FanPost

It all comes down to Denver!


Hi all, lets cut right to the chase shall we? I think we all to one degree or another feel our Chiefs are not getting the respect we feel they have earned by being unbeaten through nine weeks. The media by and large still talk as if we are only 9-0 because we have faced a slew of losing teams. But you knew that right? Its not as if they are denying we are historically improved from last season and are almost definitely playoff bound. But they aren't giving us any real respect either and lets face it, most folks still feel the SB goes through Denver. Well I say 'rightly so' to those folks. See, we fans tend to only look at the here and now. The rush of being 9-0. But lets put this into perspective so we can better understand where this doubt is coming from.

Take the curious case of the NE Patriots. Here is a team that is 7-2, a worse record than ours I might add. A team that has already lost in their own division. A team whose offense didn't score a single touchdown against the Bengals. A team whose rookie receivers have looked horrible at times, running wrong routes and dropping balls. A team whose QB has a balloon for a throwing hand. But stunningly, no one cared about any of that going into week nine did they? No one seemed to notice that this team has been struggling offensively (until yesterday). Last week, Brady threw for just over a hundred yards and had a much worse day than Alex Smith did, but no one even seemed to notice.

Then there's Seattle. A team with surprisingly little offensive output this season. A team that like us, keeps winning by the seat of their pants, especially against teams with losing records. A team whose offense has done JUST enough to win games, relying instead on their SB calibre defense to bail them out time and again.

This is the same team that very nearly and probably should have lost to the Rams with Kellen Clemens at the helm. Oh, but their clutch defense made a heroic goal line stand to win that game didn't they? Their offense managed to score just 14 points that game, yet no one condemned the Hawks for winning that game on the strength of their defense against a back up QB did they? Isn't this the very same defense who let the Texans gain a 20-0 advantage in week 4, only to snatch victory back from Houston at the very last second as Richard Sherman picked off an errant pass from Matt Schaub and returned it for a pic six to seal the game. (And didn't they win in OT against a supposedly inferior Bucs team this weekend).

But surprise, surprise; no one is throwing stones at either of those two teams are they? In fact, I have not heard a single commentary from anyone worried because the Seahawks are winning primarily with defense this season, have you? Oh and believe me, the NE faithful (which includes 90% of the media) all believe that Belichek and Brady can still walk on water and heal the sick; no doubters there. In fact, both teams continue to be in the discussion for SB contenders, every week, (or so it seems) ad nauseam. So then, just why is it that even though we are winning to the tune of 9-0 this season, no one wants to sign off on us as a legitimate SB contender? One word - HISTORY!

Lets flip the coin shall we? Just imagine if this year Cleveland was 9-0 or the Jets were 7-2. And lets suppose those teams had also played the same strength of schedule we have this season. Do you think there would still be doubters? Of course there would. And with good reason, the same reason people are still doubting us; its called HISTORY. You can't blame the doubters out there, because for 40 years we have been at home watching the SB and playoffs along with our team because we always find a way to lose the big games, just like the Jets and the Browns.

We aren't going to win over America by having one good season beating up on losing teams who were forced to start their backup QBs against us due to injury. Worse yet, some of the QBs we have faced took their first ever NFL snaps against us and looked pretty good doing it. So no matter what has happened thus far, it is still going to take time to win over peoples hearts and mind.

Add to that the fact that we have a great HC, who for all his success is often portrayed as comparable to a Marty Schottenheimer for always being the brides maid but never a bride. I think when you look at the big picture through other peoples eyes its not a stretch to say all this skepticism is well deserved. We've earned it with decades of mediocrity. For outsiders, its not just about this season, its about our modus operandi year in and year out.

So I guess the bigger question is; whats it going to take to change peoples minds about our Chiefs this season? Well, in my opinion we have to win at least one game against the Broncos, be it in Arrowhead or Mile High, makes no difference as long as we win. If we can knock off the Broncos, we will quiet those doubters once and for all this season. In two weeks we have a chance to control our own destiny, we have a chance to claim what is ours. But until then, we are going to have to deal with all the doubters of our team regardless of our record, because in the end; it all comes down to Denver.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.