COMMENTARY: THEY FINALLY LOOKED LIKE A TEAM
From Arrowhead Stadium
Let’s skip the moral victory stuff when it comes to the Chiefs loss on Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys.
Its 0-5 on the season, it’s nine losses in a row and it’s that ugly 28 defeats in the last 30 games.
“Losing sucks,” said QB Matt Cassel.
Yes it does. But there was something different in this one. There was a flicker of hope, a few signs that maybe, finally, possibly the 2009 Kansas City Chiefs are becoming a team, rather than just a group of guys that have been brought together to play professional football.
“I think the most important thing for our team to understand is that today was the first time that we really came together as a team,” said Cassel. “The defensive side of the ball made some big plays for us and the offensive unit went down and scored when we needed to. We battled throughout the course of the day and we put ourselves in a position against a very good football team to win.
“That’s what we’re looking for.”
There were obvious signs to backup what Cassel was talking about.
The bench area was more vibrant and had more life. Defensive players were up watching the offense and vice-a-versa. Head coach Todd Haley didn’t look like he ripped anybody verbally, save for the guys in the striped shirts. Cassel was up and about on the bench, talking to his linemen, exhorting them to better performances.
And from the first play to the last one, when the dagger was driven through their football hearts, the Chiefs played hard and they played tough. For the first time, they looked like they played without being afraid of making a mistake.
There will be a lot of focus on nickel CB Maurice Leggett after this game because he blew the first tackles on the long TD plays involving Dallas WR Miles Austin. On both of those plays, Leggett was going for the football. He was taking a chance, trying to make a play. It’s easy to say right now that he should have been concentrating on bringing down the receiver, but Leggett knew he had help in those situations. The only problem was SS Mike Brown couldn’t make the tackle on either play as well.
Positives? Yes, there were positives. Haley pointed to the late fourth-quarter drive that allowed the Chiefs to tie the game and send it to overtime. That came after the first Austin touchdown, a play that gave Dallas the lead for the first time on the afternoon.
“We had a heartbreaking long play made on us in a game that we led for the majority of the game,” said Haley. “As far as a momentum changer those are hard to overcome. I’m pretty proud of our offense; that after having that occur, they took the ball down the field and scored a touchdown in a two-minute situation. I’d say that’s a pretty big positive.
This team has plenty of problems that were not covered up by what few positives showed themselves on Sunday. The Chiefs couldn’t get a running game going to save their life, or their chance of victory. They could not protect Cassel, who was battered all day and somehow walked away in one piece. They couldn’t get anything going on special teams and in fact suffered a big blow when they allowed a blocked FG. A pass rush was not very visible on the day and the defense continued its habit of giving up big plays.
All of those factors were the same as the previous four games, the last eight and most of the 28 of the last 30. But when it comes to thinking there is a future with this franchise, signs on Sunday indicated that the 2009 Chiefs have finally taken baby steps towards becoming a football team.
The pilot light has finally been lit. Now, the Chiefs have to show they can keep the fire burning.
This one really hurt…. I love my Chiefs and always will, but tonight I’m drinking this one away!
Bob I just didn’t see all the positives you wrote about.That we were in the game yes ….if we cant pass block most teams run the ball……we can’t do that either .What we can do real well is lose …we got that down pat.PnS
Here’s what I noticed today.
When Cassel has a reasonable amount of time in the pocket he makes plays.
Our o-line can neither pass block nor run block.
We need someone up front putting pressure on the QB besides just Hali.
Larry Johnson is done!
Mike Brown is slooooooow.
Leggett has been torched in almost every game this year. Last year’s promising play must have gone to his head.
Mike Brown didn’t put a shoulder on anyone all day. On both long passes, he took bad angles like he actually could still run. Several other times he had opportunities to put shots on guys and didn’t. He’s obviously not the hitter he once was.
On the other side, Page had guys behind him all day. Can’t do that at Safety.
Safety play if far bigger concern than corner. Bears may have realized that Brown is not the player he used to be. Corners made plays most of the day.
Chiefs competed against a decent (not great) team from the NFC East. KC has played a tough schedule, other than Raiders. This team is starting to ascend. Build towards 2010.
Offensive play calling is entirely suspect. After a large, momentum changing turn over, you run a Larry Johnson draw to kill the momentum.
Stop giving the ball to Larry. 2-3 yards per carry? Cassel is leading the team in rushing?
Jamal Charles may fumble from time-to-time, but at least he tries to run forward.
I’d really like to see Battle get the carries LJ has been wasting.
Second and 10 from the 50 in overtime and we give the ball to LJ for no gain. ?????? Did anyone else at the game see him do anything up to that point?????
ONce again I’ll ask why isn’t Flowers on Austin. If he’s our shut down corner he’s was being wasted today guarding Crayton while Austin is having a career day. Its not like you had Flowers checking Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson. He was checking freaking Crayton. Bottom line poor defensive adjustment by Clancy and Haley.
Second LJ just didn’t look good today. Why not put Charles or Battle in on some of those drives to see if any of those guys could get a spark going in the running game. Coaching staff just didn’t make the adjustments to help the team win down the strech. That has to get better.
