Kansas City Chiefs: Dumpster Fire Déjà Vu
The Kansas City Chiefs were publicly humiliated on national prime time television on Sunday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated them in every imaginable way. For me it was as hard of game to watch as any Chiefs game in recent memory. For the third time in four games they came out completely flat and found themselves in a huge hole early in the game and things didn’t get any better from there.
The end result left many KC fans questioning how this team could possibly be 2-2 at this point in the season. Despite the .500 record, I can’t help but be struck with an alarming sense of déjà vu. The Chiefs started out last season 1-5 and there are far too many similarities with how things are going early this season for my liking. It feels like we are watching the same early season dumpster fire play out again right before our eyes.
Don’t believe me?
Check out this extended passage from the opening of one of my pieces during that 1-5 start last season:
"On Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs lost…..again. The Chiefs gave what can only be described as a lackluster effort…..again. The offense was a complete and total failure and bordered on complete incompetence …..again. The popular definition of insanity is as follows: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. By that definition the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs are clearly insane. The Chiefs continue to make the same mistakes over and over and not only are they not changing anything they don’t even seem to think they should. That may be the most frustrating part of this entire train wreck of a season. Chiefs fans have no hope for the future because the things that so clearly need to be addressed in order for the team to move forward are simply being ignored by the organization. The Chiefs seem to want us all to believe that its just bad luck that a team that was believed to be a playoff caliber team has started 1-5. They want us to believe that if they just keep doing what they’re doing eventually things will come around. Again, isn’t that the definition of insanity? Look, I get it. A team has to present a united front. They can’t just start throwing people under the bus when they lose a few games. There is value in organizational stability and protecting people from criticism. The problem is at some point that stability and protection eventually turns into a lack of accountability. Andy Reid would have you believe that he is the king of accountability. After every loss he stands up there at the podium and says something to the effect of “It’s my fault, I need to do a better job.” Then he goes out the next week and does everything the exact same all over again. Somebody has to hold this team accountable. Not just say the words, but back it up with action. I have personally come to the conclusion that the Chiefs suffer from a toxic combination of having a head coach, defensive coordinator, and quarterback that are all too “even keel”. Again, you need stability in an organization in order to maintain success over a long period. However, football is such a physical game that you also need to be able to harness your emotions to rise above certain situations."
Be honest, I could have just written that whole thing almost word for word about this season and nobody would have batted an eye. That’s inexcusable.