COMMENTARY: PAINFUL PROGRESS
From Arrowhead Stadium
If you can’t see the progress the Kansas City Chiefs are making as a team these days, then you are either blind, lacking in IQ or such a Chiefs Hater that your venom has left you brain dead.
“I’ll tell you what, we are a good football team, there’s no doubt about that,” Tony Gonzalez said after the Chiefs 30-27 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. “We are not as bad as everybody thought we were, I don’t care what anybody says. I think you’re full of it if you think we are still that bad.
“We are playing really hard, we are executing; we have to keep it up and keep improving.
For the second week in a row, the Chiefs went out and played inspired and improved football. And for the second week in a row, they were unable to close the deal.
How can a team finish two games in eight days at plus-6 in the turnover column and be 0-2? It’s hard to believe, but that’s what happened to the Chiefs.
In both cases it was oh so predictable. The Jets had the old, mostly steady hand of Brett Favre to lead their comeback. On this Sunday, a veteran Tampa Bay team took the best shots the Chiefs had to offer and were still able to go home with an overtime victory.
Right now, the Chiefs best shots are not good enough to knock out a team like the Bucs. Tampa Bay was struggling, but they were never knocked down, not even when they were down by 21 points. Not even when they were down 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
They found a way to win.
“I tip my hat to the Chiefs,” said Bucs coach Jon Gruden. “They’re going to be a good team and they’re clearly playing their hearts out.”
Improvement is being made, but victories against two veteran teams were absent. It’s not hard to figure out why.
At one point in the fourth quarter the Chiefs defense had 11 players on the field that included DE Brian Johnston (rookie), S DaJuan Morgan (rookie), CB Maurice Leggett (rookie), CB Brandon Carr (rookie) and LB Rocky Boiman who has been with the team less than a month. When the Chiefs went nickel, Boiman was replaced by second-year CB Tyron Brackenridge, who this past Wednesday was still unemployed.
Offensively in the fourth quarter the Chiefs had a rookie at left tackle (Branden Albert), a rookie at fullback (Mike Cox) and halfback (Jamaal Charles), a rookie at wide receiver (Will Franklin), a rookie at tight end (Brad Cottam) and a second-year quarterback in Tyler Thigpen making his third NFL start.
Nobody likes to keep hearing this young and inexperienced excuse anymore, most especially the guys wearing a Chiefs uniform. But those are facts and they get especially exposed when going head to head with a veteran team like the Bucs.
This was not one of the great days in Jeff Garcia’s quarterbacking career, but he put a bad first half (110 yards and an interception) behind him and came back in the second half with 229 yards and a TD pass.
That’s what veterans do; they find a way to win. Sick of the youth excuse or not, Thigpen was 10 years old when Garcia played his first professional football game in the Canadian Football League. There was a lot of that type of experience edge on the Bucs roster.
When the Chiefs went up 24-3 with just two minutes, 13 seconds to play in the first half, they had the Bucs on the ropes. They had jabbed and jabbed and jabbed, and then landed three punches right on the chin with TDs by Dwayne Bowe, Kolby Smith and Thigpen, on a pretty 37-yard pass from wide receiver Mark Bradley.
But if you’ve ever watched a veteran fighter survive, then you know what the Bucs did. They caught their breath; they covered up and then hit the Chiefs on the nose with a kickoff return for a touchdown. They jabbed an extra three points with a field goal before the bell rang to signal intermission.
Tampa Bay jabbed and jabbed and jabbed in the third quarter, but when the money period started, they threw haymakers that landed and staggered the Chiefs. They made the plays, the Chiefs did not.
Best example: with Brandon Flowers out and Pat Surtain inactive because of injury, Leggett was on the field with the first defense. On a first down-and-15 play from the Chiefs 24-yard line and 25 seconds to play, Garcia lofted a ball into the left corner of the end zone. WR Antonio Bryant had gotten a step behind Leggett because the rookie made a rookie mistake: he looked back and tried to find the quarterback. That created enough cushion for the six-year veteran Bryant to make the catch and get both feet down for the touchdown.
That’s what veteran teams do: they find a way to win. They find a way to remain standing at the final bell. That’s what inexperienced teams do; they look in the backfield and try to find the quarterback when they’ve been trained to not do that.
The only possible good any of this gives the Chiefs is they are that much closer to learning how to win games like this.
There is improvement, but boy it is painful.
