Haley Says Weis Hasn’t Been Contacted

From the Truman Sports Complex

Charlie Weis is out as head coach at Notre Dame and the rumor grapevine has bubbled for days that his next job may be as offensive coordinator of the Chiefs.

If there has been contact with Weis by the Chiefs organization, that’s news to head coach Todd Haley.

“I can say with a clear conscious that there has been no contact,” Haley said Monday afternoon. “I’ve had no contact. Unless it’s something I don’t know about, the focus in this building is putting this team in the best possible position to succeed each week. As far as staff goes, that would be something I would have to make the decision about.”

There’s no question that Haley knows Weis.

“I shared an 8′ x 8′ office in New York (Jets) with Charlie,” Haley said. “I know Charlie about as up close and personal as you can know him.” …Read More!

Up & Down Chiefs Take Big Fall In San Diego

Todd Haley has said it dozens of times since he was named the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. He does not want yo-yo players. He does not want a yo-yo team.

Whether he likes it or not – and he does not – Haley has a yo-yo team on a roller coaster right now. They showed that again on Sunday in San Diego where they were drubbed by the Chargers 43-14.

Coming off last week’s victory against Pittsburgh in overtime, a performance like the one the Chiefs gave at Qualcomm Stadium appeared to be behind them. But if a two-game winning streak was a step forward, turning the ball over four times was two steps backwards.

“They beat us in every phase; you’ve got to give them credit,” FS Jon McGraw said of the Chargers. “It’s frustrating not being able to build on what we did last week.”

At this point, forget about building on what happened last week against the Steelers. The now 3-8 Chiefs showed just how far behind the AFC West’s best team they are right now. It’s not a distance measured in yards; more like miles and miles to go.

But as they always do, there was plenty of write and talk about. Here’s the package for this week:

• GAME STORY: Chargers batter Chiefs in all phases.
• COLUMN: Going in the wrong direction.
• OFFENSE: Ups & Down for Jamaal.
• CHARGERS & NOTES: Chambers return to SD.
• GAMEBOOK

Pre-Game 11/29 Inactives Update

The game-day inactive players for the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon against the Chargers in San Diego are: OLB Mike Vrabel, G Andy Alleman, RB Dantrell Savage, LB Justin Rogers, TE Sean Ryan, TE Jake O’Connell and LB David Herron. The inactive third quarterback is Matt Gutierrez.

The game-day inactive players for the Chargers are: CB Dante Hughes, RB Michael Bennett, S C.J. Spillman, C Nick Hardwick, OT Jon Runyan, WR Buster Davis and DE Luis Castillo. The inactive third quarterback is Charlie Whitehurst.

Only surprise among the decisions by the Chiefs would be activating rookie CB Donald Washington. It must be a concern that they are light one safety among the 45 active players.

As with last week, Andy Studebaker steps in for Vrabel and Wade Smith will open at right guard for Alleman.

Finally A Team? … Game-Day Cup O’Chiefs

It was a little thing, but it was an indication of the bigger problem the 2009 Chiefs faced.

A month ago, when QB Matt Cassel was sacked – and he was taken down a lot – he generally picked himself off the ground. There wasn’t a lot of help from his offensive teammates. They were worried about their own problems.

Fast forward to last Sunday when the Chiefs beat the Steelers in overtime. As usual, Cassel hit the ground under the Pittsburgh pass rush five times – he’s the second most sacked passer in the league – and was knocked down as many times.

But as the play ended, there were teammates offering a hand up. His offensive linemen were peeling back and knocking off late arriving Steelers who were looking to provide an extra hit. They may still have been worried about their problems, but the rest of the offensive Chiefs showed they were also concerned about their quarterback.

Again, it’s a little thing, but it’s a sign that progress has been made in turning the 2009 Chiefs into a team, rather than a group of players. As the Chiefs play the Chargers on Sunday in San Diego, they will have to take another step in its maturation as a unit, not 53 parts. Kickoff is just after 3 o’clock, with TV coverage on CBS.

“I think (it’s) getting a lot closer,” Todd Haley said about the process of his players becoming a team. “This week will be a great opportunity for us to see where we’re at in that area. But last week was an encouraging sign, as long as we build on it, as long as we continue to use that as a little bit of a stepping stone as a team.

“As long as we understand, it might be an 11-play drive but everybody knows or believes somebody is going to make a play. I’m referring to the defensive play that Andy Studebaker made (his interception in the end zone and 94-yard return.) I think we made a step, but now again it’ll be up to us to see what we do with that.” …Read More!

A Replay Worth Watching

Maybe by the time Sunday night rolls around you will have decided you’ve had enough football. Starting Thursday morning and rolling through Sunday evening was a full schedule of games, from late morning to late at night. The pros and colleges were all over the place. But there’s one more game you need to watch.

REPLAY can be seen on the Fox Sports Network on Sunday. In most areas around the country, the FSN affiliate will carry the program at 9 p.m., but check local listings just to be sure.

What is REPLAY? It’s a little slice of fantasy that became very real for two high school football teams. For over 100 years, the high schools of Easton, Pennsylvania and Philipsburg, New Jersey have finished their seasons with a Thanksgiving Day game. The towns are separated by the Delaware River and it’s only a short drive over the Northampton Street Bridge to get from one town to the other. We are talking tradition. We are talking rivalry.

Back in 1993, these teams played to a 7-all tie. This was before most states instituted overtime periods for high school ball.

The folks at Gatorade decided to offer the teams a chance to play again. Not the current squads, but the original players from that game in ’93. Sixteen years later, the Red Rovers of Easton and the Stateliners of Philipsburg met again. The game was played back in April, and I won’t spoil the ending. …Read More!

Hall Of Fame List Pared To 25

First-ballot locks Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith lead the list of 25 men who are semi-finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

The Hall of Fame announced these names on Saturday. They were selected by the HOF Selection Committee from a preliminary ballot of 131 names.

No members of the Chiefs are part of this year’s semi-finalists.

There’s little doubt that first-time eligible Rice and Smith will be part of the Class of ’10. They are the leading receiver and leading rusher in NFL history.

Other first-time eligible players are former Raiders WR Tim Brown and former Cardinals CB Aeneas Williams.

The rest of the 25 have been semi-finalists before. Here’s the complete list: …Read More!

Offensive Improvement? … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

The last time the Chiefs and Chargers played each other was not a good day for the Kansas City offense.

In fact, October 25 was the worst day of the season so far for Todd Haley’s offensive group. They had just 10 first downs, fewest of any game on the schedule. They gained 203 yards, the third weakest game of the season for the offense and 82 passing yards, its fewest of the season. QB Matt Cassel threw three interceptions, more than in any other game and he was sacked five times, which is tied for one of the worst pass protection afternoons in the 2009 season.

That’s why the Chiefs were hammered 37-7, their worst loss of the season and their worst loss at Arrowhead Stadium since 1976, when they were beaten 45-0 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Subsequent events have shown us that ugly offensive performance may have been the bottom of the barrel. As the Chiefs head to San Diego for game No. 2 of their ’09 set against the Chargers they are not exactly an offensive juggernaut. But they have become more consistent, especially in throwing the ball. They have come up with big plays and they had two games over 300 yards in total offense.

Most of all they have two consecutive victories. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/27 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

Three players have been declared out of the Chiefs game against the Chargers on Sunday, and one more is very unlikely to play.

G Andy Alleman (knee), RB Dantrell Savage (ankle) and LB Justin Rogers (thigh) were declared out of action on Friday by head coach Todd Haley.  The fourth is OLB Mike Vrabel (knee) who is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game in San Diego but is unlikely to be dressed or on the playing field.

Also on the team’s injury report to the league are LB David Herron (knee), who is listed as questionable and RB Kolby Smith (ankle) who is probable.

The Chiefs are still at 52 on the 53-man active roster and the coaches and personnel people were meeting Friday afternoon to decide how to handle the open spot. The team will either promote somebody from the practice squad, or leave the spot open. If they do the latter, they will then have to declare only seven inactive players on Sunday, not the normal eight when a team has a full roster.

Candidates to move up from the practice squad would appear to be S Ricky Price and WR Quinten Lawrence.

On the nicest weather day of the week so far, Haley decided to take his team inside to practice on Friday morning. Something about being able to turn up the crowd noise and create louder conditions to work in as the Chiefs finished up their practice week.

Haley was pleased with the focus and intensity of his players coming back after having Thanksgiving Day off, but allowed that the true test on whether the holiday off was a good move would come Sunday in San Diego.

Thanksgiving Leftovers … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

There was enough of the turkey and stuffing leftover to feed an entire section of Arrowhead Stadium. Nourished and happy, there was plenty of time spent watching football on Thanksgiving Day, or at least until we fell into a tryptophan coma.

There were no surprises in the early Turkey Day games; they went as everyone predicted. Not so in the nightcap of the tripleheader with the Broncos 26-6 pasting of the Giants. As always in the NFL, there were plenty of story lines and performances to talk about beyond the games.

So here’s a column full of football leftovers for the day after Thanksgiving.

TRADITION TRUMPS BAD FOOTBALL

The Detroit Lions weren’t always one of the worst teams in pro football. It just seems that way. In this decade they will have just one winning season; that was back in 2000, when they finished 9-7. Overall, they are 42-113 in the 2000s; one of the worst decades in the NFL.

There has been a lot of grumbling around the league about removing from the Lions schedule a home game on Thanksgiving Day. Detroit has hosted a holiday NFL game since 1934, save for a few years were the game was not held during World War II.

This year’s Packers-Lions game was the 70th in the series. It was also one of the most lop-sided, as the Packers took a 34-12 victory. Detroit QB Matthew Stafford (right) threw four interceptions and showed he was in great pain from his left shoulder injury.

The Lions have lost six in a row on Thanksgiving, by an average margin of just under 24 points. …Read More!

Chargers Continue Hot Streak & Notes

It’s usually about right now, just after Thanksgiving that the San Diego Chargers start to get serious. They’ve won a lot of games in the five or six years in December.

The 2009 Chargers have taken a different route. They decided to get hot in November and they showed it again on Sunday when they hammered the Chiefs 43-14 at Qualcomm Stadium.

“This was our most complete performance,” said Chargers head coach Norv Turner.

It was pretty impressive. On offense, they gained 426 yards and scored four touchdowns. The defense allowed less than 300 offensive yards to the Chiefs, and scored a touchdown themselves while getting four turnovers. The special teams allowed nothing.

“You want to be playing your best ball at this time of the year,” said QB Philip Rivers, who had a big afternoon, completing 21 of 28 for 317 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “Hopefully we can continue this in December like we have. We didn’t feel like we would be in this position in this division. We are going to worry about ourselves and not worry about anybody else. We’ve got to keep growing strong. We can get a lot better.

“No reason Denver can’t get as hot as they were earlier in the year. We have to stay on our streak.”

That winning streak is now six games and the Chargers are 8-3, a game ahead of the Broncos. Not bad for a team that was 2-3 back in October when they arrived at Arrowhead and started their run with a 30-point victory.

Since 2004, the Chargers are 19-4 in December games, and they’ve won 14 straight. The last time they lost a game in December was on December 31, 2005 when they lost in Denver.

Ahead of them on the ’09 schedule are four December games: at Cleveland, at Dallas, Cincinnati and at Tennessee. There are some tough games in that stretch, but if they keep playing the kind of football they showed against the Chiefs, they should win their fifth AFC West title in the last six seasons.

“I thought we had a lot of guys go out and play at a real high level,” Turner said. “I like the intensity we had. I believe we’re getting better.”

SOUR RETURN FOR CHAMBERS TO QUALCOMM

One of the few highlight of the Chiefs loss in San Diego was the continued productive play of WR Chris Chambers.

Returning to San Diego where he began his ’09 season, Chambers was the Chiefs leading receiver, grabbing seven passes for 70 yards. His second-quarter touchdown was a great play on his part, as he caught a third down pass, got enough for a first down and then went backwards into the end zone.

“That’s my goal every game, to score,” Chambers said. “And I’ve been having opportunities, more opportunities to make plays since I’ve been here. Definitely, it was a great start for me. I love getting my hands on the ball early in the game and built some momentum for myself.”

After three seasons with the Chargers, there wasn’t as much emotion for Chambers in returning for this game.

“It wasn’t all that strange,” Chambers said. “I mean, it’s just another game for the most part. A little bit of emotion. I really did enjoy playing with my teammates in San Diego and definitely have a lot of respect for them; they have a lot of respect for me. It was just fun going against the guys.

“There was no jawing or anything. We were just having fun.”

Chambers wishes his old buddies well over the next five weeks and beyond.

“Hats off to them,” Chambers said. “They looked like a poised team, like they are really going full-steam ahead right now. Hopefully they can win a championship this year.”

ALMOST EVERY RUN’S A RECORD FOR L.T.

As big rushing days go, it will not go down as one of the best in the storied career of LaDainian Tomlinson.

But Sunday’s victory against the Chiefs was still a special day for Tomlinson.

His 39 yards on 13 carries included a pair of touchdown runs. The yardage total moved him into tenth position in career rushing yardage in NFL history. He now has 12,257 rushing yards, moving past Marcus Allen (12,243) and Edgerrin James (12,246).

Just ahead of him now in ninth place are Marshall Faulk (12,279) and Jim Brown (12,312).

In 17 games against the Chiefs over his nine-year career, Tomlinson has carried 324 times for 1,488 yards and 13 TD runs. He’s also caught 77 passes for 477 yards with one TD catch.

SPECIAL TEAMS STUFF

The Chiefs kicking game was solid, but average against the Chargers.

Extraordinary returner Darren Sproles was able to return one punt, for no yards. He had a fair catch and the other two punts were downed. WR Terrance Copper made a great play on Colquitt’s fi rst punt when he was able to flip the ball backwards as he was falling backwards towards the end zone.

Sproles averaged 22 yards on four kick returns, below his season average of 24.9 yards. His longest was 32 yards.

K Ryan Succop’s three kickoffs went to the minus-three, three and four-yard line.

