Perhaps the most amazing part of the Chiefs’ willingness to give the ball away is that they haven’t already set the record.
They gave it up four more times in last night’s loss to the Chargers, giving them a league-high 29 turnovers at their 1-7 halfway point.
The most dramatic were the pair in a two-minute span that were immediately turned into touchdowns, a sack-fumble by Matt Cassel which was recovered by Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips, followed by a pass that went through Dexter McCluster’s hands and was picked off by Demorrio Williams and returned 59 yards for a score.
“It’s absolutely disappointing,” Cassel said, via Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star. “Romeo told us before the game, we’ve got to eliminate penalties, turnovers and not allow big plays on defense, and I don’t know if we accomplished any of that.
“We fought hard, we played hard, but the end result comes down to turnovers and that seems to continue to rear its head for this team.”
The Chiefs are on pace for 58 giveaways, which alarmingly isn’t the record. The 1961 Broncos committed 65 turnovers, giving the Chiefs something to shoot for.
They also have history to lean back on, as head coach Romeo Crennel was special teams coach for the Giants in 1983, when they gave it away 58 times and finished 3-12-1.
His current team doesn’t appear set to win that many games, but with a concerted effort, 36 more turnovers seems very doable.