I’m sure everyone is fairly familiar with the 2008 offensive juggernaut that swept the Cards into the Superbowl so I won’t rehash that. We know the story. A more relevant question for us Chiefs fans is what happened after that and how prominently did Breaston feature in or contribute to the post-Superbowls Cards, for better or for worse?

We’ll delve into some of that despues del jumpo.
(more…)

Source: Yardbarker.com

If the NFL teaches us one thing year in and year out it is that past success is not an indication of future sucess.

Unfortunately for the Kansas City Chiefs, Scott Pioli and Todd Haley, Matt Cassel’s successes in New England were not an indication of future sucess in Kansas City. And while Cassel’s struggles over his last 19 starts are not proof that he won’t suceed down the road, they are proof that he is not a good QB right now.

And that is a problem for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Matt Cassel apologists will jump all over this article. They will say I am being too hard on Cassel. They’ll say I am not giving him enough time. They’ll do what apologists and sycophants do; they’ll make excuses.

Before all the hate comes flying in let’s make one thing perfectly clear; no one in Kansas City wants Matt Cassel to fail. He is a great guy, he works hard and everybody likes him. Everyone, except maybe Brodie Croyle, is rooting for him.

 That should go without saying but the folks wearing the red and gold colored glasses will beg to differ. They can’t separate their love for their favorite team with what they are seeing on the field. They think just because the Chiefs are 3-1 and leading a horrible AFC West that it is foolish to complain. They spit venom when guys like Kent Babb, Jason Whitlock, Nick Wright and Sam Mellinger try to tell them the truth.

They spit venom at me.

“Wait till they lose before you start tearing down the team,” they told me after the Chiefs squeaked by the Cleveland Browns on the back of Brandon Flowers. “You just want to stir up controversy where there is none. We’re undefeated and Cassel is playing fine.”

It isn’t Cassel’s performance in the Colts game that is spurring this article and the other articles like it that will surly emerge today. It is about Cassel’s body of work since arriving in Kansas City.

(more…)

FOXSports.com has learned that the Chiefs offered the position to Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley and he has accepted. They are now trying to work out terms of a contract agreement.

This offseason has been like Christmas for me.

Fire Carl Peterson? Check!

Fire Herm “Harm” Edwards? Check!

Hire Scott Pioli? Check!

Hire Todd Haley? Check!

Tomorrow, when the ink has dried and this thing is official, we will be the envy of the league. We now have the hottest young coordinator in the game as our head coach to go along with the hottest young executive, an estimated $40 million in cap room and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Haley seems to be loved, respected and even feared by his players, and I think his football knowledge might even exceed his people skills. That was definitely not the case with one Herman Edwards.

Even if Chan Gailey is retained as offensive coordinator — and I don’t expect him to be — this is a clear message to the fans and the rest of the league. That message? That the Chiefs are only looking one way — forward.

Pro Football Talk discusses an interesting thought — Kurt Warner to the Chiefs?

If Haley ends up taking the job, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Chiefs make a play for Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in three weeks.

I had previously speculated a trade for Matt Leinart, but obviously the folks over at PFT expect the Cards to keep Leinart and let Warner walk. Yes, even after taking them to their first ever Super Bowl. You didn’t think that one little Super Bowl would make Bill Bidwell stop being cheap, did you? For a minute there, yeah, I sort of did.

But it’s a thought. We sign Warner and draft a young quarterback. We let Warner play and tutor the young QB until he’s ready to go. He was a pretty good mentor for Eli Manning, and I’m sure he helped out Leinart quite a bit. With some other moves, the Chiefs would be AFC West contenders immediately. In part because the AFC West is that bad, but also because Warner would combine with Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez to form one of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL. And, remember, there’s always that Michael Crabtree guy, too.

We’ll keep an eye on Leinart and Warner, especially now that the Patriots have franchised Matt Cassel and are rumored to be asking for two firsts in exchange for him. Yikes!

