Chiefs still eyeing postseason at 3-5

[Eleazar]

Chiefs still eyeing postseason at 3-5


KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cue the old tape of former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora Sr. talking after a poor performance by his team, and asked about the potential for postseason play.

"Playoffs? Don't talk to me about playoffs," Mora bellowed. "You kidding me. Playoffs?"

In most seasons, those words could have been used to describe the situation surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs (3-5). Only a few weeks ago after losing five consecutive games, the Chiefs stood 1-5 and thinking about the postseason was folly.

But below undefeated New England, Denver and Cincinnati, the AFC is a pool of mediocrity and after stringing together two victories heading into their bye week, the Chiefs are only one game out of the conference's second wildcard spot.

Andy Reid is not the type of NFL head coach who will screech like Mora when talking to the media about his team's future. The theme is always the same: more hard work is needed.

"There's things we can get better at," Reid said. "We're not nearly as good as we possibly can be, so we've got to keep working. That's the challenge for all of us, players and coaches.

"We can all improve and get better, there's plenty to see on tape for that to learn from."

The Chiefs' two-game winning streak came against a Pittsburgh team without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a Detroit club that will compete over the second-half of the 2015 season for the first selection of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Still, all that is meaningless when a team is trying to end a long losing streak and return to a projected role as a contender.

Whether Kansas City has returned to that point will be seen over the next five games, with four of those in the AFC West and three on the road.

Ahead are trips to Denver and San Diego, then a weekend at home against Buffalo, before a trip to Oakland. By the time November turns to December, everyone will have a much better handle on exactly what the Chiefs can make of this season.

According to STATS, 280 teams started 3-5 in NFL history; 15 rallied to make the playoffs.

The Chiefs franchise has started the season 3-5 six times before this season, and did not make the playoffs in any of those years (1961, 1974, 1976, 1985, 1989 and 2004.) Only the '89 team finished the year with a winning record at 8-7-1.

Translation: no matter the quality of the conference, they have a long road ahead of them if they want to play into January.

"I feel like the confidence has always been there," tight end Travis Kelce said of the locker room vibe. "It's just going out there and doing it. Obviously, we have had some mixed pieces in the offensive line, and at wide out.

"In the beginning we had some guys banged up. But no excuses to that. The teams we played definitely came to play and kudos to them. But at the same time, we have a confidence in that locker room."

Kelce mentioned "mixed pieces" along the Chiefs offensive line and without a doubt that's where they have struggled to perform. In eight games, they've had five different starting groups, with only rookie center Mitch Morse playing in his spot for all games.

The Chiefs have one of the bottom four pass protection units in the league, allowing 29 sacks in 299 passing plays. Quarterback Alex Smith has been bruised and battered, starting the season with three interceptions in the first three games.

Smith now has gone five games without throwing it to the other team, and overall in the last five games the Chiefs have only two giveaways.

Defensively, Kansas City has picked up the pace in forcing turnovers. In the first four games, the Chiefs had only three takeaways, but have generated eight in the four most recent games.

The Chiefs are plus-three in the turnover ratio, and there are only seven teams with higher plus ratio.

As with most NFL teams, the Chiefs have dealt with their share of injuries, losing their No. 1 offensive weapon when running back Jamaal Charles tore the ACL in his right knee.

Kansas City also lost Phillip Gaines to a torn ACL; he was one of the club's top three cornerbacks. Offensive line injuries have slowed that group's development.

Still, here they are, sitting 3-5 and they can realistically say they are still in the race for a spot in the postseason.

"I think they've just stuck together," Reid said. "You've seen young guys get better. ... We've probably got more young guys playing for us than anybody in the league and they've continually gotten better.

"They've had the veteran support there, in a positive way for them. And then some of the guys that were banged up or sick they've continued to get better every week. That's important."

Reid never outwardly reached for the panic button when the club couldn't win a game. There were no coaching staff changes, and with the exception of the offensive line, there was little in the way of changes to the starting lineup. He feels everybody stepped up their performance, especially the guys in the locker room.

"The players have upped it," Reid said. "Not that you're not going to get beat every once in a while; that happens in his league. We're playing against good players. Best in the world, right? So, they keep battling. They're not letting things get them down at all."

http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2...3581446674565/

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by tk13

I don't think either side of this team is playing at a championship level. I wouldn't expect us to make the playoffs. But that said, I don't think people realize how terrible the AFC is. There might literally be 3 good teams out of 16. And one of those has a worse playoff drought than the Chiefs, and the other has a QB with a noodle arm when he gets into cold weather. Although Denver's defense is so good, it'll give them a legit shot.

With the Colts being a disaster off the field, and Luck having broken ribs, the AFC South might be wide open. I don't think people realize Houston is tied for 1st and Jax is a half game back. Whoever gets that #5 seed might be legitimately favored in that game against the AFC South.

