October 07, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin (81) attempts a catch as Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Javier Arenas (21) defends in the second quarter at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

As most of you know by now, today the Kansas City Chiefs traded away cornerback Javier Arenas to the Arizona Cardinals for fullback Anthony Sherman.

This news seems to have sent many in the Chiefs Kingdom into a frenzy.

I’m here to tell you why this trade is no big deal and certainly not something that anyone should be outraged over.

1. Javier Arenas was going to get cut.

This is the number one reason everyone needs to just take a deep breath and calm down. The fact that Arenas is a “more valuable” player than a fullback in most people’s eyes doesn’t really matter in this situation. KC has MILLIONS of dollars locked up in their top three CBs. They weren’t going to pay a guy over a million dollars to be the #4 CB when their cap space is tight right now. It wasn’t EVER going to happen. I understand that Arenas still has value, but so did Eric Winston and the Chiefs didn’t get “diddly poo” for him. The Chiefs have younger and cheaper options to fill the 4th/5th CB spots with. Guys like Jalil Brown and DeQuan Menzie are cheaper options and provide fine depth especially when you have three starting CBs already in Flowers, Smith, and Robinson.

2. The Chiefs will NOT be worse off on the field this season because of this trade.

Since Arenas was destined to be a cap casualty the Chiefs aren’t worse off for making this deal. It’s better to have a player that at least has a shot at making the roster in Sherman than a player that didn’t. Other teams know this, that’s why NO team was going to offer KC big returns for Arenas because they could all see the writing on the wall too. If Sherman ends up being the starting FB this season then the Chiefs actually improved their roster by making this deal. I understand that Arenas was an average nickel corner and return man, but he wasn’t going to see the field over the three corners that they are paying big money to. So KC isn’t losing out on his play at CB. There’s also the legit possibility that one of the young corners on the roster will play every bit as well as Arenas has (or better) if given the opportunity and Arenas had not lived up to his expectations as a return man.

3. This trade indicates that KC is likely keeping Branden Albert this season.

The easiest way KC could have cleared plenty of cap space was to deal Albert. Moving Albert would have cleared enough money to sign draft picks, pay your fourth CB over a million dollars, and have money left over to sign a few more free agents. The fact that they dealt Arenas this quickly after the draft tells me they may have already decided that they are keeping Albert for one more season. That means they will have two top caliber tackles to protect Alex Smith and open up holes for Jamaal Charles. Given the choice of having to deal Albert to afford guys like Arenas or dealing guys like Arenas to keep Albert, I think it’s clear that keeping Albert makes KC better this season.

So there you have it Addicts, I know the trade looks bad at first glance, but it’s really not a big deal. This is the business of football. You want to know how big of deal this trade is. It’s already been bumped off Pro Football Talk’s home page, it never made the ESPN home page, and even on the ESPN NFL page, it’s currently the 8th story down underneath stories about the Redskins name, a 49ers UFA, and the weather at EJ Manuel’s Bills workout, and this is just a few hours after the trade happened. We care because it’s our team and we tend to over value our players and in this case because we’re mad that the pick we got for Tony Gonzalez didn’t pan out. The rest of the league doesn’t see this as a big deal and neither should you.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

According to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, the Kansas City Chiefs have traded CB Javier Arenas for Arizona Cardinals FB Anthony Sherman.

From Twitter:

Source confirms #azcardinals receive CB Javier Arenas from KC. Arenas, Sherman must pass physicals

— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) May 1, 2013

You’ve got to be kidding me?

If this is true and there is no other kind of compensation involved, the Chiefs just made an absolutely awful trade. Arenas has been a very good nickel corner for the Chiefs and despite not returning a kick for a TD, an extremely productive return man.

The Chiefs have certainly loaded up at the CB position this year. They have added Sean Smith, Dunta Robinson and will be getting back DeQuan Menzie. The team also draft DB Sanders Commings, though he is projected to play safety.

Arenas played over 700 snaps for the Chiefs in 2012 and finished the season with a +1.0 grade from Pro Football Focus. He had 53 tackles and 14 stops.

Look, Arenas was no world beater but he was no scrub either. He could be very productive at times as a nickel corner. In 2012, Arenas played in slot coverage for 284 snaps. When he was there, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the third best in the NFL.

Arenas has his flaws but I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why the Chiefs think a FB would be a better addition to the team than a veteran CB.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In a new age of media and technology, professional athletes are under more pressure and are more accessible to the public than ever before. Players may soon need to choose between accepting the pitfalls that come with participating in social media, and removing themselves from the equation all together. The world is watching, and that’s the new normal.

“Your a joke.”

Those words are probably not what Arrowhead Pride manager Joel Thorman,  expected to read from Kansas City Chiefs CB Javier Arenas last Saturday night.

