When Joe Montana left the San Francisco 49ers in 1992, the Kansas City Chiefs signed him for the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Montana led the Chiefs, who installed Montana's offensive system, to the AFC Championship game in '93 and they went back to the playoffs in '94, but since then, despite making it to the playoffs five times, they haven't won a post-season game. Now they face a similar situation. If the Colts decide to go with Andrew Luck and they let Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, go, the Chiefs would be front runners to sign him.
If that's what happens, FOX Sports' Brian Billick warns that even though the Chiefs could be setting themselves up for short-term success, they could be derailing themselves in the long term.
This might actually be a bigger turnoff than turn-on — not only would you be applying a Band-Aid as a short-term fix, but you are also potentially setting your franchise back by putting aside your own offensive scheme to run an entirely different one during the Manning years. When the Chiefs brought in Montana, they installed his offense and made it to the AFC Championship Game in 1993 and another playoff appearance in 1994, but the Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since. Montana was good in the short term, but might have derailed the long-term outlook. That will be a major factor for the potential suitors in the Manning sweepstakes.
If the Chiefs install Manning's playbook, which mainly consists of letting Manning do what he wants to do, they may be successful in the AFC West, the conferences weakest division, for the next couple years, but what happens when Manning calls it quits and the Chiefs have to start all over again.
The Colts have until March 8 to make a decision on Manning, until then, Chiefs fans will likely be sitting on the edge of their seats.
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