Why Weren't the '09 Chiefs a Candidate for Instant Turnaround?

This team won’t win many games this year or next if the O-line doesn’t improve.

1) brutal schedule The fins had it easy compared to this year’s Chiefs team
2) instability in the roster and schemes… moves needed to be made, but it would have been nice to have the roster set before camp, allowing for some continuity
3) lack of a running game… the Fins established the wildcat and 2 solid RB, which allowed them to move the ball and be a dangerous offense, despite a mediocre passing game… Chiefs… not so much, as of yet

Cant really include the dolphins in the turnaround teams anymore either since now its easy to see its a mirage.

Might sound ridiculous, but these next 3 games before the bye are very winnable givin the circumstances going on this season. Got home vs Romeo, at Wash and home vs Chargers who wont have jamal williams, maybe even Merriman and LT by then. These next 3 weeks will definitely tell where this teams going. LETS GO BOYS Gotta have Arrowhead rockin this weekend!

help us

Those teams sold out on Free Agents and played cakewalk schedules. Our O-Line is the biggest issue by itself though…

Are also heavily veteran laden and are not nearly a young as we are…

I don’t buy that Miami had a quick turnaround because of an easy schedule, which I am sick and tired of hearing. Easy schedule means nothing in the NFL, you have to win the games on your schedule regardless of who they are. Plus winning in an Uber-competitive AFC east was HUGE for a 1-15 team especially with 2 games against an 18-1 team.

I think it is a 3-prong reason related to the offence. There is a bad O-Line, with a combination of poor playcalling and no Tony Gonzalez. No one is debating that the O-Line is pisspoor and most realize this should have been dealt with in the draft. Green Bay showed us last night that a team will struggle without a good O-Line but they still moved the ball very well against the Vikings Defense (better playcalling – quick slants and screens etc). Finally Tony. I think this is a better team with Tony on it, if no other reason, it gives Matt Cassel a legitamite 3rd down target. It’s been debated over and over the TG trade but with a young team struggling to learn how to win, you can’t discount having a guy like that on the team…no future 2nd round draft pick can replace that.

its because each new regime inherited the third most important position in all of football: a pass rusher. The Dolphins transition to the 3-4 was actually good for the short run in that they had Joey Porter on their team. They had good value for picking Jake Long #1 overall and their current left tackle excelled at right tackle. Having bookend tackles and a dominant pass rusher will bring more stability to a franchise than you will ever know. I think if Hali progresses and we get the bookends we will be dramatically different. Also, Atlanta had a lot more talent than it seemed. Their disastrous season was the result of the Vick situation and an inept coach who quit in the middle of the freaking season!

this situation is unique compared to the other situations. i would argue that our roster from 1-53 isn’t as talented as atlanta’s or miami’s in ‘07. there’s no doubt we’ve had a tough schedule. there’s no doubt our head coach is learning as he goes and making some mistakes. there’s no doubt we didn’t add a bunch of talent to our roster in the offseason. there’s no doubt our team is going through the growing pains of learning different systems on offense and defense. the short answer is it’s a bunch of things

I didn’t expect much from this team. There were serious questions about the talent level, very little veteran leadership, and the most key veterans didn’t seem to want to stay around. And this was BEFORE Pioli came in.

Vermeil made his turnaround look more difficult than it was. There were already a lot of solid players on the team and you knew who they were. And they weren’t running for the exits, either. His biggest problem was trying to put a new offense into place and keeping the defense together. He ultimately succeeded very well at the first, failed at the latter.

Marty’s turn around was a piece of cake. It was pretty clear the team had loads of talent and just needed a good coach, a new QB and a game plan. Marty came in saying he expected to be making a push for the playoffs his first season, and he did.

The one most similar to this one was Levy’s. Very little talent to work with. Some aging veterans rapidly bailing out (in today’s game they would be asking for a trade like Tony G). Marv built a foundation of Defense, Special teams, and running game. And it didn’t happen overnight. Marv made some mistakes so it took longer than it should have.

This team looked like the one Marv got so I was ready for a tough season. Just looking for the team to get better through the season. Special teams are really improved. Defense still making mistakes. I expect the offense to get it together before the D at this point.

So no, I didn’t really have high expectations. I didn’t think they were likely to be able to turn it around like Atlanta or Miami did. I had one post when I said they’d win 8, but that was in response to the 4 horsemen of the apocolypse commenters and not a real expectation.

My apologies for the length of the post.

    I’ve been a Chiefs fan since the mid seventies. (I was a Vikings fan before that (not real football anymore when it’s in a dome!) and yes, I rooted against the Chiefs when they won their only Superbowl.) I have watched the organization go thru its up and downs. I am not particularly excited with the teams progress thus far but truely feel that most of the problem lies in the following:

A) The poor attitude shown towards the Chiefs organization the end of last year by then current "stars" put a "bad taste in players mouths" possibly causing Better quality free agents to skip the Chiefs for other teams.

B) The late arrival in all aspects the new management team (Pioli/Haley/assembly of the Coaching Staff)

C) The depleted level of talent as well as the extreme youth on the team when the new management arrived.

D) Additionally, all our "stars" wanted out. This was compounded by the ill timed comments and actions from the new managment staff.

E) The slow methodical way in which every aspect of the team/previous assistant coaches/scouting staffs etc. was analized including late major changes to the coaching staff (Not that this was bad, just added to the "being behind the 8 ball" problem with the team).

     If you add this all up it makes complete sense (to me anyway) why we are not having any success on the field. I still belive that, using Haleys "you play the season in quarters" mentality, the Chiefs will continue to see improvement and that this in turn will diffuse the "Toxic" atmosphere in the locker room. By improvement I’m saying we could finish this year 5-11 (1-3, 2-2, 2-2 by quarters).

     Quite honestly I believe, given the rest of this year to stabilize the orginization, this team as a whole (with a few changes) will be much improved next year at this time. In fact, we all may be very excited with the outlook for post-season play this time next year!

Trading away Tony G and Jared Allen and getting nothing in return but draft picks that turn out to be complete busts (cottam, charles, albert)