Thoughts going into the bye.

[Direckshun]

This is a connected thought, concerning the team's hardheadedness when it comes to personnel early on. It is a trend with this team under Reid.

They will roll with some variations of their Week 1 roster for much of the early season on both sides of the ball, before letting the best talent eventually win out by the time November wraps up. I remember this being a trend on the offensive line early on in the Reid tenure, during the Alex Smith era.

I think it serves dual purposes. First of all, I think it buys you all kinds of cred with the locker room and the veterans on the team. Allowing the usually-older talent to wither on the vine on the field every October while the more dynamic talent sprinkles in good play and eventually takes the reins buys a lot more credibility with the locker room than people may think, which has got to be one of the reasons the Chiefs have routinely had outstanding locker rooms and have never once had a younger talent vs. older talent factions in the locker room. The vets know Reid is giving them every chance to earn their job.

I also think having the slower trigger finger provides the coaching staff the security that they're not moving on too fast and that they really are phasing out ineffective players, and not players who may have slumped for a few games but still can lock down their positions over the course of a season.

I do agree, though, that the early play this season should still saddle Spags with blame. His personnel situations early one were abominable. His adjustments since then have legend-potential, and I'm not kidding. Both things can be true.