Chiefs putting the L in loser
From the kcstar.com. Fatlock :fatlock: has some good points, but I disagree with him about Thigpen. If given a halfway decent line, Thigpen can easily be a starting QB in the NFL.
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
Philosopher Bill Parcells popularized the football theory that a team is exactly what its record says it is.
That makes our Kansas City Chiefs losers — losers approaching historic dimensions.
Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs ran their futility streak to 18 of their last 19, falling to the New Orleans Saints 30-20.
For those of you who prefer to take comfort in the mitigating circumstances, there was the usual assortment.
•The refs stole four points from the home team, denying Larry Johnson a 1-yard TD plunge and forcing the Chiefs to settle for a field goal.
•Because of injuries, Kansas City played with about half of its defensive starters.
•Midseason acquisition/bright spot Mark Bradley dropped a critical third-down pass in the fourth quarter, killing a would-be game-tying TD drive.
Yeah, like a lot of Kansas City’s losses the last two seasons, the Chiefs coulda, shoulda, woulda won had the right breaks fallen their way.
But the truth is that from Nov. 4, 2007, until the moment you read these words, the 1-18 Chiefs have been the worst team in professional football — worse than the 2-17 Detroit Lions.
L-O-S-E-R-S.
One of life’s most difficult challenges is accepting people (or things) you love for who they are rather than what you want them to be. It’s a challenge most of us fail to the delight of divorce lawyers, therapists and booty calls.
We foolishly think if we love just a little bit harder, for a little bit longer, things will change for the better.
I woke up Sunday morning convinced things could only get better for the Chiefs. Surely they would beat the Saints, who came to town without Reggie Bush and in a disappointing funk of their own.
When Tyler Thigpen’s third-and-2 dart bounced off Bradley’s chest, I conceded the obvious: Losers find a way to lose.
I knew Kansas City’s defense wouldn’t hold. I figured the Saints would at least march into field-goal range and make it a two-score game.
“There’s a saying, ‘Losing breeds losing, and success breeds success,’ ” Chiefs safety Jon McGraw explained. “The losing definitely wears on you.”
The Chiefs are worn out. They have no reason to believe anymore. They came into Sunday’s game realizing they needed to score 30 points to protect their injury-ravaged defense. They had Larry Johnson in the backfield after a one-month sabbatical for conduct detrimental to common decency and sense.
The Saints had given up 30-plus points in their three previous games.
It didn’t matter. KC’s offense regressed. Thigpen connected on just half of his 38 passes. Twice when the Chiefs sniffed the goal line, he misfired on fade passes to Dwayne Bowe. Thigpen badly underthrew Bradley on a deep ball that should have been a 55-yard TD. Instead, it was a 31-yard, falling catch that led to a 21-yard field goal.
Thigpen is Kansas City’s backup quarterback of the future. Like Brodie Croyle, Thigpen is miscast as a starter. As a starter, he’s good enough to get the Chiefs beat.
Again, we can talk about mitigating circumstances — his youth, inexperience, suspect line and occasional questionable play-calling.
The truth is he is exactly what his 0-5 record says he is. And so are the Chiefs.
We’re witnessing the worst stretch of Kansas City football in franchise history. From Nov. 13, 1977, to Nov. 19, 1978, the Chiefs won two of 19 games.
L-O-S-E-R-S.
That’s not fun to write. I’ve had a front press-row seat to most of the recent losses. As much as I’d like to see The Artist Formerly Known as King Carl dethroned, I much prefer to write about the Chiefs when they’re winning, the games are significant and you’re engaged and passionate.
The losing makes us all look and feel like losers. Plus, we have no guarantee this patch of wretchedness will usher in change we can believe in.
The Dolphins were the last team to lose 18 of 19. Their run of futility ended in mid-September this season and was sparked by Parcells’ ascension to the head of the organization.
The Hunt family responded to their late-1970s ineffectiveness by waiting another decade before hiring Carl Peterson.
You can’t force a loser to change.
If he didn’t have a job when you met him, if her cell phone blew up all night the first time you slept over, don’t act surprised that you’re paying his bills and she’s hiding text messages a year later.
We love a loser.
