K.C. and Dallas: Another Tale Of Two Cities
By Laddie Morse
Chiefs < Cowboys: what the “H” happened?
What the friggin’ frosting happened? Wow, that didn’t take long. What, you ask? For them rumblin’ stumblin’ Dallas Cowboys to develop into a better team than the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s what. Remember week two of the 2013 season? The week the Chiefs hosted and defeated the Cowboys? I recall writing in a piece for AA that the Dallas Cowboys had one of the worst, if not “the” worst, offensive lines in all of football. If you were paying attention this past Sunday, the Cowboys waltzed in to Seattle and walked… and then ran… and then passed… and danced all over the Seahawks.
And they made it look easy.
Many of you are aware that I live in the Dallas area but am a long time Chiefs fan. For most of the past 20 seasons, ever since the Cowboys won their last Super Bowl, I’ve had to live with the whining and crying over their slightest of whoas. In the meantime, like the Chiefs, they have been rebuilding… or reloading… or re-tooling… or whatever you want to call it but, for Dallas to be sitting at 5-1 when Kansas City are at 2-3, turns my stomach like a not-so-lazy-Susan.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a patchwork quilt for an offensive line after GM John Dorsey and Coach Andy Reid decided not to resign most of the line from last year although injuries, a curious trade and an offensive linemen’s bad behavior also damaged any possible progress.
In the meantime, Jesus Jones and the Cowgrits have been drafting first round offensive linemen who have worked out nicely for them. Johnny Football? Nope, they went the smart route and selected OG Zach Martin out of Notre Dame in the first round instead. I guess it only took the Jones boy 20 years to finally remember something that Coach Jimmy Johnson made sure to do on his way to winning back-to-back Super Bowls: build a dominant offensive line.
Building a dominant offensive line? Is that what the Chiefs are doing?
The Chiefs don’t appear headed in that direction. Not towards a Super Bowl or towards a dominant offensive line. Not at the moment anyway.
- Dallas has Tyron Smith at LT.. K.C. has Eric Fisher.
- Dallas has 6’3” 315 lb. Travis Fredericks while Rodney Hudson may be the closest in performance to any of the cows OL.
- Zach Martin is their starting RG and the Chiefs have Zach Fulton doing his 6th round imitation of an NFL starting RG.
Last year the Cowboys defense was one of the worst in the history of the NFL and certainly the worst in the C’s history. Don’t you wonder how they turned things around… so quickly… enough to hold the Seattle offense to 16 points (the Cowboys special teams allowed the other score)?
You don’t? You should.
Anytime a team like the Chiefs are making all the moves they’ve been making then appear to be running in place when compared to a team who has been a .500 team for 19 years… you have to ask the question: what could the Chiefs be doing differently?
To begin with, you can’t just argue that they have had an easy breezy schedule. So far they’ve played: the 49ers, Titans, Rams, Saints and Seahawks.
One aspect of their success that’s really bothersome is that they are the number one rushing team in the NFL. A moniker that should belong to the Chiefs. So, what’s the real reason the Cows rule the NFL interstates and not the Chiefs? There’s no way that DeMarco Murray or Lance Dunbar are better running backs than the Chiefs Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis. So, that’s not the reason. The Chiefs TEs of Anthony Fasano and Travis Kelce are every bit as good at blocking as Jason Witten and Gavin Escobar. So, that’s not the reason. Do we need to evaluate the blocking of the wideouts to determine the answer to this question?
Insert the… no longer suspended… OL Donald Stephenson wherever you want but is he going to turn this line around? I don’t think so, especially when you look at his performance in the preseason.
From the time the Chiefs chose Dee Ford with the 23rd pick of the first round in this year’s draft… until the end of the third round… 14 total offensive linemen were chosen. Is it alright with you if I question whether or not taking Zach Fulton in the 6th round is placing enough of a priority on the offensive line? In Fulton’s first NFL game ever, he posted a -1.9 run blocking rating from Pro Football Focus. Here’s the sadder tale that this data tells… that he’s been better than either RT Ryan Harris or abysmal LG Mike McGlynn.
If you’re at all like me, in every single one of the Chiefs games I’m asking myself how Coach Andy Reid can continue to put McGlynn on the field. Especially when a player like Rishaw Johnson is on the street and is someone who knows all the Chiefs plays. McGlynn’s performances are so bad that it actually looks like he’s grabbing the defensive lineman and then sling-shotting them towards his own QB. He makes Barry Richardson look like the wall of China.
The confounding aspect of his poor play is… why can’t Andy Reid see it?
Now, I know many will argue that rookie Laurent Duvernay-Tardif can’t be depended upon yet in his development or that Jeff Linkenbach can’t be trusted any more than you’d trust McGlynn. However, that’s part of my point exactly.
John Dorsey and Andy Reid built this city on Rock-n-Roll… only it turned out to be polka. The kind meant for my father’s crowd with Lawrence Welk tastes. Too much partner swinging and not enough mosh pit.
Click the NEXT button below to read the remainder of
“K.C. And Dallas: Another Tale Of Two Cities”