Bob, you wrote Jacksonville instead of Tampa Bay in the second paragraph. Just to let you know.
My heart is slowing Bob. I need a Red n Gold Superbowl BEFORE I DIE!!! CMON CHIEFS…I AM 25 YEARS OLD…TIME IS A TICKIN!!! I’VE ONLY GOT LIKE 60 YEARS LEFT!!! Atleast I can dream…Go Chiefs!
How can you be plus 6 and still lose two games?
Herm Edwards, coaching the team Carl Peterson let crumble into rubble
This was a good game we’re showing great progress. I don’t need to see many more games I’m convinced Thigpen is our guy. He’s played well two weeks in a row against two very tough defenses. Once again two straight weeks the special teams gave up a big play on punt return to swing mommentum in the other teams favor.
Either way we’re getting better. Herm is doing a great job building this team. Another good draft to fill in the wholes at right guard and tackle, defensive end, and middle linebacker we should be competing for a division title next yr. We might need to consider making a change at defensive coord. though.
Gailey has the offense playing good ball in only 8 games. Gunther has been our defensive coord. for I done forgot how long and this defense has been bad for the last 6 to 7 years. With the same problems poor tackling and inability to stop the run. Gunther hasn’t been doing a good job coming up with blitz schemes to get after the quarterback because of the lack of pass rush with our defensive ends. I mean even Gailey is being creative with the offense and its been working we’re putting up points and moving the ball.
But on defense its the exact opposite. We’re giving up long runs and the quarterback has time to drink a cup of coffee before he makes a play down the field with the passing game. Its ridiculous how this guy has been running one of the worse defenses for years and we haven’t made a change yet. The fans hate Herm so much that if he was the head coach of a 4 and 12 team 6 or 7 yrs straight people would move out of KC. Let alone stop showing up for games.
At some point he has to be held accountable for his inability to show some improvement with this defense or any of the defenses in the past. Herm is doing a great job building this team but he may need to go back and evaluate his defense coach he’s letting him down right now.
Herm deserves the blame always as the leader of the team..And yes I’m tired of hearing excuses..Their is always an excuse when you need one.
.
Yeah, this ones tough. But there were a few bright spots too.
Thigpen just might be for real and Mark Bradley can play better than any receiver we have besides Bowe.
All in all, I’m more optimistic than I was a few weeks ago after the Titans game.
Go Chiefs!
It’s sad, but bad teams find a way to lose and that’s what the Chiefs are. There is definitely a lot of improvement since the Tennessee drubbing, but this is what I expected a lot of our games would look like this season: close but no cigar (or W).
It seems whenever one of our players has a nice individual performance, it is marred by mistakes that negate it. For instance, Turk McBride recovers not one, but two fumbles today. Big time game. But he roughs the passer on 3rd and 11 which ends up giving the Bucs points. He jumps offsides in overtime which helped the Bucs get in field goal range. Jamaal Charles steps up big with a 100 yard day, but also fumbles the ball away inside his own 10 yard line which results in an easy Bucs TD.
Chan Gailey deserves all the credit in the world on this one. He pulled out every trick in the book and not once today was the Chiefs offense predictable. Gunther Cunningham on the other hand should be ashamed. He might as well just step down. I know this team was pretty beat up near the end, but they once again got no pressure on the QB and Jeff Garcia will dink and dunk you all day long if he isn’t pressured, and that’s exactly what he did. I know KGB is 31 years old, but he needs to be in a Chiefs uniform within the next 48 hours. We have four sacks in eight games….that’s just embarassing. FIX IT!
Finally, congratulations to Tyler Thigpen on another nice outing. I’m not sure when or how the light came on for this kid but he doesn’t even look like the same player who suited up against Atlanta. His footwork, his touch, his decision making have all improved dramatically; practically overnight. More spread, more bootlegs, more wildcat (wild hog really) and more anything else fun that will keep defenses honest!
I am very happy to see the improvement and the fact that the Chiefs were able to go toe to toe with TB just like they did last week with the Jets. Look at how the Jets spanked the Bills today. This shows we are competitive and are learning rapidly. Great job and my congratulations to the Chiefs O and D. They are coming together as a team and the quality of play is really improving. They will be a tough team and have the opportunity to win every game. Next year should be playoffs for sure.
