Romeo Crennel, the former head coach of the Cleveland Browns, received a lot of positive press last week when his Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Green Bay Packers. It was the Packers' first loss of the season, Crennel's first game as interim head coach of the Chiefs, and Kyle Orton's first full game as the Chiefs' starting quarterback. At 6-8, it doesn't seem like Chiefs would be still in playoff contention heading into Week 16. They are very much in it for a few reasons though:
- Their final two games are against the Chargers and the Broncos.
- If the Bills are able to end their losing streak in Week 16 and beat the Broncos, the Chiefs will, in essence, control their own destiny. The Chargers could still get in over them with a sweep, but they have a tough road game against the Lions in Week 16.
If you read Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback earlier in the week, then you already saw some tidbits about Crennel. He talked about some of his time with Cleveland:
In all his years assisting Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells, and his four years coaching the Browns, Crennel never got the bucket dumped over his head. "Not even the year we won 10 games there," he said. "The only time I got it was after I got fired in Cleveland, and I coached in an East-West All-Star game in Orlando against Marty Schottenheimer, and we won. That's it. I have to say, it felt pretty good today."
...
"Everyone in this game has an ego," Crennel told me. "I have one too. I'd like to have another opportunity to prove I can do this job. I had one in Cleveland and we won 10 games one year, then got hit hard with injuries the next year. Scott knows me, and that helps. But he knows me as an assistant, not as a head coach. Now he's got to see me as a head coach."
I don't know if injuries were the reason we failed after the ten-win season. Derek Anderson sucking and Braylon Edwards dropping passes might have had more to do with it.
Either way, would you get a kick out of seeing Romeo make the playoffs, or are you hoping a different team wins the AFC West?