Kansas City fans, relax. It’s just the Raiders. We didn’t beat the Giants or the Ravens or even the Rams. I was as happy as I could be that we won another game yesterday, thus avoiding a prospective 1-15 record and putting a little separation between us and the magnificently awful Detroit Lions (please God, let them run the table), but quite frankly I was happier with the San Diego loss. The reason why is simple: I saw no progress. We played the same or a little worse than we did against Buffalo, but we had the benefit of playing the 2nd worst team in the NFL. In the words of Deuce McAllister after his team handed our team its collective ass two weeks ago, “no offense, but we beat a team we should beat.”
Let’s start by focusing on the positives. First, Tyler Thigpen won a game. The team didn’t win in spite of Tyler Thigpen. Tyler Thigpen won a game. Tyler Thigpen won a game on an off day. Tyler Thigpen won a game despite throwing more interceptions than touchdowns for the first time since taking over as the full-time starter. Tyler Thigpen did what Brodie Croyle could not and Damon Huard did not–he led the team not by default but by presence. He made the men around him believe in his ability as well as his durability. I don’t claim to know whether or not he is the future of this franchise, but I do know he is the present, and presently that’s an acceptable arrangement.
Second, Tyler Thigpen won a game without his favorite target. Mark Bradley played sparsely and acted mostly as a decoy. He didn’t (and likely couldn’t) run at full speed and he seldom got open. He was a nonentity and the offense suffered as a result. I ardently believe a team needs a third target in the passing game to be truly effective, and thus far neither Will Franklin nor Devard Darling has shown that they can be that in Bradley’s stead. Someone will invariably think to point out that Trent Green never had a third target, but in reality he did–Priest Holmes was a 600+ yard receiver when healthy. Bradley might not have Holmes’s versatility, but up until this week he possessed another important quality: availability. Hopefully he’ll be healthy soon. We’ll need him if we’re going to win these next four games.
Third, Derrick Johnson showed up again. Maybe somebody reminded him that this is a contract year and thus far he hasn’t done nearly enough to earn much more of a salary than he’s already making. Maybe somebody reminded him that it’s bad that his journeyman backup has been outplaying him. Maybe somebody reminded him that he’s on the fast track to having career low years in both tackles and sacks, including the year he missed three games. Simply put, he has to be the playmaker on this defense if he wants this team to win games. They will live and die by the measure of his achievement. He must live up to his billing for the next four weeks, and if he doesn’t we as fans must learn to accept that he will likely not be wearing red and gold next season.
Now let’s examine the flip side. First, Wade Smith is a sieve. He is second only to Chris Terry in poor offensive line play in recent Chiefs history. He makes Brett Williams look serviceable. Of course it doesn’t help that Herb Taylor went in for a series and racked up yet another false start penalty, but is there nobody else that can take this guy’s place? Nobody else that can snap a ball AND make a block? Thigpen should count his lucky stars that Rudy’s injury wasn’t all that bad and that he was able to return. I hope desperately that we spend more picks on linemen in this next draft. Unless Barry Richardson turns the corner, we don’t have nearly enough.
Second, fire Mike Priefer. Those three words have become my mantra and will remain so. You will never again read a Nathan Kent game review without those three words until said wish comes true. This week I saw on one return something that almost looked like a wedge. I hadn’t seen that at any point prior since Priefer took over. This formation had many of the key elements of a wedge. Five blockers? Check. In front of the kicker? Check. Running in the same direction? Check. Shaped like a wedge? FUCK! Close, but no cigar. It’s not a tough concept to grasp. Birds do it all the time. If they can figure it out, a veteran coach with a veteran coach father should be able to as well. I’d call him birdbrains, but a bird’s brain would clearly be an upgrade.
