I don't think that's a homer quote at all. I mean think about it, if the ultimate goal here is to win a Super Bowl or become a dynasty or whatever, why wouldn't we want regular season schedules like that? The Patriots/Steelers/Ravens all had really difficult schedules this year and the likelihood of one of them winning the Super Bowl this year is very high. If the team gets to the point where they're as good as they want to be then the schedule won't be as big of an issue and it probably would have been this year had we played a ridiculously hard schedule. It's not like if we progress again this offseason and become a very good/great team and we have say 6 really tough games on the schedule, that we're gonna go 0-6 in them. I think the tough schedule adds a lot of experience the players need and in the overall picture (which isn't just 1 season) it's more of a good thing than a bad thing.

This. Clay's "analyses" are often way too black/white for my taste. This guy is a homer, his writing isn't all that great...but he looks like a genius compared to clay simply because he is much more reasonable. It is pretty reasonable to acknowledge progress....It is reasonable to be happy that the Chiefs even got to the playoffs....It is UNREASONABLE to say there isn't progress and we are 'frauds' if we dont win against the Ravens. Sure it is going to suck and be a setback of sorts, but it won't wipee out all of the gains we have made. Thats the difference between Clay and other (better) writers.....Clay seems to write a bunch of crap and then hope he is right, and try to justify it...Whereas other people seem to write about actual truths and observations...

This is not a "homer" take at all. It is well written and objective. He didn't claim that the Chiefs were a powerhouse playoff team that was gonna surprise everyone and win 42 to 3. He made some level headed points about how the team is progressing and that it will get even better as it faces tougher challenges. The Chief's management is making the right calls and the results show it.

Successful season !!!
Renovated Stadium, Team, And Fans !!!


Embrace it and plan for an even brighter future. Isn't this better then winning 4 games and bragging about how great our punting team is?

As for all of the "fraud" talk...well I don't recall the head coach even saying that the team was a team much less a good one. This is the most humble division winner in the league. Are the Chiefs supposed to just pass on the game because of their schedule? So they don't deserve the 10 wins because their opponents didn't have a winning record last season either? Screw that nonsense. The Chiefs deserve to host a playoff game because they earned it. Their fans deserve it too because they supported the team for decades.

BS. Chiefs are frauds. I can't really explain why they are, or how that word is even appropriate, but the National Media has convinced me.

This is the kind of season that should make even the most vitriolic and depressed draftabulator happy.

It isn't homerish to recognize that this has been a great season for the Chiefs. We have sucked miserably for years with little or no hope before us. Now, we are finally building for the future ... with talented youth ... and seeing early (not to mention, completely unexpected) results. We haven't been this well-positioned for the future since Marty's early days. I agree with the writer. Win or lose on Sunday, this has been a fabulous year for the franchise.

FAX

Says the person whom passes himself off as a journalist without a degree....

A fraud is a person that knowingly presents an idea, concept, or statement with the intent to deceive. The team isn't claiming anything. They are playing the games on their schedule and winning or losing based on the score. The media is dissapointed because they predicted that the Chargers would win the division and they clung to that belief until the Chargers were mathematacly eliminated. The trolls and lurkers from the other AFC West teams come on this board and spew their biased opinions on us because they are jeleous and want to deny us the pleasure of enjoying our team's acheivments. Its not the Chiefs fault that their star players have only recently come into their own and thus have not become media darlings yet.

I am with ya on that, brother. One guy said it and now its like the Internet, TV, radio, and newspapers are hosting a parrot convention.

"Fraud" "Fraud" "Fraud"

So if the Chiefs win Sunday what are the excuses? Are the Ravens frauds then? The Chiefs could be 12-4 if it weren't for phantom pass interference calls - does that make the officiating crew frauds?

No no no. You got it all wrong. If the Chiefs win on Sunday it'll be because they beat up on an injured Ravens team and a weeping Ed Reed who just lost his brother.

The Ravens will still be hottest team in the NFL (same way the Chargers are still the best in the division, even though they lost the division) and the Chiefs will still be frauds (Do any of these idiots know how to use the word fraud? :facepalm: ).

I offer this only in the interest of illumination, without a hint of argument, rebuttal or reprisal.

But the fraud issue isn't about how great this season has been or our record or anything of that nature. It's about whether or not we've actually progressed much at all towards being a good team.
And this season has made this difficult to assess in at least two glaring ways; the nearly unprecedented weakness of our schedule, and the egregious in-Conference blowouts we've endured.

We've had much to enjoy, and team fitness is a promising, as are any number if 'intangibles,' but we have no idea if, objectively, we're all that much better than the team that took the field in September of 2009.

To his credit, Haley has been up front about this, more realistic than 'some people around here' ;), and these remarks aren't about him or the team, wrt them having bloated egos.

Typical response from Chiefplanet's attention whore.

Dude. They won 4 games last year, some of them to very bad teams. 2 Games the year prior to that.

It's not easy to win in the NFL. They've obviously improved. Bowe has improved. Cassel has improved. The Protection has improved. The entire defense has improved. This team is much better.

Im not sure how anyone can watch these games and not see that, regardless of who they played. Last year, the Chiefs wouldn't have had 10 wins with this schedule.

Yeah, they're the weakest team in the AFC playoffs. Sure, they have a long way to go. but they won the AFC West and deserve to be there.

Both the Chargers and Raiders failed. If our schedule was so easy, then why did the almighty powerhouse, SB favorite chargers fall to teams like the Rams & Seahawks? Because it's not that easy, no matter who you play. The Chiefs showed up and did their job.

If the Chargers had squeaked into the playoffs, no one would say shit about their soft schedule.

So why does it have to be such an issue in regards to the Chiefs? It's BS.

Haters gonna hate.

Time will tell.

I don't know why the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders lose to shitty teams but still piss pound the shit out of us. The single inexorable answer is NOT that we're unambiguously obviously improved.

Match ups. Plain and simple. IMO, aside from the elite, there are no "better teams" in the NFL.

It's about who matches up with who.

The Raiders are designed to smash the other three teams in the AFC West. The Raiders are big, physical, mauling. They have a great "man" corner.

The Chiefs are smaller and have a more finesse running game. Their D-Line is a match up problem for our O-Line. Same goes for the other side of the ball.

The Broncos are in the same boat as us in regards to the Raiders.

The Chargers are a finesse team even though they're also a big team. Mentally, they're soft. That's why they fold in bad weather and fold against physical teams.


When we play the Chargers, it's another match up nightmare for the Chiefs on D. They're too big, too fast, too vertical. Until we get a good NT and another OLB, we'll always struggle against SD.