Victory Over Chargers Doesn’t Justify the Chiefs’ Season

Yes, it’s more fun to feel like we’re rooting for a team who had a good season. But even with a superstar like Justin Houston and a nice performance from a backup quarterback, a victory over a division rival doesn’t mean much when it isn’t enough for the playoffs.

On this episode of Roughing the Kicker, Joshua Brisco and Ryan Landreth talk about Justin Houston, Chase Daniel, and the takeaways that Chiefs fans should have from the victory over the Chargers.

It still feels like Chiefs fans want to argue that a mediocre season is something to celebrate. John Dorsey and Andy Reid are building, and I’m glad for that – but if this team would have come out fighting in week one against one of the league’s worst teams, then we’re preparing for a playoff game.

A victory in week 17 may always be fun, but it only matters when the playoffs are on the line.

Justin Houston deserves every bit of praised heaped his way, and Chase Daniel was a fine stopgap. On the show, Ryan and I discuss Daniel’s performance, what the Chiefs should do to retain Justin Houston, where Tamba Hali and Dwayne Bowe fit in to the 2015 Chiefs, and review the largest points from the Chargers game. On Friday we will eulogize the 2014 Chiefs and pinpoint the biggest holes that the Chiefs have to fix going  forward, and we will also look at the week’s playoff games and discuss what Chiefs fans should look for and what the organization can learn from the teams playing in January.

In his postgame press conference, Andy Reid talked about how he hopes his team will learn that every game matters when you’re outside looking in on the playoffs. When he says it like that, it sounds like he’s putting the blame for the Tennessee loss on the players – assuming that Reid himself understood the importance of the game at the time.

So many parts of this season were just a little short. It’s why this team now sits in the no-man’s-land of missing the playoffs but still not holding a top-15 draft pick. Andy Reid and John Dorsey are now on the clock.

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Roughing the Kicker is a twice-a-week podcast on Arrowhead Addict Radio, hosted by Joshua Brisco and Ryan Landreth. RTK is about the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL through the eyes of Chiefs fans.