the fine twenty five

I know there are still nine games left in this season. And depending on how you view the decade, there are either eight or nine games left in it.

But to be honest ... only two games right now have even an ounce of appeal to me remaining this season, the next two home games. Against the defending champion Steelers on Nov. 22nd, and against my most hated franchise in professional sports, the (insert lengthy string of obsenities here) denver broncos on Dec. 6th.

I have little doubt Pittsburgh will roll us on the 22nd. For some reason, we usually play well against denver, and I hold out hope we'll catch them napping and at least salvage some dignity out of this season.

So with nothing positive to really write about on the field this year, I decided to look back at my 25 favorite games in the 2000s. Some were wins, some were losses. Some were thrilling highs, some were excruciating lows. But all of them helped shape this abortion of a roster we have now.

Enjoy?

25. Week 5 2000: at Chiefs 24, Seahawks 17, MNF. Memorable for a few reasons. First, it was our first prime time game of the decade. Second, it marked our third straight win, after opening the 2000 season with 2 crushing defeats (vs Indy, in OT at Tenn). But most of all, its memorable for two reasons:

a. a memorable exchange at the players entrance between myself, Gregg, Jenni, and the greatness that is ... Ed Hochuli. Ed rolls up about 5:30, and we drop the "Sweet Jesus, its Ed Hochuli!" line. Ed, without missing a beat, looks up, laughs and says "is that a problem?" Ed came out to pose for some pics and give some autographs as well. But also ...

b. after a Seahawks apparent first down catch on a crucial third down, the sideline mics pic Gunther up dropping every swear word in the book. And Dennis Miller deadpans "wasn't me". The booth just erupted. Its one of the few times you'll ever hear Al Michaels lose it, but it was that damned funny.

24. Week 8 2002: at Chiefs 20, raiders 10. The Chiefs first win over oakland since November 1999. But no game was more, uuh, misreading of the 2002 season than this one. When this one was done, both were 4-4, but the Chiefs had won 3 of 5, all against teams that would finish plus .500; and the raiders had lost four straight, as both entered the bye.

The raiders didn't lose again, reeling off ten straight wins to reach the Super Bowl. The Chiefs finished .500, dropping 3 of 4 down the stretch to blow a playoff berth. But for one magical afternoon, we were better than oakland. That meant something 7 years ago.

23. Week 7 2006: at Chiefs 30, Chargers 27. I will always believe this is the best team Marty ever coached. The Chargers went 14-2, their only two losses coming at 13-3 Baltimore ... and at 9-7 Kansas City. Chiefs jumped out 17-0 before San Diego knew what hit them. The Chargers roared back. The Chiefs forced a punt with a minute to go, and calmly, methodically, Damon Huard drove the Chiefs into field goal range, where Lawrence Tynes nailed it from 48 ... only to have it called back on one of the biggest bullsh*t false start calls you will ever see. Neither announcer for CBS that day saw a flinch, let alone movement. But Tynes calmly, rationally, drilled it from 53 to save the Chiefs season, and ultimately provide the tiebreaking victory that meant Playoffs 2006 for the Red and Gold (it put us at 4-2 in the division, whereas denver went 3-3).

22. Week 15 2003: at Chiefs 45, Lions 17. Clinched the 2003 AFC Western Division title for the Chiefs.

21. Week 8 2004: at Chiefs 45, Colts 35. I'm actually stunned this one rated as low as it did in my listing. Arguably one of the 3 or 4 funnest games of the Vermeil era. Just like the playoff game earlier that January, neither team could stop the other. And for one final, brief moment, the Chiefs 2004 season was back on track, as this got us to 3-4, before the floor caved in via a four game losing streak.

20. Week 4 2005: Eagles 37, at Chiefs 30. I literally drank for two straight days after this defeat. Just stayed in my room and drank. In hindsight, however, you realize just what a great game this was. Chiefs jump out 17-0 and 23-7. Eagles score 30 unanswered, before the Chiefs score to pull within seven, and get the ball back with a chance to tie. The Eagles season would collapse after this, as TO melted down, but for an early October game, in the late afternoon FOX national game slot, this was a great one.

