CHIEFS BUMBLE AWAY THE GAME BUT ALL IS NOT LOST PLUS MY PREDICTION OF THE 53-MAN ROSTER
It certainly wasn't pretty, but there were a few bright spots for Chiefs fans. In a surprising move, Kansas City coach Todd Haley played most of his defensive starters well into the 4th quarter. On the offensive side, Haley's 3-man running back rotation of Jamal Charles, Thomas Jones & Dexter McCluster were still carrying the rock when time expired. Left tackle Brandon Albert & right guard Jon Asamoah played nearly the entire game. Dwayne Bowe was also in there right up to the end. I said there were some bright spots, let's examine them.
The Chiefs out-gained the Packers 405 to 122 total yards. The difference in the game was Green Bay scored 13 of their 20 points after Kansas City turnovers.
Matt Cassel went 15 of 17 for 129-yards & a touchdown. He was sacked twice, both times because he held the ball too long. The second sack had everyone who calls themselves a Chiefs fan, gasping, because 340-pound Packer DT Howard Green landed flush on Cassel, slamming him to the turf on his right shoulder. It was obvious Cassel was hurt, but after a while it appeared he could have come back into the game. Haley chose not to take the risk in a game that means nothing. Before his 2nd quarter exit, Cassel showed he could hit his receivers all over the field. His touchdown was a 10-yard pass to a leaping Dexter McCluster. This was Cassel's best preseason performance, no question.
Dwayne Bowe had a good game, catching 8 passes for 85-yards & a touchdown. He caught a Tyler Palko lob in midair & came down in-bounds, or so the officials said. I didn't think his left heel was in-bounds, but what do I know. Bowe also showed some real grit when he ran down a Green Bay defender 68-yards downfield after a fumble recovery. Bowe looks so ripped & really tough catching the ball.
Dexter McCluster should have been in the backfield all along last year, he is a real threat coming out on flare patterns & screens. He rushed for 27-yards on 5 carries & caught 6 passes for 39-yards & a touchdown. He darts around & gets to the corner in a hurry. Dexter could develop into a marvelous change-of-pace back.
Leave Javier Arenas back on all returns, punts & kickoffs. He can be a difference maker with a little blocking.
Flowers & Carr played extremely well even tho they were facing mostly #2's all night. They should dominate against such talent & they did.
Everybody who was surprised by the fake punt inside our own 30-yard line please raise your hand. Punter Dustin Colquitt executed a perfect throw for the 1st down. But the other gadget play, an onside kick, was poorly executed, when we see it coming before Succop approaches the ball, so do the Packers.
Jared Gaither played a lot of right tackle in place of Barry Richardson, who was once again caught holding, surrendered a sack & numerous QB hits. Richardson limped off with a left leg issue. Gaither played pretty well, I think this could be a permanent thing, especially since Richardson had 4 holding calls in two games & no one ever saw him as the long term solution at right tackle.
It appears to me rookies DE Allen Bailey & OLB Justin Houston can both be difference makers on defense. I think very shortly, OLB Andy Studebaker will be playing fewer snaps than Houston.
I like the Kelly Gregg/Jerrell Powe/Aman Gordon trio on the nose. The three were all over the field tonight but most importantly, they held their ground & occupied blockers. Powe & Gordon made some good penetration on a couple of plays.
Center Casey Wiegmann played just a few snaps & turned the job over to rookie Rodney Hudson, who played very well.
Now for the not-so-good-news.
Mr. Fragile, TE Tony Moeaki, limped off the field again tonight & didn't return. He aggravated his sore knee. He has to stay in the lineup, no other TE's are much of a threat beyond 10-yards.
If Matt Cassel continues holding the ball too long, he's going to get hurt like he did tonight & I'm not the least bit sold on Tyler Palko as a backup quarterback. Twice he got stepped on because he didn't get away from the center after the snap, the second one caused a fumbled handoff with McCluster. He threw two interceptions, the 2nd was a pick-6.
Thomas Jones averaged 2.3 yards on 12 carries, Jamal Charles, 2.1 on 9. Pretty lame, hardly league-leading stuff is it? The offensive line is shaky, without any off-season work, the timing just isn't there. If they can't run the ball effectively, it allows defenses to just come after Cassel & that could lead to disaster.
Glenn Dorsey played more than half the snaps, didn't have a tackle or an assist. He was caught inside twice, giving the Pack a gap to run thru & Tyson Jackson failed to excite anyone again. These are two top-5 overall draft picks playing against 2's & 3's. Failing to dominate their competition tonight is troubling.
Cassel blew two timeouts in the first quarter. Haley blew a gasket on the first one.
