Back in the Saddle Again

I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again
I’m back
I’m back in the saddle again

Ridin’ into town alone
By the light of the moon
I’m looking for ole’ Sukie Jones
She crazy horse saloon
Barkeep gimme a drink
That’s when she caught my eye
She turned to give me a wink
That’d make a grown man cry

– Back in Saddle Again, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry, 1977

So there I was, sitting at home, minding my own business, when out of the blue I get an email from my old friend, Ladner “Laddie” Morse.

“I started a new Chiefs site,” he says. “We’re actually getting a lot of traffic and if you’re not currently writing for anybody, I’d love to have you on board.”

This was a dream come true. I love writing about my Kansas City Chiefs and I feel like I have a good voice and a lot of things to say. When I used to write for another popular Chiefs blog, my long form pieces were some of the most read, ever. I do my research and my homework on every piece I write and I somehow manage to remain as objective as possible which is truly amazing considering my — sometimes blind — devotion to this team we all love.

And what perfect timing to join a new site! It’s the start of a new season. The Chiefs are just now packing and getting ready to head north from Kansas City to St. Joseph, Missouri and begin their own renewed journey for the 2016 season.

The Chiefs look to pick up this season right where they left off, with hopefully a few tweaks, much like I look to pick up my blogging career. If you have counted the days in the offseason by how many beers you’ve drank since the Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs this past January, let me give you a quick recap on the Chiefs’ season past.

During this time last year, there was a sense of hope in the air. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2014, pundits near and far were saying that the Chiefs had a real shot at not only winning the AFC West, but being a sleeper Super Bowl contender. As the preseason drew to an end, those predictions were looking pretty sharp as the Chiefs didn’t lose a single preseason game. To add to the mystique, the stat was thrown out repeatedly that the last time the Chiefs went undefeated in preseason, they won Super Bowl IV.

As opening Sunday drew to a close, the freight train that was the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs didn’t seem to be slowing down as they steam rolled the Houston Texans. But that’s where the train seemed to derail.

Thanks to a couple of uncharacteristic –and untimely– turn overs by Chiefs star running back Jamaal Charles and quarterback Alex Smith, the team dropped a prime time game against division rivals, and ultimate Super Bowl 50 champions, the Denver Broncos. That loss put the Chiefs into a tailspin that developed into a full fledged free fall from which not even Maverick would have been able to eject from.

The Chiefs dropped their next four games in a row to the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Minnesota Vikings, putting their record following Week Six at an abysmal 1-5 and effectively dashing all hopes of the playoffs, AFC West championship or a Super Bowl appearance. After all, the stat was repeated at least 120 million times, that only two teams in the history of the National Football League had ever made the playoffs after starting the season 1-5. Add the fact that Charles was lost for the season during the Bears game to a torn ACL, and all all hope seemed to have disappeared. Chiefs Twitter was a mess and every single person talking about football had all but written them off.

Then, in Week Seven, the Chiefs did something they hadn’t done since the opening Sunday. They managed to put some plays together and eek out a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The following week during their appearance at Wembley Stadium in London, they trounced the Detroit Lions by laying a 45-burger. After the Bye Week, it was much of the same. The train was picking up steam. By the time Week 12 rolled around, the Chiefs had drawn even at 5-5 and were playing the Buffalo Bills which seemed to be a rivalry game. In what was a back-and-forth slug-fest, the Chiefs pulled out all stops and saw Smith connect with first-year Chiefs receiver Jeremy Maclin for 160 yards and a huge 41-yard touchdown.

The Chiefs didn’t ease off the gas and, in fact, mashed it down as they rolled over the Broncos and were directly responsible of the benching of future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning. By the time the playoffs rolled around, expectations for the most unlikely of teams to be in the playoffs were high. Of course, the narrative heading into “Wildcard Weekend” was the fact that the Chiefs hadn’t won a playoff game since the beginning of the first Bill Clinton administration and the quarterback at the time was another cast-off San Francisco 49er named Joe Montana.

That all came to an end against the team the Chiefs started their season against. From the opening kickoff, in which returner Knile Davis took back 108 yards for a touchdown, to the closing whistle, the Chiefs were intent on ending the 21-year post season drought in Kansas City. They succeeded. Though the following week ended their historic 12-in-a-row winning streak as they fell to the Patriots, it was a successful season.

As the memories of the 2015 season fade and the 2016 season is upon us, the optimism renews. All the major pieces of the Chiefs historic run are still in place this year. Smith is now in his fourth year of the head coach Andy Reid offensive system, and knows the scheme as well as he knows his own name. He’s had a full year with Maclin and big-time play maker, tight end Travis Kelce is ready for a huge season. Charles returns, presumably healed from his ACL tear and ready to maintain his five yards per rush statistic he’s maintained through his career.

We’re all ready for the season, and nobody more than me. I hope you join me for “The Direct Snap” as I break down games and storylines this season.

I promise to be informative, entertaining and it should be a helluva ride. Let’s saddle up. Go Chiefs!