I am upset to see that for two weeks in a row, we should have walked away with a WIN, but it looked like we played not to lose in the 4th Qtr. Our offense must play to win the game without relying on the Def to hold on to a lead. The attempts to slow down the game tempo and burn time is obvious, but three and outs give their offense more time on the field. I just can’t believe it.
young or not i think this loss lays plainly on herm and his staff. why were we calling time outs at the end of regulation when tampa had none . seems to me we were just giving tampa a time out they didnt have to set up a play. in the end that bit us so who takes the blame for that?
We lost because Charles fumbled, and TG was called for pass int. when he was clearly mugged by Barber. All in all, great game that helped our draft position.
Improvement??? Where????
First off, this defense has to be even worse that what Coach V. had in recent years. You blow a 21 point lead at home?!! Come on. The offense was non-existent in the second half. 3 measly points after they moved the ball at will in the first half. I listened to the game on the radio as it was not on tv in my part of the country today, and Mitch Holthus and Len Dawson were in there having a great time in the first half, but in the second, you can hear the momentum change in Mitch’s voice. He has a certain vibe to him, and you can tell when things are starting to fade.
Point being, Herm is such a “defensive minded” coach, this never should have happened. I’m all about giving a guy a chance, but when you are + 3 in turnovers at home you should win this type of game. Herm does not fit KC,and KC does not fit Herm…time to go. He needs to go to Detroit or to some other crappy team and “rebuild them with younger talent.” I’m tired of his excuses and tired of Loosing!!!
I guess special teams had a huge let down today too. They should have cut Tampa’s jugular and went for the kill!! Sorry if none of you agree with me, but my wife is tired of hearing about it!!!
signed,
ONE FRUSTRATED CHIEFS FAN
Ok, all of you haters go back to the KC star. These last 2 games is what I was expecting this year from a very young team. Yes, I am upset that our defense didn’t do a better job. The offense scored the points the defense is suppose to hold them from it. I am also upset because I came here to listen to some intelligence and some of you obviously aren’t. Who do you throw the blame at? I don’t care where you throw it go the KC star if you want to be idiots. These last 2 games show we are on the right track. I normally have an answer for our woes on defense. They normally kept 6-7 blockers in for our front four after the first half. Because they were knocking Garcia around. Problem is there was no adjustment made by our defense and we did lose our corner backs. Instead of complaining compliment the good and constructively critisize the bad. The rest of that crap needs to go back the Star where it belongs
I still do not get all of the whinning about Herm and Carl!!!
Carl is set to retire at the end of next year, and Herm has just barely started his rebuilding program.
You cannot praise the growth and progress and at the same time condem the man who makes it possible!
How many wins were you expecting? I would definately like to see more wins, but this season is a throw away when it comes to wins, it is all about player progression and it looks very good to me. We need to be patient and let these guys do what they are paid for, if we knew it better than they did, we would be getting paid.
As a season ticket holder, I am reserving my dissapointment until next year. With the progression I am seeing, with 4-5 choice draft pics, we will be sitting in the right place next year.
There is some improvement offensively and injuries aside (cuz they haven’t been injured all year) I am disappointed with the defense especially the D-line. The LB’s are just weak but money went into the line.
Does anyone remember Marty’s tenure here (except Carlm of course)? He had a hard time closing a game when his offense scored big at the beginning of games. He would go into a shell and let the defense play tough and try to win in the last two minutes with a field goal. This is not totally accurate but I see how herm’s fingerprint on the second half especially on defense. Then the special team flop, injuries on defense, and a mistake (ie last Bucs TD) or two and we lose. BUT we are rebuilding so that is ok.
There were lots of good things but still a loss. Clark hunt can point to the last two games as excellent examples of how good this team is preforming. So we get to keep carl and herm. Face it they were staying until the end of their contracts anyway. I can just see it now one more good draft and two years to practice and we are all fixed in 2010 just like herm said in the Star (hi Carlm).
I agree go back to the KC Star with the complaining. Truth is this team has the right guy leading them. This team is showing great promise. Another good draft and we’ll be in the hunt for a division title next yr. Looks like we found our quarterback all we need to do is sure up the right side of the offensive line and get a defensive end and middle linebacker.
I’m still concerned about our defensive coord. though. In half a year Gailey has this offense progressing and playing good ball. On the other hand Gunther does not have this defense playing well at all. And he’s been the same defensive coord. over a bad defense in KC for too long. At some point we have to evaluate him as a defensive coord. This guy still leads a defense that can’t tackle and can’t stop the run. Only reason there weren’t big runs today because this defense didn’t face an explosive running back. I still saw alot of missed tackles today and its been the same problem for the last 6 to 7 years.
