Chiefs Mellinger: Chiefs take first step in exorcising old demons of the past - Page 3

Deberg_1990 · 09-08-2013, 06:22 PM

Bravo. Great column.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The happiest locker room in the NFL is Tamba Hali teasing Justin Houston about making too many sacks.

“C’mon, Fifty,” Hali says, addressing Houston by his jersey number. “You’re leaving me behind already?”

Houston laughs, slaps his leg, does his best aw-shucks and says something about only wanting to get one.
“Yeah, well, you got one,” Hali says. “And then you got three.”

The Chiefs linebackers laugh again. Houston is putting on a T-shirt, which reminds Hali of an eased dress code for what might be the franchise’s happiest flight home in three years. They are winners again, finally, a 28-2 beatdown of the Jaguars here that looked an awful lot like so many of their sorry performances last year — only from the other sideline. What a change.

What a needed change.

Hali is done teasing Houston now but not done joking. He starts talking about the game, one of the Chiefs’ most dominating performances in years, and says the dexterity he showed on an interception he returned for a touchdown comes from the piano lessons he’s been taking.

That’s not the real story, of course. He knows piano has nothing to do with why the Chiefs’ locker room has gone from the feeling of a weekly funeral last year to something closer to a birthday party at the moment.

So Hali starts going through the reasons. Some players who are no longer here. Some who are new and can’t remember a 2012 season so dreadful that a 2-14 record doesn’t do the misery justice. Virtually every major decision made within the organization over the last nine months has been an effort to put as much space as possible between last year’s shame and this year’s potential.

“Especially the head coach,” Hali says. “His staff, they’re tremendous. It’s just, that feeling, the losing, I don’t want to feel it anymore. Especially for me. I’ve been here too long. That same old, ‘We lost, man, we just couldn’t win.’ Uh-huh. No more.”

The Chiefs did more than start their new existence with a win. Their quarterback was efficient and mistake free. Their trend of dangerous punt returns continued from the preseason. And their defense was so dominant they should roll over and smoke a cigarette.

But if you know the Chiefs, you know that this was bigger than any of that. More important than just winning the season opener, or executing in all phases, or whatever coach-speak cliché you want to apply.

This was an exorcism of sorts.

Old demons gone.

In each of the last two season openers, the Chiefs were the ones getting blown out. For virtually all of last season, the Chiefs were the ones throwing stupid interceptions and missing tackles on special teams and going all fetal-position when the other team drove into the red zone.

The Jaguars are an NFL team in only the most technical sense, so any grand proclamations about the Chiefs should include that qualifier, but that’s also sort of the point: last year, the Chiefs were only an NFL team in the most technical sense.

It’s nice to be back among the competitive, and as much as the Chiefs have spent the last nine months or so pretending 2012 never happened, well, it did. The only way to really bury those memories is to do what the Chiefs did here on Sunday.

“You try to put it in your past, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Houston says. “All we can do now is try to use it as motivation.”

This Chiefs season is about forgetting last year. That’s why chairman Clark Hunt fired his head coach and fired his general manager and restructured the way everyone worked.

And it’s why those inside the team are trying to accentuate those differences, talking much more about having 29 new players on the 53-man roster than having mostly the same nucleus.

It’s an interesting study when you look at it that way, and so far it is an unmitigated success. Gone is the bend-but-don’t-break defensive philosophy that too often bent and broke. Gone is the need to gameplan around a quarterback without discernible strengths. Gone is the general atmosphere of paranoia, both in the front office and pockets of the locker room.

No more Todd Haley telling TV cameras “we did too many of the things that get you beat,” and no more Romeo Crennel standing behind a lectern saying he doesn’t know what happened. At the most basic level, these New Chiefs are competent, which is a welcomed change.

They are innovative on offense, using Jamaal Charles as a receiver and gameplanning around quarterback Alex Smith’s accuracy and brain. They are aggressive on defense, often lining up more attackers than the offense can block. And they are reinvigorated, convinced now that they can show they’re not the bumbling embarrassment of the last two seasons.

