The Next Episode

I’ll gladly repeat it: for Kansas City, the game versus Pittsburgh was the highlight of the last two-and-a-half years. It featured everything that a fan would want to see, and it represented exactly what a head coach would desire from his squad. There was an electric crowd; there were adrenaline, intensity and excitement; there were outstanding performances in all three facets of the sport; and of top of everything, there was a victory.

But it’s all in the past.

This Sunday, the Chiefs are going to butt heads against the San Diego Chargers in Qualcomm Stadium. For all the comments about that venue being called “The armpit of the NFL”, well, the Bolts have really made up for that with their accomplishments as of late. The team from California is the reigning AFC West master by winning four of the last five division titles, including the last three in a row. This season, after a shaky start, they have continued to validate their successful program with seven victories in their first 10 games and if you take into account that they trounced Denver in their last encounter, get ready for the understatement: Yes, they’re good.

The Chiefs are on a roll of their own, kind of. They have built momentum on the strength of a two-game winning streak – their first since ‘07 – and they seem to have turned the corner of their ‘09 campaign. The offense has shown signs of life, the defense has become somewhat respectable, the special teams have made their presence felt, and of course, everything has started with the head coach. In facing the Chargers, they will all have a golden opportunity to see exactly where they’re standing while they try to execute the always-appealing task of tripping a division foe. San Diego is the head of the class and Kansas City — even with its improvement — is not near the honor-roll. Indeed, this upcoming matchup has all the makings of a trap game.

Not so much for the Powder-Blued Types…but for the Arrowhead Ones. Believe it or not.

You may be familiar with this scenario: I have an acquaintance that, once he hit the jackpot after having struggled economically for a substantial period of time, avoided the notion of being thrifty and embraced the concept of being wasteful. All of a sudden, he made a habit of throwing money around, he picked everybody’s tab, and he made unnecessary purchases; he did it because he lost the sense of urgency and no longer remembered the rough times that he went through. That looseness led him to believe that he was only compensating for the restrictive moments, while in reality he was becoming reckless, and his indiscretions caused him to return to the trying times. And with that, he found himself back to square one. Well, that’s my biggest fear when looking at this game.

Complacency is always there. The search for a comfort zone is natural in every human but that doesn’t diminish the undermining powers that come when you achieve it. On the contrary, they do intensify once you’re able to attain what you consider your ultimate goal. In the blink of an eye, confidence can turn into arrogance, and positively, that’s when failures are more likely to happen, or repeat. If you don’t believe me, I’ll leave you with this: a week after taking down the Steelers in Pittsburgh – a victory that unanimously put them among the cream of the NFL’s crop – the Cincinnati Bengals laid a dinosaur egg in Oakland. Seven days earlier, they thought that they have reached the point where a loss against the weaker teams was out of the question. And guess what? It still happened.

That’s the biggest challenge that Todd Haley has faced leading up to the Charger game. The Chiefs have stumbled for so long that the win at the defending champs’ expenses was almost equivalent to finding the Holy Grail. Their confidence shot up all the way to the roof and I won’t blame them for that. I even wrote a column celebrating the event.

They’ve got to be careful and stay grounded. They won’t break the Chargers’ back by merely reminding them of their breakthrough against Pittsburgh. It’s a given that outcome was an eye-opener for San Diego as well. They know that the Chiefs defeated the Steelers fair and square and they’ll be up to the challenge. I have no doubts that they’ll treat Kansas City with the utmost respect and they won’t underestimate them. So, it’s time to look ahead; it’s time to keep striving for perfection; it’s time to maintain the edges and that’s why it’s important to look for motivation.

Chris Chambers’ addition has been worthy of every penny and his return to San Diego makes for a good story. But he should not carry the entire burden by himself. If his teammates are intent on having his back and contributing to a happy homecoming, then everybody must chip in. As in chips on the shoulders. Nothing would benefit the Chiefs more than Matt Cassel’s continuous efforts to prove that he’s worth the big bucks; or Andy Studebaker demonstrating that he’s for real and not the fluke of the week; or Dustin Colquitt validating that he’s in fact the best punter in the AFC West. If you got another subplot in mind, please name it. Gathering information from all sources is pretty valuable when you’re trying to elude a letdown.

And yet, in order to write about another decorated episode, to sustain the winning streak and nurture the winning culture, the name of the game is perspective. By the time the Chiefs step onto the field Sunday afternoon they must put things in perspective.

Last Sunday’s victory was fun, but it wasn’t the most important triumph of the season … the next one is.