American Football: Domination

Anderson hesitated briefly. Lance was clearly in the middle of his morning run, and it felt wrong to interrupt his routine. But after some inner struggle, he finally asked:

"Do you have a minute?"

Lance glanced at his watch with a serious expression, pausing as if deep in thought before looking back up at Anderson.

"You've got three."

With just that playful gesture, the tension melted away, and Anderson couldn't help but smile.

"Do you know about the 1969 season?"

Lance gave a slight nod. Of course he did — the 1969 season was when the Kansas City Chiefs won their first and only Super Bowl title.

"That season, we lost to the damn Oakland Raiders twice in the regular season. They crushed us — destroyed us completely."

"Our starting quarterback, Len Dawson, suffered a leg injury that ended his season. Our backup, Mike Livingston, had to step in and carry the team."

"Unexpectedly, Livingston led us on a five-game winning streak and took us all the way to the AFL Championship. And guess who we faced there? The Raiders."

Anderson's voice grew more animated as he spoke.

"No one gave us a chance. The Raiders were division champs. They'd beaten us twice that season, and everyone was already talking about an Oakland vs. Minnesota Super Bowl."

"But we won."

"17-7. We shut them up in their own stadium."

Anderson glanced at Lance, who was listening intently without showing a hint of impatience.

That encouraged Anderson to continue.

"In the bar, I've told that story ten, maybe twenty times. Honestly, I've lost count. The younger guys are sick of hearing it. Every time I bring it up, they roll their eyes."

"We can't live in the past forever, right?"

His gaze drifted toward the horizon, a shadow of melancholy crossing his face. For a brief moment, Anderson seemed lost in his thoughts, revealing glimpses of a man with stories to tell.

Then, he snapped back.

"But that game... That victory kept me going for forty years. It helped me through the tough times — when my mom passed away, during the 2008 financial crisis, through wave after wave of layoffs."

"I support the Chiefs not because they win titles or rack up victories, but because they're a part of my life. I remember their score the week I got married. I remember seeing fellow Chiefs fans at my dad's funeral. And I remember every face in this bar after last year's playoff loss to the Steelers."

Despite the weight of six straight losses, Anderson still smiled as he spoke, carrying his memories with pride.

"Don't mind Chris. He's got nothing left — no family, no job, no savings. He's hit rock bottom. The only thing he has left is the Chiefs."

"He's just scared. Scared to hope. Scared that hope will vanish again. So instead, he's chosen to sit in the dark and let himself rot. It feels easier that way."

"But deep down, he's just like the rest of us. He's still standing behind you."

"He hasn't missed a single game."

Lance grinned. "Not even the last six?"

Anderson laughed out loud. "Nope. Not a single one."

His expression lightened with the laughter, his spirits visibly lifted.

"He won't leave. None of us will."

"We all love winning. But we won't walk away because of a few losses. Forty years later, I'm still here. And I'm not planning to leave."

"So..."

Anderson trailed off, emotions swirling unexpectedly after spilling his thoughts so openly.

But Lance understood. He understood everything.

"David," Lance called, using Anderson's first name.

Anderson looked up, surprised.

"We're still fighting. So, fight with us. Stand by our side."

We're. Not I'm.

That small change in wording carried a significant weight. Did it mean that the Chiefs' locker room wasn't in turmoil after all?

Anderson nodded slowly, a quiet affirmation.

"Alright."

Then, Lance turned and resumed his morning run. Anderson watched the tall, athletic figure fade into the distance until it disappeared under the glowing morning sun.

Realistically, six straight losses were bound to create tension in the locker room.

No team could drop from a six-game winning streak to a six-game losing streak without issues arising. Something was clearly wrong, and if they didn't figure out what it was, the season would spiral further into disaster.

Looking back at the first six wins, it became apparent that five of them had come down to the wire in the fourth quarter. The signs of weakness were always there — the team had just been good at masking them.

The game against the Steelers had been the team's ultimate test, their Super Bowl, of sorts. They'd built up so much tension preparing for that battle that, once they won, they finally exhaled.

The problem was that they let their guard down afterward.

Facing the Raiders, they weren't as sharp. They didn't underestimate their opponent, but they weren't fully dialed in either.

And when Oakland fought back harder than expected, the Chiefs faltered.

One loss turned into a turning point.

The real issue wasn't that first defeat — it was the loss of momentum. The team's rhythm broke, and suddenly, all their flaws were laid bare.

One loss led to another, then another, and they couldn't stop the slide.

It was clear that the team had problems. But no team was perfect. The key was knowing how to mask your weaknesses while playing to your strengths — adjusting game plans to fit your opponents.

That was the coaching staff's job.

For the players, their job was simpler:

Lead by example.

Take it one play at a time. One touchdown, one breakthrough, one defensive stand — any of those moments could reignite the team's fighting spirit and turn things around.

Lance knew that.

He'd been thinking and learning all season.

Before joining the NFL, Alan and Coach Burns had warned him:

The NFL is a whole new world.

In college, Lance's talent was unstoppable. But the pros were different. Everyone was a monster athlete, and raw talent wasn't enough.

The strategies were more complex, and a player could either thrive or disappear depending on how well they adapted to the system.

Lance still had a lot of room to grow.

And the training system seemed to know it too.

Last week, Lance had drawn a new card from the training deck.

An S-level training template.

It was a reminder: there was always more to learn.

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Powerstones?

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