At least that’s the hope, and for a season opener, they couldn’t have done much better — no matter the competition.

“People are not going to forget about (last year),” says receiver Junior Hemingway. “I mean, we can sit here and say (it). But you have to go out there and do it.”

As much as anything said in that very different Chiefs locker room, Hemingway’s words make perfect sense. At least they did to me. This is the first in a 16-step process of putting a real nightmare into the past.

I was thinking about his words on my way back to the press box to write this column when a stadium employee caught my eye.

“Here’s your story,” he said. “They suck, they suck, they suck, they suck.”

He was talking about the Jaguars, of course. I smiled. For so long, he would’ve been talking about the Chiefs.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/08...#storylink=cpy

**the Talking Can** · 09-09-2013, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cochise

the Jags looked like the Pioli era Chiefs today, it was striking. At no time did they ever look like the belonged in the NFL. It was eerily familiar.

word

i watched the game with a jags fan...they looked exactly like we did last year (and like they did last year), helpless

Carlota69 · 09-09-2013, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InChiefsHell

Watching the Jags, I almost felt sorry for them. They are who we were. How many times did we look like a fuggin' circus act the last few seasons? A lot. That's what the Jags looked like.

Nice to get a win, but we basically beat the most pitiful excuse for a football team I've seen since...well, the 2012 Chiefs.

Good win to build on. Next week it's a whole other thing...

Yes, we beat The pitiful Jags, and yes they are horrible. But, they had the 2nd pick this past draft, WE HAD THE FIRST! We sucked more than them last year. But we beat the piss out of them this year and why? Because we are Improved. Coaching, FO and QB. Last year, we would of lost or barely pulled it out 6-2.

I love how, not you, I keep hearing " yeah but it's the Jags". Yeah, but we sucked more than them last year and now we no longer do. The first step to winning consistently is beating the teams you should be beating. We took that first step. And now, the fan base is hyped, the team is pumped, and maybe just maybe, Arrowhead will be the difference next week, and we win!

W may not go to the SB, but we have taken the right step towards being consistent winners, and that gives you a shot at the big prize.

Titty Meat · 09-09-2013, 07:34 AM

The new GM/coach has done wonders for the Jags. Good thing they drafted a tackle at #2

**buddha** · 09-09-2013, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlota69

Yes, we beat The pitiful Jags, and yes they are horrible. But, they had the 2nd pick this past draft, WE HAD THE FIRST! We sucked more than them last year. But we beat the piss out of them this year and why? Because we are Improved. Coaching, FO and QB. Last year, we would of lost or barely pulled it out 6-2.

I love how, not you, I keep hearing " yeah but it's the Jags". Yeah, but we sucked more than them last year and now we no longer do. The first step to winning consistently is beating the teams you should be beating. We took that first step. And now, the fan base is hyped, the team is pumped, and maybe just maybe, Arrowhead will be the difference next week, and we win!

W may not go to the SB, but we have taken the right step towards being consistent winners, and that gives you a shot at the big prize.

Whether you beat the Jags or the 49ers, it doesn't matter. They all count the same, and every NFL team can beat you on any given day. The douchebags on here who want to pretend otherwise need to go find something better to do with their lives. ...SERIOUSLY.

Marcellus · 09-09-2013, 08:35 AM

So anyone still worried about Fisher?

**loochy** · 09-09-2013, 08:36 AM

Oh, I thought this thread was about Beelzebub lifting weights of something

BlackHelicopters · 09-09-2013, 08:37 AM

We dominated JAX . Enjoy it while we can.

Imon Yourside · 09-09-2013, 08:46 AM

SUPABOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carlota69 · 09-09-2013, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buddha

Whether you beat the Jags or the 49ers, it doesn't matter. They all count the same, and every NFL team can beat you on any given day. The douchebags on here who want to pretend otherwise need to go find something better to do with their lives. ...SERIOUSLY.

