Mellinger Minutes: Mahomes, Chiefs’ defense, Earl Thomas, Mondesi and, um, more Mahomes

By Sam Mellinger

Updated September 25, 2018 10:40 AM

The tendency is to think about what can go wrong, because this is sports, and this is Kansas City, and usually when the two connect the ending always hurts.

Patrick Mahomes is the new star. He is the star of the league right now, but locally that’s felt with even more intensity because of the specifics — no quarterback drafted in the first round since 1983, lots of efficient-but-boring backups in the years since, and a sinking feeling that even a paper cut can turn fatal because there’s not enough to cover it up.

The possibilities start to stack, and now three games into 2018 it’s obvious this is happening faster than even the Chiefs thought. Mahomes’ worst game so far is either the time he threw for 314 yards, three touchdowns, did this, and had 35 points at halftime or it’s the time he threw four touchdowns, including a sidearm fastball through traffic to Tyreek Hill and a perfectly placed floater to his fullback on a wheel route and won AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

He really is this good, and even with the setbacks that are sure to come — he’ll have a game with three interceptions, at some point, and he remains unlikely to play the next two decades without even playing from behind — it’s obvious that Kansas City has a new star.

That makes the mind uncomfortable, doesn’t it?

You get protective, and a little anxious, because you know this can’t last forever. Little things you even expected start to become more worrisome. The defense, the line, the lack of points in the second half. Nothing is ever perfect, and when your quarterback is doing all of this, you want everything around him to be perfect.

But there’s another side to this, too.

Mahomes means time. His presence here means the Chiefs have time to build around him, and fans have time to enjoy it. There is no telling how this goes, but accounting for age and money there might not be a team out there that wouldn’t trade quarterbacks.

This is essentially the answer to every talk show, every bar stool conversation, every fan who’s left Arrowhead angry in the last half century — all with funky hair and a raspy twang and an arm that’s good for 70 yards while getting hit.

Nobody can tell you how to be a fan, and if you’re worried about how this might go wrong, well, nobody can blame you for that.

But we all spend way too much time watching and obsessing over sports for moments just like this, and if you’re not open to everything that might happen now — the franchise’s highest highs, and amplified failures — then what’s the point?

This week’s eating recommendation is the pad thai at Thai Spice, and the reading recommendation is the Toronto Star going undercover as ticket scalpers and being offered help from Ticketmaster.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Are the Chiefs still going 8-8 per your prediction? </p>— J_SON (@jason___michael) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason___michael/status/1044237667381256197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Yeah, probably not.

This is bonkers. Patrick Mahomes was not supposed to be this good, this soon. The expectation was that he’d need to be broken down a bit and then built back up. Neutered, even. To recalibrate the risk-reward calculus, logically you’d expect the spectacular to at least be momentarily paused.

But that is very, very, very, very, very much not what’s happened.

Now, some of this is circumstance. Mahomes is running with a tailwind. Quarterbacks are playing in the NFL’s version of baseball’s steroid era, with numbers so inflated they force a reconsideration of the difference between bad and good, between great and elite.

Six quarterbacks are completing more than 70 percent of their passes. Thirteen have touchdown-to-interception ratios of at least 3:1. Eleven are averaging eight yards or more per attempt, and Kirk Cousins is 12th with a 99.8 passer rating.

Mahomes has the league’s best personal situation, too. The Chiefs finished sixth in points and fourth in yards last year and got better at each of their top three receiver spots — Tyreek Hill is improving his footwork and routes, Sammy Watkins is on a big free agent deal, and Chris Conley (last year’s No. 2, now the No. 3) is healthy.

I wish I saw all this coming. Obviously, I thought Mahomes was going to be a star. But I didn’t think it would happen this quickly and this overwhelmingly.

