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.
Lawrence has one attribute that few in that group of WRs possess: speed. But the sixth-round choice didn’t know what to do with that speed. He was inconsistent catching the ball and wasn’t always where he was supposed to be; there was never an urgency to his approach.
Chambers had just nine catches for 122 yards and a touchdown in seven games with the Chargers, that’s coming off his worst season as a pro, with 33 catches for 462 yards last year. He has suffered from the drops this season, and reports out of San Diego say Chambers fell out of favor with Norv Turner and his coaching staff. He was sharing time with Malcom Floyd across from Vincent Jackson.
“It’s tough for me right now,” Chambers told the San Diego Union-Tribune before the Chargers game against the Chiefs. “I’m rotating a little bit more than I’d like to, but I’ll do whatever the coaches ask. I work extremely hard in practice. I work to get open in games, but I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to make plays thus far.”
In a conversation with the Union-Tribune after he was released, Chambers said he believes some personal problems he’s dealing with contributed to his release.
“I thought the team gave up on me a little quick – for factors that don’t have to deal with football,” he told the newspaper. “I guess it created a distraction upstairs. I kept my head on straight. We all go through things. I did my best to not have my personal life and football clash. They know a little too much of my life, and they used it against me.”
Turner said there were a number of factors in the decision to release Chambers.
“The most important was the emergence of Malcom Floyd and what we think he can do as an every-down receiver,” Turner told the San Diego media on Monday. “There are other areas of our football team we need to address, especially on defense and in the kicking game. We’re going to address that by adding a player, probably a linebacker, over the next couple days.
“This was an extremely difficult decision. What we did today is, in our minds, what is best for our team over the next two months.”
On Tuesday, the Chargers promoted LB James Holt from the practice squad to take the open roster spot.
The Chiefs had an open roster spot due to the suspension of Larry Johnson, and Chambers should be on the field when the team practices on Wednesday.
So what does Chambers bring to the Chiefs offense? He does not bring speed or big plays; his longest catch in the past four seasons was 38 yards and his average catch in those years was 13.8 yards. Chambers plays bigger than his 5-11 size, but at the age of 31, he does not have all the athletic skills that he brought out of Wisconsin as a second-round choice of the Dolphins in 2001.
It’s hard to see how he’s much of an upgrade over Wade, or Mark Bradley. But then at this point, with the No. 30 offense and No. 30 passing offense, there isn’t any reason to stand with a pat hand.
SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE
- NFC – Packers QB Brett Favre named offensive player of the week.
- BENGALS – signed FB Fui Vakapuna (Cardinals practice squad); released OT Scott Kooistra.
- BILLS – CB Terrence McGee underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and is expected to miss two weeks.
- BROWNS – released K Billy Cundiff and DB Anthony Madison; LB Eric Barton’s neck injury is expected to end his ‘09 season.
- BUCCANEERS – released K Shane Andrus and CB Marcus McCauley; signed K Connor Barth and CB Mike Mickens.
- PATRIOTS – DE Jarvis Green had knee surgery last week and is expected to miss four weeks.
- SEAHAWKS – released RB Edgerrin James.
- TITANS – released CB Cary Williams; re-signed WR Chris Davis.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY
On November 4, 1962, the Texans fell to the Houston Oilers 14-6 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The combination of Oilers QB George Blanda (left) and RB Billy Cannon was too much for the Texans defense. Blanda and Cannon hooked up on two TD passes, for six and 34 yards. Overall, Blanda was 13 of 19 for 194 yards, while Cannon caught five passes for 74 yards and ran 16 times for a total of 21 yards. Cannon also returned a kickoff and threw a pass. The Texans only score came on a 15-yard TD pass from QB Len Dawson to WR Chris Burford. The two-point pass went incomplete. Burford finished with seven catches for 90 yards. The Chiefs gave up five sacks of Dawson. Defensively, LB E.J. Holub had an interception
On November 4, 1973, the Chiefs beat the Chargers 19-0 at San Diego Stadium. The Kansas City defense limited the Chargers to 190 offensive yards and forced five turnovers, including three interceptions of QB Dan Fouts and four sacks. The Chiefs go a five-yard TD run from RB Ed Podolak and a 39-yard TD pass from QB Mike Livingston to TE Morris Stroud. Defensively, Jim Kearney, Jim Marsalis and DE Pat Holmes had interceptions and LB Jim Lynch had three sacks and DE Wilbur Young one sack. Young’s sack in the third quarter came when he took down Hall of Fame QB Johnny Unitas, who has replaced Fouts for a series.
