Dallas Morning News reporter Rick Gosselin is one of the most respected journalists around the NFL so we usually take note of what he says. He penned an article looking at the similarities between the '09 Kansas City Chiefs and the '89 Dallas Cowboys.
He writes, "Remember the 1989 Cowboys? All the pain and suffering in the stands? All the losses on the field?
"There's an encore performance in Kansas City this fall."
The similarities: New GM, head coach, quarterback, offensive and defensive systems and a losing record.
20 years ago, Jerry Jones entered the NFL owners' landscape and hired a man by the name of Jimmy Johnson. Like the current version of the Chiefs, the losing was plentiful. Those Cowboys lost their first eight games en route to a 1-15 record. Not exactly what you wanted to hear, right?
The free agent workouts and signings were a weekly tradition. 64 different Cowboys suited up and 36 of them started. Similarly, the Chiefs have had 54 different players suit up with 31 starters.
Gosselin continues, "Like Jimmy Johnson, Pioli believes he has his quarterback in place in Cassel. That's the key piece. His presence should accelerate the building process. Now Pioli needs to surround Cassel with some playmakers and upgrade the blocking front, as Johnson did for Aikman."
The Cowboys had a handful of future Pro Bowlers on the team and found a few more in the Herschel Walker fleecing trade. The Chiefs don't have the beneficiary of an extra eight draft picks but, as Gosselin points out, the key is having a plan and sticking with it.
Like Todd Haley and Scott Pioli, Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones went through a rough patch in year one but eventually they turned it around.
"The Cowboys survived," writes Gosselin, "and so will the Chiefs."
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