CASSEL, FLOWERS INJURED.....HALEY SAYS "WE TOOK A STEP BACK"
On the third play of the game, Matt Cassel went down in a heap grabbing his left knee after the right side of his line collapsed, yet again. He limped to the sideline & went to the locker room. Chiefs punt & on the first play from scrimmage, a Matt Hasselback pass is tipped by Mike Vrabel, picked off by Brandon Flowers & he took it back for a touchdown. WooHoo! After the kickoff, Hasselback throws again, Flowers collides with a Seattle player, goes down holding his arm & is helped off the field & into the locker room with an injured shoulder.
In his post-game news conference, Todd Haley said "we took a step back", I couldn't agree more. Tyler Thigpen, one of the backup QBs, one Pioli & Haley would like to trade, entered the game & played most of 3 quarters. He was awful. I hope all of the Tyler Thigpen fans who wanted him to be our starter will cease & desist. The Chiefs' asking price for Thigpen had to go down tonight.
Jarrad Page, Derrick Johnson & Zach Thomas didn't dress because of injuries, Corey Mays & Brandon Flowers to the list & the defense was left without 4 starters & a main backup. The defense kept Seattle from scoring, but they couldn't get off the field. The lack of a pass rush contributed mightily to Seattle's 11 of 19 success rate on third down.
The Chiefs on the other hand, were dreadful on 3rd down, 1 of 10 & their lone conversion on third down came with 2:41 left in the 4th quarter. The offensive line has no answer for even a 3-man rush. Damien McIntosh & Mike Goff looked terrible in pass protection. When Barry Richardson entered the game at RT, he was hesitant & slow to react, I can honestly say I never saw him stalemate his man. He was moved over to the left side in the 4th quarter & that was even worse. Ike Ndukwe played right tackle in the second half & while better than either Richardson or McIntosh, especially on running plays, he struggled on passing plays.
Tamba Hali, Monte Beisel, Jovan Belcher, Mike Vrabel & Turk McBride had some good moments for the linebackers. Tyson Jackson got a sack & his lateral pursuit was exceptional a couple of times. Tank Tyler made a couple of plays as did rookie Alex Magee. Ron Edwards played like a nose tackle should, consistently stalemating 2 blockers. Sadly, Glenn Dorsey was virtually invisible, again.
Donald Washington & Ricardo Cloclough got expanded playing time with Flowers out. Both played way too soft, giving big cushions to receivers that don't deserve them. DaJuan Morgan played more than I've ever seen & he was a step late all night. Bernard Pollard blew an open field tackle on Seattle's 2nd touchdown.
Amani Toomer wheezed his way back to the line of scrimmage about 7 seconds after everyone else had arrived, I don't think he has the legs or the wind to play in '09. Ashley Lelie caught several passes as did Bobby Engram. Devard Darling hurt his knee & Mark Bradley didn't play. Tight end Tom Crabtree should be one of the 1st cuts next week, he forgot the snap count & jumped way early when the Chiefs still had a chance to win the game. Matt Gutierrez threw a couple of picks in the 4th quarter & with Ashley Lelie 2 steps behind the defense, he threw the ball short forcing Lelie to stop to catch it, it should have been a touchdown. Well it should have been a touchdown for a good team.
Rookie kicker Ryan Succop, so far perfect in the preseason, missed 2 of 3, one from 28 yards, which falls into the unforgivable category. He also smoked a line drive kickoff that took all of 2 second to get to the kick returner, also a problem. Punter Dustin Colquitt consistently hung his punts up for 5-plus seconds, you couldn't ask for more. Well you could ask for someone to actually cover the kicks, even with the ball in the air for 5+ seconds, no one was downfield to force the return man to fair catch one or to tackle him immediately. At this point I'm willing to settle for a slightly below-average punt returner, provided he can catch the ball, this phase of their special team play is painful to watch.
