A New Day
Take a deep breath…hold it. Now exhale. Do you smell that?
No, it’s not the ribs wafting out of the parking lots at Arrowhead Stadium, and no it’s not what you might have had for dinner last night either (thank God).
No my fellow Chiefs fans, that is the smell of new. I know, many of you, including myself aren’t very familiar with that particular smell as it pertains to the Kansas City Chiefs. All to often the smell emanating from the Chiefs as of late is the smell of, well, to put it quite simply-CRAP.
Not just the players themselves, oh no, but front office personnel as well. Carl Peterson has been ran through the mud more than any other GM in the league, and I think he has deserved his fair share of it.
I have to tell you, my emotions have ran the gambit ever since the last game of the season. Every day I would feel either anger over the fact that the Chiefs can’t seem to go anywhere year in and year out. Only to feel happiness the next day after realizing how much I miss the game of professional football and take comfort in the fact it would return soon. But I tell you my friends, the Chiefs have got me back on the road to happy and excited after last weekend’s draft.
Gone are the veteran losers that have been taking up roster space over the past several years-Welbourne, Law and Reed just to name a couple. Finally the Chiefs have a coach with a new philosophy, a belief that instead of signing free agents to plug holes, you build the team from the ground up with Chiefs. Build a team that can compete via the draft, that is something that hasn’t been done since…well, since I’ve been a Chiefs fan (1989).
Herman Edwards, like all coaches in the NFL has his faults when it comes to being a head coach, it’s a high profile job regardless of where the team is located and they get compensated for it nicely, so I’m not feeling real sorry for him or any other coach. What I want to stress is how important it is, and different for Kansas City, to have a coach in here that has turned the program on it’s head, and it is the best thing that could have happened. Most coaches get hired and the goal of this organization seems to be sure they can keep everything status quo. Bad every now and then is OK, but be sure the team is good enough to keep the fans coming back. Not Herm.
The smell is new, and it might take some time to get used to. It’s a pleasant smell, not overwhelming, but you can definitely get a whiff of it every now and then. It started a couple years ago, you most likely didn’t recognize it. You might have been on of those fans that bitches and moans every year when free agency rolls around when the Chiefs don’t sign the biggest name out there, just for the sake of doing it. Not taking into consideration whether or not that player is cost effective, or effective period in the system being implemented by the current staff. You probably didn’t recognize the smell either after last season, the record a horrid 4-12. If only you could make it through the sewer smell, you might have caught a sniff or two of it. No one can really blame you, I didn’t really know what it was myself.
I will tell you this, after last weekend’s draft I know exactly what the smell is, and it makes my mouth water and my stomach grumble for some Chiefs football. Of course, many of the “professional” media are predicting the Chiefs to finish with the same or maybe even a little worse record than last year. Todd McShay from ESPN has the Chiefs picking 3rd in his 2009 mock draft. That’s OK, that’s fine. I hope all the other teams in the NFL believe the Chiefs are going to suck it up next year. I for one will be betting the opposite.
Where do you stand? Are you pumped up about Chiefs football again? Can you hardly wait for the season to begin? I know I can’t wait, I’m excited about the Chiefs once more, the smell is new with a hint of change…and I like it!
I have the Chiefs winning about 6-8 games if we are luckly. A young team has to learn to win and it will not be overnight. Remember our starting QB has not won a game yet. But I do love the direction we are taken. Building through the draft with young players.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:49 amAnd keep an eye out for Ian-Yates Cunningham he will make the team.
I like the new blood. I like the true rebuilding philosophy. I like Herms’ sense of talent in the draft. The question I’m not sure of is can he coach?
If he and his staff are able to mold this young group into a team the Cheifs may finally achieve greatness.
I’m not convinced Edwards and his staff can do it. His time here and with the Jets is O.K. but leaves some serious questions.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:34 amAny one else in this mindset?