19. Postseason 2006: at Colts 23, Chiefs 8. Another defeat, and a horrendously embarrassing one at that, but one of only two playoff games the Chiefs played this decade. That has to count for something. That, and this was truly the last gasp of the solid Chiefs teams of the mid 2000s. The Chiefs would somehow get to 4-3 in 2007, but this was really the last stand of the teams Vermeil constructed.

18. Week 8 2000: at Chiefs 54, Rams 34. The Rams entered at 6-0, the Chiefs at 3-3. NOBODY gave KC a chance ... other than optimistic Steve, optimistic Gregg, and head coach Gunther Cunningham, who literally fainted from anger when, up 24-0, the Chiefs gave up points. This was an ass kicking of Biblical proportions, and I loved every damned second of it. You had Marshall Faulk so gassed from dealing with our defense that he puked in the huddle. You had Michael Cloud blocking punts. Warren Moon throwing 30 yard touchdown bombs to Sly Morris for crying out loud. And of course, Gregg's infamous, prophetic prediction to Kurt Warner that "your season ends today!" The Chiefs broke Warner's throwing hand, and he honestly has never been the same.

17. Week 4 2004: Chiefs 27, at Ravens 24, MNF. I definitely expected this one to be higher. The Chiefs entered at 0-3, the Ravens at 3-0. This might have been Dick Vermeil's finest hour as head coach. It was this one, or one that appears a little later on. We went into Baltimore, and completely manhandled the Ravens D. Ray Lewis drew three personal fouls because he got so frustrated going against our offensive line. Just an awesome, awesome game.

Also, sadly, the last game of a very missed era, as we lost a great one the next day ...

16. Week 9 2007: Packers 33, at Chiefs 23. Chiefs led this one 23-20 with 3:13 to play. Green Bay had 3rd and 6 at their own 39. Arrowhead was going absolutely bonkers. Somehow, someway, a horrendous Chiefs team had crawled to 4-3, was one defensive play away from going 3 up on denver and San Diego with denver coming in the next week ... and then, the play that literally ended the Chiefs as we knew them for 16 years (aka, a competitive, competent franchise).

Favre to Jennings. 61 yards. Untouched.

Huard tossed the pick six to Chuck Woodson on the very next play. Ballgame. Decade. The Carl Peterson era died that afternoon for all intents and purposes. For that reason alone, its in the memorable list. The Chiefs wouldn't win again for 12 more games. And have won only three times since.

15. Week 7 2002: broncos 37, at Chiefs 34 (OT). This game haunts me to this day. The Chiefs led 34-20 with 4:03 to play, facing 4th and 1 at the denver 22. Vermeil, like he stupidly did in the exact same situation in San Diego the week before, chose to kick the field goal. In this case, at least, it made some sense; if Morten Anderson had hit it, ballgame. Unfortunately, he had a horrendous wind into his face, and the kick wasn't even close. denver scored the last 17, including the final field goal after blocking a Chiefs punt, to cost the Chiefs the playoffs. To say I am still bitter about this game, well ... for five years, I refused to even call Dick Vermeil by his name, as a direct result of this game. Who says I'm not irrational and slightly deranged.

14. Week 14 2005: at Cowboys 31, Chiefs 28. Oh, the other great "what could have been" game of the decade. Had the Chiefs won this one, and God knows they had every opportunity to do so, we'd have been the last team into the AFC playoffs, instead of your eventual Super Bowl Champion Steelers. Still the best Chiefs road trip I've ever been on, still one of the funnest weekends of my life, it just sucks that it ended with the Chiefs collapsing in the fourth quarter, letting Jason Witten score with :16 to play to take the lead ... only to see Trent Green hit a 50 yard bomb to Dante Hall to give us a shot to tie ... only to see Lawrence Tynes not even come close from 41 at the gun. What could have been.

13. Week 5 2002: Chiefs 29, at Jets 25. THIS was Dick Vermeil's finest hour. Trailing 25-22 with less than 3 minutes to play, in my favorite NFL player's debut as Jets quarterback, the Chiefs calmly, methodically drove the field, and then, with barely :30 to go, the Chiefs went for the jugular and the win, rather than settle for the tie. "Priest Holmes! With running room! 10! 5! Touchdown! My oh my, Priest Holmes!" as Dick Enberg so famously put it. Yet another "what the ..." game from that confusing as hell 2002 season: this one got the Chiefs to 3-2, and dropped the Jets to 1-4 ... yet the Jets won the AFC East, and the Chiefs were on the outside looking in when it was all said and done.