So true.

O.city · 09-09-2013, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

So anyone still worried about Fisher?

Well, it's not as if he stonewalled great pass rushers all day, but he was better, which is what you want to see out of a rookie.

Omaha · 09-09-2013, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace

No. Your team, the Chiefs, beat DOWN the Jags.

While teams like the Steelers, Bengals, Ravens, Falcons got beat by teams they really shouldn't have.

You didn't just win, like by a field goal.

You completely dominated them in every facet of the game.

Its also a step in the right direction, and now next week, they will undress your lover Tony Homo. And also deliver win number two in our count down.

Yes. The Jags aren't a good team, but KC did what the were supposed to do. There was a HUGE difference in the way the team came out to play this week. The first few weeks of the past few seasons were pathetic. The team looked unmotivated and unprepared. The coaching was as bad as I've ever seen the last few years.

CoMoChief · 09-09-2013, 09:17 AM

There is still reason for concern. The offense was shut out the 2nd half....by the jags.

**HemiEd** · 09-09-2013, 09:25 AM

It is so much more fun to win, and it makes Mondays so much more tolerable.

Titty Meat · 09-09-2013, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

There is still reason for concern. The offense was shut out the 2nd half....by the jags.

Alright were going to be a great offense!

KChiefs1 · 09-09-2013, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrtonsPiercedTaint

"So Hali starts going through the reasons. Some players who are no longer here"

Go on...

Yeah I want names...we know Pioli, Romeo, Cassel, Winston, Routt,....who else?

09-08-2013, 06:22 PM
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $104454	Mellinger: Chiefs take first step in exorcising old demons of the past Bravo. Great column. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The happiest locker room in the NFL is Tamba Hali teasing Justin Houston about making too many sacks. “C’mon, Fifty,” Hali says, addressing Houston by his jersey number. “You’re leaving me behind already?” Houston laughs, slaps his leg, does his best aw-shucks and says something about only wanting to get one. “Yeah, well, you got one,” Hali says. “And then you got three.” The Chiefs linebackers laugh again. Houston is putting on a T-shirt, which reminds Hali of an eased dress code for what might be the franchise’s happiest flight home in three years. They are winners again, finally, a 28-2 beatdown of the Jaguars here that looked an awful lot like so many of their sorry performances last year — only from the other sideline. What a change. What a needed change. Hali is done teasing Houston now but not done joking. He starts talking about the game, one of the Chiefs’ most dominating performances in years, and says the dexterity he showed on an interception he returned for a touchdown comes from the piano lessons he’s been taking. That’s not the real story, of course. He knows piano has nothing to do with why the Chiefs’ locker room has gone from the feeling of a weekly funeral last year to something closer to a birthday party at the moment. So Hali starts going through the reasons. Some players who are no longer here. Some who are new and can’t remember a 2012 season so dreadful that a 2-14 record doesn’t do the misery justice. Virtually every major decision made within the organization over the last nine months has been an effort to put as much space as possible between last year’s shame and this year’s potential. “Especially the head coach,” Hali says. “His staff, they’re tremendous. It’s just, that feeling, the losing, I don’t want to feel it anymore. Especially for me. I’ve been here too long. That same old, ‘We lost, man, we just couldn’t win.’ Uh-huh. No more.” The Chiefs did more than start their new existence with a win. Their quarterback was efficient and mistake free. Their trend of dangerous punt returns continued from the preseason. And their defense was so dominant they should roll over and smoke a cigarette. But if you know the Chiefs, you know that this was bigger than any of that. More important than just winning the season opener, or executing in all phases, or whatever coach-speak cliché you want to apply. This was an exorcism of sorts. Old demons gone. In each of the last two season openers, the Chiefs were the ones getting blown out. For virtually all of last season, the Chiefs were the ones throwing stupid interceptions and missing tackles on special teams and going all fetal-position when the other team drove into the red zone. The Jaguars are an NFL team in only the most technical sense, so any grand proclamations about the Chiefs should include that qualifier, but that’s also sort of the point: last year, the Chiefs were only an NFL team in the most technical sense. It’s nice to be back among the competitive, and as much as the Chiefs have spent the last nine months or so pretending 2012 never happened, well, it did. The only way to really bury those memories is to do what the Chiefs did here on Sunday. “You try to put it in your past, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Houston says. “All we can do now is try to use it as motivation.” This Chiefs season is about forgetting last year. That’s why chairman Clark Hunt fired his head coach and fired his general manager and restructured the way everyone worked. And it’s why those inside the team are trying to accentuate those differences, talking much more about having 29 new players on the 53-man roster than having mostly the same nucleus. It’s an interesting study when you look at it that way, and so far it is an unmitigated success. Gone is the bend-but-don’t-break defensive philosophy that too often bent and broke. Gone is the need to gameplan around a quarterback without discernible strengths. Gone is the general atmosphere of paranoia, both in the front office and pockets of the locker room. No more Todd Haley telling TV cameras “we did too many of the things that get you beat,” and no more Romeo Crennel standing behind a lectern saying he doesn’t know what happened. At the most basic level, these New Chiefs are competent, which is a welcomed change. They are innovative on offense, using Jamaal Charles as a receiver and gameplanning around quarterback Alex Smith’s accuracy and brain. They are aggressive on defense, often lining up more attackers than the offense can block. And they are reinvigorated, convinced now that they can show they’re not the bumbling embarrassment of the last two seasons. At least that’s the hope, and for a season opener, they couldn’t have done much better — no matter the competition. “People are not going to forget about (last year),” says receiver Junior Hemingway. “I mean, we can sit here and say (it). But you have to go out there and do it.” As much as anything said in that very different Chiefs locker room, Hemingway’s words make perfect sense. At least they did to me. This is the first in a 16-step process of putting a real nightmare into the past. I was thinking about his words on my way back to the press box to write this column when a stadium employee caught my eye. “Here’s your story,” he said. “They suck, they suck, they suck, they suck.” He was talking about the Jaguars, of course. I smiled. For so long, he would’ve been talking about the Chiefs. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/08...#storylink=cpy
Posts: 68,677