I agree Chris Jones, Herm has definitely had some issues when it comes to coaching, but this year he has an OC with a lot of NFL experience. I think the last couple years, he felt like he had to get involved more with the O due to the lack of experience Mike Solari had. He doesn’t have to do that anymore. I think it will help Herm greatly having two former Head Coaches at both coordinator positions.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:02 amI think as long as Herm lets Chan run the offense we will be ok. I like herms scouting abilities and his defensive mind set, but his offensive knowledge seems to be lacking to me. I thing we will be alot more talented this year and well hit some rough spots early on in the season. But by the end up the season i predict that we will all be able to see the “gelling” process and we will finish with a promising 7-9 record!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:43 amI think anywhere from 6-10 wins is reasonable. I’m really thinkin 8 (our division really just sucks). We should lace the ball with sugar when we play the Donkey’s… give Cutler a problem when he has to lick his hands before grabbing the ball every snap….
To Chris Jones, I don’t think anyone believes in Herm’s coaching, the only problem is that he’s got shit canned with the teams he gets stuck with. I really think that the Jets are gonna make a run this season, and he laid the foundation for that team. I think if herm sticks around for another 2-3 years, we can really see good things, otherwise, someone else may inherit a really good situation a la John Gruden/Tampa Bay. (If we won the Super Bowl, I couldn’t care who the coach was, even if it was Blob Gretz….)
May 5th, 2008 at 8:51 amvisitor from the Hat here… ya’ll lemme know what number jCharles got and where i can get his jersey… whoever said they needed o or d lineman b4 Jamaal dosent watch college football (UT) ya’ll made a good pick w/him and probably the highest value pik in the draft…mark my words here: some1 should’ve taken him at least by the mid2rd… also, watch out for Jmalls counterpart jjohnson now on the Bengals Here’s to my new 3rd fav team the Chiefs
May 5th, 2008 at 8:58 amSorry about the cutoff post…..
2. Have a head coach who knows something
about offense.(Are you listening, Herm?)
3. Abandon the ridiculous philosophy of
“keep it close and slug it out at the end”
If the Chiefs can do those things, the future will indeed be bright.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:30 amOkay, here we go………I think the Chiefs will definitely improve on offense with Chan Gailley as the offensive coordinator. Chan did some good work with Pittsburgh in developing an offense which utilized Kordell Stewart’s abilities to the max. Even so, with an incredibly young team, a true breakout season would be to double the amount of wins of last year or in other words to finish 8-8.
For the future, the team needs to do the following:
1. Develop a killer instinct
May 5th, 2008 at 9:32 amThe rebuilding is great. The true competition is great. I am excited and cannot wait to see what happens. I said it before and I will say it again. I can see us going 8-8 this year.
New line, talented running backs, stout D. Sounds good to me.
As far as coaching goes, I would say that Herm is a slightly above average coach who can motivate the young guys, since he was an undrafted free agent. His play calling sucks. Hopefully Chan is the Man, and the rest of the position coaches do well.. Head coaches really don’t do that much one on one coaching. It is all about the posititon coaches.
Go Chiefs
May 5th, 2008 at 12:36 pmAs for McShay, it will all depend on Croyle this year. If he stinks, we probably go QB. If Croyle pans out, we will either take Oher (OT from Mississippi) or Maulauala (sp? LB from USC)…this is assuming we have a top 5 pick again.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pmLove the optimism Steven, and it was a very enjoyable piece. But…
I agree with Peter King. We will be competitive, but without Jared, with no QB and a bunch of youngsters to implement, I don’t see us winning more than 5-6 games max. Tony, Larry and Co. will keep us in games, but we won;t win many. It’s not that bad, though, because we’ll be able to draft our QB next year and watching the young players compete and keep things close will be encouraging.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pmIm really torn on what i want to happen next season. Id love for us to improve and that shouldnt be hard considering the team we had last year. But id also like to see another top 5 pick in 09. One more year of high draft picks and i think we are on our way. But i wont at all be disappointed if we go 10-6 either!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:03 pmI’ve been a CHIEFS fan since 63 yes I’m a old guy this kind of rebuilding job is many years overdue. We are off to a great start, another year of drafting like this and we are well on our way back to top of the AFC WEST. I’m looking forward to the season start, should be fun, no more than 7 or 8 wins but by DEC should be a desent team I hope I live in denver and I’m taking a lot of crap need help here.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:22 pmI don’t get it! I truly dislike this “thinking about next year and getting a top pick” mentality. It really pisses me off. We don’t need to suck this year to be good next. What a load of crap. There is no guarantee of that! Look at the Cardinals, and other notoriously bad franchises.