But that’s what happened.

Arenas lashed out at Thorman via Twitter, calling the respected Chiefs blogger a “goofball” and a “joke.”

Here is the tweet:

@joelthorman im baffled by goofballs such as yourself who write and report as if you know what the hell your talking about. Your a joke

— Javier Arenas (@JavierArenas21) March 9, 2013

Thorman believes Arenas is referencing a March 6th column posted on Arrowhead Pride, concerning the Chiefs’ top positional needs entering free agency. Thorman wrote:

Clearly, the Chiefs need another cornerback opposite Brandon Flowers, and preferably a day-one starter. Javier Arenas and Jalil Brown won’t cut it over the entire season. Considering some of the cornerbacks Reid had in Philly over the years it’s hard to see how the Chiefs would go into next season with their other cornerback spot the way it is. I expect that to get addressed.

Arenas played both as a nickel corner and a starting outside corner for the Chiefs last year. Most of his action on the outside came after the Chiefs cut former Oakland Raiders CB Stanford Routt. According to Pro Football Focus, Arenas was targeted 66 times on the season, allowing 43 receptions for 539 yards, four TDs, zero interceptions and six pass defenses. QB’s throwing at Arenas enjoyed a QB rating of 110.6. Those numbers hardly cemented his role as a starter opposite Flowers.

On Friday evening, March 8th, reports emerged that the Chiefs reached a deal with former Atlanta Falcons CB Dunta Robinson. While the team has yet to confirm the signing as of this writing, the deal would seem to indicate that Chiefs, at least in part, agree with Thorman’s assessment of the CB situation.

Some might argue that if it is fair for sports writers to criticize a players work on the field, it should be fair for the players to criticize the writers. In this situation, however, turnabout was not fair play. Thorman gets paid to express his opinions on the Chiefs and that is what he did here. Arenas’ criticism of Thorman was personal.

Arrowhead Pride, like this site, is part of a growing form of new media. Blog networks like SB Nation and FanSided provide a platform for fans come together and express their opinions on their favorite sports teams, offering a level of fan-empowerment that didn’t exist in the newspaper age. Perhaps what Arenas doesn’t realize is that along with being a member of the media, Thorman is also a fan. And much like Chiefs fans did not appreciate receiving a lecture from RT Eric Winston following a game in 2012 in which QB Matt Cassel suffered a concussion, Arrowhead Pride readers defended Thorman to Arenas on Twitter.

@javierarenas21 @joelthorman | Javier lost a fan today…no sense in being a turd. — Matthew Ray Davis (@123johnnypark) March 9, 2013

@spiderwomn69 @javierarenas21 @joelthorman yes, I agree but that’s crossing the line. Joel never made it personal. I don’t believe… — John Ames (@J_Ames07) March 9, 2013

@javierarenas21 @joelthorman it’s just an opinion. The man is writing about a team he loves prove him wrong on the field if you dont like it

— T.J. Breese (@tbreese630) March 9, 2013

@javierarenas21 @joelthorman that was pretty mean

— sportsfan956 (@sportsfan956) March 9, 2013

@javierarenas21 @joelthorman WTF? Why make it personal Javier? @arrowheadpride is NO JOKE.

— Michael (@chiefsstl) March 9, 2013

While changes were expected to be made on the personnel side by the new regime in Kansas City, GM John Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid have largely kept the band together. The Chiefs re-signed core players like WR Dwayne Bowe and P Dustin Colquitt. They also used the franchise tag retain the services of LT Branden Albert.

Still, Dorsey and Reid aren’t going to turn around a 2-14 team by leaving everything the same. A couple recent moves, like the releases of TE Kevin Boss and WR Steve Breaston, caused only minor waves while some other changes appear to be causing some stress and anxiety for some of the players still on the roster.

One such move was the release of Winston, which happened earlier this week. Winston’s departure caused many fans and media alike to question what the Chiefs were planning to do at the tackle position.

The evening of Winston’s release, some fans reached out to Albert via Twitter. The former first-round pick was asked if he would consider moving to RT to replace Winston, should the Chiefs select Texas A&M LT Luke Joeckel, in the 2013 NFL Draft. Albert, who has faced similar questions about moving positions since entering the league, seemed spooked and annoyed by Winston’s departure, and responded ”No way.” When asked if he felt he was a natural left tackle, Albert tweeted “”You damn right.”

Just hours later, Albert deleted his Twitter account.

Perhaps the same stress and uncertainty the cutting of Winston caused in Albert was being felt Saturday by Arenas in the wake of the Robinson signing. After all, it was former GM Scott Pioli who drafted Arenas, not Reid and Dorsey. The new regime has no ties to the players who were on the roster when they arrived and more changes are sure to be on the horizon.