(Just as an fyi, I'm looking at what's left ... and there's a ton of donkeys and raiders games left on this list ... including what I argue is the single most painful loss in franchise history ... even more so than Christmas Day 1971 in the longest game ever played to Miami, or my 21st birthday loss to denver ...)

12. Week 7 2003: Chiefs 17, at raiders 10, MNF. The end of dick gannon's career! Yay! (kazoo voice) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also notable because (a) it got the Chiefs to 7-0, and buried the defending AFC champs at 2-5, and (b) the goalline "stand" against tim brown. I still have no idea how the hell he didn't get that final marques tuaisosopu heave across the goalline, but somehow, he came up an inch short. Incredible.

11. Week 1 2001: raiders 27, at Chiefs 24. The start of a new era, as Dick Vermeil, Trent Green, and Priest Holmes all made their Chiefs debut. Despite playing like dog crap for 3 1/2 quarters, the Chiefs somehow tied this thing up on the Golden Toe's field goal with less than a minute to go ... before the raiders did what they did back then, and janikowski nailed a 51 yarder as time expired to win it. Also notable because nobody knew what awaited less than 36 hours later, as football, and a new era in Kansas City, took a back seat to four airplanes hijacked coming out of Boston and Newark that fateful morning of September 11th ...

10. Week 13 2005: at Chiefs 31, broncos 27. "The Stand". What else needs to be said. 4th and 2, 2:07 to play. If the Chiefs had any hopes of reaching the playoffs, they had to stop denver. On first measurement, mike anderson got it. Only, for once, Mike White made himself useful, and convinced Dick Vermeil to challenge the spot.

In section 132, this (no longer self described!) hot as hell 29 year old was coming unhinged. It clearly showed anderson didn't reach the 47. Yet refs rarely if ever overturn the spot. Thankfully, Bill Leavy is no ordinary ref. For as much crap as the 2000s Chiefs defense took (virtually all of it deserved), they stopped denver when it counted, at least for one day anyways.

9. Week 4 2000: Chiefs 24, at donkeys 23. What a way to close down Real Mile High. By picking off gus fre"rotten" 5 times. Sacking him half a dozen more. By rallying from down 16-3 entering the fourth quarter, to taking the lead with 2:23 to play on a beautiful Elvis Grbac to Derrick Alexander bomb that nobody on denver bothered to cover. Say what you want about Gunther Cunningham as a head coach, the man went 4-0 against denver. That counts for something in my book.

8. Week 4 2008: at Chiefs 33, donkeys 19. Some of us saw this coming early. And then couldn't stop celebrating ...

7. Week 9 2005: at Chiefs 27, raiders 23. I still have no idea how we won this game. I remember, facing 2nd and 20 at the oakland 37 with a mere 17 seconds to go, thinking "just don't take a sack". Instead, Al Saunders called a screen pass to LJ, who ran untouched 36 yards to the oakland 1.

:05 to play. First and goal at the one. Down 23-20. What do you do.

Vermeil sent the offense out. I hit my knees. The only play that made even an ounce of sense there, other than taking the tie and going to overtime, was a quick strike to Tony G. Literally a one step drop, if he's not wide open, spike it 5 yards deep in the end zone, hope there's :01 left, and kick.

Instead, LJ ... untouched ... behind a hole so gaping wide, blown open by Shields and Richardson, that I could have at least had a chance to score on the play. Tears of joy. Season on.

(Really, in hindsight? The 2005 season might be the most underrated Chiefs season of my lifetime. Already, we've had four games from that season on this list, and there's two more I could have tossed on here (week 2 at oakland on a Sunday night; week 16 against San Diego in the snow). Interesting ...)