And lets remember Gunther is not one of the coaches Herm brought in he was inherited from the Vermeil regime as well as the Marty regime. I just think if this team is going to make progress than it may need to bring in a new defensive coord. to shake things up on that side of the ball.
I’m coming over to the bright side. Three points made by the Chiefs today:
1) They now have a QB! (Strike up the band) No kidding, they do.
2) They may have a reliable Kicker! Early but good so far.
3) They desperately need a pass rush. DE in the first round next year?
Alas, something troubling. Did anyone else see Dorsey dropping back in coverage, reprising the Greg Robinson DC days? What is THAT????
I am amazed at how many of you guys contradict yourselves over and over on here. ‘Great game awesome improvement—–terrible defense get rid of coach x, y, and z. Awesome job on offensive play calling, very creative….we played not to lose in the 4th qtr.
Excuse me, but this team HAS improved. The 4th qtr play calling was perfect for this situation. One poor call by an official on TG’s interference call and we win…which by the way was a PASS. I was actually hoping they would have run the ball on 3rd and 4. As it was they threw it, got the 1st and got it called back. The defense they played was perfect. They forced TB to fight for every last yard. One rookie mistake by our 4th? 5th? 6th? CB is the only reason they scored. Yes our DL is not getting to the QB, but they are more consistently forcing him to scramble and make a play. IMPROVEMENT. The offense is scoring points and rarely going 3 and out. IMPROVEMENT. All of this with how many injuries? How many rookies in the game? I’m very thankful our owner is smart and responsible enough to stick with our Coach through all of this. This team is just a heartbeat away from being a major force. All thanks to Herm’s youth movement, with blessing of Carl+Hunt. If you can’t see it now…then you are definitely blind.
Okay first thing ,the offense especially Thigpen did a great job and Gailey did have a great gameplan confusing the Bucs defense. But the defense played to lose yes they did have four turnovers when that happens you should usually win the ballgame. I did not one time see any pressure besides Turk McBride’s one pressure point. You have to put pressure on the QB, and lets scrap the cover 2 this is not working because no pressure up front and no linebackers as well . Except DJ he is slightly above average linebacker we have . The blame lays on Herm and Gunther for playing this (Can’t Cover2) it looks like prevent to me.I mean no pressure at all. The defense and special teams lost this game . And last but not least as fans we need to stop this they are young and thats why we are not finishing games. Everybody knows when you have a lead you have to play great defense rather you have a young team or an old team . A 24-3 lead there is no reason you should lose that unless you do not have confidence in yourself or your teamates that is where the blame goes to the players. This team does not know how to finish a game. But anyway the young excuse is very old and again the Dolphins and the Falcons are at 500 and they are young. So stop with the we are young excuse. Yes they are rebuilding any person sees that and I did see some progress especially on offense. But a lost is a lost but it was entertaining. And one point I will give to the defense is that they did play the run better this week.
People have to stop blaming the coordinators and assistant coaches when we blow a game. Many of the haters were calling for Chan Gailey’s head prior to now calling for Gunther Cunningham’s head. The head coach is responsible for the product on the field on both sides of the ball. Herm is a defensive coach and playing the defense he handpicked and installed. I’m not a Chiefs hater (see my earlier post on the inactives) but I’ve lost faith in Herm and his philosophy. We played well today but the national release made light of the fact the Bucs came back from 21 down pointing out it was against Kansas City. It’s a shame that’s where we are now. We’ll see if this group, led by Herman Edwards, can fix it. I’m still a Chiefs fan but it’s sad to see how far we’ve fallen.
Some of you guys must be listening to the radio or not seeing the same game as me. We have been putting more pressure on the QB the last 2 weeks. The D-Line improvement is amazing considering where they were 3-4 weeks ago. The linebackers seem to be coming around and working much better w/ the line in stopping the run. Dorsey is starting to shop up a little more. (How about reading the screen with DJ and blowing that up in the backfield!!!) I’m excited about where this team is headed!! Can’t wait for next week!!!!
This is certainly an ascending team. We have the right guy building this team right now, that is becoming more and more obvious.
Also, a sad fact is that the Herm haters hate to see this team improve. They would rather see the Chiefs fall on their face and Herm booted than see Herm build a great team. Fortunately for us Chiefs fans Clark has balls and will stick with Herm for the remainder of his contract.
