ChiefsPlanet - JoPo: MAJOR changes coming for the Chiefs this offseason?

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JOE POSNANSKI COMMENTARY
Taking blame requires action

There are a lot of people trying to take the blame over at One Arrowhead Drive. The Chiefs’ offices resemble the “I’m Spartacus” scene in the movie, you know, when all the slaves were jumping up and shouting, “I’m Spartacus.” It’s just like that, except without Kirk Douglas and people wearing tunics.

Oh yeah, everybody’s jumping up and shouting, “I’m at fault.” If you are keeping score at home: Chiefs coach Herm Edwards took the blame last week (“I’ve got broad shoulders.”). Moments later, though, Chiefs president Carl Peterson blocked Edwards’ attempt to take the blame by taking it himself (“Blame me, OK? If you want to blame someone, blame me.”). After that, several players said it was silly for the coach or the GM to take the blame when it was clearly the players’ fault.

Then a few cheerleaders reportedly admitted they have not been as cheery as in past years, and they want some of the blame, too.

Some people suggested they were all at fault, all of them, everyone from the coaches to the players to the clubhouse guys to the people who clean up the stadium after games. This seems especially unfair to the people who clean stadiums after games. It’s bad enough they have to clean up substances chemists wouldn’t touch while wearing radiation suits. They don’t also need to take the blame for the Chiefs’ offensive line problems.

Point is that everyone sees that this season has gone down the tubes. It will only get worse from here. If the Chiefs win out, we will scream that they blew their shot at a decent draft pick. If the Chiefs lose out, they will have their worst record in 25 years (anyway, only really crummy teams lose out to get draft picks). Nobody’s going to be happy about anything that happens the rest of the way. The ship has already hit the iceberg — we’re all just waiting for the water to reach neck level.

And while it’s good to see so many people involved with the Chiefs trying to take the blame — Mitch Holthus, don’t you think it’s about time you take some blame here? Lenny? Grigs? — that’s a first step. It’s easy to “take blame.” I remember once writing a column about how a team messed up something badly. One guy in the front office called to say: “It’s entirely my fault. I blew it. I take full responsibility.”

OK, so the next day I ripped him in the paper for messing up. And the poor guy freaked out. He seemed to think, “I take full responsibility” was just a saying, kind of like, “Have a nice day,” or “Ding, fries are done.” He didn’t think there would be actual consequences. That’s sort of how it goes these days. People seem to think that, “I take responsibility” has become just a get-out-of-jail-free card, a meaningless cliché for coaches and players (and also criminals) to sputter when things don’t go right. Then they leave everything exactly the same.

So that’s why I say it’s only a first step for the Chiefs. The second step means blowing things up, which will be a lot harder and more involved than grabbing for blame.

The Chiefs are broken. Humpty Dumpty broken. Off-the-record interviews with several Chiefs insiders lead me to believe that this is understood — the Chiefs cannot fix this team. They can only salvage a few parts and start again. The word inside Arrowhead is that at least 20 players from this year’s team will have to go at the end of the year. That’s almost half the roster. You can undoubtedly guess some of the players who will be sent packing — the aging corners will be gone, the entire right side of the offensive line will be gone — but you can expect some surprises, too.

The word inside Arrowhead is that the offense will be completely redesigned, top to bottom — they will take whatever pages remain from Dick Vermeil/Al Saunders and throw them in fireplaces. To be blunt, I don’t see any resemblance between the plays the Chiefs run now and the plays they ran when Vermeil and Saunders were here (the Vermeil/Saunders plays tended to, you know, work). But either way, here’s hoping that little 2-yard out pass to Kris Wilson is the first play to go into the fire.

The word inside Arrowhead is that the whole Chiefs philosophy will change — no more aging veterans, no more short-term fixes, no more free-agent shortcuts. Even Peterson, who has for years refused to even utter the “R” word, admitted last week that the Chiefs are, in fact, rebuilding. Look for the Chiefs to try and stockpile draft picks (they already have 10), go crazy inviting college free agents, perhaps sign a couple of younger veterans and then go to camp next year with one of the NFL’s youngest and most enthusiastic teams.

So they say they want a revolution (well, you know, we all want to change the world). The question is: Who is going to run the revolution? The answer right now is hazy. Some changes are inevitable. It seems likely that offensive coordinator Mike Solari will be gone. But that’s not going to convince anybody that things are really changing. Maybe some other coaches will go. Maybe there will be a reshuffling in the front office. But clearly the big questions surround the two men trying to take the blame last week.

Start with Edwards. His approval rating is very low — I can’t remember a Kansas City coach who has inspired more nasty e-mails and phone calls. But Edwards is only in his second year as Chiefs coach, and the first year he did take the Chiefs to the playoffs. He certainly has his share of blame, but he was given an old team with a litter of quarterbacks who could not stay healthy, a decomposing offensive line, a defense with issues and a franchise running back who got hurt. He deserves more time.

That leaves Peterson, who last week made a rather odd statement. Doesn’t it seem like the Chiefs lead the NFL in odd statements? Whenever they say anything, it’s like trying to decode quotes from the Riddler on the old Batman TV show.

Anyway, Peterson said he “absolutely” would step down as GM if he decided that was best for the team. “I evaluate myself every year,” he said through his enigma machine. “But I look at the whole body of work.”

Of course, nobody knows what this means. Most read the quote and believe that the fix is in, that Peterson will look at his entire 19 years and, based on the success of the 1990s Marty teams, say to the mirror: “Hey, overall, I’ve done a darned good job. Look at all those early playoff appearances. Let’s go get some dinner! On me!”

It’s possible. But I don’t think that gives Peterson nearly enough credit. He cares monumentally about the Kansas City Chiefs. He is intensely loyal to the Hunt family. He does, despite what many might think, want more than anything for the Chiefs and the fans to win a Super Bowl. And he knows that the half-empty Arrowhead today is a harbinger of things to come.

Now, does this mean that he will step down? Maybe not. But I think he will look very, very hard at himself this offseason and ask himself the hardest questions: “Am I the right guy to lead the Chiefs on a complete reconstruction? Am I the guy who can win back the fans? Can I change enough to build a whole new kind of football team?”