P Dustin Colquitt kicked four times for a 40.3-yard gross and net average. He had two punts inside the 20-yard line which set a Chiefs record for punts inside the 20 in one season. Colquitt has 31 and that’s two more than Louie Aguiar had in 1995.

Colquitt had a 64-yard free kick after the Chargers picked up a safety when QB Matt Cassel was tackled in the end zone.

In the return game, Bobby Wade had one punt return for two yards. RB Jamaal Charles had two kickoff returns for 61 yards, including a 45-yarder. Rookie Quinten Lawrence returned five kickoffs, averaging 18.8 yards. His best return was for 24 yards.

ZEBRA REPORT

Referee Don Carey and his crew were pretty much a non-factor in this game. They walked off 13 penalties for 80 yards.

They nailed the Chiefs for five penalties walking off 25 yards. There were two penalties against the offense, as LT Branden Albert was hit for a false start and QB Matt Cassel was penalized for intentionally grounding the ball. His throw came in the end zone, so the play ended up in a safety for San Diego.

Defensively, DE Tyson Jackson was offsides, CB Brandon Carr was hit with a pass interference call and no name was given for a defensive holding call.

There was one coach’s challenge, as Turner threw the red flag on Tomlinson’s fumble near the goal line that the Chiefs recovered. The call on the field was affirmed.

PERSONNEL MATTERS

The game-day inactive players for the Chiefs were OLB Mike Vrabel, LB Justin Rogers and ILB David Herron, RB Dantrell Savage, G Andy Alleman and healthy scratches in TEs Sean Ryan and Jake O’Connell. The inactive third quarterback was Matt Gutierrez.

For the Chargers their game-day inactive players were: CB Dante Hughes, RB Michael Bennett, S C.J.Spiller, C Nick Hardwick, OT Jon Runyan, WR Buster Davis and DE Luis Castillo. The inactive third quarterback was Charlie Whitehurst.

Former Chiefs DL Alfonso Boone started at DE for the injured Castillo.

As expected and as happened last week, Andy Studebaker started for Vrabel and Wade Smith opened at right guard for Alleman. Haley went into the game with six receivers and nine defensive backs on the active roster.

Dressed for the Chiefs was Lawrence, who was promoted from the practice squad on Saturday to fill the roster slot created when DB Maurice Leggett went to the injured-reserve list last week with a shoulder injury.

ASSORTED OTHER STUFF

The Chargers safety in the fourth quarter was the first against the chiefs since October 26, 2003, when Buffalo blocked a punt out of the end zone … the Chargers lost S Eric Weddle (knee) and OLB Shawne Merriman (foot) from their starting defense in the first half. Neither player returned after they left the game … ILB Demorrio Williams led the Chiefs with nine tackles, with ILB Corey Mays and DE Glenn Dorsey contributing seven each … CB Brandon Flowers would have to be the Chiefs defensive player of the game, with five tackles, two passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Offense: Ups & Down For Jamaal

When the Chiefs personnel department evaluated Jamaal Charles before the 2008 NFL Draft there were a few facts that jumped out about the young man from Port Arthur, Texas.

He was fast. He had moves. He was tough. He fumbled too much.

On Sunday in San Diego against the Chargers, Charles was all of those things. He was fast, he showed his moves and he did some tough running. It was the type of performance that has him on the cusp of becoming a star in the league.

But, then there’s his problem with fumbling. He had a big one in the second quarter that stopped the Chiefs in San Diego territory and was turned into a Chargers touchdown. It was one of four giveaways that killed any chance the Chiefs had of winning the game, as the Bolts took decisive 43-14 victory.

“We turned the ball over four times and we can’t do that right now,” Charles said. “We were moving the ball. We got into a groove and we scored and we were heading for another one when I turned the ball over.”

The play came after the Chargers had scored their second touchdown to lead the game 14-7. San Diego’s first score was setup by a Matt Cassel interception, also on the San Diego side of the field.

The Chiefs started their possession at their 16-yard line and picked up two first downs and moved into Chargers territory. On a second-and-seven play, the Chiefs ran a draw and Charles burst through the right side, bounced off a tackler and then was stopped by CB Quentin Jammer and FS Steve Gregory.

But Charles kept moving his feet, trying to get an extra yard. That’s when the ball was knocked out of his hands, landed on the field and was recovered by LB Brandon Silar.

“I should have had two hands on the ball,” Charles said. “It was my fault. It led to another touchdown and it got bad real soon after that. Coach always tells me to cover the ball with two hands, but I thought I was still about to break and I only had one hand on it.”

Seven plays and 61 yards later, the Chargers scored again to make the score 21-7 and the game was all but over.

“The fumble really hurt us because we were trying to answer a score by them and we were moving down field pretty well,” said head coach Todd Haley. “If we can get points there, something positive there, we might have been able to hang in the game.

“Minus that, I think Jamaal is showing that he could potentially be a pretty good back.”

Charles was productive, running for 93 yards on 14 carries, including a 31-yard run. He caught three passes for 54 yards, including one for 49 yards. He returned two kickoffs for 61 yards, including a 45-yard return. Those were the three longest plays on the day for the Chiefs.

In total, Charles’ day was 19 touches for 208 yards.

“The situation we are in right now, every time I touch the ball I try to make something happen,” said Charles. “It’s real frustrating. We just have to come together as a team. We were fighting as a team at the start. After I fumbled the ball, everything just went downhill.

“I believe we can still win the rest of our games. I’m not giving up.”

COLUMN: One step forward, two steps back

There were some who saw the Chiefs victory last Sunday over Pittsburgh as a watershed moment for the franchise.

Well … not so much.

There’s no question the Chiefs ability to hang with the Steelers and eventually end up with a victory was a high in what has been three seasons of football disaster. But if the ’09 team took a step forward with that outcome, it got knocked back three steps on this Sunday by the San Diego Chargers.

It’s nice to beat the defending Super Bowl champions, but the Steelers are old news and do not look like they have much of a chance to repeat. In light of the Chiefs performance at Qualcomm Stadium, last week’s victory may have said more about the ’09 Steelers than it did about the ’09 Chiefs. …Read More!

Chargers Blast Drowning Chiefs 43-14

On Saturday the first storm in five months blew through San Diego, dropping heavy rain and churning the Pacific Ocean so much so that huge waves crashed the southern California shore. Several fishing boats were capsized in the channel from the ocean to Mission Bay.

On Sunday, the Pacific was quiet, winds were calm and the skies were blue. But the Chiefs were hit by a football tsunami wearing pale blue and lightning bolts on their helmets. The Chargers blasted the Chiefs 43-14 and drowning any momentum or confidence that Todd Haley’s team might have developed in their two-game winning streak.

“I looked at this game as an opportunity to see where we were,” said Haley. “It was an opportunity to see if we could take another little baby step. Clearly, we didn’t today.”

In two games between these teams, San Diego has won by 30 and 29 points, outscoring Kansas City 80-21 and showing everyone from the Hunt family, to GM Scott Pioli, Haley and their staffs how far away the Chiefs are away from being able to play with the AFC West’s best team.

“In this process of trying to become a better team, this clearly was an opportunity for us to grow as a team,” said Haley. “I just don’t think we handled this very well.” …Read More!

Not For Long … Thanksgiving Cup O’Chiefs

A hearty Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Times are tough, but we have so much to give thanks for in this great country. To family, friends and readers, thank you.

They call it the Not For Long League and have for years.

Why? Just consider some of the situations we’ve seen in this 2009 NFL season.

A month ago, Denver coach Josh McDaniels was the NFL’s boy wonder. After a disruptive off-season, the Broncos looked like they were headed for a long, long season. But after six games, Denver was 6-0 and McDaniels was being hailed as brilliant young coaching genius. QB Kyle Orton (left) was hailed for his play.

Thanksgiving night, the Broncos will play the New York Giants. McDaniels is no longer the brightest star in the coaching sky. His team is 6-4 and now in second place in the AFC West.

Not For Long. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/25 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs placed DB Maurice Leggett on the injured-reserve list on Wednesday, ending his 2009 season.

Leggett suffered a shoulder  injury on Sunday against the Steelers. It’s the second time his season has ended by being placed on the IR list with a shoulder problem. The same thing happened last year when he injured his shoulder on December 7 against Denver. He missed two games and was then placed on the IR list on December 26th.

Todd Haley said Leggett is headed for surgery. “It’s a pretty significant (injury),” said Haley. “We had moved him to safety and he was really excited about it and showing real promise. So this is a setback. He’s a great kid, with great enthusiasm and I think he’ll put everything into it to get back.”

No word yet on who will replace him on the 53-man active roster.

Despite chilly temperatures, a couple rain drops and a nice cold wind from the north, Haley had the Chiefs outside for practice again Wednesday morning. …Read More!

Chambers Back To San Diego … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Chris Chambers didn’t see it coming.

It was Monday morning after the Chargers beat the Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium. In that game Chambers had just one catch, but it was a big one. On a third-down play in the fourth quarter, he made an over the shoulder grab stayed in bounds and picked up a big first down to keep alive a drive that killed the clock. San Diego won 24-16.

Chambers arrived in the Chargers locker room and was told that the head coach wanted to see him. He arrived in Norv Turner’s office and was told he was going to be released.

“My playing time was shrinking and that was a sign, but I wasn’t expecting what happened,” Chambers said on Tuesday after the Chiefs went through their first practice of the week. “From the second game on, I was rotating. My minutes were getting cut here and there and didn’t get a lot of encouragement.”

About 36 hours after getting the news, Chambers walked off a flight at KCI. His new football home was Arrowhead Stadium, as the Chiefs claimed him on waivers.

Just under four weeks after he walked into Turner’s office, Chambers has become a growing part of the Chiefs offense. He’s already caught 10 passes for 249 yards in three games. He’s got a pair of touchdown catches and his 61-yard play against the Steelers set up the game winning FG in overtime.

And, Sunday he’s going back to San Diego to face his old team as the Chiefs seek their third-straight victory. …Read More!

Texans Fall On Thanksgiving To Titans

The Texans-Chiefs franchise is celebrating its 50th season of play in 2009. This is another look at the founding team of the American Football League and its first season of play.

The Dallas Texans won the fourth quarter of their contest with the New York Titans, 22-13.

Only problem was the Titans won the first three quarters and thus won the game 41-35. It was the highest scoring game in the first season of the American Football League and was one of those games that earned the league the reputation of being wide-open and built on passing. A small crowd of 14,344 sat in the Polo Grounds (right) and watched the game on Thanksgiving. The game was also broadcast on national television, which helped create the aura of the wild, high scoring AFL.

The teams combined for 76 points, nine touchdowns, 814 yards in total offense, 527 net passing yards, as the quarterbacks were a combined 35 of 70.

Dallas entered the fourth quarter down 28-13, and New York scored the first touchdown of the period. But the Titans missed the extra point, so it was 34-13 with 11 minutes to play. That’s when the Texans got back in the game, as they scored three touchdowns and a two-pointer after one of those scores in the final period.

It wasn’t enough, as the Texans record fell to 5-6 on the season. The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Titans.

After the game, Hank Stram said his team needed rest and a return home to Dallas more than anything. The Texans had played six days earlier in Boston, and then spent the week practicing at a resort in the Catskill Mountains, before showing up for the holiday game in New York.

“We’ve played our two worst games the last two weeks, when we needed to play our best,” Stram said of the losses to the Patriots and Titans. “The entire squad has let down. The tackling is poor. New York ran 45 yards for a touchdown on a play that should have gained maybe 15 yards. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/24 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs are a bruised and sore team just two days removed from their victory over Pittsburgh, but there were only two players not taking part in the team’s Tuesday morning practice.

“We moved around pretty good; I felt like we made progress,” Todd Haley said of the session. “There was good energy from the guys and we got off to a good start,  which we’ll need against this team (San Diego).”

Haley changed the team’s schedule this week, moving the players normal day off from Tuesday to Thanksgiving Day. Thus, Tuesday was like a Wednesday around the Chiefs facility.

The team is not required to give a practice participation report until Wednesday under league rules and Haley was unwilling to provide that  information a day early. But DB Maurice Leggett (shoulder) and LB Justin Rogers (thigh) were the only players not taking part in the session. …Read More!

Winning Decisions … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

A game of football is built on decision making. Coaches, players and officials make decisions on top of decisions, dozens of them every minute.

When a team wins, the decisions are good, even if they are bad. If a team loses the game, the decisions are bad, even if they were good.

Todd Haley was a genius on Sunday, just a week after he was considered a dolt even in a winning effort against Oakland. Getting the unexpected victory over the Steelers was built on many decisions and a lot of them went the Chiefs way.

Here are four decisions that came down on Sunday that helped the Chiefs to victory.

1. CHIEFS WIN OPENING TOSS AND TAKE THE BALL

The last two times the Chiefs won the opening coin toss, they deferred their choice to the second half. But not this week, as they decided to take the kickoff, while the Steelers chose to defend the west end zone.

We all know what happened next: Jamaal Charles ran the kickoff back 97 yards to put the Chiefs on the scoreboard after just 16 seconds

So why did the Chiefs make the decision to take the kick?

“That’s just an instinct thing,” said Haley. “You try to talk to your staff the night before the game and make a decision. You might have to change on the fly, because of weather conditions, a lot of different factors. That will be something different every week.” …Read More!

From The Mouth of Todd 11/23

From the Truman Sports Complex

The media horde gathered for Todd Haley’s weekly press conference, the first one to come after two consecutive Chiefs victories.

Haley was not celebrating or ebullient as he stood behind the podium. It was 24 hours after the Chiefs overtime victory and the head coach had moved on. There were the San Diego Chargers to get ready for this weekend.

But he did have a few things to say about the game and how things played out in the victory over Pittsburgh. Here are the highlights.

On whether he’s concerned about how his team will handle winning two games in a row.

“That wasn’t the Super Bowl. That was our 10th game of the season. We are just going to keep doing what we are doing, trying to stay consistent and pushing the players hard. We are trying to get the players ready each week with a plan that can lead to success. ”

On Jamaal Charles and his contributions to the team right now.

