Keeping Bowe On The Leash … Monday Cup O’Chiefs
From River Falls, Wisconsin
If I’ve used this story before, then excuse me. But I think it’s very illustrative in explaining WR Dwayne Bowe’s situation with the Chiefs.
Years ago the late defensive coordinator/NFL head coach Bud Carson was talking about players. He said something I’ve never forgotten. Bud said the players on a team fall into three categories: those that know what it takes to win, those that don’t know, and those that don’t know that they don’t know.
“It’s that third group that will get you killed as a coach,” the crusty Carson said. “I’d rather have a guy without a clue, than a guy that thinks he has all the answers but doesn’t know squat.”
So on a rainy Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium, Bowe fights his way out of the head coach’s doghouse, has a nice game and now everybody wants Todd Haley to take his mercurial wide receiver off the choke chain and let him run free again in the neighborhood.
Whether Bowe is back running with the first-team offense this coming Friday night against the Vikings over in Minneapolis remains to be seen. But it wouldn’t make much sense for Haley to suddenly stop what has obviously begun to produce some results.
Bowe definitely falls in the category of players who “don’t know what they don’t know.” There have been a lot of those guys on the Chiefs roster in this decade. They believed they had the plan and answers to create a winning team, but it’s turned out over 10 years that they didn’t even have the right questions, let alone the correct answers. In two seasons, Bowe has caught 156 passes for 2,017 yards and he believes that gives him credibility. Of course, those catches and yards came for a team that finished 6-26.
Bowe and many other young veterans on this Chiefs team have no idea what it takes to be a consistent winner in pro football.
That’s what Haley is trying to create with this team. It doesn’t mean he’ll get that accomplished, or that Haley’s way is the best way. But it’s a tried and true method that has worked dozens of times before in the NFL. The first step in the process is personal responsibility. The second step is consistency.
Go back to what Haley said in the first week of camp: “I don’t want a yo-yo team and I don’t want yo-yo players. I really want to be the same every day. If we get fractionally better each day, or each week, then we’ll be OK.”
Yo-yo: that’s what Bowe has been during this training camp and over his three seasons with the Chiefs. To qualify under what Haley wants requires a consistent approach to practices and meetings. It’s a focus and motivation that gets turned on not when the stadium lights come on, but when the meeting room lights go off and the tape is being reviewed.
It doesn’t just come when there can be a “Bowe Show” with tens of thousands of people watching. It comes when there are less than 100 folks enjoying a sunny afternoon in River Falls and barely making a sound.
It comes every single day, without fail and without question.
Bowe has problems putting all those elements together for any length of time. His focus can waver from play to play, let alone practice to practice. He’s gotten close to some consistency during two practices last week here in the northwoods and then in Saturday night’s pre-season game against the Texans.
Close enough that he’s got the head coach’s attention. Calling Bowe’s five-catch, 70-yard performance against the Texans a “definite positive”, Haley also made it plain there remains work to get done.
“Like I said, we are going to play the guys that we think are doing it the way we want it done,” said the head coach. “That was the way we went tonight (against Houston), but again that can change. But Bowe … definitely showed something.”
It’s hard to imagine Haley taking Bowe completely off the chain and letting him run free again. That would defeat the purpose of what he’s been trying to get done. More than likely Haley is going to have to pull that chain at various times to get Bowe’s attention.
This is the chance that Haley and his coaching staff have of getting Bowe with the program. Fines and discipline don’t make a dent with most of today’s NFL players. The only thing that really grabs their attention is messing with their opportunities to perform.
With the ‘09 Chiefs, Bowe is the most physically gifted receiver on the roster. That doesn’t make him the best at the position, but it should and could, if he’ll become a true pro and learn how to handle himself. Yes, Matt Cassel needs Dwayne Bowe in the lineup. But not the Dwayne Bowe that drops too many passes, runs too many bad routes and doesn’t always get to where he’s supposed to be in the play.
The Chiefs have already proven then can go 6-26 with that Dwayne Bowe.
They need a different one.
SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE
- 49ERS – released injured RB Thomas Clayton; signed FB Bill Rentmeester.
