Some weeks I start planning my “Armchair Addict” column several days in advance. I like to dig around and do some research and maybe see if anyone else in the blogosphere has written anything similar to what I’m brainstorming. Sometimes I’ll even write the complete column a day or so in advance and then go back and “tweak” it leading up to it hitting the site if I have a new idea or come up with a better way to get my point accross.
This my friends, is not one of those weeks. I’ll spare you all the personal details and just say I’ve been under the weather. So this week, for better or worse, you’re just getting my unfiltered random thoughts coming off the Chiefs 10-3 win over the Bears.
* First off, am I the only one that found this game hillarious to watch? I mean from the absolutely inept offenses, to the injury to Orton on his FIRST SNAP, to the Chiefs finally needing a deflected Hail Mary pass to break their TD drought, to the debilitating penalties by both teams at the worst possible times, the Bears’ missed FG, Hanie throwing a pick in the end zone and overthrowing a wide open WR for an easy score, or my favorite the wide open Barber TD pass that was called back by a penalty, I just felt like the entire game needed the Looney Tunes theme playing in the background. Anybody else find this game funny or has the combination of lack of sleep and medication just made me slap happy?
* Even though I found it humorous that the Chiefs needed a deflected Hail Mary to break their TD drought doesn’t mean I think the play was complete luck. To my eye, McCluster was clearly assigned the job of standing in front of the “jump mob” to watch for deflections. His back is to the QB and he’s watching the jumping players. This makes since given that McCluster is so short that he’s not out jumping anyone for a ball in the air. That’s good coaching.
* Thomas Jones had 36 yards on 16 carries. That’s 2.3 yards per carry. The sad part is that we can’t scream that those carries should have gone to Battle because he still averaged almost a yard less per carry then Jones did. If we can’t find a QB that can throw more than short crossing routes and screens, our RBs have no chance. Dex was the only one that was effective at all on a couple of delays and draws.
More after the jump:
* I’m starting to think that every single draft pick and FA signing this offseason should be for the offense. The defense looks great even without their up-and-coming star Eric Berry on the field. With the emergence of Justin Houston, the pass rush is really taking off and everyone is seeing the benefits. Tyson Jackson got a sack this week for crying out loud! If we rolled with basically this same defense next year but added Berry back in and hopefully start relieving Gregg with Powe, I’d be okay with that. The offense on the other hand is putrid.
* If we win just enough games that all the elite QBs are gone when we pick, then we have to take OL with our first round pick, right?
* Am I the only one that thinks Travis Daniels is a pretty darn good player to have coming off the bench? I mean why in the world did it take us so long to start playing him some at safety while players like Shabby and Langford let guys run around wide open for half the season? Next year if we have Flowers, Carr, Berry, Lewis, Arenas, and Daniels all back, that’s running six deep in the secondary with pretty good coverage players.
* Was anyone else yelling at the TV “Put Orton back in anyway! He’ll still be able to throw the ball farther than Palko, even with that dislocated finger!”?
* If what we saw from Houston today is a sign of the future, could we have one of the best LB cores in all of football next season with Houston, Hali, Belcher (or Siler), and DJ? I know Belcher/Siler aren’t Pro Bowlers, but even the Ravens and Steelers have at times had one lesser name starting.
* Speaking of DJ, I went online and did five Pro Bowl ballets where the only player I voted for was DJ after that hit on Forte. I wish Forte well; he’s a good player and deserves to get his payday, but seeing DJ blow him up like that was a thing of beauty. He has been in beast mode all season long and if he doesn’t make the Pro Bowl then there is no justice in this world.
* Was anyone else yelling at the TV “Put Zorn in at QB, he can probably still throw the ball farther than Palko can, even with that dislocated headset!”?
* Okay, I’ve been a huge Todd Haley fan and supporter since he came to KC, but what in the wide, wide world of sports is he doing? He plays Palko the entire first quarter and then puts Orton in on the first play of the second quarter despite it being on second down in the middle of a drive? Was he just playing Palko a quarter to prove his point that “he’s our starter”? Did he only put Orton in for that one play because Palko doesn’t have enough arm to throw a flea flicker? If he was unhappy with Palko’s play, then why not replace him at the start of that drive? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he also play quarter swap with Lilja and Hudson? Lilja plays first quarter, Hudson second, Lilja third, and Hudson fourth? I could be wrong on that. Someone who’s watching the game back again check that for me. If that’s the case then it really looks like Todd Haley might have said “Tyler, you’ll play the first quarter then Kyle can play the second.” Haley himself said after the game that they “weren’t making a quarterback change, so to speak.” WHAT?!?! Is this the preseason? Is that how it’s done in the NFL? If Haley really wanted Palko to be the guy, then Palko should have received the bulk of the practice reps this week because CLEARLY he needs all the help he can get to get the passing game going. If Haley didn’t think Palko was the answer going forward then Orton should have received the bulk of the snaps so he would have had more time to get the offense down and STARTED THE GAME. Maybe if he had started, they wouldn’t have felt the need to try the flea flicker in the 2nd quarter and maybe Orton wouldn’t have been hurt at all. This splitting reps and trading quarters garbage is immature and indecisive. By not just picking ONE starting QB this week, he put both guys at a disadvantage.
I don’t care if they won the game, if Haley can’t get this offense to at least compete at an NFL level, then it’s hard to justify him keeping his job (and again, I’M A FAN OF THE GUY!!!!). His defense led by Romeo Crennel looks great, but the offense which is his area of expertise is 30th in PPG. Even the Manning-less Colts and Cleveland Browns score more points a game than the Chiefs do. I’m a homer. I love everything Chiefs. I almost always focus on the positives. That’s why I know its getting bad when I’m having a hard time sticking up for the head coach after a WIN, and on the road no less. I still like Todd Haley. I still think he has what it takes to be a great NFL coach. He just seems to be his own worst enemy this season. I hope he gets it figured out because the fact that the team hasn’t quit on him yet tells me that he could make this work if he’d just stop trying to over-think everything. Getting guys to buy into what you’re selling and bust their hump for you even though you’re losing seems like the hard part of the job. Being able to tell that Palko doesn’t have an NFL arm, but Orton does seems like the easy part. But if he started Orton, he’d have to keep the offense simple for a while and it seems he’d rather play mad scientist and come up with 27 different personnel packages and play calls that all involve the ball not going more than six yards in the air. He’d rather come up with designed roll out passes to Terrence Copper than have Orton do a simple play-action fake and throw the ball deep to one of our good WRs. I don’t get it. Where’s the Tylenol?
* Justin Houston was out-of-his-mind good today. I know I already mentioned him, but he was that good.
* Was anyone else yelling at the TV “Put my grandma in at QB, she can probably throw the ball farther than Palko can, even with that dislocated hip!”?
* I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but despite the abysmal offense and my increasing doubts about Haley, this team isn’t dead yet. Oakland and Denver both have to play KC again, plus Denver still has NE and Oakland still has GB. So if KC could win next week against the Jets things could actually get very interesting down the stretch. I may be feeling a little cranky this week, but we still won and until we’re officially eliminated you have to believe, right?
Anyway, there are my ramblings for this week. Am I on to something with any of these? Have I lost my mind? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Tags: Justin Houston, kansas city chiefs, kyle orton, todd haley, travis daniels, Tyler Palko
This "Armchair Addict" is a public school music teacher and devoted family man. Some may refer to me as a "Homer" or "Kool Aid Drinker", but I prefer to think of my style as "reasonable optimism". Follow me on Twitter:
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