Third, the Chiefs are well on their way to setting a truly embarrassing record. One season ago this team was a respectable 9th in the league in sacks with 37 and sported the #1 pass rusher in Jared Allen. This season, without said #1 pass rusher, it seems woefully unlikely that even one Chief will register even 3 sacks. That’s a failure of epic proportions. It’s inexcusable. The buck must stop somewhere. Someone in the organization needs to step forward and confess a monumental error in judgment in personnel management. Keeping Jared Allen might not have been the answer, but neither was electing not to pursue anybody to take his place. The single late round pick used to replace that Pro Bowler is no less acceptable than the single late round pick used last year to replace another Pro Bowler (Will Shields). It demonstrates that our needs are rather simple: we need more of everything.
Soon enough we’ll be able to put this colossal failure of a season behind us. We’ll find a little solace in the handful of wins our beloved team collected. Our skin will grow a little thicker and our expectations will fall a little lower. We’ll celebrate the success of another draft, all the while nursing the suspicion that it might be pissed away once again. But for the time being, let’s not get too excited over beating a team that should have lost every week for the past five seasons. Let’s hope instead that we can find our footing next week when we play another varsity squad. Relax for now. It’s only the Raiders. But cross your fingers and hope that this time next week our new cry can be Behold, it’s the Broncos.
As always Nathan, a grounded perspective as to where we are as a team. If the Chiefs should beat the Broncos at Invesco then I would have to say that we are turning a corner. We haven’t turned the corner but we are in motion. The rest of the season will determine if Herm is on the right track or not. I agree with you that we need a new special teams coach, preferably one with proven experience. Lastly; depending on the rest of the season’s outcome, we will either see Herm keep Gun or find a new coordinator. I would like to see us go to the 3-4 defense with a proven coordinator who can use it to it’s fullest potential. I believe you can do more within that scheme than any other. Comments?
Comment by robert — December 2, 2008 @ 8:48 am
well out here in california any win over the faiders is a good win.i get alot of flack from those fools. maybe cause it’s i have a piss on the faider nation sticker on my bright red 4×4 lol..
Comment by calichiefsfan74 — December 2, 2008 @ 10:06 am
Jared Allen dominated Sunday night, we traded the best defensive end away in his prime.for what an offensive linemen.We should of signed one in free agency or drafted Albert with the fifth pick and not drafted Dorsey.how many sacks does Dorsey have? Trading Jarred Allen was A awful move by Carl Peterson and Clark Hunt.
Comment by chris — December 2, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Beware of the can of worms you’re about to open chris. I am totally on your side with the Jared Allen situation but apparently there are alot of fans that want us to be a team full of choir-boy pussies, that also believe he should of got the death penalty for a couple of DUI’s. I’ve got your back though.
Comment by NCCHIEFSFAN — December 2, 2008 @ 11:10 am
Jared Allen dominated Sunday night, we traded the best defensive end away in his prime.for what an offensive linemen.We should of signed one in free agency or drafted Albert with the fifth pick and not drafted Dorsey.how many sacks does Dorsey have? Trading Jarred Allen was A awful move by Carl Peterson and Clark Hunt.
Comment by chris — December 2, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Valid point but Jared only won us at max two games last year and thats no where near the number of games potentially or in the past as many as tony g. larry or priest and he would make more than them all. It’s the business strategy in King Carl and that’s why everyone hates him.
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 2, 2008 @ 11:46 am
I still don’t like Herm, and Gun schemes are looking outdated but some of the players are definately looking on the up an up. Talking to a colleague of mine (who is a raiders fan) Monday I pointed out that that once Cables tenure was over in Oakland he will never be a NFL coach again. I also pointed out that once Herms tenure is over in Kansas City, he will never be a head coach in the NFL again. Herm tried to out-bad-coach Cable but Cable took the cake with the fake fieldgoal. By the way, did anyone else almost kick their TV when we needed one yard for the first down and Thigpen clearly didn’t make it, so what does Herm do? He calls a timeout so as to give the refs time to take a closer look at it. Also someone pointed this out somewhere that when the Chiefs lose Herm refers to the team as “they”. When the Chiefs win he refers to the team as “we”.
