<table> </table> Brodie Croyle has been waiting for this day for more than eight months.</p><p>It&#8217;s his chance to prove himself and show that last year&#8217;s 0-6 record as a starter is behind him.</p><p>What could he do in the meantime? In those eight months, he has been sized up and dressed down, measured and charted, surrounded by support from his coaches and smothered in doubt by observers. Now, it&#8217;s Croyle&#8217;s show. The time has come to see what the third-year Chiefs quarterback can do with Kansas City&#8217;s future on his shoulders.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of a good spot to be in. Nobody expects that much from us,&#8221; Croyle said. &#8220;We&#8217;re just going to go out there and win the football game and prove them wrong.&#8221;</p><p>So he&#8217;s got the confidence thing down. After all, the Chiefs&#8217; opponent today will be the New England Patriots, who went 18-1 last year and reached the Super Bowl, breaking several offensive records along the way. Croyle knows the Patriots&#8217; story, but he has said for months that he was not intimidated by any team or situation. He would look you in the eye when he said he barely remembered that the Chiefs lost all six of those games last year.</p><p>Coach Herm Edwards started to notice the spike in the 25-year-old Croyle&#8217;s confidence and maturity during the offseason. Croyle kept showing up, and that was important to the coach. He was there early and working out late, catching a few eyefuls of film between repetitions and bites, anything to add a few pounds to that 206-pound body.</p><p>Edwards said he watched Croyle, during the offseason, go from a greenhorn to a quarterback the coach said he felt comfortable with for the long haul.</p><p>&#8220;He just needs some success,&#8221; the coach said. &#8220;It&#8217;ll come. He&#8217;ll have his day. But you can&#8217;t really worry about that; he&#8217;s got to go play and do all the little things right.&#8221;</p><p>Croyle said he did not think much about last year&#8217;s losing streak, the one that could merge into this year&#8217;s losing streak if the Chiefs don&#8217;t upset the Patriots, who were more than two-touchdown favorites. Croyle said that instead, he had worked quietly and gained his teammates&#8217; trust, and when that first victory happened, he would enjoy that just as quietly.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to have a big confetti thing or anything,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;ll be fun to win a game, but there won&#8217;t be a big party or anything.&#8221;</p><p>In the Chiefs&#8217; case, perhaps the party planning would be more memorable than the event itself. While Croyle was busy showing up, Kansas City was busy trying to tailor an offense that protected Croyle and played to his strengths. First-year coordinator Chan Gailey&#8217;s scheme is simpler, and most times, Croyle&#8217;s biggest responsibility will be stuffing the ball between Larry Johnson&#8217;s arms and moving out of the way. When Croyle does pass, he has a new left tackle, Branden Albert, there to help cut down on the 17 times in nine games Croyle was sacked last year.</p><p>All Croyle has to worry about is being the quarterback, not becoming or staying the quarterback, which is what he dealt with last year &#8212; on top of the rest of the turmoil that comes with a 4-12 season. With Croyle&#8217;s job security came more responsibility, such as coaches allowing Croyle to change plays at the line of scrimmage. He said that didn&#8217;t happen last year.</p><p>He said this season could be a lot different.</p><p>&#8220;I feel comfortable with anything we call,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Croyle has had eight months to think about this day. Eight months of the preparation and questions, and now all that matters is whether he can handle all the Chiefs have put on him.</p><p>There wasn&#8217;t time to gauge Croyle during the preseason. Now, there&#8217;s nothing but time.</p><p>&#8220;We want to play some games that count and see where we&#8217;re at,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have a good first test.&#8221;