Chiefs vs Texans: Likes/Dislikes
Here is what I liked and didn’t like about the Chiefs 2009 Preseason Opener against the Houston Texans:
WHAT I LIKED
Brodie Croyle: Croyle actually looked like a legit QB yesterday. He had nice zip on the ball, threaded the needle, and even took a hit or two and manaaged to get up quickly. Kudos to the second string O-line for protecting him as well, they looked pretty solid.
New Arrowhead: Although it is not 100% complete yet the ‘new Arrowhead’ looks very nice. The new replay video boards are awesome, along with the wider concords and flat screen TV’s everywhre. I managed to get saome HD video and quite a few pictures, so be on the lookout for a post in the near future.
Rush Defense: During the first drive the rush defense looked pretty good. There were a few misteps but overall I would say I could see improvement.
Two Sacks in ONE game: Even though Maurice Leggett is the current sack leader for the Chiefs, the Chiefs were able to get some presure on the quarterback and get two sacks in a single game. I know the bar is set really low for them right now, but considering the 10 total sacks in ONE SEASON last year I would say this is someting to be happy about.
Dwayne Bowe: Even though it was against the second string defense Bowe looked very solid. Also he didn’t speak to reporters after the game. Is this a new D Bowe?
Ryan Succop: Nailing a 47 yard kick with no time left in rainy conditions makes me very happy. I hope this wasn’t a fluke.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Kick Returns: No one really stepped up to the challenge this game; it was medocroer at best.
The Rain: At first it was a nice light sprinkle.. but then it started. I woke up this morning with cold chills still.
Felt like last season: I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but something about this game (esp mid to late in the game) just felt like last season. I was expecting bigger ang better things I guess… BUT I have decided I will reserve judgement on this until the Chiefs play a game that matters in the standings.
Brodie Croyle’s Intentional Grounding: This was just a mental air and should be easily corrected. Other than that he had a solid game.
MAKES ME GO “EH”:
Matt Cassel: It seems like the coaches wanted to ease Cassel into it this game. 2 for 5 for 15 yards… Eh…
Third String OL: Seemed like Thiggy was running for his life, but sometimes I think that is how Thigpen likes it.
Since I was able to list more positives than negatives I will be happy for now and I will try to remember that this is ‘only preseason’. Also, I thought Cory Mays, Andy Studebaker and Jackie Battle all had very good games and chalked one up on the “why I should make this team” column.
What do you think?
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Chiefs Go for Two but fail and lose to Chargers
Photo from ESPN
It is a very confusing time to be a Chiefs fan. Is it weird to feel optimistic about losing three weeks in a row? There are definitely some positives for the Chiefs right now and here are some of them:
Mark Bradley: He is turning into a real steal for the Chiefs? How did the Bears let this guy go? Bradley had 8 catches for 81 yards and 1 touchdown. The Chiefs appear to finally have a valid #2 WR.
Tony Gonzalez: Tony G had 10 catches for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns. Our future Hall of Famer turned in another outstanding performance.
Tyler Thigpen Thiggy had another great day, going 27/41 for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. I believe this is the best performance from a Chiefs quarterback since 2006. Thiggy is looking strong and could make a tough decision for Chiefs management in the off-season, but that is a good problem to have.
2 pont conversion: As my friend and I dicussed this senerio when we were watching the game I really liked this call. I said “If they go for two and don’t get it, I won’t be mad at ‘em”.
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Chiefs vs Jets: Likes/Dislikes
Photo from nfl.com
I haven’t done one of these for a while so I figured now was a good time. Here is what I liked and didn’t like about the Chiefs vs Jets game this past Sunday.
WHAT I LIKED
Tyler Thigpen: Thigpen was gettin’ Thiggy with it all game long. He played a great game when no one expected it, outplayed Brett Favre and had 280 yards, 2 TD’s and no INTs. Thigpen also spread the ball out, completing passes to 7 different receivers. I’ll take that! Great job Thiggy!
Tamba Hali and Turk switching places: I really liked this move and it had instant return on investment when Hali got his first sack of the season. The Chiefs may not have had a lot of sacks in this game, but they continually got pressure on Favre and that is great to finally see.
Mark Bradley: Bradly showed up more this game than Darling has shown up all season long and had a great TD catch to close out the first half. Bradely may have been a great pickup for this team, the Chiefs may have finally found a #2 to go opposite D Bowe.
Brad Cottam: It was about time they got the big guy involved in the offense. Cottam had 4 catches for 34, including a big 11 yard gain.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Three straight running plays: I know some people have argued this was the ’surprise’ thing to do and to that I say, why not stick with what has been working? Also, maybe if Jamaal Charles was in the game we would have had a better chance to convert those runs.
No-call on the last 4th down play: It was obvious that Franklin was hit early on that play. There was also a phantom offensive pass interference call on Gonzalez, just like the announcers said in that game, you see that on nearly every play.
Giving up the big play: As I said inMonday Morning Thoughts… the Chiefs have a bad habit of giving up the big play. This needs to address and fix immediately.