The Chiefs play in St. Louis on Thursday night, how bad the injuries to Cassel & Flowers end up being really won't have much effect on their chances to win. If they don't find an answer to the right side of their offensive line, Matt Cassel probably won't stay healthy anyway. After watching the Raiders this afternoon, they were torched by New Orleans 45-7, I can't decide who's worse, Oakland or us. For the third year in a row, being a Chiefs fan will certainly test a person's patience & loyalty.
In his post-game news conference, Todd Haley said "we took a step back", I couldn't agree more. Tyler Thigpen, one of the backup QBs, one Pioli & Haley would like to trade, entered the game & played most of 3 quarters. He was awful. I hope all of the Tyler Thigpen fans who wanted him to be our starter will cease & desist. The Chiefs' asking price for Thigpen had to go down tonight.
Jarrad Page, Derrick Johnson & Zach Thomas didn't dress because of injuries, Corey Mays & Brandon Flowers to the list & the defense was left without 4 starters & a main backup. The defense kept Seattle from scoring, but they couldn't get off the field. The lack of a pass rush contributed mightily to Seattle's 11 of 19 success rate on third down.
The Chiefs on the other hand, were dreadful on 3rd down, 1 of 10 & their lone conversion on third down came with 2:41 left in the 4th quarter. The offensive line has no answer for even a 3-man rush. Damien McIntosh & Mike Goff looked terrible in pass protection. When Barry Richardson entered the game at RT, he was hesitant & slow to react, I can honestly say I never saw him stalemate his man. He was moved over to the left side in the 4th quarter & that was even worse. Ike Ndukwe played right tackle in the second half & while better than either Richardson or McIntosh, especially on running plays, he struggled on passing plays.
Tamba Hali, Monte Beisel, Jovan Belcher, Mike Vrabel & Turk McBride had some good moments for the linebackers. Tyson Jackson got a sack & his lateral pursuit was exceptional a couple of times. Tank Tyler made a couple of plays as did rookie Alex Magee. Ron Edwards played like a nose tackle should, consistently stalemating 2 blockers. Sadly, Glenn Dorsey was virtually invisible, again.
Donald Washington & Ricardo Cloclough got expanded playing time with Flowers out. Both played way too soft, giving big cushions to receivers that don't deserve them. DaJuan Morgan played more than I've ever seen & he was a step late all night. Bernard Pollard blew an open field tackle on Seattle's 2nd touchdown.
Amani Toomer wheezed his way back to the line of scrimmage about 7 seconds after everyone else had arrived, I don't think he has the legs or the wind to play in '09. Ashley Lelie caught several passes as did Bobby Engram. Devard Darling hurt his knee & Mark Bradley didn't play. Tight end Tom Crabtree should be one of the 1st cuts next week, he forgot the snap count & jumped way early when the Chiefs still had a chance to win the game. Matt Gutierrez threw a couple of picks in the 4th quarter & with Ashley Lelie 2 steps behind the defense, he threw the ball short forcing Lelie to stop to catch it, it should have been a touchdown. Well it should have been a touchdown for a good team.
Rookie kicker Ryan Succop, so far perfect in the preseason, missed 2 of 3, one from 28 yards, which falls into the unforgivable category. He also smoked a line drive kickoff that took all of 2 second to get to the kick returner, also a problem. Punter Dustin Colquitt consistently hung his punts up for 5-plus seconds, you couldn't ask for more. Well you could ask for someone to actually cover the kicks, even with the ball in the air for 5+ seconds, no one was downfield to force the return man to fair catch one or to tackle him immediately. At this point I'm willing to settle for a slightly below-average punt returner, provided he can catch the ball, this phase of their special team play is painful to watch.
The Chiefs play in St. Louis on Thursday night, how bad the injuries to Cassel & Flowers end up being really won't have much effect on their chances to win. If they don't find an answer to the right side of their offensive line, Matt Cassel probably won't stay healthy anyway. After watching the Raiders this afternoon, they were torched by New Orleans 45-7, I can't decide who's worse, Oakland or us. For the third year in a row, being a Chiefs fan will certainly test a person's patience & loyalty.
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