgh was horrendous. Andy Reid deserves every bit of the criticism that he is receiving today. The Chiefs benefitted from Reid’s calm consistency last season when they stayed the course and turned their season around. Reid absolutely deserves credit for that. However, surviving a self inflicted gun shot wound isn’t exactly where you should set the bar. The smart thing to do would be to…you know…not have a self inflicted gun shot wound. A wise man learns from his mistakes and it’s concerning that Reid doesn’t appear to have learned from his poor start last season.

Then there is quarterback Alex Smith. I have defended Smith some in the past. My argument has been that he’s good enough to win with if you put a strong team around him. I still believe that, but the Chiefs haven’t been a strong team thus far this season and so Smith has struggled. Again, this isn’t something new for Smith. Here is another long passage from a different piece I wrote during KC’s 1-5 start last season:

Okay Alex, it’s your turn.

I know that you’re already taking a beating in the media and from fans and I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but when you’re the quarterback, the face of the franchise, and are getting paid what you are you have to know you’re going to hear about it when things aren’t going well.

And in case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t going well.

I know, you threw for 386 yards despite the fact that your offensive line let the Bengals treat you like their own personal tackling dummy for four quarters. It doesn’t matter. You’re the quarterback, you lead the offense and the offense didn’t get the ball in the end zone once despite all the yards you racked up. Yes, the play calling is partially to blame and of course the offensive line is partially to blame, but ultimately when an offense doesn’t score touchdowns that’s on the quarterback too.

I get that you don’t want to cost the team the game by making a mistake but at some point when the chips are all on the table and its do or die time, not going for it IS THE MISTAKE. Could you have thrown an interception late in the game that would have sealed the win for the Bengals? Sure, and then you might have lost 36-18 instead of 36-21. THE HORROR!!!!!!! At some point the leader of the team has to try to win. Despite the play calling. Despite the offensive line play. In the words of former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards:

“YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”

You don’t play to “not lose” the game, you play to “WIN” the game. I’m not saying to go all “Brett Favre” on every play but when you need a score it would be nice to see you go for the score and not play it safe. And while the decision to kick field goal after field goal after field goal was Andy Reid’s call it would be nice to see the quarterback pleading his case to go for the win. That’s what leaders do. That’s what winners do.

Now obviously the specifics about the game from last season are unique to that game but wouldn’t you agree that the overall sentiment is about the same as this season? Aren’t the same frustrations we have with Smith at quarterback in 2016 the same frustrations we were having during the early dumpster fire last season? Again, that’s not a good thing. You want to see players grow and learn from their mistakes. This looks like a pattern and its not a pattern that KC fans should feel good about.

If you want a glass half full outlook after this abysmal game it is that the Chiefs are 2-2 and completely in the running for the playoffs from a win/loss perspective. You can also cling to the fact that the Chiefs under this same coach and quarterback overcame an even worse record to make the playoffs last season. I wrote the first passage above claiming the Chiefs were insane to keep going like they were and expecting things to get better. Turns out that at least for last season the Chiefs were right and I was wrong.

The problem is not that there isn’t any hope of the Chiefs making the playoffs this season, the problem is that the Chiefs seem to have the exact same flaws as they did last season. Yes, they eventually made the playoffs, but those flaws proved too great to overcome in their playoff loss to the Patriots. So if the Chiefs flaws last season were too great to overcome in their quest to win a Super Bowl and this year’s team has the same flaws is there reason to believe that IF the Chiefs were to turn things around (again) and make the playoffs (again) that the end result would be any different?

Yes, this is a different team than last year, but ultimately if Andy Reid and Alex Smith have the same flaws and aren’t showing any improvement towards those flaws it has to make you wonder if this team has already reached its max potential with Reid and Smith at the helm?

OR…..

Are we simply overreacting after a horrible loss to a very good team that is ultimately just one game?

I really and truly hope it is the second of those options, but right now its awfully hard to shake the feeling that it could be the first option. Here’s to hoping that the Chiefs come out after the bye week and look like a new team. In that regard, the bye week probably couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s just hope the Chiefs use the bye week to do what they apparently failed to do this offseason……learn from their past mistakes.

As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!