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Monday, September 29, 2008

A Win is a Win

Look, there are a lot of people today who are feeling that the Chiefs are now going to do great things or are feeling some sort of confidence that is above and beyond what we should be feeling for this team right now. The Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, who had a lot of morons in the media declaring them the "Class of the AFC" right now.

To begin with the quality of the win, it is necessary to look at who you are playing. Has Denver been able to stop anyone this season? Has Denver finished a single game this season (without referee or inept kicker interference)? Can Denver stop the run or the pass? Is Jay Cutler still a reasonably young QB? Since all of these answers slant to the negative side, you begin to realize why the morons in the media seemed to need "a class team." Ignoring their ignorance, that title has went to the Tennessee Titans and coach Jeff Fisher this entire season. When Herm Edwards becomes a guy who can coach a team with a QB who completes 50% of his passes throws more INT's than TD's is the day that I'll put him in a class with other good defensive coaches like Fisher.

No matter Denvers problems, they have still played good football and beat (narrowly) two good opponents. This Chiefs team dominated a veteran o-line with young defenders, had two young corners shut down the second best passing attack in the NFL (no matter what the end game stats say), and a past-his-prime running back ran all over the field against a rush defense that will continue to be exposed the rest of the season. Denver has all of the deficiencies that will make our team look solid now, and will possibly make us look good in Denver.

Either way, kudos are deserved by a few players who dominated the game yesterday: Brandon Carr, Turk McBride, Brandon Flowers, Dwayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, Brad Cottam, and Damon Huard. Also, not much credit has been given to this representative of the team, but Bernard Pollard's hustle a few times might have saved this game for the Chiefs in the first half. I watched him single handedly contain the running game around the corner when he was the last line of defense; holding Denver to a two-yard gain instead of a TD on a broken tackle. He hustled down the field on a screen pass that had the makings of a 70 yard touchdown all over it. Denver settled for a field goal. Big game Bernard Pollard. That guy has really stepped up this year.

If those guys can continue to shape this into a tough football team that is not mesmerized by anyone, then this season can still get turned around. But don't be fooled. The Chargers (twice), Titans, Saints, Bills, Panthers, and Bucs are all teams that will play us better than Denver did. We can out-physical Denver, but (with the exception the Saints) these teams will cause us to really have to get up and play hard. We can do it, but they won't come as easily as the Broncos did.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Week 3: Atlanta

This is going to be short, sweet, and simple. The differences between the winners and losers in this league are very simple, and this is not going to take much when it comes to what can win this game. Here goes:

1) Mix Up the Run and the PASS. If the Chiefs give Tyler Thigpen the opportunity to run some play action, roll out of the pocket, and hit Bowe and Gonzalez in the open. It will give us a great chance for victory. Don't forget that Brad Cottam (huge and athletic) has been non-existent and Will Franklin will be back from injury. Those two both need to be involved in this offense. If we mix it up early, LJ/Charles will run for at least 100 yards on this defense, and Thigpen will throw for 200 yards. If not, a long day for both facets of the offense.

2) Defensive Players need to STAY PUT. The players on this team need to keep their lanes, Brandon Carr needs to keep contain on the corner in the running game, and the safeties need to stay back and not get beat by the deep ball. The Falcons think they can move the ball on our defense right now, and we need to change that mindset early by getting the young guys to maintain their responsibility. They were very undisciplined last week, we need to change that right now or it will be a long season no matter if the offense progresses.

3) Herm Edwards needs to let the PLAYERS PLAY. The team doesn't just have runningbacks and lineman. If he lets Thigpen and the Receivers earn a paycheck, it will go a long way to help the team win. Right now, he's not coaching to win the game. He needs to change that, or else he needs to be fired before the bye week.

Winning or losing this weekend are as simple as those three things. I'm picking win. But I'm thinking I'm giving the others in the league a free advantage this week though.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Tyler Thigpen - Starting QB

Good. That's all I'm going to say today. Look, if you have a QB like Thigpen, then you don't have to play the stupid game of Huard/Hagans because you can run your QB and also have a chance to complete a pass. He might only complete 55% of this throws this week, but that's still about 20% better than Vince Young does, and VY was on the cover of Madden.

I'm just going to leave you all with one thought today: smarts. Watch what plays we call in the game. If we run the ball sometimes in passing situations, and decide to throw the ball with one or two guys back helping block. We WILL win this game. If we don't, then plan on more of the same. We have to get defenses on their heels, and Thigpen gives us the best chance to do this. If we get Thigpen outside the pocket at least 1 out of every 3 or 4 passing plays, he has a really good chance to succeed.

If Herm and Chan "play to win the game" by mixing it up a little bit, sustaining some drives, and giving the defense a break every once in a while, we will win. Simple as that. Players are ALL professionals. What seperates the teams is the coaching just like the difference between two armies 200 years ago was the generals making the decisions. Right now Herm is not coaching to win the game, and they are not putting players where they need to be to succeed on plays.

