Philly Crushes KC, 34-14

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel is sandwiched by three Philadelphia Eagle defenders.

By James Sullivan

Chiefs Coalition Columnist

     Three down and 13 to go.  After the Kansas City Chiefs 34-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles not much positive can be taken from such a humiliating loss.

     The usual suspects reared their ugly head again in Philly on Sunday.  We know them all to well even though this is only the third game of the season in what is quickly becoming the ongoing saga of the worst team in the AFC and perhaps the NFL. 

      Too many penalties, zero third down conversions and opponents out gaining the Chiefs by more than a 2:1 margin in total net yards. All signs of a team not even close to producing a winning effort.  Speaking of a winning effort, the Detroit Lions won on Sunday beating the Washington Redskins, 19-14.  The Lions had lost 19 games in a row and had only won 1 of their last 26 games. 

      Why do I bring up comparisons to the Lions? 

      Quite simple really, compared side-by-side to the Chiefs, the Lions represent a team with a clear direction and a plan that has been carried out in sensible and orderly manner since the departure of former general manager Matt Millen.  The same can not be said of the Chiefs. 

      The Lions and Chiefs both made the wise move of putting a football man in charge of the football operations and letting a business man run the business side of operations.  That is really where the similarities end. 

      Millen's replacement, Martin Mayhew, brought in former Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who hired two coordinators with previous head coaching experience.  He chose former Rams head coach Scott Linehan to run the offense and former Chiefs head coach and two-time defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham to run the defense.

       Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt brought in Scott Pioli and his many Super Bowl rings from the New England Patriots to run the football operations.  Pioli hired former Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley to be the head coach.  Haley retained offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and brought with him from Arizona defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. 

       While both are first time head coaches, Schwartz has the ability to draw upon the knowledge of the men he hired.  He can learn from both men's success and failures as head coaches.  Haley fired Gailey shortly before the beginning of the regular season and assumed the play calling duties. The results for the Chiefs have been painful to watch.  Would Gailey had done a better job?

        Doubtful considering the lack of talent on offense for the Chiefs.  Time will tell, but as a rookie head coach Haley has clearly been in over his head through three games.       

        The right side of the Chiefs offensive line is the most exploitable unit in the entire NFL.  Opposing defenses will have a field day making Chief offensive linemen look like turnstiles until they can prove to the league that they are not.

        What did the Chiefs powers that be do to improve the right side of the offensive line during the off season?

        Next to nothing would be the correct answer.  They brought in an over-the-hill Mike Goff to play right guard.  They didn't address right tackle until the fifth round of the draft by selecting Colin Brown from Mizzou, who is on the in jured reserve.   After realizing the error of their ways they swung a trade with the Miami Dolphins in the preseason for two offensive linemen, guard Andy Alleman and tackle Ikechuku Ndukwe.  These moves make the little boy who stuck his finger in the dike to stop the flood look like a stroke of genius.

        Meanwhile, the Lions selected quarterback Matt Stafford with the first pick in the draft.  They added what every quarterback needs with their next pick and that is a big sure-handed tight end in Brandon Pettigrew. 

        The Chiefs decided to take yet another defensive lineman, Tyson Jackson, with the third pick in the draft.  Their third top ten draft pick spent on the defensive line this decade. Of course Piloi isn't on the hook for the first two.  However, in the minds of Chief fans the thought of, "Oh no, here we go again!" couldn't help but arise.

        With their second pick in the draft the Chiefs traded it to the New England Patriots for quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel.  What did they do to surround Cassel with talent?

        They traded future Hall of Fame tight end and Kansas City icon Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons for a second round pick in next year's draft.  Yikes!  Good luck, Cassel, here's a $60 million contract to help ease the pain of the beating you're going to take this season.

        Sure three games don't make a season and it maybe too early to fairly judge either team but if past performance is an indicator of future returns the Chiefs may join the Lions as the only teams to go 0-16.

yahoosports.com contributed to this story and AP contributed the photo