Ed, I agree on plugging in a different running back, Charles had one carry today and it was 8 yards on 1st down, setting up a 2nd and 2, how often have we seen 2nd and 2 this season. I think charles needs to start to set up LJ later in the game. Rick I was screaming at the t.v. on the 2nd down run on the 50 yard line.
Other than that play, I have no complaints about the play calling, he was aggressive early, calling a couple trick plays inside our 20 yard line. But the offensive line proved Haley is limited in what he can do. Cassel got drilled all day I am surprised he is still upright.
I came to KC in ‘67. Yeah, the glory days. Then I suffered through the 70’s slide. Watched the 80’s futility. And enjoyed the return to glory in the 90’s. Now I am witnessing the slide again.
Oops, my mistake, the slide came and went with Herm. Now we are at rock bottom. Even in the 80’s there was hope. There is no hope now. This is the worst Chiefs team I have ever seen.
In the 80’s the joke was about the lady who left her eleven kids on the field. Would she please pick them up, they are beating the Chiefs 21-10.
Not a joke anymore. I’m sorry but I don’t see anything positive yet. I hope I do soon. I will die a Chiefs fan, I just hope they get a win before then.
From top to bottom of the organization all I have seen this year is poor judgement and poor play.
I greatly appreciate Bob’s unparalleled coverage of the Chiefs, however, I think he needs to have a proofreader look at the articles before they are posted. In each one, there are numerous errors.
Having said that, he does a great job, but spending another moment to double check the article would greatly increase his credibility.
BAChieffan where are these numerous errors??
Well the chiefs shouldn’t have let Pollard go, at least he would have hit Miles before he ran to the endzone… Might have been able to slow him up a bit for someone else to make the tackle.
Huh?
I guess you were getting a beer each time Pollard whiffed on a tackle these past few years. You could count on two or three missed tackles by Pollard per game. Plus the fact he was usually out of position on pass plays. He got cut with cause 78.
You’re crazy Stiv! Pollard missed his fair share of tackles, but he stil led the team in tackles the last two years in a row. Pollard played better than Page towards the end of last year. Page gets his recognition because he got a couple interceptions…so what! Page got toasted on more big plays than Pollard. Brown even said he wouldn’t start over either Page or Pollard. Pollard got cut because he’s not Haley’s type…which is a bunch of crap! Why isn’t DJ starting? Same thing. Haley is hurting the team in many ways. I want to like Haley, but he needs to play the best players.
coaches need to stop hating on dj…
best lb on team
there was some pressure from b flowers… if dj was in there he would have made sacks, or given flowers chance for interceptions.
he would have slowed up the tight end for dallas.
Bob,
I want to make one comment regarding an element of Sunday’s game. I heard several PA annoucments proclaiming that Arrowhead Stadium is the home of the “greatest fans in the NFL”. To me, that is clearly no longer true. When I see thousands of blue and white jerseys sitting in the seats owned by Chiefs season ticket holders, we clearly have given up that title. I am sure those who sold their tickets will say that they own them and they have the right to do whatever they want with them. This is true but I learned along time ago that what you have the right to do is often not the right thing to do. When we have the ball in overtime and the Dallas players are exorting the crowd to get loud, we clearly don’t have the greatest fans in the NFL. Maybe we need to claim to be the greatest fans in the NFL when the team wins. That might be more accurate. I know these are tough times — I’m out there suffering with everyone else on Sundays — but selling your tickets or allowing them to be sold to visiting fans does not make us worthy to be called “fans”. We become like Yankee or Cowboy fans — we are only fans of winning, not fans of our team. I suffered through the 70s and 80s and that made the 90s all the sweeter. I am expecting the same when things get turned around this time. That process will be slowed by fans who react as many season ticket holders did on Sunday. We need to get back to a genuine “sea of red”.
exactly joebird, he may have missed tackles but at the same time he had 90-100 tackles a season, which is to much for a safety in my opinion, but at least he was making them. The Texans got a pretty good safety on their team now… We could have used Pollards 6 tackles that he got in the houston game in the game yesterday.
I saw a lot of positives too. Cassel would be GREAT behind an average OLine. BUT….
Watching Belcher try to play while DJ is clearly anxious to play on the sideline is frustrating from my seats.
I can’t believe our beloved Arrowhead was 50/50 Cowgirl fans. It’s just sad to see how lil’ Clark has run this franchise into the ground. I hope Pioli and Haley can save it.
wow i wont like to state..what you seen really wasnt ..do you guys really think we played a good game ..we are talking about the dallas chiefs rught ….we played horrible…like its been all year i have nothing but love for Kc…but thae dallas players where eating gates BBQ and hanging out late with the groupies chics that night..they had night before bugs all on them…they came to play but they didnt come to play every player made major mistakes..flowzell allways screw up them coochie bills are killing him…if we would have took the ball away and it not giving to us we would have been killed ….yea any giving sunday RIGHT…NO they got some points but a win is a win ..and a L is a L..the coach called bad plays LJ cant find a hole if it was wet and the D gave up major plays dallas goof all day and the illusion was some thought the chiefs played good….well okay if ya think so..like i said i love them but when we get beat down by washington …..the tune will change…i saw no progress
Pollard on his worst day is a better player than Mike Brown has been this year. That’s a move Haley/Pioli can and should be criticized for.