CHIEFS PLAY HARDER, LOOK BETTER & JONATHAN BALDWIN, NOW WHAT?
Unlike last week, I came away from the Chiefs 31-13 loss in Baltimore with some positive impressions. What say we go positive before turning negative O.K.?
1. I thought the focus & intensity level was better than last week. Having most of the starters back helped plus many of the twos played way better than they showed against Tampa Bay. Kansas City led with 8-minutes to play in the game before Baltimore scored 21 points very quickly. They even used all three timeouts in the last 20-seconds to score one last touchdown. So the Chiefs were very competitive for 3 1/2 quarters. Since Todd Haley doesn't care about winning preseason games, I can live with what we saw tonight.
2. Kelly Gregg made his presence felt right away, recording 4 tackles, one on the sideline, a helluva long haul for a nose tackle. His protege' rookie Jerrell Powe made a fine tackle on a swing pass on the left side, also a long run for a 330-pounder. Powe also stood up the center & left guard, held his ground & as the ballcarrier went by, Powe grabbed him with one arm & he went down. That's what you look for in a nose tackle. With what I saw tonight, providing both stay healthy, this position is improved immensely over last season. Plus Gregg is definitely the right guy to mentor Powe.
3. Outside linebacker looks to be improved as well. Cam Sheffield, healthy again, made Raven QB Tyrod Taylor get rid of the ball long before he wanted to after he came off the right side completely unblocked. He closed that 8-yarrds in a blink of an eye. Justin Houston has the physical tools to be as good a pass rusher as Tamba Hali, maybe better. Got both K.C. sacks tonight, a tackle for loss & forced a fumble on the punt coverage team. One sack was against the right tackle, the other in a matchup with the fullback. This kid has monster potential but I'm going to wait before I declare Houston a future all-pro. With what happened in the Chiefs locker room on Tuesday, the guys with character issues will carry a "Handle with Care" tag for at least this season, maybe more. They got these tags for a reason.
4. The potential at inside linebacker has improved with the addition of Brandon Siler, the guy hits people & unlike Jovan Belcher who's a drag tackler, Siler pops ballcarriers with some authority & they go down immediately. With Belcher, they are always falling forward picking up an additional yard, yard & a half. D.J. closes so fast on the ball I think if he can catch a few more of the balls he gets his hands on, he'll make the Pro Bowl. Derrick Johnson has raised the level of his game so much in the last 12-months. Maybe it's Romeo Crennell's scheme or maybe it's a new found focus, but Demorrio Williams looks better than at any time since joining the Chiefs.
5. Dexter McCluster looks better coming out of the backfield than he did all season playing in the slot. He's better in matchups against linebackers than nickel backs. With the loss of Baldwin, McCluster must step up & provide another home run threat. He did miss a blitzing cornerback, a total whiff, resulting in a sack of Tyler Palko.
6. After Brandon Albert sustained a blow to the head, undrafted free agents Butch Lewis & David Mims took over for the rest of the game. One or both of these guys will make the final roster. Lewis moved inside to left guard so Mims could play on the edge & they held their ground on passing plays & moved people out on the ground. Mims made an exceptional block in space when he popped a linebacker & sealed him off completely.
Now for the bad part, the people who didn't make the plays the Chiefs expect them to make.
1. Matt Cassel wasn't at all effective, completing just 6 of 14. Without OTA's & mini camps, QB to receiver timing just isn't there. I'm giving him a pass this week.
2. Jalil Brown had an excellent debut versus the Bucs, but he had a terrible night in Baltimore. New Raven WR Lee Evans got behind the rookie corner & it took about 25-yards for Brown to run him down. He got turned around a couple of times & was caught peeking into the backfield & got beat for a 1st down. I still like this kid a lot.
3. Javier Arenas overran Ray Rice in pursuit allowing him to score on a 26-yard run. I liked Arenas coming out of Alabama but the light hasn't gone on for him, he just doesn't make plays & I don't know why. It certainly isn't lack of effort.
4. Cornerback Donald Washington continues to play himself off the roster, too many glaring mistakes, Quinten Lawrence will take his spot & he's played cornerback all of three weeks.
5. Tony Moeaki is rather unreliable right now. He's hurt, he's not, he's back but he's invisible. He falls down untouched on a first down route. Matt Cassel needs Moeaki to stay in the lineup & be his safety vavle.
6. Wide receiver Jerheme Urban is invisible, he was pretty much invisible in Arizona & I don't see any change in Kansas City. His 87 lifetime receptions in 5 seasons is not starter material, they need a better alternative if Baldwin is out for an extended period of time.
7. Ryan Succop made a pair of 30-yard field goals but hit the right upright, missing a 46-yarder in the second quarter.
If Haley's team can make this type of improvement again next week against St. Louis, I will begin to believe his somewhat unconventional training camp has some real merit. Especially as injuries mount league-wide & Kansas City's are minimal.
