I’ve had a few things going on work wise and travel wise so I haven’t gotten a lot of my normal posts in. I should be back in action this week. With that being said, after yesterday’s loss I felt the need to share some thoughts since a good majority of my readers are Chiefs fans. In one of my favorite movies, “This is Spinal Tap”, the band’s tour is not going the way they had hoped. During a stop in Memphis the band heads to Graceland and bassist Derrick Smalls while looking at Elvis’s grave, says “This certainly puts things into perspective.” To which David St. Hubbins says, “It’s a little too much f’ing perspective if you ask me.” So my goal here is to give Chiefs fans the right amount of perspective.

Nothing lasts forever:

The Chiefs have had an historical run winning the division 9 years in a row, been to 7 straight AFC championships, 5 super bowls, 3championships and haven’t had a losing season since 2012. You can’t keep that pace forever. The Patriots dynasty will likely never be matched because they were so good for so long, only missing the playoffs twice in the Tom Brady era. Besides them, this is one of the best runs in NFL history. But the run seems to be ending or at least is having a down year like Chiefs fans haven’t experienced since Andy Reid took over and especially since Mahomes started playing quarterback. But it is unrealistic to expect the Chiefs to keep winning the division every year and making super bowls every year. But that is what greatness does. It makes you have higher expectations than you really should for your team. I am also a Royals fan. If the Royals have a winning record, I’m a happy fan. If Mizzou wins 10 games including a bowl win, I’m a happy fan. If Missouri basketball makes the tourney, I’m a happy fan, except for the one day they play in the tournament and lose to whoever no matter what their seed is. But I get over it pretty quickly. But because of all the success and greatness, I’m depressed that the Chiefs are 5-5. And this might sound weird, but I’m honestly depressed because this particular group of players have given us fans so much, I want them to have success. I want Kelce and Jones to go out winners and with the Super Bowl loss last year and their current record that is slipping away. But pretty much no one goes out a winner. The Cowboys dynasty had 4 great years and didn’t do much of anything after that. Brady retired after going 8-9 and getting blown out in the playoffs. Belicheck went 4-13 his last year with the Patriots. It always ends and you don’t always see it coming. The truth is I’m not sure it is actually over yet and I’ll tell you more about that in a bit, but it is going to end at some point. Before I give you some hope though, first let me break down what I believe the biggest issues are now that are leading to our struggles.

Run the Damn Ball:

One of our biggest issues is our refusal to run the ball. Especially run the ball from under center. We get positive yards pretty much every time we do that. The problem is we don’t have good play action plays and more importantly we refuse to run the ball consistently. Teams are happy to give up 6 yards a carry. Because they know we won’t do it more than 3 or 4 teams. Our other issue is that our running backs aren’t that good. Kareem Hunt is by far our best running back right now. He is slow and not explosive but he runs where he is supposed to. Pacheco hasn’t looked right since he got hurt last year. CEH is terrible but we keep him around. Smith has potential but seems better at catching passes than running the ball. And I don’t know what Elijah Mitchell is or isn’t in this offense because he is yet to get a carry. Andy refuses to call run plays. Mahomes refuses to take the run option on RPOs and every team knows we will abandon the run whether or not it is working or not.

Can’t get pressure on the quarterback:

Our D Line just isn’t very good at pressuring the quarterback. Getting pressure with 4 is dang near impossible. Spags has covered this up for a while with well timed and well planned blitzes. But that hasn’t worked this year either. No one can win 1 on 1 match ups besides Chris Jones. And he is always double teamed. He may have lost a step because he can no longer beat double teams. This has been an issue for a while but the stuff we usually do to overcome this weakness isn’t working.

Pat can’t throw the deep ball:

It feels weird criticizing the greatest player in Chiefs history. But I try to be fair and balanced in my assessments. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fanboy when it comes to Pat. As we all should be. We couldn’t win a playoff game before he came along. But he isn’t perfect. He has made some dumb mistakes this year especially in the red zone. But stuff happens. What doesn’t make sense to me is his inability to hit the deep ball. When he first came into the league, he lived on the deep ball. He was hitting Tyreek, Hardman, Demarcus Robinson and Sammy Watkins all over the field on deep balls. Then teams adjusted and he adjusted as well. The deep ball was off the menu so to speak. But then defenses adjusted to stop the short and mid passing game so the deep ball is open again but Pat can’t hit it. It’s not like his arm isn’t good anymore, because he is overthrowing everyone. Worthy and Thornton are always open deep. But he just can’t hit them. Even when he does connect he throws behind them. I’m not sure why he is struggling but it is killing the offense because those shots would be massive. It is also odd because I know they practiced it all summer.

Not making the adjustments:

The team just isn’t making any changes. It was just a couple of years ago when we had a bunch of dropped balls and the offense was a mess. But they figured it out and they said we are going to run the ball and eat up the clock and let our defense make stops. This year, it seems we just keep running out there with the same plays whether they are working or not. No adjustments are made. We abandon things that are working just because we don’t feel like doing them on both sides of the ball. Also, I don’t understand who plays and who doesn’t. Why did Fulton play a bunch yesterday and suck it up, when the rookie Williams has been great in coverage all year? Why was Elijah Mitchell just finally active but we didn’t even give him one carry to see what he could do even though the Broncos were giving us the run. It’s just the same crap week in and week out.