Comment by Rocky — December 2, 2008 @ 11:50 am
Just because you have sacks does not mean you win games its usually just the really good defenses that get a lot of sacks, and defense wins games. I wish Jared Allen would have been a man and praised the people who game him a chance, but he knew where this ship was headed if he plays the way he did Monday night and Frerotte can keep his balls high and tight they might make the playoffs.
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 2, 2008 @ 11:51 am
Anyone really put in perspective that sunday was a matchup between number 1st round draft choice vs. 7th round practice squad acquisition. And Tyler (on a bad day) outplayed him. I think that unless it’s peyton or 5 year project Eli manning you can get really good qbs in the second and third or later rounds when there is abundance.
If you want this team to win now it will have to be with Tyler Thigpen unless you just think some sort of miracle scenario is possible with getting all new coaches and a new qb and make the playoffs next year. The only shot we ever have of making the playoffs is getting our deffense back to the form it was last year with the best third down percentage in the league. Some of that was do to giving up a lot on 1st and 2nd down late in the year, but we were still the best in the league and were pretty good at red zone defense. This year we have not had talented linebackers or not a good enough coach. Gunther has failed us all and unless he can allow less than 400 yards rushing total in the next 4 games we need to fire him. This was a failed experiment with having Gunther do two jobs. He thought he had more talent than was actually there and then failed to correct until it was too late. Next year our focus has to be on O-line (which has playerd better than last year) Linebacker corp (Donnie is gone he want to move back to Cali) We need a Safety who can actually play in the passing game. It might be Morgan but I don’t think he will get much playing time as he should in order for evaluation.
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 2, 2008 @ 12:16 pm
jake now chiefjt
are you finally turning the corner on wanting Herm out of here?? is that what i am hearing, or am i mistaken and you only want Gunther out? which is it. is your opinion that we need to forgo any defense aquisitions and only go with offensive line? remember we had a high scoring offense and a lousy defense when herm got here, and he ruined that. what have we improved, besides a bunch of young players that cant win. my opinion on this is we need to “rebuild” the front office (c.p) and all the coaching staff (really, how much worse can we get?). keep the young players and add more experience thru free agency. get a staff that can give direction to these players. just my opinion.
Comment by dennis — December 2, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
Sacks do not win games, on November 11, 1990 DT had 7 sacks and the Chiefs still lost against Seattle.
Jared Allen didn’t want to be in Kansas City, so why not get what we could for him while the gettin’ was good.
Comment by Kansas City Krusher — December 2, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
I still dunno why anyone would say we traded Allen for Albert…i remember pointing out on here MANY times that we also got 2 other picks for him, Charles and Morgan. Charles, if you haven’t noticed, has helped us, he helped us beat the raiders on sunday, and morgan, although not getting A LOT of playing time now, has added depth in the secondary which we all know we needed. Fuck Jared Allen. Those three words will be in any game review i do from now on!
Comment by FatDaNn — December 2, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
Damn I cant believe people still dont see the idiocy to trade away Allen. In case you dont remember, Allen very well wanted to be in Kansas City. He set up his own Jared Allen sports bar for christs sake! He was upset because Queen Carl wasn’t going to pay him what he was worth. Carl was also going to put the franchise tag on him, which would piss any elite player off. He was a YOUNG PROVEN PLAYER that we traded away for draft picks who are not proven. Albert looks good and promising yes, but if he gets great HES just going to get traded away for draft picks because HERM AND CARL ARE MORONS. Its going to be an endless cycle of destruction as long as these two are in the front office. God it makes me sick. I bet that if we had Derrick Thomas today at 26 years old in his prime we would have to trade him away because we dont pay players who earn a raise. I wonder whos next thats not getting paid and traded…
Comment by chefs — December 3, 2008 @ 10:16 am
How much of this discussion matters? Jared Allen IS GONE! We need to look forward in order to get better. Each person has their own views on how the team should be handled, but no one can predict the value of one player versus two draft picks. I also think it is funny that players get upset about the franchise tag. You are probably going to be the 3rd highest paid player at your position, probably 6-9 million/year, STOP CRYING. Respect the game and enjoy your money.