- JETS – G Alan Faneca had surgery to repair a ligament in the middle finger on his right hand and is expected to miss the rest of the pre-season; signed P Ken Parrish.
- RAVENS – signed QB Cleo Lemon.
- SAINTS – signed K John Carney and TE Martrez Milner; placed LB Mark Simoneau on the injured reserve list.
- TEXANS – QB Rex Grossman is out three to four weeks with a hamstring injury suffered Saturday night against the Chiefs.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY
On August 17, 1968 the Chiefs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-10 in a pre-season game at Municipal Stadium. RB Wendell Hayes had the home team’s only TD with a 1-yard run. K Jan Stenerud added a pair of FGs. QB Len Dawson was 14 of 18 for 91 yards and was sacked four times. RB Mike Garrett had 56 yards on 17 carries. St. Louis WR Dave Williams had six catches for 127 yards.
On August 17, 1991 the Chiefs beat the Detroit Lions 38-14 in a pre-season game at Arrowhead Stadium. Scoring touchdowns for the Chiefs were FB Bill Jones (4-yard run), TE Jonathan Hayes (2-yard pass from QB Steve DeBerg), WR Rob Thomas (68-yard pass from DeBerg), RB Harvey Williams (4-yard run) and DE Leonard Griffin (1-yard fumble return). RB Christian Okoye ran 11 times for 72 yards while Williams had 12 carries for 53 yards.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …
Born on August 17, 1940 in Quincy, Florida was FB Mack Lee Hill. He was signed out of Southern University as a college free agent by the Chiefs before the 1964 season. At 5-11, 236 pounds, Hill made the roster thanks to his aggressive running style and he ended up playing in 27 games over two seasons (1964-65), rushing for 1,203 yards on 230 carries, a 5.2-yard per carry average. He scored six rushing TDs. Hill also caught 40 passes for 408 yards and three TDs. On December 14, 1965, Hill died in an operating room at Research Medical Center in Kansas City after undergoing successful knee surgery. Since 1966, the Chiefs have awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award each season to the best rookie on the team.
Tyler has that Montana-Garcia driving personalty that take’s the ball down the field and through the RED ZONE like it’s not there .
End result’s———- SEVEN point’s
Did Tony G. ever think about anything before pratice , other than one thing !!!! Be where the BALL is AND catch it ????
NO LESS — NO MORE———.
I agree that Bowe should not be let off the hook just yet. He hasn’t been consistent yet. If he stays consistent, I still wouldn’t quite let him off the hook until the last preseason game.
But….I’m not an expert so I bow to our Head Coaches decision in the hopes that he knows what he is doing.
Goodness after one game nobody is out of anyone’s doghouse. The offense is less than good but we need to face it Pioli/Haley chose to work on the defense and ignor the offensive side of the ball. Add Tony G leaving and Bowes problems, what do you expect? Time and practice will improve the situation, but still short players.
I read several blogs and found our ole buddy rin has run out of clever(? not really) things to say he actually repeats his sad reframe under different names. Under hermstheman or rin or whatever there lies a bitter, bitter man, and that is to bad. Life is short and you need a good life not one of self-loving, guy.
Even if D Bowe gets anywhere near his potential, it is not enough. The Chiefs need a strong (monster) running game, at least one more starting WR, and to forget Tony but have decent TE play. The pieces are not there on offense. The defense will have to dictate the fortunes of this season. So Jackson and his crew need to step it up.
Blaming the last decade on the ignorance of chiefs players is a low blow.
Anyone with a half a brain can realize that the Herm Edwards era was due to poor coaching. That team had the talent to win more games than 2 last yr, and 6 in the last 2yrs.
The Vermiel era dealt with poor defensive coaching and talent.
The waiver wire HELP WANTED sign is out and blinking in neon for:
Offensive linemen, RT in particular. (There has got to be a last hurrah RT better than McIntosh out there somewhere, doesn’t there?)
Return specialist. This may be tougher to fill than a RT.
WRs. Throw another dozen on the grill and see if one of them cooks.
