HAS THE REST OF THE LEAGUE CAUGHT UP WITH THE CHIEFS?
About halftime I thought I was having a Herm Edwards flashback, you know to those impotent Chiefs' teams of old? Wow, talk about uninspired, could this team play any worse? I don't see how that could have been possible, 67-yards of total offense, 0-11 on third down, time of possession 2-1 in favor of San Diego. Sixty-seven total yards, that's 16-yards per quarter. For those who had thoughts(dreams) of the Chiefs rallying around backup QB Brody Croyle, let's just say there was no rallying, none.
Honestly, Brody Croyle wasn't the reason the Chiefs were crushed 31-0, there was plenty of blame to go around. The defense was horrendous, Ron Edwards was blown off the ball consistently, Mike Vrabel lost outside contain several times resulting in big gainers & Brandon Flowers looked nothing like the cornerback we've seen the past two seasons. The Chargers gashed K.C.'s defense for 207-yards on the ground, the Chiefs are normally not on the receiving end of a 200-yard rushing performance. Tamba Hali played pretty well & there was a major Tyson Jackson sighting today, he had 6 tackles & got his first NFL sack. It took him 29-games to get it, but he got it nevertheless. The defense couldn't get off the field on third down, the Chargers were sick on third down, converting 11 of 15, the Chiefs, abysmal. That's Carolina or Cincinnati bad.
The Chargers sat on any underneath route, not fearing Kansas City's receivers. They show zero ability to get separation, so the DB's press them at the line & take away all the short patterns. Kansas City has little outside speed & their wideouts need to run pristine routes to get open. Unfortunately that isn't happening the past two weeks. Dwayne Bowe, the talk of the league for over a month, has one catch for 3-yards the past two weeks. He should have had one more grab for a first down, but Barry Richardson got grabby & the play was called back for holding. Brandon Albert looked overwhelmed, NT Antonio Garay shoved Casey Wiegman all over the field & even Ryan Lilja looked underpowered & out hustled. It was ugly, but I'm not giving Brody Croyle a pass, he was dreadful too, but he's a backup at the toughest position on the field to play, we all know he's not an NFL starter. He showed us why yet again this afternoon.
The Chargers aren't a great team & were without all-pro TE Antonio Gates & WR's Patrick Crayton & Legedu Naanee, yet they rolled over Kansas City for 426-yards & 31 points. Has the rest of the league seen thru the camouflage thrown up by Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennel? Is this Chiefs' team no better than a .500 squad? I picked them to win 7-games before the season started but I was won over by the effort, passion & execution shown by Todd Haley's team. But after last week's 10-6 win over Denver & today's humiliation, one has to wonder if they have enough left in the tank to stagger across the finish line?
I guess what bothered me the most was the lack of passion, lack of solidarity in the wake of Cassel's absence. They looked completely intimidated, overwhelmed & very, very beatable. The loss by Oakland helped, but are the Chiefs a team who can sweep the final three games? Or, as Dennis Green once said "they are who we thought they were." That's what scares Chiefs' fans, please don't let them be who we thought they were, being in 1st place is nice for a change, it certainly would be great to stay there for another three weeks.
Honestly, Brody Croyle wasn't the reason the Chiefs were crushed 31-0, there was plenty of blame to go around. The defense was horrendous, Ron Edwards was blown off the ball consistently, Mike Vrabel lost outside contain several times resulting in big gainers & Brandon Flowers looked nothing like the cornerback we've seen the past two seasons. The Chargers gashed K.C.'s defense for 207-yards on the ground, the Chiefs are normally not on the receiving end of a 200-yard rushing performance. Tamba Hali played pretty well & there was a major Tyson Jackson sighting today, he had 6 tackles & got his first NFL sack. It took him 29-games to get it, but he got it nevertheless. The defense couldn't get off the field on third down, the Chargers were sick on third down, converting 11 of 15, the Chiefs, abysmal. That's Carolina or Cincinnati bad.
The Chargers sat on any underneath route, not fearing Kansas City's receivers. They show zero ability to get separation, so the DB's press them at the line & take away all the short patterns. Kansas City has little outside speed & their wideouts need to run pristine routes to get open. Unfortunately that isn't happening the past two weeks. Dwayne Bowe, the talk of the league for over a month, has one catch for 3-yards the past two weeks. He should have had one more grab for a first down, but Barry Richardson got grabby & the play was called back for holding. Brandon Albert looked overwhelmed, NT Antonio Garay shoved Casey Wiegman all over the field & even Ryan Lilja looked underpowered & out hustled. It was ugly, but I'm not giving Brody Croyle a pass, he was dreadful too, but he's a backup at the toughest position on the field to play, we all know he's not an NFL starter. He showed us why yet again this afternoon.
The Chargers aren't a great team & were without all-pro TE Antonio Gates & WR's Patrick Crayton & Legedu Naanee, yet they rolled over Kansas City for 426-yards & 31 points. Has the rest of the league seen thru the camouflage thrown up by Charlie Weis & Romeo Crennel? Is this Chiefs' team no better than a .500 squad? I picked them to win 7-games before the season started but I was won over by the effort, passion & execution shown by Todd Haley's team. But after last week's 10-6 win over Denver & today's humiliation, one has to wonder if they have enough left in the tank to stagger across the finish line?
I guess what bothered me the most was the lack of passion, lack of solidarity in the wake of Cassel's absence. They looked completely intimidated, overwhelmed & very, very beatable. The loss by Oakland helped, but are the Chiefs a team who can sweep the final three games? Or, as Dennis Green once said "they are who we thought they were." That's what scares Chiefs' fans, please don't let them be who we thought they were, being in 1st place is nice for a change, it certainly would be great to stay there for another three weeks.
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