“He’s making progress that we are all excited about seeing. He’s not a big back by any means but he’s showing some substance. What you saw from Jamaal yesterday were some real positive signs. He took some hits and didn’t go down, and almost broke out of the one in overtime. ” …Read More!

Nobody Saw This One Coming!

From Arrowhead Stadium

If at 12:02 p.m. Sunday you thought the Chiefs could beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, then head immediately to Las Vegas because you are on a roll.

By 12:03 p.m., everybody knew that a Chiefs victory was suddenly possible, after Jamaal Charles shocked the world by taking the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. It was a quick strike that said a lot. It shouted that the Chiefs were not going to roll up and die in facing the defending Super Bowl champions.

It would be three hours-plus before the Chiefs were able to secure the 27-24 victory on Ryan Succop’s 22-yard field goal in overtime.

The victory ended a 10-game home losing streak, if Arrowhead Stadium could be called a home game on Sunday. The stands were filled with fans wearing black and gold and twirling those Terrible Towels. The Chiefs say they sold 70,261 tickets to this game, but not that many were in the stands and a large number of them were cheering for the visitors.

Although some Chiefs admitted the lack of support bothered them, they didn’t play like it, especially in the fourth quarter when they had a drive to tie the game. They came back in the overtime for a drive to set up the winning field goal.

Oh, there was so much to write about. Here it is:

• GAME STORY – Gutty Chiefs surprise Steelers.
• COLUMN – Haley Gets A Big Victory.
• PLAY OF THE GAME – Jamaal Charles kickoff return TD.
• DEFENSE – Wheaton College’s Finest.
• NOTES – Stunned Steelers.
• GAMEBOOK

Pre-Game Report 11/22 Inactives Update

From Arrowhead Stadium

11:30 a.m. CST – If the early crowd is any indication – and frequently it is not – this might be a Steelers  home game today. Terrible Towel waving fans dominate the lower level of seats right now and they were very loud when the black and gold ran on to the field for warm ups.

11:10 a.m. CST – Kicking towards the west end zone, K Ryan Succop was good from 51 yards hitting the back net on the fly. There is n o apparent wind on the floor of Arrowhead right now.

11:00 a.m. CST – On the field early handling kick returns are RB Jamaal Charles, WR Lance Long and WR Terrance Copper. Handling punts are WR Bobby Wade and DB Maurice Leggett.

10:45 a.m. CST – With OLB Mike Vrabel out, Andy Studebaker will get the start opposite Tamba Hali. It will be his first NFL start. The Chiefs may take Studebaker out  in the nickel defense and sub another LB or a defensive lineman. At right guard Wade Smith will start for the inactive Andy Alleman. There are three TEs active today, as Leonard Pope, Sean Ryan and Brad Cottam will be on the field. And, as has become a Chiefs custom in this ’09 season, FB Tim Castille had his first practice on Wednesday and is active for the game.

10:30 a.m. CST – Game-day inactive players for the Chiefs are OLB Mike Vrabel, OLB Justin Rogers, RG Andy Alleman, RB Dantrell Savage, CB Donald Washington, TE Jake O’Connell and LB David Herron. Matt  Gutierrez is the inactive third quarterback. …Read More!

Game-Day Cup O’Chiefs

“This is a great challenge for us. It’s an opportunity to show that we’ve grown as a team.”

That was Matt Cassel talking about today’s Chiefs-Steelers game at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is noon and TV coverage is on CBS.

Challenge it certainly is, what with the Chiefs being 2-7 and the Steelers are 6-3. Pittsburgh also happens to be the defending Super Bowl champions, and of course we know the Chiefs are 8-33 over the last three seasons. That’s the biggest reason the gambling point-spread on this game has the Steelers 12 to 13-point favorites.

How much the Chiefs might have grown as a team is debatable. They secured victory No. 2 last Sunday in Oakland and got a great deal of help from the Raiders, who like them are one of the league’s bad teams right now. This meeting is likely to show two things: the Chiefs have grown, and they are still very far, far behind the best teams in the league like Pittsburgh.

With his black and gold roots, Todd Haley does not try to hide his admiration of what the Steelers have done through the years, maintaining their place as a contender each year and winning two of the last four Super Bowl trophies to add to the four from days of yore.

“They’re consistent in all areas – personnel, how they draft, all areas,” Haley said. “They don’t panic. If things don’t go real well early they don’t panic; they’ve proven that over the years. I think that this model would be a great one to follow as would some other teams obviously; New England being one of those teams and Indianapolis, Philadelphia. …Read More!

Studebaker Gets Rolling … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

The last time Andy Studebaker was in the starting lineup for a game it was his Wheaton College Thunder playing North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the North Central campus.

The crowd was right around 5,000 people.

When Studebaker goes out for the first play on the Chiefs defense Sunday afternoon, there will be about 60,000 fans sitting in Arrowhead Stadium, or more than watched his college team over an entire season.

Studebaker will not be awed by the scene. In 15 games over the last two seasons, he’s already put behind him the transition from Division III college football to the glamour of professional football.

For the Illinois native, Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers is about showing the Chiefs he has a future in the NFL.

“All any player wants is a chance to play,” Studebaker said. “It’s exciting to get the opportunity.”

Studebaker will step into the starting spot that for nine games has belonged to Mike Vrabel. For the Chiefs defense, losing the veteran linebacker is a big blow; he’s been one of the unit’s most consistent performers and he provided on-field leadership that is impossible to replace.

When you put the numbers down on paper, it’s quite a change going from Vrabel to Studebaker: …Read More!

College Preview: Punt & Kick Returners

It has been 70 games since the Chiefs have had a kickoff return for a touchdown; October 2, 2005, Dante Hall vs. Philadelphia.

It has been 55 games since the Chiefs have had a punt return for a touchdown; October 1, 2006, Hall vs. San Francisco.

Right now, the Chiefs are 22nd in the league on punt return average and 24th in kick return average. They haven’t come close to a scoring return this season. Or last season and the season before that.

If Pioli/Haley hope to turn around the Chiefs on the field and put more victories in the record book, they need more weapons and the biggest addition would be a returner who can break the big one.

There are quite a few top returners who will be available in the 2010 NFL Draft. Some are big names, like Clemson RB C.J. Spiller (above). Others are highly rated players in the pre-draft rankings, like Alabama CB Javier Arenas and CB Perrish Cox of Oklahoma State.

Others are from smaller programs, like LeRoy Vann of Florida A&M, RB Terrence Holt of Austin Peay and CB Scotty McGee of James Madison.

Somewhere in the pool of talent, the Chiefs must find the next Percy Harvin, Lardarius Webb and Johnny Knox – all rookies who have returned kickoffs for touchdowns. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/20

From the Truman Sports Complex

A streak of 113 consecutive games played by OLB Mike Vrabel will likely end on Sunday as a left knee injury will keep the 13-year veteran out of action against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The last time Vrabel was not dressed for his team’s game was October 12, 2003 when the New England Patriots played the New York Giants.

Vrabel will be listed as doubtful when the Chiefs turn in their injury report to the league office late Friday afternoon.

RG Andy Alleman and RB Dantrell Savage will also be listed  doubtful to play against the Steelers; Alleman because of a right knee injury and Savage with a left ankle sprain.

Also on the injury report are LBs David Herron (knee) and Justin Rogers (thigh) and they are listed as questionable.

Vrabel, Alleman, Rogers and Savage did not practice on Friday morning as the Chiefs went through their final workout before facing the Steelers on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Haley Suffers From Hypocycloids … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

Once a person becomes infected, they are largely helpless to do anything about this powerful force that’s taken up residence in them. When it enters the blood stream, it quickly moves to the heart and brain and never leaves.

They are hypocycloids.

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley’s blood contains hypocycloids. He’s had them since birth and no medication known to man can rid his body of them. Haley will work very hard this weekend to keep his personal hypocycloids under control.

Hypocycloids are those three stars that are part of the logo for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yellow, orange and blue stars, they signify the elements needed to make steel: coal, iron ore and steel scrap. Hypocycloids are diamond shapes with inward curving edges, creating stars with four points. Developed as the logo for the American steel industry right around 1960, the Steelers first put them on their gold helmets in 1962. The next season they changed to the black helmets they wear today. The logo went along.

Ever since, the three hypocycloids have come to represent the professional football team of Pittsburgh, and they’ve been coursing through his veins for the better part of Haley’s 42 years.

And Sunday, he will see them again as the Steelers visit Arrowhead Stadium to take on Haley’s Chiefs. …Read More!

Play Of The Game: Charles kickoff return TD

From Arrowhead Stadium

It does not happen often that a kickoff gets returned for a touchdown; especially for the Kansas City Chiefs. In 49 previous seasons of football, there had been 18 kick return scores by the Texans-Chiefs. That’s about one every three seasons or so.

The Chiefs were due. They were long overdue. They had gone 70 games without a kickoff returned for a touchdown.

Jamaal Charles took care of that. All he needed was 16 seconds. It just so happens it was the first 16 seconds of Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and Steelers.

It was the first play and it was the play of the game: a 97-yard return for a touchdown to got the Chiefs on the scoreboard first and let everyone know, including themselves, that they had come to compete with the Steelers. In the end, they not only did that, but they won the game, 27-24 in overtime.

In the week of preparation for the game, the Chiefs had talked a lot about the Steelers and their kickoff coverage unit. Pittsburgh was ranked 29th in the league, giving up an average return of 25.9 yards. More importantly, they had already given up three return TDs, and they had all come in the previous four games.

Make that four out of five.

“We talked all week about how specials teams had to make a play and how their kick (coverage) team wasn’t all that good,” said Charles. “People had been scoring on them, so coach was talking about how we needed to take one to the house this week.”

Charles settled under Jeff Reed’s kickoff on the left side of the field. The Chiefs had set up a right return, so Charles had to scamper sideways a bit to get in line with the blocking scheme. Once he did, he turned the corner and he was gone.

“I saw him coming my way and I just made sure I got a hat on my guy,” said TE Leonard Pope, who was on the far right of the second line of kick return blockers. “All you have to do is give him an alley and he’ll go.”

Also on the right side of that second line of blockers was OLB Andy Studebaker.

“That one was a long time coming because we’ve been so close,” said Studebaker. “I hate when you hear players and coaches say we were one block away from springing something, but sometimes it’s true. We had been close.”

Once Charles got through the right side, an alley opened up and he had to break one tackle before he was off to the races.

“I guess they all just bit in where the ball was at and I just kept running and everyone just kept on their assignments and it opened up,” said Charles. “It was just perfect, perfect blocks. I broke a tackle and just went to the house. ”

It was the first Chiefs kickoff return for a touchdown since October 2, 2005 when Dante Hall returned one 96 yards against Philadelphia. Other than Hall and Tamarick Vanover, who combined had 10 TDs, Charles is the first Chiefs player to score on a kickoff return since RB Jon Vaughn took one back 91 yards in 1994 against Miami.

Defense: Remarkable Day For Studebaker

From Arrowhead Stadium

It will go down as one of the more remarkable stories in the first 50 seasons of Chiefs football.

A Division III defensive end gets switched to outside linebacker with a new coaching staff installing a new defensive scheme. With 15 games of NFL playing experience, almost all of it on special teams, this young man gets his first NFL start. It comes against the defending Super Bowl champions.

And all Wheaton College’s Andy Studebaker did was earn himself the defensive star of the game, as he grabbed two interceptions, was credited with five tackles and shared a sack of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He also helped knock Big Ben out of the game in overtime with a hit.

In the Chiefs improbable 27-24 victory over the Steelers, Studebaker said hello to the NFL.

“That was a blast,” Studebaker said. “What an afternoon.”

The 24-year old Studebaker was replacing veteran OLB Mike Vrabel, who is dealing with a knee injury that’s likely going to keep him out of action for several weeks. Although, as Vrabel watched the game from the Chiefs sideline he was probably thinking he needed to get back on the field as soon as possible. He doesn’t want to go the way of Wally Pipp.

Not to say after one start that Studebaker is in the class of Lou Gehrig. But what happened was not an accident.

“You get a guy like Andy Studebaker, who I said all off-season there was nobody that was better,” said Todd Haley. “And then to see it translated into some of the things that kid did out there today; I’m happy some of that is starting to show.”

Maybe the best indicator on how remarkable Studebaker’s performance was comes in his pedigree. Yes, he was a sixth-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that has drafted very well for the last decade. But he wasn’t ready to play in Philly last year, which is why he was on the practice squad. That’s when he was picked off by the Chiefs for the final six games of the ’08 season.

Then this year it was moving from defensive end to outside linebacker. But every day, Studebaker got a little bit better. He’s one of the most complete athletes on the team, when it comes to the combined traits of speed, strength and quickness. Special teams blocking and coverage was his forte until Sunday against the Chiefs.

“I just wanted to go out and play well and help the team win,” said Studebaker. “I was in and out of there with Pierre (Walters). I’m on all the special teams, so they wanted to give me a break every now and then.”

In fact, that Studebaker got those interceptions was a surprise. When the Chiefs were in their base 3-4 defense, Studebaker was at LOLB. But coordinator Clancy Pendergast came up with two variations of his nickel defense and Walters would come in for Studebaker in both nickels.

But Studebaker’s first interception came early in the third quarter when the Chiefs were in the base defense, and he was trailing behind Pittsburgh TE Heath Miller. Roethlisberger’s throw hit Miller in the hands, and bounced in the air, where Studebaker grabbed the ball and picked up two yards before he was brought down. Seven plays later, the Chiefs added a touchdown and pulled within three points of the Steelers.

Later in the third quarter, Studebaker got interception No. 2. This one was huge, and it also came on a first down play. Roethlisberger was hit just as he released the ball by OLB Tamba Hali and the ball fluttered into the end zone, where Studebaker grabbed it and started running. And running, and running.

By the team he was dragged down from behind by Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall, the ball was at the Pittsburgh eight-yard line. That turnover set up a field goal.

That’s two Studebaker interceptions and 10 points for the Chiefs.

“One was a batted ball and the other, Tamba got to him with pressure and the ball came wobbling out,” said Studebaker. “It was team defense, the whole team fitting together and I couldn’t have made those interceptions without the rest of the team.”

