The Jeff Report is back!
Nothing would bring me back to writing for the long dormant ‘The Jeff
Report’ like writing about the Chiefs will.
Football season has me so geared up and excited and, that all came
crashing down last Sunday as the Buffalo Bills had their way with the Chiefs in
a manner in which I have never seen before.
I was there every game when the Chiefs went 2-14 and I have seen them at
their worst, and I don’t know that I have ever seen them that hapless. That doesn’t mean this team will be the worst
because they have too much talent to be that bad, but I haven’t seen them so
woefully unprepared for a football game in a long time.
Without further ado, let’s just get right into what I saw
that was good and bad on the game:
Good:
Tamba Hali – Tamba picked up right where he left off, he
wasn’t a dominant force but he was able to get some pressure on the QB and able
to pick up a sack. Despite the problems
this defense will have it appears that Tamba will still operate and probably
show he will be worth the money.
Jamaal Charles – Even with limited touches (sound familiar?)
he was able to make an impact with 56 yards on 10 carries. Charles is one of the most talented backs in
the league and as he goes, so goes the Chiefs so they need to really find a way
to get him more involved.
Dexter McCluster – McCluster looked better running the ball
and catching it out of the backfield. He
can be a very exciting player and I think the Chiefs are getting a better
handle on how to use him. If they can
really figure it out he could be a legit weapon on this offense.
Leonard Pope – With Tony Moeaki out, the TE position is a
big hole, so having Pope step up will be a much needed consequence of this
season. Pope looked good in catching a
few passes and nearly catching a touchdown that could have changed the
complexion of the game. Hopefully he can
continue this for the rest of the season.
And now for the bad:
Eric Berry – Call it a cheap shot or not, doesn’t matter,
what matters is that Berry is out for the season and this defense will not at
all be the same. Sad day.
Run Defense – No doubt a consequence of Berry being out, but
this team could not stop the Bills rushing attack and Fred Jackson. They are going to encounter many better
rushing attacks than the Bills so if they are going to have any success they
need to have a much better time stopping this rushing game.
Pass Defense – The absolute strength of this team was
supposed to be this secondary, with the best young safety in the game and 3
other excellent DBs; however, they played poorly letting Ryan Fitzpatrick be on
the of best QBs in the league for week 1.
They couldn’t cover a tight end to save their lives and I will never
understand why, as an organization, this team cannot cover a TE drag
route. They just can’t do it, and never
have been able to. Shannon Sharpe made a
hall of fame career with doing that to us and I really am just dumbfounded at
how this team is never able to cover tight ends.
Matt Cassel – He looked like 2009 Cassel, afraid to make a
decision, checked down, weak downfield throws, if this team is going to get
better, he needs to perform better than he did on Sunday.
Dwayne Bowe – Coming off an All-Pro season Bowe was expected
to be a playmaker, but he did not show up in this game. If Bowe wants to be the elite receiver he was
last year, he needs to find a way to put up numbers no matter what. Great receivers don’t get shut out, and he
needs to find a way to make plays if this team is going to do anything.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, this was about as poor of a performance as you could possibly
have seen. There’s not much to say here,
the Chiefs have to get better and they have to be better prepared, and that
part falls on Head Coach Todd Haley and his staff. You cannot come out unprepared like they did
against the Bills and expect to win in the NFL, it is inexcusable and needs to
change quickly. Thankfully, it’s only
the first game of the season, so it CAN get better (emphasis on CAN).
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