Now to the story no one will talk about, Jonathan Baldwin. Normal Chiefs secrecy was stepped up to DEF-CON II, they will not talk about this kid for any reason. Before the game a Chiefs official said Todd Haley would speak about Baldwin after the game. He didn't, all he said was Baldwin was injured & he'd only talk about the players who made the trip to Baltimore. Maybe it's because they don't want to listen to a bunch of "What the hell were you thinking when you drafted this guy?" You know there would be a lot of that. But honestly, they will have to make a decision on this very immature man-child. How do you act like such a diva, a prima donna, when you haven't even played in a regular season game?
He had a confrontation with Jamal Charles the day before but teammates broke it up, but those teammates couldn't get there in time Wednesday after practice when Thomas Jones decided he'd had enough of Baldwin's crappy effort, work ethic or attitude, maybe all three. Team sources say Baldwin has entitlement issues like no one else in that locker room. That stuff only goes so far with veteran players, especially guys like Jones, Kelly Gregg, Casey Wiegmann & Derrick Johnson. Enough is enough & it finally reached the breaking point Tuesday evening. Breaking is the right word too, Baldwin didn't injure his wrist, he broke his thumb when Jones took him to the floor.
Maybe this will help, Baldwin needs to know most NFL veterans are capable of whipping his ass. All NFL vets know more than he does, he should listen & lose the attitude. He's lost a bunch of his teammates for a while or possibly forever. It will be a long way back to regain their trust. Can a handful of players & coaches get to this kid, make him understand he's blowing the opportunity of a lifetime or will he continue down this road being hardheaded & arrogant, with a dim NFL future? Every coach is different, but the locker rooms are pretty much the same in that teammates won't let you get away with much before they step in & have a little face time to make their point.
What will the Chiefs do now? If he's unable to start the regular season, I think they'll put him on the PUP list. That way they can keep an eye on him, make him go to meetings & track his progress. When week six of the regular season passes, the Chiefs would have a three-week window to activate, release or place him on I.R. Who starts in the spot they had projected him to take? Please don't tell me Jerheme Urban, please. That puts the Chiefs right back in Chris Chambers territory.
Jonathan Baldwin, before he ever plays a regular season game, is already at a crossroads. He has a decision to make, no one can make it but him. Scott Pioli & Todd Haley are sweating this decision, if Baldwin busts out, it sets this offense back at least a year. He could make the right decision & become a huge impact player in this league, let's hope this is where it goes.
1. I thought the focus & intensity level was better than last week. Having most of the starters back helped plus many of the twos played way better than they showed against Tampa Bay. Kansas City led with 8-minutes to play in the game before Baltimore scored 21 points very quickly. They even used all three timeouts in the last 20-seconds to score one last touchdown. So the Chiefs were very competitive for 3 1/2 quarters. Since Todd Haley doesn't care about winning preseason games, I can live with what we saw tonight.
2. Kelly Gregg made his presence felt right away, recording 4 tackles, one on the sideline, a helluva long haul for a nose tackle. His protege' rookie Jerrell Powe made a fine tackle on a swing pass on the left side, also a long run for a 330-pounder. Powe also stood up the center & left guard, held his ground & as the ballcarrier went by, Powe grabbed him with one arm & he went down. That's what you look for in a nose tackle. With what I saw tonight, providing both stay healthy, this position is improved immensely over last season. Plus Gregg is definitely the right guy to mentor Powe.
3. Outside linebacker looks to be improved as well. Cam Sheffield, healthy again, made Raven QB Tyrod Taylor get rid of the ball long before he wanted to after he came off the right side completely unblocked. He closed that 8-yarrds in a blink of an eye. Justin Houston has the physical tools to be as good a pass rusher as Tamba Hali, maybe better. Got both K.C. sacks tonight, a tackle for loss & forced a fumble on the punt coverage team. One sack was against the right tackle, the other in a matchup with the fullback. This kid has monster potential but I'm going to wait before I declare Houston a future all-pro. With what happened in the Chiefs locker room on Tuesday, the guys with character issues will carry a "Handle with Care" tag for at least this season, maybe more. They got these tags for a reason.
4. The potential at inside linebacker has improved with the addition of Brandon Siler, the guy hits people & unlike Jovan Belcher who's a drag tackler, Siler pops ballcarriers with some authority & they go down immediately. With Belcher, they are always falling forward picking up an additional yard, yard & a half. D.J. closes so fast on the ball I think if he can catch a few more of the balls he gets his hands on, he'll make the Pro Bowl. Derrick Johnson has raised the level of his game so much in the last 12-months. Maybe it's Romeo Crennell's scheme or maybe it's a new found focus, but Demorrio Williams looks better than at any time since joining the Chiefs.