It would be a mistake not to take a moment to appreciate the uniqueness of the situation. Professional athletes are under a severe amount of scrutiny. While it is the job of some media folks to register opinions and commentary on the job performance of these athletes, it is easy to see why players like Arena and Albert might feel defensive, even when faced with the mildest of criticism. And while part of the job description for being a professional football player is maintaining a respectful relationship with the press, the rapidly changing world of sports media, and in particular, online sports media, is making the delineation of who is and isn’t considered press much harder to determine.

Perhaps part of the reason Arenas received so much backlash from Chiefs fans for his comments to Thorman is because Arrowhead Pride’s readers have a much better understanding of this new age of sports media than Arenas himself. Arrowhead Pride is a fan blog that has never claimed any impartiality in its content. The site has always strived to be fair but never impartial. Impartiality is the exact opposite of what fan-powered blog networks like SB Nation and FanSided strive for.

While not impartial, Thorman is a credentialed member of the Kansas City media. He sits in the press box on Sundays and after games he is given access to the locker room. Would Arenas have made the same comment to Chiefs beat reporter for the Kansas City Star, Adam Teicher, if Teicher released a column similar to Thorman’s?  Perhaps, but I’m not so sure.

A site like Arrowhead Pride has a much deeper connection to Chiefs fans than the Kansas City Star. Thus to readers of Pride, Arena’s comments to Thorman seemed more like a pro athlete picking on the little guy rather than a professional member of the tradional sports media. What Arenas may not understand is that Thorman is both.

It isn’t just bloggers and members of new sports media that are under fire. We’re seeing these tensions continue to bubble, as Seattle Seahawks CB Richard Sherman recently had a very uncomfortable exchange with ESPN provocateur, Skip Bayless. The exchange was picked up by just about every sports media outlet out there and, quite frankly, was embarrassing for both Sherman and Bayless.

While tension between professional athletes and the people who cover them is nothing new, platforms like Twitter make the escalation of those tensions easier than ever before. Social media is breaking down the walls that once separated fans and media from professional athletes. I follow a number of Chiefs players on Twitter and I often see them subjected to such horrible and insulting tweets and comments from fans that it is easy to sympathize when one of them loses their cool and responds.

At the NFL’s 2011 Rookie Symposium, former Chiefs and Jets coach and current ESPN analyst, Herm Edwards, gave to a group of incoming players a sermon of sorts, about some of the traps and pitfalls of life in the NFL. When talking about NFL players interacting on social media, Edwards delivered  a very simple message to encourage rookies to think before saying anything publicly.

“Don’t press send,” Edwards urged.

With the lines between fans, media and the players blurred more than ever before, it might be more advantageous for athletes to take Edwards’ advice a step further and do what Brenden Albert did.

Delete their social media accounts all together and save it for the press conference.

With four days to the Draft, we still have no idea who the Chiefs are going to pick first in the Draft.

I myself have argued for Poe, for Tannehill and for neither. The fact is that there is not a single right answer in this year’s Draft for the Chiefs. I believe strongly there are multiple ways they could go that will pay off for them down the road. It’s one of those beautiful times when the question is more about how the Chiefs will get stronger, not whether.

With that in mind, over the last few weeks I’ve been reviewing the Chiefs’ tape. In an admission of total powerlessness to my NFL addiction I paid the $69.99 to re-up my subscription for the NFL Gamepass to be able to watch NFL Network and all the games of the 2011 season on demand until August.

While I’ve already watched every game the Chiefs played in 2011, some stand out more memorably in my mind due to a mix of factors. Because I watch live games from 8-9 hours ahead of Eastern Time all year (meaning noon kickoffs at Arrowhead are either 9 or 10 p.m. here), sleepiness/alcohol remain obstacles to proper analysis. I also feel like the offseason narratives tend to take a life of their own the further and further we get away having actually seen some football played. We all agree that the Chiefs are going to be better and in contention for the division title again this year. But they were downright bad in certain areas last years – and not just at positions where we had injuries.

Therefore, I decided I would take a look a back at the season of ups and downs in a mixed order so to not just look at the awful start and the inspiring finish, but try to see how players played in the season as a whole. My final goal of looking back was to scout the Chiefs’ additions this offseason.