There is absolutely no doubt that Carl has made idiotic decisions in his tenure, from pissing off players, to making bad trades and signings, waiting too long to offer extensions, and bad drafts, but I’m not convinced this is one of them. True we could use him, but I fail to see the benefit this season. You also have to consider that he is playing with two pro-bowl tackles. He is a great player, but I think the comparison to DT is premature.
In the past, Lamar was heavily involved in the transactions that the team made. It is too early to label Clark as to the type of owner he will become.
Comment by Travis — December 3, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
i didnt compare him to DT i just said it would happen today with the front office we have. and i think it matters because its going to keep happening to players who get good.
Comment by chefs — December 3, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
One offensive touchdown against a terrible Raiders team does not a season make. I bet that Herm would have the Chiefs looking great against a tough high school team too. FatDan is a Herm lover and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Prediction: Donkeys 34-Chiefs 24.
Comment by Mark F. — December 3, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
we had a high scoring offense and a lousy defense when herm got here, and he ruined that
We had a healthy trent green a very talented priest holmes plus an all pro one of the damn finest offensive lines to ever play the game. Herm didn’t ruin any of that we lost much of that after trent went down because we lost our line that he once trusted plus Holmes was gone. All we had left was an amazing middle age running back in his prime and the best tight end ever. Defense NO! Receivers No! We now have more threats on offense than we ever did except when Priest Morton Gonzo and Kenni were all on the same field.
We need one person to run the defense there has always been a conflict of interest on defense for the past three years. We need one person to run the offense. Herm should only do one of those things which is why I think he should take gunther’s job as a Defensive Coordinator and watch a real coach win with his help like back in Tampa. Gunther should just demote himself to fixing a linebacker corp he all but promised would be good at some point in the course of the rebuilding season. I don’t know who the head coach should be, but I think Chan Gailey has lived up to his end of the bargain in the second half of the season. Gailey has adapted to what we have and is coming around he deserves one more year… In my opinion. Honestly I wouldn’t be opposed to giving him a shot at the Head Coaching Job he probably manages a game better. I don’t think he has the same motivational standards as Herm does but if we keep the tenacity on on defense we can build with what we have even if everyone wants to nag at our ability to get sacks.
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 3, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
Trent Green was only good because he could stand in one place for three seconds only having to think do I throw it to Tony G. or Dump it to Priest for a first down. Not to mention we ran the best screens in the league. We dominated the line of scrimmage which allowed us to put up some great stats, which didn’t always turn out to be the stats I liked which was a playoff win or even getting there more than one year. Best offense this side of the Mississippi and we could still could make the playoffs in 2005.
Herm has now made it one playoff appearance in three seasons. He should admit his mistakes and take more drastic steps toward improvement instead of just rhetoric about one day we could maybe possibly be respectable. I understand the decision to get our draft picks as much playing time as possible for development and to evaluate who should stay around. Anyone think Leggett would get playing time if we dabbled in free agency. We should have gone after a few more linemen to at least introduce the system to some prospect starters or get playing time for B grade backups. We do have people starting on offensive line who could barely back up starters on other teams. If we can get back to running 150 plus yards a game whether its 100 with larry or at least 75 with charles and smith we could be top ten offense when its all said and done at least while Tony is still on the team. We have found good receivers but we still always need another and can’t have too many. I believe franklin has not been given enough credit and needs to be thrown to more down the field he knows the spread. We need linemen and linebackers and we could make the playoffs next year if we had a Jared Allen there i said it. I loved the man for his downright crazy attitude on the field. I know he loved the city and wanted to stay, but sometimes its just easier to let business be business.