Given the above needs, we very well be seeing the 2010 draft board already taking shape.
Jeff Webb gone, it’s like we hardly knew him. Lets hope that Ashley is better.
Yeah. Jeff Web. Another GREAT draft pick by Herm.
So we’re picking up Donkey Manure now?? HMMM, maybe we can pick up a raider and a charger too…
sorry forgot, we already picked up a charger… now we can get a raider…
“Jeff Webb gone, it’s like we hardly knew him. Lets hope that Ashley is better.”
I guess this fits under the “any 22″ category – as we haven’t exactly seen a lot of good things from Lelie in recent years. Let’s hope Lelie has improved his attitude.
Actually he is an ex-bronco,falcon,49′er, raider.
He puts the “well” into welltraveled.
Today’s totally absent a & a blog mine is brought to you via the auspices of Rin & his desire a public service for one Dwayne Bowe.
We take a trip back in the time machine to those thrilling days yesteryear AFL, mid/later 1960’s.
- – - – - – - -
One can look back at an Otis Taylor early in his career to understand a Dwayne Bowe (talent wise that is.) OT while flashy was never a prima dona like Bowe knows said, though to be fair Bowe too don’t know hot-diggity-dog-ism like a T.Owens or a C. Johsnon or some of the other lost causes.
As a rookie in 1965, Otis, who was about the same weight as Bowe is now & maybe an inch taller (tis is a game of inches as they say) as well as a bit faster, had a problem or a few.
Problem OT did not fall by the wayside until his 3rd season 1967 (this is also Bowe’s 3rd, 2009.) Problem was, Otis didn’t always concentrate, he lost focus, he…missed the team plane going to the 1st Superbowl/had to cater his own ride. OT was to the degree mentioned thence what Bowe be today: undisciplined.
OT couldn’t run pass patterns when he first came into pro football (like a Bowe who free lances), OT did not always concentrate, which resulted in dropped passes (like Bowe); Taylor had a bit of ’show’ in him (unlike Bowe who’s ‘Show’ is more than did Otis know but be less than ‘Prime Time’ Deion’s show…don’t you know.)
OT was yanked from a game (the final one of 1967, year 3 his) by a “coaches decision” after he had scored 3 TDs the first half alone vs the Broncos in Denver. This resulted in Otis missing out on his 2nd consecutive 1000 yard season in (14 games then.) This did not make OT happy – it made the/a “coach” even less so that they had to do so (Rin will leave the particular reason why it was done out of this blog.)
That same year in game 3, OT dropped a long pass where he got behind HOF CB Willie Brown by some five yards. KC lost the game and with it the AFL title, in retrospect. “He wasn’t concentrating on the play” was the buzz.
That it took OT until his 3rd season to finally ‘get it’ gives hope that as with the other Bowe similarities the latter guy can become all that he can be. Dwayne will never be an Otis Taylor likely – OT was as great as anyone who has ever played the game. That Bowe has a ways to go and can lose some of the show is the point… doing so would help him & the Chiefs. OT got it – so too can DB.
This ‘moderne’ era of athletes (as football fans) seems to know it all/declines the advise of it’s elders/betters, like Rin. Were this not the case or if it isn’t a player sense, it would behoove Dwayne to have a talk with Otis Taylor. Though the latter guy is sadly not in excellent health, he could via own first-hand & hard-won knowledge show Bowe the ‘the show’ does not have to go on – necessarily or un – as it were, to the detriment of a career.
“I believe there is a time & a place for fun but the football field is neither the time nor the place” – Len Dawson HOF QB KC Chiefs circa 1965.
Dwayne, the ‘Rin Show’ too is popular/entertains folks to no end – but an blog is not a football field. Take Rin’s and Len’s advise by way a quip from “The Mod Squad” circa 1969: “play it cool – stay in school”. Be the best you can be – don’t be a fool (like tm1946; there’s no future in it, as he affirms.)