6. Week 17, 1999 (but played in 2000 ...): raiders 41, at Chiefs 38, OT. The single most costly loss in franchise history. I will argue to this day, that that defeat, cost the Chiefs not just a division, but cost us hosting the AFC Title Game, a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl, and of course, cost us Derrick Thomas. It marked the final nail in the coffin of the 90s Chiefs. It put oakland and Jon Gruden on the map, and set the tone for the next 3 years of football. But the game itself? Unbelievable. Neither team could stop the other. Tamarick Vanover returned one for a touchdown in his final game as a Chief. Combined, over 1,000 yards of offense. Just a great, great football game. Even if the loss still haunts the Chiefs to this day.

5. Week 4, 2002: at Chiefs 48, Dolphins 30. The funnest game of the Dick Vermeil era. We absolutely obliterated the Dolphins. Just destroyed them. In yet another "what the ..." game from the 2002 season. Miami would go on to tie for the AFC East, missing the playoffs on tiebreakers. This was one of those games, that you just had to be there to witness, to truly grasp how great it was. That, or relive Trent Green absolutely pancaking a Dolphins LB on Priest's third TD run of the day. He knocked him out. Call me crazy, but when your QB is knocking the other team's LB's out cold, he's got balls of steel.

4. Playoffs 2003: Colts 38, at Chiefs 31. There was really only one moment I believed we could win this game. Indy goes up 31-17 midway through the 4th quarter. They kick off ... and Dante Hall takes it to the house. Arrowhead is coming unhinged. I argued we should have onside kicked it there, given that (a) neither team had yet to force a punt, only a couple turnovers each, and (b) Indy would never see it coming with 8 minutes to go. Vermeil kicked it deep. Indy had 3rd and 6. I have only heard Arrowhead as loud as it was for that play twice in my life. The punt return by Vanover against San Diego, and the punt return coming up in game number 3. That joint was rocking.

And Manning hit Marvin Harrison for 8. The Colts wound up scoring, the Chiefs matched but couldn't hold, and the best Chiefs season of the decade was over. But if this was the high water mark of the decade ... well, it wasn't. There were three games better than this one. But still, not the best decade in franchise history, that's for sure.

3. Week 5 2003: at Chiefs 24, donkeys 23. There are some moments in life, that you remember exactly where you were when they happened.

Dante Hall, if you recall late 2002 / early 2003, had to that point returned 6 kicks for touchdowns in his last 9 games. And I had yet to witness any of them live.

Every time, I'd been in the bathroom, either at Arrowhead or at the house. The running gag on kick returns that fall was, in fact, "go pee! Please! Get out of here!" For this one, I stood in my spot. And saw the play of the decade in that stadium.

To field a punt at your 8, is stupid. To run backwards, into your own end zone, as one of the best special teams units in football chases you, with no blocking to speak of, is utterly retarded. To turn it upfield ... to outrun the ENTIRE coverage unit, and make the punter whiff at midfield as that stadium just erupts with emotion, is indescribable.

On the audio clip I still have of the game, there's actually a moment on the CBS broadcast, where they have to adjust the in-game audio. It is literally so loud, you can't hear Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross. They have to mute the crowd, its so loud in that stadium.

That's the Chiefs football I know and love. And that I want back.

2. Week 13 2006: at Chiefs 19, donkeys 10, Thanksgiving night. I have to admit, my top 3, I was juggling all afternoon thinking about the order to put these. I'm guessing a lot of folks would pick any of my top ten to be in the top 2, over these final two. But think back to 2006. Think of everything that went into this moment, into this game.

To lose Trent Green on Opening Day to a concussion that knocked him out for two months (and that he never fully recovered from). To open 0-2, then rally to 6-4, hosting the 7-3 donkeys, on the first game the NFLN ever broadcast.

I remember every damned detail about this day ... but none more than the final one. This recap is well worth the look back.

Again, that is Kansas City Chiefs football that I know and love. And that I want back again.

But the game of the decade, to me at least ...

1. Week 17 2006: at Chiefs 35, Jaguars 30. What is it that Dylan Thomas wrote once up on a time, you have to rage against the dying of the light? This was our rage. This was our final gasp of relevance. It also was amongst the best visuals imaginable (football in the snow kicks ass). It gave you the Immaculate Trifecta. If for one final day, the Chiefs mattered in this decade, what a way to go.

Again, these are the Chiefs I know and love. And that I want back. Sooner, rather than later ...