Studebaker became the first player from Wheaton College to start an NFL game. That’s no big deal since only one other player from the Division III school has ever played before in an NFL game. His name was Doug Rothschild. He was also a linebacker and he played for the Chicago Bears in the three replacement games when the real NFL players were on strike back in the 1987 season.

More than likely, Studebaker will get his second start next Sunday in San Diego. It will be hard to top what went down with his first one.

“I can’t wait to see the tape, but once we do, it’s done,” said Studebaker. “Can’t celebrate for long, we got more games to play.”

Sounds like a veteran already.

COLUMN: Haley’s Comet Falls On Steelers

From Arrowhead Stadium

You will probably read, see and hear a bunch of malarkey about how it was a kinder, gentler Todd Haley directing his team on the sidelines Sunday as the Chiefs faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Don’t believe it. Todd Haley was the same guy watching his team upset the Steelers as he was last Sunday when his team beat the Oakland Raiders, or the Sunday before that when the Chiefs lost in Jacksonville.

He was a week wiser and smarter, but he was the same Todd Haley.

“I’m going to be me every day,” said Haley.

If it seemed he was a bit less like the pit bull that has prowled the Chiefs sideline all year, it was obvious why.

“It’s easy to be positive when good things are happening,” said Haley.

And boy did good things happen for the Chiefs on Sunday against the Steelers. All the lessons that Haley has tried to impart to his team over the last nine months were driven home in front of a crowd that could have easily been in Heinz Field there were so many Pittsburgh followers.

The Chiefs did not give up. They kept plugging. They kept working. They kept doing all those things that coaches pound into their heads day-after-day, week-after-week, season-after-season. But no matter how much a team knows that the coach’s message is true, if they don’t have success, it starts to become an annoying drone.

A team needs some sugar.

“You just need some positive results or otherwise you’re just talking into the air,” said Haley. “We push them hard and my philosophy is I’m not going to accept average or below. This job is not for the faint of heart and not a lot of games have been won around here.

“It’s nice to get a little reward against a team like that. I thought the guys really showed heart and guts.” …Read More!

Gutty Chiefs Beat Steelers In Overtime

From Arrowhead Stadium

On an afternoon when the Steelers Nation took over Arrowhead Stadium and turned it into a Terrible Towel waving horde that made it Heinz Field West, the Chiefs put together their best performance in two years, make that three years, maybe longer than that.

With their normal home-field advantage gone, the Chiefs did not give up. They were not pretty at times, they were far from perfect. But when Ryan Succup’s 22-yard FG pierced the uprights in the east end zone the Chiefs had a 27-24 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Obviously it’s a big win for this team,” head coach Todd Haley said. “We’re a young team and I really feel like we’ve been making progress. I felt like going into this game this would be a great opportunity to measure where we are as a team.”

This wasn’t a victory over the horrid Raiders or the bumbling Redskins. These were the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, the 6-3 on the season Steelers. That Pittsburgh is now 6-4 on the season and the Chiefs are 3-7 was testimony that yes, the red and gold are improving.

“That’s what we’ve wanted to show everybody, that we are getting better as a team,” said WR Bobby Wade. “Sometimes when you are losing it’s hard to see the improvement, but everyone in here knew it was happening. Now, everybody knows, the fans, the media, the rest of the league.” …Read More!

Practice Report 11/19 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

More and more it looks like Andy Studebaker will be starting in the Chiefs defense on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Starting OLB Mike Vrabel spent another day out of practice because of a left knee injury. It’s doubtful the Chiefs will go with Vrabel for this game.

And th means the 24-year old product of Division III Wheaton College will be in the Chiefs defense. Studebaker got playing time in the second half last week and held down the position quite well.

“You are never as good as you think you are and never as bad as you think you are,” Studebaker said after watching the tape  of the Oakland game.  “I left the game and thought I fit in the defense pretty well, but at the same time I made some mistakes too. This week, I’m working on minimizing those.

“It was game time-situation type stuff, things I thought I saw, but didn’t happen.” …Read More!

Longing For The Chance … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

When Lance Long walks into the Chiefs locker room, there a sense of something out of place with his presence in the group.

NFL locker rooms are full of physical freaks. I’m not talking circus style freaks, but just remarkable physical specimens. There are little guys who have thigh muscles bigger around than some people’s waists. There are big guys who have enough fast twitch fibers in their body that they can run faster than guys who weigh 100 pounds less.

Lance Long just doesn’t fit. When he walks in the door you expect the security guard to come running in, grab him around the collar and escort him out as a trespasser.

It’s just that the Chiefs wide receiver looks so normal. The 24-year old native of Michigan is listed at 5-11, which is generous; maybe if he’s standing on his tiptoes. Long supposedly weighs 186 pounds, but he must have been weighed after a really big dinner, with a couple rocks in his pocket.

“I’m not the prototypical NFL wide receiver,” Long said with a smile.

But there he is in the Chiefs locker room, and there he is on the football field Sunday afternoon, getting more and more playing time in the Chiefs offense.

“It’s just been a true blessing what’s happened for me,” said Long. “Just to get an opportunity to come in and help the team out, to do whatever I can, whether it’s on offense or special teams. It’s been a lot of fun.

“I’m just trying to get better each day.” …Read More!

Stunned Steelers & Other Notes

From Arrowhead Stadium

Losing in overtime to a 2-7 team is not something that happens much to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is a franchise that has won 100 regular season games in this decade.

Maybe that explained the stunned atmosphere of the Steelers locker room after the Chiefs beat them 27-24 in overtime.

“I have to have this football team better prepared to play and ultimately we have to play better than what we played today,” said Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. “We are capable of much m ore than that. You have to tip your hat to the Chiefs because they played well enough to win.

“But that’s not what we are capable of and that is not us. It won’t be us. It was us today.”

It was a remarkable afternoon, where the Steelers racked up 515 yards of total offense, but turned the ball over three times that helped set up 10 points for the Chiefs.

And they didn’t have their quarterback at the end, as Ben Roethlisberger left in overtime with head trauma after taking a Derrick Johnson knee to his head at the end of a scramble.

“It was a concussion-oriented thing,” Tomlin said. “I don’t have a lot of information in terms of where he is or his level of availability. We will have more information as we proceed.”

Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the Steelers locker room that he did not know if he had a concussion, but he felt fine.

He was replaced by Charlie Batch, who wasn’t able to get the Chiefs into a decent position to try an overtime field goal to win. But then the Steelers hurt themselves badly with the turnovers and penalties, eight of those for 85 yards.

“You can say we beat ourselves, but number one you have to give credit to them because they played well and did enough to win the game,” Batch said of the Chiefs. “Typically when you’re on the minus side of the turnover ratio the outcomes doesn’t favor your direction.”

Also under the category of beating themselves was allowing the 97-yard kickoff return by Jamaal Charles to start the game. It was the fourth kickoff return for a score against the Steelers in the last five games.

“It appeared we missed two to three tackles on the play,” said Tomlin. “When you do that, a guy has a chance to go yard on you.”

STUDEBAKER’S RETURN

When OLB Andy Studebaker grabbed an interception two yards deep in the end zone and ran all the way to the Pittsburgh eight-yard line, that 94-yard return was among the longest in franchise history, and certainly the longest by a linebacker.

Here’s where Studebaker’s run ranks:

• 102 yards    Gary Barbaro            December 11, 1977 vs. Seattle
• 100 yards    Tim Collier                 December 18, 1977 at Oakland
• 99 yards       Dave Grayson           December 17, 1961 vs. N.Y. Titans
• 99 yards       Kevin Ross                 September 6, 1992 at San Diego
• 94 yards       Andy Studebaker    November 22, 2009 vs. Pittsburgh

SPECIAL TEAMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Charles kick return TD was only part of a very good special teams effort in the victory for the Chiefs.

Of course, K Ryan Succop had the game winning FG, hitting it high and true from 22 yards and going two for two on the day with his FGs.

“Thomas (Gafford) did a great job snapping the ball and Dustin (Colquitt) did a great job holding it and the Lord blessed me with the strength and the peace to put it through,” Succop said.

The rookie kicker was also very good on his six kickoffs, as he put four of them into the end zone and two of them went for touchbacks. Pittsburgh had four kickoff returns for 115 yards.

P Dustin Colquitt averaged 47.8 yards a kick and finished with a 39.2-yard net average. The Chiefs did a great job of getting one of those Colquitt punts downed at the two-yard line. Punt coverage was fair, as the Steelers averaged 10.7 yards on three returns.

The Chiefs got nothing on punt returns from Bobby Wade, who had two fair catches and one return for no yards.

DEFENSIVE NUMBERS

The Chiefs had three sacks in this game and should have had another three at least, as they just had a hard time getting the 6-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger on the ground. SS Mike Brown had one sack on a blitz and rookie DE Alex Magee got his second sack of the season. The third sack was shared by LBs Derrick Johnson and Andy Studebaker. Johnson would have had another sack, but it was wiped out by a Chiefs defensive penalty.

Press box stats had LB Demorrio Williams as the leading tackler for the Chiefs with 10. Brown had nine and CB Brandon Carr and FS Jon McGraw had eight each. OLB Tamba Hali had seven tackles and he also drew a pair of holding calls against Steelers tackles.

ZEBRA WATCH

The officiating crew of Carl Cheffers had a pretty smooth ride Sunday afternoon. They did load up on the flags against the Steelers, walking off eight penalties for 85 yards.

The Chiefs were flagged for four penalties. The culprits were: RT Ryan O’Callaghan false start, TE Leonard Pope illegal block above the waist on a kick return, DE Wallace Gilberry illegal contact in pass coverage (yes, pass coverage) and LG Brian Waters was called for holding, wiping out a 13-yard pass play.

There were no instant replay challenges by either coaches or reviews by the booth.

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

FB Tim Castille joined the group of players this season who were signed on Wednesday and played on Sunday. He had a tackle in the kicking game and he was also part of a new wrinkle on the offense. Castille took a handoff from Matt Cassel and ran right. He then pitched the ball back to a trailing Jamaal Charles. Nice little play.

There were no surprises among the game-day inactive players for the Chiefs. OLB Mike Vrabel, OLB Justin Rogers, G Andy Alleman and RB Dantrell Savage did not dress because of injuries. They were joined by LB David Herron and rookies CB Donald Washington and TE Jake O’Connell. The inactive third quarterback was Matt Gutierrez.

The Steelers were without three starters, including All-Pro SS Troy Polamalu. Also out were DE Travis Kirschke and FB Carey Davis. Also inactive were OL Kraig Urbik and Tony Hills, DE Sunny Harris and WR Shaun McDonald. The inactive third quarterback was Dennis Dixon.

SOME OTHER STUFF

The Steelers got five sacks of Cassel, with two by OLB Lamar Woodley. NT Casey Hampton, ILB Lawrence Timmons and OLB James Harrison each had one … Terrance Copper had two special teams tackles … the Steelers had a huge edge in time of possession, 44:07 to 22:25 … the Chiefs at one point were one of seven on third down, but finished at six of 15 or 40 percent … the Chiefs are now 11-15-2 in regular season overtime games. It was their first victory in an extra period game since beating Green Bay in October 2003. It was their first overtime victory at Arrowhead since beating Denver in December 2001 … since 1995, the Chiefs are 34-4 at Arrowhead when they have two or more interceptions.

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

2009 record: 6-3, with victories over Tennessee, San Diego, Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota and Denver. They’ve lost to Chicago by three points and to Cincinnati twice, by three and six points..

Last year’s record: 12-4, won the AFC North, then beat Baltimore for the AFC Championship and Arizona for the Super Bowl victory in Tampa.

Record for the last five seasons: 64-26, with three division titles and four appearances in the playoffs, including Super Bowl championships for the 2005 and 2008 seasons

Last appearance in the playoffs: in the ’08 season, when they beat San Diego 35-24, then stopped Baltimore 23-14 and won the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl with a 27-23 victory over Arizona.

Head coach: Mike Tomlin is in his third season as only the third head man for the Steelers in 41 seasons. Tomlin’s record is 31-14, with two appearances in the playoffs.

Coordinators: offense, Bruce Arians; defense, Dick LeBeau; special teams, Bob Ligashesky.

Roster overview: the Steelers are built through the draft and always have been. …Read More!

Texans Get Smoked By Patriots, 42-14

The Texans-Chiefs franchise is celebrating its 50th season of play in 2009. This is another look at the founding team of the American Football League and its first season of play.

In their first season of play, the Dallas Texans darkest hours came in a Thursday night game in Boston. On November 18, 1960, Hank Stram’s team got smoked by the Boston Patriots 42-14 in front of a crowd announced as 14,721 at Boston University Field.

Those 42 points were the most the Texans allowed in their first season. The 14 points they scored was their second lowest total of the season and the 28-point differential was their worst loss of the season.

“This was not a good effort for our team,” Hank Stram said afterwards to the media. “On offense, defense, we did not get the job done.”

It was a big victory for the Patriots on the one-year anniversary of their entry into the AFL

Boston native, Boston College product and Patriots QB Butch Songin (right) led the Boston offense, throwing for three touchdown passes, as he hit 25 of 35 passes for 220 yards.

Songin was one of the typical veteran players who revived their football careers in the first season of the AFL. He played football and hockey at Boston College, and was part of BC’s NCAA hockey champions in 1949. He was captain of the hockey team in 1950 his last year at Chestnut Hill. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/18 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

Chiefs coach Todd Haley didn’t have anything to add to the Dwayne Bowe suspension story other than he needs the other receivers to fill the void.

“It’s no different than if there’s an injury,” Haley said after Wednesday’s practice. “Our receiver group must step up now. We lose one of our better receivers. I’ve said here for the last couple weeks I feel like the receiver group was improving as a whole.  That group needs to step up and fill the void.”

During Wednesday’s practice, Bobby Wade and Mark Bradley got snaps with the first team offense opposite Chris Chambers.

“Bobby Wade will be back playing and that’s good for him,” said Haley, who would not get  into any specifics about how the offense might look without Bowe. “His not playing had nothing to do with him. It was a roster thing; he was the last guy both weeks. Bobby helped us a bunch when he got here and now he’s looking to help us again.”