I also figured the defense would be more of a problem. And that might still happen, as we’ll talk about.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking at the state of the AFC, its by no means a given, but who out there scares you? It used to be Pitt, or NE, but they aren't the same. For the chiefs is it, if not now, when? How long does the window remain open?</p>— Andrew Corrao (@penguinxcrossin) <a href="https://twitter.com/penguinxcrossin/status/1044303723730796544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

You guys, I get it. The Patriots are 1-2, and looked awful against the Lions. The Steelers are a mess, and you probably don’t believe in the Dolphins or Bengals.

But, don’t we do this every year with the Patriots? Don’t we always write them off, or talk about how This Is The Year, and eventually that’ll be correct but can we wait until October at least?

The Dolphins are No. 1 in DVOA defense, the Bengals could be good, and the Jags are probably the best balanced team in the conference.

But, mostly, I’d urge you all to not make sweeping assumptions in September. The NFL is the most popular sports league in the country in large part because everyone has a chance, and everything you think is true this week will be a lie next week, so please, enjoy this as it comes but understand how much is left.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’ll ask the first Mahomes question then. How much do you think we’ll learn about him over these next three weeks? Denver, Jacksonville, New England is quite the three-game stretch.</p>— Cody Goodwin (@codygoodwin) <a href="https://twitter.com/codygoodwin/status/1044227325787869184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

This is it, man. We talked a little about this on the Border Patrol, but I believe this will be the hardest three game stretch for the Chiefs in general and Mahomes in particular. Look:

- at Denver on a Monday night, and the Broncos have some dudes — Von Miller, Chris Harries, Bradley Chubb, Shane Ray and that’s just the defense.

- Jacksonville at home, and I get it, a 9-6 loss to the Titans is bad, the win over New England doesn’t look as good after what the Lions did, and beating the Giants is uninspiring. But the defense is loaded, and a particularly problematic matchup for what the Chiefs do.

- at New England on a Sunday night, and again, I get it, the Patriots looked awful against the Lions. But, again: don’t we go through this every year? Don’t people freak out about the Patriots early, and then realize the AFC East is garbage and hey-whattya-know they’re ready for the playoffs? And doesn’t it seem worth noting that the Chiefs are likely to come in with a boatload of hype and Bill Belichick will have half a bye week to prepare after playing on Thursday the week before?

This is not a predication of Mahomes’ demise, or even that the Chiefs are going to lose one or two or all three of these games.

But the tests were always going to get harder, and defensive coordinators have more on film to potentially exploit.

The 49ers tried to bully Mahomes. That didn’t work, but that will be a popular strategy going forward. Hit him hard, hit him often, and see if you can get him off his line. The other thing to look for is more blitzes, more aggressive pass rushes.

The Chiefs are absurdly deep with skill position players. You obviously can’t cover everyone, and you’re always one missed tackle away from a big gain. So why not sell out a bit to create pressure?

Similar to the Chiefs on defense, the downside is diminished because chances are you’re giving up a touchdown anyway, so what do you have to lose?

Anyway, just a few things to think about. If these first three weeks have been Mahomes announcing himself, the next three weeks will be about whether he can answer the counterpunches.

He’s been ridiculously successful so far — 66.7 percent completions, 13 touchdowns, no interceptions, 9.6 yards per attempt and a 137.4 passer rating.

He’s unlikely to match that over the next three, but he’s not a pumpkin, either.

The tests get harder. But every test he’s had so far he’s aced. Not even an A-.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Talk some sense into me Sam: I have this fantasy about the Chiefs getting Earl Thomas and then Eric Berry coming back completely healthy, and that stabilizes the defense. And the offense never slows down and we win the Super Bowl. Talk me down.</p>— Adam Newman (@AdamNewman913) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamNewman913/status/1044230950585077761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Two things are true here. First, only a fool would believe the Chiefs are not a Super Bowl contender. Second, only a fool would believe the list of Super Bowl contenders after week 3 is the same as the list after week 17.

Chiefs started last season 5-0, right?