Kansas City committed 8 penalties tonight. Only the helmet-to-helmet call on Eric Berry was a bad call. He never came close to it. But they got a gift on Bowe's touchdown, so I'll stop bitchin'.
LT Brandon Albert was beaten for a sack & generally didn't play very well in the first half. I think everybody was expecting to see some improvement & so far, it hasn't been there.
RG Jon Asamoah was flagged for holding twice. Regular starting LG, Ryan Lilja, didn't dress & of course mums the word about his injury. Jonathan Baldwin sat on the bench in his street clothes, his right hand still in a cast.
Terrance Copper dropped catchable balls on consecutive plays during the Chiefs last possession.
Here's how I see the 53-man roster:
QB-Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko & Ricky Stanzi(3)
RB-Jamal Charles, Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster & Le'Ron McLain(4) No more Jackie Battle but I could see a waiver pickup slipped onto the practice squad just in case.
WR-Dwayne Bowe, Jerheme Urban, Steve Breston, Jonathan Baldwin, Kerry Colbert & Verran Tucker.(6) Copper's two drops tonight will hurt him & Jeremy Horne just didn't make enough happen.
TE-Tony Moeaki, Leonard Pope & Anthony Becht(3) O'Connell is still injured, Slate is too small & Becht is the superior blocker on the roster.
OL-Brandon Albert-LT, Ryan Lilja-LG, Casey Wiegmann-C, Jon Asamoah-RG, Jared Gaither-RT, Barry Richardson-T, Butch Lewis-G&T & Rodney Hudson-C&G (9) This is assuming Lilja can be back in uniform quickly.
DL-Tyson Jackson-LDE, Kelly Gregg-NT, Glenn Dorsey-RDE, Wallace Gilberry-DE, Jerrell Powe-NT, Allen Bailey-DE & Amon Gordon-DE & NT. (7)
LB-Andy Studebaker-LOLB, Jovan Belcher-ILB, Derrick Johnson-ILB, Tamba Hali-ROLB, Justin Houston-OLB, Demorrio Williams-ILB, Cory Greenwood-ILB, Cameron Sheffield-OLB & Justin Cole. (9)
DB-Brandon Flowers-LCB, Eric Berry-SS, Kendrick Lewis-FS, Brandon Carr-RCB, Javier Arenas-CB, Jon McGraw-S, Sabby Piscatelli-S, Jalil Brown-CB & Travis Daniels-CB. (9)
Specialists-Ryan Succop-PK, Dustin Colquitt-P & Thomas Gafford-LS.
Practice Squad nominees-Brandon Bair-DE, David Mims-T, Gabe Miller-LB, Dion Gales-DL, Reshard Langford-S & 3 players off the waiver wire, RB, WR & a G-C.
The Chiefs out-gained the Packers 405 to 122 total yards. The difference in the game was Green Bay scored 13 of their 20 points after Kansas City turnovers.
Matt Cassel went 15 of 17 for 129-yards & a touchdown. He was sacked twice, both times because he held the ball too long. The second sack had everyone who calls themselves a Chiefs fan, gasping, because 340-pound Packer DT Howard Green landed flush on Cassel, slamming him to the turf on his right shoulder. It was obvious Cassel was hurt, but after a while it appeared he could have come back into the game. Haley chose not to take the risk in a game that means nothing. Before his 2nd quarter exit, Cassel showed he could hit his receivers all over the field. His touchdown was a 10-yard pass to a leaping Dexter McCluster. This was Cassel's best preseason performance, no question.
Dwayne Bowe had a good game, catching 8 passes for 85-yards & a touchdown. He caught a Tyler Palko lob in midair & came down in-bounds, or so the officials said. I didn't think his left heel was in-bounds, but what do I know. Bowe also showed some real grit when he ran down a Green Bay defender 68-yards downfield after a fumble recovery. Bowe looks so ripped & really tough catching the ball.
Dexter McCluster should have been in the backfield all along last year, he is a real threat coming out on flare patterns & screens. He rushed for 27-yards on 5 carries & caught 6 passes for 39-yards & a touchdown. He darts around & gets to the corner in a hurry. Dexter could develop into a marvelous change-of-pace back.
Leave Javier Arenas back on all returns, punts & kickoffs. He can be a difference maker with a little blocking.
Flowers & Carr played extremely well even tho they were facing mostly #2's all night. They should dominate against such talent & they did.
Everybody who was surprised by the fake punt inside our own 30-yard line please raise your hand. Punter Dustin Colquitt executed a perfect throw for the 1st down. But the other gadget play, an onside kick, was poorly executed, when we see it coming before Succop approaches the ball, so do the Packers.