Haley had his team working outside in Wednesday’s practice and the coach liked what he saw.

“We had a very good day of practice today,” Haley said. “The guys were enthusiastic. The win put some gas in their tanks and they are excited and ready to play the defending world champions.” …Read More!

So Much Talent, So Immature … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Dwayne Bowe’s four-game suspension from the NFL is just another step in what the Chiefs have to hope is the continuing maturation of the wide receiver.

Bowe better hope so as well. As he sits at home for a month, unable to spend time with his teammates and the Chiefs franchise, Bowe has a chance to decide what direction the rest of his career and life will take. He needs to do some very deep soul searching.

Over the years the Chiefs have had many players who had remarkable athletic talent, and the maturity of a 10-year old. Bowe is one of them. His story of being abandoned as a child by a mother and father distracted and in the clutches of drugs, being raised by his grandparents, running the streets and getting involved in crimes and fights left him without some very important blocks in a solid foundation of being an adult.

That background and then his success in football did lead him away from the drug culture. But there were some stains that could not be erased. Bowe was not suspended for taking illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids. He is gone for four games because he tested positive for a diuretic.

The NFL considers the presence of a diuretic in a player’s urine sample the same as if it was steroids because it has frequently been used as a masking agent. …Read More!

L.J. Lands In River City

It didn’t take long to understand that Larry Johnson had been looking at the schedule his new will play over the final seven weeks of the 2009 regular season.

One game jumped out: December 27, Kansas City at Cincinnati.

The newest member of the Bengals couldn’t suppress his excitement to face his former team in five weeks.

“I’d be lying if I said I ain’t looking at that game as a game I definitely want to play in,” Johnson said. “You take one game at a time, one situation at a time. I’m just trying to get on the field as of right now. If that happens, that’d be the best Christmas gift I can get.” 

Johnson agreed to terms on Tuesday with the Bengals and was introduced to the Cincinnati media. On Monday, head coach Marv Lewis talked about L.J. as insurance, the fourth back on the roster. His tune was a little bit different on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to say it can’t happen, I’m not going to say it will happen, but stay tuned,” Lewis said. “He’d like to play, I know that. We’ll see what happens as we go through the week.” …Read More!

Chiefs Sign Another Fullback

With a spot open on the active roster for four weeks due to the suspension of Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs added FB Tim Castille to the roster.

Castille is 5-11,238 pounds and has played two seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals. Last year he played in 14 games as the Cardinals won the NFC Championship. He did not have any rushing attempts and caught four passes for 11 yards. Castille also had 10 tackles in the kicking game. He was inactive for all 16 games of his rookie season in 2007.  The Cardinals released him on the final cutdown before the start of the ’09 regular season.

A native of Alabama, Castille signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Alabama. With the Crimson Tide, he was a short-yardage specialist, laying in 43 games with 155 carries for 524 yards and 20 TDs. He also caught 59 passes for 363 yards.

His father Jeremiah was an All-America DB with Alabama who played six seasons in the NFL with the Broncos and Buccaneers. His brother Simeon played in nine games during the 2008 season for the Bengals.

NFL Power Rankings: Week #10

Contrary to their moniker, special-teamers rarely get special treatment.

It’s quite the opposite. Kick returners get somewhat of a pass because they can change the momentum of a contest. Yet, in many cases a good returner in only considered half a football player. As for punters and kickers, the beef gets trickier. Even though they constitute a valuable aspect of the game, more than a few have questioned their resolve, their toughness and even their manhood. And if you take into account that they belong in a 53-men roster just like everybody else, it really doesn’t seem fair.

But every dog has its day, and in Week 10 of the 2009 NFL season, the Saints awoke from their lethargy against the Rams thanks to a kickoff return. The Redskins finally made their patrons happy with a successful gimmick involving their punter. The Dolphins and the Jaguars won with field goals at the end.

One last note: for all of those that think that kickers are not football players please remember, they’re the ones that use their feet. …Read More!

NFL suspends Dwayne Bowe

The NFL has suspended Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe for four games for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances.

Bowe’s suspension begins immediately and he’ll miss games against Pittsburgh, San Diego, Denver and Buffalo. He can return for the final three games of the season.

The Chiefs confirmed the susension in a release early Tuesday afternoon: “The Kansas City Chiefs today confirmed that the National Football League has suspended WR Dwayne Bowe for four games for “violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances.” Bowe’s suspension will begin immediately. As a result of the league suspension, the team will have no further comment.”

Bowe had 33 catches for 466 yards and four touchdowns.

Players can face suspension for performance enhancing substances for testing positive for anabolic steroids, or certain diuretics that are considered masking agents. Players can also be suspended for failing to show up for testing. There’s no word on what Bowe’s situation might be.

The last Chiefs player suspended for performance enhancing substances was G/T John Welbourn. He missed the first six games of the 2006 season, after serving a four-game suspension in 2005.

Riding In The Hot Seat … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

Generally when you are an NFL head coach about 50 percent of the fans like how you go about your business, how the team is handled, and they like the emotions and passions that are shown or kept in check. The other 50 percent don’t like you because of the same reasons.

And 100 percent of the fans want your head should you lose more games than you win.

This is the life that Todd Haley is living right now. Even if his Chiefs were 7-2 instead of 2-7 there would be people unhappy with how the man has gone about his job in this first season leading the franchise.

And let’s make no mistake, Haley is leading the franchise. When the team suspended and then released RB Larry Johnson, who stood in front of the media and fans and took the questions? Chairman Clark Hunt and GM Scott Pioli were nowhere to be found. It was Haley that was the face of the franchise.

It is Haley who speaks of the team five days a week, every week. Nary is a peep heard seven days a week from Hunt and Pioli.

That increases the already blinding glare of the spotlight that always falls on the position of head coach. Not only is his every decision second guessed, but his words, actions, movements, body language, tone are all dissected by the fans and media. Everybody sees the same pictures, or hears the same words and they find different meanings and interpretations.

During the television broadcast of Sunday’s game in Oakland the cameras caught a “conversation” going on between Haley and his assistant head coach Maurice Carthon. …Read More!

Another Winning Trip To Oakland

From Oakland, California

While it was a cold, cloudy, gray Sunday in the Midwest, it was a picture perfect California afternoon in the city where the author Gertrude Stein said, “there is no there there.”

But in Oakland, there is victory for the Kansas City Chiefs. For the seventh straight year, under three different head coaches and four different starting quarterbacks, the Chiefs left Al Davis’ town with a victory. This time it was 16-10, and the Chiefs grabbed their second victory of the season.

A classic this game was not, but then that mattered not to the Chiefs. One of the hardest things to do in the NFL is to beat a division opponent on the road. Luckily for Todd Haley’s team, the Raiders played their normal giving role, as they had trouble all day with throwing and catching the football.

It was an afternoon where RB Jamaal Charles (above) established himself as the next feature running back. It was a game where the Chiefs defense gave up a big play early, but then held the Raiders in check. It was a day when Oakland coach Tom Cable benched his starting quarterback, as JaMarcus Russell had another brutal day.

There’s was plenty to write about, and it’s all here:

• GAME STORY: No classic, but a victory.
• COLUMN: This was not NFL football.
• OFFENSE: Larry Who?
• DEFENSE: Redemption For Mike Brown.
• NOTES: Raiders have problems.
• GAMEBOOK

Pre-Game Report 11/15 Inactives Update

From Oakland, California

2:25 p.m. CST – This is the final throwback game for the Chiefs. They are  in the all-white uniforms of the 1962 AFL Champion Dallas Texans. Refree Mike Carey and his officials are in those hideous candy striped uniforms that they were forced to wear in the early days of the AFL. The Raiders uniforms looked much like the Oakland uniforms of today, with the exception of the decal on their helmets. 

2:15 p.m. CST – With Raiders starting DE Greg Ellis out of the action, the Chiefs catch a break. Ellis has four sacks on the season and picked up half of those in the first game against the Chiefs. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee and shoulder last week during Oakland’s bye week. Rookie Matt Shaughnessy will start opposite Richard Seymour.

2:00 p.m. CST – The playing surface at the Coliseum appears to be in very good condition. The baseball infield has been sodded and it looks like the groundskeepers did a good job of blending it with the already existing grass. It should be a dry and fast track.

1:55 p.m. CST – The weather conditions are perfect for today’s game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Game-time temperature is expected to be in the low 60s, with a clear blue sky, a light breeze and no threat of rain. …Read More!

Making Practice Effort Count … Game-Day Cup O’Chiefs

From Oakland, California

Uh oh!

“Probably our best Friday (practice); it was pretty good,” said head coach Todd Haley. “We went indoors to just kind of get that noise level up. There was tempo and precision on both sides, I think it was probably our best Friday as a whole.”

Uh oh!

At this point, isn’t Haley reluctant to identify a top-notch practice when he’s been saying that for the last month and the Chiefs went 1-3 come Sunday afternoon? Does he think twice about mentioning, or even thinking about the quality of the work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday?

“Yes I do,” Haley admitted. “But you can’t think any other way. You really can’t. You’ve got to assume that good practices are eventually going to translate into good play. If you think any other way I think you’re asking for trouble. I know that’s how we gauge how a week has gone.”

And Sunday afternoon there’s another chance to transfer the practice effort, tempo and production to the playing field as the Chiefs face the Raiders at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Kickoff is just after 3 p.m., with television coverage on CBS.

OK, so let’s follow the line of discussion and ask what makes a good practice?

“Tempo, guys were into it, enthusiasm, doing what they’re supposed to do, hustling to the ball on defense, doing all the things we’re asking them to do,” Haley explained. “Guys were sharp. You can tell when guys are into it. They were mentally into the practice.

“These last three or four weeks it looks like we’re starting to get it and, to me, it’s going to eventually start translating and that’s all you can do.” …Read More!

A Punting Explosion … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

When the Chiefs and Raiders face off on Sunday at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum two of the best players on the field will be the punters – Dustin Colquitt (left) and Shane Lechler (right).

That doesn’t just say something about the lack of talent on both of these rosters as evidenced by their combined record of 3-13.

It says something about the punting renaissance that the pro football has experienced over the last three years. At no time in the history of the game have there been as many good punters in the league at the same time. From Lechler and the 49ers’ Andy Lee in the Bay Area, to Colquitt and Donnie Jones over in St. Louis, with San Diego’s Mike Scifres, Buffalo’s Brian Moorman and the old crafty veteran, Jeff Feagles with the New York Giants.

What has led to this glut of talent and top performances? …Read More!

Texans Overcome Slow Start For Fifth Victory

The Texans-Chiefs franchise is celebrating its 50th season of play in 2009. This is another look at the founding team of the American Football League and its first season of play.

In the first quarter, Denver QB Frank Tripucka led his offense on a 46-yard touchdown drive that gave the Broncos the first points on the scoreboard.

But on a balmy afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Texans defense shut the door, and running backs Abner Haynes and Johnny Robinson took over on the offensive side and Hank Stram’s team had a 34-7 victory. The decision pushed the Texans over the .500 mark on the season, as they came out of the game with a 5-4 record.

The Dallas defense tied the score in the second quarter. LB Smoky Stover hit Denver RB Don Allen in the left flat as he was catching a pass. The ball bounced in the air and CB David Webster grabbed the ball and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. It was one of four interceptions in the game for the Texans defense.

“Even though it only gave us a chance to tie the score at 7-7, it blew it open for us,” Stram said of Webster interception, one of six the former Prairie View quarterback grabbed during that inaugural season. He returned two for touchdowns. The other interceptions that day went to LB Bob Hudson LB Ted Greene and DB Jimmy Harris.

“We were too tight both ways it took that interception to loosen us up. After that we looked like a real good football team.” …Read More!

Practice Report 11/13

From the Truman Sports Complex

It looks like OLB Mike Vrabel will be on the field Sunday when the Chiefs take on the Raiders in Oakland.

Vrabel missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of what the team is calling a hip injury. But the veteran linebacker was working on Friday as a full participant in the team’s last session of the week.

ILB David Herron is out of Sunday’s game with a knee injury. In just five games with the Chiefs, Herron has become a special teams contributor. His spot in the kicking game will be taken by rookie OLB Pierre Walters or newly signed LB Justin Rogers.

Everyone else on the Chiefs injury report is listed as probable for Sunday’s game: Vrabel (hip), OL Wade Smith (ankle), WR Chris Chambers (foot), ILB Jovan Belcher (head) and FS Jon McGraw (thigh).

McGraw will be back in the starting lineup at free safety. For another week at least, Jamaal Charles figures to be the starter at running back, although head coach Todd Haley says that will depend on what plays and formations are used to start the game.

Haley says Kolby Smith still needs some time before he’s ready to be a full-time back in the Chiefs offense.

“It’s unrealistic to expect him to be at the top of his game,” said coach Todd Haley. “That would be asking too much; it was a major injury.”

Smith tore the patella tendon in his right knee last November. Two years ago, Smith ran for 150 yards on 31 carries against the Raiders.

A Remarkable Comeback … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

Practice was over and Rudy Niswanger was in front of his locker, mixing up a protein drink for a little post-workout libation.

“Got to help the body,” Niswanger said as he took a little bit out of this bag and a little bit out of that bottle and mixed them together with some water.

Given Niswanger’s background and college degree in kinesiology and his perfect GPA at Louisiana State, it’s not hard to believe that whatever powders the Chiefs center was mixing gets the job done.

Last Sunday, just 14 days after suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, Niswanger was back on the field, started and took every offensive snap for the Chiefs in Jacksonville. Generally, an MCL sprain keeps a player out anywhere from two to six weeks. Seldom does he return on the short side of that equation, especially return and play an entire game.

But Niswanger showed the Chiefs that he’s just a little bit different.

“Got to take your hat off to that guy,” head coach Todd Haley said. “That’s a pretty impressive comeback. That’s a sign of somebody who wants to be on the field, wants to be part of it. Those are the kind of guys we’re looking for.”

Niswanger is the kind of guy any and every business searches out. He’s a team player, a guy who works hard both physically and mentally and while he may not be the most physically gifted of players, the Louisiana native gets more out of his ability and his body than most NFL players. …Read More!