We’re going to talk more about Earl Thomas, both here and probably in a more focused column soon, but that’s interesting. You guys have been asking about Eric Reid a lot, and my response has always been the same: forget the anthem stuff: he’s a bad football fit.

He’s a really good player, but much better against the run, almost like a linebacker. The Chiefs need more of a centerfielder.

Well, Earl Thomas is that centerfielder.

We’re talking about this because of a report by Chris Mortensen that named the Chiefs as interested. This is reading between the lines, but the report looks like it’s mostly sourced on the Seahawks’ side. That would make sense. They’re trying to rebuild, Thomas is obviously unhappy, and developing a trade market is a smart move.

He makes a lot of sense for the Chiefs, too. They need some range in the back, someone to cut off deep routes, and Thomas is a fit whether Berry plays or not. He’d be great next to Berry as a deep man, and would improve the defense significantly if Berry can’t go.

The problem becomes in compensation. Because if Thomas is unhappy with his current contract with the Seahawks, it seems logical he’d remain unhappy with that contract somewhere else. Maybe he wants an extension to be part of a trade, but either way, the Chiefs should be stingy about giving up major draft capital for an expensive, unhappy player whose contract is about to expire.

This is not an argument for them not to do it. I’m just saying at first look, there’s a real downside to this, too.

Two and one?

There’s a case to be made for anything from 1-2 to 3-0, and if you don’t believe me, here goes:

3-0: Mahomes has been spectacular, and he’s made a handful of plays already that Smith is simply incapable of, but he’s also had a lot of guys making a lot of plays for him. We’ve seen Alex Smith throw seam routes to Travis Kelce and RPOs to Tyreek Hill. Smith’s greatest strength is in the pre snap, and he could’ve seen enough to keep this thing going.

Tyreek Hill was the biggest reason they beat the Chargers, and the Steelers have beaten the pants off the Chiefs, but this Steelers team looks broken. Easy to forget now, but Smith was statistically the league’s best deep passer last season. Who knows, maybe he hits that 99-yarder to Hill in Pittsburgh, or the long ones to Hill and Watkins against the 49ers.

Also, if Alex Smith was the quarterback, not only would they be 3-0, but people would be realizing how good the special teams are.

2-1: We’ve seen Alex Smith against the Steelers enough to know what would’ve happened if the Steelers scored 37 points against a team quarterbacked by Alex Smith in Pittsburgh. We’ll give you the other two, but there’s no way the Chiefs win that game without Mahomes’ ability to manage the blitz and adjust to what he sees after the snap.

1-2: Are you crazy? You think that quarterback-by-numbers stuff would’ve beat the division favorite on the road, and then the Steelers on the road in consecutive weeks? You think Smith throws that fastball to Hill, or the floater to Sherman, or the Fran Tarkenton stuff against the 49ers? This team lost seven of its last 11 meaningful games last year, including the playoffs, and I get that the defense was a problem but has everyone forgotten that they 17 or fewer in four of those losses? And zero in the second half of the playoff game? Mahomes has been the single biggest difference between this team and that team, so the answer is 1-2 and you’re lucky I don’t say 0-3.

So, anyway. Those are the arguments.

The one for 2-1 makes the most sense to me.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do you think the Defense's terrible start can be attributed to the fact that we score too fast and they're simply on the field too long? This is really the third straight game where the defense starts out somewhat fast and then tails off at the end. Could just be fatigue.</p>— Gene Pendakiwskyj (@GenePendak) <a href="https://twitter.com/GenePendak/status/1044229253653565440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

This is an unpopular take: the defense isn’t as bad as most Chiefs fans might think.

Now, some important points. I’m assuming most Chiefs fans want to throw this defense into a dumpster fire, and my perspective is merely that it’s really bad — but salvageable in a league where the standards for defense have been pushed to the floor.

Gene makes a hopeful but interesting point. Only two teams have more defensive snaps than the Chiefs.

This is at least worth nothing, too: the Chiefs defense has been on the field nine times with the score within seven points, and given up a TOTAL of 10 points.

