CHIEFS CUTS.....FINALLY, MIZZOU, GATORS, SOONERS & LSU SLEEPWALK FOR A HALF, PLUS THE JAYHAWKS & OLE MISS HUMILIATED AT HOME
The Chiefs cuts were nowhere to be found until almost 10 PM & by then I was embroiled in the Lake gin rummy team championships that just ended at 2 AM. Only a couple surprised me, Tyler Palko's release signals to me the Chiefs will sign an another quarterback as there's no way they're going into the season with only Matt Cassel & the always brittle Brody Croyle. That's a recipe for disaster. It's not going to be Matt Leinart & I don't see Chris Simms or Troy Smith landing in Kansas City either. Leinart & Simms have been major disappointments, why take on someone else's mistakes? My best guess would be either Kevin O'Connell(formerly of the Patriots) or possibly Rhett Bomar(formerly of the Giants). WR Jehremy Urban & CB Maurice Leggett landed on I.R. DaJuan Morgan, Derek Lokey & Colin Brown were semi-surprises. So was Dion Gales. They kept 10 linebackers, 5 corners & 5 safeties, which should bolster their kick & punt coverage teams. WR Jeremy Horn made the team & I was glad of it, this kid has some real upside. They retained two fullbacks which may change if they pick up another QB. I'd like to see Kansas City give Chase Coffman a shot, if you've watched Jake O'Connell, you know it wouldn't take much to dislodge him from the roster.
Mizzou was sleep walking thru the first half of their 23-13 victory over Illinois. I'd like to point out what happens when you have starters, people you are depending on, people who get suspended & their understudies can't measure up to the standard set by the suspended player. Example #1, Grant Ressel missed an easy field goal after a bad snap from center threw off all timing on the attempt. Long snapper Beau Brinkley was suspended this past week for DUI charges. Example #2, middle linebacker Luke Lambert, playing for another DUI desperado, Will Ebner, missed tackles & overran in pursuit. Ebner was Mizzou's 2nd leading tackler last year, Lambert isn't in his league. Example #3, the running game was almost non-existent until late in the 3rd quarter when De'Vion Moore began making some yardage. Sophomore Kendial Lawrence, who started for the banished Derrick Washington, struggled to get going & then sustained what appeared to be a shoulder stinger. The drop-off from Washington is enormous right now. The play calling was unimaginative early on plus the DT's & Lambert got gashed with inside runs. Aldon Smith came to play & continues to be a force at DE. Cornerback & kick returner Carl Gettis played well & had the best interception I saw all day, a leaping, one-handed grab on the sideline.Gary Pinkel probably uttered a big sigh of relief after the final gun, his guys didn't play very well, but they're 1-0.
Also dodging a bullet were the Florida Gators, who were awful for the better part of three quarters, compiling an embarrassing 44-yards of total offense in that time frame against designated punching bag, Miami of Ohio. They finished tied in total yardage with the Redhawks at a staggering 212 yards & only 12 1st downs. Gator RB Jeff Demps busted a 72-yard touchdown run. If you take this away, Florida rushed 30 times for 27 yards. That how bad it was.
OU gave a half-hearted performance & was in danger of being tied in the 4th quarter in their game with Utah State. QB Landry Jones didn't complete 50% of his passes & threw 2 interceptions. The defense wasn't a lot better, surrendering 421 total yards to a pretty lame WAC team. The Sooners prevailed 31-24, but were anything but inspiring to their fans & the pollsters.
LSU was facing a North Carolina team decimated by suspensions, 8 starters out, 7 of them on defense. The Tigers raced to a 30-10 halftime lead & deciding that was enough, stood around laughing & giving each other high-fives. Well Butch Davis' Tar Heels came out after the half & stopped the Tigers cold & in the 4th quarter they scored twice to make it 30-24. They had two shots from the LSU 6-yardline with under 10-seconds left in the game. Give Davis & his team big props for never giving up despite losing 8 starters. Les Miles & his underachieving team will get him fired by year's end.
