The Final Whistle - Post Game Thoughts: Chiefs vs. Panthers
CHIEFS VS. PANTHERS
Hold on to your seats Chiefs fans, our beloved red and gold are on a quest for a winning streak. Though things didn’t start out as one would hope for the Chiefs, both sides of the ball came into this game flat. Perhaps still celebrating the upset victory over the Broncos last week. Chiefs players didn’t show the same fire and desire against Carolina as they did against their division rival.
Some disappointing game stats sum up this contest better then any words I could spill out. Larry Johnson had literally a heart stopping 5 rushes for 4 yards in the first half, ending the game with 2 yards on 7 attempts. Plus our patched up Chiefs offense didn’t pick up a first down until 9:12 of the second quarter. All the while Herm seemed to always have a confused look on his face every time the camera crew would scan the down and out Chiefs sidelines.
Though I am still a firm believer in the youth movement of this once proud franchise, we as Chiefs fans can expect the ups and downs that can come week to week with such a young roster. That still doesn’t give them any reason to come out and not show any heart. I think a major factor in the games thus far has been if the Chiefs can get out of the gate effectively or not. We can’t forget that a lot of our young players are still gaining confidence that they can in fact play in the NFL.
Today isn’t a day the Chiefs need to dwell on, I think it would be wise to throw out the game film and just get back to finding ways to move the offense. Going into the bye week the Chiefs need to work Brodie back into the offense. I think after watching a healthy Jake Delhomme effect both sides of the ball for the Panthers this week, you can’t stress enough the importance of quality quarterback play in the NFL.
FINAL THOUGHT-
It didn’t look like the same team on the field this week, the lone bright spot that I saw was the continued high level of play from linebacker Derrick Johnson. Though fear not, things can only get better from here, I have confidence that the Chiefs will once again rise back to their high level of play. I am asking you to stick behind our young team, and remember that one day the sea of red at our beloved Arrowhead will rock again.
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Kansas City Chiefs vs Carolina Panthers - Matchups to Watch
The Chiefs are 1-3 and would love to come out with a second straight win. Here are some of the matchups they would have to win in order for this to happen.
Chiefs Offense Line vs Carolina Defensive Line: As you can tell from one of my latest articles, Top 5 Reasons to Believe in the Young Chiefs, I think the Chiefs offensive line is on the rise. This line has given up 12 sacks this year, but only 3 in the last two games combined. The Panthers are ranked 19th in the league with 7 sacks, which is really just middle of the pack, but 5 of those sacks have come in the last two games. With both lines playing their best the last two games this should be a great matchup to watch.
Chiefs Running Game vs Panthers Rush Defense:The Chiefs’ running game, particularly Larry Johnson, has really been picking up stream lately and this matchup could be one of the main deciding factors of the game. The Chiefs are currently averaging 4.9 yards per attempt (7th in NFL) and 138.5 rushing yards per game (also good for 7th in the NFL). The Panthers are allowing 4.1 yards per carry (15th) on average along with 114.2 yards per game (19th). On paper this match up looks like it could go to the Chiefs.
Carolina Running Game vs Chiefs Rush Defense: This is a matchup that has the potential to be bad for the Chiefs. The Chiefs are giving up an average of 5.3 yards per rushing attempt (29th in the league) and are also allowing an average of 176.5 yards per game on the ground. Carolina likes to run the ball but thier rushing offense does not blow you away, as the Panthers are averaging 3.6 yards per attempt (19th in NFL) and 102.5 yards per game (also 19th in NFL).
Carolina WRs vs Chiefs Secondary: With the possibility that CB Pat Surtain might be out again this week the Chiefs could be forced to start the two rookie Brandons’ again, and this may not be a bad thing. Last week the young cornerbacks (Brandon Carr and Brandon Flowers) did a very good job aginast a very good Denver WR crew (the numbers don’t do this justice as quite a few of those catches and yards was when Denver was playing catchup). But, with all of that said these young CB’s, along with 3rd year saefties Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard, will have their hands full containing the elusive Steve Smith and comeback kid Muhsin Muhammad.
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Chiefs vs Broncos Game Day Pictures 9-28-2008
Here are some pictures that I took from the Chiefs vs Broncos game on Sept. 28, 2008!
GO CHIEFS!
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Game 4 Chiefs vs. Broncos- What I think…
Photo from ESPN.com
This game was AWESOME. I have to tell you being at Arrowhead for this game was just amazing and I hope to see many more like this.
