Regular Season Wrap-Up (One Game Early)

by TuckAndRoll Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:33 am

The second half of the Chiefs season has certainly not been as rewarding as the first. But still, the majority of the games have been extremely entertaining and the Chiefs have remained highly competitive.

The losses to San Diego and Denver all took place in hard fought slugfests in which the Chiefs were in the game until the very end. So there was nothing to be overly concerned about in those losses. Sure, it hurt to lose, but for the most part, the losses were the result of being outplayed by a better team on that day. In those games, the Chiefs represented themselves quite well and had no reason to hang their heads in the end.

I have no problem admitting that the Broncos are probably a little bit better then the Chiefs this season. And San Diego has also been very competitive. That San Diego game was an exhilarating offensive battle that left me breathless in the end. And I'm expecting to see just about the same kind of game again this coming Sunday. The Chiefs and the Chargers really match up well with each other this season.

Now this last loss to the Colts was positively the most disheartening one of the season. It'll be interesting to see how the Chiefs respond. This is where team leadership needs to show what it's made of. Andy Reid has plenty of experience in this area and I expect he knows how to get his players to respond. But no doubt, this will be a real test for the whole team and especially Alex Smith.

After a roller coaster ride on 49er teams where there were never consecutive seasons of their offense having the same design because of the carousel of offensive coordinators, Smith was never really afforded the chance to become the clear, team leader that QB's are expected to be. In fact, his role as the starting QB was constantly in question.

I think with the style of coaching that Andy Reid brings to the Chiefs, Smith can likely and finally have the confidence to be that guy that the rest of the team respects and relies on. Confidence is the number one psychological attribute that a competitive athlete must have in order to realize consistent success.

The Chiefs need to make a statement in this last regular season game and show the rest of the league that they are for real!