Cassel, Drops, Holmgren & Other Notes

From Arrowhead Stadium

After the game was over, Matt Cassel was in no mood to admit to his frustration.

But he couldn’t hide his feelings in the third quarter of Sunday’s 41-34 loss to Cleveland, after WR Mark Bradley dropped a third down pass that would have continued the Chiefs opening drive of the second half.

Television replays showed him yelling and pointing and just generally giving the impression of a man who had enough. One could not blame him, as the Chiefs dropped nine passes – by the count of head coach Todd Haley – against the Browns.

They went into the game the league leaders in drops, and there seems little doubt they will go into next weekend still on top of the NFL in one of the worst negative categories in the game.

“This is something that has been a problem with us for an extended period of time,” said Todd Haley after the game. “We have made a lot of different moves to fix the problem and we’ve been unable to find a solution to this point.

“We’ve made changes in personnel. We made changes in the way the Jugs (ball machine) work, after practice work, catching from quarterbacks. You just have to catch the ball at some point. You have to pride yourself on catching the ball.”

The NFL does not make available on game day statistics on drops. But there’s no question that Bradley, WR Dwayne Bowe and TE Jake O’Connell each had two drops. TE Leonard Pope had a drop as well. Five drops came on third down plays, and if caught, all of those would have moved the sticks.

“As a quarterback you just keep pushing forward,” said Cassel. “I’m going to have throws that I want back and that I’m going to miss. That’s just part of football. The receivers have been working hard. They give 110 percent every week in practice and are diligent in what they do.”

As for his frustration showing in the third quarter after Bradley’s drop?

“What happens on the sidelines stays on the sidelines,” Cassel said. “I’m human. You move on.

“You saw how Bradley came back and made two huge pays for us, one on fourth down and one when we needed to get the ball down the field on the last drive. It’s bouncing back from those mishaps and doing those things that help the team win.”

For Cassel it was a strong passing game even with the drops, as he hit 22 of 40 for 331 yards and two TD passes. That was a 99.1 passer rating, one of his best numbers of the season. It was the first time with the Chiefs that Cassel topped 300 yards.

IS MANGINI ON HIS WAY OUT IF HOLMGREN GOES TO CLEVELAND?

There are reports out of Cleveland that as early as Monday, former Packers-Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren may have an answer for the Browns about his future with the franchise.

All signs point to Holmgren joining the operation. The question will be how much will he put on his plate. He will essentially be the Czar of all football, much like Bill Parcells is in Miami. But whether that means he’ll be president, general manager, head coach or any combination of the three remains to be seen.

Holmgren visited with Browns owner Randy Lerner and other personnel early last week in Cleveland. He sounded optimistic that something could be worked out and said he’d have an answer for Lerner “sooner than later.”

Current Browns head coach Eric Mangini is very aware of the reports and he met with Holmgren last week in Cleveland.

“They are reports, that’s what they are,” Mangini said after the game when asked about the possibility that Holmgren would take over the coaching duties. “I am coaching this team. I am proud of this team and the things we have done. There are a lot of good things happening and I am proud of what they are doing and how they are working. I am proud of the progress we have made that this is the only thing I am concerned with.”

Mangini has a big name in his corner: Hall of Fame RB Jim Brown, who holds the title of executive advisor for the Browns.

“”If you come into a situation where you’ve got to clean house and you’re going to do it your way, and you’ve got to have mental toughness against everything and you lose the kind of games we’ve lost, and then at the end of the season you have these guys playing this way, it means that you have some kind of plan,” said Brown.

“It means at this particular point, the plan is working. I look at these last two or three games as being a sign of the plan that the coach has.”

NOT SO SPECIAL IN THE KICKING GAME

Any time the special teams produces a touchdown, it figures to be a good thing. That wasn’t the case for the Chiefs on Sunday, as they ended up minus-one on kicking game touchdowns.

First the good news: a quick snap by punt center Ryan Pontbriand bounced off the elbow of DB Nick Sorensen and rolled past punt Reggie Hodges and into the end zone. For some reason, Hodges was not in a hurry to fall on the ball, or even try to kick it out of the end zone for a safety. A scrum landed on the ball and coming out of the pile was LB Andy Studebaker, scoring his first NFL touchdown.

It was a huge play which at the time gave the Chiefs their biggest lead of the season, 24-13.

But then came the second of Joshua Cribbs’ two kickoff return touchdowns and the Browns would score the next 21 points.

The Chiefs entered the game as one of better kick coverage teams in the league, allowing an average return of 22.2 and a long return of 40 yards. Cribbs has turned those numbers on their head; now they are allowing an average return of 24.7 yards and that long of 103 yards.

“We have prided ourselves on our kick coverage,” said Studebaker. “Something like that should never have happened.”

It got so bad that K Ryan Succop started hitting mortar kickoffs – high pop ups that landed around the 20-yard line. The Chiefs handled those very well, and almost got one themselves.

The Chiefs did keep Cribbs contained on punt returns, as he had four returns for only 36 yards.

In the return game, the Chiefs had nothing going for them. WR Mark Bradley handled the duties on both punts and kickoffs. He had two fair catches on punts and returned seven kickoffs for a 17.6-yard average. Jamaal Charles had one kickoff return for 24 yards.

P Dustin Colquitt averaged 45.7 yards on six punts, with three that ended up inside the 20-yard line. Colquitt’s net average was 39 yards.

THE ZEBRA REPORT

Referee Gene Steratore and his crew are not one of the strongest groups in the league and they had a few fumbles and bumbles in this one. They were still looking for the ball in a pile of players as Studebaker was standing with it some 10 yards away.

Overall, they walked off three penalties against each team in this one. G Andy Alleman was flagged for illegally being downfield on a pass. Cassel was hit for an intentional grounding call that was borderline. Studebaker got a 15-yard personal foul call for unnecessary roughness on a kickoff.

Haley challenged one of the official’s calls, when FB Tim Castille fumbled in the first quarter. But the review upheld the turnover.

PERSONNEL MATTERS

The Chiefs were without two starting offensive linemen for the game, as LG Brian Waters was inactive because of a left hamstring injury he suffered last Sunday against Buffalo. Why RT Ryan O’Callaghan was inactive is unknown. He was not on the Chiefs injury/practice report for last week, and was not on the team’s injury report turned into the league office on Friday.

Stepping into left guard was Alleman, with Barry Richardson starting at right tackle.

FS Jon McGraw was active, but he did not play because of a left hand injury he suffered against the Bills last Sunday. Starting for McGraw was DaJuan Morgan.

Also out on defense was DE Glenn Dorsey, with the left knee injury that finished his game against Buffalo last Sunday. Rookie DE Alex Magee got the start, but rotated through the position with Dion Gales and Wallace Gilberry.

Other inactive players were WRs Lance Long and Bobby Wade, TE Sean Ryan and LB Pierre Walters.

Getting his first NFL playing time was rookie G Darryl Harris, who was promoted from the practice squad on Saturday.

THE LEFTOVER STUFF

The announced paid attendance was 53,315 fans, but the stands indicated a crowd of somewhere between 40,000 and 45,000 … ILB Demorrio Williams led the Chiefs with 13 tackles and Morgan had eight … the Chiefs did not have a sack … both teams ran a lot of no huddle offense, especially in the first half … Succop’s two field goals gave him 21 for the season and tied him with Jan Stenerud for the most FGs made as a rookie. Stenerud did his back in 1967 … it was the final game for the original Arrowhead Stadium press box. Opened in 1972, there have been 386 games played over 38 seasons. As part of the stadium renovation, the press box will move to the top of the stadium on the south side for the 2010 season.