On November 4, 1979, the Chiefs lost to the San Diego Chargers 20-14 at Arrowhead Stadium. In front of a crowd of 59,353 fans, the visitors raced out to a 13-0 lead into the fourth quarter and with stood a late Chiefs rally. QB Steve Fuller got KC’s first points, as he ran it in from 18 yards away for a touchdown. Later, he connected with WR J.T. Smith on a 24-yard scoring pass. The Chiefs defense did a good job against the San Diego passing game led by QB Dan Fouts (right) and WRs John Jefferson and Charlie Joiner. Fouts threw a pair of interceptions, as Gary Barbaro and Herb Christopher grabbed picks. The defense held Jefferson to six catches for 56 yards and Joiner to seven catches for 40 yards. Fuller also threw a pair of interceptions.
On November 4, 1984, the Chiefs were shut out by the Seattle Seahawks 45-0 at the Kingdome. The Seattle defense established NFL records with four interception returns for touchdowns and a total of 330 yards on returns for six interceptions. CB Dave Brown had TD returns of 58 and 95 yards, with S Kenny Easley returning a pick 58 yards and S Keith Simpson returned one 76 yards for a TD. Three Chiefs quarterbacks played – Bill Kenney, Sandy Osiecki and Todd Blackledge – and all had interceptions, three by Blackledge. Overall, the Chiefs offense had 76 plays and gained just 240 yards.
On November 4, 1990, the Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Raiders 9-7 at Arrowhead Stadium before a crowd of 70,951 fans. The Chiefs struggled to get anything going offensively, but they were still able to pull out the victory thanks to finishing plus-2 on the turnover ratio and allowing only one touchdown in the game. The only scoring for the Chiefs came on three FGs from Nick Lowery, including a 41-yarder in the fourth quarter than won the game. CB Albert Lewis had an interception and LB Derrick Thomas had a sack. RB Barry Word led all rushers with 85 yards on 15 carries.
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …
Born on November 4, 1984 in Rochester, New York was OT Branden Albert. He was selected in the first-round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia. Albert started 15 games during his rookie season and was again the Chiefs starter at left tackle at the start of the ‘09 season before he suffered an ankle injury.
Born on November 4, 1974 in Swansea, South Carolina was OT Victor Riley. He was selected in the first-round of the 1998 NFL Draft out of Auburn. Riley played four seasons with the Chiefs (1998-2001), appearing in 55 games with 52 starts. He moved on to New Orleans in 2002 and spent three years with the Saints and then one in Houston with the Texans.
Born on November 4, 1956 in Xenia, Ohio was DE James Black. He joined the Chiefs as a 30-year old for one game during the NFL players’ strike of 1987. That was his only appearance in the NFL after playing college football at South Carolina State.
Someone needs to remember that Brett Farve does not play for the G.B. Packers any more.
Would even the best wide receiver in the league help us much with this o’line in the shape it’s in? I think they are grasping at straws hoping desperately that something will work. The tools we need are not on the market….yet.
At least I got to smile this past week…..the Broncos lost.
Chief’s have 2 TE,s ( Pope & Cottman )
6′7″ & 270 –
Stay back with Cassel -blocking
Disagree Bob at 31 I still think this guy can contribute. He’s to me instantly better than Wade or Bradley. I think this may end up being the best addition at wideout under the Pioli/Haley regime. Give these guys credit at least their trying to do whatever they can as far as trying to improve the team this year. If Chambers comes in play with a chip on his shoulder and being in the last yr of a contract is enough motivation.
