Chiefs Babb: The Chiefs will have an idea today whether their 3-0 start is just an illusion

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-10-2010, 07:32 AM

The Chiefs will have an idea today whether their 3-0 start is just an illusion
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

T he message within the locker room, in meetings and at practices, is that today is an ordinary Sunday. The Chiefs will play an ordinary game, albeit on the road, against another AFC opponent.

Today’s contest, the coaches have been saying, means the same as the 15 others; a win against Indianapolis would be no more important than the previous three victories.

“I’m just trying to be realistic,” coach Todd Haley said.

But behind a wall of sanitized thoughts and downplayed emotions, there exists an unfamiliar feeling at the team’s Arrowhead training facility: that today is special, anything but ordinary, and it could define what the Chiefs are, and what they are becoming.

To some, this game means plenty.

“If we go out there and win this game,” wide receiver Dexter McCluster said, “we’re going to let people know that we’re for real.”

The Chiefs play the Colts today, and it’s a game that wasn’t supposed to have this much at stake. The Chiefs are 3-0 for the first time in seven years, and they sit alone as the NFL’s only unbeaten team. With a win, the Chiefs would take the AFC and their division by the throat, and the conversation would shift from whether this team is a legitimate playoff contender to where it stands among the conference’s elite.

Another victory against an AFC team, particularly a road win against a group as intimidating as the Colts, would begin to shape discussions about playoff tiebreakers and how the Chiefs have defeated a pair of conference heavyweights, San Diego and Indianapolis, who usually spend their winters in the playoffs.

Are the Chiefs next to join them? Today, whether they will admit it, means so much. Some players in the Chiefs locker room can hardly contain their excitement. They want to see how they measure up to the league’s best, and even at 2-2, the Colts still qualify.

“We want to see how good we are,” safety Eric Berry said. “We just want to go out and see.”

Berry and McCluster are rookies. They weren’t here when the Chiefs lost 38 games in three seasons. Neither was Kendrick Lewis, another rookie who talked this about stacking wins and putting the Chiefs in the best possible position for the playoffs, and who cares how early it is to be thinking that way?

They have youthful naiveté, and maybe that’s a good thing. Rookies have no memories of harsher days, because they weren’t around to experience them, like the generation born after the Great Depression. Those were days of want and emptiness; nobody knew when better times might be on the horizon, or whether the promise of tomorrow was something real or a fairy tale to get you through the day.

It’s those veteran players who experienced the dusty days of losing who aren’t so willing to wager their seasons on one Sunday in October. No, they’ve been down this road, and they’re trying as hard as the coaches to make today feel as normal as they can — because they aren’t ready to turn back.

“I’m just not the type of person who likes to put too much weight on one game,” 11-year veteran Brian Waters said. “If it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, then the low that comes from that, the drop-off of enthusiasm — you lose all the things you did to get to that point.

“No matter what happens, I don’t want to lose that.”

Waters told a story this past week about running into former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was part of the Patriots’ 21-game win streak. Weeks came and went, and so did opponents. His team kept winning. Waters asked how they did it. Bruschi said it was simple: The Patriots never put too much on a single game, whether it was against a regular-season underdog or a juggernaut in the Super Bowl. It was a mental thing, Waters recalled Bruschi telling him, and if players behave as if each Sunday is a business trip, keeping emotions in check and muting any game’s importance, then even the tallest tasks seem more manageable.

Waters said it’s natural for the Chiefs’ youngsters to be eager to test themselves, and really, Waters is glad they’re looking at it this way. He said it’s not naiveté; it’s being aggressive, that feeling of invincibility that age hasn’t yet shed, and that’s exactly the kind of mentality that the Chiefs will need.

“I like that,” Waters said. “The last thing you want to do in this situation — when you’re going against a veteran football team that plays well at home — is to be scared, to be hesitant, to be non-aggressive. The last thing you want to be.”

Waters admitted that, yes, today’s game means more than the team is letting on. He called it a test. But he added that, even if the Chiefs win today, it wouldn’t mean much more in the long-term than any other victories. Waters said that the Chiefs still wouldn’t be viewed nationally as much more than a fluke, a team that is both undefeated and today’s biggest underdog, and — anyway, has everyone forgotten what happened last year in Denver?

The Broncos started 6-0, beating the Chargers and Patriots, and Denver was seen as a team on the rise. After their open date, the Broncos lost four in a row and finished 8-8, missing the playoffs. All that early season optimism was gone, covered and forgotten under the NFL’s reality and the way these things can turn sometimes in an instant.

That’s why Haley kept saying this week that, no, the Chiefs are not a good team. Not yet, and he doesn’t want anyone thinking that. He said he just wants to see if they can be competitive with the Colts, because if they can’t, then happy days aren’t yet here again. Haley said that, unlike some of those young players, he’s in no hurry to play Indianapolis.

“If we could slow down time,” he said, “that would be good because we are far from accomplished. We’re working to try to become a good team, and that takes time. So I’ll take all the time we can get.”