First up:

Week 15 Raiders at Chiefs, L 16-13

• Why: I was actually physically present at this game and long wanted to revisit it, because, although I had great seats and a marvelous view of how it went down, I continued to find it very hard to wrap my head around just how we managed to lose this game. Save for an easy field goal that was blocked as time expired, this would have won the division for us. I also figured it would be a good chance to scout CB Stanford Routt, who saw the light and joined the Chiefs after being cut by the Oakland freak show.
• Moving the ball: The Raiders have a very good front seven, and while the Chiefs didn’t run all over them, we overall did not have problems getting downfield. The fact that we only put 13 points on the board was due primarily to two blocked field goals, some questionable penalties and one AWFUL Kyle Orton interception in the endzone.
• Game-changing defense: Overall, it’s pretty clear that the majority of the Chiefs’ playmakers are on defense. We all love Hali and Flowers, but what was most interesting in this game was the play of S Kendrick Lewis and CB Javier Arenas. Each are young and promising players who also make bone-headed moves at times. Arenas, 24, had a timely interception that could have changed the game in the Chiefs’ favor. But as usual, he also drew a few penalties and got beat on a throws to the flat (although depending on the coverage scheme for that play, it could have been intentional). Lewis, 23, broke up two key passes, and again had a game of stout run support, but he also got beat BADLY on the first play of overtime, which was a deep pass to Denarius Moore that ended up sealing the Raiders’ victory. I have a love/hate relationship with both of these guys. They make plays, plain and simple, plus Arenas is a very valuable special teamer. At times they look so great I hate the idea of drafting or signing their replacements through free agency. But they also make some really deadly mistakes. In the end I think they will keep getting better and will be great for the Chiefs down the road. What gives me pause is the idea: can we afford it if they don’t?

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

• Stanford Routt is very, very good: Look, Brandon Carr was a great fan favorite and Routt had horrendous 2011 numbers. He both gave up more touchdowns than any other corner in the NFL, he was also the most penalized guy at his position. But, if you actually watch him play, you understand why. First off, the Raiders are a blitz-happy, man-on-man defensive team, which means that whoever is covering the other team’s #1 option is screwed a good portion of the time. That defense was designed for Nnamdi Asomugha, who can handle being on an island, but Routt just doesn’t have his phenomenal ability. Still, he did very well with what he had to offer. As for penalties, the Raiders are the most penalized team in the league and this Week 16 nearly beat the single-game record for penalties. The fact is that it was clear Routt knew the score, knew he had no help half the time, so whenever he felt like Dwayne Bowe was about to break away from him, he took the 10-yard defensive holding penalty rather than give up a touchdown. In the end, he had an interception and held Bowe to six catches and a touchdown (a beautiful, undefendable left-arm bullet-pass). In my mind, that is overall a wash, which, on a team with crappy D-backs against the clear #1 target, is more than admirable. As for his stats and performance for the Chiefs, I think he will be a great #2 CB, and with S Eric Berry able to get to both sides of the field to help out in pass support with his insane athleticism, I think Routt will be safe to lay up on the penalties and just do what he does. In KC, he won’t have to carry the entire defensive backfield on his shoulders.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

• Our offensive line is serviceable: Even against the solid Oakland front seven, the Chiefs were very productive running the ball, and only passed it when it was absolutely necessary, despite the fact that the Raiders were overall weaker in the secondary. For what G Ryan Lilja lacks in pass-blocking, he remains a very good run-blocker, especially when pulling to the outside.
• The “not getting it done” factor: The Chiefs suffered from this all season long. Sure, we lost by the freak probabilities of having a game-winning field goal blocked as time expired. But the Chiefs should have never been in that position. We outplayed the Raiders for all but a few big moments. We should have won by two scores, but we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities the way that winning teams find a way to do.
• Insight for the Draft: This was a very evenly matched game and when we play the Raiders next two times, it will not be so close in terms of the level of talent on the field. With all of the Chiefs’ injured players back plus free agent acquisitions and the Draft (Oakland is all but skipping the Draft this year), we should be able to roll these clowns on paper going into the next meeting. However, they will still be able to shoot at our Achilles’ heel – if Berry is out or is covering a different guy, we do not have any other pure athletes in our secondary that can keep up with the Raiders’ signature track-squad WR corps. If we continue to have problems scoring, this tendency to give up big plays late will still kill us in the end. Lewis may be a great run-support banger safety, but he is a liability against speedy downfield weapons. If the Chiefs trade back in the first round, I will have no problem with selecting Mark Barron with our first pick.

Kelly Lambert-US PRESSWIRE

Barron to KC? What do you think?

The Kansas City Chiefs will look to keep their slim playoff hopes alive Sunday as they try to win their second straight game by beating the New York Jets.

To get the job done the Chiefs are going to need another strong performance from their defense. Here are five players to watch this Sunday.

Justin Houston

The KC defense has been fun to watch recently and that is thanks mainly to the emergence of rookie OLB Justin Houston. The first-year player out of Georgia is quickly becoming a force in Romeo Crennel’s defense, making contributions in both pass and run defense. Regardless of the outcome of the next four games, it is crucial that Houston continues to grow. Continued progress could mean a potential Pro Bowl season for Houston in 2012.