Chargers released this guy because of the money. The really wasn’t using him much. MOst of Rivers throws go at jackson and Gates anyways. Floyd show decent enough skill set to probably be a 2 receiver and he’s cheaper player to keep around. LT will be let go next season as well he’s not producing the way AJ Smith like either.
Page to IR, Travis Daniels signed.
Daniels was in trainging camp. Anyone know much about him?
Still suprised Chambers fell to the Chiefs. Do the teams that passed on him know something we don’t? Is is an AFC West thing? I don’t know. Can’t hurt, I guess. But, I’d still rather see a kid like Lance Long gets the reps and experience. That could pay off big next year.
I see Edgerrin James got released now, too. Could he be next?
I dont see James coming here at all. I think we have good enough backs here to be ahead of him
For chambers, I think lance long and him share rolls for a bit. still with them 2 and bowe on the field, that could be a decent recieving core, maybe better than we have had in along time. Or it could be a bust once again, but before long, we will get the players they need and want. We just habve to roll with the process. ha
gorillafan says:
“roll with the process. ha”
“Process”. I never hated that word until this year. LMAO!
We need a WR with blazing speed. I don’t think Chambers is it. But, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out with Chambers in the mix. 1-6, I suppose. Nowhere to go but up.
I know some will not like it but does it seem odd anyone that HC Haley was a wrs coach then oc and the only name guys (players with any name recognition) are all WRs. We sign a DT who has not played in 6 years, we NEVER sign a OL from anyones practice squad, there are LBs on the waiver wire weekly, and we have 4 TEs (sor some unknown reason). And do not forget the players we have thanks to NE and MIA. No one from Philly, GB, Atl can help a 1-6 team??
Fry me in oil but there is something wrong with how the Chiefs see the football world. The 09 season may be just a lost season, while Pioli and Haley figure out how to do their jobs.
I’m not that excited about the Chambers pickup either. On the other hand he has the potential to distract defenses off of Bowe.
I’m also tired of hoping this & hoping that with the Chiefs this year. Once again I’m finding myself hoping a few things.
1, Chiefs beat the Jaguars
2, Priest Holmes keeps his Chiefs yardage record.
3, The O-line has a great game.
4, Matt Cassel has a 300 yard. 3 TD passing game.
5, Coach Haley finally “Gets it” and coaches to the teams strengths (if any).
6, The defense starts walking with a swagger.
7, Wake up Monday morning feeling good about the Chiefs.
8, Hell does’nt freeze over.
Go Chiefs.
jimbo, I know ED is “cool with it” but I fear that #8 will happen before anything else does in 08. If Haley actually made some changes in the off week, a win is possible against the Jags. But I suggest you get out your winter gear just in case.
el cid,
for one, getting o-lineman are few and harder to find, atleast the good ones anyway. they have tried to address it and has not had much success. So i believe they are waiting until more talented lineman become available.
plus you cant win if you can not score. I think out d is more talented than our o. so, i think they see our offense as the weakest link and are trying to do anything they can to improve it. besides I think they have done alot of shuffling on the d anyway
gorillafan, I say ok to all you said. Answer me why only Goff during free agency, why 4 TEs, why only Brown in the draft and how long will they “waiting for more talented lineman” take? Coach Haley is oriented to the Offensive side of the game, right? Is any off. players doing better than at the end of last season? Lastly, why is there not ONE player off a winning team’s practice squad who could help a 1-6 team, our team? I was a big Pioli/Haley fan but to many still feel that not being carl/herm is enough. It all still looks like the incompetent leading the incognate (spelling as in wetting on themselves).
We have winning players…….from the Pats…lol!
Not one move has worked under pioli/haley. At his rate we will see a winner in KC in about 5 years.
or be like the famed KC Royals. A neverending rebuild, always a loser, and a big dose of “wait till next year”.