A quick notes for the people calling for Herm/Gun’s heads. Rushing defensive stats: Carries - 25, Yards - 81, AVG - 3.2—most impressive stat in my opinion….longest run = 10yrds!!!! WOW. That’s what I call IMPROVEMENT!! Also, for those of you who keep saying this is Gun’s defense, he’s had his chance for x amount of years, blah, blah….how many rookies are we playing? If this was the final product, why would we be starting 2 corners and playing a host of other rookies/young guys? The defense is still a work in progress that’s improving on a weekly basis!! We are getting stronger!!
And how about that O-line!! One sack allowed. ONE!! Also, check out these stats…36 rushes for 183 yards!!! 5.1 yards per carry!!! All 3 RBs averaged over 4 ypc!!! (subtract Thigpen’s 6 carries for 22 yards.) WOW!! How about Sackintosh!! We may have to eat our words on him soon!! This was the 5th ranked D that our O-line blew up!!
Congrats to Herm and the entire coaching staff for the major improvement we are enjoying now. Let’s hope the improvement continues and we continue to play competitively and win a few the last half of the season.
I saw two different Chiefs ,the first half team and 2nd half team . why not run the GREAT plays and ball control over and over . Instead of — oh we got lucky, but your on the right track , get it . when you were hot , you looked so good ,I dont any one could beat this team !!!
Hi, tm1946 you have probably been a chiefs fan longer than I have. I have been one my whole life. I remember the lean, miserable years in the late 70s and all of the 80’s. I remember when Carl and Marty were hired. Our great hope to get us back to the super bowl. Ended up in mediocrity. I remember making playoff after playoff and going no where there. I remember them substituting a bunch of has beens and a few draft choises that were worthless and we let the one QB that probably could of won us a sb, (Rich Gannon)for a Grbac who everyone knew was worthless but the coach, that some are wishing would come back, wanted so badly. As they say you can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please everyone all of the time. I am more excited now that we might actually have a chance to build a team for a super bowl in the next 3 years than I was in the 80’s when we started winning games in the 90’s and still never went to the super bowl. Carl Petersons time is up. He needs to go. His contract is coming to an end. I personally can’t wait. I am hoping he decides to retire early. That being said I still am undecided on Herm. I think he can pick personnel after that I’m not sure.
DW Chief my question to you is did the defense get a sack today ? Garcia had happy feet when there was no pressure you can bring pressure but you are getting paid to get SACKS this defensive line only has six sacks through seven games were you watching the game no sacks recorded if they had made some they would not have lost the game. And Chris Long of the Rams has four sacks Glenn Dorsey none . Who looks better? All that hype Dorsey was getting over Long and who is getting it done right now Nuff Said
Vess..Chris Long is a DE. They are paid to get sacks. Dorsey is a DT. They are paid to stop the run and push the pocket into the QBs face. Hopefully, the DEs benefit from the collapsed pocket and get a sack when the QB tries to escape. We are getting closer every game with our DEs and the opposing offence’ pocket is getting less and less stable. Once again. IMPROVEMENT. When you are rebuilding, you have to look for these things. You won’t win every game. In fact, you may not even look like a team for several games (as we have all witnessed). But as the players on a rebuiding team begin to improve, the games should start to be more competitive. (Again, we are starting to witness this.) It’s very difficult for a player to have a standout performance (ie..sacks) when there are obvious deficiencies (ie..inexperience)all around him. They are all improving right now. If this improvement continues, the sacks will come. We’re just not quite there yet. Have a little faith man!! This team is getting there!!
Pressure is nice but getting sacks is better. And yes Dorsey made one play but he is still not looking like the player people were talking about before the season started. All I want is for him to live up to the hype and so far he has not. I will be patient with him but it is what it is he is not the player everyone has said that he is a difference maker. Would any one disagree please tell me if he is better than a Chris Long? I jus thought I would add on about Dorsey’s play so far .
I have been very down on the team thus far, but I saw some good improvement today. This is what I expected from a young team. Rookie mistakes cost them the game, but there were some great flashes of things to come. Not ready to annoint Tyler yet, but he is playing within himself and Chan Gailey is very good at adjusting to his talent. We haven’t had an OC with that ability for a couple of years.
