Chiefs 5-5, Fighting For The Division Lead

I'm not usually a big fan of the coulda, shoulda, woulda mentality, but I have a hard time not thinking about what could have, should have and would have happened if the Chiefs took care of business in week 2 against Oakland and in the week 5 overtime game against the Cowboys.

If the Chiefs would have won those games, they would be right in the mix with San Diego and Denver and these next few weeks would be HUGE stepping stones for one of the leagues youngest ball clubs.

Week 2
The Chiefs massacred the Raiders on the stat sheet with 409 yards to their 166 and 59 of those came on the Raiders final drive. Larry Johnson had his 2nd best performance of the season with 78 yards Rushing. Who knows what Jamal Charles would have been able to do (I'm guessing twice that.) Dantrell Savage was playing ahead of Jamal at that point and Jamal wasn't even active. Bobby Engram was our slot receiver, as Lance Long wasn't on the team yet. Neither was Chris Chambers or Leonard Pope, both huge play makers in Sundays win against the Steelers. To top it all off, our leading tackler was Tank Tyler who now plays for the Panthers. You can argue that these aren't even the same football teams. Chiefs should have won that game.

Week 5
Maybe the best drive of the season with Matt Cassel taking the offense the distance of the field to send it to overtime. The Chiefs made a huge stop in OT to get the ball back and had actually moved the ball to the 46 yard line when the play was negated because of a holding call and the Chiefs never rebounded. The Cowboys allowed the game to be as close as it was with numerous dropped passes, fumbles and penalties. There is no way that today's Chiefs don't win against the sloppy play that the Cowboys displayed. Maurice Leggett gave up the huge plays to Miles Austin that turned him into a house hold name. Guess what? Maurice Legget is a safety now! LJ carried the ball 21 times for 37 yards! That is not a typo.

The Point
As these teams that we were playing had an identity, we were finding ours. As they went to their proven players, we were waiting for one of ours to step up. When they did what they knew worked for them, we were still trying to find out what worked for us. From the coaching staff to the kicker, the Kansas City Chiefs were a project in the making. Even in the Jacksonville game 3 weeks ago, it took 3 quarters to find a rhythm on offense. I have full confidence that the Chiefs can now win these games that slipped through their fingers. So instead of looking at this team as the 3-7 rebuilding project, look at this team as the new and improved Chiefs with a new identity, that should be in the mix for a late season run. That's how they look at themselves folks.