Small sample size, sure, and they’ve given up touchdowns with an eight-point lead twice. But, still. That’s at least something.

I’m also encouraged by Justin Houston. Part of my pessimism about the defense was my belief that Houston is on the downward slope of his career. He was basically invisible against the Chargers, and effective but still underwhelming against the Steelers. Well, without watching the all-22, he was Justin F. Houston against the 49ers.

His first sack came because Dee Ford gave a superhuman effort and basically pushed the quarterback into Houston’s arms. But this second sack would not look out of place in a highlight package from 2014, when he had 22 sacks:

Please do not misunderstand the point I’m trying to make. The Chiefs defense stinks. The pass rush is inconsistent, the corners can’t hold up as long as they’re being asked, Eric Berry’s injury is a significant problem, and getting the linebackers in coverage is easy money for the other side.

But there are ways for this group to improve. Not drastically, but in some subtle ways that could be the difference between another No Punt playoff game and something more fun.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If Brett Veach doesn’t try to add to the defense with Earl Thomas or a CB (Breeland) does that mean he thinks this defense can win the Super Bowl? And if he doesn’t it takes away the whole “Veach is aggressive” angle as well, right?</p>— Brennen Wohlford (@BrennenWohlford) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrennenWohlford/status/1044229772174397440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Not necessarily.

Could mean Veach and the rest of the decision makers believe the compensation is too high, that they don’t believe the risk of giving up a potential difference maker on a rookie deal is worth the benefit of a veteran midstream and for less than one full season.

I also don’t think it would mean that Veach or the Chiefs’ decision makers* aren’t aggressive. They’ve been extremely aggressive, but that doesn’t meant they need to make every possible trade.

* I’m using that term, because it’s not just Veach. And this is semantics, we all use placeholders. But I do think it’s important here.

This is similar to the idea that the Chiefs must’ve thought their defense was good enough to win a Super Bowl, or else they’d have spent the Sammy Watkins money on corners.

There is a case there, sure, but the reality is that you can’t fix everything in one offseason, and if the Chiefs had Watkins graded as the best available player it’s logical to sign him instead of two mediocre defenders. The offense has been the Chiefs’ best defense, so building a generational points machine can win games.

This may also be unpopular: I’m skeptical about Breeland. He failed a physical, and visited much of the league, and nobody’s signed him. There must be some sort of stink there. He’s a good player, but not an outstanding one.

The Chiefs aren’t the only team to look into him, and they’re not the only team in need of a corner to look into him.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sam - huge fan of the “in stadium” experience at Arrowhead..but it was extremely frustrating waiting ~45 min in line yesterday (and missing kickoff) to get inside the stadium. Should Mark Donovan care? Or should I get over it & pack extra “rations” for the long wait next time..</p>— Brian Chamblin (@BrianChamblin) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianChamblin/status/1044256187246673920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

The first question is easy: of course he should care.

But this is a hard thing to write about, in part because my experience and needs in pregame are different than a fan’s, and the only thing that matters to any of us is our experience. You had a frustrating morning, and that stinks, but maybe you have a friend who got in just fine and doesn’t care.

For the record, I had a bad experience Sunday morning, too. Was told the lot I usually park in was full, and redirected to a spot barely inside the sports complex that took another 30 minutes to get to only to see from the press box that there were still dozens of open spots in my usual lot. I don’t really care about this, for me. I could’ve left earlier, but was having fun with my kids. I saw kickoff, and would make the same decision again.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t see that your experience is a bummer. This is probably the worst it will be this season. Weather was perfect, Mahomes’ first real game at Arrowhead, home opener, lots of excitement. All of that is great, but it does tend to mean more traffic, more logistics. Even when the team is good, games in November and December are easier to navigate than September and October.

Now, to be fair, moving 25,000 or however many vehicles into and out of one place in a short period of time will always be difficult. And I believe in my bones that because Kansas City is so incredibly convenient in every way that its residents are trained to see any minor inconvenience as unacceptable and obnoxious. This is particularly true for big events, because we look forward to them, and spend a lot of money and sacrifice a lot of time for them.