Two guys that just impress me: Brandon Carr and Brandon Albert. Carr is going to be a top notch corner. He reminds me of Dale Carter a lot. He was a great pick. Albert impresses because you don’t hear his name…ever. A rookie LT who missed most of training camp??? He is doing a great job. Hopefully the rest can improve as much as these two.
Vess
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you about Dorsey, but the Chris Long comparisons have got to stop. Long and Dorsey play different positions, AND the Chiefs never had a shot at Long anyway, he went number 2 overall!
If you want to compare Dorsey to another top rookie, compare him to Sedrick Ellis.
http://www.nfl.com/players/sedrickellis/profile?id=ELL641039
Both are DTs. Both were considered top 5 talents in April. The Chiefs could have taken Ellis (who went number 7 to New Orleans). If you look at what Ellis has done this year, I think Dorsey appears the better move thus far.
If Chris Long would’ve been there for the Chiefs, I would have wanted them to draft him. Since he was drafted 2nd overall, they couldn’t. Only 3 rookie DTs have sacks (not including this week). And only 1 rookie (Chicago’s Marcus Harrison) has more than 1 (he has 2). All it would take is 1 play (even a fluke at that) and Dorsey would be tied for 2nd with all Rookie DTs in sacks.
Dorsey also leads all Rookie DTs in tackles with 22. The next closest is Cinci’s Pat Sims with 18.
What does all this mean? Not much. As has been stated here several times over the last few weeks, Rookie linemen are hard to evaluate fairly. Again, look at Mario Wms. Am I concerned about Dorsey? Not at all. I think his stats will improve dramatically as he and the young linemen around him gain more experience.
Everyone was down on Mario Williams being drafted first - and he is now the stud of that draft. So complaining about Dorsey (who is playing with a bum knee) and comparing him to a guy playing on a better defense is ridiculous. that is not being patient - it is being the exact opposite. he is playing better - if not for 2 startwers going down in the 2nd half they win this game.
Young mobile quarterback (Thigpen), Young talented RB (CHarles), left tackel (Albers), Corner (Flowers), punter (Colquitt), LB (Johnson) NT (Dorsey), WR (Bowe), Safety (Paige & Pollard)…and maybe a suprise in bradley…come on everyone - we should be pumped? As bad as this sounds, at draft time we will all be glad they lost this game. plus, the division is showing some serious signs of regression. I feel totally different about this team now compared to just 2 weeks ago! I shouldn’t leave Tony G. out - even he seems rejuvenated. Thoughts everone?
Definitely glad Tony G is still here. He will be instrumental in Thigpen’s development the rest of the season. Bradley looks like a steal. Not convinced yet that we don’t need some serious competition for Thigpen next year through the draft, but he is making me back down from that a little bit.
I’m really just looking forward to watching the team and seeing what they come up with these last 8 games. I just hope they make it fun and surprising like they did today.
MORE SPREAD, MORE BOOTLEGS, MORE WILDCAT(HOG)!!!
I’d be satisfied with a multitude of 2nd thru 5th round picks. Those high 1st rounders are too expensive and carry the most risk as a result of that. When you get towards the middle of the 1st round and beyond, the picks start getting more affordable. This staff seems to be very capable of picking up quality players in the middle/late rounds (Brandon Carr, J.Page, etc.). Plus, the more picks you have, the more holes you can fill!! (And the chances are greater that you’ll land that diamond in the rough.)
With that said, YOU BET I’M PUMPED!!!! This team shows the one thing that we haven’t had for years; the potential for a deep talented team built for long term success.
When this team takes the field from now on, I’ll feel like they SHOULD win. Haven’t felt like that in a long time. Not to say there won’t be bumps along the way, but the road is starting to smooth out significantly!!
In no particular order nee ranking of blame, just for purposes refresher:
Bowe dropped a pass…Charles fumbled…McGraw whiffed on a tackle…Flowers, D. Johnson, and Smith got hurt & left the game…all 7 ‘active’ defensive lineman for KC - Hali, Tyler, Dorsey, McBride, Johnston, Boone & Edwards - failed to register a single sack despite 44 passes being thrown by Tampa Bay.
‘Nowhere’ in the preceding paragraph can be found the name Herm Edwards.
