In Kansas City, It's Now the Arrowhead Way (Or at Least it Should Be)

Winning cures all ills.

The often-used refrain is at the forefront of the Kansas City Chiefs' mission to rebound from a season that concluded with the resignation of the team's long-time president/general manager and the firing of a coach responsible for the team's worst two-year stretch in franchise history.

Coming off a season (2-14) that saw a young, inexperienced team post the worst record in the franchise's storied history, the Chiefs are in the inevitable position of trying to win back what many consider some of the most loyal fans in professional sports.

Although message boards and sports blogs may have given Chiefs' fans opportunities to mope and grumble about the sad state of affairs under the three-year watch of former coach Herm Edwards—not to mention the end of the nearly 20-year reign of "King" Carl Peterson—it was the less than capacity-filled Arrowhead Stadium crowds that spoke loudest.

Now that owner Clark Hunt has handed over the responsibilities of fixing the organization's on-field and box-office woes to new general manger Scott Pioli and new head coach Todd Haley, expectations are such at One Arrowhead Way that the team may be on the verge of a Miami Dolphins-like turnaround.

Miami, of course, was 1-15 in 2007 and shocked the football world by winning 11 of 16 games in 2008, capturing the AFC East crown in the process.

Much has been made of the Pioli/Bill Belichick "Patriots' Way" philosophy that Pioli brings with him to Kansas City.

Throw in the Haley/Bill Parcells (the man that led the Dolphins' magical turn-around as executive vice-president for football operations) connection and Chiefs' fans should have reason to believe a winning seaon in 2009 is there for the taking.

A team loaded with young players—in fact the Chiefs had the youngest team in the National Football League last season at at average of 25.9-years-old—lost a total of seven games by less than seven points.

A big catch here, a crucial tackle there, a made field goal from somewhere and Kansas City is probably in the thick of things in what was a very mediocre AFC West division in 2008.

Realizing some of the younger players' inability to make keys plays in crucial moments, the new regime acquired championship-pedigree veterans such as Mike Vrabel, Zach Thomas, and Bobby Engram to help bridge the gap between winning and losing.

Following the successful blueprint laid out in New England, Pioli—and to a lesser degree Haley—is determined that 2009 will be the season that introduces the "Arrowhead Way" to the NFL, a Midwestern version of quality, championship football.