The Kansas City Chiefs have a winning formula
1. Play with fire and energy
Look, this isn’t something I can back up with numbers. It’s an eye test thing. The first five games the Chiefs looked fired up and energized. They played with passion and looked like they were having fun. During the 1-6 stretch it was a completely different story. Look, I get that nobody is going to have fun when they’re 1-6, but it was the lack of fire and energy that was completely frustrating.
I won’t speak for any other Chiefs fans, but I want to put my head through the wall when my favorite team is getting beat by one of the worst teams in the NFL, and it appears that it bothers me more than it bothers them. Now, it’s not that I don’t believe that the Chiefs players didn’t care they were losing, but why am I pacing around my living room yelling at the TV while the players themselves just stand there with their hands on their hips and their heads down?
While I may have started with the players, this certainly falls on the coaches just as much (if not more). Why was this team not more fired up for almost two full months? Andy Reid is a great Xs and Os coach and is widely known to be beloved by his players, but sometimes you have to bark a little fire at guys when their effort isn’t cutting it. If the head coach isn’t, then he needs “that guy” on his staff. A lot of times “that guy” is the defensive coordinator but Bob Sutton is more of an Xs and Os guy as well.
That is why I believe Eric Berry is still one of the most important Chiefs despite being injured. He’s the emotional leader, and I believe he may still be one of the driving forces in that locker room. Frankly, even if its someone else that has been getting the team fired up the past couple weeks, all that matters is that they keep it up. The past two weeks the Chiefs have looked like the team that wanted it more. The team with more fire and energy. They HAVE to keep that going forward if they want to have any shot in the playoffs. A flat Chiefs team isn’t going anywhere in January.
The Chiefs seem to have found their fire again and keeping it lit is an essential part of their winning formula.
Now let’s talk about the winning formula on offense.