Just improve every year!
By the way, we had basically two (2) drafts this year! We will make leaps and bounds this year! THIS YEAR!!! NOT NEXT YEAR!
I cannot beleive so many of you are throwing in the towel on this year.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:40 pm….and dont give me this: “I am being realistic stuff. 8-8 is realistic too. think 1999 Rams
May 5th, 2008 at 2:41 pmJeremy,
I hope I am pleasantly surprised. I am thinking 8-8 would be a breakout year, but who knows. Stranger things have happened than to have a team make a dramatic turn around in one year. I am expecting maybe not so good, while hoping for the best. The games have to be played out one at a time on the field, and perhaps the team will gel and go on a streak. Hope so.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:21 pmI didnt say i want us to suck… i was just tryin to say that if we do ill be ok with it. I hope more than anybody we finish at the top of the west but im not getting my hopes up
May 5th, 2008 at 4:04 pmGreat post. It’s good to see some optimism. I don’t see any more than 7-9 wins, but anything is possible.
One thing to chew on – as awful as the team was last year, 7 losses were by 10 points or less. 10 more points in each game would have put us at 11-5.
Don’t you think it’s doable for our offense (and special teams) to score 10 more points a game than that pitiful excuse last year?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:08 pmthat is a great point, theres no where to go but up on offense after last season
May 5th, 2008 at 6:45 pmJeremy, the 1999 Rams are the exception, not the rule. For every Ram’s team that sucked and became the Greatest Show on Turf, seemingly overnight, there are dozens of franchises that tanked the next year instead. I think we’ll get around 6-7 wins this year, but it depends on our QB play. If Brodie just can’t hack it (I think he can, not Tom Brady caliber, but better than some starting QB’s out there) then I say we throw our 1st and a 3rd/4th from next year’s draft for Brady Quinn. It’d be a huge move.. Just about the only move I’d like to see more than us bringing in a high profile kicker. We’re a few pieces away from having a legitimate badass team. A couple high picks or decent free agent signings, or even a diamond in the rough from the later parts of the draft may propel us into the playoffs as soon as this year, but it’s highly unlikely. Next year, I’m all for it. Especially if Tank and Turk and Dorsey lock up our D-line, and ‘Teddy Bear’, Phat Albert, and a combo of players already on our team solidify the O-line. The game’s won in the trenches, with those spots in flux, we sucked. If they can hang, we hang in there for the playoffs. I’ll be sad when we lose in the 1st round- again. But I’ll be excited for the future this time.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pmIm not sold on Brady Quinn. i remember watching him play alot in college. He was good untill it came time for a big game.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:38 pmSounds like most of us are pretty upbeat about the Chiefs’ Draft and the PATH they are on. Maybe we should all just focus on and enjoy the rebuilding JOURNEY the next couple of years and not worry about predicting the unpredictable–their W/L record for 2008. We can still agree that “We play to win the game!” and enjoy each and every game. If we don’t set expectations for the number of 2008 wins, then we don’t have to be disappointed by the final record or conclude that the rebuilding process is or is not working simply because we exceeded, met or fell short of some unpredictable 2008 W/L record.