So the Chiefs are 1-7 now instead of 2-6 had they won…whoopty frickin do. Positive spin? Perhaps, but just maybe the silver lining if any beyond an obvious improvement being made weekly now (if one can call two weeks in a row a trend), is that the difference of one or two more losses instead of a win(s) ‘might’ equate to the difference between a #5 pick (DT Dorsey in ‘08) and a #3 pick (QB Matt Ryan in ‘08)- i.e., maybe that MLB or DE or other player with offensive talent (OT/OG/C/QB/WR, etc.)might just fall to KC in the 2009 draft at say #3 instead of being gone by pick #5.
I agree with Herm Edwards; ‘wins’ (while nice) are not the thing right now and at this moment -progress nee development i.e. playing toward a better tomorrow 2009 as well as the draft ‘IS’.
Keep up the great work Coach Edwards. All of KC is behind you and we know that you will lead us back to glory very soon now.
AND NOW, Clark Hunt has affirmed Herm’s The Man!
Rin Tin Tin concurs
Ok guys you are right about they do play different positions but I guess I am caught up with what I have seen in the past with these DTS we wasted away but I will give Dorsey a chance but thus far I am disappointed with his play we still have eight more games to go . I will hold off my criticism until the season is over. But again so far in my opinion I am not impressed I think that there has to be changes in the coaching staff at the end of the season . My question to anyone do you see Mike Phifer , Gunther Cunningham , Tim Krumrie returning next year . I think Herman Edwards should go but to be a realist I think Clark will see that he stays on until his contract expires. And see how this youth movement goes. I do predict the Chiefs winning maybe three more . Going 4-12 like I predicted at the start. And one last thing guys who is going to win the West I mean this division is embarassing to watch .
I think JoPo has it right — this is exactly what I was expecting at the start of the season — inconsistency: brilliant at times and dismal at others. It is very pleasing that Thigpen seems to be the quarterback we hoped Croyle would be, that he is being allowed to play, not just palm off to the backs in case he might make a mistake. Elsewhere there is progress, bumpy indeed, but progress, and at last there is a faint glimmer of hope that this team will be good in years to come. Keep the faith.
Tough lost today, I am stoked that the last 2 weeks we have had the opportunity to cheer, and actually held a lead with less than a minute to go in the 4th quarter. You can see the rookies starting to find their stride. Ultimately this will help us when it really counts i.e.(when we are contending).
Some thoughts on some comments from this board.
1. Get off the Fire Gun comments. 1 touchdown was on special teams, the other was a gift from Charles fumble inside the 5. That is 14 points for all you smart coordinators. You also don’t blitz veteran QB’s unless you know you can get there, b/c they have seen it all. Blitzing leaves you exposed some where in coverage. With no pass rush I’d rather take my chances with as much people in coverage as possible. The last 2 years this defense has been in the top 15 and top 10. But they are taking one step back this year with all the rookies, in hopes of taking 2 steps forward next year.
2. I support Herm 100 percent with his plan. I don’t agree with his conservative approach or calling timeouts when the clock is winding down. But it is refreshing to see some one willing to build his team through the draft, and play young guys. All our coaches under Carl have always tried to do the quick fix plan, how far have we gotten with that? Finally someone steps up and says NO we need to do it this way. Very refreshing and exciting to see a team grow in front of our very own eyes.
3. Thigpen continues to grow, not quite as accurate as last week, but fun to watch. Remember TG dropped a touchdown, and D-Bowe dropped a 3rd down pass for a first down.
4. 183 on the Buc’s D are you kidding me. Is it me are is there no mention of McIntosh anymore (that is a good thing) O-line making strides.
5. Hate to say it, but if flowers is in there do they score that last TD?
Overall if they can continue to improve like they did these past 2 weeks, then we are moving in the right direction. I’m calling an upset next week in SD
we finally find a way to get over the hump. both sides are playing better. Special team coverage needs to step up to the plate.
Stay on the Bandwagon Go Chiefs!!!
Aloha
I keep reading about the timeout that we took with the clock winding down. The only thing I remember about that was taking the timeout with 25 seconds to go. (IIRC) Tampa had already stopped the clock with a penalty that resulted in a 10 second runoff. It was a smart timeout because:
a. The clock was not moving anyway.
b. We got to see how the offense setup.
Obviously it didn’t help, but not the glaring mistake I keep reading about on here.
I was most pleased with the offensive line. They moved people around for a change.
Rookie mistakes were what killed the Chiefs Sunday and that comes with the territory right now.
Bob, you’re 100% correct. The improvement is very obvious to anyone who knows how this game is played.
We’ve now seen two consecutive solid efforts. Let’s not see any backsliding like we did after the New England and Denver games.
