Being that as an economy we seem to be going through a hard time (I won't say the R word) it has brought some things to light for the Chiefs' fan inside of me.

First off, unlike most Chiefs' fans I do not hate Herm Edwards.  I think he has a great coaching mind when it comes to player development.  The problem I have is we are in a rebuilding year and no one is willing to admit it.  On top of that we have old leadership (Carl Peterson) trying to get us out of it. 

First step to building a team:  Find young talent (Jared Allen, 26 lead the league in sacks) and build around them. 

Second step:  Keep that player!

Sure I understand that Jared Allen can get us an extra 2 or 3 draft picks, but what is the probability those players live up to Allen's potential?

I look at these problems and I am starting to believe that the Chiefs are only trying to mirror the economy.  i.e. old leadership (Carl Peterson) refuses to admit we are rebuilding, seems to mirror another leader refusing to admit we are in a recession. 

So now we, both as an economy and as Chiefs' fans are looking at a deficit that is hard to overcome.  We are taking steps backward (Trading Jared Allen) to attempt to start over 4 years from now.  Sure things will begin to look up soon, but for Chiefs' fans who haven't seen a playoff win since 1993, we need something to cheer for now!  As an economy, we haven't seen gas prices below two dollars a gallon in over a year. 

The same way I would look at $2.75 a gallon as a reasonable price for gas now, a trip to the playoffs for the Chiefs would be a relief.  Herm Edwards has never missed the playoffs back to back seasons as a head coach.  That streak may very well be coming to an end.