Call me crazy but I’m starting to have a very positive feeling about this team. I believe most fans will be pleased by what they see.

The ’98 Colts went 3-13 behind a QB who had 26 TDs, 28 Ints, got sacked 22 times and achieved an overall passer rating of 71. The next year the same QB threw 26 TDs, 15 Ints, got sacked 14 times and had an overall passer rating of almost 91 and the team went 13-3. It’s cliche but it’s true – things can & do change quickly in the NFL from one season to the next. I would not be quick to assume that that can’t also hold true for the 2008 Chiefs.

The teams that are predictably bad are that way because of who is at the top. Sure the Chiefs have had their ups and downs, and we all hate King Carl, but on the whole I think you have to admit that they are as solid of an organization as you will find and just because they have one bad season in no way guarantees that they won’t be competitive sooner rather than later.

Everything I hear about this offseason tells me that Edwards, Cunningham, and Gailey are all on the same page about their vision for this team. To me, it sounds a lot like old school, Lombardi-style – in other words, “we don’t care if you know what play we’re calling because you won’t be able to stop us even if you tried.” Very physical. We’ve always known that was Gun’s M.O. – now we’re seeing it for perhaps the first time on the other side of the ball. I’d love to see it pulled off.

Seriously, you have to give these guys (including the coaches) a chance to do and learn what they need to, a chance for them to find their identity and then prove it (or not) on the field before you start judging them and assuming the worst.

I have every confidence that both sides of the line will be stronger and play better than what we saw last year. With LJ back in the line-up, a blocking FB, a big blocking TE, an improved line that not only opens seams but also gives Brodie the extra second or two he needs to get the ball downfield (to a true #2 receiver?), then who’s to say this offense can’t become damn dangerous, damn quick?

Second, the reason I question how complicated the new offense is is that there are reasons NFL offenses are complicated. Depth and versatility, namely. Names of plays aren’t complex just to be confusing and sound cool. They describe intricate details of a play, and allow for subtle changes.

As much as I think simplifying things is a good idea when adjusting to a drastically younger team, I am genuinely concerned about the depth of our offense. Simplify an offense too much, and there’s really only so much you can do with it.

On another note, one word plays present another kind of problem. Remembering a different word for each play? Sounds kind of tough. At least in traditional offenses, different words mean different things rather than one word signifying routes, blocking, etc. It seems to me that the playbook would have to be relatively small to make this work, and small playbooks don’t have much of a place in the NFL.

I’m not pretending to know how things are gonna work though. I just have a lot of questions about it.

As far as calling the same play 3 times in a series, I guarantee you that cannot work in the NFL. That barely works in high school. NFL defenses are way smarter than that, and Herm Edwards saying that “they’ll know where we’re gonna go, we’ll go there, and still be successful because of good execution” doesn’t really jive.

p.s. @ComeSackMyQB: try English next time.

The only givens are last year’s record and results.
That got us 4-12… why not dumb it down a little bit, especially since we have a lot of Young players.
If they’re confident, they’ll play harder/better.
If they’re confused… well, just look at last year’s results.

Worst case scenario is that we repeat last years performance and the management/authority positions get “re-built.” Wait and see. I hope we get Marty as GM and Bill Cowher comes back (he can’t sit out more than 2 years) and coaches us.