Jared Gaither played a lot of right tackle in place of Barry Richardson, who was once again caught holding, surrendered a sack & numerous QB hits. Richardson limped off with a left leg issue. Gaither played pretty well, I think this could be a permanent thing, especially since Richardson had 4 holding calls in two games & no one ever saw him as the long term solution at right tackle.
It appears to me rookies DE Allen Bailey & OLB Justin Houston can both be difference makers on defense. I think very shortly, OLB Andy Studebaker will be playing fewer snaps than Houston.
I like the Kelly Gregg/Jerrell Powe/Aman Gordon trio on the nose. The three were all over the field tonight but most importantly, they held their ground & occupied blockers. Powe & Gordon made some good penetration on a couple of plays.
Center Casey Wiegmann played just a few snaps & turned the job over to rookie Rodney Hudson, who played very well.
Now for the not-so-good-news.
Mr. Fragile, TE Tony Moeaki, limped off the field again tonight & didn't return. He aggravated his sore knee. He has to stay in the lineup, no other TE's are much of a threat beyond 10-yards.
If Matt Cassel continues holding the ball too long, he's going to get hurt like he did tonight & I'm not the least bit sold on Tyler Palko as a backup quarterback. Twice he got stepped on because he didn't get away from the center after the snap, the second one caused a fumbled handoff with McCluster. He threw two interceptions, the 2nd was a pick-6.
Thomas Jones averaged 2.3 yards on 12 carries, Jamal Charles, 2.1 on 9. Pretty lame, hardly league-leading stuff is it? The offensive line is shaky, without any off-season work, the timing just isn't there. If they can't run the ball effectively, it allows defenses to just come after Cassel & that could lead to disaster.
Glenn Dorsey played more than half the snaps, didn't have a tackle or an assist. He was caught inside twice, giving the Pack a gap to run thru & Tyson Jackson failed to excite anyone again. These are two top-5 overall draft picks playing against 2's & 3's. Failing to dominate their competition tonight is troubling.
Cassel blew two timeouts in the first quarter. Haley blew a gasket on the first one.
Kansas City committed 8 penalties tonight. Only the helmet-to-helmet call on Eric Berry was a bad call. He never came close to it. But they got a gift on Bowe's touchdown, so I'll stop bitchin'.
LT Brandon Albert was beaten for a sack & generally didn't play very well in the first half. I think everybody was expecting to see some improvement & so far, it hasn't been there.
RG Jon Asamoah was flagged for holding twice. Regular starting LG, Ryan Lilja, didn't dress & of course mums the word about his injury. Jonathan Baldwin sat on the bench in his street clothes, his right hand still in a cast.
Terrance Copper dropped catchable balls on consecutive plays during the Chiefs last possession.
Here's how I see the 53-man roster:
QB-Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko & Ricky Stanzi(3)
RB-Jamal Charles, Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster & Le'Ron McLain(4) No more Jackie Battle but I could see a waiver pickup slipped onto the practice squad just in case.
WR-Dwayne Bowe, Jerheme Urban, Steve Breston, Jonathan Baldwin, Kerry Colbert & Verran Tucker.(6) Copper's two drops tonight will hurt him & Jeremy Horne just didn't make enough happen.
TE-Tony Moeaki, Leonard Pope & Anthony Becht(3) O'Connell is still injured, Slate is too small & Becht is the superior blocker on the roster.
OL-Brandon Albert-LT, Ryan Lilja-LG, Casey Wiegmann-C, Jon Asamoah-RG, Jared Gaither-RT, Barry Richardson-T, Butch Lewis-G&T & Rodney Hudson-C&G (9) This is assuming Lilja can be back in uniform quickly.
DL-Tyson Jackson-LDE, Kelly Gregg-NT, Glenn Dorsey-RDE, Wallace Gilberry-DE, Jerrell Powe-NT, Allen Bailey-DE & Amon Gordon-DE & NT. (7)
LB-Andy Studebaker-LOLB, Jovan Belcher-ILB, Derrick Johnson-ILB, Tamba Hali-ROLB, Justin Houston-OLB, Demorrio Williams-ILB, Cory Greenwood-ILB, Cameron Sheffield-OLB & Justin Cole. (9)
DB-Brandon Flowers-LCB, Eric Berry-SS, Kendrick Lewis-FS, Brandon Carr-RCB, Javier Arenas-CB, Jon McGraw-S, Sabby Piscatelli-S, Jalil Brown-CB & Travis Daniels-CB. (9)
Specialists-Ryan Succop-PK, Dustin Colquitt-P & Thomas Gafford-LS.
Practice Squad nominees-Brandon Bair-DE, David Mims-T, Gabe Miller-LB, Dion Gales-DL, Reshard Langford-S & 3 players off the waiver wire, RB, WR & a G-C.
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