The Morning Fix: Chiefs News From Around The Web

“We’re going to be a good team. But we can’t continue to stop ourselves.”

The Barber play encapsulates the most disappointing Chiefs season in a long time, if not ever. The Chiefs have a league-high 21 turnovers and many have been of the bizarre-bounce variety.

“I got hit on the play,” Quinn said. “I thought I put the ball in a good spot. I all of a sudden looked up and I saw him running.”

Though Quinn was making his first start since 2009 with the Browns, the Chiefs were confident of their ability to move the ball on the Bucs, who had won their opener against Carolina but had lost their last three games.

“I was real confident,” said running back Jamaal Charles, who ran for just 40 yards. “I don’t know what happened. Something just didn’t … I don’t know. Every time we do something good, it turns into something bad. I don’t know if we’ve got some spell on us or what.”

Before the game, CBS Sports reported he was offered an extension in August but hadn’t signed it yet — something a source close to the situation denied in no uncertain terms to The Star. Either way, extension or no, this is a bad look for Pioli. He is nearing the end of his contract as general manager of a team currently trucking toward another lost season, and owner Clark Hunt has apparently not spoken a word to him about an extension.

If you choose to believe the CBS report, it would be odd that it’s a two-year extension and that the buyout language wasn’t to Pioli’s liking. These types of deals are usually for four or five years, and a GM with his boss’ confidence shouldn’t be hung up on buyout language.

To recap: The Chiefs have lost four games by 16 points or more, must decide between a bad quarterback coming off a concussion or a worse quarterback who isn’t, and are surrounded by clown-show storylines like a right tackle going on a misguided rant against the fans and a GM who apparently has precious little support from the owner.

Once again, tipped balls doomed the Chiefs on Sunday in a 38-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Quarterback Brady Quinn, subbing for the injured Matt Cassel, was just as snakebit when it came to passes clanging off the hands of receivers and going straight to defensive players for interceptions.

“We tip it, and they catch it …,” bemoaned head coach Romeo Crennel.

No one’s quite sure what happened on a pass intended for McCluster in the third quarter on Sunday. The Chiefs were trailing 14-3 when Quinn, from the Tampa Bay 28, appeared to slip a pass between two defenders to McCluster for first-down yardage at the Buccaneers 22.

The Chiefs did not offer general manager Scott Pioli a contract extension, a source close to the situation said, contradicting a report on CBS prior to Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt would not answer questions about Pioli’s contract.

“We don’t discuss people’s contracts publicly,” Hunt said after the game.

The source was emphatic that the Chiefs have had no discussions with Pioli regarding a contract extension. The Chiefs fell to 1-5 by losing 38-10 to the Bucs.

Clark Hunt isn’t stupid. Kansas City’s fan base is frustrated and motivated. A group of fans started a Twitter feed @saveourchiefs dedicated to getting Scott Pioli fired. In two weeks, the feed has amassed 73,000 followers. Last week the group flew a banner over Arrowhead Stadium demanding that Pioli be fired and Cassel be benched. They’re planning more activity for KC’s next home game on Oct. 28. (I donated $600 to their cause. I’m a Chiefs fan.)

Extending Pioli at this time would further motivate an already-active fan base. The fan base has taken to social media to educate local and national media about what has been going on with Chiefs football the last two decades and the lengthy list of errors Pioli has made in four years. They’re tired of reading the propaganda pumped out by Pioli’s partners in the mainstream media.

Don’t laugh at their desperation. Don’t harshly judge their missteps. You could be next.