Great game Chiefs!!
And shame on all you guys bad mouthing this team like that! The defense played a great game like my man in Hawaii said, 14 points were pretty much given to them so you take that away its definitely a different game. Throw away the injured players at the end of the game and we also walk out with a win. The offense played a good first half and were only a couple bad calls away from “putting the hammer down” (as Mitch would like to say).
All in all, this team played great again, they are gaining confidence week in and week out, the players are starting to gel and have fun playing the game. And how about Tyler, that kid is doing an awesome job!
We don’t need to fire any coach right now either, thats the worst thing you can do to a rookie is bring in a completely deferent scheme/coach when they are just finally getting a hold of this one. Chan and Gun and Herm have all done a great job - I will make a digression tho, SP coach Priefer (sp?) hasn’t done much here so he can go. And yeah that time out came when the clock was already stopped it was a good coaching move to check the offense for personnel.
One more point to bring up, I kinda remember some reports that Chan was big on Tyler before the season started and maybe thats why he has been able to “release the hounds” lately with his guy behind center. Anyone remember hearing that?
JB
My thoughts on the defense:
Gunther has been a great defensive coach all his career. Everyone needs to remember there is a lot going on behind the scenes that we regular fans don’t see on a daily basis. If I had any question about the defensive play calling, it would be whether Gun is fully able to plan and call the game the way he truly feels it should be done or is Herm keeping him from doing that. Aside from that question; the next eight games should show us for sure if the defense is growing and playing better as a unit and if the play calling has improved or if Herm should look for a new more creative defensive coordinator.
Side note: Remember when the defensive craze was the 4-3 then the 3-4, the zone blitz, and then the cover 2? What is the next defensive craze that teams are having a tough time game planning against and maybe we should go that route since our offense is surely being creative and using non-traditional gameplans.
You know I keep hearing people say “What good would one more win do for this team” Well, lets see, if we had won both of our last 2 games, which we certainly could have, our record today would be 3-5. That my friends would be only ONE game out of first place in the AFC West. This division sucks. The Donkeys are just like we were in 2003. All O no D. I have no idea what is wrong with the Bolts. They’re window is closing up pretty fast. The Raiders are the Raiders. Here in the next couple of years, we have a great opportunity to move back up. And lets just see what happens the rest of this year. We could totaly play upset role. If the Donkeys and Bolts keep choking away opportunity, who knows?………someone has to win the division.
Carl finishes his carreer here at the end of the year next year, not this year. He’s done a great job as the President, but we need changes NOW for the GM position. And not his hand picked succussor! This team needs and deserves some fresh player personell changes starting with Carl.
Herm has done a great job (from my perspective) so far in the rebuilding process, but in my mind the problem is this. Harm, as is the case with most HC’s is stubborn in his way of building and running a team. Take a look at his track record going all the way back to the Jets. NY was the last time he was able (and I believe only once) to get a team off to a fast, winning start. It’s his teams track record to start the season seemingly unprepared and they play catch up with the rest of the NFL for the first 3 or 4 weeks. How will this team learn how to win based off of that?
We made progress only on offense, and that is due to the ’spread offense’ which is very anti-herm.
we are still fielding what is known as the ‘career day’ defense, our special teams have been bad, our coaches seem to go into a conservative shell in the 2nd half, and our clock management is still very questionable.
True findthedr, but would you have thought progress on offense was even possible 3 weeks ago? I sure didn’t see any light. While the spread has helped, I think the emergence of Bradley and improved OL play have helped at least as much. Even basic running plays get positive yards now, and the Tampa defense is not Detroit.
Still disappointed in the defense, but I will concede to the youth problem on Sunday. With Legette and Brackenridge playing, it was smoke and mirrors. They just hadn’t practiced or played enough. Missed tackles are still biggest frustration though. That includes not-so-special teams.
Just wanted to clear the timeout saga at the end of the game. Yes the clock did stop and a ten second run off was taken. But once the official sets the ball down and blows the whistle the clock would start again. Otherwise players on offense would cause penalties all the time to stop the clock time permitting of course.
By calling time out Herm allowed them to settle down and get the right call in.
We are still a “not a good team” but we are getting better -Consider this fact- the Chiefs opponents season record is 41-24, our remaining opponents record is 26-39(counting the Chargers twice)- maybe the future will be brighter- for perspective the Titans opponents season record is 25-40