Here’s hoping that Dwayne (who isn’t a head case as some of these other current NFL WRs be) comes to realize he’s only got one go around … don’t blow your career on the ’show’, Bowe.
daddy-o
(PS) Rin tried (unsuccessfully) decipher tm1946’s undulations with a keyboard but, was as e’er left unrequited – tm’s crayola work per the usual left much more so everything to be desired – that was not a surprise; that he whimpers about Rin while being blind to the beam his own eye be his sin – but then, he is a pin- well, Dwayne, don’t be tm.
&
Now on to disaster incarnate, &
‘Check’s poor, poor coaching has led to poor, poor play on field by the KC Chiefs WRs- most every one of them.
His buddy chipped in by finding talent that matches his hairline – sparse.
Webb was a 6th round draft choice of Carl P/Herm – he lasted longer (alot) than will the practice squad ‘Q’ who came here via & ‘09 6th round ‘reach’ Lawrwence who is to WR’ing and KR’ing what Colin Brown be too RT’ing, offense.
Nyet.
Brown busted at RT – another keen talent analysis by & – way to go Patriot Way. Now, will try to be salvaged at OG.
Different year, new Head Coach/GM – same old bad theirs, ‘messers’ & ;
Some things never change… heh heh heh
&
Mack Lee Hill
+ R.I.P. +
THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
Im okay with the Chiefs signing Lelie. He’s at least worth taking a look. He has really only had one good year, but that’s one more than Webb had. I think he played with Herm’s son at San Diego State. I’m not sure if that’s why he was drafted, but I had heard that.
As I have no doubt about Rins knowledge in football ( Chiefs wise ). Why don’t you tell us who to cut or keep on this 09 team . Those that you haven’t already stated on this blog. You know the ones you already have a grudge against for reason…………… only known by you .Yes you have the talent to lend a good eye/ear to the debate . Try It You Might Like It Mikey . I had to eat cereal ……..all my childhood . I cant stand it to this day. PufnStuf
Stop the presses. Did Rin just post a semi-positive blog about Dwayne Bowe and him having potential?
Must’ve been a fake Rin.
Players that stood out for me 51 Mays – K, Succop – LB ,Studebaker – QB Croyle – WR, Bowe – LB, Hali – DE, Jackson & Dorsey They’Re were more that hasn’t come to mind at this time
Anonymous said
“As I have no doubt”
- you are doubtless without…
“about”
- FACE!
“Rins knowledge in football ( Chiefs wise )”
- priceless, unmatched, perfect.
“Why don’t you”
- do it in the road…
“tell us who to cut”
- those who would seek to do us harm…
“or keep on this 09 team.”
- same thing; & be a pair bumblers and are building just such a team that their own image…
“Those that you haven’t already stated on this blog.”
- aren’t worth stating – which is why Rin hath not stated said…
“You know the ones”
- indeed I do…
“you already have a grudge”
- yes, I even have a couple of extras reserve in case the first generation ones get worn out…
“against for reason”
- Rin is all for raison… be against rasins
“………… only known by you.”
- Rin The Magnificent! (Carnac was second rate.)
“Yes you have the talent to lend a good eye/ear to the debate.”
- everyone knows that, puffy – stop trying to cut into the Rin adulation line ahead of others…
“Try It You Might Like It”
- Rin stands in line for no man… by the way, what is your real name?
“Mikey”
- thought so; you’ll eat anything…
“I had to eat cereal”
- Fruit Loops…
” ……..all my childhood.”
- which is even now full bloom…
“I cant stand it to this day.”
- like I just said & you affirmed…
“PufnStuf”
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra…
&
THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
Good article about Bowe, Bob. Right on, I do believe. Lelie? Why not? We have so much talent at WR that we shouldn’t try another one? Please. Open the door and try them all. Webb’s release was 2 years overdue.
Well, it was one wet preseason game. Matt C. looked bad Brodie looked good and so did Tyler. Defense was ok still have rush defense issues. I’m good with the Lelie for Webb its an upgrade. Lots of work to do the Vikings have a better Defense than Houston and run game is better we might just see Friday how much they learned since Sat.
Matt C. did some good things. I wouldn’t say he looked bad.
