Comments on: Chiefs Cut Bernard Pollard, I Cut My Wrists

By: Andus

Andus — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:12:51 +0000

I dont know how I found my way into this conversation taht took place LAST YEAR. I just wanted to say that as a Houston Texans fan we were elated to have him and he FAR exceeded all expectations. He was one of our surest tacklers (didnt miss any that can remember which contradicts alot of what you have to complain about in regards to him), a fierce hitter, great leader/teammate and ball hawk. WELCOME TO HOUSTON BERNARD. Lets hope the next step is signing that long term deal.

By: stjoemo

stjoemo — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:07:43 +0000

Funny how you all forget who lead the team in tackles, along with 3 forced fumbles and an interception. Maybe if we had even a half way decent front seven he wouldnt of had to make 20 tackles a game.

By: ikeadced

ikeadced — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:05:58 +0000

OK Merl, I’ll amend my definition a bit. I’ll go with, “A great player is someone who makes the solid play each and every time, AND/OR doesn’t hurt you significantly while also consistently making game-changing plays.”

But seriously, do you want to bring DT into a comparison where you argue for keeping Pollard? Seriously?

As an organization, I think you build your teams around players from the Zach Thomas (1998 version)/Brian Waters/Dino Hackett mold–people who do their jobs consistently at a very high level. Maybe nothing fancy, just consistently good and dependable. Then, once a decade you hope to hit that special DT/Tony G kind of player, where you are willing to put up with a shortcoming here or there in return for their game-changingness (I just made up a word I think).

Pollard is most assuradely not in the second category of a HOF-type player. And I think the new regime has decided he won’t ever be in the first category either. He is a high-risk player without consistently being a game-changer. That gets you beat.

By: hmills110

hmills110 — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:18:54 +0000

It was prob’ly a combination of factors with Pollard including coverage skills and football IQ. Numerous last-minute trades took place before roster cuts, for players that other teams wanted badly enough to surrender a pick or a player, rather than expose somebody they wanted to the waiver wire (like the Chiefs did for Alleman and Ndukwe). Pollard was shopped in that environment, in case there was anybody wanting him enough to give something up. There were no takers. Not sayin’ he’s bad, although I have my issues with him, but perhaps Pollard was overvalued in the eyes of some Chiefs fans, who put more faith in tackle stats than in my opinion of what’s happening on the field.

I think moving towards more of a coverage guy at SS is in keeping with 3-4, and if I’d known more about the 3-4 before this season, maybe I’d've noticed that aspect, sooner. I wanted more coverage skills and better understanding of his assignment.

It prob’ly isn’t all his fault, after years of playing behind a d-line who might let somebody thru them like a hot knife thru butter. In that situation, the main chance is to just join the melee and flow with the defense, since the ballcarrier is PROBably where you’re running to, and the 7 guys in front of you are gonna miss the tackle, wherEVER the ballcarrier chooses to go.

In this D, it looks more like the big men are controlling the middle, and the SS needs to think like a safety and maybe just trail a few of those strong-side runs to snuff the cutback, and rely on your teammates to handle the main chance.