Chiefs USA Today: A Season to Forget in KC - Page 3

FloridaMan88 · 12-26-2012, 08:14 AM

Nothing new in this article, although it does put a national spotlight on SOC. Also Bill Polian is quoted giving his thoughts:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...eason/1791101/

Season to forget for the Kansas City Chiefs

Steve Wieberg, Special to USA TODAY

KANSAS CITY — He has known good times and bad — a fair share of bad — in eight years in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform, but Derrick Johnson has seen nothing like this.

Has anybody in the 93 seasons of the NFL?

Johnson and the Chiefs play Sunday at the Denver Broncos, the final game of a season that might be bearable if it were merely forgettable. Can't throw. Can't protect the ball. Can't score. They've been beaten eight times by more than two touchdowns and, at 2-13 overall, are a loss to the Broncos away from equaling the worst record in the franchise's 53-year existence.

Gloom turned to horror Dec. 1. Linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend to death at their home, drove to the Chiefs' practice complex and, in front of general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel, pointed a .40-caliber handgun at his temple and pulled the trigger. He was laid to rest three weeks ago today.

"Definitely one of the toughest seasons in history — for anybody," says Johnson, the team's leading tackler for the third consecutive year and one of its two longest-tenured players.

Adds defensive end Shaun Smith: "There are times when you get free time, when you're in the hotel room or just sitting around, and a thought will come across your mind like, 'Wow, I'm really going through this.'"

There will be more tumult during the offseason. Crennel has had little more than a year as Kansas City's head coach, and his record over tenures with the Cleveland Browns and Chiefs is 28-53. Firing him would mean a third change for the Chiefs in four years, but do they have a choice?

And who will make that call?

Owner Clark Hunt, the son of Chiefs founder and pro football pioneer Lamar Hunt, must evaluate Pioli and a four-year résumé that includes apparent whiffs on two coaching hires (Todd Haley before Crennel), a gaping hole at quarterback and scarce returns on four drafts: two touchdowns rushing, nine more receiving, 29½ sacks, 14 interceptions and five fumble recoveries in 63 games. The lone quarterback taken in those drafts, Ricky Stanzi in the fifth round in 2011, has yet to take a game-day snap — even as Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn floundered this season.

Pioli joined the Chiefs in 2009 after winning three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2008.

"I think everybody knows going into the NFL that you have a lot of turnover and if you're not doing well the ship gets blown up," says punter Dustin Colquitt, like Johnson nearing the end of his eighth season with Kansas City. "Everybody's on the hot seat. Everybody is. I may not be here. I know that."

Crennel has been deflecting speculation about his future for weeks. Pioli and Hunt have been quiet on the subject and declined interview requests from USA TODAY Sports.

"Every franchise, they evaluate themselves in the offseason and figure out what they need to do to improve," Crennel says. "And I think we'll do the same thing."

Fans growing impatient

The Chiefs have one consolation, accorded annually to the worst of the NFL's worst: They're positioned to get the first overall pick in the April draft if they lose Sunday. But their cursed season extends even to the draft.

Were this a year ago, the Chiefs could select a franchise-saving quarterback in Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III. The incoming class holds no such guarantees at the sport's most critical position, whether the choice is Southern California's Matt Barkley, West Virginia's Geno Smith or some sleeper further down the menu of prospects.

Luck, last year's top overall pick, walked into Arrowhead Stadium last weekend and beat the Chiefs 20-13, lifting the Indianapolis Colts from a 2-14 record in 2011 to 10 wins and the playoffs.

"What you have to do in the Chiefs' situation is you can't force what's not there," says former Redskins and Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly, a television analyst for CBS Sports. "If you have to come back and play with Brady Quinn next year — it appears he's ahead of Cassel right now — you build your team up around him. Maybe you get fortunate enough to draft a quarterback in the third round, fourth round, who's better than you think. And you just go on."

If so, then shakily. A long-loyal fan base in Kansas City appears to have hit the wall.

Paid attendance at Arrowhead Stadium, once upward of 79,000 a game, averaged less than 66,000 for the last four games of this season. Actual attendance was noticeably lower. A couple of fans started a grass-roots movement, Save Our Chiefs, that has called for the firing of Pioli and other changes and spelled out its frustrations on banners flown over the stadium on game days.

Controversy erupted in October over whether there were cheers for Cassel's forced exit from a loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a fourth-quarter concussion. He had drawn boos before the season even started when fans let him have it at the start of a celebrity softball game that was part of baseball's All-Star Game festivities in Kansas City in July.

