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.

“These are teams that have been able to sustain through different players. That’s the key. As players come and go they continue to have guys ready to go and step in. That’s something you’d aspire to be like. I think that’s how you get good: staying the course.”

You also get good in the NFL when you have a quarterback. The Steelers had Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw for those glory years of the 1970s. They now have Ben Roethlisberger, who in five seasons in the league has a pair of Super Bowl rings.

The Chiefs are hoping Cassel will be cut from the same cloth. Eight starts into his Chiefs career, it’s hard to tell just what they have in Cassel. It shouldn’t be a surprise that like the team’s offense and defense, Cassel is still trying to establish his identity.

What makes the evaluation process so hard to tackle with Cassel is the talent around him. This edition of the Chiefs offense has no game breakers; they have few weapons of any caliber. The offense line play is spotty at best. At times, Cassel has displayed the characteristics of an NFL starter. At other times, he’s struggled to make anything work. That’s not unusual for a quarterback who will make only his 24th NFL start when he takes the field against the Steelers.

Evaluating Cassel’s numbers from his first eight starts last year in relief of Tom Brady with the Patriots compared to his first eight starts with the Chiefs produces only a few kernels of insight. Mostly it tells us that when a quarterback has Randy Moss and Wes Welker as receivers, he’s going to be more accurate and make more big plays than if his choices are Dwayne Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Wade and Lance Long.

All the detailed numbers come up later but here are the totals:

	Att.	Cmp.	%	Yards	Yds. Att.	TD	INT	Sacked	Record
Patriots first 8 starts ‘08	246	165	67.1	1,648	6.7	6	7	27-125y	5-3
Chiefs first 8 starts ‘09	259	144	55.6	1,472	5.7	12	5	30-172y	2-6

Cassel got off to a slow start in his first opportunity to regularly play last year; throwing just two TD passes in his first four starts and only six in his first eight. This year there have been games (at Philadelphia and vs. San Diego) where he and the passing game disappeared from the radar screen and didn’t even break 100 yards in passing the ball.

And now, one of his favorite receivers is gone, as WR Dwayne Bowe serves a four-game NFL suspension.

Against the Steelers, Cassel faces a defense that loves to bedevil even the most experienced quarterbacks, ones that have talented playmakers at their disposal.

“They have a lot of veteran players on that team that have played together for a long period of time and I think they all know the scheme,” Cassel said of the Pittsburgh defense. “They’re very sound in what they do, their coverages; they all know where they’re supposed to go. Their spot-drops are perfect. It’s consistently a great defense year-in and year-out because of a number of reasons, not only because of the players that they have, but they know how to play within that system.”

He saw the Steelers last year and it wasn’t pretty. In his 11th NFL start, Cassel completed 49 percent of his passes, threw two interceptions, was sacked five times and finished with a 39.4 passer rating as the Patriots lost by 23 points. That was with Moss and Welker, who combined eight catches for 75 yards.

“As a QB, this is definitely one of the toughest teams that you have to prepare for because of all the looks and the different personnel groups. You really just have to hone in and concentrate and everybody has to be on their game in order to beat this team. From an offensive standpoint you have to make big plays, like I said, you have to be able to take advantage of those opportunities

How much Cassel has grown as a quarterback since that first game against the Steelers 51 weeks ago will be visible on Sunday at Arrowhead. If it’s not, then the day will be long and losing for the Chiefs.

FIRST EIGHT STARTS FOR MATT CASSEL/2008

Date	Opponent	Att.	Cmp.	%	Yds.	Yds. Att.	TD	INT	Sacked	Outcome
9/14	@ NY Jets	23	16	69.6	165	7.2	0	0	4-9y	W 19-10
9/21	Miami	31	19	61.3	131	6.9	1	1	4-17y	L 13-38
10/5	@ San Fran	32	22	68.8	259	8.1	1	2	5-26y	W 30-21
10/12	@ San Diego	38	22	57.9	203	5.3	0	1	4-10y	L 10-30
10/20	Denver	23	18	75.0	185	8.0	3	0	6-38y	W 41-7
10/26	St. Louis	33	21	63.6	267	8.1	1	2	3-17y	W 23-16
11/2	@ Indy	34	25	73.5	204	6.0	0	1	0	L 15-18
11/9	Buffalo	32	22	68.8	234	7.3	0	0	1-8y	W 20-10
	Totals	246	165	67.1	1,648	6.7	6	7	27-125y	5-3