All that said, Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972. It has not moved. The roads in and out are the same as they’ve ever been. It really is hard to believe that an organization that prides itself on fan experience — and in most ways does really well here — has these struggles every single year with parking.

I just don’t get it. All this time, all this manpower, all this technology and — old-timers can correct me if I’m wrong — it’s no easier to get in and out than it was in the 1990s.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I know he’s being overshadowed by the Mahomes hype, but how good is Mondesi, really?</p>— Ethan Kanke (@Ethan_Kanke) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ethan_Kanke/status/1044227011047305219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

He has a real chance to be one of the best players in Royals history.

Lot has to go right, and the odds are always against something like that happening, but he’s the most physically talented player the Royals have had since — oh-my-gosh-please-stop-me-but-I-really-think-this-is-true — Bo Jackson.

He is slashing .287/.310/.498. If achieved over a full season, his .808 OPS would rank higher than all regular shortstops except for, ahem: Manny Machado, Trevor Story, Francisco Lindor, Xander Boggaerts and Didi Gregarious. He is younger than all of them.

This is considered Mondesi’s age-22 season. Here is the complete list of shortstops with an .808 OPS or higher at his age or younger this century: Corey Seager, Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez and Carlos Correa.

Expand the list to include 23-year-olds and you add Jhonny Peralta, Jose Reyes and Christian Guzman.

Now, again, Mondesi has played essentially a half season but here is the 150-game pace: 26 homers, 91 runs, and 57 stolen bases.

That’ll play, especially as a defender good enough to win games on that side, too.

I know about Angel Berroa* and the plate discipline is a very real concern. But there are so few players as physically talented as Mondesi — capable of winning a game with his arm, speed, glove, bat or power — you just have to think about him a little differently.

* Couple things to keep in mind about Berroa, though. He was 25 as a rookie, and even while winning Rookie of the Year with 17 homers and a .287/.338/.451 slash line his adjusted OPS was 101, meaning he was 1 percent better than league average. Mondesi is at 118.

If you care, here’s what I think 2018 has done for Mondesi: it has erased the worry that he would be a bust. He may not become a superstar, or even a star, but he’s shown enough to make you believe he can at least be a productive big leaguer.

The floor has raised, in other words, with the ceiling just as high. That’s a pretty cool thing.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's the last week of what could be the worst record in Royals history (here's to hoping they avoid that.) What changes should be expected in the offseason?</p>— Josh Simon (@simonsaysjoshd) <a href="https://twitter.com/simonsaysjoshd/status/1044231988390105093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Not much, my man.

Dayton Moore is not exactly Norman Dale, telling the ref, “My team is on the floor,” but I’m not expect many big changes.

Jason Hammel will be gone. Brandon Maurer and Alcides Escobar, probably. I assume they’ll try to fill any holes with minor free agent deals, but really, why would they make big moves?

This group is 27-34 since the All-Star break, which isn’t awesome, but is encouraging if you account for the run differential (-5) and who they’ve done it with (young players you’d expect to generally improve).

There’s a financial element to this, too. Like it or not, that’s part of this, and the team is unlikely to spend big the year after a significant financial loss with a roster that’s still a year or two away in the most optimistic view.

I’ll say this, too: it’s the right move.

None of our views are wrong, we all have different ways of looking at this and following baseball, but my stance has always been that winning in Kansas City is hard enough so you should take every advantage possible.

Now more than ever, that includes losing lots of games, because it allows you to experiment in the big leagues, use younger players, save money, and stock the farm system.

So, really, the only thing I’d change about the second half is to lose more games than the Orioles so you’d have the first shot at Bobby Witt Jr.

If kept together, I wouldn’t expect the group finishing this season to lose as many games next season. They’re young, they should generally be improving, but even if that doesn’t happen, nothing wrong with drafting in the top three again.