Come September and opening day, the Chiefs were blitzed in the second half by the Atlanta Falcons and fell 40-24. They didn't even have a lead in a game until Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the longest such streak in NFL history.

The latest loss, to Indianapolis, laid another layer of frustration. Jamaal Charles ran for 226 yards and Peyton Hills for 101, and the Chiefs outgained the Colts 507-288 overall.

"Just another way, unfortunately, to lose a game," veteran offensive tackle Eric Winston said.

"When you're not able to win, you always wonder about yourself, about, 'What do I need to do more? What haven't I done?'" Crennel said a few days earlier. "When you try different things and you still don't win, it kind of wears on you a little bit."

The Chiefs were seen as contenders in a weak AFC West as the season kicked off, largely because of their defense and the returns of Charles and several other key players from injuries. But they spit out 29 turnovers in their first eight games.

Cassel, the four-year incumbent, and Quinn, the former Browns and Denver Broncos quarterback who has started the last five games, have thrown for a combined eight TDs with 20 interceptions. Kansas City has scored two touchdowns in its last three games, on 80- and 86-yard runs by Charles. And its 13.9-point scoring average is the NFL's lowest.

Gantlet of affliction

All of that paled, of course, when Belcher took the life of his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, and then ended his own. Police have closed the case of a shocking but straightforward murder-suicide. Belcher's mother, who had moved in with the troubled couple and was in their three-bedroom home when Perkins was killed, continues to care for their 3-month-old daughter, Zoey.

Countless other teams have seen the bottom drop out on the field. Several have dealt with untimely death, including the Dallas Cowboys, who lost linebacker Jerry Brown when teammate Josh Brent wrecked the car they were in a week after the Belcher incident. But perhaps none has played out a more tortured season, running a similar gantlet of affliction.

"I'm a strong believer in, 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger,'" Johnson says. "If this doesn't make us stronger right here, I mean, what will?"

Says Smith: "You have to have a good support system to deal with everything. No matter what all is going on, I get to go home and see my kids and it's, like, release. All my problems are out the window. I don't care about anything else."

Smith is in his second tour with the Chiefs after starting 10 games in 2010 as they finished first in a weak AFC West and went one-and-done in the playoffs. A franchise that played in two of the first four Super Bowls in the 1960s hasn't won in the postseason since 1993, a stretch of futility matched only by the Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions.

Resigned to change

Bad as its record is, this team has assets. Linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston have combined for 19 sacks, anchoring the defense with Johnson. Charles turned in his third 1,000-yard rushing season in four years.

Dwayne Bowe, whose season ended with a rib injury vs. Cleveland three weeks ago, remains a top receiving target — though he'll be a free agent after spending this year as team's franchise player.

"I don't know that there's a fundamental problem there," says Bill Polian, a former NFL team executive who is now an analyst for ESPN, "other than the quarterback position."

Polian, who helped build Indianapolis into a powerhouse before being fired after last season, could be a successor to Pioli. Hunt has given no indication where the team will go from here and said little publicly beyond a few remarks after the Belcher incident.

Both Pioli and Crennel drew sympathy as eyewitnesses to Belcher's suicide — he thanked them for everything they had done while ignoring their attempts to calm him — and admiration for their handling of the aftermath.

The Chiefs rallied briefly, beating the Carolina Panthers 27-21 as Quinn played the best game of his six-year NFL career. Critics backed off … for maybe a week.

"They did a great job in that situation, and they're to be commended for it," Casserly says of Pioli and Crennel. "But if you're thinking, 'Should that be a reason I keep him in the job?' absolutely not.

"You're human. Yeah, it would make it harder because of what they did and how they made you proud that they were in your organization when handling that crisis. My feeling is that the change shouldn't be made."

Crennel concedes, "This team has not met expectations, me included." And with 60 minutes of football left in the season, many of his players seem resigned to change.

"When you're having a losing season, everybody's job is in jeopardy. Players and coaches," Johnson says. "You never want to be in this situation, but these are the cards dealt for us."

htismaqe · 12-26-2012, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCDC

The USA Today article is helpful to our cause to sack Pioli and his circus. I hope Clark gets a chance to read it. Maybe we fans need to send him plenty of copies of the article.

There is no cause anymore.

They're both fired. They're gone.

Fat Elvis · 12-26-2012, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goldmember

What if the Chiefs draft a QB and he refuses them? Can't say I'd blame him. Would you want to go to this train wreck of a team?