I just think you can not address all the positions that the chiefs need in one season, draft, free agency,e ct. I think they were trying to get a feel on our current roster early. maybe they thought they could get more production out of the o line and wr’s.
we have got players from winning teams this year, active players, not practice squad, and has adressed the o-line imo. we have shuffled the entire right side all year. I think they will get the players in place, you just cant do it in one year ya know.
last year the system and players had been in place for 3 years and we only won 2 games last year. we have new players and a new system, system just weeks in, so im not too worried about it…..yet!
get real,
ouch, lets not go there yet..
Sorry but do not see a bright side to the Chiefs. In less than one season, I see nothing better and wonder just when there will be one success to build on. Sort of building without a foundation, just poured some cement on the ground and next year they will dig the foundation.
The most imporant thing a TE or WR is to be able to get open , then blazing speed .
It only comes to light when your QB and who he is throwing to can connect on every throw .
Get Cassel 3 to 4 seconds , plus being able to throw in space , to 3 strong WRs .
He needs help in the backfield – BLOCKING !!!!!
Use Tight Ends & stop sacks
When you think about it there are real similarities between the Royals and the Chiefs.
Both:
“pro sport” at least in name
absentee owners
have know great times but not recently
among the worst in respective leagues
rebuilding (over and over)
wait till next year attitude especially by fans
Grenke and Gonzales big time players
New management but no new results yet
Many if not most players are not on a level against competition.
Bad drafting
on and on??
Well the royals have been rebuilding for 20 years. The chiefs have been rebuilding for 3 and this is the 1st year of a complete organization overhaul, so no im not agreeing with you on that aspect of it.
If you look at it at an angle, you could say the Chiefs have been in “rebuild mode” since Stedman got canned. Just Carl’s only worked for a few years and fell apart with herm. Sort of matches the Glass Royals.
Almost forgot similarities:
Make money
get free money from Jackson cty.
Looking at a different angle, the Chiefs have been in rebuild mode since Stedman got canned. That is a long time.
Gorillafan are u blind?………U say we had or players in place for 3 years and only won 2 games……………..LMFAO………….dude we lost our 1st and 2nd string QBs in the first 3 games. Then we went 2 our 3rd string QB who was clearly a project and competed in every game minus his first against the Falcons. We should be getting way more from the “great” Cassel who is not a project and is our franchise QB(for now). Me personally, wouldnt want 2 play under these condescending a**holes who refuse 2 play towards thier team strengths and constantly bring in players who in someway has ties 2 Parcells/Belichick/Pats/Ari etc.. b/c they are supposedly winners. It sends the message 2 players that they are 2 stupid 2 play for u and IMO is the wrong message!
I think the best thing about the Chamber signing is that we will now get to utilize Bobby Wade properly, exclusively out of the slot. Wade does not possess the size or speed to win matchups out there on an island, but he is perfect for the slot. While Chambers may not be Randy Moss, I think he commands more respect than Mark Bradley. I posted yesterday that I am looking for and Eddie Kennison-like career turn around for Chambers.
Doesn’t look like the Chiefs are going to activate Kolby this week and that’s okay. Give him another week of practice and debut him against the Raiders, a team he put up over 150 yards on two years ago. I hope Kolby takes LJ’s roster spot. Engram probably needs to go at this point, but who takes his spot on the roster? Hopefully a young offensive lineman, I don’t care who, just a young O lineman.
SO GREAT,
team strenghts huh, what special teams?? our offense and defense has sucked for years!! playing to our strenghts was tried the last 2 years with absolutely no results.
What would you do different, keep all the suck ass players we had on this team for the last 3 years and try and hope to establish them into better players like herm did?