That #5 seed right now is Oakland. The same people complaining about how the Chiefs shouldn't try to win are going to be the same people moaning about how Oakland won another playoff game before the Chiefs in two months.

I think the defense is playing at a playoff-caliber level. They've allowed a net of 11, 16, 13 and 10 over the past four weeks. Obviously those teams were buns, but you can only play the guys on your schedule.

Actually, the defense played rather well in all games this year except GB and Cinci.

[TLO]

GO CHEFUS

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

But think about all those comp picks!!!!!

Well, I was the one who pushed for comp picks two years ago and I'm glad we did that. But this year is different. There is no reason for us to compete for comp picks in a year where we'll have so much cap space going into next year.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I think the defense is playing at a playoff-caliber level. They've allowed a net of 11, 16, 13 and 10 over the past four weeks. Obviously those teams were buns, but you can only play the guys on your schedule.

Actually, the defense played rather well in all games this year except GB and Cinci.

They've been good but not great. I don't chalk Denver up as a good game. As soon as we had a 14 point lead and they were on the ropes, Manning marched right down the field and got them back into the game. Then they had a 7 point lead late and let Manning march right down the field again to tie it. They had multiple chances to shut the door in that game, at home, and couldn't.

They didn't get any help from the offense against the Bears but the did have a big 4th quarter lead. If they could've gotten just one more stop we would've won that game. I think they've played closer to playoff caliber the last couple weeks though, for sure. Going to have to carry that over against Manning and Rivers coming up, for sure.

[Gravedigger]

If you beat Denver, in Denver, then I'll start to believe it's possible, because that is your last major challenge and the perfect game to raise your confidence.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Gravedigger

If you beat Denver, in Denver, then I'll start to believe it's possible, because that is your last major challenge and the perfect game to raise your confidence.

Not wise thinking because IF the Chiefs do that, then they'll go out and lose to the Chargers at Arrowhead or something - Because Chiefs!

As Chiefs fans, we KNOW the deal. ANd the deal is that terrible Bears defeat is a separate "Because Chiefs loss", and won't count as any kind of a demoralizing loss to a suck team, that we can say occurred as a "Because Chiefs equalizer" for beating a good team. Nope, IF they beat Denver in Denver, then a totally separate CRUSHING "Because- Chiefs - loss" to another suck ass team will follow as soon as we start to believe...


Because Chiefs

[Rain Man]

They'll make the playoffs. They've got momentum on their side, and they're gelling. It just took them a few weeks to get into the groove.

[Mile High Mania]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

The Raiders have the Steelers this weekend. Who do we root for?

The Raiders have the Steelers then the Vikings. Then they have a favorable three game stretch including teams like the Lions, Titans, and Chiefs. That's followed by the Broncos and Packers in back to back weeks. Then they close out the season against SD and KC.

Even with the emergence of the Raiders we do seem to have one of the more favorable back end schedules of any playoff hopeful. It's a shame we dug ourselves such a deep hole to start.

It's going to be interesting with 3 of the next 4 on the road.

@ Broncos / @ Chargers / Bills / @ Raiders
then
Chargers / @ Ravens / Browns / Raiders

All against AFC teams ... 5 within the Division and KC is 1 behind Oakland.

Gotta find your way to a 3-2 record in the division, beat two of the Ravens, Bills and Browns.

That gets you to 9 wins and likely in the dance.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

They'll make the playoffs. They've got momentum on their side, and they're gelling. It just took them a few weeks to get into the groove.

It took them a few weeks of losing to teams over .500 (and the Bears) before getting back to playing backup QBs and teams at/under .500.

[The Franchise]

We've beaten Hoyer, Landry Jones and the shitty Lions. Playoffs here we come!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

We've beaten Hoyer, Landry Jones and the shitty Lions. Playoffs here we come!

You mean JJ Watt, Calvin Johnson, and Ben Roethlisberger.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

You mean JJ Watt, Calvin Johnson, and Ben Roethlisberger.

2 out of 3 right isn't bad.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

You mean JJ Watt, Calvin Johnson, and Ben Roethlisberger.

No. Big Ben did not play...

[RunKC]

I think 7-9 is pretty realistic, which would put us around 12-14 in the draft.

We would have to trade into the top 5 for a QB, so the price would be steep.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Here's where I am. It's a long shot, but if ever there was a team by trend and schedule primed for a long shot, it's this one this year. Talented team. Easy tail of schedule, finally starting to show signs of initial promise.

I'd love to buy this story but I disagree with all of it.

We have a fuddle-butt HC, craptastic O line, a defense that only shows up when you roll the dice the right way, and a QB that can save or sink the game on any given play.