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The odds were bad, and the mood was sour. An inexperienced quarterback with a discouraging NFL track record was the Chiefs' next in line, and he would be facing a team with a quarterback who would someday be a future Hall of Famer.
Three seasons ago, Tyler Thigpen faced an assignment similar to the one Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko was take on next Monday night. Palko, stepping in for the injured Matt Cassel, will face a superstar counterpart in New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Thigpen, who's now the backup quarterback for Buffalo, said he can understand what Palko is going through this week — and what he might be hearing from outsiders. In October 2008, injuries forced Thigpen to become the Chiefs' full-time starter. His first opponent was Brett Favre and the New York Jets.
"A lot of people," Thigpen said Tuesday, "had pretty much written us off."
And why not? In Thigpen's first start in 2008, before Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard suffered season-ending injuries, he had thrown three interceptions and averaged 3.6 yards per passing attempt in a blowout loss at Atlanta.
He became the Chiefs' full-time starter against the Jets, facing Favre at the Meadowlands. The chatter started early that week: The Chiefs had no chance.
"There were a lot of doubters, going into that game, about me," Thigpen said. "And I think there was an opportunity I was given to prove and show those people, the people that were doubters, to have them shut their mouths."
His strategy was to ignore them. Before the Atlanta game, he said, he listened to fans and media shred the Chiefs' possibilities with Thigpen in the starting lineup. He talked to friends and family members, who reminded him how difficult it is to succeed in the NFL. After a while, failure became planted in his mind. Then, reality made it grow.
Thigpen not only was bad in that 38-3 loss to the Falcons, but he looked out of place. So when his next chance happened, he decided to shut out the world. He spoke only to his father, rarely even looking at his phone at all, and declining all non-mandatory interviews. In those new time windows, he studied film and studied the Chiefs' playbook, which was getting a makeover to complement Thigpen's scrambling ability.
"I focused on complete football," he said. "... You can't allow any distractions outside of football."
When that Sunday arrived, few beyond the organization's walls believed the Chiefs had a chance to slow Favre and beat the Jets. Thigpen said he was focused, knowing that a solid performance might quiet the doubts and maybe give him the career push that some fringe players never get.
Early in that game, Thigpen began leaning on tight end Tony Gonzalez, a low-risk strategy that would take him through the rest of that season. They connected for a tying touchdown early in the second quarter, and Thigpen found Mark Bradley for another score.
Meanwhile, Favre was struggling, throwing a pair of interceptions to Chiefs rookie Brandon Flowers, who returned one of them for a touchdown. It took a comeback and several breakdowns by the Chiefs' defense to allow Favre to escape the Meadowlands with a 28-24 victory. Regardless, some who left the stadium that day thought the Chiefs' new kid had outplayed the Jets' old man.
Thigpen was among them.
"Everybody is going to be watching," he said, "and to be able to go into that game and out-perform him was definitely something that... you learn from it, and you kind of say, 'Hey, I was able to outperform somebody like that. Maybe I do belong here.' "
Thigpen said he has met Palko, and Thigpen believes that Palko possesses the confidence and work ethic to at least give the Chiefs a chance Monday against the Patriots. He'll need help, of course, same as Thigpen needed and didn't often get. But Thigpen said a quarterback such as Palko, who has played for four NFL teams but has never started a game, will likely recognize what this kind of game could mean for his career — and, of course, the Chiefs' season.
Thigpen's performance didn't ease all the pressure in 2008, and the Chiefs still finished 2-14. But more often than most outsiders thought, the kid without the NFL pedigree gave his team a chance. Three seasons later, as the Chiefs begin a difficult stretch without much experience at their most important position, that might be all the team can ask.
"Everybody had no expectations," he said. "But I'm a competitor. I want to go out there and win every single play, if I can. When it was all said and done, I feel like I went out there and proved myself."
