Gretz - It's Been Done Before

[C-Mac]

It's Been Done Before
Sep 26, 2008, 8:46:46 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

Not much fun being a Chiefs fans these days, is it? What with the franchise record 12-game losing streak, 21 quarters since the Chiefs have held the lead in a game and the fact that a loss this Sunday to Denver would give them a 0-4 start for the first time since 1980.

Funny thing about that 0-4 start some 28 years ago. The Chiefs finished that season 8-8. They were in the third-year of Marv Levy’s rebuilding project, one that began in 1978 with a 4-12 record, followed by 7-9 in the 1979 season.

Strange things happen when a team is rebuilding. There are dark days and seemingly no future. Then one day, a team that couldn’t get out of its way one week, pulls it together and starts winning. It has happened many times before.

I won’t take you back to the ‘80 Chiefs, who started 0-4 because just about every one of their starting offensive linemen was injured for the opening month. No, let’s look at something more recent.

The Tennessee Titans.

In 2003, the Titans were 12-4 and went to New England and lost a game in the playoffs to the Patriots, 17-14. They were a veteran team with guys like Derrick Mason, Steve McNair, Eddie George, Frank Wycheck, Kevin Carter, Jevon Kearse, Samari Role and Albert Haynesworth.

They were a veteran group, an old group and they were in salary cap jail. The Titans had kept many of their own stars with big money deals. They had little room to maneuver in free agency, whether it was keeping their own players that were coming up or signing others.

By the start of the ‘04 season, George, Wycheck and Kearse were gone. By the start of the ‘05 season, they were joined by Mason, Carter and Rolle. By the ‘06 season McNair was gone too. Only Haynesworth remained.

The ‘04 season finished with a 5-11 record. The ‘05 season finished with a final record of 4-12.

At the start of the ‘06 season, the Titans began 0-5. Combined with a 2-9 finish at the end of the ‘05 schedule, at one point they were 2-14, with an eight-game losing streak.

But while the record was going down, the talent level of young players was growing with good drafts in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

That ‘06 season started with a seven-point loss to the New York Jets. Then it was a 33-point defeat on the road to San Diego. Both of those clubs went to the playoffs that year. But in week No. 3, the Titans lost to Miami 13-10, a team that finished 6-10. They were crushed by Dallas at home 45-14, a Cowboys team that finished 9-7. Then it was the fifth straight loss for that ‘06 season, a one-pointer on the road to Indianapolis.

At that point, the Titans were 0-5, and they were averaging 12 points per game, while giving up 27 points per game. They had a rebuilt offense and a defense that had developed several players and sprinkled in with some veteran free agents, like LB David Thornton and DE Kyle Vanden Bosch. None were signed to contracts for big dollars.

It had been a season of tearing down, and then 21 games of rebuilding over two seasons. In that troubled time, the Titans were an ugly 9-28.

The eight-game losing streak ended in week No. 6, with a 25-22 victory on the road in Washington. Over the final 11 weeks of the ‘06 season, the Titans were 8-3.

Then last year, they went 10-6 and made the playoffs. This year they are 3-0.

So they went 9-28, and now they’ve gone 21-9.

It was hard. It was tough. It wasn’t easy. It’s not complete. The Titans have a problem at quarterback with their first-round guy from the ‘06 Draft in Vince Young. But they continue to win with veteran Kerry Collins. That’s because the rest of the team around him is so good and he’s not making the big mistakes that are part of his profile (176 career TD passes against 173 career INTs.)

The Titans didn’t just wake up one morning and suddenly were better. They paid a price. They got younger, they built through the draft and now, they are reaping the profits from their patience.

It’s a model for what the Chiefs are trying to do. It’s also a story that every Chiefs fan should remember during these dark days.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Claythan

I give my honest opinion.

Well then your either naive or just an ignornant dipsh*t ?

[Reerun_KC]

Gretz, it might have been done before, but never by Carl or Herm...

Neither are quaified to build a toy doll house, let alone an NFL Team...

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by Claythan

I give my honest opinion.

Sometimes that opinion is negative.

Please tell me how you can spin a huge loss to a bad team like the Falcons into something positive and then have the balls to say that you give an honest opinion?

Just because the Chiefs ran the ball when they were down big, doesn't mean jack shit.

[Hammock Parties]

I say it does.

[The Bad Guy]

Originally Posted by Claythan

I say it does.

I say you know ****ing dick about football.

[ILChief]

I wonder what it would take for Gretz to admit the Chiefs stink.

It's like the RWNJ's who still think Bush is a good President.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by ILChief

I wonder what it would take for Gretz to admit the Chiefs stink.

He's already admitted the Chiefs stink. Perhaps not in those words, but you won't find anyone in the media who hasn't come to terms with the fact the Chiefs are a terrible, terrible football team.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Claythan

He's already admitted the Chiefs stink. Perhaps not in those words, but you won't find anyone in the media who hasn't come to terms with the fact the Chiefs are a terrible, terrible football team.

Why cant anyone but Whitlock admit this:

Carl, Herm, Curl, Gun, Gailey and cronies are not the team that will ever get the job done

????

[orange]

As interesting as this arg... er, debate has been, I don't really understand WHY you're arguing with each other. Gretz here seems to have jumped to a seriously WRONG conclusion - that the TITANS are the model of what Chiefs Fans want the Chiefs to be.

I thought you guys wanted to WIN some championships. Was I horribly misled?

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Why cant anyone but Whitlock admit this:

Carl, Herm, Curl, Gun, Gailey and cronies are not the team that will ever get the job done

????

Whitlock is 100 percent behind Herm.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Claythan

Whitlock is 100 percent behind Herm.

He is??

Then why was he lobbying for Cowher in his 10 Truths column??

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

He is??

Then why was he lobbying for Cowher in his 10 Truths column??

That was only if Herm was fired. Whitlock has been behind Herm since the day he was hired and hasn't wavered in that position.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Claythan

Herm since the day he was hired and hasn't wavered in that position.

I call Bush*t.

I think hes probably like most of us. He was behind the hire and has soured.

I myself was a Herm supporter at first. Now, i think hes just setting things up for next years coach.

[Frazod]

Gretz should just stop. What a stupid, lame, pointless article.

He compares our rebuilding to the Chiefs of the late 70s, completely glossing over the fact that the Chiefs of the entire 80s SUCKED. Then he switches gears to another team? What the hell is that? What kind of shit is this? What are we supposed to take away from this - that by rebuilding we'll suck for another decade while a team in another state that none of us care about goes on to lose a super bowl and then flounder for a few years? Christ.

I assume this poor bastard's under contract to write a certain number of positive spin puff pieces per week, but damn, this is just embarrassing.

Just take the zero, Gretz.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

I call Bush*t.

I think hes probably like most of us. He was behind the hire and has soured.

If that's his true opinion he's never openly discussed it.