Not getting the win: When you play a game where you are +3 in the turnover differential and have a lead late in the game, that is a game you should win. Hopefully this is just the Chiefs ‘being young’ and they can start turning these kinds of games into W’s. Losing gets in peoples head and I don’t want these young, impressionable players to get into the mindset that it is okay to lose.
Hopefully the Chiefs will work to fix some of the negatives and keep the positives rolling right along into a win against the Bucs (hopefully they aren’t too mad after losing a close one to the Cowboys last week).
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Why the Chiefs should have won against the Patriots… and why they didn’t
I just thought I would make a nice little list on why the Chiefs should have won against the Patriots and why they didn’t. I won’t explain these very much, but I don’t really feel like they need to be explained, they pretty much speak for themselves.
Why the Chiefs should have won against the Patriots:
- The Chiefs won the turnover battle 2 to 1.
- The Chiefs won the Time of Possession battle.
- Tom Brady was injured early in the game and the Pats had to rely on Matt Cassel.
- Matt Cassel is a backup at NE and was a backup in college at USC.
Why the Chiefs didn’t win:
- Dwayne Bowe had way too many drops, at least 4, including the possible game tying TD catch
- Croyle was injured (although I am not totally convinced Croyle would have led us to a TD drive like Huard did). So this one is more based on the theory that our starting QB went out.
- Inability to convert TO’s into points. When you force a team that only lost 6 fumbles all of last season into 2 early fumbles you need to convert them to points
- LJ had less than 100 yards rushing. I’m not sure exactly on the stat but I know that in games where LJ gets to the century mark the Chiefs tend to have a lot more success.
Do you agree with all of these? Do you have any that you would add or take away?
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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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Preseason Game 4 Chiefs vs. Rams - What I think…
We needed this game. Everybody did, the players, the coaches and definitely us fans. I realize a lot of the Rams’ first stringers didn’t play, but tell me you don’t feel better than you did last week.
Since I got back from the game after midnight last night I didn’t have a chance to re-watch the game yet ( I barely made it into work, lol…), but here is what I think I think.
WHAT I LIKED
Pat Thomas: Yeah I am mainly basing this off of the second defensive play of the game when he came breaking through the made a great tackle for loss. When we first saw the play we just assumed it was DJ, that should tell you all you need to know.
Young CB’s::The young cornerbacks, particularly Brandon Carr, stood out to me this game. He had a very nice breakup of a deep pass.
Rushing Offense: The rushing offense was very affective in this game. If we can run like that all year we won’t have any problems (I know, only the preseason). All of the backs ran hard and it will be a tough decision for the Chiefs on how many RB’s to keep on the team.
B.J. Sams: He had some very nice returns and almost looked like his old self. His returns set up the Chiefs offense with great field position. How serious is his injury and did it cost him the KR/PR job?
As always there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Dantrell Savage: I have him on here because of the fumble on the opening kickoff, but after that Savage worked hard to make up for that and didn’t let the fumble keep him down. He ran hard and had some very good returns after Sams went out with the injury. The question is, did he do enough to make the team or did that fumble cost him his job?
Tyler Thigpen: I can’t really tell you any specific plays here, but Thiggy just didn’t impress me at all this game. Combine that with Huards showing and I think we all know that if Croyle goes down Huard will be the one to step in, not Thigpen.
–This one (below) has been on this list for the last TWO weeks and I decided to leave it in again, as it still applies.
Devard Darling: The Darling has done little to impress me this preseason and I am beginning to wonder why he seems to be the lock for the #2 WR. I have heard good reports on him from River Falls, but when is he going to show us what he can do in a game? HOW DO YOU NOT CATCH A PASS THE ENTIRE PRESEASON?
The No FG decision: Fairly late in the game the Chiefs had a chance to kick a long field goal and they decided to go for it instead. I would have love to see one of the kickers attempt it. Don’t you want to know if your kicker can make a field goal late in the game when the weather is not friendly? I do… I understand why they didn’t but I still would have liked to have seen it.
That’s all for this week. BRING ON THE REGULAR SEASON!!
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Preseason Game 3 Chiefs vs. Dolphins - What I think…
Well, the excitement I had leftover from the Bears and Cardinals games disappeared faster than a plumber who discovered crack spackle and yesterday all I could muster out was a short video with my game reaction… and yes, there are actually a few things to like from Saturday’s game… I think…
WHAT I LIKED
Derrick Johnson: DJ has been all over the place this preseason and once again was on Saturday night. Johnson’s shedding off a blocker to blow up a screen on the first defensive play of the game was pretty and is one of the few bright spots on the Chiefs’ defense so far.
Young CB’s::The young cornerbacks, particularity Flowers and Carr, continue to progress and show why we drafted them. It says a lot to me that when the ball is in the air coming their way they just keep their cool. I have seen many a veteran CB panic when the ball is in the air and get flagged for pass interference. I don’t belive either of these two have been flagged. NIce INT Carr!
As you can guess there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much. A few… lol…
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Nick Novak: Last week I had Connor Barth on here and this week Novak earned the nod after badly missing a field goal. Barth’s kicks (the ones I remember) went to at least the goal-line so he may be the one up on the chart at this point but you really have to wonder if the Chiefs are looking for a veteran kicker. Is Feely over that groin thing yet?
