Through Adversity The Chiefs Became A Team
We had seen this before.
When Jamaal Charles fumbled the handoff from Matt Cassel Friday night, Chiefs fans across the nation were disappointed but not surprised.
When Matt Cassel scrambled around, ignoring two wide open receivers to try to squeeze a pass between triple coverage, Chiefs fans were not surprised. Nor were they surprised when Tony Moeaki bobbled the ball or when Chris Chambers bobbled the ball or when Trevard Lindley intercepted the twice bobbled ball.
Chiefs fans had seen this story before and knew that it did not end happily.
And it didn’t. Philadelphia’s scrubs beat KC’s scrubs with a last minute touchdown pass to take the lead and seal the “victory.”
But this story wasn’t about the less than desirable ending or even the disastrous start.
It was about what happened in between.
Had the 2009 Chiefs been playing the Philadelphia Eagles Friday night and had the same start the 2010 Chiefs had, they would have folded like a house of cards in a hurricane.
After winning two straight over the Raiders and Steelers, the 2009 Chiefs got flat our embarrassed by the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. Once one thing went wrong for the 2009 Chiefs, many more things seemed to go wrong in rapid succession. Sure, they won some ugly and they won some lucky but never did they recover from their own mistakes. They were best at beating themselves.
The way the Chiefs responded to their terrible start against the Eagles Friday night was a sign that they are becoming a good team. They got up off the mat, dusted themselves off and fought back.
Actually, they did more than fight back. They smacked the Eagles in the mouth.
The Chiefs defense rose from the ashes and suddenly looked like a force. It wasn’t just that they didn’t allow a lot of points or many yards. They played with attitude. They played with swagger. They put the offense on their backs and said, “Don’t worry, we got this.”
And got it they did.
Preseason or no preseason, the Chiefs defense played better Friday night than any Chiefs defense has played since the mid-90’s. They played so well that most of the starters were pulled half way through the third quarter. Todd Haley had seen enough. These guys needed a break and more importantly, if they didn’t come out, Kevin Kolb might have left the field on a stretcher.
The Chief overwhelmed the Eagles in a similar fashion to the way the 2009 Eagles embarrassed the 2009 Chiefs offense.
Here is a quick rundown of the damage:
* DeSean Jackson was knocked out of the game on his very first touch by a viscous hit by Eric Berry. In the replay, the other Chiefs defenders are moving toward Jackson when a red blur comes flying in to the frame like a comet and lays Jackson out.
* 5, 6, 4, 7. As in 5 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 4 passes defended and 7 QB hits. Oh and an interception.
It wasn’t just the defense that responded. Perhaps inspired by their teammates on the other side of the ball, the Chiefs offense got in on the action. After their bumbling start, Matt Cassel and the offense went on a 16 play, 58 yard drive that took 7:19 off the clock and ended in a touchdown pass to receiver Dwayne Bowe.
The 2010 Chiefs showed more character in one preseason game than the 2009 Chiefs showed in 4 preseason games and 16 real ones. It doesn’t mean the Chiefs defense is going to dominate all year, it doesn’t even mean the team will finish the season with a winning record.
What it does mean is that no matter how bad things might get, the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs won’t allow themselves to get pushed around without pushing back. Something changed Friday night in Kansas City.
For the first time, in a long time, the Kansas City Chiefs were no longer just a group of individual players wearing the same uniform. The were a team. They were united when they knelt together to pray for a fallen teammate and they were united when they decided that they weren’t going to let the Philadelphia Eagles come in to their house and push them around.
For Chiefs fans, it looks like the worst may finally be over.