Five reasons why the Chiefs are cursed

By Clayton Wendler  |   Tuesday, December 05, 2006  |  Comments( 5 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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Why did the Kansas City Chiefs fall to a 3-8 Browns squad on Sunday? It was a confusing loss. The Chiefs' run defense, stout a week ago in holding the Denver Broncos to 38 yards rushing, gave up 150 to Cleveland. The overall defense, solid for the better part of the season, crumbled against the Browns' 31st-ranked offense.

Maybe there's no good explanation for those things, but there is plenty of explanation for the loss: The Chiefs are cursed. This "KC Curse" has manifested itself in one form or another for years now. Here are five such examples from Sunday's 31-28 loss in Cleveland.
1. Karma for 2002 "Dwayne Rudd" game.

Everyone remembers this game. The Browns had Kansas City on the ropes in the 2002 season opener. Only a helmet toss from Cleveland linebacker Dwayne Rudd prevented a Kansas City loss. The Chiefs got one untimed down, because a game can't end on a defensive penalty, and kicked the game-winning field goal.

The Chiefs were overdue on their comeuppance for this one. They beat the Browns 41-20 in a 2003 meeting. They had to pay up at some point. The Browns deserved to win that 2002 game. The Chiefs deserved to win Sunday. What goes around, comes around.


2. The revenge of Elvis Grbac.
Confused? It's really quite simple. Grbac was born in Cleveland. He retired to Cleveland. After being run out of Kansas City and retiring from football following a brief, failed stint with the Baltimore Ravens, he once said he'd only return to the NFL as a backup for the Cleveland Browns.

Enter Derek Anderson. Who? A Browns backup quarterback who scorched the living daylights out of Kansas City Sunday, throwing for two touchdowns and setting up a game-winning field goal in overtime with a 33-yard stumble down the sidelines. It's entirely possible that Grbac changed his name, unretired, joined the Browns and waited patiently for his chance at vengeance. Here's more evidence: on Anderson-Grbac's run in overtime, he specifically targeted and ran over Kansas City safety Greg Wesley - the only remaining starter on defense from Grbac's last season as a Chief. Draw your own conclusions. The truth is out there.


3. The greed of Trent Green.

Chiefs fans were waiting for this one. Before Sunday's contest in Cleveland, Green hadn't thrown for more than 161 yards in a game this year. He had no touchdown passes. You knew that had to change at some point.

Like Chad Johnson, Green just had to have his numbers. So the Chiefs busted out the air attack against the Browns and Green racked up 32 attempts, almost 300 yards and four touchdown passes. And the Chiefs lost. We've seen this before.

Since 2001, the Chiefs are just 19-33 when Green throws 30 or more times in a game. Oh yes, you said you were satisfied with winning while throwing for 100 yards, Trent, but Chiefs fans knew eventually you had to pretty up your stat page. Hopefully, you're happy.


4. Jim Brown's Voodoo Magic


Chiefs running back Larry Johnson and former Cleveland Brown star Jim Brown met before the game Saturday night. What exactly transpired during that meeting? Call it the curse within the curse.

There's no doubt in this writer's mind that Brown put a hex on Johnson the night before the game. Sure, Johnson got 100 yards, but he was not his usual dominant self. He had only one run longer than 16 yards. He never sniffed the end zone. The Chiefs couldn't run the ball late in the fourth quarter or overtime.

You know that Brown, who has always been known for his pride, didn't want Johnson running all over his hometown Browns on Sunday, especially now that the media has been comparing the two for months. He made sure it didn't happen. And have you seen the African Kufi hat Brown wears? Look at that crazy thing! If that's not the sign of a spooky voodoo witch doctor, I don't know what is.


5. The NFL

Clearly, this game was all about promoting Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr., one of the league's stars. The league loves to promote its superstars.

Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez was having a spectacular game. He was completely outclassing Winslow. Through 60 minutes of regulation, Gonzalez had 105 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Winslow had nothing. You know that didn't sit well in league offices.

Gonzalez isn't even marketable! He's a 30-something, Midwestern tight end who dunks the ball after touchdowns, plays clean and keeps his mouth shut off the field. Winslow, on the other hand, gets into spectacular motorcycle accidents and is chock full of controversial sound bites every week. So it was that in overtime, Gonzalez did nothing. The Chiefs didn't even throw to him once.

Winslow, meanwhile, had a huge 26-yard catch on Cleveland's game-winning drive. Mission accomplished. Superstar promoted.
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