Chiefs are a joke right now
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
Now what?
The Chiefs lost their fragile and fraudulent quarterback of the future, exposing the irresponsibility of opening the season with a quarterback depth chart Rockhurst High’s Tony Severino would find objectionable.
Now what?
Today, the Chiefs will likely deal with the ramifications of their unrepentant malcontent/running back's latest brush with the law and a woman. I'm sure Larry Johnson spent part of Sunday palling around with friends, laughing at KC's pathetic Johnson-less offense and contemplating what action NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will take against him.
Now what? Where do the Chiefs go from here? How do they define themselves and move forward after Tennessee blanked them for three quarters, embarrassed them for four and routed them 34-10 at Arrowhead Stadium?
There were no answers inside Kansas City’s locker room. There were plenty of stunned, silent looks and quick exits. You can’t blame them. There were few relevant, probing questions to be asked.
All the answers had been provided during three hours on the field.
Coming off a bye week filled with drama, acrimony, Brodie Croyle-inspired optimism and a get-tough deactivation of Johnson, Herm Edwards and his coaching staff bombed in a way that makes their employment here next season indefensible.
By declining to draft or acquire a quarterback to compete against Brittle Croyle and elevating clock-management specialist Dick “Father Time” Curl to oversee the most important position on any football team, Edwards tethered himself to Croyle.
When Croyle limped off the field with a season-(career)-ending knee injury early in the second quarter, Herm might as well have grabbed a pair of crutches and retired to the locker room with his Arena League QB of the future.
It’s over — the Croyle experiment, the Herm-driven rebuilding process and the Peterson-approved redistribution of Hunt family wealth. All good and bad things end, and the Titans literally ran over (332 yards on the ground) the remains of the Peterson era.
What we’ve witnessed this season in general — and the last two weeks in particular — is unacceptable and unprofessional. In its five losses, Kansas City’s opponents outscored Herm’s boys 147-42. The Chiefs’ lone victory — a 33-19 romp over the Broncos — was such an obvious fluke that it revealed nothing about the rebuilding effort.
The Chiefs are a joke right now. They have as little credibility as the Royals. The ownership is timid at a time when boldness is required. This is not a call to fire Peterson or Edwards today. It’s a call that Clark Hunt acknowledge that no progress is being made.
After Sunday’s performance, I’ll vouch for the professionalism and skill of one player on the roster. Tony Gonzalez is a winning player. Every other player is a mystery.
Kansas City’s offensive line is so inept that it is difficult for me to discern whether Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters is effective. I know that Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones and Damion McIntosh are not players a team can win consistently with in the starting lineup.
Also, I know that first-round pick Glenn Dorsey has been a bust through six games. I’ve watched film, and his footwork is horrid. He catches on run plays and tries to win a bench-press contest. An NFL lineman wins or loses the battle with his first step. Dorsey’s first step is slow and often misdirected. He hasn’t mastered the explosive, violent, 6-inch control step. I’ve seen Dorsey drop his foot back. I’ve seen him step the wrong direction.
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