What exactly can I say about the Chiefs at this point? I will start with the few positives I can muster after this horrible, gutwrenching, soul crushing, defeat at the hands of one of the most hated franchies in all of the NFL.
Coming away from this game I feel the most positive about Glenn Dorsey. He was all over the field again, this time against a good O-line, and seems to be settling into his spot as a 3-4 DE nicely. All the naysayers about him being a bust can shut up, all the anysayers about him not being a "true" 3-4 DE can shut up as well. When this D comes together (whenever that is) Dorsey will be the lynchpin and will be one of best defenders in the league. You heard it here, I am impressed. A 3-4 DE will not rack up the huge stats and Dorsey has not to this point (15 tackles, 1tfl, 0 sacks), but he has been a force. Dorsey is constantly in the backfield disrupting the passer, and he is filling his holes and eating blockers as he is supposed to in the run game. This defense is 3 or 4 players away from being legit (2011 here we come!!!).
I thought Matt Cassel played well. The O-line played better but still not all that great, however, Cassel was able to stand tall in the pocket, did not get flustered and made some good throws. Further, he showed the ability to lead the team down the field in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter and get the clutch score (for the second time this season). Cassel has the ability and with a solid offensive line he will be able to put up solid numbers for years to come. Dwayne Bowe showed up and made a couple really good clutch catches. He is still a little more inconsistent than I would like, but he has the big play ability you look for in a reciever. Get him a solid second option, then get a good offensive line to give Cassel enough time to throw and he will put up Anquan Boldin type number (he will never be Larry Fitzgerald, sorry).
We are starting to blitz more and get more pressure but it is still barely NFL level. Vrabel is old and lost a step, Hali is a complementary player and not a legit force, our best front 7 talent is on the d-line and their primary goal is not to rush the passer. I think the coaching is actually decent in this area, I even saw Tim Krumrie coaching on the sideline and giving good advice to his d-linemen on technique. I will give him props for that, the D-line is improving. However, you can't ask for much more, we are just talent deficient on defense. It will take a couple more years to build up the proper talent level to be elite.
The secondary continues to play off their receivers and allow a cushion that people can throw 5 yard ins and crossing patterns to all day. I thought the point of the 3-4 was to play aggresive bump and run D on the receivers...apparently not.
Who the fuck is Miles Austin? Sorry for the language but come on. We let somebody who has never started a game and may be Dallas' incarnation of Jeff Webb come into our house and drop 250 yards and 2 tds, including the game winner? Get effing real! That is absolutely ridiculous. Put any of our corners on him to bump him all day and he would not know what to do. Why are coaches so afraid of playing man? The Packers have done it aggresively and successfully for years. I don't get it.
Say it with me: PUT MARK BRADLEY IN ON THE WILDCAT!!!!! We have nothing to lose and this would be a fun experiment to see, even if it didn't work.
The playcalling continues to not impress. It is predictable and not inventive. The biggest gripe I always had with Herm Edwards was his sheer ego. He didn't gameplan because he came into every game thinking he had the better players and would be able to overpower the other team. He was wrong on both accounts and was 15-33 as the Chiefs' coach. Bill Belicheck comes up with a new gameplan every week and he has coached the most dominant team of the decade and won 3 super bowls. Haley seems to have the same problem Edwards had. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.
Final Thoughts:
You have heard it before but it is true. The Cowboys did everything they could to lose that game and we couldn't even take advantage. 2 turnovers? Thanks. 13 penalties? We'll take that. Let us march down the field and score to send it to overtime? You guys are being really nice today. Since you have been so nice, we'll go ahead and let you win, how does that sound? Good.
We have all heard it before. Losing is a culture that gets established. There is a reason it is the usual suspects that pick near the top of the draft every year. You have to prove to yourself and as a team you can win games when it counts. You have to prove that you win the games good teams win before you can believe you are a good team. When the other team turns the ball over and basically coughs up the game, you need to step up and take the victory, especially when you are a team that needs it as badly as the Chiefs do. This was a horrible gut-wrenching loss, but the worst part about it was, leading 13-10 I leaned over to my dad and said "every single person in this stadium fully expects the Chiefs to lose this game." That is when you know it is bad. How this can get changed around I am not sure and it definitely will not this season. I will be interesting to see how this season shakes down. I dreaded doing it but here it is, the Chiefs have officially become the...
I wanna cry...
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