I hope Clark Hunt is paying attention to this fact, and will evaluate Herm the same way Herm is evaluating every single player on this roster right now.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Does Rebuilding have to look this Stupid?

There has been a constant theme on the talk radio shows around town since the Chiefs played two days ago: fans say they want to rebuild but are they patient enough to handle it. The hypocracy of those douche bags questioning our patience really set me off last night. I love the fact that one Kansas City Talk Radio Duo spent the first three days of last week blaming the problems from the New England loss on Brodie Croyle and discussing the fact that he can't stay healthy. I understand that he's the poster child for the rebuild, but when he's not in the lineup they don't discuss how much worse things look without him being there.

I would like to see Neil and Marty from 610 Sports, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Cal Ripken, or even a UFC Champion stand still for about two seconds and let Adalius Thomas run through them like a freight train through a Geo Metro stranded on the tracks, and see if any of them hold up any better than the Metro. If any of those guys got picked up and slammed to the ground the same way Brodie did, they would have a separated shoulder now as well.

The NFL is set up to do one thing really well, and that is pass the ball. I watched the San Francisco 49ers throw the ball all over the Seattle Seahawk defense with JT O'Sullivan at QB. Come on, it's not hard if you're not a complete idiot. The league has moved toward zone defenses because you can't man up on receivers and not get interference calls. Well, all of it except Herm Edwards.

This will probably be the only time you hear me elaborate on the great coaching job done by the 49ers, because it's not that great. It's just what the average fan should expect, because the 49ers are an example of a bad team who played a rational game. If you don't have a good offensive line, then you leave a couple of guys back to block when you pass. Out of 11 offensive players, you have a QB and 5 lineman who stay back no matter what. So, you have 5 players left to be either blockers or pass catchers. You can also motion a receiver toward the line to "chip" the defensive end so he has to stay inside before leaving in route (I know these are technical terms, hopefully Herm can keep up here).

I watched the 49ers keep two extra players in to protect, and three guys ran slants and hook routes into holes in the Seattle zone. O'Sullivan/Mike Martz read the zone, open receivers were found. Now, San Francisco has a head coach on the hot seat, because he's stupid. He can analyze the game at about the same NFL IQ that I can, and that was good enough to win a game. What does that say for Herm Edwards?

If some individual from Argentina or Brazil or India who is used to 'futbol' instead of football were to watch the game, with no knowledge about what is going on in the game, eventually the following question would arise: "Why does the other team keep throwing to those fast guys, and why does the red team keep running into the wall of players? Do teams alternate throwing and running quarters in the game through some sort agreement with your opponent?"

It's easy to throw in the NFL. The Chiefs seem to leave 8 blockers in to run the ball and only leave 5 in to pass it. Well, if once in a while you leave 8 blockers in and pass the ball, opponents realize that it is possible for you to pass in that formation. Or, we could run a toss sweep every once in a while with only 5 blockers in to make them realize that it's possible to run out of that formation. We do such a great job at telegraphing our plays that the only time we run with 5 blockers is when the practice squad WR is taking snaps as our QB. If that's not bad coaching, I don't know what is.

It starts to make you wonder; was the foreigner right about some agreement in place? Maybe we are content with being the cupcake dessert on our opponents 16 game buffet. Teams like the Patriots, Chargers, Broncos, Colts, Cowboys, Eagles, and others choose to be a steak containing a lot of gristle that you can't really bite through. Teams like the Chiefs look like they could take some ingredients and make at least the potatoes or vegetables on the side, but they choose to turn them into jello pudding......

Sorry this was just about looking stupid, tomorrow I'll discuss why the word REBUILDING is not the excuse for our problems right now.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Underqualified

Yesterday, as I watched the Chiefs game, there was one recurring theme going throughout the game. Underqualified. You know, like "Joe Blow isn't even qualified clean the dog crap off of my shoes, much less be a Corporate CEO." There were way too many Joe Blow's running the show yesterday for Kansas City, and not enough legitimacy running around. Let's begin:

