Posnanski: Chiefs’ rebuilding plan collapsed early

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs’ rebuilding plan collapsed early
By JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star

PHILADELPHIA | Here’s a little Chiefs talk after the World Series game was suspended:

One thing people in presidential politics talk about all the time is “narrative.” You need a narrative, a story, a theme for people to believe in. You are for change. You are a steady leader. You are for regular Americans. You have fresh ideas. You believe in making the country a better place for our children.

The Kansas City Chiefs have a narrative problem. The narrative of this season was supposed to be pretty simple, really. This season was about rebuilding. That was clear. The Chiefs, finally, were going to start over. They would unleash a bunch of eager and talented young players. They would play together. They would improve in exciting ways. They would be aggressive. Yes, there would be some mistakes. Sure, there would be some growing pains. True, the Chiefs would lose a lot of games this year.

But as long as the narrative stayed intact, everyone would have something to believe in.

Trouble is, the narrative has fallen apart. It began collapsing in the first game of the season when Brodie Croyle hurt his shoulder, went to the sideline, threw one warm-up pass and shook his head as if to say, “No, no, that hurts way too much.” At that point, it became clear that, even though it wasn’t his fault, Croyle’s body simply could not stand up to the NFL pounding. And the Chiefs did not have a quarterback of the future.

You cannot have a “We are rebuilding” narrative without a quarterback. It’s pointless. The biggest flaw of the Carl Peterson era, without a doubt, has been the Chiefs’ obvious lack of interest in developing a quarterback. For 19 years, the Chiefs were happy to play with other teams’ leftovers. Sometimes, those leftovers played pretty well. Sometimes, they didn’t. But it’s a simple fact that most Super Bowl champions draft and develop their own quarterback. The last five Super Bowl champions have.

The Chiefs decided to try it their own way. It won them some games. It did not get them close to the Super Bowl. Croyle was their effort to change things. He got hurt quickly.

So, the Chiefs had no young quarterback. That threw the rebuilding thing out the window. Then, their most accomplished player, tight end Tony Gonzalez, asked for a trade. You could not blame Gonzalez for wanting out of this mess, and it seemed as if few Chiefs fans did blame him. Gonzalez has played with the Chiefs his whole career. He signed two long-term deals even though there were probably riches and greater fame somewhere else. He represented the city well, he was involved in numerous charities, he played hard every game.

Still, let’s face it, he was asking to be traded in the middle of the season — and that certainly did not fit the “We’re all in this together” part of the narrative. Peterson agreed to try to trade Gonzalez, which was a big mistake. Peterson then failed to trade Gonzalez, which was a much, much bigger mistake. Now, no matter what anyone says, there’s a real rift here, a rift that will only grow as the season goes along. The Chiefs are losing. Gonzalez feels as if he was lied to. Everyone in the locker room watches closely.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ most expensive player, Larry Johnson, is lost. He has been charged with assault, again, fourth incident in five years, and he’s been inactive the last two weeks, he’s staring smack into an NFL suspension (probably a pretty significant one). No matter how you may feel about Johnson’s apology, it’s very clear that the Chiefs made a huge blunder giving him a big contract. A year ago, Larry Johnson was the centerpiece of the Chiefs’ future. Now, he might not even be a part of it.

So, now that part of the narrative has gone bad, too.

What’s left? Well, at least the Chiefs will be aggressive. Right? Not so much. The Chiefs finally saw something good happen on Sunday. Young quarterback Tyler Thigpen, against all expectations (including those of his own teammates), played very well. He threw confidently, he showed off his athletic ability, it was fun to watch. Hey, maybe the guy’s got something after all.

And … I thought Jason’s column on Monday nailed it. The Chiefs led the New York Jets by three points on Sunday with 5 minutes and 20 seconds left, and they promptly ran three running plays. It was unbelievable — I was sitting in the press box before the World Series game, watching the game with jaw dropped.

Sure, coach Herm Edwards has a reputation for being absurdly conservative, and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey isn’t exactly Mr. Vegas himself, but it was impossible to believe that a 1-5 team playing on the road would not try at least one pass in an effort to get a first down. They did not try one, though. Like dead men walking, they ran into the line three times, punted the ball back to Brett Favre and sealed their own doom.

That same day, the Chiefs confirmed that they are close to signing retired quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who hasn’t played well (or much) since 2004. What good is Daunte Culpepper going to bring to the Chiefs? Is this guy part of the future? Can you really claim to be rebuilding when you have Daunte Culpepper at quarterback?

No. You can’t. The Chiefs went into this season, and everyone was willing to deal with some pain for some improvement. Instead, the new narrative is that the Chiefs are trying to get better with a 19-year general manager who has a losing record over the last 11, a coach who plays not to lose the game, an inactive running back, an unhappy tight end, a defense that can’t stop the run, possibly a quarterback who retired at the beginning of the year and an owner who thinks everything’s going well.

You have to wonder who approved that message.