As for Haley, this is the Chiefs big second step forward towards success. We know that he and Pioli work well together. We know that the Chiefs are going to have a potent offense soon — look what Haley built in the desert in a mere two years. What the Chiefs need to do now is bring in a good defensive coordinator and pounce on defensive free agents when the market opens. As an offensive guy, Haley will need a strong D coordinator and some more talent on that side of the ball. I don’t expect him or Pioli to neglect those needs.

This is a great day in Chiefs history, fellow Addicts. I think we got the best hungry, young coach out there, and I expect him to be a perfect match for our hungry, young front office and nucleaus. Welcome to Kansas City, Todd Haley. We’re thrilled to have you!

Some KC locals think Tyler Thigpen is the answer going forward.  Everyone is allowed to have an opinion of course, but two wins compared to 11 pretty much seals the argument in Cassel’s favor.  Could he be the next Scott Mitchell? Sure, or he could be the next Tom Brady.  Cassel might end up like other QB’s who weren’t drafted by their current teams like Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, or even Brett Farve. (Farve was drafted by Atlanta originally in case your brain stuttered over that one.)

Considering KC’s track record of developing drafted QB’s, making a play for Cassel wouldn’t be a bad idea.  The Patriots have until Feb. 19 to franchise Cassel, so circle that date on your calendar.  The long and the short of it is that the Chiefs can afford Cassel, and they definitely have a need at QB despite Thiggy Smalls performance last season.  Having two starting-caliber QB’s is becoming vogue in the NFL now due to the massive amounts of injuries at the position. Chiefs fans would have to consider themselves lucky to have a Cassel and a Thigpen considering the ridiculous Brokie Croyle circus Herm brought to town the last few years.

In addition to potentially signing Matt Cassel, there are also rumors O’ plenty about shipping Larry Johnson and even Tony Gonzalez out of town on rails.  One, a malcontent RB who may well not have a lot left in the tank after signing a hefty contract.  The other, a wily veteran TE whose value may never be higher after another Pro Bowl season.  Public sentiment seems to be keep Citizen Tony and boot crybaby L.J. — diapers and all.  However, these opinions are formed with three parts emotion and one part logic considering LJ’s legal “issues” (which would maybe be non issues outside the KC fishbowl), and Tony G’s local celebrity status.

Don’t unbuckle those football helmets just because the Super Bowl is over just yet Chiefs fans…we have quite a few more things to look forward to this season, and expect them to come soon.

Larry Fitzgerald also showed what an all-world talent at receiver can do, as did Santonio Holmes. Let’s not forget that he also was also a first-round pick. The Steelers designed their entire game plan to stop Fitzgerald, and if it hadn’t of been for a few costly mistakes, he would have done just that. All credit due to the Steelers, as they won the game. But the Cardinals lost it every bit as much if they won it. It’s also funny to me that with all of this talk about defense winning championships it was Holmes, an offensive player, who ultimately delivered the championship. Roethlisberger, as much as I can’t stand him, came through, too.

To me, the game was nearly ruined by some of the most overzealous officiating I have ever seen in a big game. You can call a penalty on every freakin’ play — put away the flags, zebras. It almost evened out in the end, but the refs essentially gave the Steelers a gift field goal there when they called the three big penalties in the third quarter. It would have been a touchdown if it hadn’t of been for some inspired defense. That put the Cards in a pretty big hole. That phantom roughing-the-passer call on Dansby hurt a ton. It should have been a punt. Given the predicament, that string of calls kinda crippled the Cards.

I will give these refs credit, though. They had brass balls and weren’t scared to make any call at any time. Now, whether those were the right calls or not is a different story.

I think Whiz deferring might have cost him the game. Ultimately, it allowed the Steelers to dominate the time of possession and wear down the Cards’ D. That’s why  they couldn’t hold at the end there. They were exhausted.

Additionally, Warner is a rhythm player. We all saw what happened when he got hot in the fourth. Deferring took him out of the game. If this game goes another quarter, the Cardinals win it. I know that much. I’ve been hard on Kurt, but he did a lot of great things. That pick six was just the ultimate disaster in Super Bowl history. That’s all anybody will remember about his performance in this game.

I definitely don’t think this game can be considered a win for defense over offense. I truly don’t.

(more…)