I 'd exactly want a QB who wouldn't be afraid of the challenge. We need that type of leadership on the field.

jallmon · 12-26-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckweath

Best thing that could happen to this franchise whats happening this year. Thank God that we didnt finish the season 9-7 or 10-6. Its a step back before a big leap forward possibly.

We are so bad Clark MUST respond. It may sound strange, but I like our position better than the Steelers here in Pgh. They have many older players on the downside of their careers and are over the salary cap. We at least have good young players that just need good coaching and a QB to get much better.

**Rain Man** · 12-26-2012, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goldmember

What if the Chiefs draft a QB and he refuses them? Can't say I'd blame him. Would you want to go to this train wreck of a team?

It would take a real sleazeball to do that. I'd hate to see it happen, but I wouldn't want a loser like that on my team.

**MahiMike** · 12-26-2012, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkinDrublic

Why does anybody give a shit what Charlie Casserly has to say?

Why you wise guy!

Sweet Daddy Hate · 12-26-2012, 11:50 AM

66,000????

Delusional.

htismaqe · 12-26-2012, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jallmon

We are so bad Clark MUST respond. It may sound strange, but I like our position better than the Steelers here in Pgh. They have many older players on the downside of their careers and are over the salary cap. We at least have good young players that just need good coaching and a QB to get much better.

The next GM is going to have to replace those "young" players.

Tamba, DJ, Charles, Bowe, Albert, all are going to need replacements in the next 3-4 years.

TEX · 12-26-2012, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe

The next GM is going to have to replace those "young" players.

Tamba, DJ, Charles, Bowe, Albert, all are going to need replacements in the next 3-4 years.

Exactly. They WERE young when Pioli frist was hired. Now, they're not and the team is void of good young talent because Pioli's drafts have been so poor.

TEX · 12-26-2012, 12:37 PM

Casserly has no room to talk. He created a bad situation in Houston. It wasn't until he was gone that the team got better. ALL of his past "success" can be thrown out the window by what transpired under his watch in Houston. He was TOTAL FAIL in picking his HC, QB, and drafting mid round talent.

**RealSNR** · 12-26-2012, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goldmember

What if the Chiefs draft a QB and he refuses them? Can't say I'd blame him. Would you want to go to this train wreck of a team?

That's a definite possibility. The Chiefs are screwed.

Sincerely,
2011 Colts
2010 Panthers
2009 Rams
2008 Lions
2005 Niners
2004 Chargers (OMG WATCH OUT GUYZ!!!!11)

Deberg_1990 · 12-26-2012, 12:51 PM

Hilarious.

Any other franchise that wins 2 games they would be talking about drafting a QB and regime change.

With the Chiefs it's "lets build around Quinn, and draft a lineman"

Unbelievable.........

**Easy 6** · 12-26-2012, 01:53 PM

Couldnt get through all of this before having to say...

**** YOU CASSERLY YOU DRIED UP OLD DOG TURD.

Buckweath · 12-26-2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

Exactly. They WERE young when Pioli frist was hired. Now, they're not and the team is void of good young talent because Pioli's drafts have been so poor.

There is nothing wrong with having veterans on this team and berry, poe, Houston, arenas, Hudson, asamoah, gray and others form plenty of good young talent. Just wait when wé have Geno or Wilson and a new coach.

**ChiTown** · 12-26-2012, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthPioliSatan

66,000????

Delusional.

I think they mispelled 36,000

Sweet Daddy Hate · 12-26-2012, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTown

I think they mispelled 36,000

From what I've seen, it looks more like 15,000. 3/4 of which are opposing fans.

