2016 K.C. Chiefs: Why They Win

2016 K.C. Chiefs: Why They Win

The 2016 Kansas City Chiefs are winners. Yep, I know that you know that but, do you know why? While I’m sure we could debate an array of popular reasons for their success so far this season, as so many national pundits ineffectively attempt to do — with great frequency, I might add — some aspects revealing who this team is, their inner make-up and what makes them tick, is actually well known and documeted. Here, we’ll follow some of those clues and connect the dots to shine a light on… why they win.

Success Leaves Clues

Philanthropist, motivational coach and author of books like “Unlimited Power,” and “Unleash the Power Within and Awaken the Giant Within,” Tony Robbins has long been one of my favorites. One of his quotes that this year’s Chiefs remind me of is, “Success leaves clues.” Here’s what Robbins has to say in his own words,

“Long ago, I realized that success leaves clues, and that people who produce outstanding results do specific things to create those results. I believed that if I precisely duplicated the actions of others, I could reproduce the same quality of results that they had.”

When we compare this idea of “believing you can have success by following the clues” and plug in the Chiefs 2016 axiom — or we should say way of life — that says, “Next man up” it’s no wonder we’ve seen little, to no, drop off in performance when the front line players are injured. When Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson went down with an Achilles injury on Thursday night you could almost hear the collective groan of the millions of Chiefs fans as if to say, “Here we go again” but that’s not what was going on, on the field. Alex Smith said, seeing DJ go down affected him as did others on the team, but as we’ve also heard, other said, it was time for someone else to “step up.”

Playing with that kind of confidence… where does that come from. I beleive the leadership and locker room encourage it and nurture it.

Think about it: on defense, since opening day the Chiefs have played without, Justin Houston, Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey, Jaye Howard, Dee Ford, Tamba Hali, Phillip Gaines, Marcus Peters, Steven Nelson, DJ White for parts of the season and I’m sure I’m missing someone else. Now, ask yourself what the strength of this team is? It’s the defense. Many will say in response to that, “Give John Dorsey credit” or some words to that effect. I won’t suggest that he doesn’t deserve credit but that’s not really the reason this defense has excelled. Some will say, “Bob Sutton has done a great job” and while I won’t argue there either it’s not the bottom line reason the defense is still considered one of the best in the league. The reasons? It’s because the players who have stepped in have done so believing full well that they could perform as well themselves… and not as a comparison to their predecessors… but because they’ve seen their predecessors do it: how to prepare, how to study, how to train, what to do on game day. In other words… they followed the bread crumbs.

You can call it confidence if you want. I say that success leaves clues: the way the front line players on the Chiefs defense have prepared has rubbed off on their understudies and they have not only filled in admirably but in some cases, as with Dee Ford for Justin Houston, come out on top (just think back to the opinion we had of Dee Ford in September).

Do gm John Dorsey or Bob Sutton deserve credit for bringing those players in or training and advancing them? Of course, but it’s those players who have gone down the rabbit hole. 

Over-achievers or Overcomers

Some will say that these 2016 Chiefs are a bunch of over-achievers. It would be far closer to the truth to say they are a bunch of overcomers. Think about each of the following players and what they have had to deal with to get to where they are this year.

QB Alex Smith– the Chiefs are his second team, he was once the second choice to Colin Kaepernick, and he’s had to face the game manager moniker

WR/KR Tyreek Hill– woman beater (Danan Hughes said this week that he’s never heard an Arrowhead crowd chant a player’s name but, that’s exactly what they did for Hill Thursday night).

RB #1 Spencer Ware– drafted, released, then signed by the Chiefs.

LT Eric Fisher– stigma of 1st player taken, first offseason injury and slow progress

Players Claimed Off Waivers- Ron Parker (K.C. is his 4th team after three different stints with Seattle) Jaye Howard (drafted in the 4th round, released by Seattle).

Drafted-Released-Resigned-Improved– Ramik Wilson, Rakeem Nunez-Roches,.

