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CHIEFS TRADE TANK TYLER
October 19th – 7:48 PM

Breaking News: The Chiefs have traded DT Tank Tyler to the Carolina Panthers for an undisclosed draft pick in 2010.

THE MORNING AFTER – WASHINGTON
October 19th – 6:15 AM

Have you ever witnessed something so ugly that was just so beautiful?

The skies were grey and the on-field play, at times, resembled that of the playing surface – sloppy. QB Matt Cassel was sacked five times, the Chiefs were just four-of-17 on third down conversions and never reached the end zone, all while Redskins RB Clinton Portis averaged 7.3 yards per carry during a 109-yard rushing day. Sunday’s 14-6 victory in Washington was far from perfect.

But the Chiefs fought hard and displayed true grit and the gutsy effort that we’ve seen throughout the course of this young season. Kansas City countered their miscues by limiting mistakes (only four penalties and no turnovers), controlling the clock (37:10 to 22:50 time of possession differential) and turning in a stellar defensive effort. The Chiefs limited the Redskins to just 265 total yards over 53 plays, with 45% of that output coming off two snaps (a 78-yard Portis run and a 42-yard QB Todd Collins pass to WR Santana Moss).

“The one thing that you are going to get from this organization, these players and these coaches is 110% effort,” Cassel said. “It’s not always going to go exactly as we planned, but there is no doubt that there will always be the effort. We are working hard to get this thing figured out and going in the right direction.”

In the end, it all paid off and a win is a win. The special teams chipped in with four field goals and Sunday was most definitely the definition of a “team win.” Victory cures all. Yesterday, the Chiefs organization and its fans tasted a victory for the first time since November 30, 2008.

“It’s not exactly a perfect win,” RB Larry Johnson said. “The defense did an awesome job making plays and the offense did a great job making plays when we had too. It was for us to build on this.”

Perhaps the most important part of Sunday’s victory is just that – a victory. This is a team that has seen a regime change and gone through both a grueling offseason and training camp with nothing to show. A goose egg in the preseason and an “0-fer”” turned in over the first two months of the regular season was most definitely starting to take its toll. The Chiefs needed some sort of fruit to show for their labors.

“We’ve pushed through a very difficult period,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “We needed to get some positive reinforcement with a win and I’m just very happy for the guys that they now have a little bit of positive reinforcement that what we’re doing can get us going in the right direction.”

Fans got that same positive reinforcement as well. Through no fault of Haley or general manager Scott Pioli, this Chiefs franchise had put fans through a stretch that saw just two wins over 30 football games. Perspective and positivity was needed for this organization and its surroundings on all fronts.

“I was sitting with (assistant head coach) Maurice Carthon in the locker room before the game,” Haley said. “I said that each week I felt like we were going to win the game. I feel like we are going to win, and we’re 0-5. I felt that we were ready to play and ready to win. This time we were right.”

The Chiefs emerged victorious yesterday by improving in a lot of areas that have given them issues. The two most apparent are turnovers and a pass rush. Kansas City didn’t yield any giveaways and were constantly in the grill of QBs Jason Campbell and Todd Collins, dropping them to the ground more than the three times that were credited with sacks.

“It was a complete team effort today,” DE Glenn Dorsey said. “During the week we work so hard. The coaches aren’t taking it easy on us. It’s good to win; not good, it’s great to win. It shows us that we are heading in the right direction and that the stuff we are doing is working. It kind of validated our process.”

After stumbling through a season in which the Chiefs set a record-low for overall sacks, it’s only fitting that Sunday’s win ended in just that – a sack. LB Tamba Hali’s sack of Collins in the end zone pushed the Chiefs lead to eight points with just 26 seconds to play. Even then, as the rest of the Chiefs Kingdom was celebrating, Haley was still skeptical to claim victory.

“A touchdown and a two-point conversion would have tied us, so I’m a firm believer in that it’s not over until it’s over,” Haley said. “You’ll never see me smile (before it is over).”

Coach also needed to throw an onside kick recovery into that equation, but we get the picture. This is a team that, for whatever reason, hasn’t been able to close out football games. The nasty phenomenon happened throughout all of 2008 and had already reared its ugly head on multiple occasions this season, including last weekend vs. Dallas.

Haley wasn’t alone as nobody on the Chiefs sideline was quite sure if the fat lady had actually sung or just warmed up the vocals with a melody resembling “The Chop.”

“I think that when I called victory formation in the huddle and everybody was like ‘all right’,” Cassel said of when the thrill of victory first hit the team. “They took a breath of fresh air and we were excited about it.

“You never know what can happen,” Dorsey said. “You’ve seen games where we’ve been leading and the other team comes back to beat us on the final drive.”

That’s all understandable, but Chiefs fans certainly went ahead and celebrated, while Redskins fans threw debris on the field and filed for the exits following Hali’s team-leading third sack of the season.

Before this game, we focused on the Chiefs not letting one loss – a gut wrenching overtime defeat to Dallas – turn into two losses. This week, Kansas City finds themselves in a similar situation, but one that feels so much better heading into the next game. How will this team handle coming off a victory?

“We’ll enjoy it for 24 hours and then we’ll move on,” C Rudy Niswanger said. “Your worry about the loss for 24 hours or you enjoy the win for 24 hours, then you move on to the next game. We’ve got a big opponent coming to town in San Diego and we’ve got a lot to work on.”

Doesn’t a win feel good? Call me greedy, but back-to-back “W’s” heading into the bye week would feel pretty good too. See you on Sunday at Arrowhead.

Closing Comments – Ryan Succop

What a game by rookie K Ryan Succop. After making four field goals in terrible field conditions with footing that was flat out horrendous, doesn’t he have to be a lock for AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors? Consider this my formal petition to the league office in New York.

We’ll find out later in the week if Succop is honored, but national recognition or not, this is a guy who looks to be Kansas City’s kicker for the long haul. Every kick he’s got in the air has gone through, without a doubt. His one miss was a block through no fault of his own, and nothing else has even come close to resembling a miss. Succop hasn’t even had one of those moments that make you go, “whew…just barely snuck that one in.”

“Anytime a field goal kicker is 100% with some coming from pretty far downtown, it’s a great feeling to have as an offense,” Cassel said. “It’s a great security blanket to have when you know that get inside the 35-yard line and have points.”

Just six games into Succop’s career, he already has a game ball for his mantle. This game ball, however, will be extra special when he reflects on his football career. Not only does it represent Succop’s first win as a pro and first NFL game ball, but it also resembles a day that his head coach thought was bigger than his own personal milestone – Haley’s first victory as a head coach.

“Matt (Cassel) gave me the game ball for the first win,” Haley explained. “I, in turn, gave that ball to Ryan Succop. I thought that young kid…what a game…what a game.”

I know coach, what a game indeed. I’m speechless too. Not bad for the 256th pick of the draft.