It's fitting that the Kansas City Chiefs GM has identified the quarterback and the oldest offensive lineman as leaders on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaking to Roger Twibell of 610 Sports this week, Scott Pioli talked about (what else) progress with the 2009 Chiefs.
"I see he (Matt Cassel) and Brian Waters as the leaders. And in those situations I was talking about, those two really stepped up for the offense and made sure the other nine players continued to play hard when we came back against the Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars and the game against Pittsburgh."
The Chiefs played a tight game with all three of those playoff contending teams. However, like the 2008 Chiefs, it's been and up-and-down season. After a momentum shifting win against Pittsburgh, Pioli acknowledged the four-turnover, 28 point debacle against the Chargers.
"There were two steps forward then one big step back with last week's game," he said.
The Chiefs are in a nice position the next three weeks, all of which are home games. However, a quirk in the schedule has the Chiefs next three opponents coming off of a Thursday night game, meaning they'll have three extra days of rest.
Pioli said that everyone in the building sees progress. Those three games he mentioned could be positive signs for the future but the goal remains the same.
"At the end of the day we need to start winning some football games."