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 3, 2008 @ 11:08 pm
*….could barely almost should have made the playoffs in 2005*
Comment by jake now ChiefJT — December 3, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
wow, jake now chiefjt
i cant believe that you are finally saying that herm shouldnt be head coach. what happened?? you used to get so pissed off when anyone said anything bad about herm. i still dont agree that herm lead us to the playoffs his first year. yes he was head coach at the time but the team was mostly the same as dv left for him (coaches, players etc.) since then the team has went down hill quick. but look back at the time dv was head coach, the afc west was the best in the nfl and we had to compete with very good teams. now the afc west is the laughing stock of the nfl….and guess what….we still cant win the west. amazing. if we even had a decent team we could walk away with the afc west. but we really suck right now. but just wait, when we get good all other teams in the west will be good too and it will still be hard to win the west. ironic isnt it??
Comment by dennis — December 4, 2008 @ 12:02 am
HEY “”"FATDAN”"”
IF ALL YOU WANT TO SAY IS THAT IN ALL YOUR GAME REVIEWS FOR NOW ON,IS GOING TO CONTAIN THOSE THREE WORDS,”FUCK JARED ALLEN” THEN GO FUCK YOUR OWN “FAT ASS” YOU IDIOT AND I’LL INCLUDE THOSE SAME WORDS TO FOLLOW!!
Comment by VEGAS CHIEF — December 4, 2008 @ 12:02 am
WE HAD THREE TIMES THE SACKS BY JARED ALLEN HIMSELF ALL OF LAST YEAR WITH TWO GAMES MISSED THAN WE WILL HAVE BY EVERYONE COMBINED ON THE WHOLE TEAM AFTER THIS YEAR IS DONE,,WE SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED BUILDING THIS TEAM AND YOUTH MOVEMENT AROUND SUCH A TALENTED STAR LIKE JARED ALLEN THE SAME WAY WE DID AROUND “DT”!!!!!!!!! QUEEN CARL AND SPERM EDWARDS HAVE TO GO AND WE NEED A BILL COWHER TO TAKE THE HELM AND TURN THIS TEAM INTO CHAMPIONS!!AS IT IS,,WE CAN’T EVEN GET ANYONE WITHIN 5 YARDS OF AN OPPOSING QUARTERBACK AND AS LONG AS THAT CONTINUES,THEN THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SHRED US WHEN WE GIVE THEM ALL DAY TO THROW THE BALL!! “GET REAL FATDAN”
Comment by VEGAS CHIEF — December 4, 2008 @ 12:15 am
HOW MANY RAIDERS DOSE IT TAKE TO LOSE A GAME
THE HOLE TEAM PLUS THE FANS = THE CHOKELAND FAIDERS
Comment by Michael Diedrich — December 4, 2008 @ 1:08 am
Chefs “”Damn I cant believe people still dont see the idiocy to trade away Allen. In case you dont remember, Allen very well wanted to be in Kansas City. He set up his own Jared Allen sports bar for christs sake! He was upset because Queen Carl wasn’t going to pay him what he was worth. Carl was also going to put the franchise tag on him, which would piss any elite player off. He was a YOUNG PROVEN PLAYER that we traded away for draft picks who are not proven. Albert looks good and promising yes, but if he gets great HES just going to get traded away for draft picks because HERM AND CARL ARE MORONS. Its going to be an endless cycle of destruction as long as these two are in the front office. God it makes me sick. I bet that if we had Derrick Thomas today at 26 years old in his prime we would have to trade him away because we dont pay players who earn a raise. I wonder whos next thats not getting paid and traded…”"
You call me the moron b/c i think the trade was better for the team. But your argument has no base b/c you are saying “if this if that” but my whole thing was RIGHT NOW. We ARE a better team NOW than we would have been with out those draft picks. that is what i am saying. And furthermore You aren’t even making any argument that we would be better with JA you just used it as a ploy to go into “Fuck Herm and CP” which i am not arguing against, you are right there…..Fuck Jared Allen.
Travis “…no one can predict the value of one player versus two draft picks.”
It was three. With a change in position on another. and they are people now. Should i tell you their names again?
