Kendall Gammon

It's been a season that no one could have predicted. Some brought on by the Chiefs themselves? Arguably so. The fact remains that very rarely, if ever, do you lose your top two quaterbacks before the midseason point. As fans, I understand your frustration. The fact also remains, however, that it is a rebuilding year(s). It's not for the faint of heart. It sounds good to talk about it in the off season, but it's quite another.
It would be my contention that the Chiefs haven't hit bottom quite yet. This is not to jump on them. It just seems to me that with Tyler Thigpen at QB, we are in for some bumps. Natural growing pains. I'm more concerned with the D and how, or if, the Chiefs stop the run. To me, that's the answer to "where do they go from here?".

The Chiefs performance against the Carolina Panthers was not good. Being a former player, I typically try to find as much positive as I can. In this case, the plane landed safely back on the ground in KC Sunday evening. That's the only positive I can find.
While this was truly a disappointing performance, the season continues. All that was gained in the Denver win was thrown away in this loss. The only thing the Chiefs can do is continue to develop the younger players. It's in this that losses like Carolina will be around as well as wins like Denver. The one true calling card of a young team is inconsistency. How this team responds, not only vs the Titans, but the remaining year will go a long way towards finding out what kind of players the Chiefs have, both mentally and physically.

Two weeks ago it was doomsday. The Chiefs could not beat a college team. This week the Chiefs beat the Broncos who are 3-0 and considered to have one of the best offensive attacks in the league. So which one is it?
I would submit to you it is neither. The Chiefs are certainly not as bad as they showed against Atlanta and most likely won't consistently play at the level they played against Denver. The key word is consistent. The Chiefs have to strive to play solid football week in and week out. While I don't think we'll see any more performances like that against Atlanta, there is the very real possibility of the team that beat Denver like a drum to show up more often. Fans just have to realize that it's a young team and it is a process. Look for the development.
Offensively, Larry seems to be back. I credit that to Larry of course, the offensive line and the coaching staff. They have found a way to get Larry not only in a rhythm but the ball in his hands where he feels comfortable.
Defensively, the Chiefs are young. It's one thing to be young and not play well. It's quite another to be the Chiefs of Sunday where at times, there were 4 rookies in and the oldest player on the field was in his fifth year. That's something to not only watch, but be excited about.
One quarter of the season is over. In my eyes, the development that the Chiefs have made in those 4 games is very impressive. Do you book your Super Bowl hotel yet? No, but you also don't expect to have that first pick in the draft anymore either. Stay tuned.

Atlanta has come and gone and now Denver rides into town. Certainly this season has not went how the Chiefs would envision it. I've been on teams like this before where a win seems like a mile away. In my previous words, I talked about the season being a marathon. That may actually describe the distance away from a win. With so QB position unsettled, so too is everything else. It's what drives a team in my opinion. Conversely, however, the linebacker position on defense drives the team as well, and the Chiefs are not getting the play needed at this point. Is it there? Do they have the ability? Only time will tell, but the lack of tackles and play making to this point shine light on a weakness. What will ultimately come into play in my opinion is pride. Will the Chiefs figure out what they need to do. Quite possibly they may need to play above what they are capable of on a consistent basis to get a tally on the correct side of the column.

Certainly no one will debate that Sunday's performance by the Chiefs was not a work of art. It may not even qualify as fingerpainting. But as a former player, I can tell you this. Whether the Chiefs are 0-2, or 2-0, the season still goes on. It's a marathon and we've just barely left the starting blocks. There is still much to learn about this collection of players, and that's just what they are right now, a collection of players. But they will develop, hopefully sooner than later. They will become a team. You really can't become a team until you go through things like they are going through now. I know from my years in the league that this is truly when you find out what players are made of. Who the leaders are. Who will step up both on the field and off. I see some veterans stepping up, just as they should, but I'm most interested to see what young Chiefs decides they are the one, or ones, to help turn it around. This most important aspect is something only time will tell. Stay tuned, they're barely to mile two of the 26 mile race.

It’s been said that you must crawl before you walk. But what does that really mean? For a child, it’s simply is what it is. For an NFL football team, it’s so much different however. The Chiefs included. So why is it difficult? Let’s examine.
Coming off a season in which almost no one was satisfied outside of the Chiefs opponents, talk of “retooling” or “rebuilding” was implemented, and rightly so. It was time to infuse youth into an aging franchise. In a sense, it was time to crawl again. With many veterans let go, and younger players added in what was termed a top notch draft by both the informed and uninformed, came excitement, again, rightly so. How could fans not be excited about Glenn Dorsey and Brandon Albert. About Brandon Flowers stepping in, acting, and more importantly performing, like he belongs. Former Longhorn Jamaal Charles darting all over the place and helping take defensive keys away from Larry. A defensive front that employs one rookie, two second year players and former number one pick Tamba Hali the veteran of the group in his 3rd year. I could go on and on, but it all comes back to the same thought. For the most part, the Chiefs have young players with productive veterans scattered in.
But as I said earlier, you have to crawl before you walk. There will be times that things don’t go exactly as Chiefs fans would like. Were we all impressed with how Brandon Albert played on opening day against beast like Richard Seymour with little more than a week of actual practice? This from a kid who hadn’t even played tackle before. Of course, how could you not be. But make no mistake. He will go through some rough times. Especially at left tackle. For that matter, they all will.
The same can be said for others, and not just the rookies. 2nd and 3rd year players are still just that, 2nd and 3rd year players. Their performance is more consistent we hope, but they are developing as well. As a former team mate of future hall of famer Tony Gonzalez, I can tell you that he is still developing. He’s always working to get better, both before and after practice. He seems to never be satisfied. So what does that have to do with the youth of the team? More than anything a coach can ever say. He’s teaching through his actions. Those around him take notice. They realize that it takes work and dedication. He doesn’t work hard to just learn how to do it right, he works hard in the thought of never doing it wrong.
When a child learns to walk, there are a lot of falls before he masters it. Often, it will look like he has perfected the task, only to stub his toe and fall again. This analogy can be pushed to that of a young NFL team. They may start slow, but as they gain experience and knowledge, so too, they gain confidence. If a child was never given the chance to actually practice walking in real time, then when you put him on his feet when he was one and a half, there is no way he would just start going. The wait would have only retarded his progress. The only way to get experience, is to get experience. It’s a process. The main difference though is, when a little kid falls, we look at him or her and smile. We realize it’s just part of the process. Certainly the NFL is a business, and much is expected of players getting paid very well for what they do. The fact remains that it is a process. A parent looks for progress in the process of learning to walk. Fans should look for progress as well.

Opening day is upon us. I experienced 15 of them, and each one was special. Do I remember them all? Of course not, I've been hit in the head too many times. But I do remember the 1st and I do remember the last. And while I don't specifically remember all in between, I remember the feeling. How special it was. How hard I had worked. The off season. Camp. The sacrifices.
Those are the feeling that many Chiefs will have this Sunday in New England. It's a special time, whether it's your first or fifteenth.
After the luster wears off, for me it was usually when I got my block knocked off for the first time in the game, it is then still "a game", and the object is to win.
I've been with Herm in this situation before. Nobody expects you to win, so how are you going to react? It's my thought that this young Chiefs team has the correct thoughts in mind. If you really have nothing to lose, then there is no pressure. Go up and let it loose. Take what was taught in this long off season and camp and let in transfer to the field. Will Rome fall? We won't know until Sunday, but I'm looking forward to watching a young team start the journey to find themselves and what their about.