Opponent: Oakland Raiders

2009 record: 2-6

Last time vs. Chiefs: back on September 20, the Raiders walked out of Arrowhead Stadium with a 13-10 victory, despite the fact the Chiefs had a 409-166 edge in offensive yards and a 25-11 edge in first downs. S Michael Huff picked off a pair of QB Matt Cassel’s passes. It was the best rushing day of the season for the Chiefs, as they ran for 173 yards on 38 carries. Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell was awful, completing just seven of 24 passes for 109 yards. Oakland punter Shane Lechler averaged 56.9 yards on seven punts.

’09 victories: other than the Chiefs, the Raiders only other victory this year was a 13-9 toppling of Philadelphia at the Oakland Coliseum. So far in the 2009 NFL season it’s one of those half-dozen games that happen every year that are unexplainable.

’09 defeats: in two losses to the Chargers, the Raiders kept things close, falling by four and eight points. In their other four defeats they were blown out: Denver won by 20 points, Houston by 23, the New York Giants by 37 and the New York Jets by 38 points.

Stat that says it all: In eight games so far this season, the Raiders have scored just 29 points in the second half, and only six in the third quarter. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/12 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

There are a lot of memories this week for Chiefs QB Matt Cassel. Last season as he was getting prepared to play the Raiders in Oakland, another situation came on his personal radar screen.

Cassel had to deal with the death of his father.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2008, Greg Cassel passed away in his home in San Bernardino, California. He was 57.  Matt was in San Jose with the New England Patriots, who were spending the week in the Bay Area between games against Seattle and Oakland.

He spent several days with his family in southern California and then rejoined the Patriots. Cassel played against the Raiders that Sunday – five days after his father’s death - and threw four touchdown passes in a 49-26 New England victory.

This week has brought back the events of 11 months ago.

“There are a lot of memories and it will probably be a little emotional,” Cassel said after practice on Thursday. “What better way was there to honor him than to go up there on Sunday and we won.”

Cassel called the week “a whirlwind of emotion” as he left the team, returned to his family, and then returned to the Patriots.

“I came back and had a good discussion with Coach (Bill) Belichick and it was decided that I would be ready to go,” said Cassel. “Coach (Josh) McDaniels who was my (quarterback) coach last year was a rock for me during that time and really helped  me. He just said whatever we have to do to get you ready for this game, let’s do it.

“It was pretty special, especially with the way the whole team reacted.” …Read More!

Ultimate Rebuilding Pain … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

The pain of rebuilding pulses through the Chiefs facility at the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs are 1-7 and while there are miniscule signs of improvement on offense and defense, the whole picture doesn’t show much in the way of moving forward. It’s like they have taken seven punches to the gut, like Andy Alleman did during the game against Jacksonville (right).

Todd Haley rattled off a bunch of statistical areas where the Chiefs rank quite well among the league’s 32 teams. But he allowed after he was done that “stats are for losers.” There’s no doubt the ’09 Chiefs are losers right now, tied for the worst record in the NFL.

Then there are all those others numbers, losers of 27 of their last 30 and 37 of their last 44.

So many fans and pundits wanted change at Arrowhead and rebuilding. It’s doubtful they remembered just how painful it can be. After eight games, the current Chiefs rebuilding job is the ugliest in franchise history.

Six times the Chiefs have gone to a complete tear down of their football team, under Paul Wiggin (1975), Marv Levy (1978), John Mackovic (1983), Marty Schottenheimer (1989), Dick Vermeil (2001) and Haley in 2009. Only the current Chiefs went 1-7. The other years the team won two, three, even four games in 1975 and 1983. …Read More!

Offense: Larry Who?

From Oakland, California

The Chiefs did not exactly scorch the earth of northern California with their running game on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

But they accomplished things that for eight games they were unable to do, largely with Larry Johnson as the featured back. Against the Raiders, that was due to the speed of one Jamaal RaShaad Charles.

“I told the coaches I can make plays,” Charles said in the winning locker room on Sunday. “I can make 40-yard runs. I can make 60-yard runs. Just give me a chance.”

Getting the opportunities that in the past have gone to Johnson, the second-year back out of Texas ran for 103 yards on 18 carries, including a 44-yard touchdown scamper on a 4th-and-1 play that gave the Chiefs their first rushing score in the last 39 quarters dating back to Game No. 15 of last season.

It’s ironic that Charles score and his performance came against the Raiders. The first time these teams faced each other in week No. 2 back in September Charles was a healthy game-day scratch. At the time, the Chiefs coaching staff was trying to alter his attitude and approach, letting him know that the privilege of playing in an NFL game must be earned, not given.

The message was received, because since then Charles has worked harder, assumed less and now with Johnson gone, he’s ready for the opportunities, like Sunday’s game in Oakland and the 44-yard touchdown scamper that was the Chiefs play of the game. …Read More!

DEFENSE: Redemption For Mike Brown

From Oakland, California

Just one week before and a continent away from the cramped visitors quarters in the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Mike Brown stood up and grabbed the handles of the Chiefs loss to the Jaguars and p laced them squarely on his shoulders.

“I feel like I cost my team the game,” Brown said of a missed tackle and a blown coverage that led to a pair of Jacksonville touchdowns.

Seven days later, the media sought him out again. But this time he was smiling. The second of Brown’s two interceptions sealed the Chiefs victory over the Raiders with just a few ticks left on the clock.

For one week at least, there was redemption for the 10-year veteran.

“There is going to be some bad, and there is going to be some good,” Brown said. “Hopefully there is more good than bad. At least that’s the way I look at it. I want to play perfect, but have I ever played perfect? No. It will probably never happen, but you still strive to be perfect.

“I just try to play hard and let the chips fall where they may.” …Read More!

COLUMN: THEY CALL THIS FOOTBALL?

From Oakland, California

I’m not sure what Ralph Nader is doing these days but I think he should investigate and sue the National Football League in the name of anyone who paid money to see the Chiefs and Raiders play on Sunday.

To call what happened on the field at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum “professional football” qualifies as fraud, bait and switch, deceptive advertising and assorted other crimes against the consumer and humanity.

Of course, with two bad teams facing off, it wasn’t like we were expecting a brand of football that would remind anybody of the playoffs. It certainly did not. There were so many negatives in this game, so many mental errors, so many dropped passes, poor passes, bad decisions and penalties.

Positives, even for the winning Chiefs were few and far between. They won their second game instead of losing their eighth; that’s positive. Jamaal Charles ran for 103 yards and scored the team’s first rushing TD of the season; that’s positive. Dustin Colquitt had a net punting average of 47.5 yards; that was a positive.

That’s was it. There are so many examples to provide a picture into how poorly this game was played, coached and officiated. Here are just a couple examples. With less than five minutes to play, Chiefs DB Maurice Leggett was back to handle an Oakland punt. His team was leading by six points. Caution and ball security was paramount. As he settled under the punt at his own 30-yard line, Leggett mishandled the ball. Bending over to pick it up, he kicked it away. Reaching again, the ball slipped from his fingers again. Finally, just a few seconds before the Raiders coverage was about to engulf him and the ball, Leggett finally got hold of the ball. He ended up losing four yards on the return, but he kept the ball. …Read More!

Chiefs Win In Oakland Again, 16-10

From Oakland, California

In the history of the rivalry between the Chiefs and Raiders there have been many great games and moments over 50 seasons.

This was not one of them.

What went down at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon was 60 minutes of mistakes, blunders and poor football.

Afterwards the Chiefs did not care a lick. They stole out of the East Bay with a 16-10 victory, their second of the season. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Hunt family over the Davis clan.

“Any time you can go on the road in your division and win, that’s a big thing for us,” said Chiefs head coach Todd Haley. “They are hard to come by and we’ll take them however they come.

“I’m proud of the guys. They fought it out and found a way to win and that’s what it’s about.”

As the winner of this game, the Chiefs were lucky their opponent on this NFL Sunday was a team making even more mistakes than they did. After having no luck winning games despite their very good turnover ratio, they won on an afternoon when they finished minus-1 in the ratio, giving the ball away three times.

But it was one of those takeaways that finally ended the game. Oakland’s seldom used rookie WR Darrius Heyward-Bey bobbled a well thrown ball at the Chiefs 10-yard line with 30 seconds left. The ball popped up in the air and into the hands of Chiefs SS Mike Brown. That allowed the Chiefs to use the victory formation on offense for only the second time this season.

“Sometimes things bounce against you, sometimes it bounces your way,” said Brown, who had two interceptions in the game, both of deflected passes. “You just hope you have more bounce your way than against you.

“Today we got them and we started the second half of the season with a win. That’s important. We have to build something from this.” …Read More!

Goff Gone-Practice Report Update 11/11

From the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs placed starting RG Mike Goff on the injured reserve list Wednesday, ending his season because of a shoulder injury.

Goff started seven of the eight games this season, after coming over as a UFA from the San Diego Chargers. The 12-year veteran had a string of 113 straight starts snapped in Jacksonville last Sunday. He appeared for one play against the Jaguars, stepping for Andy Alleman when he got dinged.

Alleman will take Goff’s spot in the starting lineup; he started there against the Jaguars. Taking Goff’s place on the active roster is LB Justin Rogers, back for a second tour with the Chiefs. Rogers was signed on October 14th, after RB Jackie Battle was sent to injured reserve. He was released on October 17th when the Chiefs promoted OT Barry Richardson from the practice squad.

…Read More!

It Was All Will Shields Fault … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Will Shields? Yeah, old No. 68 is the villain in the Larry Johnson story.

But, we’ll get to that point in a moment.

There seems little doubt that sometime Wednesday we’ll have an announcement that Larry Johnson has signed with a new NFL team. Washington, Chicago, New England, all these teams have been linked to Johnson by all those inside sources that now populate the Internet and ESPN.

Johnson cleared waivers on Tuesday afternoon, so the Chiefs will have to pay the rest of his 2009 salary, and he’ll get a new contract with his new team, probably for something along the lines of the veteran minimum with some incentives. How many incentives will depend on how many teams might be interested in signing the soon to be 30-year old running back.

Johnson turned up on the syndicated Dan Patrick radio show on Tuesday and denied he has anger issues. If you want to hear the interview, here’s a link.

“I have a competitive issue,” Johnson said. “I think sometimes that gets the best of me and I become overly competitive and try to control every little thing I can to make sure I’m winning everything and everyone around me is going to win, and sometimes I lose myself in that.” …Read More!

Raiders Have Problems & Other Notes

From Oakland, California

“I’m disappointed where we are as a football team.”

Those were a few of the post-game words of Raiders coach Tom Cable after his team dropped their seventh game of the season, falling 16-10 to the Chiefs.

After winning in Kansas City back in September, you can bet the Raiders viewed this as a game they could take. But these are the Raiders of the last few years and they are their own worst opponent. It got so bad on Sunday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum that Cable pulled JaMarcus Russell and replaced him with Bruce Gradkowski.

That move got what few fans were still in the stadium all excited, until Gradkowski threw his first of two interceptions.

Cable was pretty cryptic about giving Russell the hook.

“Two plays prior to that we misread it when guys were wide open,” said Cable. “That was enough.” …Read More!

Tony G. & October for PETA

He’s done movies. He’s hobnobbed with Oprah. He was even part of a reality series.

And former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez took another step into the pantheon of superstar athletes: he has posed nude. He and his wife October both posed nude for a ad that will be running for the People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

“We should be protecting animals, not sacrificing their lives for the sake of fashion or luxury,” Gonzalez is quoted as saying. “October and I have changed many of our habits in light of the inhumane treatment of animals that occurs not only in the fur industry but also on factory farms.

Gonzalez went to a vegan diet about three years ago and he says eliminating meat and products from animals (milk, cheese, etc.) has helped him physical and kept his body in better condition.

Even with some rather unfortunately placed type in the ad, it’s pretty obvious that both Tony and October have kept their bodies in good conditions. Over the years, several other movie stars and athletes have posed naked for PETA ads like Dennis Rodman and Pamela Anderson.

L.J. Finally Tips The Scale … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

There is always a sliding scale at work when it comes to players and the National Football League. Actually, it’s not just peculiar to pro football or sports; it can be found in just about any business.

An employee’s faults are something an employer will put up with depending on what type of performance he can deliver. That’s why the really good athletes get more chances when they screw up on and off the field. If they are really good, ownership, management and coaches are willing to put up with a lot of junk, if there’s a lot of production.

The less production, the less junk will be allowed. When the scales tip towards the junk and away from the performance, generally there is a parting of the ways.

That’s really the story of what went down with the Chiefs decision to release Larry Johnson on Monday. When Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said it was the “totality of the situation” he was speaking the truth. It was the past, the present and the future that all went into cutting L.J. loose at this point.

Just about all Chiefs fans know the past, so we won’t rehash what happened over the previous six seasons of As the L.J. Turned. But trust me on this: Clark Hunt wasn’t too excited about keeping Larry Johnson, especially in the face of fan uproar over this current edition of L.J.’s troubles. Always remember these words spoken by Clark Hunt himself: “I’m not as patient as my father.” Figure the man in charge was a solid vote for releasing Johnson, largely because of the past.

The present was also an important part of the decision, and even more so was the future. …Read More!

“It was the totality of the situation”

From the Truman Sports Complex

It was Todd Haley that the Chiefs sent out to explain a decision that was made by the organization: the release of RB Larry Johnson.

“In the last couple of weeks Scott and I expended a lot of time and energy, along with Clark Hunt in talking about this and figure out the direction we wanted to go that was in the best interest of the Kansas City Chiefs organization to move forward at this time,” Haley said during his regular Monday afternoon press conference.

“It wasn’t any one thing. It was the totality of the situation, even before I was around here. At this time, we felt it was what’s best for the Kansas City Chiefs as we move forward, as we continue to turn this team in the direction it needs to do.”

About the only details Haley was willing to provide was in timing; he said the decision on releasing Johnson was made Monday morning

“We continued phone calls after we arrived back home last night,” said Haley of the team’s return trip from Jacksonville. “Clark actually flew home with us last night, so we were on the plane together.

