The Kansas City Chiefs were a charter member of The American Football League. During the 10-year existence of The AFL, The Chiefs won three AFL Championships which was highlighted by Kansas City winning Super Bowl IV against The Minnesota Vikings. The Chiefs saw a down period in the 70’s and 80’s that only produced two playoff appearances. When Marty Schottenheimer took over as head coach of The Chiefs in 1989, Kansas City enjoyed the highest winning percentage of any National Football League team in the 90’s.
Since 2000, The Chiefs have only enjoyed four winning seasons while they haven’t won a playoff game. Former New England Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli became The Chiefs general manager in 2009, but he hasn’t been able to bring that winning formula to The Midwest. Since 2000, The Chiefs have had six head coaches while using ten different starting quarterbacks. The Chiefs have rolled snake eyes at the three most critical pieces of a football team; head coach, general manager, and quarterback.
The fans in Kansas City are starting to get fed up with Pioli’s decision making. Romeo Crennel took over as head coach last season with three games remaining in the season once Todd Haley was fired. Crennel is presiding over a team that has posted a 1-5 record to start the season which has put them in the basement of The AFC West. Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassell has a quarterback rating of 66.2 which is last in The NFL among starting quarterbacks. Pioli acquired Cassell from The Patriots in 2009 for a second-round draft pick. Cassell threw for 3,693 yards in 2008 as he subbed for an injured Tom Brady. Pioli then gave Cassell a six-year, $62.7 million contract to make Cassell this generation’s Scott Mitchell.
Cassell did lead The Chiefs to The AFC West Title in 2010 which was a Pro Bowl season for him, but fans are not thrilled with his overall body of work. The tipping point came in a Week 5 loss this season to The Baltimore Ravens when Cassell suffered a head injury. With Cassell laying on the ground, some Chief fans at Arrowhead Stadium began to cheer. This reaction caused Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Winston to give a passionate post-game speech imploring fans that behavior such as that was unacceptable. With Cassell injured, former Cleveland Browns first-round pick Brady Quinn is getting his shot as The Chiefs starting quarterback. In the 53-year history of The Chiefs organization, Kansas City has never drafted a Pro Bowl quarterback. With The Chiefs on the road to picking in the top five of next year’s NFL Draft, it might be time for them to look in the direction of drafting a signal caller.
The Chiefs have consistently missed in The NFL Draft as well. In 2009, Kansas City selected defensive end Tyson Jackson with the third overall pick. The Chiefs passed on Green Bay Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji and Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing who have both become Pro Bowl players.
The defensive side of the of the football is Crennel’s bread and butter as he won five Super Bowl Championships as a defensive assistant for The New York Giants and The Patriots. So far The Chiefs are currently 27th in total defense which has also seen them give up 30-plus points in four games this season. The Chiefs haven’t done a good job of protecting the football as they are last in The NFL in turnover differential at -15.
The Chiefs are currently in their bye week which means that it is time for them to get the ship sailing in the right direction, but they don’t have a favorable schedule for the rest of the season. Following a home game against The Oakland Raiders in Week 8, The Chiefs are on the road for two straight weeks against The San Diego Chargers and The Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by home games against The Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, and Carolina Panthers.
Crennel has opened up the quarterback competition between Quinn and Cassell. At this point of the season, if you’re not set on your quarterback then you have a major problem. It isn’t a coincidence that Quinn is on The Chiefs roster as Crennel drafted Quinn when he was the head coach of The Browns in 2007. The season appears to be slipping away from The Chiefs before it really got started which means that there will be some more head scratching by fans in Kansas City.
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