Fans who are new to Chiefs Kingdom won't recall the times of despair, the moments when those same members paid to fly planes with banners reading "Save Our Chiefs" in the hopes that team owner Clark Hunt would do something about the state of the franchise.
The misery of being a Chiefs fan wasn't so long ago—2012—and it's a stretch fo time that dates back a few decades before that—a generation or two with a couple of bright spots and glimmers of hope that were further sidelined by postseason curses (or an inability to even get there).
Ever since Andy Reid arrived, however, the Chiefs have gotten used to the rarified air of winning at previously unsustained levels. Annual postseason appearances have now given way to consistent championships. We're running out of fingers on one hand for rings and the word dynasty is now tossed-around as an accurate descriptor of the franchise.
For those younger or newer fans, mediocrity hasn't existed. And for long-term fans, we might have forgotten the feel of those days.
So imagine the flood of former emotions when reading a post like this from ESPN reporter Adam Schefter.
Various Falcons officials said this past week that they believe this is the most significant and important game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for their franchise since it opened in 2017. Coming off a memorable Monday night win in Philadelphia, the 1-1 Falcons will be hosting… pic.twitter.com/szuTUY1czi
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 22, 2024
Yes that's Schefter saying that this game against the Chiefs is the most important football game in Atlanta in 7 seasons. In some ways, sure. An owner is inducting himself into his own Hall of Fame. It's a primetime game. Those are "big stakes", we suppose.
But let's be honest. The Chiefs aren't going to remember this game by bedtime on Sunday, win or lose. It's a non-conference game against a team annually destined for 6-8 wins that they'll play again in 2028. It's Week 3 for crying out loud. It's not even a divisional contest with any real weight or application toward postseason positioning.
The idea that a Week 3 game in any season could be the most important for a franchise in seven years is laughable—yet it's also understandable if you're in touch with the lean years. For those who haven't forgotten that longsuffering was once a character trait for Chiefs fans, it makes sense why Schefter would posit what he did.
To the fans in Atlanta who will be stuffing their mouths with free chips and hot dogs on Sunday night celebrating the fact that "this is as good as it gets," we're here to tell you that it can actually get better than just hosting a team in the midst of a dynasty in primetime. If you get the quarterback right, you can actually be that team. If you hire the right leadership, you can be the feared franchise.
For now, however, watching the Falcons faithful treat this night with such reverence is a good reminder of what ongoing mediocrity felt like. May we never go back there again.