“We had more conversation early (Monday morning), around 6, 6:15 somewhere around that. This was something we wanted to make sure we were right on, so we put a lot of time and energy into it.”

Was it the Twitter attack on Haley? Was it use of a gay slur on Twitter and in the locker room? Was it something else.

“Totality of the situation was factored in,” Haley said. “It was everything across the board.”

Chiefs Release RB Larry Johnson

The breaking news from Arrowhead this morning is the team’s release of Larry Johnson.  Here is the official statement…

The Kansas City Chiefs released RB Larry Johnson on Monday. In 75 games (55 starts) with Kansas City, Johnson rushed 1,375 times for 5,996 yards (4.4 avg.) with 55 touchdowns. He also registered 151 receptions for 1,369 yards (9.1 avg.) with six TDs. He concluded his Chiefs career with 30 100-yard rushing games and also added two 100-yard receiving games. Johnson established an NFL single-season record with 416 rushing attempts in 2006 when he set a franchise single-season mark with 1,789 rushing yards. He originally entered the league as the Chiefs first-round selection (27th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Penn State.

More soon…

Another Struggling Sunday For Chiefs

From Jacksonville, Florida

It’s become a very familiar plot line for the 2009 Chiefs. Faced with a paper-thin margin of error because of a lack of experienced talent, Todd Haley’s team again played gamely but made far too many mistakes to win on Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars earned a 24-21 victory and the score is somewhat deceiving, because it wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that the Chiefs were able to get their offense going. They scored a pair of touchdowns sandwiched around a successful onside kick in the final five minutes.

But that was not enough to overcome their mistakes on offense, defense and in the kicking game. All three facets of the team did some good things. But blunders in all three areas helped send the Chiefs to their seventh defeat of the season. One came in the first quarter when RB Rashard Jennings broke loose for a 28-yard TD run (above).

They are 1-7 for the second consecutive season and right now, they have lost 27 of their last 30 games over the last three seasons.

As always there was plenty to remember and write about from Sunday’s meeting at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Here’s our package.

• GAME STORY: Close but no cigar, not even a match.
• COLUMN: Mike Brown takes it like a man.
• OFFENSE: Welcome to KC, Mr. Chambers.
• DEFENSE: Some good, plenty of bad.
• NOTES: Jaguars switch their defense.
• GAMEBOOK

Pre-Game Report 11/8 Inactives Update

From Jacksonville, Florida

11:30 a.m. CST – Some of the early morning clouds are now gone and it’s a high sky, with game-time temperature expected to reach 78 degrees. There is a strong enough wind on the field to ruffle pant legs.

11:05 a.m. CST – The Chiefs are in their white uniform tops, which is a surprise given the sunshine and warm temps today in north Florida. Usually teams in Florida like to have their opponents wearing a dark colored jersey, while they were their whites.  The Jaguars will be in their teal tops.

11:00 a.m. CST – Andy Alleman will start at RG in place of Mike Goff, who is dealing with a shoulder injury. Goff apparently will dress and be available in an emergency, but Alleman gets the start, his first with the Chiefs. In the starting lineup for Bobby Wade at wide receiver is Mark Bradley.

10:55 a.m. CST – Working on punt returns in the pre-game warmup are RB Dantrell Savage and CB Maurice Leggett. On the kickoff returns are RB Jamaal Charles, WR Terrance Copper and WR Lance Long.

10:45 a.m. CST – K Ryan Succop was showing his strong leg in pre-game warmups, hitting from 55 yards towards the south end zone and 50 yards to the north end of the stadium. The wind is gusty, but appears to be blowing to the south inside the stadium, where the ribbons on the uprights are moving in that direction.

10:35 a.m. CST – The question after the inactives have been announced is who will return punts for the Chiefs. With Bobby Wade inactive and Bobby Engram released on Saturday, it would appear that duty will fall to CB Maurice Leggett or possibly RB Dantrell Savage.

10:30 a.m. CST – Game-day inactives for the Chiefs against Jacksonville are FS Jon McGraw, TE Brad Cottam, TE Jake O’Connell, WR Bobby Wade, LB Pierre Walters, CB Donald Washington and OT Ikechuku Ndukwe.  Matt Gutierrez is the inactive third quarterback. The surprise is Wade, who apparently is a healthy scratch.

10:30 a.m. CST – Game-day inactives for the Jaguars against the Chiefs are WR Tiquan Underwood, S Anthony Smith, CB Brian Witherspoon, LB Adam Seward, DT Derek Landri, OL Maurice Williams, OT Jordan Black and DT Greg Peterson. Jacksonville has only two quarterbacks on their roster, starter David Garrard and backup Luke McCown. …Read More!

Sunday of Opportunity … Game-Day Cup O’Chiefs

From Jacksonville, Florida

For a football team with as many holes in its 53-man roster as the Chiefs, Sunday is a very important day.

When the Chiefs take the field against the Jaguars at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium they will have two new starters, one on offense, one on defense. What RB Jamaal Charles and FS DaJuan Morgan produce with the opportunity given them will go a long way to helping Pioli/Haley as they make plans for the 2010 off-season.

Running back and safety are two areas where the Chiefs need help looking to the future. Of course, they also need help on the offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, wide receiver and tight end. Possibly only cornerback, quarterback, kicker and punter would go to the bottom of the list.

If Charles and Morgan can be productive players, and show the Chiefs they can step into their roles on offense and defense and not be – as Todd Haley calls it – yo-yo players, then running back and safety can drop down on the list of needs, allowing the Chiefs to prioritize at other positions.

They share a lot more. Both were third-round picks last year. Both came out of college as juniors. Both struggled a bit with the transition to the NFL last year as rookies.

Here’s a look at both situations going into Sunday’s game. Kickoff is noon and the television coverage is on CBS, although the game will be blacked out in northern Florida. A crowd of around 40,000 is expected. …Read More!

What If They Held An NFL Game And Nobody Came?

From Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the biggest city in America.

But Jacksonville is not big league.

The Chiefs and any fans that bother to watch in the great Midwest will see that on Sunday when there’s a chance there will be more empty seats at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium than those containing paying customers.

Granted the 1-6 Chiefs against the 3-4 Jaguars does not rank as the NFL’s premier matchup of the weekend. And yes, these two teams finished last season with losing records. But it’s not like they are a pair of franchises that have been constant losers. Jacksonville was in the playoffs in 2007; the Chiefs in 2006.

It’s become more and more apparent that Jacksonville and the so-called First Coast area of Florida is not big enough, or willing enough to support the Jaguars franchise they were given in 1995. Sunday’s game is blacked-out in northern Florida, the sixth time in six pre-season and regular season games that the Jaguars were unable to sell enough seats for home television. …Read More!

Chiefs Activate Kolby; Trim Engram

From Jacksonville, Florida

As expected the Chiefs activated RB Kolby Smith from the Physically-Unable-To-Perform list on Saturday and he should be active on Sunday against the Jaguars.

To make room for Smith, the Chiefs released veteran WR Bobby Engram.

Smith suffered a patella tendon injury to his right knee on November 2, 2008 while playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arrowhead Stadium. The injury is considered one of the most serious knee injuries that a player can suffer and it’s usuall a 10 to 12-month rehab.  It was certainly that for Smith, who began training camp on the PUP list and then began the regular season on the same list. He began practicing three weeks ago and the Chiefs had to make a decision on him. They could have activated him, sent him back to the PUP list or released him.

Engram was one of the big name free agent signings by Pioli/Haley in the off-season. While he brought a professional demeanor and approach to the job, Engram’s physical skills after 14 seasons had deteriorated and he was a marginal receiver. In two of the last three games, he was a healthy game-day inactive. He caught five passes for 61 yards.

Lost In Signage … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

In following pro football for over 30 years, you see a lot of things happen in and around the game.

However, what’s gone on around the Chiefs this week is a new one for me.

And I say “around the Chiefs,” because within the building, the locker room and the offices, it’s been just another week of getting ready for another opponent in what has been a tough 2009 season.

Outside the building, the subject has been slogans, signage and their motivational purposes.

The Chiefs players returned from their bye weekend off to find some new signs posted around the facility. The local scribblers, shouters and hairdos of the media saw only one of those signs. It sits just outside the players’ locker room, at a spot where they pass by three or four times a day. On their way to practice, on their way to the training room, on their way to meeting rooms, on their way to lunch, they pass the placard. Here’s what it says:

Losers assemble in small groups and complain about the coaches and other players. Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.

Nothing earth shattering there, but for some reason it has created a maelstrom with the pundit class. Words like stupid, childish, clownish, distraction have all been thrown out in reaction to those words.

And the reaction has more to do with those screaming than it does with the sign itself, or the people who hung it on the wall. …Read More!

Defense Leads Texans To .500 Mark

The Texans-Chiefs franchise is celebrating its 50th season of play in 2009. This is another look at the founding team of the American Football League and its first season of play.

It was a remarkable day in Buffalo on November 6, 1960 for Walt Corey.

Little did he know that many years later, he would enjoy many wonderful Sunday afternoon’s in western New York as the defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills from 1987 through 1994 with four consecutive trips to the Super Bowl.

But in the first season of the American Football League, Corey (right) led a tough Dallas Texans defense in a 45-28 pasting of the Bills on a Sunday with cold temperatures and a biting wind from the north.

Corey had two interceptions, recovered a fumble and blocked a field goal. He was a little hazy on that second interception, because he took a blow to the head that ended up knocking him out of the game.

“I remember everything except the last interception and nothing after that,” Corey said afterwards.

He did remember the blocked FG that helped set up one of the six Texans touchdowns.

“I will always remember this game as long as I live for one thing,” Corey said. “I red-dogged when the Bills lined up on the 45 for that field goal. Next thing I knew the ball came off Bill Atkins foot, right into my belly. I kept running and the ball was still there. I never saw that happen in football, or ever heard of it happening, a linebacker intercepting a field goal.” …Read More!

College Preview: FCS/D-II Pro Prospects

They are now called the Football Championship Subdivision, otherwise known as Division 1-AA football. Those are the guys who get to have a full-scale post-season tournament to decide their champion. A step below them is Division II, and they too have playoffs.

Every year, the FCS schools produce a handful of pro prospects. Division II usually sends anywhere from two or three players to a half-dozen into the NFL through the draft each year. In the 2009 NFL Draft, the first FCS player taken was in the third round, when with pick No. 69 Dallas selected OLB Jason Williams of Western Illinois.

Later in the third round, William & Mary CB Derek Cox was taken by Jacksonville; he’ll start against the Chiefs on Sunday. Also third round picks last year were Cal Poly WR Ramses Barden by the New York Giants and CB Ladarius Webb out of Nicholls State; he returned a kickoff for a touchdown last Sunday against Denver.

We checked with our NFL personnel department sources and they were all in agreement that the No. 1 guy on the smaller school level is CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (right) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He’s 6-1, 195 pounds out of Columbus, Ohio. Owusu-Ansah is an explosive talent, who has scored touchdowns this season on punt and kick returns, along with two interceptions. He has five scores and 775 yards in returns of punts, kickoffs and interceptions. Plus, he’s had 21 tackles in the Crimson Hawks defense.

With his speed and athletic ability, Owusu-Ansah is right now pegged as a second-third round type talent. Where he ultimately lands will depend on what he does after the season. He should be invited to the NFL Combine and Senior Bowl. There will be some heads he’ll have to turn at those personnel-type conventions to keep him at the top half of the draft. His talents may be better suited for free safety. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/6 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

Ordinarily, a football player sprains his medial collateral ligament in his knee and he’s out four to six weeks. But every person’s body and mind are different when it comes to injury and Rudy Niswanger is  proving that again.

It looks like the Chiefs are going to have their starting center available for Sunday’s game in Jacksonville. Niwsanger was a full  participant in Friday’s practice and Todd Haley has him listed as probable for playing against the Jaguars.  Niswanger sprained the MCL in his left knee on Oct. 25 against San Diego. He missed the bye week practices, but returned this week.

But added to the injury report on Friday was RG Mike Goff with a shoulder injury. Goff was limited in his participation in Friday’s practice and is listed as questionable for the game. …Read More!

Going Faster At First … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

With a bye weekend at his disposal, Matt Cassel didn’t head to either coast, or Vegas, or back to his alma mater at Southern Cal.

Cassel stayed in Kansas City. He spent time with his wife and other family members. Cassel got some coach time and suffered through watching Oregon rise up and batter his Trojans. Considering how the first part of this season has gone, Cassel’s lucky he didn’t have to spend his off weekend in traction.

“The break was great,” Cassel said on Thursday as the Chiefs continued their preparations for Sunday’s game in Jacksonville. “To get a few days away from here, to re-energize, come back focused, ready to go. We need to start getting on a roll here and hopefully we can start putting some wins together.”

One of the ways the Chiefs can get the roll going that Cassel is talking about would be more production at the start of the game from the Chiefs offense. So far this season, they have been ineffective and unproductive on the first play, first possession and first quarter. There isn’t anything where the Chiefs rank first near the middle of the 2009 season.

It’s a pretty gruesome offensive picture early in these games:  …Read More!

Jaguars Change Defensive Spots & Other Notes

From Jacksonville, Florida

During the week of preparation for the Jaguars, the Chiefs practiced against the 3-4 defensive scheme that Jacksonville has used most of the season.

But when they came out for their first play on Sunday, the Jaguars were playing a 4-3 defense.

There’s no question it caused some shuffling of what the Chiefs wanted to do offensively.

“You don’t know why they’re playing the way their playing but we recognized it pretty quickly, even though it wasn’t what we practiced against,” said Todd Haley. I thought for the most part we had an idea of what was going on, but it was for sure something different than we prepared for during the week.”

Why the change?

“We wanted to give ourselves a chance to rush the quarterback a little better on early downs,” said Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio. “I feel like we’re a team that can do either depending on what we decide we want to do. Today we elected to major in the 4-3.” …Read More!

DEFENSE: Same Old Story

From Jacksonville, Florida

In some manner, the Chiefs defense played its best game of the season on Sunday against Jacksonville. In other ways, it was one of their worst performances.

