As the Kansas City Chiefs near the end of the 2009 regular season, the debate always creeps up.
Is it more important to win out or lose and improve draft position?
The Chiefs head coach would point to winning. He talked about creating a "winning mentality" throughout the organization.
"Winning breeds winning and there haven’t been a lot of positives to draw on this year," Todd Haley said. "It’s critical that we’re right on the guys that are going to be a part of a good team."
I tend to agree with this. Ultimately, I think winning out and ending the season on a positive note is more important than jumping from the sixth to third pick in the draft. As Haley points out, most of the Chiefs haven't won very much in the NFL so I think momentum means a little more to them.
"You could say to some of these guys who are significantly beat up that are fighting to play and practice and say, ‘we’re out of it, these games don’t mean a lot', he said. "I think it’s a mentality whether you have 14 wins, three wins or no wins. You have the mentality that it’s important to play, it’s important to go out and win."
The Bengals are actually playing for something but the Chiefs can only look for positives in each group.
"It’s an opportunity for us to have a positive experience and bounce back from a poor performance on defense and, offensively, I feel like we’re building a little momentum which gives us a chance to go against a very good defense, specifically run defense, and build on what we’re doing.”
Haley said he's talked to the team a lot about winning and creating a winning mentality. For the players on the team, I think they're only worried about the next two weeks. I imagine the Chiefs draft position isn't a top priority right now.
jmcgoblue offered up a FanPost the other day arguing the other side of this debate.