Son, I think you have Type 1 osteogenesis imperfecta.
It’s Monday; I’ve got a case of the Mondays, you’ve got a case of the Mondays–no need to walk on eggshells here. My thoughts after digesting the loss and watching the tape…
First off, Bernard Pollard‘s hit on Tom Brady wasn’t dirty. It wasn’t late at all, and Sammy Morris was trying to reenact The Deliverance on in. You call that blocking? I call that “the Gimp” scene from Pulp Fiction. Pollard was just fighting through Morris to get to the passer. If anything was dirty, it was the block–not the hit. The league has already issued a statement claiming Pollard’s hit was not dirty. End of discussion.
Joe Flacco is 1-0 as a starter, and made several big plays. Matt Ryan is 1-0 as a starter, and his early big play opened the floodgates for the running game. Brodie Croyle is 0-7 as a starter, and has gotten injured in three of those games. Don’t tell me that the Falcons or Ravens are any better than the Chiefs either. Drafting a quarterback doesn’t have to be a decade project. Look at Ben Roethlisberger.
Lots of people are defending Brodie, but I just don’t get it. Even if you actually do think he has what it takes, do you seriously think he can stay on the field? He hasn’t done so in high school, college or the pros, so why should he start now? Are the big defensive uglies going to start getting smaller and softer? No. Nobody is doubting his toughness, so calm down. What everyone has to doubt at this point is his durability. Joe Posnanski hit the nail on the head when he discussed the durability it takes to be great. Bravo, Joe, coming from a guy who usually thinks you should stick to covering the diamond.
As far as how Brokie played before getting hurt, he was OK. He got into a good rhythm with Tony Gonzalez, but Tony G has made a lot of average QBs look good during his career. He didn’t show a ton of touch or accuracy, and I think he needs to take a little off his fastball at times. He damn near decapitated Jamaal Charles on one screen pass attempt, and he overthrew Dwayne Bowe on a pass The Show Boycotters are calling a drop. He had three surefire drops, but that one was squarely on Brodie. Yao Ming would have had trouble pulling that one down, especially with how much velocity there was on it. He also damn near threw a pick forcing a fade route to D-Bowe in tight double coverage.
I watched the tape, and, folks, Brodie Croyle was just not that special. I didn’t see anything that made me think he was our future franchise QB.
What drives me nuts, is how adamantly fans are defending Brokie, when they are absolutely throwing guys like D-Bowe, Devard Darling, Larry Johnson and Pat Thomas under the bus. I’m sorry, but D-Bowe and L.J. have earned the respect of Chiefs fans, while Brodie Croyle has not. “Earn Your Arrowhead.” Devard Darling made a huge play in his first real game as well. After watching the tape, the defenders did have somewhat of an angle on him. Sorry, Whitlock. He also slowed down, but I think he was just trying to maneuver himself into the endzone. He’s not slow. By all accounts, he’s our fastest receiver. But throw him under the bus, too, and keep defending Brodie like he’s the second coming.
As for Dwayne Bowe, he had three drops. That overhead missle that nearly detached his fingertips in double coverage was not on him. Did he have three other bad drops? One was really low, but yes. Two were inexcusable. He was Dr. Awful and Mr. Awesome yesterday, but cut the guy some slack. I bet if he picked up hunting and a Southern drawl more people would. I guarantee that The Show will be back next week. Yes, even against one of the league’s top secondaries. By the way, D-Bowe had a better game than Braylon Edwards, Chad Ocho Cinco, Marques Colston and Torry Holt–easily. I think everyone is being too hard on him.
I also think way too many people are on Jabba the Whitlock‘s jock after crucifying me last week for agreeing with him. Why not just hang D-Bowe from the Arrowhead rafters? Geez.
L.J. is fine. Don’t give me that Jamaal Charles is better bullshit. It’s a lot easier to make something happen on third and long than on obvious running downs. Chan Gailey made it a lot easier on Charles than he did L.J. Nonetheless, Charles is a baller with tremendous speed. Charles also missed the block that got Croyle hurt, though. If that was L.J., fans would be calling for his head.
The line looked pretty good. Yes, even Adrian Jones and Damion McIntosh looked decent on the tape. They were much better in pass protection than run blocking. Why? I suspect it was because of Chan’s predicatable playcalling, mostly. Branden Albert and Rudy Niswanger really played well.
Jeff Webb is a hustler and good blocker, but we really missed Will Franklin and possibly even Maurice Price.
Brad Cottam blocked poorly and did absolutely nothing in the passing game.
Our safeties are now better than our linebackers at tackling, and are the strong point of the defense. Jarrad Page and Pollard both looked awesome. They were rangy, tenacious and fundamentally sound. Page and Pollard–get used to hearing it.
Derrick Johnson, you gotta make that tackle on Sammy Morris.
Turk McBride, one of the A.A. guys, was a monster yesterday. He, Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali made me feel real good about our future defensive line. Dorsey might have caused a safety (where’s the challenge?), Tamba was all over the place, and Turk destroyed Nick Kaczur on a bull rush and lit up Brady. I saw No. 90 make an unbelievable inside move and had a Neil Smith flashback.
Mike Solari bodysnatched Chan Gailey. Shhh…it’s still just a rumor right now.
I see why the Chiefs kept Pat Surtain over Ty Law. He might be slow, but he’s tough and saavy, plus a good tackler. He’s also not nearly as slow as Law either.
Brandon Carr and Brandon Flowers played well. Gotta love the Brandons.
Watching Damon Huard play quarterback is similar to a root canal, but at least with a root canal you get the good drugs. I was reminded why I once wrote about Huard, “more tucks than a drag queen convention.” Grow a set and hang in the pocket. I want a QB like Jake Delhomme. A tough-as-nails competitor who is fearless.
I’ll give Herm Edwards this much–his teams play hard. Gotta love his physical brand of football.
Lastly, let’s not get too out of control over how close the Chiefs kept this game. Tom Brady is the best player in the NFL, and for 128 straight games he has been the Patriots‘ offense. Any team in the league (save Detroit and San Francisco) would have had a shot at taking them down after they were shellshocked with Matt Cassel under center. Are the Chiefs better than we thought? Probably. Do they have heart and some good young talent? Yes. Are they going to make the playoffs? No. still, it was an encouraging start to the rebuilding process.
Actually, one more thing I want to revisit. If we are going to give Brokie Croyle a million chances to prove his talent and durability, let’s not execute D-Bowe and DVD a la Columbian soccer players for a few gaffes. They also made some big plays, and will continue to do so. Hey, even Broadway has off nights. The Show will be back. I just think people are getting a little out of control with the Bowe bashing.
That’s all I have after reading the reactions and watching the tape.
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