I know that’s no fun for fans, or media, but at least going forward you have some young players to watch. You can at least see the clay, if you’ll pardon the metaphor.

That was always the problem with the plan for 2018. Best case scenario is it turns into the 2017 Twins, but that was the saddest playoff team — the franchise wasn’t trying to make it, they actually wanted to dump at the deadline. They sneaked in, got rocked on the road in a Wild Card game, and now they’re back to building.

That’s obviously better than what the Royals have done this year, but for a fan base that’s just seen a rebuild work, I wonder if the front office underestimates their fans’ willingness to watch something build from the bottom.

But, now we’re painting with broad strokes again.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Why am I impressed with your versatility? You were so good at conveying the heartbreak over the years. But you’re also pretty good at writing about happy things too. 2018, man</p>— Josh Mahomes II (@lehnerjw) <a href="https://twitter.com/lehnerjw/status/1044229702708285441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

My man!

If you’ve read this space for any length of time, well, first — thank you. But also, hopefully you’ll agree that I don’t include compliments often, but I’m doing it here because this is fairly indicative of Kansas City as a whole.

One of the great things about Kansas City is people open their hearts to all of it. The Royals were an unwatchable mess for a generation, but people watched anyway, built memories around Mike Sweeney and Zack Greinke and Mark Quinn and Mark Redman, and it all made 2014 and 2015 even more fun than it otherwise could’ve been.

Sometimes, people reach out and say I’m too negative. Or too positive. Often, it’s about the same column, which is fine, because sports really don’t matter. They don’t help us pay bills, don’t help us discipline our kids, don’t help us eat better or stay healthy or live longer.

They’re pretty irrelevant, except as far as they make us feel or think. And when they make us feel or think, well, what’s more relevant than that?

You may have heard me say this before. Without pain there is no joy. I believe that in my soul. I was raised to believe that, and my own life experiences have only reinforced it.

All those years of following teams that batted Ruben Gotay cleanup and had a manager who promised never to say it can’t get worse and an owner who cut off money after the fifth round was rough, but it sure made Sept. 30, 2014 a hell of a lot more fun.

All those years of following teams that missed field goals in the playoffs and lost games without punting and tried to sell you on Matt Cassel and blew enormous postseason leads have been rough, but it will make the Super Bowl run a hell of a lot more fun.

I don’t know when that will come, of course. I don’t know IF it’ll come.

But you gotta lean into the bad stuff. Makes the good stuff feel even better.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bill Snyder is openly throwing his players under the bus and I am scared. Please advise.</p>— Brockway Porter (@brockwayporter) <a href="https://twitter.com/brockwayporter/status/1044227898339729409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Hoo-boy that was something, huh?

Kellis Robinett wrote good words about this, and if you haven’t already, I encourage you to read them. I know the grandfatherly, handwritten note thing is overdone, but you just don’t hear Bill Snyder say stuff like this.

This is Charlie Weis-level stuff, just throwing players under the bus, backing it up, rearranging the bodies just so and doing it again.

Snyder, like a lot of coaches, is often pleasant after losses and more discerning after wins. It’s a coping mechanism, and can be a productive one, so this is concerning.

They barely beat South Dakota, got muscled by Mississippi State, and smacked by West Virginia. Being 2-2 at this point isn’t troubling — that was always the most likely record after four games — but the optics are pretty terrible. They’re being outgained by more than 50 yards per game, and are negative in takeaways.

There’s enough to believe a tenth straight bowl game is likely. Skylar Thompson looks real, Alex Barnes is a stud, and there’s enough on defense.

The context of the season makes this weekend’s game against Texas feel particularly important, and I’m looking forward to being there. Win that, then beat Baylor and Kansas and either Texas Tech or Iowa State and that’s your six wins and bowl eligibility.

But this season was supposed to be better, and you can’t help but wonder if Snyder sees the end coming soon so the disappointments might bite a little harder now than they used to.