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It made sense. Sproles is from Kansas City and the Chiefs were about to embark on a draft where they would look to add players with speed and play-mnaking ability. They were also in desperate need of a return man.

Not long after the report that the Chiefs were interested in Sproles, the Chargers changed course and tendered the RB, taking him off the free agent market.

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What we didn’t know, however, is that Javier is still down there helping out. Check out this nugget from Peter King’s MMQB:

No, the world didn’t end on Saturday—the reports of the Rapture and our impending demise were greatly exaggerated. But the pictures we saw the next day from Joplin, and have been seeing for weeks from Alabama and Mississippi (and now also Kansas and Iowa and Minnesota), look more than enough like a real Armageddon.

When tornadoes tore through Alabama, it got our attention; we were all touched and even inspired by Javier Arenas‘s story of survival and singular mission to help others, as detailed in Lars Anderson’s recent Sports Illustrated cover story. When a mile-wide twister, the single deadliest in the U.S. in almost 60 years, mangled Joplin on Sunday, the story hit much closer to home, literally for some, as those members of our AA team and their families felt the anguish first hand. I’m sure that’s true, too, for many of you out there.

I remember that when I read how Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was encouraging his players to reach out to the people of Tuscaloosa—“Just by your presence and being with them, you can help people,” he said—I was cynical at first. Perhaps because while Arenas’s first move after cheating death was to load up his SUV with $1,600 worth of supplies to hand out, Saban hasn’t yet announced how much of his $4.15 million salary for the 2011 season will be earmarked for disaster relief. Or maybe because the focus seemed to be on sports as a temporarily helpful but otherwise superficial distraction: “We can create a psychological escape for the people of this town,” Saban told SI. “They have a great passion for sports, and we’ll be there for them.”

Sure, sports are and can be a healthy diversion, especially in times like this, what another SI reporter, writing days after September 11, 2001, likened to “pulling a blanket over your head when you’re a kid—suddenly the world goes away and nothing outside that little space even exists; it’s delicious.” But that’s just the game. And being a fan extends beyond the game. There’s something much more important going on here, and we’re starting to see it.

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We told you last week that Kansas City Chiefs CB Javier Arenas was in his home in Tuscaloosa when the tornado ripped through the town destroying homes and taking lives. Arenas survived the storm by taking cover in his bathtub.

Arenas emerged from his storm to find most of his neighborhood destroyed. The Chiefs CB is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated and there is a quote inside the issue that gives a little more incite into what Arenas experienced after he left his home.

From SI’s Lars Anderson:

Arenas prayed in his bathtub. Please God, let it be over. Please let it be over… . And then it was. The tornado passed. Arenas, his heart jackhammering, walked outside. Several houses in his neighborhood were flattened. A few women ran down his street screaming. He meandered, as if in a dreamlike fog, to his favorite place on 15th Street, a Smoothie King, where he had always stopped after his workouts. The building looked as if a fist from the sky had reached down and smashed it. But as he walked closer to where the Smoothie King had stood 10 minutes earlier, he heard two women buried in the store’s rubble, begging to be rescued. As Arenas drew closer to help, he was overcome by the noxious smell of gas. He ran to a fireman, told him of the women, and within minutes they were pulled to safety.

Wow. I can’t imagine going through something like that. Once again, our thoughts go out to all those affected by the storms.

Arenas drove to Kansas City following the storm to bring back supplies to those in need. If you want to help, you can make a donation to one of my favorite charities, the American Red Cross at this link.

Javier Arenas is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

Unfortunately, it is not for his work on the football field.

Arenas, an Alabama resident and former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, was in his home during the terrible tornadoes that ripped through his area a few weeks ago. Arenas rode out the storm by taking cover in his bathtub. While his home was spared, many of his neighbors lost everything.

Arenas recently drove to Kansas City to collect supplies to bring back down to Alabama. It is good to see Arenas helping out.

Our thoughts go out to Javier and all of those impacted by the terrible tragedy down south.

Kansas City Chiefs CB Javier Arenas often finds himself in the path of oncoming ball carriers and blockers on the football field but the last thing he expected was to find himself in the path of a tornado.

Unfortunately for Arenas and the good folks of Tuscaloosa, that is exactly what happened last week.

The Chiefs CB’s Alabama home was apparently very close to the tornado when it hit and Arenas was home by himself. Birmingham News has the story.

“So I look out my window and see it’s at Forest Lake,” said Arenas. “So I’m looking for about 10 seconds and realized it was coming straight towards where I was at. So I got on the phone with my friend, hid in the tub, and for about a minute and forty five seconds it was the worse sounds you could hear.