That’s the story of the 2009 Kansas City defense: some good things, but too many bad.

For instance, they put at a lot of pressure on Jaguars QB David Garrard throughout the game. But they were able to sack him only once.

They had a large number of negative plays, as they spent a lot of time in the backfield and forced nine minus plays for the Jaguars, including a fumble that was recovered by the Chiefs.

Yet, they gave up another handful of big plays, as Jacksonville had 10 plays of 12 yards or more, including a 61-yard touchdown pass and a 28-yard TD run. There were also plays of 45 and 33 yards.

“It appeared we were out of position on a couple of those plays,” said Todd Haley. “We’re not going to win games or have chances to win many games when we’re giving up big plays and that has been the big problem on defense.” …Read More!

OFFENSE: New Addition Clicks, But Too Late

From Jacksonville, Florida

Excuse Chris Chambers these days if sometimes he’s not quite sure where he’s at, or what time it might be.

The upheaval in his life continued on Sunday at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

Just ponder the itinerary that’s been Chambers life over the last eight days:

• Wearing a lightning bolt on his helmet, he helped the Chargers beat the Raiders in San Diego, making one of the key catches in the game.
• On Monday, he was called in and told he was being released.
• On Tuesday, he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Chiefs. He jumped a flight to the central time zone and got in around midnight as Tuesday was becoming Wednesday.
• Wednesday saw his first practice with the Chiefs, in an offensive scheme that he’s not seen before in his nine years in the NFL.
• Then on Sunday, Chambers started against the Jaguars and in the fourth quarter, he caught a pair of touchdown passes that allowed the Chiefs to make the score a little more respectable as they lost Jacksonville 24-21.

Yes, when it was crunch time and the Chiefs were trailing 24-6, QB Matt Cassel looked for and found Chambers for a 54-yard touchdown play and then a few moments later, a five-yard scoring pass. …Read More!

Column: Mike Brown Takes The Blame

From Jacksonville, Florida

It’s too bad that the Chiefs and their fans are seeing the end of Mike Brown’s pro football career.

At the age of 31 and in his 10th NFL season, Brown is struggling on the back line of the Chiefs defense; he has been all season. But never more so than what happened Sunday afternoon against the Jaguars. A missed tackle and a blown coverage provided Jacksonville with a pair of touchdowns. Those were only the most obvious of Brown’s blunders that cost the Chiefs points and a chance to take a winnable game.

“I feel bad, I feel like I cost my team the game,” Brown said. “We only lost this game by three points. It’s easy to see if I had played a better game how we might be enjoying a win today, rather than another loss.”

Mike Brown did not lose this game himself; he had a lot of help from a lot of his teammates and coaches. If Brown plays this game at an All-Pro level there’s a good chance the Chiefs would have still found other ways to lose.

It’s just that right now, the margin of error for the Chiefs is so thin they can’t overcome a bad day from one of their safeties, especially when his poor play leads to a pair of scores.

The first came in the opening quarter when Jaguars RB Rashad Jennings broke through the line of scrimmage and ran 28 yards for a touchdown. Brown had the chance to make the tackle that would have held the run to 10 or 12 yards. But Jennings fought off Brown with a stiff arm and went into the end zone.

“I missed that one; I take responsibility for that,” said Brown. “Those plays are things I cannot do if we are going to win … I had the opportunity to make the tackle and it didn’t happen.” …Read More!

Comeback Falls Short, Chiefs Lose Again

From Jacksonville, Florida

They made it interesting right until the end of the game. But the Chiefs dug a hole for themselves in the north Florida sand that was too deep and too steep to escape.

Jaguars 24, Chiefs 21 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium where an announced crowd of 45,546 saw the home team improve to 4-4 and the Chiefs fall to 1-7. It’s only the second time in the 50-season history of the franchise that the team is 1-7. The other year was last season when they went 1-10 before winning their second game.

Without knowing the facts of the game, someone would look at the final score and figure the Chiefs must have been in quite a struggle. Save for the last three minutes of the game, they would be wrong. When Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew scored with four minutes, 26 seconds to play in the game, the Jaguars led 24-6 and obviously began celebrating.

That’s when the Chiefs scored a pair of touchdowns and recovered an onside kick in the span of 91 seconds. A second onside kick was not successful and the Jags stumbled off the field with a three-point victory.

The combination of QB Matt Cassel and WR Chris Chambers made things interesting. …Read More!

Practice Report 11/5 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

Apparently bored with football talk around a 1-6 team, the media horde made the topic of conversation in the Chiefs locker room on Thursday about signage.

When the Chiefs returned from their bye weekend they found new slogans, placards and the like posted around the facility. The media got a look at one of those, because it’s posted in the hallway between the team’s locker room and the administrative offices. The sign reads:

“Losers assemble in small groups and complain about the coaches and other players. Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win.”

The signage came from Todd Haley and his coaching staff, and according to the coach was posted at this time because his assistant who was “in charge of signage and posters and he’s just been slow.”

“They are just word that I think are important,” Haley said. “They may be signs that I’ve had up in other places, or thoughts that we came up with as a staff. I think you’ll see more and more.

“They are little reminders to the players to keep them thinking about the direction they ought to be thinking.” …Read More!

Albert Celebrates Return … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

Branden Albert celebrated his 25th birthday on Wednesday with a nice two-hour practice at the Chiefs facility with his teammates.

But there really wasn’t time to have any type of party. There was game preparation to handle, a game where Albert will finally get back on the field.

“Best present I could have is to get a chance to play again,” Albert said after the team’s Wednesday practice. “That’s what I’ve been working on for three weeks.”

His chances of being back on the field at left tackle this Sunday in Jacksonville are very good. The left ankle injury that he suffered against Dallas on October 11th isn’t completely healed, but he’s improved enough that he can handle the duties of protecting QB Matt Cassel’s back and opening some holes for RB Jamaal Charles.

“It’s been hard watching,” Albert admitted. “Wade (Smith) and Barry (Richardson) did a good job, but it’s a helpless feeling not being able to play and contribute something.”

In an attempt to try finding something positive in a negative, the respite from playing gave Albert a chance to take a big picture view of how he was playing before suffering the injury.

It wasn’t a pretty picture. In five games, Albert allowed 4.5 sacks and was flagged for four penalties.

Compare that to his rookie season, when over 15 games the first-round choice out of Virginia allowed 4.5 sacks and was flagged just once for a penalty. …Read More!

Opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars

2009 record: 3-4, with victories over Houston, Tennessee and St. Louis. The Jaguars have fallen to Indianapolis, Arizona, Seattle and the Titans. They are in third place in the AFC South.

Last year’s record: 5-11, fourth and last in the AFC South.

Record for the last five seasons: 46-37, with two appearances in the playoffs (2005, 2007). The Jaguars did not win a division title in the previous five years.

Last appearance in the playoffs: In the 2007 AFC playoffs, the Jaguars won a wildcard game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh 31-29, but then lost in the divisional playoff round to New England 31-20.

Head coach: Jack Del Rio in his seventh season has a 54-52 record. He’s one of the most tenured coaches in the NFL as only Jeff Fisher, Bill Belichick, Andy Reid and John Fox have been on the job longer. He joined Jacksonville after one season as defensive coordinator in Carolina and three years as linebackers coach in Baltimore.

Coordinators: offensive, Dirk Koetter; defensive, Mel Tucker; special teams, Russ Purnell. …Read More!

Practice Report-Roster Move 11/4 Update

From the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs placed FS Jarrad Page on the injured-reserve list today and re-signed CB Travis Daniels to take his spot on the active roster.

Page’s departure from the roster and the continuing injury problem of Jon McGraw has left the Chiefs very thin on the back line of the defense.

“Safety is an area of concern,” said Todd Haley. “We have been cross-training some of those corners to be alert in an emergency situation. It will be tenuous to say the least as we go forward, certainly for this week.” 

Reportedly, Page suffered a calf injury during the team’s practice last Thursday. The move to IR ends what has been a disappointing season for the fourth-yea safety, as he has been inactive for several games even when healthy.  Page finished the season with 19 total tackles and one forced fumble in five games. …Read More!

More WR Juggling … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

The Chiefs continued what has been a futile search for help at wide receiver when they claimed Chris Chambers (left) off the NFL waiver wire on Tuesday.

Released by the Chargers on Monday, Chambers is just another attempt by Pioli/Haley to add some firepower to their passing game. To this point, they’ve failed miserably.

Bobby Engram, Quinten Lawrence, Rodney Wright, C.J. Jones, Terrance Copper, Amani Toomer, Ashley Lelie, Bobby Wade and now Chambers. That group combined has provided the Chiefs offense with 27 catches for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Almost all of that belongs to Wade, with his 20 catches for 226 yards and both scores.

The biggest disappointments in that group have been Engram and Lawrence. With the addition of Chambers it doesn’t really make a lot of sense at this point to keep Engram on the roster. He’s caught five passes and has been inactive for two of the last three games. In the month of October, Engram had two catches for 30 yards. There’s no upside with the 36-year old; he’s a solid character in the locker room, but it’s impossible to lead on the inactive list. …Read More!

Chiefs Claim Chambers

The Chiefs claimed WR Chris Chambers on waivers and he’s expected to be on he practice field on Wednesday when the team begins preparations for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville.

Chambers, a 5-11, 210-pound, 31-year old, nine-year veteran, was released on Monday by the San Diego Chargers.

The Chiefs had a spot  on their 53-man roster open with the suspension of RB Larry Johnson.

He has played in 131 games and caught 482 passes for 6,827 yards and 53 TDs. He also has returned 36 kickoffs for 811 yards. Chambers played in 31 games with San Diego, after moving to the Chargers in a 2007 trade from Miami. The Dolphins selected him in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. He was selected to the 2005 Pro Bowl after catching 82 passes for 1,118 yards with Miami.

Claiming Chambers does not sound like the last roster move of the week for the Chiefs, considering injuries to safeties Jarrad Page and Jon McGraw and RB Kolby Smith’s ability to come off the PUP list.

Making It Special … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

It was a few days before the Chiefs were to face the San Diego Chargers and Steve Hoffman was asked if he was pleased up to that point with the play and production of his special teams.

Sitting in the atrium in the Chiefs complex, Hoffman wasn’t offering a yes.

“I don’t want to use the word please,” Hoffman said. “I have this philosophy that I don’t care what’s happened up to this point. It’s what’s going to happen on the next play. I know how fast it can change.”

Can it ever. The Chiefs had cruised through 6.5 games of the 2009 season with mediocre to strong special teams performances. On a team that has an offense and defense ranked among the worst in the league, the kicking game was the only consistent part of the team’s attack.

Then came the Chargers game.

Rookie K Ryan Succop missed a makeable field goal. RB Jamaal Charles was protecting the right wing on the punt team and was so intent on getting downfield to corral San Diego’s outstanding returner Darren Sproles that he did not bother to block. Chargers FB Jacob Hester rushed past Charles, blocked Dustin Colquitt’s punt and the ball bounded into the end zone where Hester recovered for a San Diego touchdown.

So far that qualifies as one of the few negative plays involving Hoffman’s special teams.

And that is something for both Todd Haley and Hoffman to be proud of as the schedule nears mid-season. This is the first time in Hoffman’s 21-year NFL coaching career where he’s handled the entire special teams package. Up to this season, during 17 years in Dallas, one in Atlanta and two with Miami, Hoffman’s duties involved only the punter and kicker. He did not handle the other 10 players on each kick.

But Haley has given him the chance to do it all. How much fun has it been? …Read More!

Negative Thoughts … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

Over the last few days, even as he spent time with the kids and got away from the office for a few hours, you can bet that Todd Haley’s thoughts never strayed too far away from football.

Especially Todd Haley the offensive coordinator. The contemplation most certainly centered on negative plays, minus yardage. In football, the object of the offense is to move forward. For the 2009 Chiefs offense, there have been far too many plays where they went in reverse.

In seven games, the Chiefs offense has had 90 negative yardage plays. That’s running and passing play for minus yards, sacks, interceptions, fumbles lost and offensive penalties. When it comes to negative on offense, the Chiefs lead the league.

“Minus plays, minus plays, we have to eliminate minus plays,” Haley said last week. “Coach (Bill) Parcells drilled it into my head over and over and over again for years about minus plays and how they lead to dissatisfaction with your offense.

“Right now, we’re all dissatisfied with the offense and to me the root of that evil is minus plays.”

Here’s how those negative plays breakdown at this point in the season: …Read More!

From Coaching To Wine, Vintage Vermeil

A confession: for five years, I hosted the Dick Vermeil Show every Monday night, sometimes Tuesday nights, after Chiefs games. That would be 81 shows.

For 80 of those shows, which were done in the broadcast booth at Arrowhead Stadium, we had a bottle of wine on site. Almost always it was a red wine, because that was my preference; Vermeil’s too. There were usually five to six people there as part of the show, so the bottle would go quickly

The Coach would have about half a glass. He had been at work since 5 a.m. and was planning to be working until about midnight; Mondays are always a very busy day in the NFL. Anything more than a swallow or two would have Vermeil nodding off in his meeting with the coaches.

After his last game as the Chiefs head coach, the last Dick Vermeil Show featured a wine that he brought: one of his own Jean Vermeil Cabernet Sauvignons. As the show went on, the Coach talked about getting more involved in the wine business, going back to his roots.

Vermeil has done that with the creation of the Vermeil Wines Group. Along with a group of partners that includes Carl Peterson and a pair of his former quarterbacks in Trent Green and Todd Collins, Vermeil Wines opened a tasting room in Calistoga, California this summer and production of wines under Vermeil’s name has grown and will get bigger in the future.

Calistoga is where Vermeil was born and where he grew up. It’s smack in the middle of the Napa Valley and the business of wine has fueled the area economy for years. As the off-spring of a family with Italian blood on one side and French blood on the other, wine was always part of Vermeil’s life. They didn’t put it in his baby bottle, but he wasn’t but eight or nine before the milk at the dinner table was replaced by a watered down glass of vino.

“Growing up, even as a child we would have wine at the dinner table,” Vermeil said. …Read More!