Watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Buffalo Bills last Sunday filled me with an all-too-familiar feeling. As time slowly drained away into the third quarter, and the Chiefs continued to struggle to move the ball, a pit began forming in my stomach. I had felt this same despair before watching this team. Twice, to be exact.
The most recent had been standing in the crowd on opening day at Arrowhead watching the Chiefs inexplicably blunder their way to a loss to a now putrid Titans team. I left sickened with what I saw on the field, seriously questioning what was next for a Chiefs team that had seemingly lost its’ way.
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Even then, that wasn’t the worst. No, the worst was of course the infamous playoff game last year. I’ll never forget what it was like to be on such an emotional high one minute only to bottom-out into a crushing pit of despair. As the Indianapolis Colts slowly pulled their way back from the grips of the Kansas City Chiefs to kill yet another season of hope, I could feel the pit growing gradually inside my stomach. By the time the ball fell to the turf on fourth down, I was sick. By the end of the game, I was shaking.
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It took me a while on Sunday to realize that this was the same feeling I was experiencing watching the Bills destroy the Chiefs offensive line. With each failed drive, the pit grew, so much so that by the start of the third quarter I had decided the game was over. It wasn’t.
Ron Parker did things. Great things.
Andy Reid risked it all.
Special teams came through.
Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith took yards.
After three quarters of inept football, the Chiefs had done what seemed impossible. It took grit, determination, and a hell of a lot of luck to win, but they did it. This naturally reminded me a lot of something else: how Indianapolis triumphed over Kansas City in the playoffs. The Chiefs on Sunday followed that same mentality. They refused to go away. They refused to give up. They refused to lose. Last Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs turned the corner. They are a playoff team, and a good one at that. The playoff win drought ends this year. Maybe with a little grit, determination, and luck, the Super Bowl drought will too. Either way, this team has shown enough growth that I believe.
At the end of Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, I was shaking again. This time, it was different.