Turner Gill's debut as the new head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks couldn't have gone worse. Playing Division 1AA North Dakota State in Lawrence, KU laid a giant egg losing 6-3. Losing to a team that only gains 168 total yards & is 2 for 13 on 3rd down is almost unimaginable, but it happened. The Jayhawks turned the ball over three times & tried running an interception out of their own endzone, only to be tackled at the one yardline. Punting from there coupled with a good return of 18-yards, allowed the Bison to kick the first of two field goals necessary to beat the Jayhawks.
But even the KU debacle didn't measure up to what went down in Oxford, Mississippi late in the afternoon. Playing Division 1AA Jacksonville State, the Rebels were cruising at the half, 31-10 & 31-13 after 3 quarters. Ole Miss had nearly 500-yards of total offense & didn't commit a penalty all day. But in the 4th quarter, they stood around & watched Jax St. roar back to tie the game with 18-seconds left in regulation. Both teams scored in the first overtime, leaving it 41-all. Ole Miss scored quickly in the 2nd O.T. Jax St. was faced with a 4th & 15 at the 30-yardline & lo & behold, Coty Blanchard, flushed from the pocket, threw a strike into the back of the endzone where Kevyn Cooper made a sensational catch to put them within 1 point of a tie. Jacksonville head coach Jack Crowe told his team they were going for a 2-point conversion to win the game & a Coty Blanchard to Calvin Middleton pass did just that. The Rebel fans looked on in stunned disbelief, "what the hell just happened?" Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt appeared to be in shock in the press conference after the game, duh.
The TCU-Oregon State matchup at Cowboys' Stadium was a terrific game won by #6 TCU. QB Andy Dalton was up & down, he needs to do a better job of protecting the ball. TCU's defense played with the same level of intensity Gary Patterson's Horned Frogs have become known for, even without Darryl Washington & Jerry Hughes, two high NFL draft picks.
A couple of quick answers from emails & comments left today:
To Gary T., thanks for reading, I think Patrick Crayton will be a #3 with the Chargers. I see Malcolm Floyd & Legedu Naanee as the starters, but Crayton will get more snaps with San Diego than he did with Dallas & could push for a starting spot when he becomes more familiar with the offense.
To KCKrissy, thanks for reading, here's my thoughts on your prediction the Chiefs will win the division over San Diego. The Chargers won 12-games last year, Kansas City won 4, I can't see a way the Chiefs can close a gap of 8-games this season, especially when you look at the talent disparity at quarterback. This is a quarterback-driven league & Phillip Rivers stands head & shoulders above Matt Cassel. They could be vulnerable somewhat, but making up eight games is a mighty big hill to climb. If Rivers got injured early on.......well you never know, just no way to handicap things like that.
To IluvTebowuranidiot, thanks for reading, but honestly, after reading your email, I question your ability to read, much less make a valid point. You're right, I suck, but realistically(there's a word you might want to look up in the dictionary), Denver has a lesser shot than the Chiefs to win the AFC West. The Broncos have very good secondary talent, but what else do they have on defense? Not much with Elvis Dumervil on I.R. for the season. I like Ryan Clady, Eric Decker, Eddie Royal & Knowshon Moreno(if they can stay healthy), what else you got? Think Kyle Orton is in Phillip Rivers' league? How about Tebow? You need to get a firm grasp on the talent level of your team, it's not great, it's really not even above average & that won't get it done if you expect to unseat the Chargers in the West.
To Mizzoublows, thanks for reading, but your knock on my pre-kickoff comment about Mizzou pounding on the Illini was a little premature right? Aren't you a Jayhawker? Who else would call themselves "Mizzoublows?" All the 4-letter words you strung together were really impressive, but I've heard them all before & you should really look into expanding your vocabulary so maybe you'll be able to move out of your mom's basement before you're 40. You wrote your email at 4:14 PM, about 3 hours before KU dropped a turd in the punchbowl. I wrote all about Mizzou's lousy performance, it's right above for all to read, when will I get your detailed analysis of what went wrong in Lawrence tonight? You'll probably wait until Mizzou loses a game & come in with another snappy screen name like "webeatyouinhoops" or something like that. This is a football site, one that is pretty damn honest, try to remember that before you piece together another email insulting me & every teacher who ever tried to educate your dumb-ass.