Big Payroll Players aren’t making Big plays:

In the salary cap era, you can’t pay everyone. The Chiefs have chose to pay certain people a lot of money. Mahomes, Kelce and Jones were all the highest paid player at their positions when they got their latest contracts. Trey Smith and Creed are making big money. Karlaftis just got paid. And of course good ole number 74 gets a lot of money to get penalties and kill drives. But what hasn’t happened is in the big moments, those guys aren’t making big plays when it matters most. Pat can’t lead drives when it matters. Jones can’t get pressure on 3rd down in key moments and Travis has had a bit of the case of the drops. Think about this, if Jones stays in his rush lane against the Chargers, Herbert doesn’t take off for a long run to seal game one and we get a chance to go down and score. If Kelce doesn’t drop what would have been a td but instead turns into an interception we likely beat the Eagles. Against the Jags, if Pat doesn’t throw a pick at the goal line that leads to a pick 6, we win that game. Even if we just won 2 out of 3 of those games, we would be 7-3 and probably the highest wild card seed with everything on the table going forward. But our best players just haven’t played their best when it has mattered most like they have for the past 7 seasons. And to pour salt in the wound, Rashee Rice who over his short career when healthy has made lots of big plays, didn’t come through on Sunday either.

Why it sucks:

At the end of the day, it is just a game and the Chiefs being average isn’t the end of the world. There are more important things than sports and stuff. But I still hate this team losing. So why does it bother us so much? I think one of the main reasons is because we simply know they are better than this. We can see that if they just made a few more plays, we would be in great shape. We also hate it because these guys have given us a lot and overall are good guys. It sucks because we want them to be successful. It also sucks because of all the haters. I have disliked certain teams for many years. Teams like the Yankees and of course divisional rivals. But I never hated greatness. I never hated the Patriots like most people did. I never hated the Warriors when they were winning all the time. I don’t hate the Dodgers now. I don’t cheer for them but I don’t hate them. But unfortunately most people hate success. They don’t want any team to have extended success. And when a team does, the excuses and accusations start. It’s rigged. They cheat. The Refs and the league help them, etc. The fact of the matter it is more difficult than ever to have extended success in this league and the Chiefs have found a way. And everyone hates them for it. And the majority of the talking heads in the sports world suck and just say most things for clicks. They are of course all over this acting like they called it all year. Which they did. But they also called it in 2022. And in 2023. And in 2024. Of course they were wrong in all those scenarios. But now that it appears they are right, they will act like they are super smart. If you cry wolf enough, eventually there will be a wolf. But we have been spoiled with success so I guess it is about time we take some lumps as fans.

Saying they don’t care or aren’t trying is dumb:

I see a lot of people on social media questioning this team’s effort which I think is unfair. They want to win. They want to play well. They don’t sit around saying who cares. They work hard. But in the end, guess what this is a job for them. Do they take their failures hard? Sure. Do they try their best and want to succeed? Of course. Imagine if your effort was watched every day at your job. How many of us look in the mirror every day and say I gave my job 100% effort today? We all have good days and bad days. And just like us, they have to go home after a bad day at work and then try to be good husbands and boyfriends and fathers, etc. I’m not saying we can’t be critical but I think it is important to remember they are people just like us. They are trying their best and even if they don’t, they can have bad days at work just like we do.

Silver Lining Playbook:

I’m about to restore hope but before I do, let’s say we don’t make the playoffs. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. This team has played like an extra season and half the last 7 years. For them to be done shortly after the new year might actually help this franchise going forward. They would be more rested going into next year. They would also probably be more motivated or at least motivated in a different way. Right now, they are trying to do the same thing over and over again. Next year, assuming they miss the playoffs, they could enter next year with different motivation and a chip on their shoulder. Also, imagine having a top 18 pick instead of drafting 30-32 like always. And how about playing a 3rd place schedule? What would our record be and the vibe if we had played the Broncos schedule this year? So one below average year, doesn’t mean the franchise or dynasty is doomed. All the great teams have had down years from time to time. Maybe they need a reset. Also, it might actually make them address some of the issues that have been there for a few years that we can all see.

It ain’t over until it is over:

With all that being said, this season is far from over. Does this team have issues? Sure. Does this team need to fix some stuff and figure out how to win a close game again? Absolutely. But let’s not act like the Chiefs have been dominant throughout every season. The first year we won the Super Bowl, we were 6-4 before winning 9 straight. In 2021, we looked awful especially on offense. We turned it around and lost in the AFC championship in overtime. In 2023, we limped into the playoffs after losing 5 of 8 late in the season. And then we won our second Super Bowl in a row. Even last year, we were winning but it seemed shaky all year. But once we got late in the year and into the playoffs we pulled it together and looked like a good football team again. And quite honestly, there isn’t much of a difference between this year’s team and last years. The main difference is last year’s team won close games and this year’s doesn’t. But they also only play close games with good teams and beat the bad teams easily. They tend to get better and figure it out as the season goes on and come through when it matters most. That’s probably why yesterdays loss felt so bad. We needed that win to have a shot at the division and we didn’t get it done. That is abnormal for them. Next week is huge and and if we lose the Chiefs would need to win out to even have a shot. Every week is the playoffs from here on out. We don’t have the tie breaker with any of the teams currently ahead of us. It’s a weird place to be. But it still doesn’t feel like they are that far away. And if they get in…look out. There is not a team in the AFC that would like to catch them in the first round of the playoffs. So while it looks bleak and there are no more guarantees or room for error, it ain’t over until it’s over. Win out and they are in. Win 6 of 7 and they probably get in. Go 5-2 and get some help, they might get in. Anything worse than they are toast. That means for at least the next 3 weeks, there is still hope. And as the wise Andy Dufresne said, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies.” And isn’t that what fandom is? Hope. Didn’t we as Chiefs fans, live our lives based upon hope? For the first 38 years of my life, I lived my Chiefs fandom on nothing but hope. Mahomes made that hope become a reality. Maybe he will do it again and maybe he won’t. But lets have some fun the next few weeks and have some hope that the Chiefs can become the team we think and hope they will be.