12-26-2012, 08:14 AM
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $3252906	USA Today: A Season to Forget in KC Nothing new in this article, although it does put a national spotlight on SOC. Also Bill Polian is quoted giving his thoughts: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...eason/1791101/ Season to forget for the Kansas City Chiefs Steve Wieberg, Special to USA TODAY KANSAS CITY — He has known good times and bad — a fair share of bad — in eight years in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform, but Derrick Johnson has seen nothing like this. Has anybody in the 93 seasons of the NFL? Johnson and the Chiefs play Sunday at the Denver Broncos, the final game of a season that might be bearable if it were merely forgettable. Can't throw. Can't protect the ball. Can't score. They've been beaten eight times by more than two touchdowns and, at 2-13 overall, are a loss to the Broncos away from equaling the worst record in the franchise's 53-year existence. Gloom turned to horror Dec. 1. Linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend to death at their home, drove to the Chiefs' practice complex and, in front of general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel, pointed a .40-caliber handgun at his temple and pulled the trigger. He was laid to rest three weeks ago today. "Definitely one of the toughest seasons in history — for anybody," says Johnson, the team's leading tackler for the third consecutive year and one of its two longest-tenured players. Adds defensive end Shaun Smith: "There are times when you get free time, when you're in the hotel room or just sitting around, and a thought will come across your mind like, 'Wow, I'm really going through this.'" There will be more tumult during the offseason. Crennel has had little more than a year as Kansas City's head coach, and his record over tenures with the Cleveland Browns and Chiefs is 28-53. Firing him would mean a third change for the Chiefs in four years, but do they have a choice? And who will make that call? Owner Clark Hunt, the son of Chiefs founder and pro football pioneer Lamar Hunt, must evaluate Pioli and a four-year résumé that includes apparent whiffs on two coaching hires (Todd Haley before Crennel), a gaping hole at quarterback and scarce returns on four drafts: two touchdowns rushing, nine more receiving, 29½ sacks, 14 interceptions and five fumble recoveries in 63 games. The lone quarterback taken in those drafts, Ricky Stanzi in the fifth round in 2011, has yet to take a game-day snap — even as Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn floundered this season. Pioli joined the Chiefs in 2009 after winning three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2008. "I think everybody knows going into the NFL that you have a lot of turnover and if you're not doing well the ship gets blown up," says punter Dustin Colquitt, like Johnson nearing the end of his eighth season with Kansas City. "Everybody's on the hot seat. Everybody is. I may not be here. I know that." Crennel has been deflecting speculation about his future for weeks. Pioli and Hunt have been quiet on the subject and declined interview requests from USA TODAY Sports. "Every franchise, they evaluate themselves in the offseason and figure out what they need to do to improve," Crennel says. "And I think we'll do the same thing." Fans growing impatient The Chiefs have one consolation, accorded annually to the worst of the NFL's worst: They're positioned to get the first overall pick in the April draft if they lose Sunday. But their cursed season extends even to the draft. Were this a year ago, the Chiefs could select a franchise-saving quarterback in Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III. The incoming class holds no such guarantees at the sport's most critical position, whether the choice is Southern California's Matt Barkley, West Virginia's Geno Smith or some sleeper further down the menu of prospects. Luck, last year's top overall pick, walked into Arrowhead Stadium last weekend and beat the Chiefs 20-13, lifting the Indianapolis Colts from a 2-14 record in 2011 to 10 wins and the playoffs. "What you have to do in the Chiefs' situation is you can't force what's not there," says former Redskins and Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly, a television analyst for CBS Sports. "If you have to come back and play with Brady Quinn next year — it appears he's ahead of Cassel right now — you build your team up around him. Maybe you get fortunate enough to draft a quarterback in the third round, fourth round, who's better than you think. And you just go on." If so, then shakily. A long-loyal fan base in Kansas City appears to have hit the wall. Paid attendance at Arrowhead Stadium, once upward of 79,000 a game, averaged less than 66,000 for the last four games of this season. Actual attendance was noticeably lower. A couple of fans started a grass-roots movement, Save Our Chiefs, that has called for the firing of Pioli and other changes and spelled out its frustrations on banners flown over the stadium on game days. Controversy erupted in October over whether there were cheers for Cassel's forced exit from a loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a fourth-quarter concussion. He had drawn boos before the season even started when fans let him have it at the start of a celebrity softball game that was part of baseball's All-Star Game festivities in Kansas City in July. Come September and opening day, the Chiefs were blitzed in the second half by the Atlanta Falcons and fell 40-24. They didn't even have a lead in a game until Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the longest such streak in NFL history. The latest loss, to Indianapolis, laid another layer of frustration. Jamaal Charles ran for 226 yards and Peyton Hills for 101, and the Chiefs outgained the Colts 507-288 overall. "Just another way, unfortunately, to lose a game," veteran offensive tackle Eric Winston said. "When you're not able to win, you always wonder about yourself, about, 'What do I need to do more? What haven't I done?'" Crennel said a few days earlier. "When you try different things and you still don't win, it kind of wears on you a little bit." The Chiefs were seen as contenders in a weak AFC West as the season kicked off, largely because of their defense and the returns of Charles and several other key players from injuries. But they spit out 29 turnovers in their first eight games. Cassel, the four-year incumbent, and Quinn, the former Browns and Denver Broncos quarterback who has started the last five games, have thrown for a combined eight TDs with 20 interceptions. Kansas City has scored two touchdowns in its last three games, on 80- and 86-yard runs by Charles. And its 13.9-point scoring average is the NFL's lowest. Gantlet of affliction All of that paled, of course, when Belcher took the life of his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, and then ended his own. Police have closed the case of a shocking but straightforward murder-suicide. Belcher's mother, who had moved in with the troubled couple and was in their three-bedroom home when Perkins was killed, continues to care for their 3-month-old daughter, Zoey. Countless other teams have seen the bottom drop out on the field. Several have dealt with untimely death, including the Dallas Cowboys, who lost linebacker Jerry Brown when teammate Josh Brent wrecked the car they were in a week after the Belcher incident. But perhaps none has played out a more tortured season, running a similar gantlet of affliction. "I'm a strong believer in, 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger,'" Johnson says. "If this doesn't make us stronger right here, I mean, what will?" Says Smith: "You have to have a good support system to deal with everything. No matter what all is going on, I get to go home and see my kids and it's, like, release. All my problems are out the window. I don't care about anything else." Smith is in his second tour with the Chiefs after starting 10 games in 2010 as they finished first in a weak AFC West and went one-and-done in the playoffs. A franchise that played in two of the first four Super Bowls in the 1960s hasn't won in the postseason since 1993, a stretch of futility matched only by the Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions. Resigned to change Bad as its record is, this team has assets. Linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston have combined for 19 sacks, anchoring the defense with Johnson. Charles turned in his third 1,000-yard rushing season in four years. Dwayne Bowe, whose season ended with a rib injury vs. Cleveland three weeks ago, remains a top receiving target — though he'll be a free agent after spending this year as team's franchise player. "I don't know that there's a fundamental problem there," says Bill Polian, a former NFL team executive who is now an analyst for ESPN, "other than the quarterback position." Polian, who helped build Indianapolis into a powerhouse before being fired after last season, could be a successor to Pioli. Hunt has given no indication where the team will go from here and said little publicly beyond a few remarks after the Belcher incident. Both Pioli and Crennel drew sympathy as eyewitnesses to Belcher's suicide — he thanked them for everything they had done while ignoring their attempts to calm him — and admiration for their handling of the aftermath. The Chiefs rallied briefly, beating the Carolina Panthers 27-21 as Quinn played the best game of his six-year NFL career. Critics backed off … for maybe a week. "They did a great job in that situation, and they're to be commended for it," Casserly says of Pioli and Crennel. "But if you're thinking, 'Should that be a reason I keep him in the job?' absolutely not. "You're human. Yeah, it would make it harder because of what they did and how they made you proud that they were in your organization when handling that crisis. My feeling is that the change shouldn't be made." Crennel concedes, "This team has not met expectations, me included." And with 60 minutes of football left in the season, many of his players seem resigned to change. "When you're having a losing season, everybody's job is in jeopardy. Players and coaches," Johnson says. "You never want to be in this situation, but these are the cards dealt for us."
Posts: 38,020