People need to learn to put things in perspective. This was the first pre-season game, under new coaching, a new scheme, many new players, and a lot of rain. When I look at the game in that context, I saw a lot of positives in the game, but a lot of inconsistency, which you’d expect at this point in the change.
All this turmoil may spread into the season for the first few games, but I expect to start seeing the team making serious strides. After the dust settles, we’ll see what the team needs most and address it in the offseason.
Does size matter? Or talent more so? Rin has both in abundance, yet finding offensive lineman that hath said is daunting.
Toniu Fonoti suggests NFL careers do not live on 400 lbs girth alone; Richard Sligh’s 7′0 majesty too was found insufficient AFL Raiders/Bengals.
So, just for purposes daydreams, imagine a Chiefs offensive line made up of these heights & weights as listed on KCChiefs.com -
Brown 6′7 335
Richardson 6′6 319
Cottam 6′7 269
Of note, Richardson is as of this morning taking 1st team reps at RT…another Herm Edwards draft pick has proven a success!
(Of course, if doesn’t stop running these players so much Brown will soon be svelte enough to play WR – his hands probably aren’t any worse than ‘Q’s… Richardson can move his soon to be 269 lbs to QB (he’s the next Jamarcus Russell) & Cottam will be a 238 lb scatback. lost 25 lbs himself; maybe he can switch from Head Coach to ball boy.)
daddy-o
Hey RTT0W, do you realize, as your critize, that the best pick associated with Herm, was a fourth round pick by the Jets, the pick they got for releasing Herm from his contract. See Herm can draft well, just not for his current team of employment. Leon Washington would certainly look good in Red and Gold.
Heh, heh heh… steve said ‘critize’
daddy-o
Sorry about the spelling, but answer me this…
Where are Jeff Webb, Marcus Maxey, Justin Medlock, Michael Allan, Mike Merrit, Brian Johnson, Kevin Robinson, and Will Franklin playing? I did manage to find Tre Stallings in camp with the Ravens. Draft picks are fickle things, 50 percent failure rate for first round qbs. proves that, but the new g.m. and head coach will need a few drafts to match Herm’s failure rate. Actually to even match the level of failure that Carl had in last 10 years.
Don’t you just love when new players come in and you need to put on a pair of ‘hip-waders’ just to get through their interview w/o drowning in it:
Here’s Ashley Lelie ’shoveling it’ from KCChiefs.com -
- – - – - – - -
Q: What do you think about the Chiefs and this receiving corps?
LELIE: “It’s a good group of guys, talented.”
- translation: They stink which is why I’m here; I’m a journeyman WR so I like my chances here KC among my peers.
Ashely continues to lay it on, THICK -
“And with coach coming in, his Super Bowl experience, we’ve got a chance to win, it’s something special.”
- yes; ‘Special’ as in Chiefs WRs – $1.50 marked down from $1.99…
Q: “You don’t feel like it’s too late for you to be able to get into the mix?
LELIE: “I don’t think it is. Especially with the coaches bringing me in, they must not think so either. They think I have a pretty good shot.”
- translation: they (the coaches) are desperate. They would’ve signed the one-armed man from “The Fugitive” if he wasn’t already six feet under.
Q: Are you still the player you were early in your career with Denver? Do you still have those skills?
LELIE: “Oh, definitely. Especially, because I’m so fresh. I haven’t really had any major injuries. My body still hasn’t been banged up. So I still feel like I’m 23 out there.”
- translation: I’ve been a BUST my entire career- that’s why I have so much tread left on my tires. In fact I’ve played so sparingly that most people don’t even know me unless I show em my “American Express Card”- I never sign up/get cut without it.
…sigh; there’s more but you get the drift nee ‘waft’ as it were – another really swell pickup there &
“Well Rin, you know my motto: “any 22 will do”.
‘No ‘check’, tis Brylcreem that you’re thinking of – “Brylcreem, a little dab will do ya, for men who…’ oh, never mind you idiot.
&
Now Rin is the Grammar Police too. Busy man you are.
steve said
“Sorry about the spelling”
- I don’t believe you…
“but answer me this”
- oh… you want the junk tm1946.
