Theres a team in the AFC West Division with a longstanding winning tradition , a team that, in recent years, has fallen on hard times. That team is the Kansas City Chiefs.

Once a stalwart of the old American Football League, the Chiefs played the Packers in the first two Super Bowls , and lost both times. Following the merger between the two leagues, Kansas City, under the leadership of their late, great coach Hank Stram were consistent winners, often beating up on AFC competition. Together with the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City franchise was not only one of the top teams in the AFC, they were also one of the better teams in the entire NFL.

But nothing stays the same forever. After another successful run as a top AFC team, the Chiefs in the last few years have grown old and started losing. Clearly, they stayed with their top players, on offense, defense and special teams, a little too long. Perhaps, they should have started unloading their veterans a year early instead of a year late.

No matter. They kept those older players, and their diminishing skills, and started losing , a lot. Head Coach Herm Edwards a former Head Coach of The New York Jets became the scapegoat for the losing and was fired.

An entirely new regime was brought in, including a new, young Head Coach, and the first thing they did after last season ended was pull off a trade with the New England Patriots. For the very modest cost of a second round draft pick, the Patriots traded quarterback Matt Cassell to Kansas City and he will lead them on the field in 2009-2010. That was a steal for the Chiefs.

There was more good news for fans of Kansas City. By all accounts, and according to TV pundits and other experts, the Chiefs had one of the best drafts of college players recently and addressed many needs including offensive line , defense , skill positions , and more.

Will these changes make Kansas City a better team in 2009-2010? The answer is: probably yes. Will they be a safer bet for fans who like to risk a little money on games? The answer to that question: who knows?

One thing is virtually certain. The Chiefs will be younger , hungrier , and in all likelihood ready to go toe-to-toe with every opponent they face in the upcoming season. They can start by bringing their gamer attitude to the intra-divisional games they will play against the Broncos , the Raiders , and the always-dangerous Chargers. These teams have been beating up Kansas City lately, but its fair to expect that the worm will turn in 2009-2010.

Its probably also reasonable to believe that the Chiefs will be underdogs in most of their games in the new season, live underdogs. So if you enjoy betting, Kansas City may be the team to wager on among others, of course.

Money spent betting on the Chiefs may very well be money well spent.