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Couple things on Clark and the Pioli era he ushered in.
If I’m speculating a reason to take him off the hook for previously being aloof, and explain why he was so publicly emotional last week - self preservation.
He runs a supposedly cursed franchise that can never get out of their own way. It’s expected that the abnormal will occur and keep them from reaching their goal. I mean, as fans, a good amount wouldn’t allow themselves to believe KC was going to win last week. So, until he knew that his team actually was going to compete for the trophy named after his dad, he just shot those thoughts down and didn’t get excited...so as to not get disappointed.
Regarding Pioli, the end was awful, overall it was a completely misguided cluster****, but if you break it down into smaller chunks, and then analyze when Clark stepped in, he doesn’t come out looking so bad.
Year 1 we clean house and start building the program. Double wins from previous year (not hard).
Year 2 we win the AFC WEST.
Year 3 is an epic backslide. Please note, we lost Berry in game 1. Started the season 4-3 but then went on a nasty losing streak which cost Haley his job. Then we immediately beat the undefeated Packers, take the Raiders to OT, and best the piss out of the Broncos in Denver. This looks like something you can *maybe* build off of.
Year 4 is an unmitigated disaster, that regardless of SOC, ended with a starting player making headlines for murder/suicide. Not to mention Reid obviously going to be available from mid season on since the Eagles were also terrible. And when all that happened, Clark stepped in.
So, where along that timeline should he have acted earlier? I’m not saying the Pioli era wasn’t a total fail (and I bought in at the start), but I’m not sure what else he could have done. Probably could have completely cleaned house after the Babb article as it was obvious what was to come at that point, but those last three games maybe made him hedge a little. Scott and Todd were equal parts crazy so maybe he just needed to evaluate a little longer. It’s fair to fault him there, but I can also see a reasonable justification for waiting.
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