“Where are Jeff Webb, Marcus Maxey, Justin Medlock, Michael Allan, Mike Merrit, Brian Johnson, Kevin Robinson, and Will Franklin playing?”
- same place as are Darrell Robertson, CJ Jones, Tony Curtis & Tanner Purdham already- and where another 25 or more & handpickeds will be by the end August. They’ve all gone to die where “any 22 will do’ go to do so…
“I did manage to find Tre Stallings in camp with the Ravens.”
- I managed to find Zack Thomas too; he’s sitting w/his cane next to his oxygen tank in – “No Man’s Land” at River Falls…thanks for picking him up – he looks really good growing old there.
“Draft picks are fickle things, 50 percent failure rate for first round qbs. proves that, but the new g.m. and head coach will need a few drafts to match Herm’s failure rate.”
- give em time – based on their misses to date, they are well on the way…
“Actually to even match the level of failure that Carl had in last 10 years.”
- they’ll never match Carl P – both & won’t last past 2010 at the latest…
“Hey Herm?”
“Yeah Rin?”
“I’m a pickin’!”
And I’m a grinnin’!!”
& “heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!!!”
This blog post almost makes it sound as if the win-loss record of the last two years can be stricktly laid at the feet of D. Bowe. While I agree that his performance has been inconsistant to say the least, it was MUCH more than several dropped passes that cost the Chiefs those victories. It was a porous offensive line, a defensive line that couldn’t put any kind of pressure on the opposing QB, a pouting running back, and a host of other issues. I agree that Bowe needs to mature and take his role more seriously, but it was obvious Saturday night that if the Chiefs want to move the ball, he needs to be out on the field, not in the dog house.
OK Ok some quoits like Lelie & Thomas were very entertaining . To really appreciate the Dog……….. read between the lines . To me he is just being funny . Yes at our expense sometimes ……… readers don’t get mad just look for the humor ……..its there
Hey RRT0W, but the big question is, Will Todd, and Scott ever be hated by two fan bases at the same time? Quite an accomplishment for the short head coaching career of Mr. Edwards. Keep posting RTT0W, you make all of us seem saner and brighter.
Haley is doing a FANTASTIC job with Dwayne, and Bowe will be one of his soldiers, like Larry Fitzgerald was, and he’ll thank Haley profusely for getting him to the next level.
steve said
“Hey”
- yes, thy narratively challenged lower case syllabary?
“RRT0W”
- 65 Toss Power Trap…
“but the big question is”
- than big butts twill be – now what about ’search’ & ‘check’?
“Will Todd, and Scott ever be hated”
- hath this blog taught you nothing, Stevie ‘Fingertips’ Wonder?
“by two fan bases at the same time?”
- e’en more: universally…
“Quite an accomplishment”
- well, & are ‘Special’; you understand, steve…
“for the short”
- bus be your refuge from a cruel humanity…
“head coaching career of Mr. Edwards.”
- one that produced 4 post season berths in but 8 seasons – far better ratio than e’en the greatest Head Coach in Chiefs history, Hank Stram…sweet.
“Keep posting RTT0W, you make all of us seem saner and brighter.”
- Rin doesn’t – those ^ are your words…TOUCHE!
&
Receivers must not be doing well as a whole for us to be signing Lelie. HEck why not rent Plaxico for a year. He would give us a true #1 receiver even if only for one year. As far as Bowe goes I think he’ll get it and become a pro bowl wideout, or else he want be a Chief next year this time.
Bowe just needs more dicipline he still can be the show he just needs to back up being the show by being a all around wideout 99% of the time and not just every now and then.
Sure but at some point you need Cassel to get some gametime with Bowe BEFORE the reg season starts. I better see him in the first team for at least one maybe two preseason games for QB/WR timings sake.
One more thing.
RAVENS – signed QB Cleo Lemon.
LOLOLOL. Cleo still cracks me up. His name, and the fact he started for the Dolphins at one point.
Nice article Bob.
While most of the mainstream media and all the Fantasy guys are screaming for Bowe’s presence back in the starting lineup your opinion is the right one in that Haley should stay the course and make this a long term project not just a slap on the wrist.