But isn’t there something in Haley’s mind, some itch he’d like to scratch, that makes him eager to see exactly where his team stands? With so much at stake, real or imagined, doesn’t Haley want to test himself and these players and learn where they all rank among the NFL’s best?

“I don’t think any itch that’s not there all the time,” Haley said. “Human nature is human nature. I think in this situation that we’re in, you’ve got to fight human nature — mine, the other coaches and all the players — because it’s easy to get caught up in something you’re not. That’s what we’re focused on, trying to be something.”

What the Chiefs are, and what they’ll be, will be determined in part today. Those rookies aren’t wrong, after all; a win against the Colts would be big for the Chiefs and big for Kansas City. Yes, a victory could mean big things and the playoffs becoming more likelihood than fantasy.

But those who have been around during darker days don’t want anyone getting overconfident just yet. It was a tough road some of them traveled, and the only thing worse than peddling it once is stopping and realizing that, regardless of how it once looked, this promising path never was the right way.

“It is different from what we’ve had to face so far this season,” Waters said of today’s game. “It would take a lot more than 4-0 for people to say, ‘Oh, man, all of a sudden we become the hunted.’

“You look at the teams we’ve faced, you look at the schedule, you look at the circumstances. You can think of a million reasons why we’re 3-0. We have to go out on the football field and prove it. We don’t have to stand behind words; we don’t have to speak a whole bunch about it. We just have to go out and play.”

**Rausch** · 10-10-2010, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waters

"...We don’t have to stand behind words; we don’t have to speak a whole bunch about it. We just have to go out and play.”

...

Mama Hip Rockets · 10-10-2010, 08:11 AM

Regardless of what happens today, the 3-0 start was not an illusion. The Chiefs kicked some ass for three weeks. One bad game is not going to erase that.

chiefsnorth · 10-10-2010, 08:15 AM

Losing to the Colts does not mean this start means nothing. This is dimly a team that has gotten a lot better and is headed in the right direction.

PRIEST · 10-10-2010, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thurman merman

Regardless of what happens today, the 3-0 start was not an illusion. The Chiefs kicked some ass for three weeks. One bad game is not going to erase that.

Exactly

beach tribe · 10-10-2010, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thurman merman

Regardless of what happens today, the 3-0 start was not an illusion. The Chiefs kicked some ass for three weeks. One bad game is not going to erase that.

Not in my eyes. This team is vastly improved, and that's really all we could ask for. We should not be worrying about playoff wins, yet, although that would be like "two chics at the same time"

**Rausch** · 10-10-2010, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefsnorth

Losing to the Colts does not mean this start means nothing. This is dimly a team that has gotten a lot better and is headed in the right direction.

You lose to a non-division rival with a losing record by double digits, ok, I can see that exposing you.

Losing to the defending AFC champs?

Pioli Zombie · 10-10-2010, 08:44 AM

This is total bullshit. Its a long season. One loss to the Colts in Indianapolis doesn't mean they are not a playoff team. However, I think a win would be highly significant. Houses money today. Let it fly.

10-10-2010, 07:32 AM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2787187	Babb: The Chiefs will have an idea today whether their 3-0 start is just an illusion The Chiefs will have an idea today whether their 3-0 start is just an illusion By KENT BABB The Kansas City Star T he message within the locker room, in meetings and at practices, is that today is an ordinary Sunday. The Chiefs will play an ordinary game, albeit on the road, against another AFC opponent. Today’s contest, the coaches have been saying, means the same as the 15 others; a win against Indianapolis would be no more important than the previous three victories. “I’m just trying to be realistic,” coach Todd Haley said. But behind a wall of sanitized thoughts and downplayed emotions, there exists an unfamiliar feeling at the team’s Arrowhead training facility: that today is special, anything but ordinary, and it could define what the Chiefs are, and what they are becoming. To some, this game means plenty. “If we go out there and win this game,” wide receiver Dexter McCluster said, “we’re going to let people know that we’re for real.” The Chiefs play the Colts today, and it’s a game that wasn’t supposed to have this much at stake. The Chiefs are 3-0 for the first time in seven years, and they sit alone as the NFL’s only unbeaten team. With a win, the Chiefs would take the AFC and their division by the throat, and the conversation would shift from whether this team is a legitimate playoff contender to where it stands among the conference’s elite. Another victory against an AFC team, particularly a road win against a group as intimidating as the Colts, would begin to shape discussions about playoff tiebreakers and how the Chiefs have defeated a pair of conference heavyweights, San Diego and Indianapolis, who usually spend their winters in the playoffs. Are the Chiefs next to join them? Today, whether they will admit it, means so much. Some players in the Chiefs locker room can hardly contain their excitement. They want to see how they measure up to the league’s best, and even at 2-2, the Colts still qualify. “We want to see how good we are,” safety Eric Berry said. “We just want to go out and see.” Berry and McCluster are rookies. They weren’t here when the Chiefs lost 38 games in three seasons. Neither was Kendrick Lewis, another rookie who talked this about stacking wins and putting the Chiefs in the best possible position for the playoffs, and who cares how early it is to be thinking that way? They have youthful naiveté, and maybe that’s a good thing. Rookies have no memories of harsher days, because they weren’t around to experience them, like the generation born after the Great Depression. Those were days of want and emptiness; nobody knew when better times might be on the horizon, or whether the promise of tomorrow was something real or a fairy tale to get you through the day. It’s those veteran players who experienced the dusty days of losing who aren’t so willing to wager their seasons on one Sunday in October. No, they’ve been down this road, and they’re trying as hard as the coaches to make today feel as normal as they can — because they aren’t ready to turn back. “I’m just not the type of person who likes to put too much weight on one game,” 11-year veteran Brian Waters said. “If it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, then the low that comes from that, the drop-off of enthusiasm — you lose all the things you did to get to that point. “No matter what happens, I don’t want to lose that.” Waters told a story this past week about running into former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was part of the Patriots’ 21-game win streak. Weeks came and went, and so did opponents. His team kept winning. Waters asked how they did it. Bruschi said it was simple: The Patriots never put too much on a single game, whether it was against a regular-season underdog or a juggernaut in the Super Bowl. It was a mental thing, Waters recalled Bruschi telling him, and if players behave as if each Sunday is a business trip, keeping emotions in check and muting any game’s importance, then even the tallest tasks seem more manageable. Waters said it’s natural for the Chiefs’ youngsters to be eager to test themselves, and really, Waters is glad they’re looking at it this way. He said it’s not naiveté; it’s being aggressive, that feeling of invincibility that age hasn’t yet shed, and that’s exactly the kind of mentality that the Chiefs will need. “I like that,” Waters said. “The last thing you want to do in this situation — when you’re going against a veteran football team that plays well at home — is to be scared, to be hesitant, to be non-aggressive. The last thing you want to be.” Waters admitted that, yes, today’s game means more than the team is letting on. He called it a test. But he added that, even if the Chiefs win today, it wouldn’t mean much more in the long-term than any other victories. Waters said that the Chiefs still wouldn’t be viewed nationally as much more than a fluke, a team that is both undefeated and today’s biggest underdog, and — anyway, has everyone forgotten what happened last year in Denver? The Broncos started 6-0, beating the Chargers and Patriots, and Denver was seen as a team on the rise. After their open date, the Broncos lost four in a row and finished 8-8, missing the playoffs. All that early season optimism was gone, covered and forgotten under the NFL’s reality and the way these things can turn sometimes in an instant. That’s why Haley kept saying this week that, no, the Chiefs are not a good team. Not yet, and he doesn’t want anyone thinking that. He said he just wants to see if they can be competitive with the Colts, because if they can’t, then happy days aren’t yet here again. Haley said that, unlike some of those young players, he’s in no hurry to play Indianapolis. “If we could slow down time,” he said, “that would be good because we are far from accomplished. We’re working to try to become a good team, and that takes time. So I’ll take all the time we can get.” But isn’t there something in Haley’s mind, some itch he’d like to scratch, that makes him eager to see exactly where his team stands? With so much at stake, real or imagined, doesn’t Haley want to test himself and these players and learn where they all rank among the NFL’s best? “I don’t think any itch that’s not there all the time,” Haley said. “Human nature is human nature. I think in this situation that we’re in, you’ve got to fight human nature — mine, the other coaches and all the players — because it’s easy to get caught up in something you’re not. That’s what we’re focused on, trying to be something.” What the Chiefs are, and what they’ll be, will be determined in part today. Those rookies aren’t wrong, after all; a win against the Colts would be big for the Chiefs and big for Kansas City. Yes, a victory could mean big things and the playoffs becoming more likelihood than fantasy. But those who have been around during darker days don’t want anyone getting overconfident just yet. It was a tough road some of them traveled, and the only thing worse than peddling it once is stopping and realizing that, regardless of how it once looked, this promising path never was the right way. “It is different from what we’ve had to face so far this season,” Waters said of today’s game. “It would take a lot more than 4-0 for people to say, ‘Oh, man, all of a sudden we become the hunted.’ “You look at the teams we’ve faced, you look at the schedule, you look at the circumstances. You can think of a million reasons why we’re 3-0. We have to go out on the football field and prove it. We don’t have to stand behind words; we don’t have to speak a whole bunch about it. We just have to go out and play.”
Posts: 43,422

10-10-2010, 08:11 AM	#3
Mama Hip Rockets You don't faze me, Gobble. Join Date: Dec 2005 Casino cash: $9915644	Regardless of what happens today, the 3-0 start was not an illusion. The Chiefs kicked some ass for three weeks. One bad game is not going to erase that.
Posts: 13,675

10-10-2010, 08:15 AM	#4
chiefsnorth Veteran Join Date: Apr 2010 Casino cash: $10004900	Losing to the Colts does not mean this start means nothing. This is dimly a team that has gotten a lot better and is headed in the right direction.
Posts: 1,808

10-10-2010, 08:44 AM	#8
Pioli Zombie Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: olathe,kansas Casino cash: $10004900	This is total bullshit. Its a long season. One loss to the Colts in Indianapolis doesn't mean they are not a playoff team. However, I think a win would be highly significant. Houses money today. Let it fly.
Posts: 11,077