Chiefs must win back the fans (Star Mentions Banner)
 

By SAM MELLINGER

The Kansas City Star


You wouldn’t believe it if you never felt it, if you never came here before all the luxury boxes and rising ticket costs and Matt Cassel, but Arrowhead Stadium used to be quite the scene on home Sundays. They used to call this the loudest place in the NFL, and not just in one of those trendy ways that every fan base calls their stadium the loudest.
Centers only knew to snap the ball by feeling vibrations from their quarterback’s voice. The noise inside has been measured at 120 decibels, an absurd level for an outdoor stadium — nearing the threshold for pain and surpassing that of some airplane takeoffs.
What is Arrowhead Stadium? was once the question to an answer on “Jeopardy!” about the loudest outdoor arena in the NFL.
Sunday, the Ravens will play the Chiefs in a very different Arrowhead. They’ve practiced all week as if the place will be rocking, like it was two years ago for a playoff game. But it’s not like that anymore. Hasn’t been in a while, anyway.
Once considered the NFL’s toughest place to play, opponents have now won nine of the last 12 games at Arrowhead, including margins of 34, 28, 23, and 21 points. Now this is a place where fans joke about wearing all black to mourn at games, and where — assuming the weather cooperates — you can see a banner over the stadium Sunday morning that says:
WE DESERVE BETTER! FIRE PIOLI — BENCH CASSEL
A fan raised the money for that banner in less than an hour.
“There’s some passion behind that message,” says Corey Leuwerki, a pilot for the company hired for the job. “Because money is not normally raised this quick.”
<hr>An 81-year-old woman writes in to say she has better luck getting to the bathroom on time than Cassel has of throwing an accurate pass.
Longtime season-ticket holders say they are fed up, Google an address to let owner Clark Hunt hear about it, and joke that $27 no longer seems so bad to park since tailgating is by far the best part of their Sundays.
This is more than the kind of frustration you’d expect for a 1-3 team. This is something different, a stronger flavor in a town full of fans who’ve become unwitting connoisseurs of various sports failure.
If you follow this kind of thing closely, you start to sense a trend. The Chiefs’ losses to Atlanta and Buffalo removed the bandwagon fans, the ones who will come and go with every touchdown or fumble.
But while the comeback win in New Orleans may have held off the angst for a week, six turnovers in another blowout loss to the Chargers at home put the Chiefs in the foreign position of turning even some of their most die-hard fans away.
The people in the building know it, too.
They hear your complaints and understand them, too, even if they’re not yet ready to speak publicly about it. And how could they not be aware of it? The Chiefs have been booed at both home games, this following their quarterback getting booed at the celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium during All-Star weekend.
It’s one thing to be bad, but it’s quite another to be disliked by fans. It’s one thing to lose games, but it’s quite another to be without apparent hope. It’s one thing to be blown out, but it’s quite another to do it while wasting the primes of careers of players who shouldn’t be this collectively bad.
This season was a referendum on general manager Scott Pioli from the beginning, and the early returns could not be worse. The quarterback he handpicked and stuck with has 10 turnovers in four games. The head coach he promoted and allowed to juggle duties as defensive coordinator appears over his head.
The Chiefs have not led for a single second of game action this season, and have trailed for 204 of a possible 249 minutes — by at least 18 points in all four games. The NFL in general and the Chiefs in particular have a hold on us, so the games will always draw big ratings, but there is a chunk of the fan base — even the normally loyal — that is finding more time for yard work.
You can see the cracks. Romeo Crennel talks openly of giving backup quarterback Brady Quinn — who’s been behind Derek Anderson, Charlie Frye, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton in his five-year career — a chance if Cassel continues to falter. Rumblings are making their way through the league that this could be it for Pioli in Kansas City if things don’t improve quickly.
Inside those walls, the Chiefs are a fragile group right now. Inside those walls, they are talking about this. They know it, and they feel it. They need to be further along. Time is running out. Even their most loyal supporters are screaming their anger. Sooner or later that turns into unsold tickets, possible blackouts, and apathy.
Which makes Sunday one of the most important games of Pioli’s time with the Chiefs.
<hr>The Ravens are an entirely inconvenient opponent for a game that may be the last chance to save the season. This is one of the league’s five best teams against one of the five worst, an offense that’s averaging 30.3 points against a defense that’s giving up 34. Joe Flacco is one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks this season, and the Chiefs turned even Ryan Fitzpatrick into a one-game stud.
Or there’s this: the Ravens are bringing a team better than the one that won a playoff game here two years ago, and the Chiefs are bringing one that’s worse.
But convenience has nothing to do with it. By their own failures and certain circumstances outside their control, the Chiefs will play a game Sunday that they know is their last real chance to make fans who’ve given up on this season reconsider.
Win, and the Chiefs are 2-3 going to Tampa Bay for a game that suddenly looks more winnable. From there, maybe the Chiefs can be 3-3 heading into the bye week.
Lose, and the Chiefs are 1-4 and it’ll be hard for even the marketing department to keep a straight face.
This is judgment day, in other words. Careers hang in the balance, and it’s worth remembering that the last two times nobody off the payroll gave the Chiefs a chance they beat the Saints and Packers.
But there are plenty of reasons people keep assuming the worst. Time is running out for the Chiefs to make it change.


