Is it time to root for the Kansas City Chiefs to lose?
The Kansas City Chiefs lost again on Sunday.
Sigh…..
Their record is now 1-4.
Sigh…..
Jamaal Charles likely has a torn ACL and is done for the season.
Sigh…..
What little hope KC fans had of the Chiefs turning things around and salvaging the season disappeared with the combination of a home loss to a bad team and a season ending injury to their best player.
It’s depressing.
Perhaps some of you are more angry than you are depressed. That’s where I was last week when I did my “airing of grievances” post. I’ve moved past the anger stage now to a sad acceptance of the fact that the Chiefs are simply not a very good team. I really thought they would be. Maybe not Super Bowl contender good, but at least playoff contender good. Instead the Chiefs are tied for the second worst record in the NFL.
I still don’t believe that the Chiefs are one of the absolute worst teams in the NFL. Not because the Chiefs have shown signs of being good as much as it is that there are some really bad NFL teams out there, and frankly….that’s what worries me. The only thing worse than being one of the worst teams in the NFL is being a team that has no shot of competing for a Super Bowl but isn’t bad enough to really change things.
I can easily see a situation where the Chiefs win six or seven games the rest of the way and finish with a middle of the pack 7-9 or 8-8 record. While an 8-8 season certainly looks better on paper than a 3-13 one, it at least warrants a discussion as to which would be in KC’s best interest in the long run. Most teams don’t make whole sale changes after an 8-8 season. Teams usually look to just try and improve their current roster enough to take the next step to playoff contention. I don’t get the impression that most KC fans would be happy with that approach. That’s what was supposed to happen THIS season. Fans now have serious questions about two of the biggest roles in the organization in Andy Reid as the head coach and Alex Smith as the starting quarterback.
8-8 teams don’t usually fire the head coach and make a change at quarterback. That’s usually something a 3-13 team does. So my question for the Chiefs Kingdom this week is this….
Are you unhappy enough with Reid and Smith to root for your favorite team to lose for the rest of the season?
For some of you the answer to this question is simple. There are fans out there that feel so strongly that Alex Smith is not the answer that they would suffer losing every game if it meant a new quarterback next season (or at least a top draft pick to groom for the job). On the opposite end of the spectrum there are those that will never openly root for their beloved team to lose a game no matter what the circumstances are. I wish that I could see things that clearly, but for me its not that black and white.
I have reached the point where the logical part of my brain now believes that the best thing for the Chiefs may be to lose most of their games this season so that they are motivated to make changes on the coaching staff and make finding their future franchise quarterback a top priority. I have stood up for both Reid and Smith in the past, but at some point winners win, and in year three the coach and quarterback look as bad as they ever have. So in this moment of reflection I find myself believing that losing now may be the best hope of winning in the future.
Then there is the passionate part of my brain. The part that has me pacing the living room on Sundays. The part that yells at the television during the game. The part that bleeds red and gold. That part of my brain is incapable of cheering against the Chiefs while the game is on. Even after what I just told you in the previous paragraph, that part of my brain can’t watch a snap of Chiefs football and hope for a negative result on that play. It’s not in my DNA.
I feel like I’m having a fanhood identity crisis. Like a Chiefs version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. During the week I’m a logical fan that sees the logic in losing but then when the game comes on logic goes out the window and I turn into a stubborn fanatic that is willing to cheer on the Titanic even as it sinks into the sea.
So where are you at Addicts? Are you still holding out some small hope for this season? Do you have any hope that a team coached by Andy Reid and quarterbacked by Alex Smith can have the success we all have been desperate for? If not, are you the type that can actively root for your favorite team to lose? Can you justify it by rationalizing that it will lead to more hope for the future? Are you like me and struggle to ever hope for bad things to happen on the field for the Chiefs? Will you always root for the Chiefs to win regardless of the situation?
I find myself torn. It’s a depressing place to be, especially since just a month ago I was convinced that the Chiefs could compete with any team in the AFC this season.
Sigh…..
As always, thanks for reading and……..go Chiefs?