After Further Review

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After taking my time to look through my little black hood on the side line and watch the Pollard hit on Tom Brady 100 more times, I have to admit…I Was Wrong. There, I said it. I don’t have a problem admitting when I’m wrong, never have, never will. If the bulk of the Patriots players didn’t feel it was a dirty hit and the NFL thought it was clean then who am I to say any different? I would like to clarify one thing however, unfortunatley when writing articles I have found that some readers don’t always take in what you write. I was sure to point out I though the hit was “cheap” and “bordering on dirty“. I never said it was dirty and yes there is a difference. Regardless, I was still incorrect to call it a “cheap shot“.

One more thing I would like to state is I started writing that article two seconds after the game had ended. I wanted to get my anger down on paper so to speak before I lost it. I thought it would add a bit of flare to the article and for the most part I feel that it did. Unfortunately, I regret stating the Pollard hit was cheap.

I’m done talking about it.

I would like to start something else here mid-week from week to week. I will give my own grades from A-F, one each for different players, coaches, owners, fans whoever deserves it. Let’s see how this goes.

A–Branden Albert; played exceptionally well, I was impressed and I think he will only get better. I’m a little funny I guess in the way that I find myself watching the offensive line sometimes instead of the player with the ball. Anybody else find themselves doing this?

B–Turk McBride; Turk did a good job putting pressure on Brady and Cassel. I look forward to watching him continue to grow as the season goes on.

C–Larry Johnson; As much as I would like to watch him run for 127 yards and 2 TD’s every game, it was good to watch him make one move in the backfield and then hit the hole, or where the hole was supposed to be anyway. One more season of him dancing around in the backfield like he did last season then I would expect ABC to call asking him to be on Dancing With The Stars.

D–Tie between Dwayne Bowe and Chan Gailey; Chan handcuffed Brodie in the first half, not allowing him to be the quarterback. I can understand wanting to start him slowly, with short or intermediate passes but come on, let him throw it down field. Bowe, dropping the TD in the fourth was the final nail in the Chiefs‘ coffin, and then not seeming to care or take responsibility for it after the game, that is really disappointing and disheartening. I’m sure Herm has let him know that he is expected to make those and every other catch coming his way…or at least I hope he does.

F–and a big F at that goes to Damion McIntosh, if there was a nickname for Jordan Black (I-75) then we have to come up with something for Damion. Just an awful performance, if he plays like a matador against the Faiders this coming week, then I can see Herm putting him on the bench in favor of Taylor or more likely Richardson.

What do you guys think?

Scott

Jester, I have to disagree. What would every team expect us to do inside the 5? Run LJ. Run him again. And again. That didn't work too well earlier in the game. And I think this line has proved that they just can't get push when the D is stacked against them. And when LJ doesn't have holes? Where's he going? Nowhere.

Plain and simple - we'd all be praising Chan's play call if Bowe would have caught the money shot.

Overall, I think Gailey's play calling was a little too conservative (especially when Croyle was in) but, maybe this was a special case. It almost won us the game right? I'm sure he had a specific direction with the offense when game planning for the Patties.

Regardless, the lack of a score inside the 5 is squarely on Bowe, no one else. Gailey tried to use his 3 biggest play makers on the chances he had:

1. Bowe - Dropped pass.
2. LJ - Stopped for no gain.
3. Gonzo - Covered like all hell.
4. Bowe - See #3.

My personal play call: Bring in Cottam as FB. Have him toss Charles over both lines into the endzone! Simple as that.

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chiefzilla

Two comments:
1) LJ doesn't deserve a C. He is a north-south runner who is at his best when he can run in-between the tackles. Give him a little hole and he will plow through it and then he's near impossible to tackle on the second level. Re-watch the game tape and tell me how many holes the Chiefs opened up in the middle. Not even a HINT of a hole was opened up. LJ doesn't need an outstanding pro bowl offensive line. All he needs is a hint of an offensive line, and he doesn't have that--that's not his fault.

2) Chan Gailey's playcalling was just fine. It's exactly the same formula he used in Pittsburgh and Dallas and Miami when he led each of those teams to the playoffs. Just because the Chiefs run the ball a lot doesn't mean they're predictable. Last time I checked, the Steelers groomed Big Ben and the Pats groomed Brady under the same equation: run the ball well and don't force your QB to make big plays. They both turned out pretty good, don't you think? Gailey has a long history of pounding the ball down the other team's throat and then every once in a while taking shots downfield--the fact that he didn't probably means that he wasn't confident enough in his offensive line to protect. If Croyle got killed on a short route, why would we expect him to have enough time to throw on a deep route?

stevenh

Jester, that is very funny.

Adam, giving LJ the C is a good thing...average if you will. Was he the LJ of a couple years ago? No. But he doesn't have that o line to run behind. Was the LJ of last year? No. Thank God!

I have nothing against Pollard, honestly. I know that the safety position is the key part of any "Tampa 2" scheme and the d won't be as good as it can be until the safety play improves. I guess I'm just harder on all the safeties for that reason.

Adam

Steven, good to see that you softened up on B.P. Because I am a huge Pollard guy, I've noticed that you are not (more of a Page guy it seems). Did that have anything to do with your assessment of the hit?

I agree with your grades, excepty I would have given Larry a B given the blocking and playcalling we had to work with, plus the fact that we switched QBs. I would also give Damion a C-. He looked a little better than he has in the past.

Good stuff, Steve!

Double D

Make that "I wouldn't give Chan an F."

I wouldn't Chan an F. It could be that he felt the only smart way to play the Pats was with boring, mistake-free stuff. If he had gotten slightly better execution from all of his playmakers, we'd probably be sitting around calling him a genius right now.

jester

I'm glad to see you come to your senses stevenh. It took some testicular fortitude to admit that you were wrong publicly.

I'd give Bowe the D grade and bump Chan down to F. DMac deserves an incomplete because I don't think you can call what he was doing 'playing football.

Chan (or whoever was in charge of play calling and personnel in that last minute) deserves the F for not getting LJ the rock enough. Is anyone questioning why LJ, our franchise player, wasn't in there with the game on the line and inside the 5 yard line? Herm's explanation of us being in the "two minute offense" just doesn't cut it with me. That may make sense when you have 20+ yards to go but we were inside the 5. Give LJ the rock and let him do his thing!

btag58

I find myself watching the line more often than not recently. You can tell when a big play has a chance of occurring before it does, and then you can see the play unfold. Occasionally, I wish they'd show an endzone view, but only for replays.

Even though there are plenty of areas that need work, I'm impressed with the team. I think we've got a fantastic work in progress that will be playoff caliber sooner, rather than later.

marcusallen32

What about Pat Thomas? Does he even get a grade because he did nothing wrong and nothing right?

maguilicutty

the left side of the only side of the line right now as far as I'm concerned. The only time we actually have two blockers is when we a have a double tight end set on the right side, i think tony G. and Cottam could both out block Mac. Back to the Pollard hit, I thought it was a cheap hit at first too, but after i saw the replay i noticed that the offensive blocker had pulled him down by the facemask and all pollard was trying to do was rush the QB.

I believe we had our best success running left. LJ's 22 yarder was to the left and was, I might add, greatly facilitated by Albert's near-perfect blocking. I have to believe that Gailey will put more trust and emphasis on that side of the line this week.

TheKansagonian

Taylor or Richardson would be a step up NOW at this time of the year, especially against the Raiders at home this week. Mac needs to be riding the pines today as we speak. I can only imagine that Herm is working both of the other options very very hard in practice this week to come up with a solution. Does anyone else wonder why we didn't run left?