12-26-2012, 11:50 AM	#36
Sweet Daddy Hate Unsparing Join Date: Aug 2008 Casino cash: $10004900	66,000???? Delusional. __________________ 1. Merciless, severe. 2. Given freely and generously. 100% refusal to overrate 20 year Head Coaches with ZERO **ing rings as a Head Coach. CP's Official Professor of 'Dem Blues for 2019/2020!**
Posts: 77,135

12-26-2012, 12:37 PM	#39
TEX Out Gunning CP's Fandom Police Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Laguna Beach, CA Casino cash: $2443127	Casserly has no room to talk. He created a bad situation in Houston. It wasn't until he was gone that the team got better. ALL of his past "success" can be thrown out the window by what transpired under his watch in Houston. He was TOTAL FAIL in picking his HC, QB, and drafting mid round talent. __________________ "The CHIEFS, HAVE THEIR DYNASTY!"
Posts: 34,640

12-26-2012, 12:51 PM	#41
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Hilarious. Any other franchise that wins 2 games they would be talking about drafting a QB and regime change. With the Chiefs it's "lets build around Quinn, and draft a lineman" Unbelievable......... __________________ Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning: Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down. One of the best plays Matt has ever made.
Posts: 66,914

12-26-2012, 01:53 PM	#42
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3817775	Couldnt get through all of this before having to say... **** YOU CASSERLY YOU DRIED UP OLD DOG TURD.
Posts: 91,578