This could be bad. This could be very bad.

The game on Saturday will tell us a lot.

Let’s go.

- Kansas City wants to believe that Kansas City is special. This does not differentiate us from most cities, but we’re not small enough to have the small-town thing, and not big enough to be widely known. That means a little more focus on what we do, whether it’s sports or beer or the Kauffman Center or coffee or wearing more KC shirts than would otherwise be advisable. Tailgating is serious because it’s something we feel like we do better than anyone else. Same with barbecue, same with friendliness, same with convenience. Tell us we’re special, and we’ll love you forever. Tell us anything else, and we’ll act like we don’t care but secretly stew.

- Kansas City is basically a sum of a thousand inner conflicts. We’re split by a state line, and that’s the most obvious, and certainly not without tangible effect — local politics are a mess, we spend too much time giving tax breaks so companies can move from Lee’s Summit to Overland and back, and any civic improvements are made three times harder than they should be. But there’s so much else, too. We take slights harder, even when we know there’s truth in them. We tend to hate ideas right up until the moment we love them. There’s a long history of racial and cultural divide that still exists today, most obviously represented by Troost but apparent in a lot of other places, too. We know all about this, and we’ll bitch about it amongst ourselves, but heaven help you if you do it as an outsider.

- Kansas City can be explained by its sports. That’s probably something you’d expect the sports columnist to say, and I admit my bias here up front, because I’m sure if I lived a different life I’d think the same about the arts or barbecue or public transportation. But I believe you can see our divide in the Border War, but our common strength in raising more than $2 million for an otherwise meaningless basketball scrimmage. I believe you can see our history through college basketball, and our racial divide through the Negro Leagues Museum, and our party in the Arrowhead parking lot. I believe you can see the civic inferiority complex in jokes about the next Chiefs playoff collapse, and all the pride in the Royals party that lasted from the Wild Card game to the parade*.

* Drink.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m from the future, and have been sent back to stop the Chiefs’ inevitable 1st round defensive collapse/home playoff loss. How do you suggest I start???</p>— AJ (@AJTrueSon) <a href="https://twitter.com/AJTrueSon/status/1044228486322442240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Trade for Marcus Peters. Inject Eric Berry with something the FDA has not yet approved. Keep Patrick Mahomes healthy. Get Dee Ford healthy again. Keep Justin Houston strong. Trade for Earl Thomas, somehow.

Try to forget that last year’s collapse was so wretched, in so many ways, that hardly anyone talks about how the kicker banged one off the upright.

But, come on, who are we kidding?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I come by my football pain honestly. Like rest of KC. This ends badly on a no punt game in January right?</p>— G Low (@KCPRGuy) <a href="https://twitter.com/KCPRGuy/status/1044232098868088832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

Probably.

This might be the glow of the moment talking, but not even an addition to the Chiefs Failure Library can squash what’s happening.

Because let’s say that happens. The Chiefs lose without punting, or a linebacker gets caught in coverage and gives up the winning touchdown as time expires.

This was never the end game. This was always the beginning. Part of the pain of The Kicker Who Shall Not Be Named and the game last year is that it always felt final. Always felt like finite opportunities, disintegrating in front of our eyes.

But this? With a 23 year old phenom at quarterback? Feels like the Chiefs have time on their hands, finally.

Feels like a collapse in January 2019 would hurt, sure, but then be the Ken Harvey Was Hit In The Back With The Cutoff Throw moment of the next run.

I don’t know. Maybe that’s just me.

This week, I’m particularly grateful for my mom. She’s why I started ending this weekly time suck like this, and I think about her every day, but especially today. This would’ve been her 72nd birthday. She’s missing her husband and her children and her grandchildren, but she also gave us all a lot. Even now, she’s making my life better. Even gone, I know I was lucky to have her.

Sam Mellinger

Sam Mellinger is a Kansas City Star sports columnist.

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 10:06 AM.

Sam Mellinger

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