Well the Florida jinx jumped up and bit the Chiefs again. Offense once again was the only part of the Chiefs game that showed up, and it cost the Chiefs a huge win. That scary Tampa Bay defense was shredded by the Chiefs all day long and it ends up meaning nothing, and we all hope it did not cost us a possible league MVP in the process.

Priest Holmes left the game with a knee injury and did not return even though he was on the sideline for the rest of the game with his helmet on and strapped up. Priest’s injury left the Chiefs with second year man Larry (Leon) Johnson, as the featured back in the game. After all his talk about wanting more playing time it ended up being foot in mouth time for Johnson as he provided nothing and showed nothing.

As a fan I would say the biggest disappointment was having the ball at the Buccaneer one-yard line and Johnson was stopped twice on two very bad tiptoe type runs that I think everyone would agree Priest Holmes would have scored on either one. I don’t dislike Larry Johnson at all, but let’s all hope Larry learned a valuable “be careful what you ask for” type lesson, because he got it and failed big time.

I know our defense was just awful Sunday, but what happened to our great offensive line at the end of the fourth quarter? After getting shredded all day long the Chiefs defense held Tampa Bay scoreless for the last twelve minutes of the game, but because of what in my opinion was a case of being worn down, our offensive line was unable to give Trent Green enough time to get his passes off on the last drive of the game, and ended all hope of a Chiefs comeback.

Chief fans know what this loss in Tampa Bay means to the Chiefs season, it has now become a win seven of eight games or nothing. I am sticking to my 10-6 record needed to get into the playoffs, and now this means the Chiefs need to go 7-1 from here to the end of the season.

I know this sounds like a long shot but let’s all remember that this team won nine games in a row last season, so we know they are capable of it, but can they do it, this is the question that is in the minds of every fan and critic of the Kansas City Chiefs.

On the offensive side of the ball everyone knows that the Chiefs can stay with any team in the NFL. With Pro Bowlers like Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez, Priest Holmes, and Will Shields all having career years, offense is not the problem, it’s the other side of the ball.

Kansas City’s defense was the eyesore of the NFL in 2003, and rode the coat tails of the offense all the way to a 13-3 season and the AFC West title.

In 2004 the defense was showing signs of being a better if not good defense, even as late as two weeks ago the defense cracked the top ten in the league in total defense. Then came the past two weeks in which reality came crashing down on them, hard!

Last week the Indianapolis Colts came into Arrowhead and blitzed the Chiefs defense for over 500 yards of offense, but survived because the Colt defense is the 2nd worst in the league this year.

Tampa Bay was up next and everyone thought the defense could regain some confidence against a very average Buccaneer offense, in a word, no! The Tampa Bay offense was able to put up over 400 yards of offense and score 34 points, a total that would normally need two weeks for the Buccaneers to reach, needless to say the defense was slapped around again.

Ugly is not a good enough word to describe what happened this past Sunday, I think the more appropriate word would be sad. If things don’t change quickly, this season will really be done, as some of the “experts” are already saying.

Sunday the Chiefs will be in New Orleans to play a Saints team that is struggling more than even the Chiefs are at this time. The Saints have lost four of their last five games, and that one win was against a horrible Oakland Raider team.

As I’m saying all of this about the Saints I’m getting more and more afraid of this game, because it’s exactly what has caused the Chiefs problems in my mind this year, a team who is supposed to be a sure win, but ends up being more than the Chiefs can handle. This season the Carolina Panthers, the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars and now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were all supposed to be marks in the win column, but instead ended up being very painful losses.

In New Orleans this Sunday it all has to come to an end, and the Chiefs need to handle their business against the worst defense in the league, put up over 40 points and for one of the few times this year smack a team in the mouth with defense. An inspired defense that plays with heart and confidence.

The Chiefs need to head back to Arrowhead for their Monday Night showdown against the Patriots with a chance to go 5-5 and get some momentum going.

Defense needs to be the key in New Orleans, because we know the offense will be there whether they are 100% healthy or not. But the Chiefs defense needs to show what kind of heart they can muster up for this huge game. I am not throwing in the towel on this season, I just hope every Kansas City Chief is on the same boat. Show some heart fellas, get it done!