Crennel's captaining a sinking ship right now. (US Presswire) |
The streak -- an ignominious one to say the least -- is now at eight games. The Chiefs hadn't led a single regular-season minute leading into this game, and after getting drubbed 31-13 by the Chargers on Thursday, they're eight games in and the prospect for holding a lead anytime soon doesn't look good.
Thursday night's loss was their third straight game with less than 20 points and their fifth straight loss. They lost three fumbles; one by Dwayne Bowe after a pass, one by Matt Cassel in his own end zone and one by Dexter McCluster on a meaningless punt return. They scored one touchdown -- a garbage-time run by Shaun Draughn. They misused Jamaal Charles before he left with a "neck injury" -- 12 carries? Really? They ran play action in their own end zone.
They actually did a good job of hanging with the Chargers, largely in part to a Philip Rivers interception right before the half, and were only down 10-6 heading into the fourth quarter. But then the implosion came, and it came quickly. The Chargers marched down and Rivers hit Malcom Floyd for a touchdown pass. Two plays later, Cassel was sacked by Shaun Phillips, fumbled and the Bolts scored a touchdown. Seven players later, Cassel was picked to the house by Demorrio Williams.
But you can read the box score. It was a train wreck. Let Ryan Succop sum things up with this bizarre jig of an onsides kick that didn't work:
It's not that the kick was that bad. It's just that the idea of a triple-deke onsides saving your skin in a game where you're down 18 points is just so perfectly encapsulating of this team and this offense right now. It's a dumpster fire and it's burning bright for the first pick in the draft.
Yes, other teams can make an argument for "worst team in the NFL," but Kansas City has yet to even truly go into the crevace. Two games with Denver remain and in Week 10 the Chiefs have to play an offense run by Todd Haley, who they unceremoniously canned last year. If you think Ben Roethlisberger might stop throwing in Pittsburgh next week, you have another think coming.
It's going to get uglier before it gets better, Chiefs fans, and I'm sorry. You don't deserve this and it's not fair. There will be an early-round draft pick and there will be expectations of finding a franchise quarterback with that new pick, which will likely be made by a new general manager, likely with input from a new head coach.
So maybe there's a bright side to all of this after all.
For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed watch Pro Football 360 daily at 3 p.m. ET and NFL newsletter. You can follow Will Brinson on Twitter here: @willbrinson.