Now 2009 possibly and 2010 for sure is a different matter.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:55 pmWhy would you spend a First and Third/Fourth on Quinn when he is no more proven then a first round quarterback in the next years draft. That kind of logic just doesn’t make sense to me, but I am just one man. I hope Croyle works out for us next year, and I think he will be better than most people give him credit. Also another top five pick could kill our cap room after two first rounders this year. I don’t know where we will be cap room wise next year, but if we are in the top five I am guessing we would almost have to trade out of it.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:46 amI predict we will be happier with what we see this season than what we saw last season.
I predict Special Teams will be dramatically better, that at least 2 punts or kicks will be returned for TDs, that we will win the field position battle in most games and that Special Teams will be the deciding factor in at least 2 wins.
I predict that a better offensive line, in concert with a better blocking FB and better blocking tight end will provide Brodie with more time on pass plays, and more room to run on running plays.
I predict that the offensive playcalling will be completely fresh, more creative and even ambitious at times, and in general more fun to watch.
I predict that Brodie Croyle will be allowed more than 3 steps on most passing plays, that he will have a deep threat #2 WR and that his sack total will be under 40.
I predict that LJ will run angry again and have no less than 16 TDs, that he will have a true blocking FB to run behind, that JC will bust it for at least 4 big plays, and that the running game will be much improved.
I predict that Tamba Hali will get no less than 10 sacks and 2 FF, that Dorsey will have at least 5 sacks and 1 FF, that the LDE will get at least 3 sacks and that the total team sacks will exceed 20.
I predict that Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page will have break out years.
I predict that Pat Surtain and whoever his counterpart at the opposite CB ends up being will each get burned at least twice during the season, but that the defensive secondary as a unit will come up at least 7 picks and be effective against the run.
I predict that overall the defense will be more effective in coverage, at pressuring the QB, and shutting down the run but that the LB corp will be perceived as the weakest link in all 3 of those areas.
I predict that the Chiefs will win at least 6 games but no more than 12. I also predict that if the Chiefs make it that far, they will win no more than 1 playoff game.
Optimistic? Perhaps, but I challenge anyone to tell me which of these predictions is unrealistic and why.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:06 amIf it came down to trading for a Browns qb..id rather give up picks for derek anderson. But im in Brodies corner all the way. I think he has talent and that we owe it to him to give him all the tools he needs to succeed. How can you judge if a qb is gonna be ur guy if hes on his back all game long?
May 6th, 2008 at 9:10 amDouble D, thats very optimistic but i like the way you think!!!!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:12 amHey Adam,
Has Peter King ever had anything decent to say about the Chiefs? If so, I must have missed it.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:23 amDouble D:
“So let it be written! So let it be done!” (Egyptian Pharoah in movie “Ten Commandments” staring Charlton Heston as Moses. We will follow you to the promised land, Double D.)
May 6th, 2008 at 9:56 amAs it is written, so it shall be . . .
May 6th, 2008 at 10:01 amClinton, a ‘veteran’ QB, even 1-2 year guys, are far more likely to succeed at the NFL level. Alot of times, rookies are thrown into the mix too early, and can’t quite get the hang of the game, with the WHOLE opposing defnse being faster, stronger, more agile, and smarter. In college, alot of times a D will have 1-2 studs, and the rest are ‘decent’. In the NFL, the bar is set higher, even if by NFL standards, you still stink. Quinn’s had time to adjust to the speed of the game, and also has a similar offense being run in Cleveland, as well as similar counterparts. LJ/Jamal Lewis, both workhorses that can bail you out when you need a tough 3-4 yards. A decent line (Hopefully this is a good comparison, as I hope our line will be decent) D-Bowe/Braylon Edwards, both up and coming stars, and both will record great years this year, no matter the W/L record. Kellen Winslow Jr./Tony G. One of the greatest TE’s of all time, with one who has the potential to be. The personnel and gameplans are roughly in the same mould, which is why I think if he’d have a chance to fit in anywhere else but Cleveland, it’d be here. Nobody knows for sure what he can do, but it’s the same with rookies, and as he was taken with a, what was it, 22nd pick(?), we’d be spending far less on him than a QB in next year’s draft. And look at it this way, he can’t be worse than FatMarcus Russel. Or, if something like this does happen, it means that Brodie completely sucked, and then we can say, well at least he’s better than Croyle.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:11 amWell, seeing how my 2008 list of predictions so far appears to be kindling the fires of hope, I’ll prognosticate on a few more stats for folks to chew on. Surely at least 1 or 2 of these will draw fire . . .
