January 7, 2007

Deja-blue all over
The third time isn’t the charm as the Chiefs still can’t figure out the Colts in the playoffs.

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star

INDIANAPOLIS | Will Shields put his black top hat on his bald head as he prepared to go see his family and leave the RCA Dome.

Then he took his hat off. To the Colts. Again. The Colts, he said, were a step ahead of the Chiefs all day long.

“It was a tough day at the office,” Shields said. “You make one move, they make another. It’s like playing chess, and they had our number.”

The Colts have made all the right moves against the Chiefs three times in the playoffs in Shields’ 14-year career. Shields says it isn’t about the Colts.

“I don’t think they’re a thorn in my side,” Shields said. “It happens. It’s part of the game. They have a good offense, a good defense and good special teams. After that, what do you point to?”

Shields is the only player on the roster to have won a playoff game in a Chiefs uniform. The year was 1993, Shields’ rookie season, and the Chiefs’ exit was in Buffalo in the AFC championship game. That seems like a long time ago, but Shields can still remember what it felt like to win a playoff game.

“You always remember,” Shields said, “and you think, ‘This is going to happen every year.’ You’re going to make the playoffs and win a game.”

To this point, it hasn’t happened again. Three times — in 1995, 2003 and this season — because the Chiefs couldn’t beat the Colts.

“It’s not like they’re the only team that’s beaten us in the playoffs,” Shields said, chuckling to himself.

While Shields keeps on smiling, it’s a cruel reality for some of his Chiefs teammates. Linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who joined the Chiefs in 2003, said this week that he wanted to win this game for Shields.

“It’s disappointing, man,” Mitchell said. “The guy’s been in the league this long, he made all those Pro Bowls, he’ll hopefully be a Hall of Fame player, and he didn’t get that Super Bowl. He deserves it more than anybody. He comes to work every day. The way he runs around, he still looks like he’s a rookie sometimes. It’d be nice to get it for him. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t do it.”

For many of the Chiefs, Mitchell included, their only playoff experience is losing to the Colts. The losses weren’t alike at all, so it’s hard to pull out a common theme. In 2003, the Chiefs lost 38-31, and neither team punted. That one was on the defense. On Saturday, the Chiefs’ offense didn’t get a first down for almost three quarters.

“This is my second time,” Chiefs safety Greg Wesley said. “It’s been against them twice, and unfortunately it’s been two losses. But sometimes, people never get here, man. It’s a positive. Hopefully next year if we meet them again, we’ll get the win.”

There are no easy answers for how that would happen. And they might have to do it without Shields, their Pro Bowl lineman. He’ll take some time this offseason to decide if he wants to play for the Chiefs again next year or retire. Either way, he’ll have another tough loss to the Colts to think about.

“There’s always woulda, coulda, shoulda,” Shields said. “You have to take your hat off. They did it to us today.”

J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell)