Week 13 - Told Ya So

Last week, before any of the Jovan Belcher issues, I predicted that the Chiefs would beat the Carolina Panthers. I also predicted that the reason we would win is because Romeo Crennel would come in with a good game plan and would stay committed to running the ball. I'm glad to say that I was right,

The Kansas City players came into the stadium Sunday with heavy hearts, just 24 hours after hearing that their teammate had killed his wife and himself. In games like this one it can be hard for a team to ride emotions for an entire 60-minute game. Teams normally come out strong with a desire to win for whatever cause they may be representing that day, but that much emotion can also make you become more disheartened when you fail. You will fail at some point during every game and that's a given. Coaches preach not to be too emotional during a game for that reason exactly. The teams that consistently win are the teams with the shortest memories. When things go well, you can't get too high and coast and when things go poorly, you can't get too down and give in.

The Chiefs were able to get off to that hot start, as expected, and were able to keep the Panthers at bay for the rest of the game with another strong rushing performance from Jamaal Charles and surprising and impressive efficiency from Brady Quinn. Charles ran for 127 yards on 27 carries while Peyton Hillis added 19 more yards and a score on a powerful run inside the five to get the game started. Brady Quinn played the best game of his career on Sunday and we needed it to pull out this win. He threw only four incomplete passes, going 19 of 23, for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. While he wasn't exactly lighting it up with throws down field, he played a very smart and under control game. He reminded me of Matt Cassel before this season, choosing to make the safe throw rather than make the big play. That style won't win many games by itself but it does keep you in the game and allow other playmakers to win it for you. With a running back like Charles, all we rally need is someone to keep the defense honest and not load up the box with 8 or 9 guys every down.

When you are effiecient throwing the ball, limiting incompletions, and you run the ball with success, it keeps the clock running. Teams like the Saints, Patriots and Packers are what I call "clock friendly" teams. They want their to be as much time on the clock as possible so they can keep putting up points. Teams like the 49ers, Vikings, and Chiefs are not so "clock friendly". They know they aren't going to score many points but if they can keep the ball out of your hands then it doesn't really matter. They want the clock to be moving at all times, limiting your chances to score. With this method, you must be more efficient with each possession. If you have multiple drives that are long but don't end up in at least a field goal then you accomplished nothing. Empty drives are the worst enemy of team that aren't "clock friendly" because they are making the game shorter. While limiting the other teams scoring chances, they also limit their own. The other team is more like to score with a high powered offense so you have to cash in as much as possible.

In 2010 the Chiefs used this game plan every week. Teams knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. It was great to see and one team imposing their will on another is the kind of football I love to watch. The last two weeks have been like that even though we've only came out with the win once.

Players of the Game
Chiefs
Offense - Brady Quinn: I've hated on him all year and now it's time to give him a little love. He played great going 19 for 23 with 201 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Defense: Brandon Siler and Cory Greenwood: You don't know them because they never play. They rotated in to replace Jovan Belcher and both played pretty well. It's hard to step in when you have less than 24 hours notice that the guy in front of you is not only not playing, but dead.

Panthers
Steve Smith: He embarrassed out secondary all day long. He's getting up there in age but he still has blazing speed and a loud mouth. He made the secondary look bad and then told them that he made them look bad and they couldn't do anything about it. He ended the day with 5 catches for 120 yards, including a 53 yard completion from Cam Newton and a 23 yard score.

Because It Wasn't Bad Enough

The Chiefs have had one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Since that apparently wasn't enough, breaking news this morning was that Chiefs' 25 year-old, middle linebacker, Jovan Belcher had killed his girlfriend and them himself. Not many details about the situation have come forth but I'm sure they will eventually. To this point, the young linebacker was having a productive and promising career but this isn't about stats so I won't even discuss them. He and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, had a 3 month-old daughter. Reports say that after shooting Perkins he traveled to the Chiefs' facilities where he was confronted by general manager, Scott Pioli, and head coach, Romeo Crennel, who tried to prevent him from turning the gun on himself. After thanking them for all that they had done for him in his career he killed himself. Belcher will be remembered as a hard worker who made himself a starter after being undrafted out of the University of Maine.

(Pictures compliments of blacksportsonline.com)

(Picture compliments of kcchiefs.org)

R.I.P. Kasandra Perkins and Jovan Belcher

2013 NFL Draft

With only five games left in the season I think it's safe to say the season is over for our KC Chiefs. While it may be unfortunate that we didn't have a good season, that does mean that we're going to have a great pick in the draft and, at this point, it will be the very first one. I've made a short slideshow of the top five players I think we should draft in the upcoming year. Here they are:

(Pictures compliments of collegefootball.ap.org, sports.yahoo.com, sportsillustrated.cnn.com, timesfreepress.com, zimbio.com)

1. Jarvis Jones (UGA) - Some may think I'm crazy since we already have two good outside linebackers but I think it might be smart to draft the best player available, move Tamba Hali back to defensive end, and improve what is already a strength. Hali isn't good in open space anyway so why not let him replace one of our inept D-ends (Tyson Jackson or Ropati Pitoitua). I think this improves both our linebacking corps and our defensive line.

2. Manti Te'o (Notre Dame) - He may win the Heisman as a defensive player this year which is already impressive. He's been by far the best player on a great defense and is a tackling machine. Again, some might say we don't need more linebackers and to those people I direct you to the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. You can never have enough linebackers. With Jovan Belcher becoming a free agent after this season, I would love to see Te'o and Derrick Johnson play side-by-side in our 3-4 defense. With a weak class of QBs and WRs I don't think anyone would fill one of those holes enough to draft them with a top 3 pick.

3. Geno Smith (West Virginia) - Do I think he's the future of the Chiefs franchise? No. Do I think the Chiefs need a quarterback? Yes. Do I think he's the best QB available in this years draft? Yes. He fills the biggest hole our team has and that's the only reason we should draft him with a top 3 pick.

4. Robert Woods (USC) - I don't know why Dwayne Bowe would stay in Kansas City. We don't have a QB, we're rebuilding, and we need to be running the ball as much as possible since we have Jamaal Charles. I think that he'll be gone next season and we'll need a big, deep ball threat like Woods to replace him on the outside as a number one target for whoever plays QB next year. This years wide receiver class isn't great but I think he's the best available.

5. Dee Milliner (Alabama) - The best corner on the best defense in college football. Nick Saban knows defense and his players always seem NFL ready. After shipping out Stanford Routt two weeks ago we need a replacement and I think Javier Arenas is a nickel corner at best. Brandon Flowers is a great corner and our safeties are good, but we need to find a real second corner.

Where You At?

In the 2011 NFL draft the Chiefs selected Pittsburgh wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin. In the 2012 season Baldwin has accumulated a grand total of 16 catches. Compare that to other first -round, second-year wide receivers. AJ Green has 67 receptions, 1,022 yards and 10 touchdowns while Julio Jones has 53 receptions, 883 yards and 6 touchdowns (while sharing targets from Matt Ryan with pro-bowler Roddy White). While both of the other receivers were top ten draft picks and Baldwin was the 26th pick, they were the only three receivers drafted in the first round. When you're drafted you're always going to be compared to the other players drafted around you and that's inevitable.

Saying Baldwin has not lived up to expectations is an understatement. With those 16 catches that he has, he has only 224 yards and has yet score. Since Baldwin can't/has yet to perform, and Steve Breaston has all but disappeared, the Chiefs have been desperate to find replacements. Dexter McCluster who isn't even a full time receiver is our second leading receiver after Dwayne Bowe and running back Jamaal Charles is third. Last week we started Jamar Newsome who was on the practice squad the day before.

With the 2013 class of quarterbacks being a weak one, I look for the Chiefs to draft a wide out in the first round, even though I don't think they should. I want Manti Te'o at linebacker to complete a linebacking corps of Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, and Justin Houston. Who will be throwing to that receiver is still up in the air but I wouldn't be shocked to see Michael Vick in red next year (by far not my first choice).

Bold Prediction - Week 13

The Panthers are coming into town this weekend with a 2-8 record. After going 6-10 last year, Carolina has taken two steps backward. Cam Newton was a stud in 2011 break passing and rushing records for rookies but, this year, a banged up offensive line, a below average receiving corps, and less production from their run game have slowed him down. Teams now have game tape on him and I think that may be part of the reason for his struggles as well. Our 1-10 Chiefs are bad. Really bad. But I'm going to pick them to win this game.

Last week Romeo came in with a solid game plan and our defense looked a little improved even though they haven't played that bad all season. I expect another strong performance from them, holding Carolina to 14 points or less. They only average 18.4 points per game so that doesn't seem too farfetched for our above average defense. Even thought the Chiefs offense is only averaging a league worst 14.6 points per game I think Romeo will show dedication to the running game and be more efficient. After Steve Smith and Greg Olsen, Cam Newton doesn't have many weapons to throw to and the running game, that used to be a two headed monster with Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, is now underperforming. Cam Newton has more rushing yards than either of them with 394 and the team has only 1079. For more Panthers stats check out http://www.nfl.com/teams/statistics?team=CAR.

Final Prediction: 20-13 Chiefs

Week 12 - Keep Away

When you play Peyton Manning, there seems to be only two ways to beat him: keep the ball away from him and win the time of possession battle or make him turn the ball over at least three times. Sometimes just doing one of those isn't enough and today was one of those days. The Chiefs did win the time of possession battle for the game, especially in the first three quarters. But in the fourth quarter the gap narrowed and the defense was only able to pick Manning off once.

