Chiefs Fall Short in Their Comeback Attempt Against the Charges, Lose 20-17
One year ago this week the Chiefs surprised everyone in the
league by being 3-0 and the only remaining undefeated team in the league. After coming off a 4-12 season, the Chiefs
were already nearly at the same amount of wins and this was a different
team. It had a different feel to it,
Eric Berry was beginning to establish himself, Jamaal Charles was cementing his
status as a premier back, Brandon Flowers was the best CB in the league, and
Tony Moeaki was showing why he was a good draft pick, as was Dexter
McCluster. My how things can change in
the span of a year.
After surprising everyone last year, they have surprised
everyone again by the level of their ineptitude. Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, and Tony Moeaki
are out for the season and Brandon Flowers doesn’t appear to be too far
behind. The team has been ravaged by
injuries and now they are 0-3 losing by a combined score of 109-27. The Chiefs have quickly made everybody forget
what happened last year and are now, once again, the laughingstock of the
league and a punch line on Jay Leno.
Against the Charges this past Sunday they didn’t play as
poorly as they did in the first two games, but their failures were still all
too evident. The Chiefs came away with a
loss but there were more positives here than in the previous two games
combined.
Here is my rundown of the positive from last game:
Defense – The defense
played their behinds off. This is the
best game they’ve played by far and might be the best of the whole season. The defense was more aggressive, got to the
QB more, and was able to pick off Phillip Rivers twice. Even if the offense was not able to
capitalize, keeping the Chargers out of end zone was a big plus.
Glen Dorsey – I saw
Glen Dorsey finally return to the man that he was last year, he was in the
backfield he was pressuring, and even if he wasn’t making the play, he was
affecting it. His stats will never show
it, but Dorsey may be the best and most valuable player on this defense with
the loss of Berry.
Dwayne Bowe’s 2nd
Half – Bowe was nonexistent in the 1st half, but his second half
performance was very solid. He made a
couple really good catches including a sideline touchdown grab in which he did
a masterful job of dragging his feet.
Maybe this second half was what Bowe needed to get his confidence back
and get to where he was last season.
Dexter McCluster –
McCluster had 45 yards on 9 carries for a solid 5.0 YPC and 5 catches for 17
yards. With the loss of Charles,
McCluster has an opportunity to really solidify himself as a legit player. He will never be the running back that
carries the team, but he can be what he was on Sunday and even a little more. His running was decisive, smart, and efficient;
he was able to hit the hole, not dance around too much and was very effective
when used.
Steve Breaston –
Finally announced his appearance on this team.
He made an unbelievable catch on the sideline in the second half that galvanized
the team and was able to make a couple other big catches. This is what we should be getting on a game
by game basis with Breaston so hopefully this can continue.
Now, even with those positives there were still plenty of
negatives:
Offense – The offense
just really can’t seem to get much done.
252 total yards on the day and most of that came in the 2nd
half. It was 10-0 Chargers at halftime
and the Chiefs had done nothing on offense.
They were able to get 2 turnovers and it didn’t matter because the
offense wasn’t able to convert on them.
There is no threat to run or pass right now and players need to step up
and give the Chiefs something to build off of.
Thomas Jones – 14
carries, 31 yards. There it is, that’s
all that needs to be said. Jones was a
solid pick up last year, had his place, but he’s too old and ineffective to be
expected to carry the load for this team.
Matt Cassel – The
interception on the last drive is enough.
Cassel actually played decently well, especially in the second half, but
its plays like that that make him a QB who struggles to be average, elite QB’s
don’t make those plays.
1st Half
Play-Calling – It was atrocious. No
ingenuity, conservative, conservative, conservative, it was pretty bland. If the Chiefs aren’t going to be good this
season they at least need to open up their offense and see if they can figure
something out that works. Running Thomas
Jones 3 times and punting is a poor philosophy.
Final Thoughts:
Despite the loss and the horrible manor in which the loss
came about, this was a step forward given this team’s situation. The Chiefs are in trouble that is for sure,
we’ve known that for a couple weeks now, but ultimately the outlook on this
season has changed. It is not longer can
the Chiefs squeak in to the playoffs again, the focus now shifts to what the
Chiefs have on this team that they can use to build towards the future. If some of the backups that are getting more
time because of injuries show they can play, then that is a good thing. The Chiefs need to use this opportunity to
really find out what they have on this team beyond their stars who are now
injured. The Royals did it this year and
this town is excited for 2012, if the Chiefs take the same approach then maybe
they can drum up some excitement for next year as well. Hey a fan can dream can’t he?
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