I recently wrote an article predicting whom I thought would represent the AFC West in the playoffs this coming year (unfortunately, it’s the Chargers), but surprisingly to me, it wasn’t that prediction, nor the prediction that Manning would have struggles, but that the Chiefs suck that angered most. This was shocking to me, because I didn’t even realize that this was a debate. The Chiefs do suck.

So, I am going to write a few more points why the Chiefs will be in the basement of the AFC West for the second straight year (remember folks, they finished last in the West last year), and, why we need not worry about the Chiefs.

Most teams build year to year, and one can usually see progress coming as gradual steps in improvement are taken step by step. This logic would mean that the team likely to win the West this year will be one that showed signs of optimism last year. Well Chiefs fans, that’s where your aspirations die out. Allow me to show you:

In 2011, the Chiefs were a dismal, dismal team. Their offense sucked almost as much as it blew. Here are some stats for you:

-The team ranked #27 in total yards per game. 27^th! They averaged 311 yards an outing. And guess what the Tebow led Broncos averaged? You guessed it: more (317). Needless to say the Raiders quite handedly out gained the Chiefs per session (380), so did the Chargers (393), and when the Chiefs are compared to the elite – the Saints averaged 467 per game.

-The Matt Cassel led “aerial attack” ranked 25^th in the league. Here is a list of the QB’s Matt out threw (brace yourself, it’s not very impressive): Curtis Painter, Christian Ponder, Alex Smith, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and the pretty box in Jax.

-The Chiefs were in the 75^th percentile of interceptions thrown during the year at 18. Bravo, Matt. Bravo!

-Matt threw five more balls to the other team than he threw to his team in the painted area at the end of the field.

-The Chiefs were in the middle of the pack when it came to sacks last year as M. Cassel was sacked 34 times on the season.

-A couple of highlights from the year: losses to Miami (who was dreadful during the year), AT HOME might I add – 31 to 3. The team also lost to the Bills at home 41 to 7, and to the Patriots 34 to 3.

-The Chiefs averaged 13 points per game. Ha! You can’t even win a baseball game with that! And, 13 points reflects not only the average per game for the entire season, but it too was the average the team scored when Romeo coached in those three games at the end of the season. What makes you think the same won’t happen next year?

Ok, say Chief fans… “our offense sucks, but our defense is stellar.” To them I say, hardly not. Their defense ranked #11 last year in both yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. #11. Don’t get me wrong, that’s good. But great? Hardly. Especially if they are counting on that to carry that dismal offense.

So now I hear Chief fans clamoring to the fact that they were in the playoffs only two seasons ago. Their once-in-a-blue-moon trip to the postseason in 2010 apparently has led these fans to delusional ideas. But, let’s talk a little bit about that 2010 team. For starters, that team lucked out BIG time as the Chargers stumbled early in one of their trademark slow starts that year. The Bolts got hot late, but were unable to catch up with the Chiefs (missed ‘em by 1 game). But I tell you this, had those two teams met at the end of the year for the right to represent the West, we would not have seen those awful red paints in the post season.

So in 2010 the Chiefs finished 10-6 and went to the playoffs. But here are some interesting stats people forget:

-4 of their 10 wins were by 7 points or less. One missed field goal here, or a penalty there, and the Chiefs would have missed the playoffs.

-The Chiefs enjoyed a VERY, VERY favorable schedule that year as in 2009 they finished (once again) dead last in the AFC West. That meant that they had the easiest strength of schedule in the division in 2010.

-The Chiefs offense has been pretty bad for quite some time. In 2010 they scored 10 points or less 7 times. I tell you what, are they playing football or cricket over there in KC?

-Finally, when the team unrightfully  made the playoffs that year, they got DESTROYED by the Ravens (30 to 7). It was clear they didn’t belong there.

Alright so now I have discussed the team and their recent history. Pretty solid argument if I do say so myself, with plenty of reasons to not believe in KC in 2012. If those aren’t enough though, let’s discuss a few of the broken pieces of the KC puzzle:

The GM – Scott Pioli

What has this guy done? Many Chiefs fan will say he just orchestrated the greatest off season in KC history, but time will tell on that one. Plus, I didn’t see too many teams running to give Kevin Boss or the overly priced Stanford Routt a contract (that’s why the Raiders got rid of them).

Ok, so what has this guy done? Well, he was part of a dynasty in Boston (a dynasty built off of cheating, video taping, and terrible tuck rule calls, but that’s for another day). What has he done since? Not much. And, I would even go so far to ask, what did he really do in New England? Matt Cassel, who is mediocre, has proved one thing in New England – plug in pretty much anyone, and the ship still runs smoothly. Couldn’t the same be true here for what Pioli did in New England? Just saying.