One more thing I forgot to mention yesterday was we saw "The American" with George Clooney Friday night. It was reeeaaallly slooooooooow. When not even the sight of a beautiful naked woman will stop my yawning, it's reeeaaallly slooooooooow. Four of us saw it & four of us agreed it was way too slow. Violente Placido is one beautiful woman tho.
Mizzou was sleep walking thru the first half of their 23-13 victory over Illinois. I'd like to point out what happens when you have starters, people you are depending on, people who get suspended & their understudies can't measure up to the standard set by the suspended player. Example #1, Grant Ressel missed an easy field goal after a bad snap from center threw off all timing on the attempt. Long snapper Beau Brinkley was suspended this past week for DUI charges. Example #2, middle linebacker Luke Lambert, playing for another DUI desperado, Will Ebner, missed tackles & overran in pursuit. Ebner was Mizzou's 2nd leading tackler last year, Lambert isn't in his league. Example #3, the running game was almost non-existent until late in the 3rd quarter when De'Vion Moore began making some yardage. Sophomore Kendial Lawrence, who started for the banished Derrick Washington, struggled to get going & then sustained what appeared to be a shoulder stinger. The drop-off from Washington is enormous right now. The play calling was unimaginative early on plus the DT's & Lambert got gashed with inside runs. Aldon Smith came to play & continues to be a force at DE. Cornerback & kick returner Carl Gettis played well & had the best interception I saw all day, a leaping, one-handed grab on the sideline.Gary Pinkel probably uttered a big sigh of relief after the final gun, his guys didn't play very well, but they're 1-0.
Also dodging a bullet were the Florida Gators, who were awful for the better part of three quarters, compiling an embarrassing 44-yards of total offense in that time frame against designated punching bag, Miami of Ohio. They finished tied in total yardage with the Redhawks at a staggering 212 yards & only 12 1st downs. Gator RB Jeff Demps busted a 72-yard touchdown run. If you take this away, Florida rushed 30 times for 27 yards. That how bad it was.
OU gave a half-hearted performance & was in danger of being tied in the 4th quarter in their game with Utah State. QB Landry Jones didn't complete 50% of his passes & threw 2 interceptions. The defense wasn't a lot better, surrendering 421 total yards to a pretty lame WAC team. The Sooners prevailed 31-24, but were anything but inspiring to their fans & the pollsters.
LSU was facing a North Carolina team decimated by suspensions, 8 starters out, 7 of them on defense. The Tigers raced to a 30-10 halftime lead & deciding that was enough, stood around laughing & giving each other high-fives. Well Butch Davis' Tar Heels came out after the half & stopped the Tigers cold & in the 4th quarter they scored twice to make it 30-24. They had two shots from the LSU 6-yardline with under 10-seconds left in the game. Give Davis & his team big props for never giving up despite losing 8 starters. Les Miles & his underachieving team will get him fired by year's end.
Turner Gill's debut as the new head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks couldn't have gone worse. Playing Division 1AA North Dakota State in Lawrence, KU laid a giant egg losing 6-3. Losing to a team that only gains 168 total yards & is 2 for 13 on 3rd down is almost unimaginable, but it happened. The Jayhawks turned the ball over three times & tried running an interception out of their own endzone, only to be tackled at the one yardline. Punting from there coupled with a good return of 18-yards, allowed the Bison to kick the first of two field goals necessary to beat the Jayhawks.