To reach Sam Mellinger, call 816-234-4365, send email to smellinger@kcstar.com or follow twitter.com/mellinger. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.




Boom.

awesome

Yes.

Hell ya!

ಠ_ಠ

**** you Fat Scott

Really good piece. Prop things to Mellinger.

FAX

Good article Sam.


He's right. The KC fan base would absolutely be crazy if the had good teams. They want so bad to support their franchises. You put a playoff contender on the field arrowhead and the k are sold out. Every game

Lovely the kc media has figured out that there is no reason to be nice to Scott he gives them nothing. Most important is he deserves all this.

this is the kind of scrutiny this sorry franchise has deserved for years...

:rockon::rockon:

FIRE PIOLI.

Only way to win back this fanbase.

1)Fire Pioli, Crennel and Cassel.

2)Clean house on the coaching staff.

3)Draft 1st round QB

This. Must. Happen.

Tbh I think pioli probably stays. He shouldn't but probably will, with cassel and crenelated being the fall guys

THIS.

Take Them Apples Scott.

It's an interesting point he makes.

This version of the Chiefs, this era of the franchise, has managed to make some people who dearly love the Chiefs, hate them. Want them to temporarily fail. You are pretty far over the horizon when you make people who profess love for the franchise hate this team.

And like that hiker who had to saw his own arm off with a pocketknife, we want them to fail now so they can survive.

Only Carl and Herm have taken this franchise there in my span of memory. I don't remember the early 80s, but we are near a low point for the franchise again. I still think Carl and Herm were the lowest, but this is a really unique level of fan alienation where passion still remains intact.

4) **** bitches, get monies.

Boom! Way to go Sam. Damn well written article.
Posted via Mobile Device

We can't win tomorrow.


It will set back our movement two weeks.

To ∞ and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

we need the worst loss in chiefs history

I am pissed that Pioli and this Failchise has pushed me to cheer against my own ****ing team.

Great column. Set-up for an ultimate Pioli depantsing following tomorrow's circus.

FIRE PIOLI.

I ****ing hate Baltimore, too. This is going to be painful for the first few seconds of the game.

I can see what's going to happen.
We'll draft a QB, but it won't be the one everybody wants.
Then the Chiefs will raise ticket prices (like the Royals did) because, hey, gotta grow the future....
Then we go 5-11 in 2013, 6-10 in 2014, 8-8 in 2015.....
And I'm closer to death.

I'm in kind of a bad mood tonight.

Can you tell?

and MC's our ticket.

Great read. Tomorrow truly is judgement day for a lot on this team and front office.

It's an investment for hopefully a better return on a competent FO and a franchise QB.

If they did yank Cassel, it would be moderately interesting. Like a preseason game.

The again, they might not be willing to bench Cassel this week precisely because of the banner...

Maybe... Maybe Bernard Pollard is sincerely remorseful for what he did to this franchise and will help us out tomorrow?

I want Cassel in during the meltdown.

IT MUST HAPPEN.

I hope Pisoli doesn't have Casshole get fake injured like he did last year

Urine down Cassel's leg does nothing but keep the attention and criticism on Failoli. We need these two dumbasses to continue to complement each other.

Thing about taking Cassel out, is that when you do, it's likely the end for him. As big of a mental midget as he already is, there isn't any way he comes back from that.

No great loss. He's never going to win anyway.

You guys think something drastic might happen tomorrow if we get beat say 35 14 or something?