1. Herm Edwards. How did this guy become a coach anyways, and what's so wrong with the job as the head of the scouting department? When he drafts guys, they all seem to be legitimate prospects unlike previous regimes. BUT, why at head coach? Why can't he just run the scouting and leave the coaching job to the pros.
2. Marcus Hagans. Wow? Our Practice Squad WR was taking snaps at QB. I'm going to guess that was Herm's idea in the midst of his underqualified status. In a meeting with Chan, he probably said, "Hey Chan, let's fool those stupid Raiders and bring in a WR to take snaps and run the option. And not one on our roster, we don't want them to get hurt. What's that kid's name on the Practice Squad, that Higgins guy or whatever you call him. Get that guy ready right now." I don't blame Hagans. He was just doing his job last week and catching balls like he's qualified to do. Then Herm had to go and screw things up.
3. Tyler Thigpen. At least he practiced at QB last week. But that's about all I can say.
4) Tamba Hali. I feel bad for Tamba, he got put into this situation BECAUSE we traded Jared Allen, his potential was not what lead us to trade him. We should have taken Turk McBride, put him on the rush side, and let Tamba be the complimentary player he is. The Raider's o-line is terrible, and they made Tamba disappear yesterday.
5) Devard Darling. He was signed to be our deep threat. We have thrown ZERO balls farther than 30 yards (which on a pass to Jamaal Charles is Huard's fault and not Chan's. one got called) and Devard got ran down by a safety. His ONLY job is to run fast, and he couldn't do that. Now, against the Raiders, we have our underqualified speed receiver taking passes over the middle. Perhaps that was his punishment for getting run down the prior week, but I am going to chalk it up to more ignorance from Underqualified Person #1.
6) Adrian Jones. This one gets chalked up to Carl Peterson, and not Herm. It's not Herm's fault that he doesn't have any more linemen. Unfortunately, Adrian Jones is a starter on this team when he should provide needed depth to an Arena League team.
7) Damien Macintosh. Same comment as Adrian Jones.

Now, if you ignore all of those underqualified individuals who played a role in Sunday's thumping by the Raiders, then we have a shot. Larry Johnson can run right, the qualified QB we play could throw to two qualified receivers, the Raiders wouldn't have been able to run left as easily, and Chan could have called his offense without Herm's bad ideas.

Next I might talk about solutions, but it might take me another six months to get through all of the problems.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Why Blog? Why Kansas City Sports?

Unfortunately, I consider myself an observer. Generally, that is a good thing. If you are quick to read the virtues in people you meet, if you can see what something is going to become when its creation is in infancy, or even if you're just observANT enough to see a cop sitting on the side of the road consistently when you're doing five miles per hour over the speed limit. I feel I am pretty quick on all of those as well, but I need something to vent my nonproductive observations each day.

So, I decided to blog about something outside of my life rather than to journal about what's in it. Journaling is for people who write about their life from a state of weakness, they do not have either the common sense or the inner strength to just sort through problems rationally, so they feel like they have to write down their thoughts over and over again and eventually they will make sense. That's not me. I have to write about observations about something of interest to me. Plus, why would I write a bunch of personal stuff about myself on a blog for the world to read. Some will agree with me and mirror my struggles, but I already know those people exist. If you want to talk over coffee sometime, reply to a post and give me an invite.

I think my main passion is over-analyzing things that really mean nothing directly to me. However, those are the things that we all blog, write, and read about, aren't they? My two interests seem to be politics and Kansas City Sports. If I wrote about politics it would not take long before I would have to shoot myself; you can only spend so many days talking about how much you hate the honest socialists in the Democratic Party and the lying socialists in the Republican Party. It is so easy to read our Constitution, make an honest OBSERVATION about reasons for founding our country the way the forefathers did and why that system would work, and see how we have been violating that intent for the past 100 years. There's little chance of turning that around, and plus it hits my pocketbook much more and thus the reasons for the potential future suicide.

But sports, the great American passion that does not impact us directly but we continuously focus on it daily as though our lives depend on it. I fall into this trap occasionally as well, however I can at least make the observation that my life does not depend on our sports teams. I enjoy them, generally I do nothing else on a Sunday afternoon than watch the Chiefs play. But I still understand that my life does not begin at kickoff and end in the grave at the closing whistle (only to be reincarnated at the following week's kickoff).

Lately, our sports have begun to suck. For a while, a VERY LONG TIME AGO, we had the Royals. Then the started to suck, and have continued down that path for nearly the past two decades. The Chiefs gained some direction, and became a model franchise for a few years. However, we have nearly lost an entire generation of sports fans waiting on winning playoff football to return to Kansas City. Today they both suck. This town, like every other town, already has plenty of observers. However, eventually someone is going to read into this, and realize that a fan really understands the sport, the problems with the team, and deserves to not be treated like an infant child when they spend thousands of dollars on season tickets.

If I had a journalism background, I suppose I could be a syndicated sports writer. But I don't, and today anyone can write without syndication. So that's what I plan to do, I'm going to write for you all for free and see if my observations can take the full time jobs of a few people that seem to know nothing about sports and get paid very well to do something they are not good at. I am going to release my observations daily on whomever takes the time to read them.

I apologize that today's post sucked, especially after the Chiefs made me want to puke today. I'll try to interject some humor on the posts, and hopefully I will keep all of you interested. Tomorrow will be a better day for this blog, just like I hope tomorrow morning feels better than tonight feels to a Chiefs fan.

Come back tomorrow for some real thoughts, but you should all know that I am going to write for you as the observer that you all are and I hope more of you are devoting your time to a healthy release of your frustrations (like this) and not doing unhealthy things like drinking your Chiefs frustration away or worse.

Tomorrow will be a new day. On this blog, tomorrow will actually be a sports day. Sorry if you wasted your time today, but this is why I write.