Growing up the hard way

Sep 02, 2008, 3:29:53 AM by Jonathan Rand - FAQ

The goal of any rebuilding program is to keep getting better every week. But how do you achieve that when you start the season as perhaps the biggest underdog of the entire NFL season?

It may be convenient to say that the Chiefs, two-touchdown underdogs, shouldn’t feel a whole lot of pressure visiting New England on Sunday. They either spring a shocking upset or lose, as is generally predicted.

But it’s not really as if the Chiefs have nothing to lose. They will be laying an important brick in their new foundation, whether or not they enjoy magical progress in a mere three hours.

Of his 53 players, Herm Edwards has 33 who’ve played no more than two NFL seasons, including 16 who have not played any. All his players, especially the least experienced, need to step on the field convinced that they belong there just as much as the Patriots do.

The Chiefs need to step off the field, win or lose, convinced they’re ready to get better the next week, and even better the week after that, and so on.

This matchup seemed daunting when the NFL schedule was released, and nothing’s transpired since to change that impression.

The Patriots have won their last 19 regular-season games. The Chiefs have lost their last nine.

The Patriots’ offense ranked first in the NFL in total yardage a year ago. The Chiefs ranked 31st. Defensively, the Patriots ranked fourth and the Chiefs ranked 13th.

The Chiefs’ average score last year was 14-21. The Patriots’ average score was 37-17.

No team is invincible, however, and you’ll recall that the New York Giants went into the Super Bowl as heavy underdogs, too. They upset the Patriots because they mounted a hard, steady pass rush against quarterback Tom Brady, and because Eli Manning was able to sting the Patriots’ secondary for key completions.

The M.O. for beating the Patriots hasn’t changed. But few teams have the horses to follow the Giants’ blueprint for success.

Since they traded sacks champion Jared Allen, the Chiefs have been trying to cobble together a respectable pass rush. Getting to Brady won’t be easy for them. Their rebuilt offensive line may be hard pressed to give Brodie Croyle enough time to probe the Patriots’ suspect secondary.

That the Chiefs didn’t have quite the rip-roaring preseason they wanted doesn’t mean much now. There’s nothing they could have accomplished in four exhibition games to prepare them to meet the team that’s played in the Super Bowl four times in the last seven years.

We will see a team trying to climb from the bottom against a team trying to stay on top. The Patriots’ winless preseason reflected coach Bill Belichick’s confidence that his veterans know how to take care of business once the games begin to count.

Belichick keeps filling holes by acquiring veterans such as cornerback Deltha O’Neal, who was recently released by the Bengals. Edwards, on the other hand, has committed to rebuilding almost solely with youngsters whom he expects will blossom down the road.

Asking a team built for tomorrow to upset a team built for today would seem a tall order. Yet there’s no reason that Edwards’ green players can’t begin to ripen.

Win or lose, these youngsters need to come back from New England convinced that time is on their side, and that their best football lies ahead of them.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former sportswriter and columnist in Kansas City and Miami, Rand has covered the NFL for three decades and seen 23 Super Bowl games. His column appears twice weekly in-season.