Total sacks: >30 (I mis-typed this earlie. 20 would mean we pretty much sucked on D)
Solo Tackles: >900
Forced Fumbles recovered: >15
Int: >15
Rushing yards allowed: >1800
Passing yards allowed: >3000
Total yards allowed per game (avg): >300
Total yards rushing: >2000
Total yards passing: 300
Give away/take away: +8 or better
KR total: >1200 yds
May 6th, 2008 at 10:59 amPR total: >325 yds
FG + PAT > 100 pts
Should read “Total yards passing: <3000″
May 6th, 2008 at 11:00 amI also say we will see a reverse of last year in the sense that the Chiefs will look weak early in the season and then come on stronger towards the end of the season. In particular, I think we will be under .500 after the 1st 8 games but then play over .500 for the last 8 games.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:24 amTwo things about the quarterback situation:
1) Brodie Croyle has a sample size of six games, all played without LJ and with a poor offensive line. The number of quarterbacks that have come in and preformed immediately at much higher levels than he did in the last decade can be counted on one or two hands. I can only think of Brady and Big Ben but I assume others can add to that. I think the fact that they didn’t pursue any FA quarterbacks and didn’t draft any mean that they are trying to make Croyle as comfortable as possible. I personally like the guy, he has all the tools to be a successful NFL quarterback.
2) If the Chiefs are able to get one of the quarterbacks on the Browns roster it will be Anderson. Simply put, the Browns are not going to trade away Quinn, he is their quarterback of the future. If you don’t believe me, go ask Browns fans.
One last thing: please don’t listen to Peter King about anything ever. He really only cares about the AFC/NFC East and his analysis on those divisions is pretty awful too.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pmDouble D,
I agree that the Chiefs may start out slowly, but will improve as the rookies develop and the team becomes accustomed to playing with each other. There is no reason (other than really poor coaching) for that to be anything other than a reality. If the Chiefs have a long slow melt down during a miserable losing streak like last year, it will definitely be in the coaching staff’s lap.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:42 pmTHe funny thing is, the term rebuilding is usually used to describe something that was once built. Honestly we haven’t been a true threat for 13+ years. So really we’ve been rebuilding for over a decade and it’s just an excuse. Problem is, we let the good players go, not realizing that only one, if any of our draft picks will become Probowlers..
I know we had the one of the best o-lines of all time.. But how many playoff wins did we have with ROaf-Shields and company???
May 6th, 2008 at 1:09 pmStevenh- This isn’t directed at you so dont get your back hair up.
I want the Chiefs to win more than anyone…let me say that first and foremost. However, what is the freakin point of going 6-10, 7-9 or 8-8 again…? Even if we did take the AFC West, we cannot beat New England or Indy…and Jacksonville whooped us when we backed into the playoffs. We are not even in the same league with those teams. We need to play all our rookies and take our lumps and try not to let Tony and LJ get murdered.
As for Brodie, he’s terrible…period. Big arm but no game.
Optimism is great but it doesn’t win in the NFL. We need to suck and take our lumps and let the young guys feel losing so they want to win going forward. This isn’t college football where we are playing Louisiana Tech game 1. Its New England. I agree with the one more season of draft picks philosophy we need more horses to make it down the road. Period. More in my next article.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:10 pmGUYS:
Look at our schedule for this year. There are only a couple of games that we pretty much couldn’t win.
If things come together this year the way I think they could, we could definitely make the playoffs.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:13 pm