UDFAs– players who overcame not being drafted: Albert Wilson, Chardandrick West, Tyler Bray.

ILB Derrick Johnson– after spending the 2014 season recovering from an Achilles injury he has returned to Pro Bowl form and set the Chiefs all-time tackles record.

OLB Tamba Hali– we’ve spent the offseason wondering if Hali would be the same and while he’s overcoming bone-on-bone knees, when he plays, he’s effective.

TE Travis Kelce– spent his rookie year on IR. has been the second best TE in team history ever since.

S Daniel Sorenson– started his career with fans thinking he’s nothing but a body in camp. Now, he’s not nothing, that’s for sure. Did a very good job filling in as ILB for DJ on Thursday.

CB Terrance Mitchell– 4th team, two stints with Dallas and if I was handing out game balls for Thursday vs the Raiders, he’d get one. He could end up being “the” complement CB to Marcus Peters on the other side that Phillip Gaines has been unable to fulfill consistently.

Eric Berry– Eric Berry is the epitome of what overcoming is all about. His bout with and victory over Hodgkins Lymphoma can’t be comprehended by the common fan. I once had a heart attack in the classroom, 10 years ago this month, and although I awaken each day and say thank you for another day, and another chance to live, it’s hard for me to imagine the one-year walk through death’s valley that this man long-suffered through and ascended from. It’s hard for me to even look at him and not reverence him. That this man envisions winning football games… speaks it into reality… and then goes out and does it… for him, that must seem like a piece of cake.

HC Andy Reid– it’s no small coincidence that the Kansas City Chiefs is the second team Reid has led, (much like Bill Belichick, widely considered the best Head Coach in the NFL). However, Andy Reid has also overcome the loss of one of his sons, Garrett, to a heroin overdose. In a statement the Reid family released about Garrett’s death and struggle with addiction they said, “He will… always have our family’s love and respect for the courage he showed in trying to overcome it.” Andy Reid has a special perspective and appreciation for those who show the ability to “overcome.”

These Kansas City Chiefs Are Littered in Greatness

I remember thinking on Thursday evening, towards the beginning of the game, that as they began to announce the Chiefs defensive line-up, that they were stocked full of great players. TV Announcer Al Micheals said, “There’s a lot of big names on that defense” so let’s take a look.

When you have over half of your defense filled with players who are Pro Bowl quality players, no one should be asking, “Gee, I wonder why they’re winning?”

I ran track in High school many years ago. I lived in Southern California at the time and the high school I ran track for was the best team in the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) and consequently, even though I’d run 52.2 seconds in the 440-yard dash, I couldn’t even “Letter” on a team loaded with good athletes. There was this one teammate we had who was what I’d call a true “competitor.” No matter how fast you ran, he’d always run a little bit faster than you and he just couldn’t allow you to win. Now, I understand that this kind of athlete is what we call an “Ego Performance Goal setter.” That can work a lot of times until you come up against someone, as this guy did in the Southern California Finals. This is not exclusively what’s going on with the Chiefs… from my point of view.

The Chiefs are filled with players who are also known as Mastery Goal setters. Those who achieve this way,

“…participate in the activity with the goal of getting better, improving ourselves (but not necessarily in competition with others – just improving our own objective performance), and literally developing a sense of mastery over the task.”

What’s of note here is that these two types of goal setters (or achievers) are not mutually exclusive. In other words, it looks like the Chiefs do and say everything off the field that would show they are into “mastery” while doing just enough to beat whoever they are playing against, which is often related to “ego” performance.

Winning as a Tradition

Whatever the reason(s) are, the 2016 Kansas City Chiefs have not only been winning but look like the kind of team that has, figured it out. They are 10-and-3 this year and ended last season 11-and-1 which makes them 21-and-4 in their past 25 games. That’s an .840 winning percentage. I don’t know how many teams have ever accomplished that… but it’s obvious this team has established that they know what it takes to win… and win, they do.

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