But even the KU debacle didn't measure up to what went down in Oxford, Mississippi late in the afternoon. Playing Division 1AA Jacksonville State, the Rebels were cruising at the half, 31-10 & 31-13 after 3 quarters. Ole Miss had nearly 500-yards of total offense & didn't commit a penalty all day. But in the 4th quarter, they stood around & watched Jax St. roar back to tie the game with 18-seconds left in regulation. Both teams scored in the first overtime, leaving it 41-all. Ole Miss scored quickly in the 2nd O.T. Jax St. was faced with a 4th & 15 at the 30-yardline & lo & behold, Coty Blanchard, flushed from the pocket, threw a strike into the back of the endzone where Kevyn Cooper made a sensational catch to put them within 1 point of a tie. Jacksonville head coach Jack Crowe told his team they were going for a 2-point conversion to win the game & a Coty Blanchard to Calvin Middleton pass did just that. The Rebel fans looked on in stunned disbelief, "what the hell just happened?" Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt appeared to be in shock in the press conference after the game, duh.
The TCU-Oregon State matchup at Cowboys' Stadium was a terrific game won by #6 TCU. QB Andy Dalton was up & down, he needs to do a better job of protecting the ball. TCU's defense played with the same level of intensity Gary Patterson's Horned Frogs have become known for, even without Darryl Washington & Jerry Hughes, two high NFL draft picks.
A couple of quick answers from emails & comments left today:
To Gary T., thanks for reading, I think Patrick Crayton will be a #3 with the Chargers. I see Malcolm Floyd & Legedu Naanee as the starters, but Crayton will get more snaps with San Diego than he did with Dallas & could push for a starting spot when he becomes more familiar with the offense.
To KCKrissy, thanks for reading, here's my thoughts on your prediction the Chiefs will win the division over San Diego. The Chargers won 12-games last year, Kansas City won 4, I can't see a way the Chiefs can close a gap of 8-games this season, especially when you look at the talent disparity at quarterback. This is a quarterback-driven league & Phillip Rivers stands head & shoulders above Matt Cassel. They could be vulnerable somewhat, but making up eight games is a mighty big hill to climb. If Rivers got injured early on.......well you never know, just no way to handicap things like that.
To IluvTebowuranidiot, thanks for reading, but honestly, after reading your email, I question your ability to read, much less make a valid point. You're right, I suck, but realistically(there's a word you might want to look up in the dictionary), Denver has a lesser shot than the Chiefs to win the AFC West. The Broncos have very good secondary talent, but what else do they have on defense? Not much with Elvis Dumervil on I.R. for the season. I like Ryan Clady, Eric Decker, Eddie Royal & Knowshon Moreno(if they can stay healthy), what else you got? Think Kyle Orton is in Phillip Rivers' league? How about Tebow? You need to get a firm grasp on the talent level of your team, it's not great, it's really not even above average & that won't get it done if you expect to unseat the Chargers in the West.
To Mizzoublows, thanks for reading, but your knock on my pre-kickoff comment about Mizzou pounding on the Illini was a little premature right? Aren't you a Jayhawker? Who else would call themselves "Mizzoublows?" All the 4-letter words you strung together were really impressive, but I've heard them all before & you should really look into expanding your vocabulary so maybe you'll be able to move out of your mom's basement before you're 40. You wrote your email at 4:14 PM, about 3 hours before KU dropped a turd in the punchbowl. I wrote all about Mizzou's lousy performance, it's right above for all to read, when will I get your detailed analysis of what went wrong in Lawrence tonight? You'll probably wait until Mizzou loses a game & come in with another snappy screen name like "webeatyouinhoops" or something like that. This is a football site, one that is pretty damn honest, try to remember that before you piece together another email insulting me & every teacher who ever tried to educate your dumb-ass.
One more thing I forgot to mention yesterday was we saw "The American" with George Clooney Friday night. It was reeeaaallly slooooooooow. When not even the sight of a beautiful naked woman will stop my yawning, it's reeeaaallly slooooooooow. Four of us saw it & four of us agreed it was way too slow. Violente Placido is one beautiful woman tho.
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