Kansas City Chiefs: Dumpster Fire Déjà Vu
It’s inexcusable to start three of your first four games this horribly. The Chiefs have been outscored in the first half by the Chargers, Texans, and Steelers by a combined score of 63-6. I don’t care if you’re 2-2, that’s pathetic. The fact that this is the second season in a row where the team has looked completely unmotivated and unprepared early in the season makes you have to question the make up of this team. I don’t care if you point the finger at the coaching staff, the players, or both. There is a problem that has to be figured out.
When a team looks completely unmotivated and unprepared the head coach has to take a fair amount of the heat. The play calling against Pittsburgh was horrendous. Andy Reid deserves every bit of the criticism that he is receiving today. The Chiefs benefitted from Reid’s calm consistency last season when they stayed the course and turned their season around. Reid absolutely deserves credit for that. However, surviving a self inflicted gun shot wound isn’t exactly where you should set the bar. The smart thing to do would be to…you know…not have a self inflicted gun shot wound. A wise man learns from his mistakes and it’s concerning that Reid doesn’t appear to have learned from his poor start last season.
Then there is quarterback Alex Smith. I have defended Smith some in the past. My argument has been that he’s good enough to win with if you put a strong team around him. I still believe that, but the Chiefs haven’t been a strong team thus far this season and so Smith has struggled. Again, this isn’t something new for Smith. Here is another long passage from a different piece I wrote during KC’s 1-5 start last season:
"Okay Alex, it’s your turn. I know that you’re already taking a beating in the media and from fans and I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but when you’re the quarterback, the face of the franchise, and are getting paid what you are you have to know you’re going to hear about it when things aren’t going well. And in case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t going well. I know, you threw for 386 yards despite the fact that your offensive line let the Bengals treat you like their own personal tackling dummy for four quarters. It doesn’t matter. You’re the quarterback, you lead the offense and the offense didn’t get the ball in the end zone once despite all the yards you racked up. Yes, the play calling is partially to blame and of course the offensive line is partially to blame, but ultimately when an offense doesn’t score touchdowns that’s on the quarterback too. I get that you don’t want to cost the team the game by making a mistake but at some point when the chips are all on the table and its do or die time, not going for it IS THE MISTAKE. Could you have thrown an interception late in the game that would have sealed the win for the Bengals? Sure, and then you might have lost 36-18 instead of 36-21. THE HORROR!!!!!!! At some point the leader of the team has to try to win. Despite the play calling. Despite the offensive line play. In the words of former Chiefs coach Herm Edwards: “YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!” You don’t play to “not lose” the game, you play to “WIN” the game. I’m not saying to go all “Brett Favre” on every play but when you need a score it would be nice to see you go for the score and not play it safe. And while the decision to kick field goal after field goal after field goal was Andy Reid’s call it would be nice to see the quarterback pleading his case to go for the win. That’s what leaders do. That’s what winners do."
Now obviously the specifics about the game from last season are unique to that game but wouldn’t you agree that the overall sentiment is about the same as this season? Aren’t the same frustrations we have with Smith at quarterback in 2016 the same frustrations we were having during the early dumpster fire last season? Again, that’s not a good thing. You want to see players grow and learn from their mistakes. This looks like a pattern and its not a pattern that KC fans should feel good about.