Rush Defense: The Dolphins had a 5.4 yard per carry average on 31 carries but 104 of their rushing yards (164 total) came in the second half and 80 of those yards came on one play in the third quarter. Take from that what you will.
–This one is from last week and I decided to leave it in, as it still applies.
Devard Darling: The Darling has done little to impress me this preseason and I am beginning to wonder why he seems to be the lock for the #2 WR. I have heard good reports on him from River Falls, but when is he going to show us what he can do in a game?
Offensive Line: The Chiefs offensive line looked horrible against the Dolphin and considering the only name I recognized on their DL was Vonnie Holiday, that worries me. I hope the o-line doesn’t start doing the Jeckle/Hide thing this year as they have now done in the preseason.
Brodie Croyle: Sure the protection was bad, but he did nothing to impress me in this game at all. If he plays like that later in the season Croyle will either end up getting hurt or taken out and with the backup situation as it is currently that really scares me. We may just put Tyler Thigpen in and let him run for first downs….
That’s all I feel like listing for this week…
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Preseason Game 2 Chiefs vs. Cardinals - What I think…
Well, the excitement I had leftover from the Bears has faded and the cup was only filled up about halfway again, but there were defiantly still some positives from the game.
WHAT I LIKED
Turk McBride: Our new starter at DE made his presence felt as he had 2 sacks and one FF. If you have read this blog you know that I thought Turk would end up being a starter at DE this year and if he keeps playing like that he will be.
Brandon Flowers:Flowers showed why we drafted him high in the second round. He covered some of the better WR’s in the league and did a pretty good job. And that pass he tipped away on the first defensive play was great. Keep it up!
Dantrell Savage: This little guy deserves to make the team and as of right now he should be our kick and punt returner. The play stands out in my mind from this game is the kick return where he was dragging people out past the 40 and would NOT go down. I looked away because I thought the play was over and looked back and he was still on his feet. Great job!
First Teams: The first team offense and defense played pretty well for the most part. I would have liked to have seen more but bottom line is it was a tied game a half time. We were”In it with a chance to win it” when the reserves came in.
LATE ADDITION: (thought of this after the fact)
Forced Fumbles: Chiefs starting defenders had 2 forced fumbles in the game. Although we didn’t fall on either of them this is good news. If the D continues to cause fumbles they will get turnovers… the stats almost always even out.
As you can guess there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Connor Barth: Before the game I was leaning toward us keeping Barth, but on a night that Novak was kicking it to the goal line that kick he doinked off the goal post could cost him his job.
The INT: I am not upset with the QB for this (I don’t believe this was a bad throw but correct me if I am wrong), I blame this one on the WR. When you are playing late in preseason game you are obviously playing for your job and tipping a pass up into the air (gift wrapping an INT) is not a way to make the team.
Devard Darling: The Darling has done little to impress me this preseason and I am beginning to wonder why he seems to be the lock for the #2 WR. I have heard good reports on him from River Falls, but when is he going to show us what he can do in a game?
I should be posting some photos I took from the game at some point today so keep your eyes peeled.
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Preseason Game 1 Chiefs vs. Bears - What I think…
Well, it’s Friday and now I have multiple reasons to be excited. Yes, I know it was just a preseason game but there some things that I really liked from the game last night.
WHAT I LIKED
The First Drive: The Chiefs initial drive down the field that lasted 8:45 and resulted in a TD was a thing of beauty. The offense converted all of their third downs on the drive and don’t forget this was on the Bears fist team offense, which are no slouches.
24 Points in One Game: Even though this is the preseason this is still something to be excited about. If I remember correctly the Chiefs only scored 34 points all of last preseason and that resulted in an 0-4 preseason and 4-12 regular season. So, we’ll see what happens.
Derrick Johnson: He seemed to be everywhere. I don’t remember exactly when it was, but he read a screen perfect and blew up the play resulting in little or no gain for the Bears.
Dwayne Bowe: Although he didn’t play much he was still impressive. He caught everything thrown at him and picked up yards after the catch. And that no-catch that was ruled incomplete in the first quarter… Please! The replay clearly showed he got both hands under that ball. I don’t know how he is able to twist his body and adjust to makes plays like that, but he is one of the best I have seen at doing that in a recent memory.
As you can guess there were also a few things that didn’t impress me so much.
WHAT I DIDN”T LIKE
The Second Series: I guess after that first offensive series at least a slight letdown is to be expected, but come on guys! I expected a little more than that! The blocking up front seemed to get worse and the penalties killed us. I expect this to improve because those are things that can be worked on.
The Defense: Giving up 20 points to the Bears offense is not something to be proud of. I mean their QB’s are Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton… enough said.
Missed Blocks: I saw quite a few but one that sticks out to me was when Adrain Jones (pretty sure it was him) was pulling and didn’t get there in time and LJ got blown up in the backfield. I understand this is the first game of the preseason so get your stuff worked out and bring it on in game one of the regular season!
Here are some photos courtesy of ESPN.
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- Brodie Croyle (photo from ESPN)
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