Peyton is a first ballot Hall of Famer, maybe my favorite player in the league, the only 4-time MVP in the history of the NFL, maybe the best player to ever play the game, and one of the classiest guys you'll find. To see him play well after coming back from neck surgery is great, even if it is against our own team. He's turned the Broncos into a legitimate Super Bowl contender and I wouldn't be surprised if they never lost again this season.

The Chiefs played a lot better today than I was expecting and Romeo came in with a good game plan and had the defense fired up. We were able to keep the ball 31 minutes and 43 seconds but most of that was in the first three quarters. We were able to run the ball successfully as we have all season but today we showed commitment to the running game like we should have been in the past. With 31 carries we were able to accumulate 138 yards but came up short in the red zone every time only scoring on three field goals.

Since we kept the ball out of Peyton's hands he threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns (below average for him but great compared to any Chiefs' QB performance). Their defense looked great as always and tightened up in the red zone when they needed to. The game ended with yet another loss at 14-9 bringing us to 1-10 but this week looked encouraging finally.

Players of the Game
Chiefs
Offense: The entire offensive line - Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil are two of the best pass rushers in the AFC. With rookies starting at left tackle and left guard, I was expecting at least six sacks in this game. We were able to shut down Dumervil and only allowed Miller to get to Brady Quinn once on the day. They gave up two total sacks and dominated in the run game. I think this o-line has become a strength for the Chiefs and look forward to building around them.
Defense: Romeo Crennel - no one stood out in particular on the D this week but Derrick Johnson did lay a huge hit on Knowshon Moreno and Brandon Flowers picked off the future Pro Bowler on a terrible throw and misread. Romeo Crennel came into the game with the game plan to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands and he showed some gumption and stuck to it even through the red zone struggles. He gained some respect from me and hopefully other fans too.

Broncos: Peyton Manning - I think I've said enough. He'll win out the rest of the season and carry the Broncs into the AFC Championship against the Texans in a great game between two balanced teams. In my opinion he should win his fifth MVP award this year but it'll be a close vote between him and Matty Ice (Matt Ryan of the 10-1 Atlanta Falcons).

Week 11 - Pop Warner

You know that one kid in a little football game that's just bigger and stronger than everyone else on the field? Jermaine Gresham was that kid on Sunday. In the red zone Andy Dalton hit him with a pass at the four yard line. He was hit by Eric Berry immediately and then three other Chiefs defenders. He continued to drag all of them towards the end zone like they were children and the play was originally ruled a touchdown but after review they decided he was down at the half yard line. He only had 69 yards and never scored but this one play just seemed like an example of how the Chiefs seem to play every week.

I'm looking forward to the day that we win our next game (if that day happens) so that I will have something pleasant to blog about. This wasn't meant to be a rant blog or to hate on the Chiefs. I try to find bright spots every week but sometimes it's nearly impossible. This week seemed like one of those days only being able to score 6 points on two Succop field goals and allowing 409 total yards and 28 points.

We gave up a few big passing plays to AJ Green but the run defense was the sad part. We gave up 189 rushing yards to below average running backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Cedric Peerman and the not-so-athletic QB Andy Dalton.

There's not many positive things to say about the game other than the fact that Tony Moeaki played much better than he has all season and was our leading receiver. AJ Green made one of the best catches of the season. Javier Arenas was overmatched with the big second year receiver and most of the game after replacing the recently released Stanford Routt. The one handed grab on the sideline, in the end zone, will be seen on highlight reels for awhile as this was the one time Arenas did have good coverage all day but he still was able to make the catch.

Players of the Game
Chiefs
Offense: Tony Moeaki - After returning from a torn ACL last year he has not looked like anything near the player he was in the past. While Jamaal Charles has returned with success Moeaki and Eric Berry have not been the same players as they have in the past. Having the same surgery twice in the past I understand how hard it can be to come back and it made me happy to see him succeed on Sunday.
Defense: Derrick Johnson - At some point I'll be able to select someone else as my defensive player of the week but I don't know when. He had another great week with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. It's nice to see him succeed after a rough start at the beginning of his career after being the 15th overall pick and not living up to expectations right away. He needs to be in the pro bowl and he is the best middle linebacker in the AFC in my opinion. He's ahead of Ray Lewis at this point in his career, he is more versatile than both of the Jets MLBs and Brian Cushing of the Texans just tore his ACL so we'll have to see how he comes back from his injury. He is my favorite Chief.

Bengals: AJ Green - 91 yards and a ridiculous touchdown. The second year wide out is quickly becoming one of the best in the league. He's a dangerous deep threat with his height and size and has some of the best hands in the NFL. There's not many that are better than him and he is now an elite target for Andy Dalton. I haven't given it a ton of consideration but the only receivers that are better than him off the top of my head are Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson (when he's not hurt), Calvin Johnson, and Brandon Marshall. That's good company, especially when it's only your second year in the league.