5. Dexter McCluster looks better coming out of the backfield than he did all season playing in the slot. He's better in matchups against linebackers than nickel backs. With the loss of Baldwin, McCluster must step up & provide another home run threat. He did miss a blitzing cornerback, a total whiff, resulting in a sack of Tyler Palko.
6. After Brandon Albert sustained a blow to the head, undrafted free agents Butch Lewis & David Mims took over for the rest of the game. One or both of these guys will make the final roster. Lewis moved inside to left guard so Mims could play on the edge & they held their ground on passing plays & moved people out on the ground. Mims made an exceptional block in space when he popped a linebacker & sealed him off completely.
Now for the bad part, the people who didn't make the plays the Chiefs expect them to make.
1. Matt Cassel wasn't at all effective, completing just 6 of 14. Without OTA's & mini camps, QB to receiver timing just isn't there. I'm giving him a pass this week.
2. Jalil Brown had an excellent debut versus the Bucs, but he had a terrible night in Baltimore. New Raven WR Lee Evans got behind the rookie corner & it took about 25-yards for Brown to run him down. He got turned around a couple of times & was caught peeking into the backfield & got beat for a 1st down. I still like this kid a lot.
3. Javier Arenas overran Ray Rice in pursuit allowing him to score on a 26-yard run. I liked Arenas coming out of Alabama but the light hasn't gone on for him, he just doesn't make plays & I don't know why. It certainly isn't lack of effort.
4. Cornerback Donald Washington continues to play himself off the roster, too many glaring mistakes, Quinten Lawrence will take his spot & he's played cornerback all of three weeks.
5. Tony Moeaki is rather unreliable right now. He's hurt, he's not, he's back but he's invisible. He falls down untouched on a first down route. Matt Cassel needs Moeaki to stay in the lineup & be his safety vavle.
6. Wide receiver Jerheme Urban is invisible, he was pretty much invisible in Arizona & I don't see any change in Kansas City. His 87 lifetime receptions in 5 seasons is not starter material, they need a better alternative if Baldwin is out for an extended period of time.
7. Ryan Succop made a pair of 30-yard field goals but hit the right upright, missing a 46-yarder in the second quarter.
If Haley's team can make this type of improvement again next week against St. Louis, I will begin to believe his somewhat unconventional training camp has some real merit. Especially as injuries mount league-wide & Kansas City's are minimal.
Now to the story no one will talk about, Jonathan Baldwin. Normal Chiefs secrecy was stepped up to DEF-CON II, they will not talk about this kid for any reason. Before the game a Chiefs official said Todd Haley would speak about Baldwin after the game. He didn't, all he said was Baldwin was injured & he'd only talk about the players who made the trip to Baltimore. Maybe it's because they don't want to listen to a bunch of "What the hell were you thinking when you drafted this guy?" You know there would be a lot of that. But honestly, they will have to make a decision on this very immature man-child. How do you act like such a diva, a prima donna, when you haven't even played in a regular season game?
He had a confrontation with Jamal Charles the day before but teammates broke it up, but those teammates couldn't get there in time Wednesday after practice when Thomas Jones decided he'd had enough of Baldwin's crappy effort, work ethic or attitude, maybe all three. Team sources say Baldwin has entitlement issues like no one else in that locker room. That stuff only goes so far with veteran players, especially guys like Jones, Kelly Gregg, Casey Wiegmann & Derrick Johnson. Enough is enough & it finally reached the breaking point Tuesday evening. Breaking is the right word too, Baldwin didn't injure his wrist, he broke his thumb when Jones took him to the floor.
Maybe this will help, Baldwin needs to know most NFL veterans are capable of whipping his ass. All NFL vets know more than he does, he should listen & lose the attitude. He's lost a bunch of his teammates for a while or possibly forever. It will be a long way back to regain their trust. Can a handful of players & coaches get to this kid, make him understand he's blowing the opportunity of a lifetime or will he continue down this road being hardheaded & arrogant, with a dim NFL future? Every coach is different, but the locker rooms are pretty much the same in that teammates won't let you get away with much before they step in & have a little face time to make their point.
What will the Chiefs do now? If he's unable to start the regular season, I think they'll put him on the PUP list. That way they can keep an eye on him, make him go to meetings & track his progress. When week six of the regular season passes, the Chiefs would have a three-week window to activate, release or place him on I.R. Who starts in the spot they had projected him to take? Please don't tell me Jerheme Urban, please. That puts the Chiefs right back in Chris Chambers territory.
Jonathan Baldwin, before he ever plays a regular season game, is already at a crossroads. He has a decision to make, no one can make it but him. Scott Pioli & Todd Haley are sweating this decision, if Baldwin busts out, it sets this offense back at least a year. He could make the right decision & become a huge impact player in this league, let's hope this is where it goes.
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