FIRST EIGHT STARTS FOR MATT CASSEL/2009

Date	Opponent	Att.	Cmp.	%	Yds.	Yds. Att.	TD	INT	Sacked	Outcome
9/20	Oakland	39	24	61.5	241	6.2	1	2	2-5y	L 10-13
9/27	@ Phil	18	14	77.8	90	5.0	2	0	3-19y	L 14-34
10/4	N.Y. Giants	32	15	46.9	127	4.0	2	0	5-39y	L 16-27
10/11	Dallas	41	23	56.1	253	6.2	2	0	4-21y	L 20-26
10/18	@ Wash	31	16	51.6	186	6.0	0	0	5-28	W 14-6
10/25	San Diego	25	10	40.0	97	3.9	1	3	5-18	L 7-37
11/8	@ Jax	39	23	59.9	262	6.7	2	0	3-21	L 21-24
11/15	@ Oakland	34	19	55.9	216	6.4	2	0	3-21	W 26-10
	Totals	259	144	55.6	1,472	5.7	12	5	30-172y	2-6

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• JAGUARS – released S Brian Russell; signed OL Paul McQuistan.

• SAINTS – will be without RB Reggie Bush and DE Sedrick Ellis for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers because of knee injuries.
• TITANS – Out of Monday night’s game against the Texans are WR Justin Gage and LB Colin Allred.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On November 22, 1964, the Chiefs beat the Houston Oilers 28-19 at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston. The Chiefs jumped to a 21-3 lead during the first half and controlled the tempo of the game from there. QB Len Dawson threw three touchdown passes, hitting TE Fred Arbanas twice for 19 and 26 yards and connecting with WR Chris Burford for a five-yard score. RB Mack Lee Hill (right) had a two-yard TD run and finished the game with 156 rushing yards on 25 carries. The KC defense had three interceptions, two by FS Johnny Robinson.

On November 22, 1970, the Chiefs tied the St. Louis Cardinals 6-6 at Municipal Stadium. It was a defensive battle when these cross-state teams faced each other for the first time in the regular season. Jan Stenerud had field goals of 39 and 15 yards and Cardinals K Jim Bakken hit a 49-yarder and then a 14-yard FG with less than two minutes to play that tied the game. RB Ed Podolak was the only offense the Chiefs had, gaining 112 yards on 23 carries. LB Jim Lynch picked off a Jim Hart pass.

On November 22, 1981, the Chiefs hammered the Seattle Seahawks 40-13 at Arrowhead Stadium. It was one of the Chiefs most dominating performances of the season, as they scored the first six times they had the ball on offense and did not punt until only 12 seconds remained in the game. FB Billy Jackson had a pair of short TD runs, while QB Bill Kenney threw two TD passes, going 14 yards to WR J.T. Smith and two yards to TE Willie Scott. The Chiefs defense contributed a 46-yard interception return for a TD by rookie safety Lloyd Burruss. FB James Hadnot (left) ran for 106 yards on 10 carries

On November 22, 1987, the Chiefs fell to the Green Bay Packers 23-3 at Arrowhead Stadium, with a crowd of 34,611 watching. It was the ninth-straight loss for the Chiefs and they were done in by their offense that produced just 201 yards and no touchdowns. The KC defense allowed less than 300 yards, but they gave up three touchdowns. Frank Seuer started again at quarterback for the Chiefs and struggled, hitting 13 of 32 for 107 yards and one interception. He was sacked five times. The game extended to 13 the number of quarters the Chiefs had played without scoring an offensive touchdown. There 1-9 record was the worst in the NFL at the time.

On November 22, 1998, the Chiefs lost to the San Diego Chargers 38-37 at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers scored the last 14 points of the game to grab the victory, fighting back from a 34-17 deficit in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs had three short TD runs from RB Bam Morris (right), along with a 35-yard scoring pass from QB Rich Gannon to WR Derrick Alexander. Pete Stoyanovich had three FGs in the game. But in the final period, San Diego got a pair of touchdown passes from QB Craig Whelihan and a four-yard scoring run by RB Terrell Fletcher. It was a one-yard TD throw from Whelihan to WR Charlie Jones that was the winning points for San Diego. Alexander finished with five catches for 173 yards. The KC defense had an interception from FS Jerome Woods and a sack by LB Greg Favors.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on November 22, 1982 in Waco, Texas was LB Derrick Johnson. He was selected in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Texas. Johnson has played 67 games, with 59 starts over five seasons with the Chiefs (2005-09), starting 59 times. He has 13 QB sacks, four interceptions and has taken part in 405 total tackles.

Born on November 22, 1946 in Robstown, Texas was DT Marvin Upshaw (left). He joined the Chiefs in 1970, after playing two seasons with the Cleveland Browns, where he was selected in the first round of the 1968 NFL-AFL Draft. Upshaw played six seasons with the Chiefs (1970-75), appearing in 67 games, starting 60 times. He had one interception, coming in 1974 that he returned 52 yards for a score. Upshaw also recovered five opponents’ fumble. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976 and finished his career with four games with the Red Birds.