Like i said before, im not going to talk smack on a new regime right now. they are trying to find better players. period. so i say let them. we will suck no matter who is running the team till they find better talented players. I do think this team has some talent on it, just not enough.
now if we continue to suck after next year, than i will be more ticked off, but until then im not getting my pannies in a bucnh dude
gorillafan says:
“now if we continue to suck after next year, than i will be more ticked off, but until then im not getting my pannies in a bucnh dude”
I tend to agree with this. Pioli didn’t come in and blow up the roster right away. This season was to find out just how much legit talent there was on this team. I’m thinking that there was less than what Pioli was hoping for and he probably regrets a few moves or non moves. HOWEVER, after this season, he’ll have all of his personnel in place and will have a very clear idea about what pieces he needs to bring in to fix this team, both short and long term. I know it’s tough to watch this year, but I’m encouraged by the fact that they have not quit and they are still looking to improve, as evidenced by taking a chance on Chambers.
Have to agree with Harold C, doesn’t matter who we sign for WR if Cassel doesn’t have time to throw or a running game to slow down the pass rush.
El cid also makes an interesting point that most of the roster churning is in the WR position and that is Haley’s background.
Wonder if someone in the media will think to ask Haley at a press conference when he’s going to start bringing in OL like he is WR’s to shore up the pass protection and run blocking.
colby I do not buy it. I think Pioli planned to build on what was there. I bet it never occurred to him that Haley would “coach” this team the way it has worked out. Cannot prove it but his actions do not indicate he intended to blast the roster or even OC. The problem here may be Haley and his approach. Play golf, if he was your coach he would be the one throwing clubs and yelling when you got your driver out or on the putting green.
What olineman are out there that we can bring in. People throwing we should bring in o-lineman well name some. Bottom line this was an evaluation season for this organization. People thinking Pioli/Haley were going to wave a magic wand and make this team a contender this year wasn’t being realistic about how bad this team was.
Point is they weren’t going to fix this team in one year. Not when before last yr draft you needed defensive ends to play 3-4, offensive lineman, wide receivers, safeties, depth at the corner position, nose guard, Outside linebacker that can rush the passer, kicker, etc. I think most of you get the point at that time even QB was in the picture before we traded for Cassell. Too many holes to fix in one offseason. Not to mention Pioli had to use Peterson scouts because of the timeframe he came in on.
I’m by no means saying jackson and magee won’t payoff in the long run, but as for everyone else other than Succop its a toss up the rest want be busts. Bottom line now Pioli got his own talent evaluators in place another offseason to improve the team lets see how it goes next yr this time. Personally if the offense improve a little bit more than what they have look like during the first half of the season we’ll win about 5 to 6 more games and some of you would be more optimistic.
I said it before and now again. I refuse to believe that Pioli thought the KC CHIEFS OFFENSE LINE was going to be adequate in 09 by adding Goff (FA) and BROWN (MU), I do not believe this team at 1-6 is what Pioli envisioned. I will throw in Haley with that. I suggest this skunk is just what it is and probably mostly Haley’s fault. Just explain why we have 4 TEs and every living WR not on a team. Because that is all Haley knows??
Ed, Colby, and Gorillafan you all make valid points. Has Pioli and Haley made some bad decisions? Yes they have but what else could they do. Part of the problem is that they were limited in time to accurately assess the talent as everybody else had a head start. The second part of the problem is that when Haley got rid of Gailey they had to change concepts at the last minute and the offense is still learning. If these concepts had been inplemented during mini-camps and during training camp then the offense would be further along.
I think too many people thought Pioli would be a miracle worker. However, you have to give him time because Carl figured he could run the Chiefs this decade similar to the 90s. He let the line slip and should have started on building it after obtaining Roaf because Tait was about to become a RFA, Roaf had just come off knee surgery and no one knew how many years he had left, and Shields was starting to talk about retirement. If he had started to build up the depth probably the o-line wouldn’t be in the shape it’s in now.
Also, Carl’s negotiating stance had an effect on possible free agents coming to KC and good players staying with the Chiefs. Right now to get someone to play here you’re going to have to overpay them. I think Pioli’s laying in wait to see how the CBA plays out to get FAs. If things don’t turn around next year I would be worried as well but if you check out how NE’s record was in the first year and how the record was in the second year I have hope. He needs to give Cassell the proper weapons and find a new DC as well as an OC to give Haley a chance to manage and delegate on Sundays.