After coming to KC, Pioli’s first move was hiring a head coach. He, himself, chose Todd Haley. And, Chiefs and Raider fans can come together on this one and all agree that that was a terrible hire. Who is to say he hasn’t screwed up again with Romeo? And while we are on this Romeo subject, have Chiefs fans forgot that there were a lot of rumors swirling around late last year that Chiefs were trying to get Josh McDaniels. That didn’t work out, and perhaps the Chiefs were bummed out and had to settle with Romeo. Just saying, but the Chiefs may have gotten their backup choice as head coach.

One last thing on Pioli, he is a slime ball. He is Belicheat reincarnated in the front office. Look how he treated Haley! We’ll never know the whole story there, but Pioli did some messed up things (just google why Haley grew out a beard during the year).

The Coach

A lot has been said by me about Romeo, so I won’t go too in depth here. I’ll just go over the highlights: he wasn’t the Chiefs first choice, his coaching record sucks, and the offense they ran under his reign as HC last year averaged 13 points per game.

The Quarterback

Matt Cassel didn’t even start in college, and there are what, 200 colleges to play for? What makes you think he’s really good enough to be a quality starter for one of the 32 teams in the NFL?

Finally, do you think the Chiefs could be “cursed?” Let’s consider this:

-Have lost an NFL worst 7 straight post season games

-Haven’t won a Championship in over 40 years

-Wear ugly red pants

-Play in the mid-west.

Alright, those are my points. The conclusion here is of course, we need not worry about the Chiefs.

I love being right!

The reports of Pat Bowlen finally giving in to the trade demands of butt hurt, Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler is not news around these parts.

If you frequent JBB, then you knew about this two weeks ago when I said “So long” to Cutler.

If you’re a Bronco fan, then you’ll certainly want to read up on how your franchise is going to go about exorcising the Curse of Kiffin. Your boy Bowlen is a JBB reader and he’s just getting through the first step of ridding the Broncos of the curse by trading JC.

Chief fans need to get with Scott Pioli and tell him to subscribe. Trust me, the curse affects you too.

To be honest, though, I do feel for Donk fans out there. After all, who better symbolizes their fan base better than Jay Cutler?

Bronco fans are losing one of their own in trading Cutler.

Cutler is brash, cocky and arrogant. He is the kind of selfish prima donna that only fans in the Mile High City would embrace. How Terrell Owens never made his way into Bronco Orange is still a mystery to me.

JC also suffers from the same tragic flaw that all Donkey fans do.  I call this flaw “The Elway Factor”. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but you know the scene all too well.

You’re out cheering on your favorite team when some drunken derelict strolls in off the street wearing a faded, #7, Bronco jersey. The hapless hobo proceeds to heckle you unmercifully and when you finally retaliate, he goes to the “Elway was the greatest quarterback ever” card.

Like the fans who cheer his name on Sundays, Cutler seems to think that just because John Elway once wore the same colors as him that it somehow means he’s just as good.

Delusional Donk fans love to remind the world that the man with the best car dealerships in Denver was also a great QB once upon a time. As if Elway’s accomplishments give their franchise a waiver on having to ever rebuild.

Guess what, Denver?

That noise you hear is the sound of the bulldozer coming in to finally crush your myopic empire that was always more of a sandcastle than a fortress.

Cutler, just like his fans, turns childish in the face of adversity. When Josh McDaniels publicly exposed his Matt Cassel woody, Cutler turned into Melissa Rycroft and began to pout like a Mile High Moron whose stadium buddy has over flown.

Now that they’ve got a defense built with NFL scabs, Chris Simms as the franchise arm and Corell Buckhalter as the latest Terrell Davis impersonator, it is time for Bronco fans to come to Jesus. They’ve finally awoken from their Elway stupor with a nasty Mike Shanahan hang over. Take two first round draft picks and call for someone to replace McDaniels in 2010.

McD is truly a chip off the old Bill Belichick block. McDaniels assumes he knows more than anybody else in the room and is never wrong. The good news, Bronco fans, is that at least there will be no surprises. You know exactly how this is going to unfold. Just look at Notre Dame and see how far that Belichick fruit, Charlie Weis, fell from the tree. Expect similar results in Denver.

Hey, if you give him enough time on the job, maybe McD can turn Jimmy Clausen into the next Jay Cutler.

The ghost of Lane Kiffin is hovering above the AFC West.

Unbeknownst to Al Davis, Kiffin had a witch doctor implant his soul in the Raiders’ overhead projector. When Davis wheeled out the archaic device for his press conference, he unknowingly released the “Curse of Kiffin” on the AFC West. 

