Coming into this year, I fully expected things to be rough. I'm 100% behind Herm's plan to rebuild through the draft - I even had the chance to tell him so personally back in June. The unfortunate thing is that the team doesn't seem to be showing any progress as the season continues to unfold.
So here are some random thoughts after yesterday's latest debacle.
It sure is hard to win without a quarterback.
- It's amazing to me the trickle down effect of having zero confidence in your quarterback. The Chiefs rarely throw the ball downfield (although Bowe and Gonzalez both had some nice gains yesterday when we actually TRIED it) and this seems to be so by design. Often the quarterback will immediately look to dump the ball to a running back without ever looking down field. Defenses simply don't have to worry about us even TRYING to stretch the field, so they can keep all of their defenders close to the line which also makes it impossible for us to run.
- If you were able to combine the two young Chiefs quarterbacks into just one guy, you might have a decent option. Brodie has a cannon for an arm but obviously cannot stay healthy and will no longer be viewed as the answer. He also makes questionable decisions at times. Thigpen, on the other hand, seems to nearly always choose the right receiver to throw to. Unfortunately, he is the most inaccurate quarterback I have ever seen play in the NFL. He throws so far off target that even the defensive players can't catch it. He does seem to have some durability and can make some things happen when he runs with the ball. As for Damon Huard, I don't see a single positive in him. He rarely throws deep, he has a weak arm and isn't much more durable than Croyle. On top of that he seems completely unable to throw the ball away rather than take a sack.
Is it possible to show a little creativity on offense?
- Coming in to the season, I really thought Chan Gailey would be able to make an impact on the offense. Having former offensive line coach Mike Solari as coordinator the past few years was downright awful. I recognize that Chan doesn't have the greatest offense to work with, and the quarterback carousel has to make things difficult, but man this is bad! I don't understand why we regularly run two tight ends out there, line up in a power formation, and try to run the ball. It's not working! How about going with four wide receivers to spread the defense out and THEN try to run? We have a hard enough time blocking the standard defensive line, why line up in such a way that there are even more guys to block?
- I recognize that the quarterback play has been awful, but can't you use that to your advantage? Since teams know we can't throw and are trying to lean on the running game, why not run more play action on first down? I hear commentators say that play action only works if you're running the ball effectively. I've wondered if it can still be effective as long as the defense is expecting you to TRY and run the ball - which the Chiefs do no matter what. I was really hoping for them to run play action when they had first and goal (and settle for three points). Instead, they tried to run (which was EXPECTED!) and got stuffed. So naturally they tried play action on second down, one play too late, and Thigpen nearly got decapitated.
Where is the defense??
- There is a lot of young talent on the defensive side of the ball, and I really don't understand why they are playing so poorly. I will concede that we have no one at middle linebacker right now, and that hurts a lot in stopping the run. I will also acknowledge that the Titans are a good team (the only ones left undefeated) and were not a good matchup for the Chiefs to begin with. But this season we've already seen a pattern of huge runs given up - at some point this has to fall on the coaches not adequately getting the young guys ready to play. I still have hope for the future, especially concerning Flowers and Carr. A veteran middle linebacker has got to be added in the off season.
- It's also difficult to win when you get absolutely no pass rush. It's crazy that Hali still doesn't have a sack. I really thought he would do fairly well this season. I don't know if he's injured, but he certainly isn't making much of an impact. Teams are killing us on third and long - I heard yesterday on the radio that teams convert third and long against the Chiefs almost 50% of the time. The league average is 19%. Wow. The opposing QB has all day to throw, although some of those long conversions have been on simple draw plays. On the other side, Turk McBride seems to be improving, which makes Hali's play all the more confusing to me. I think Glenn Dorsey will be an impact player at his position and certainly am not willing to label him a draft bust, defensive tackles generally don't make a great splash at the start of their careers.
When rebuilding is this painful, how long can the coach survive?
- As I said before, I knew this would be a tough process. Now that Croyle is done, it's even scarier to imagine the possibility of Thigpen playing for the rest of the year. The youth movement is the right way to go, but will Herm be around to see it to the end? A franchise quarterback is absolutely crucial to the plan, and we're certainly back to square one in that regard. Clark Hunt has publicly backed Herm, while giving considerably less love to Carl Peterson. I wonder what the chances are of having a new president and a new GM next year (very likely), as well as seeing Bill Cowher's trademark grimace on the Chiefs sideline?
I'll eagerly watch the rest of the year and see what decisions Clark makes. But regardless of the outcome, it won't ruin any of my Mondays.
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