WHAT I LIKED
Derrick Johnson: DJ finally had that breakout game we were all waiting for this season. Johnson had an interception, forced fumble, and made 6 tackles in the game. He was all over the field making plays. Go DJ! It’s ya Birthday!
Larry Johnson: LJ had a big game this week, and that makes two weeks in a row he got-r-done. 198 yards with a 7.1 yards per attempt average… enough said. Good Job LJ! Keep it up!
Offensive Line: Overall the Chiefs had 213 rushing yards, averaged 6.5 rushing yards per attempt and only allowed one sack. Great job guys. Also, Herb Taylor filled in and did a very nice job.
Chiefs Defense: Forcing turnovers and making big plays, even the TD catch was well defended, you just can’t do much about it when a guy makes that catch. Flowers and Carr both had very nice games and it was also refreshing to see the Chiefs actually get some pressure on the QB, rushing Cutler into some bad throws.
As always there were a couple things that I didn’t like so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Gave up too many passing yards: The Chiefs gave up 361 passing yards. As you can see I am kind of stretching a little in looking for things I didn’t like. Some of these yards were from toward the end of the game when the Broncos were trying to score fast, but either way that is a lot of yards to give up.
NIck Novack: While his kickoffs were pretty good this game (a heck of a lot better than before) he still missed a field goal. Just because it didn’t matter in the end for this game, doesn’t mean that it won’t the next time. On must Sunday’s this year the Chiefs will need every point they can get.
Branden Albert Injury: This really just sucks. For a guy that was never injured before it sure sucks that four games into his pro career he has already had two injuries. I’m just glad it wasn’t his ankle again.
I tried to limit my positives a bit in this post because I don’t want to get too excited yet, but that was a great win for the Chiefs, hopefully one that will build the confidence of this young team and have them coming out ready to play hard again next week.
GO CHIEFS!
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Game 3 Chiefs vs. Falcons - What I think…
Photo from ESPN.com
Just like last week, this game just sucked to watch. There were a few positives, but they were definitely outweighed by the negatives.
WHAT I LIKED
Dwayne Bowe: D. Bowe made a good play at the end of the half by catching the slant and taking it in for 6. This gave the Chiefs a little hope. It also appears that first game of the year just a fluke… whew!
Chiefs rushing offense:The Chiefs running game FINALLY got back on track this week. Overall the Chiefs rushed for 184 yards with a 5.6 yards per carry average. LJ had over 100 yards and scored a TD. At least that worked out well for my fantasy team. 
Brian Waters:His tackle on the interceptions was the best tackle of the day. He blew up his blocker and smashed him into his own player… and then just gave him a little tap to let him know he was down. Oh, he knew he was down. You could tell Waters was planning this move and he perfected it.
As always there were a lot of things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Nick Novak: Novak is a repeat offender on this list. This is his second week in a row on this list. He missed a FG that he should have made and his kickoffs still suck. Anyone that has read this blog on a regular basis knows I wanted to keep Barth instead of Novak… and I still feel that way.
Rushing Defense: The Chiefs didn’t give up 300 yards this week… but it didn’t matter. The Chiefs rushing D held up good on Atlanta’s first 6 or 7 carries, but then the fun began (for Atlanta). The Falcons ended up with 186 yards, a 5.2 yards per carry average, and 3 rushing TD’s. A lot of the problems yesterday seemed to be linked to tackling. If you hit somebody, wrap up and take them to the ground.
4th and 1, at the 1: Good teams find a way to score on those plays. LJ made a great effort, but came up inches short.
Tyler Thigpen: I’m sure everyone of you was waiting to see his name on the list (and for obvious reasons). Thigpen had a couple nice throws, but overall was horrible. Thigpen was 14/36 for 128 yards with 1 TD to 3 INTS. Thigpen is good at making plays with his feet, and he only did that once. When the Chiefs get a legit QB to step under center they might be decent… let me know when that happens.
Lack of Urgency: The Chiefs were down multiple scores with more a little more than 6 minutes left to play and they just ran the offense like it was the opening drive. Most teams in this situation would go into a no huddle and actually try to win the game (ala Packers last night, they at least tried). This gave me the feeling the Chiefs had already conceded this game were just trying to see if they could put another score on the board to make the final outcome a little bit respectable.
That is all I am going to put, but we all know there could a lot more on that list. Hopefully the coaches will focus on some of these things and have the troops ready to play the 3-0 Donkeys at home. Maybe we can shock the Donks.