“I got it good but I didn’t get the heart of it, so to speak. I was real blessed. It was a life-changing experience. It just sounds like a freight train of gun shots hitting your garage, windows breaking and your belongings in places you never imagined they would have been.”

Thankfully Javier and his home were spared.

Like a true Chief, Arenas has been helping his neighbors by transporting supplies to the area. Check out the video of Javier talking about the disaster.

The Kansas City Chiefs had an excellent draft class in 2010 but a majority of their success in 2010 can be attributed to the development of their own players.

The Chiefs had multiple holes to fill entering the 2010 season and they were relying on many of those holes to be filled by the same guys who were part of the team’s 4-12 2009 season.

The development of players like Dwayne Bowe, Matt Cassel, Jovan Belcher, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Glenn Dorsey, Jamaal Charles, Barry Richardson and Branden Albert were all keys to KC’s 2010 run.

Now the players I mentioned above all had varying degrees of success and development but it can’t be argued that all of them didn’t improve at least a little bit.

After the jump, we’ll take a look at the players the Chiefs need to develop or continue to develop to get themselves through a rough schedule next season.

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Source: Yardbarker.com

The Kansas City Chiefs blasted the Arizona Cardinals yesterday 31-13 (I predicted 38-9, pretty good eh?) and regained first place in the AFC West. We’ve already given out our game balls but it takes more than just 3 men to win a game in the NFL so it is time to see who is “Earning Their Arrowheads.”

Matt Cassel

This was an excellent and efficient performance from Cassel. Not only did he help his team win the game, he also got awarded an Arrowhead Addict game ball which his agent has already called me about. Apparently Matt is very excited about this honor and wants to take us all out to dinner to say thank you.

Jamaal Charles

Charles rocks. He had 12 carries for 88 yards yesterday and added 4 catches for 38 yards. That is 16 touches for 126 yards. He had no touchdowns but only because he had them poached by Thomas Jones.

Thomas Jones

Nothing spectacular from Jones other than his long run. He also added two touchdowns after Bowe and Charles did all the grunt work. Still, his numbers are good and he got it in the endzone which is good enough for me.

Dwayne Bowe

Just awesome. Bowe made Rodgers-Cromartie look as foolish as his last name would indicate. What is even more impressive is that Bowe did it with no Tony Moeaki, no Dexter McCluster taking the heat off of him. I assure you, Chris Chambers and Verran Tucker aren’t drawing any double teams.

Barry Richardson

Big Barry messed up bad last week but stepped up this week in place of the injured Branden Albert and got the job done.

Glenn Dorsey

Dorsey continues his solid season against the run. I[m really looking forward to how he’ll play next season which will be his third year in the 3-4 scheme.

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The Kansas City Chiefs took care of their home field Sunday and spanked the Jaguars 42 to 20. There were great performances all over the field for the Chiefs so giving out game balls to only three players is going to be tough but I’ll do my best.

Offense:

Dwayne Bowe

This one was tough because both Matt Cassel and Thomas Jones had nice games but Dwayne Bowe came up with two huge plays that helped hold off the Jaguars.

Bowe had two touchdown passes and both were equally impressive. The first was his second catch and run touchdown in as many weeks. Bowe reeled in a pass from Matt Cassel and then broke three tackles on his way to the endzone.

Bowe’s second touchdown came on a beautifully designed fade route where WR Terrence Copper threw an “incidental pick” on the man covering Bowe. Matt Cassel’s throw was just a tad high but Bowe went up, caught it, tucked it, turned his body and got both feet down for the score.

On the day Bowe had three catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns. He is very deserving of this game ball.

Honorable Mentions:

Thomas Jones, Matt Cassel and Terry Copper for climbing the ladder and making his only catch of the game a beautiful one for a first down.

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How well are the Chiefs conrners playin? We've got the answers. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Last week we got some stats on Kansas City Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers that showed just how remarkable of a season he is having. While I was impressed with Flowers’ stats I wondered how well the Chiefs other CB’s, Brandon Carr and Javier Arenas were performing.

Too often today people throw around stats and make judgments without really understanding the entire story. We’ve even done that here at AA. However, thanks to the good folks at Pro Football Focus, we are about to kick our statistical accuracy up a notch.

Pro Football Focus is the absolute best resource in the business for accurate NFL stats.

How accurate?

Pro Football Focus breaks down every single snap for every single player of every single game. They grade each and every play for each player and have received national recognition for the accuracy of their information. Their site is not free and really, given all the work they do, it shouldn’t be. The price is worth it if you want the most in depth and accurate view of how an NFL player or team is performing. I highly recommend them.