We will draft a 1st round QB bust, then a guy the Chiefs passed on will last until the near the end of the 1st round and go on to become a Hall of Famer.

I'm not saying its a bad thing. It's over due. Just saying, once we go there, it's done. WHich is refreshing.

LMAO freaking awesome dude. Classic LMAO

I want to say yes, but I honestly don't think Clark will do shit until the end of the year.

If we get ass humped at home, again, somethings have got to change. I'm thinking Cassel is the first sacrificial lamb, they it will start climbing the ladder.

It'd be funny if Clark just came out and cut Cassel himself.

"Yo, Scott. It's Clark. Fire Cassel or yourself. Pick one."

*click*

The only thing that would make Chunt take drastic action is if his Brinks Truck gets hijacked after the game.

Now THAT would piss him off.

Besides, the team he really gives a shit about has a big game VS KC tomorrow.
I'm not talking about the Ravens...

http://www.thecrew.com/

If they get hammered again tomorrow, look for the offensive line coach to get the axe

Even funnier if Cassel retired out of embarrassment.

A perfect start would be Matty chucking a pick-6.

Or if Pioli resigned in shame. LMAO

I mean, he has to be shamed at some point, right?

fyp

I really want to see this game for all the wrong reasons.

The way the Ravens attack, it's gonna be ugly. They will put 8 in the box and absolutely maul people.


What scares me is that we actually have played defense pretty decent the past 6 quarters all things considered and we have some individual talent that could screw us over.

http://gifsoup.com/imager.php?id=1571472&t=o GIFSoup

If we lose something should happen on Monday. According to the article, opponents have now won nine of the last 12 games at Arrowhead, including margins of 34, 28, 23, and 21 points? Heads better roll on Monday if we lose, no matter how we lose. Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser.

If anyone is playing fantasy against the ravens d this week they should just forfeit. I fully expect to have a first half with 5 TOs again.

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If we get blown out at home, again, something better change.

The thing is, once Pioli is fired, the pressure will be on Clark. He's not a football guy. This franchise is ****ed ten thousand ways to sunday.

When Clark fired Peterson, we went out and got the best or what was thought to be the best most expensive guy at the time. I think he wants to win, more money for him.

Too little, too late Sam.

Everyone wants to win. The ones that do, know how to win. Clark isn't a winner.

He'll just have Marty come in and consult him to hire the wrong guy...again.

LOL, I think I was right when I said Chunt and his folks watch these boards. Good... Now go pick up some gum wrappers Clark!

I just hope they don't **** this up tomorrow and somehow pull a win out of their asses.

I hope the TV crew broadcasts the banner. I can't wait to see it!

:LOL: ROFL

Bullshit.

He wanted a guy to run his franchise - someone who wouldn't bug him or get in his hair. So instead of performing his due diligence, he hired the biggest name guy out there in Pioli and handed him the keys to the franchise.

Anyone with a ****ing brain already knew that Pioli's personnel record was spotty at best and ****ing awful at worst. He only hired and traded for cronies and his knowledge of the game is severely limited.

If you've read all these things before, it's because me and a few others "dared" to say them Pioli was initially hired.

But how could guys on the internet know more than Pioli? What NFL franchises did/do we work for?

Holy shit wow hahaha!

I think alot of us who were die hards etc, found out that if we didn't go to games or watche, the world didn't end like we previously thought. We discovered that "hey.....I don't think I'll watch them, and get some chores done, or spend a day at the dog park, visit family etc.

Chiefs need to get their shit together because this ain't the 90's....people have huge TVs and Sunday ticket etc. if they suck ass for yrs now, fans will just tune out. Clark still thinks that the fans will continue to be patient while they figure out how to win.

Is that from the "Dawn of the Dead" remake?

Terminator 2.

Terminator 2

Don't need to read passed that one.

The thing is that you are cheering FOR the team.

The only way to save DJ, Hali, Asamoah, Charles, Flowers...
the only way to save these guys is to get rid of the A-Holes that are screwing it up.

If Cassel and Pioli succeed to a point of giving Hunt any hope,
he'll keep them around for another wasted season.

I don't see that anybody "hates the Chiefs".
Contrary. They're mad because they love them are demanding better for them.
They can start by dumping this joke of a quarterback.
So the best thing that could happen is for Cassie to be destroyed in the 1st half.

Terminator 2

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Clark loves him some soccer.