Mark F - One offensive touchdown against a terrible Raiders team does not a season make. I bet that Herm would have the Chiefs looking great against a tough high school team too. FatDan is a Herm lover and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Prediction: Donkeys 34-Chiefs 24.
Read above comments meant for Chefs…Fuck CP and FUCK HERM TOO! But the fact is the JA trade made this team better THIS year! Silence is acceptance and no one argued the “Sacks don’t win games” quote….
ChiefJT - I’m just gonna say, finally a competent post.
Vegas Chief “HEY “””FATDAN”””
IF ALL YOU WANT TO SAY IS THAT IN ALL YOUR GAME REVIEWS FOR NOW ON,IS GOING TO CONTAIN THOSE THREE WORDS,”FUCK JARED ALLEN” THEN GO FUCK YOUR OWN “FAT ASS” YOU IDIOT AND I’LL INCLUDE THOSE SAME WORDS TO FOLLOW!!”
What the fuck are you smokin? Did you even read the article? Do you frequent this site? I mock the writers for their apparent love for JA. (No offense guys, i think you’re great most the time, just disagree here.) If you read what he wrote, then read what i wrote MAYBE JUST MAYBE you will see the sarcasm. I know its hard.
Vegas Chief AGAIN! “WE HAD THREE TIMES THE SACKS BY JARED ALLEN HIMSELF ALL OF LAST YEAR WITH TWO GAMES MISSED THAN WE WILL HAVE BY EVERYONE COMBINED ON THE WHOLE TEAM AFTER THIS YEAR IS DONE,,WE SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED BUILDING THIS TEAM AND YOUTH MOVEMENT AROUND SUCH A TALENTED STAR LIKE JARED ALLEN THE SAME WAY WE DID AROUND “DT”!!!!!!!!! QUEEN CARL AND SPERM EDWARDS HAVE TO GO AND WE NEED A BILL COWHER TO TAKE THE HELM AND TURN THIS TEAM INTO CHAMPIONS!!AS IT IS,,WE CAN’T EVEN GET ANYONE WITHIN 5 YARDS OF AN OPPOSING QUARTERBACK AND AS LONG AS THAT CONTINUES,THEN THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SHRED US WHEN WE GIVE THEM ALL DAY TO THROW THE BALL!! “GET REAL FATDAN””
So three times as many sacks = 2 more wins. WHOA thats worth it.
Comment by FatDaNn — December 4, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Michael Diedrich - Sorry for not including you, there were two competent posts.
Comment by FatDaNn — December 4, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
FatDaNn
I meant that we have two currently “relevant” picks from the trade, and, of course, they are “real people now”. My point was that it is impossible to gauge the actual success of any trade ahead of time.
You read the meaning into everyone else’s post, I’m surprised you didn’t see mine.
Good thing you don’t have any aggression built up!
Comment by Travis — December 4, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
I was merely pointing out there were three. And that ALL three are what make the trade worth it. The one i ASSUME you are saying isn’t relevant is Morgan. But yes, he is, he already has helped us shore up depth in the secondary and with talks of Pollard not becoming what they expected of him he could also be more valuable later. Plus you are right, i had and still have no aggression to you. Most of what you said at least made sense and the point i was getting across is the trade made the team better now. Plus i like how you, unlike the ones calling me a moron, notice that J. Allen IS gone and WONT be back. Its hard sometimes for people to accept that.
Comment by FatDaNn — December 5, 2008 @ 1:53 am
p.s. Travis.
I think i must have stopped after your first paragraph the first time. I reread it now and i believe there were 3 competent posts. just FYI.
Comment by FatDaNn — December 5, 2008 @ 1:57 am
wtf i cant say it was a dumb move? i didnt call you a moron either i called herm and carl morons. i know you think it was a good move and i respect your opinion. only time will tell.
Comment by chefs — December 5, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
i just cant wait until 2010 when herm is gone and we can all just get along. maybe we can all have a group hug then.
(i do hope its sooner though, both herm and the hug;).
Comment by dennis — December 5, 2008 @ 9:28 pm