Every loss hurts in the NFL, but some defeats cause more pain than others. Here’s a look back at the most costly, painful loss of the weekend.
The Chiefs lost Week One. No team suffered as embarrassing a result. No playoff team from a year ago was reeling more after only one week.
Kansas City was my pick for this honor even before we knew safety Eric Berry, one of the team’s best players, was lost for the season. The Chiefs lost more than a game in in their 41-7 loss to the Bills at Arrowhead, which should be one of the best home field advantages in the league.
We always hear the preseason doesn’t matter. And then the most ill-prepared looking team in the preseason became the most ill-prepared looking team in Week One. The Chiefs were shell-shocked.
“I’m embarrassed to go out there and do that in front of our home crowd,” Matt Cassel said via the Kansas City Star.
Defensive tackle Kelly Gregg: “Things started going bad, and it just [continued] bad. A landslide. It’s amazing how bad things went.”
Safety Jon McGraw: “I’m still trying to piece it all together in my mind.”
The Chiefs better snap of their daze soon. They face the Lions and Chargers on the road in the next two weeks, and the Chiefs don’t seem to know what they can do well. (Here’s a hint: Get the ball to Jamaal Charles.)
This was the type of loss that makes you question the direction of the program. The offensive line and passing game looks lost without Charlie Weis. Special teams was a disaster in the opener. The defense couldn’t tackle or stop the run.
“We were bad,” Haley said. “We were bad pretty much from start to finish.”
It’s only one game, but it felt like more than that for the Chiefs Sunday.