09-09-2013, 07:34 AM	#33
Titty Meat Inmem 2.0 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: My house Casino cash: $-1182442	The new GM/coach has done wonders for the Jags. Good thing they drafted a tackle at #2
Posts: 78,151

09-09-2013, 08:35 AM	#35
Marcellus Diablo Negro Join Date: Sep 2003 Casino cash: $-497338	So anyone still worried about Fisher?
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09-09-2013, 08:36 AM	#36
loochy Hey Loochy, I'm hooome! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: PooPooKaKaPeePeeShire Casino cash: $-1749603	Oh, I thought this thread was about Beelzebub lifting weights of something __________________ Hey Loochy, I'm hoooome!
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09-09-2013, 08:37 AM	#37
BlackHelicopters Spiraling down the Drain Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Dante's Ninth Circle Casino cash: $-909412	We dominated JAX . Enjoy it while we can. __________________ "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator, but never think it applies to my family." "Fredo. You are my brother, and I love you. But never take sides against the Family again. Ever." 2019 Adopt a Chief - Travis Kelce #87
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09-09-2013, 08:46 AM	#38
Imon Yourside WhatUneed2Hear Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: AllSoulsMatter Casino cash: $-1046819	SUPABOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! __________________ "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" Peter 5:8 "Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay" Isaiah 29:16 "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20
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09-09-2013, 09:17 AM	#42
CoMoChief Mahomes Dynasty Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $7672254	There is still reason for concern. The offense was shut out the 2nd half....by the jags. __________________
Posts: 39,245

09-09-2013, 09:25 AM	#43
HemiEd Supporter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ozarks Casino cash: $-509436	It is so much more fun to win, and it makes Mondays so much more tolerable.
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