Go Chiefs!
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Game 2 Chiefs vs. Raiders - What I think…
This game just sucked to watch. At least I had a good time before and after the game in the parking lot. Here is what I think about the game.
WHAT I LIKED
Dwayne Bowe: D. Bowe seems to be back this week. While he didn’t have a huge game he was solid, led the team in receptions, and didn’t seem to be wearing the stone hands as he was in week 1. Keep it up Bowe.
Tank Tyler::The Tank seemed to have a pretty decent game. He actually lead the team in tackles (tied with DJ) with 8. For a defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles is usually a good thing, so we’ll just leave it at that.
Forcing Turnovers: The Chiefs Defense was able to force two turnovers again this week. If they keep getting turnovers eventually they will start to covert them into points, right?
As always there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Nick Novak: As I have said before I don’t see why we didn’t keep Connar Barth. Novak’s kickoffs went to the 10-15 yard line today allowing the Raiders to have good field position each time we kicked off. If Herm wants to play ball control and feidl position he needs someone who can get the ball deep.
Rushing Defense: The Raiders had 300 rushing yards!! What else do I need to say?
3rd Down Efficiency:The Chiefs were 4 of 15 on converting 3rd downs into first downs. If you want to win games you need to convert a higher percentage of these and keep your defense off the field longer.
Rushing Offense: The Chiefs averaged 2.9 yards per rush versus the Raiders. You will almost never win a game averaging less than 3 yards/attempt.
Zero Sacks: I realize that Oakland ran the ball a LOT (47 times) but this is not good. If you can’t get pressure on the QB it won’t matter how good your coverage is, someone will get open. Plus it’s not like Oakland has a great o-line. I would call them average at best, and they held the Chiefs to zero sacks.
That is all I am going to put, but we all know there could a lot more on that list. Hopefully the coaches will focus on some of these things and have the troops ready to play at the ATL.
Go Chiefs!
Picture from ESPN.com
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Game 1 Chiefs vs. Patriots - What I think…
This game just frustrated me… Some people will say they are pretty happy with this performance because they held their own against the Pats, but right now I don’t feel like I should have to settle for that. Here is what I think about the game.
WHAT I LIKED
Branden Albert: He looked very impressive, especially considering the circumstances. He didn’t play all preseason and had to come out and face a VERY good Patriots D-line.
Young CB’s::I could have missed it, but I didn’t see Flowers or Carr get burned bad on any passes. They are showing that the game is not too big for them.
Devard Darling:Finally Darling decides to show up and it couldn’t have been at a better time. It didn’t really matter in the end but his big 68 yard catch set the Chiefs up with a chance to score and send the game into overtime. If only he was a little bit faster.
Forcing Turnovers: The Chiefs Defense was able to force two turnovers against the Pats. If they keep winning the TO battle eventually it will work itself out.
Jamaal Charles: Charles is so fast, and he knows how to use his speed. He was looked like the best Chiefs running back against the Pats and his stats back it up: 5 carries for 28 yards. That is 5.6 yards/attempt.
As always there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Dwayne Bowe: I really like D Bo, but in my opinion he cost the Chiefs a chance to steal one from the Patriots. I’m not sure how many drops he had ( I counted at least 3 or 4), but when a ball hits you in the hands you should catch it. And that includes the possible game tying TD catch that bounced off his hands.
Rushing Defense: The top two rushers for the Patriots, Morris and Maroney, each had 10 carries and rushed for over 50 yards each. That is giving up 5 yards a carry… not good!
Special Teams:The Chiefs allowed a big return and their returns were not too impressive. The kickoffs were also pretty short. I still think that we should have kept Barth over Novak, he appeared to be at least as accurate and his kickoffs were longer… what gives?
Offensive play calling: While the play calling seemed a lot better than last year, that is not enough for me. There were way too many what we call “predictable runs” on first and second down. What happened to the playaction pass?
Jon McGraw: Why was he playing safety so much? He seemed to be a liability in pass coverage, which makes me wonder if somebody was hurt. And if somebody is/was hurt, why wasn’t DaJuan Morgan out there?
Tamba Hali: I didn’t see Tamba do too much this game. He was defiantly outplayed by Turk McBride and left me wanting more.
Hopefully we can fix some of these things and come back next week and take it out the Raiders.
Go Chiefs!
Picture from ESPN.com
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