Here at Arrowhead Addict, we do have a subscription to PFF and we will now be bringing you the best statistical view of your Kansas City Chiefs.

After five weeks, I wanted to take a look at how well the Chiefs young corners are performing. After the jump, get the real numbers on Brandon Flowers, Javier Arenas and Brandon Carr.

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Source: Yardbarker.com

For the second time in three weeks a Kansas City Chiefs rookie has won the NFL.com Pepsi Rookie of the Week award.

Tony Moeaki beat out fellow nominees Sam Bradford of the St. Louis Rams, tight end Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots, running back C.J. Spiller of the Buffalo Bills, and free safety Earl Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks.

You may remember that Chiefs rookie Dexter McCluster won this award back in Week 1 when he torched the fools wearing Chargers uniforms to the tune of 94 yards on a punt return.

While these awards are largely meaningless, it is validation of the important contribution
this rookie class is making already.

Now that Moeaki and McCluster have their hardware, I think it is time for the Chiefs rookie defenders to get in n the action.

Eric Berry, Javier Arenas, I’m looking at you. How about a couple of picks in Indianapolis?

Source: yardbarker.com

If the Kansas City Chiefs want to stay unbeaten when the San Francisco 49ers come to town on Sunday they will have to play much better than they did on the road against the Cleveland Browns. The 49ers may be winless but they are very dangerous and could hurt the Chiefs if they let their guard down.

Here are 5 things the Chiefs must do to have a shot at downing the 49ers:

1. Take care of the football

After not turning the ball over against the Chargers, the Chiefs coughed up the ball twice against the Browns. Both turnovers came in the form of Matt Cassel interceptions.

While the turnovers in Cleveland didn’t hurt the Chiefs as much as they could have, don’t expect Frank Gore not to take advantage of favorable field position.

The Chiefs defense is playing well but the offense has to give them some help by taking care of the football.

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Last year, during breaks in the game on the sidelines, Haley would have been deep in conversation with quarterback Matt Cassel, going over the Polaroids to discuss defensive coverage and how to beat it. Now that’s Weis’ job. So during one of San Diego’s drives, Haley looked over and saw Arenas with his hands on his thighs, bent over, obviously winded; he’d been playing all nickel snaps on defense for the Chiefs.

“Put McCluster back on punt returns,” Haley told special teams coach Steve Hoffman. Hoffman looked at Haley like he had two heads. Arenas had returned two punts in the quarter, one for 36 yards and one for 24. You want me to take Arenas off returns?

“Why?” Hoffman said. “Javier is doing a great job!”

“He’s tired!” Haley said.

From sportsillustrated.cnn.com (share this quote)

Great article by Peter King on Haley. Check it out.

Source: Yardbarker.com

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Diego Chargers on Monday night  to take on sole possession of first place in the AFC West. In a 21-14 thriller the Chiefs defense stood tall and stopped the Chargers with a goal line stand that will likely be remembered by the Arrowhead faithful for years to come.

I am here in the KC airport waiting for my flight. While I wait, let’s go over 5 players I feel earned their arrowheads in lat night’s victory.

1. Dexter McCluster

Rookie Dexter McCluster flashed his big play ability, returning a punt 94 yards for a touchdown. McCluster is a major weapon for the Chiefs and if they can find a way to get him the ball more on offense he could be a huge difference maker for this team.

Source: Yardbarker.com

When the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow night, Chiefs fans are hoping to see the entire team play well. The starters for both teams are likely to play well in to the 3rd quarter and it will be the last extended look the Chiefs will get at these players before the Monday Night Football matchup against the San Diego Chargers.

Here are 5 players I think need to show up tomorrow night to help Chiefs fans sleep a little easier as the regular season approaches.

1. Matt Cassel

Cassel looked much better against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers than he did against the Falcons but he faces an intimidating test in the Eagles defense. When the Chiefs and Eagles played in 2009, the Eagles were ruthless and stingy allowing little to no rushing yards while blitzing multiple men on passing downs. Cassel completed most of his passes but only threw for 90 yards.

This time around the Chiefs can’t let the Eagles defense dictate the flow of the game. They need to come out with the same intensity then did against the Bucs and start moving the ball early. The Eagles love to blitz and they are likely going to come after Matt Cassel. If the Chiefs QB can read the blitzes, get rid of the ball quickly and take care of the football, the Chiefs should be able to make the Eagles pay for being too aggressive.

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Eric Berry is going to be one of Kansas City's Big 3. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Sports has seen a couple of famous trios in the last few years. First there was the “Big 3″ in Boston and now there is the “Really Big 3″ in Miami. The love story of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade has got me thinking.

Is there a “Big 3″ in Kansas City?

