I Am Tired

 The ACL tear suffered by Jamaal Charles just finished tearing the heart out of the Chiefs for the 2011 season. Hearing the news, I went through the normal range of emotions concerning the Chiefs. Shock, anger, frustration and disappointment all raced through my head. Then, it finally hit me. I am tired. I am tired of not just losing, but not competing. Chiefs fans have suffered too much recently with Chiefs teams that didn’t just lose, but didn’t belong on the field with their opponents.

Yes, Addicts, I have the history of suffering, as all Chiefs fans who remember the seventies do. I suffered during the 1977 season, where the Chiefs went two and twelve. The Chiefs then hired Marv Levy, and the NFL expanded to 16 games. So, the Chiefs responded in true pathetic fashion by showing they could lose 12 games in a 16-game season just as easily as they could lose 12 games in a 14-game season. That’s bad. Through it all there was hope. There were players to root for, silver linings to see. However, at my age, I am just tired. I am tired of ‘rebuilding’ when I see other teams improve quickly. I am so tired of being non-competitive. What is an Addict to do? What can we look for this season?

Look for Todd Haley to be on the hot seat unless/until the Chiefs compete hard. What can we look for in the next couple of weeks? Well, the Charger game will be very hard to win. Past that are two winnable games before the break. The Chiefs are home against the Vikings and away against the Peyton-less, pathetic Colts. Then, there is the bye week. What will it take for Todd Haley to keep his job? One win? Two wins before the break? I would think that that if the Chiefs have no wins, Haley is almost certain to lose his job. Two wins would mean he keeps his job. The interesting part is what happens if the Chiefs win one game. The decision may come down to how competitive the Chiefs are. If we continue to get blown out, a single win may not be enough for Haley to keep his job.

Right now, the Chiefs are not ready to compete. Fair or unfair, Haley will take the brunt of the rap for this. As the head coach, be gets most of the credit when the team plays well and most of the blame when it doesn’t. There has been talk about the Chiefs going after Josh McDaniels. I hope that doesn’t happen. After the Denver debacle, McDaniels has not earned a second head coaching job. I do expect Romeo Crennel to be named the next coach of the Chiefs. It may be interim in nature. Of course, the fans will start clamoring for Bill Cowher. A Cowher move, while wildly popular with the fans, would be highly unusual for Pioli. Pioli hires within ‘the family.’ Crennel is in the family; Cowher is not.

There are tons of bad statistics to look at, but I will give you what I think is the most damning. The numbers are 10 and nine. Ten is the total points the Chiefs have scored, and nine is the amount of turnovers the Chiefs have committed. To say that doesn’t get the job done would be an understatement.

Addicts, that’s my take. What do you think it will take for Haley to keep his job past the bye week? Under what conditions does he deserve to be fired? Who should the next head coach be? Who do you think Pioli would hire?