Matt Cassel attempts to escape the Giants with their rooster...and a win at Arrowhead?

The Chiefs don’t have enough talent. This much is obvious. They also have a brutally difficult first half schedule. Teams like the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys are not going to take pity on the Chiefs anymore than the Titans or Panthers did last season. Unfortunately that is exactly what last weeks game looked like. It looked like the Titans game from 08 and there is a very good chance that this week’s game against the Giants will be just as bad.

I don’t care what the Giants say to the media, they are coming to Arrowhead to destroy the Chiefs. The Giants can say they respect the Chiefs all they want but don’t be fooled; they expect to demolish Kansas City. That is likely what will happen Sunday. You should prepare yourself for that. It doesn’t mean that the Chiefs will never get better. It doesn’t even mean they won’t get better this season. It just means that the Giants are way more advanced than the Chiefs at this point and it is likely to show. Temper your expectations and gear up for another dose of reality this weekend.

Ok? Expectations tempered? Good. Exhale and remember this before you log in on Sunday after the game and start screaming about the sky falling, Pioli being the Anti Christ and Haley being Jack the Ripper. Remember this before you start swearing at each other during the game threat and attack on another in the post game threads. We root for the same team here. Now that our expectations are realistic, after the jump I will provide some things I think the Chiefs can do to take a few steps forward this Sunday and possibly even win.

The Chiefs need to get mean.

That is something I have noticed watching them play the last three weeks. The Chiefs don’t look like a team that thinks they can win. They don’t look like a team that thinks they can dominate their opponent. Right now, the Chiefs look like a team that is trying to win. They need a killer instinct.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the Browns beating the 4-0 Giants last year. I watched that game. It was a perfect storm for the Browns. The team had mortgaged the future on last season. Embolden by their 10-win season the year before the Browns were trying to win now. Jobs were on the line and things were not going well. There were high expectations in Cleveland (for once) and the team was not living up to them. On the flip side, the Giants were riding high at 4-0. The Browns got the upset. Don’t expect this to happen for the Chiefs. They are in a much different situation than the Browns were last season.

What the Chiefs need to do is smack the Giants in the mouth. Last year the Browns beat the Giants because the believed they had to win. The Chiefs are only going to beat the Giants if they believe they can win. The Chiefs performance against Baltimore was that of a team that believed it could win. They carried that same intensity into the Oakland game. They made some mistakes but the offense moved the ball down field and scored when it counted. They believed they could do it. The Oakland loss was more crushing to the teams mindset than the loss to Baltimore. The Chiefs know they should have won by at least two touchdowns and they blew it. They are beginning to doubt themselves and it showed in the Eagles game.

Todd Haley and the Chiefs need to get mean. They need to come out against NY and attack, attack, attack. Todd Haley said that his team would have to win ugly. That may be true but he has to stop telling them that. At this point he needs to tell the team he believes in them and that he knows they can do it. He needs to back this up with his play calling. The Chiefs need to throw down field. He needs to tell his O-Line that he is going to attack and they are going to protect Matt Cassel. The Chiefs D needs protect the middle of the field. Haley should offer a bonus to the player who lays the hardest hit over the middle and to the first guy to get a sack. They need to surprise the Giants with their toughness, get them backpedaling and never look back. Frustration will lead to mistakes and mistakes are what the Chiefs need to win.

It is time for the Chiefs to stop trying not to lose and to start expecting to win.