State of the Franchise - Five Yards At a Time Edition

 After Three Games of Preseason We Have Nearly as Many Questions as We Do Answers

Three games of the preseason have completed and the starters have played the majority of the time they are going to play before the Monday Night Football season opener on September 13th. Admittedly I have only watched their most recent game against the Eagles, but I have watched some highlights and read and heard all the analysis I need to hear about the other two games, and I will say, I am a little hesitant about proclaiming the Chiefs as an 8-8 as I have been doing the last few months.

From all that I have heard, the first game against the Falcons was pathetic. Neither the offense nor the defense could amass anything that looked like NFL football. The starters didn't play long but looked unimpressive at best. The D couldn't stop the run and the offense couldn't assemble a drive worth anything.

The Tampa Bay game was a little bit better and the team showed some good life being able to make things happen a little bit. Cassel put up good numbers (14-19, 125 yds., 1 TD), the offense was able to get things moving a bit, and (minus one mistake by Brandon Flowers) the defense played pretty well in the first half. This carried over into the most recent game as well. The offense looked decent early, despite some turnovers, and has had some good success running the football. Jamaal Charles has looked particularly impressive maintaining a ridiculous ypc average above 6. Cassel looked decent again, and besides an early score, the defense actually showed up and looked livelier than I have seen them in about 3 years or so.



Despite the noticeable improvement there are still some trepidations about the forthcoming Chiefs season. First of all, my biggest issue is with Matt Cassel. I gave him a pass last season and said that I need to see him with some more weapons and at least a decent offensive line before I judge and say he is or isn't the franchise QB we have been looking for. From what I have seen, and I will still give Cassel more time, but, he doesn't look like the answer. He does a great job at throwing short 10 yard and under routes to receivers. I am not sure if it is that Haley and Weis realize that Cassel does not have the skills or if they are just too conservative in their play calling, but they will not call anything for Cassel to get the ball down the field. You can't win in the NFL unless you go beyond 10 yards in the passing the game. Games are won and elite QB's are made between the 15-25 yard routes. A couple of days ago I was watching Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers playing against each other, these two QB's made a living throwing the 15-25 yard routes. I think arm strength in the NFL is overrated because I really don't think you throw 40 yards down the field all that often; however, having the arm strength to throw those 15-25 yard routes with accuracy and the appropriate zip makes someone an elite QB. Can Drew Brees throw the bomb like Joe Flacco? No, but he can spin it into that 15-25 yard sweet zone, and that is where Matt Cassel is lacking in the skill department. He can't make those throws with any consistency and that will ultimately limit him and lead to why I don't think he is the answer for the Chiefs. The Chiefs can win with him but they won't reach their total potential with him.

I am also starting to wonder more about the defense. All the offseason additions made in the draft and bringing in Romeo Crennell has yet to reveal legitimate improvement. We saw some small sparks of improvement in the last game, but nothing that would lead one to believe that the Chiefs can have a defense good enough to compete. Eric Berry looks to be the real deal, Tamba Hali should have another good year, Studabaker looks like he's coming around; there are a lot of good things going on in the defense but they just didn't make enough moves in the offseason to cover up all the holes.

Finally, I have an issue with Todd Haley. I think he is much improved as a coach this year with his demeanor and he looks much more comfortable overall. However, I don't understand what he is trying to do or trying to prove. He keeps starting Thomas Jones over Jamaal Charles even though Charles continues to outperform him. He seems to be doing his best to hold Derrick Johnson back (even though I partly agree with it), and he is studying film of how Bill Parcells talked to the media to try to emulate him. I don't understand why Haley is trying to do this. A coach can be influenced by the coaches but he need to find his own style as well. Haley is too concerned with figuring out what other coaches would do he hasn't figured out what Todd Haley the head coach would do. He needs to figure that out and do what he wants instead of what he thinks he should do. This is a trial that all young coaches go through and Haley is no different. Soon enough he needs to figure out he own coaching style and use it.

A couple of issues ago ESPN the magazine had an article about Marty Moningweh, based on prior head coaches who have won the Super Bowl, is the next best coach in the NFL. Their hypothesis was that all head coches who have had major success, have previously failed. This previous failure is a learning experience that allows them to be a better head coach the second time around and become successful. Examples would be Mike Shannahan (Raiders then Broncos where he won 2 Super Bowls), Bill Belichick (Browns then Patriots where he won 3 Super Bowls), to name a couple with the biggest success. This has made me wonder, if Haley could be the next great coach, are the Chiefs his trial run? Are the Chiefs just set up in a system to fail and ultimately Haley will leave, be more successful elsewhere, and the Chiefs will have to start over again? Only time will tell, but at this point I am still on the fence...