Groundhog Day: Chiefs Trounced Again
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
I’m beginning to feel a bit like Phil Connors. Every Sunday afternoon I watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the same uninspired, undisciplined, and mistake-filled brand of football as the Sunday before. Chiefs fans are stuck in a time loop. Punxsutawney Pioli has held this team and its fanbase hostage with a failed four-year administration. We’re not going to rehash the reasons why the administration has failed though. I’m sure you know those reasons well by now. There haven’t been many sunny days at One Arrowhead Drive this year. I’m hoping Pioli hasn’t seen his shadow and that the winter of our discontent will soon be over.
The good people of Chiefs Kingdom are holding their collective breath that Clark Hunt will break the time loop. They want Pioli gone. They want Crennel gone. They want Cassel gone. After a 1-5 start, all of that may come to pass when the season is over. Kansas City has now lost four games by at least 16 points. They’ve been down by 18 points in five of six games this season. The Chiefs aren’t competitive right now and just lost big to a football team that was 1-3 coming into Sunday’s game. One of the worst offenses in the NFL just hung 31 on the Chiefs’ defense. Six games into the season, Kansas City hasn’t lead an opponent for one second. That’s the longest any NFL team has gone into a season, without a lead, since 1983 (which is incidentally the last time the Chiefs drafted a quarterback in the first round). This franchise is making history in the wrong direction.
On Monday morning, Bill Maas told 610 Sports that he expects Scott Pioli to be fired during the Chiefs’ bye week. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that the Chiefs offered Pioli a two-year contract extension on Sunday morning. The offer reportedly had not been signed because Pioli had a problem with the buyout language. Later in the day, Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star filed a conflicting report that no such offer had been made. Clark Hunt declined to comment on the veracity of that report. As of right now, it’s tough to know what the organization is thinking about Pioli, Crennel, or Cassel. Answers may come during the bye week.
When Kansas City resumes the season, will it be business as usual at Arrowhead? That is to say, Matt Cassel back as the starter at quarterback, Romeo Crennel comfortable in his dual roles as head coach/defensive coordinator, and Pioli ensconced in his tufted leather executive chair? God forbid. We’ve already seen fan disapproval ratings at an all-time high. Disdain for the current direction of the organization has already done an Arrowhead flyby. I’m sure you’ve also heard about sites like “Bench Matt Cassel” and “Save Our Chiefs“. Fans are waging an all-out war on this regime through the social media. They’re also looking for ways to be seen and heard inside of Arrowhead Stadium. Gameday measures, for the next home game, are being concocted as we speak.
How much, if any of this, will actually persuade Clark Hunt to make changes? It’s tough to know. I can’t imagine that he’s happy with the current product on the field though. Only time will tell what will ultimately become of his franchise. It’s so bad that people are actively rooting against the Chiefs in hopes of earning the #1 pick and Geno Smith, by extension, in April’s draft. I can’t bring myself to do that, but I won’t shed one tear if he winds up in the ketchup-and-mustard colored uni. We’ll have to wait it out, but at least we know the Chiefs can’t lose this week.
Let’s chat again next Tuesday, shall we?
Until then, Addicts!