ChiefsPlanet - Chiefs Gretz: Too Many Mistakes

COMMENTARY: Too Many Mistakes
November 16, 2008 - Bob Gretz |

From Arrowhead Stadium

When you are playing with a team as young and inexperienced and injury-riddled as the Chiefs, the margin for error is very slim.

Put it this way, the only person who could stand on it would be somebody with the last name of Wallenda, first name Flying.

On the best of days with their finest performance the Chiefs are playing this 2008 season without a net. They could have played 10 wonderful games this year and still been 1-9 on the season. We all know that hasn’t happened; the 10 wonderful games. Obviously, the 1-9 is very real.

They very simply cannot help the other team on Sunday. There’s too much ground for them to makeup that they can slide backwards because of their own hand.

But that’s what the Chiefs did on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. They slit their own throat. They made things easier for the visitors from the Big Easy, who were more than willing to accept all the help they could get because the ‘08 season has not been kind to them either.

After three games where they were a factor down to the final minute, the Chiefs could do nothing to keep the Saints from the victory stand in this affair. On a beautiful, sunny November afternoon, the Chiefs took a step backwards.

Now, they didn’t go back to the bad old days of earlier this season where they embarrassed themselves against Oakland, and Atlanta and Carolina. But their performance was not up to the standard they had set in the last three games against the Jets, Buccaneers and Chargers.

In his locker room after the game and in his post-game press conference, Herm Edwards rattled off the sins committee by the Chiefs. It was a lengthy list:

Poor play in the red zone, where the Chiefs twice had to settle for field goals when they were first-and-goal … poor field position in the first half, when the Saints started back-to-back drives at the Chiefs 44 and then 43-yard line … momentum stopping penalties in the third quarter, with flags against all three phases of the game: offense (holding), defense (neutral zone infraction) and special teams (holding on a return) … dropped passes, of which there were three or four, including a huge drop by Mark Bradley in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-two play that would have moved the sticks … missed tackles, including a pair on a 21-yard completion that set up what proved to be the Saints winning score.

There is just not any kind of room for such a large collection of mistakes for any team, let alone one that’s as hamstrung as the ‘08 Chiefs. They knew coming into this game that because they were playing the Saints offense, they had to score points. Only Tampa Bay in the season opener with 24 points has gotten a victory against New Orleans with less than 30 points on the scoreboard.

Whether the Chiefs could score 30 at any time this season is problematic, but what they knew for sure was they could not waste opportunities. If they had a chance to score, they could not settle for field goals. That was a recipe for defeat.

And that’s just what happened.

Despite their prolific offense, the Saints are not a great team and right now, they are not a good team. They are mediocre with a 5-5 record that puts them in fourth place in the NFC West, still three full games behind the division leading Carolina Panthers at the close of NFL business this week.

Drew Brees can throw the ball, but they have an iffy running game and their injury-riddled defense leaves a lot to be desired. Without Reggie Bush, who missed the game because of a knee injury suffered several weeks ago, they are just average.

But average is enough to win on this Sunday.

There are host of rationales, reasons, excuses and truths that explain what the Chiefs are right now. I won’t bother you with a recitation that you already know by heart.

What this team needed to show in each week of the second half of the ‘08 season was improvement. They had that against the Jets. They had that against the Bucs. They had that against the Chargers.

They didn’t have that against the Saints. They have now lost six in a row, nine of 10 this season and 18 of their last 19 games.

The beat down goes on. They have no chance of stopping it when they beat themselves.