You could group a few players together to make a trio for the Chiefs. You could argue that Bowe, Chambers and McCluster are a “Big 3.” They may not be future hall of famers but collectively they are vital to the Chiefs success this season. You could pair together Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones with say, Jackie Battle and argue that the backfield will be the Chiefs biggest strength this season.

Yet when thinking this whole thing out, I didn’t go that route. For me, the Chiefs do have a “Big 3″ going in to the 2010 season. These 3 aren’t your typical triple threat. They aren’t well known around the league and no one fears them. The Chiefs’ “Big 3″ are not big because they are accomplished NFL football players. They are big because they will play a crucial part in the future of the Kansas City Chiefs.

I’m talking about Eric Berry, Kendrick Lewis and Javier Arenas. (more…)

Source: Yardbarker.com

The Chiefs have released a bulk press release to announce the signings of Javier Arenas,  Dexter McCluster and TE Leroy Banks.

No details on the contracts have been released though National Football Post is reporting that the Arenas deal is for 4 years.

Banks was released earlier in the offseason with Kolby Smith and Matt Gutierrez. Banks was drawing some pretty good reviews for his pass catching ability in OTA’s and his release came as a bit of a surprise. Since Berry and possibly Asamoah will be late to camp, the Chiefs probably inked Banks because they have some extra room.

Speaking of Jon Asamoah, he was reported to be close to getting a deal done, yet there still hasn’t been any official word.

Along with Asamoah, we are waiting on Eric Berry who isn’t likely to be signed any time soon. His agent is likely waiting for #1 Sam Bradford to get a deal done so the draft’s top 5 picks have a ceiling.

Stay tuned.

I trust that some of you are die hard Madden Football fans.  I also am sure that of those who claim to be, most of you are of the “”Franchise Mode” type.  So, some of you will remember the “position battles” list of the Franchise Modes’ of recent past.  You recall the part of the game where prior to camp you are given a list of certain positions where players are competing for a starting position.  The game would compare two or three sometimes four closely rated players and usually give slight favoritism to the younger rated player. Well, as you know Madden’s Franchise Mode no longer has that aspect of the game, but it got me to thinking.  What would your position battle list look like?  Here is mine:

 More after the jump:

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Apparently Scott Pioli and Todd Haley could not and did not either.  That is why, by recent accounts, they drafted players, (and are signing UDFAs), who were captains of their squads (6 of the 7 drafted were captains of their squad; the only exception being Cameron Sheffield).  Scott Pioli and Todd Haley know that not only do they need great players, but they need great leaders, captains, and “Chiefs” (not just Indians). These types of “Chiefs” uplift and motivate the players, and we all know that momentum is the name of the game in the NFL.  Right?

More after the jump.

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Get your Horne-Murdock jersey now!

The Chiefs rookies have been issued their numbers. I am including the draft class as well as the undrafted free agents in case you want to go out and get yourself a personalized Jeremy Horne-Murdock (#8) jersey from the NFL Team Shop even before he makes the team. =)

The Class:

Eric Berry #29
Dexter McCluster #22
Javier Arenas #30
Jon Asamoah #73
Tony Moeaki ##81
Kendrick Lewis #49
Cameron Sheffield #55

The UDFA’s are after the jump.

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Source: Yardbarker.com

Monday is here and it is time for me to officially weigh in on the Chiefs draft. There have been mixed reviews among Chiefs fans on just how well the front office did last weekend. Overwhelmingly, the fans I have talked to seem to be thrilled with Berry, pretty happy with McCluster and Asamoah and totally baffled at the lack of action in the nose tackle and linebacker department.

I understand the feeling. I too was shocked as the Chiefs passed over Terrence Cody and
later, Cam Thomas during the draft. We have talked at length here on AA about the Chiefs needs at NT. While we didn’t all always agree on where NT should go on the priority list, we all did agree that it was a priority.

I have been sleeping on it and I still don’t have an answer as to why the Chiefs skipped the nose tackle position all together. I just don’t know. I do know, however, that Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel are not stupid men. They know the importance of the position. They have broken down the tape of last year’s defense and they know more about what went wrong than we do. So while I would like to be raking Pioli and Co. over the coals right now like many around the blogosphere, I am going to give the benefit of the doubt right now. The offeason is still young and I anticipate KC will still make a move at the position.

Shortly after the weekends festivities, we took a reader approval poll and the most of our readers gave the Chiefs a solid B on their draft. Out of over 700 votes and counting, here is the breakdown:

B-370 votes or 49%
A-199 votes or 29%
C-148 votes or 20%
D-32 votes or 4%
F-6 votes or 1%

So 69% of Addicts gave the Chiefs either an A or a B and only 5% gave them a failing grade.

Well, after giving it much though, my grades are in and so is my reasoning…after the jump!

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