Luckily for Raider fans, we have exorcised the curse by defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of the 2008 season. The win in Tampa not only sent Chucky packing, but was also the final hurrah for Monte Kiffin’s NFL tenure. Thus, Al Davis had a hand in removing the Kiffin family from professional football.

The Raiders are now curse free, but the Broncos and Chiefs might just have to call in that midget from “Poltergeist” to cleanse the locker room.

The “Curse of Kiffin” entails a hot shot, punk of a coach who strolls in off the street and attempts to reinvent the wheel.

When the Chiefs hired Todd Haley they assumed they were getting a hot coaching prospect with the fire of Mike Ditka burning in his belly. Instead, Haley looks more the part of a blowhard coordinator turned overwhelmed head coach ala Mike Martz.

Haley was in the right place at the right time. He, like Martz, hit the Kurt Warner lottery and rode the bible thumping TD thrower to the big game. Let’s just say that Haley wasn’t thought to be an offensive genius when Matt Leinart was drinking from beer bongs and plugging Paris Hilton. But once Touchdown Jesus took over the starting job full-time – during a contract year no less – Todd Haley miraculously became a coaching commodity.

The healing powers of Kurt Warner are real, but the curse is stronger.

Haley inherited a franchise that hasn’t seen a playoff win since 1994. So Todd’s first order of business was to trade for a quarterback who, before 2008, had not started a game since he was the last kid picked in a shirts and skins game in 1994.

Matt Cassel balled in 2008 – a contract year no less – but he’s not playing for the Pats anymore. Matty Cass is used to holding hands with his teammates, skipping in unison to the whistles of Belichick as he takes to the field on Sundays.

Things are a little different in KC, Matty C. You’re going to have to spend Saturday nights keeping one eye on Larry Johnson at the club and your Sundays will start with dragging your Hall of Fame tight end, kicking and screaming, onto the field. Not a good sign when you’re the new shot caller in town and upon your arrival the best two players on your team both want to skip town. Dial Baron Davis for advice on this matter, his time as a Clipper might give you a few clues.

The Curse of Kiffin is not isolated to the Chief franchise. The Broncos are in the middle of the cruel Kiffin death sentence as well.

For some reason the Bronco brass assumed that a 32-year old punk knew more about football than a Raider killer of a coach with two Super Bowl rings.

Mike Shanahan was shown the exit and Josh McDaniels was given the keys. So far, the results have been a page from the script of a daytime soap opera.

The good news for the rest of us is that Josh McDaniels is looking like he’s got the Millen touch.

The all too public feud between Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler and McD is making for better drama than the Bachelor finale. I really want ABC to get McDaniels and Culter to have a sit down on primetime. Just when Cutler is about to burst into tears, they could have Matt Cassel come out and throw his arm around McDaniels.

Sure, there would be an awkward moment of silence, but once Wilford Brimley reminds Culter to check his blood sugar, a fight would ensue and television history would be made.

Maybe Matt Cassel is worth all this trouble, but I’m not buying it. My instincts tell me that this is all due to the Curse of Kiffin.

In case you’re wondering why the Chargers are not at risk for the curse, well, that’s simple. They’ve got their own curse to deal with: The Norv Turner Curse of Mediocrity

For this curse, I’m afraid there is no cure. Sorry Charger fans, you’re just going to have to keep looking at that empty trophy case, dreaming of what never will be.

As for the Chiefs and Bronocs, here is how you break the curse:

First, the Broncos are going to have to trade Jay Cutler out of the AFC. For arguments sake, let’s just say he goes to Tampa Bay.

Next, the Chiefs and Broncos will have to give their new Colin Cowherd coaching clones a year on the job and then fire them a month into their second season. Here is where it gets tricky. One of the Broncos is going to have to take out Matt Cassel. Once Cassel is on the IR, Tyler Thigpen is going to have to ball out of his mind. Scott Piolo will be forced to franchise tag Thigpen as an insurance policy. Once Cassel assures everyone that he’ll be ready for the start of the next season, Thigpen will become dead cap weight. Deal Thigpen to the Buccaneers where he’ll replace the wounded ego of Cutler in Tampa. Cutler will go back on the Bachelor finale with Raheem Morris and Tyler Thigpen, causing yet another public scuffle and forcing the NFC South to deal with the Curse of Kiffin.

If anything good could come of the Curse of Kiffin, it would be that Haley and McDaniels will end up with bombshells on thier arms. Have fun nailing hot blondes, boys! You’ll need someone to listen to you moan about your cursed luck.