With the season opening loss to the Houston Texans, grumblings are growing louder in Kansas City, not just from the fans, but the players as well. Not generally a good sign.

As the Chiefs offense stalled against the Texans over and over — the Texans! — running back Larry Johnson thought more and more about the task staring at him and his teammates.

“This is going to be a project,” Johnson said. “We need to grow some balls.”

Losing to the Texans is bad enough, the Chiefs have a lot to do to get to respectability even, the players though don't seem to think that's the direction they are heading in and it is obviously a reflection of the coaching, not the talent.

This is a roster that Dick Vermeil would probably go 9-7 with, it's not a great team, but it's not cannon fodder for the Texans either, there is too much talent for that to be the case. If something doesn't change in Kansas City, this club will be lucky to win 4 games. That is a reflection of Herm Edwards and the current coaching staff.

Larry Johnson was the most vocal Chief when it came to expressing his displeasure with Sunday’s gameplan. He questioned the “decision-making” that occurred when the unit got into the red zone and hinted that there was a timid feel in the huddle.

“We need to play all out,” Johnson said. “We can’t sit back and be scared about who’s going to see this and who’s going to see that. We’ve got to let that go."

“Even if we make mistakes, we should make them in a way where (the opponent) realizes we have the capability of doing something. Throw three Hail Marys on the first three plays to let them know we’re not scared. Something like that."

“Sometimes we play so timid because we don’t want to make mistakes, but then we end up making them anyway.”

The team that looked lost against the Texans last week has to travel to Chicago this week to play a real defense. Imagine how bad that game could look.

The reason Brodie Croyle is behind in his development is because Herm can't deal with rookie mistakes. If the Chiefs were to gameplan this way with Croyle in you could maybe chalk it up to protecting the youngster. That however is not the case as Herm does not have the intestinal fortitude to develop a quarterback. The players are beginning their revolt somewhat quietly, but make no mistake about it this is the beginning of a player revolt if Herm and offensive coordinator Mike Solari don't change their ways.