SB Nation - B.J. Sams

Friday Notes: Daunte Culpepper Named Starter for Preseason Opener

Sean Yuille — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:57:27 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

4 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper (11) throws during an NFL football training camp in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Daunte Culpepper has been named the Lions' starting quarterback for their preseason opener against the Falcons tomorrow afternoon. Matthew Stafford and Drew Stanton will still get an equal amount of playing time, but Culpepper will get to play first, with Stafford expected to come in during the second quarter and Stanton some time in the second half. Knowing that, this move really isn't too big of a deal. It's only the first preseason game, and for me, it was expected that Culpepper would be the starter initially.
Casey FitzSimmons, Keith Smith, and Daniel Bullocks were ruled out of the Falcons game by Jim Schwartz. That doesn't mean they are the only ones who won't play, however, as the injury list will probably reach double digits. Those three players are just the ones that are out for sure. Other injured players will participate in the pregame warm-ups before a decision on their status is made. I would be surprised if a player who is injured gets a significant amount of playing time. There is simply no point in risking further injury at the very start of the preseason.
The Lions' depth chart has been posted on the team's official website. It accounted for some injured players, as their names are italicized and dropped to the end of their position.
Decals honoring Corey Smith and Ricky Sandoval will be on the Lions' helmets this season.
NFL teams are allowed to have a sponsor on their practice jerseys, and the Lions are going to put the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit's logo on theirs.
Drew Stanton did a good job of running the scout team in preparation for the Falcons.
Members of Michigan's Air National Guard attended practice yesterday and got to be a part of the Lions' circle after practice.
Louis Delmas had a rough childhood.
Brian Billick is a fan of Jim Schwartz.
Grady Jackson is the slowest player in Madden 10, coming in with a speed rating of 34. That's pretty bad, but at least he isn't 34 overall like cornerback B.J. Sams.
In case you hadn't already heard, the Eagles signed Mike Vick.

Saints @ Chiefs: Defensive & Special Teams Scouting Report

Saintsational — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:00:06 -0000

Defensive Stats

Team	Yards / Game	Yards / Play	Rushing Yards / Game	Rushing Yards / Play	Passing Yards / Game	Passing Yards / Play	Interception Rate	Sacks / Pass Attempt	First Downs / Game	Punt Return Avg	Kickoff Return Avg	3rd Down Pct	4th Down Pct	Red Zone Pct	Goal to Go%	Points / Game	Point Diff. / Game	Yard Diff. / Game
KC	406.2	6.35	172.3	5.24	233.9	7.68	3.28%	2.19%	20.3	10.3	25.5	50.85%	66.67%	50.00%	69.23%	27.0	-10.9	-117.7

Defensive Rankings

Team	Yards / Game	Yards / Play	Rushing Yards / Game	Rushing Yards / Play	Passing Yards / Game	Passing Yards / Play	Interception Rate	Sacks / Pass Attempt	First Downs / Game	Punt Return Avg	Kickoff Return Avg	3rd Down Pct	4th Down Pct	Red Zone Pct	Goal to Go%	Points / Game	Point Diff. / Game	Yard Diff. / Game
KC	32	32	32	32	24	30	9	32	25	20	28	32	23t	15	15	27	28	30

Check out the horrible numbers in the run stopping department. Dead last. This means instead of having Deuce check out after picking up 6 yards maybe he will actually stay in the game. Nah! Makes too much sense.

Rushing Defense

Left End

Left Tackle

Left Guard

Up the Middle

Right Guard

Right Tackle

Right End

Plays: 36

Plays: 38

Plays: 14

Plays: 103

Plays: 17

Plays: 33

Plays: 47

NFL Rank: 10

NFL Rank: 8

NFL Rank: 28

NFL Rank: 1

NFL Rank: 27

NFL Rank: 14

NFL Rank: 2

Avg Gain: 6.47

Avg Gain: 4.87

Avg Gain: 4.29

Avg Gain: 5.03

Avg Gain: 3.65

Avg Gain: 7.36

Avg Gain: 4.70

NFL Rank: 27

NFL Rank: 28

NFL Rank: 24

NFL Rank: 30

NFL Rank: 16

NFL Rank: 32

NFL Rank: 14

The Chiefs stuff the middle as much as they run it up there themselves. Fortunately, they aren't very good at it.

Passing Defense

Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right	Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right

















Plays: 82	Plays: 63	Plays: 79	Plays: 21	Plays: 13	Plays: 17
NFL Rank: 14	NFL Rank: 9	NFL Rank: 31	NFL Rank: 8	NFL Rank: 17	NFL Rank: 21
Avg Gain: 7.17	Avg Gain: 7.11	Avg Gain: 5.95	Avg Gain: 10.57	Avg Gain: 19.54	Avg Gain: 8.12
NFL Rank: 26	NFL Rank: 20	NFL Rank: 25	NFL Rank: 13	NFL Rank: 30	NFL Rank: 8

Also good news is that they aren't very good at stopping the pass either. The Saints offense should have a field day against these guys on Sunday.

Individual Stats

Interceptions	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
B.Flowers	2	118	59.0	91t	1
B.Carr	2	67	33.5	35	0

Punt Returns	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
D.Savage	8	2	17	2.1	11	0
B.Sams	7	3	58	8.3	16	0

Kickoff Returns	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
D.Savage	21	530	25.2	59	0
B.Sams	9	180	20.0	36	0

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
N.Novak	0/ 0	3/ 3	1/ 3	2/ 3	0/ 1
C.Barth	0/ 0	1/ 1	2/ 2	0/ 0	0/ 0

Poll

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10 votes | Poll has closed

Five Chiefs We Need to See More of This Weekend

Chris Thorman — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:39:58 -0000

Amid all of the hullabaloo over Larry Johnson' fiery comments about his role with the Kansas City Chiefs is a very valid point made by the running back - The Chiefs need to use certain players more, mainly because it just makes sense to do so. Larry Johnson had 416 carries two years ago because that's partly his style and part of what made him an effective running back. We shouldn't deny the ability of players in favor of some sort of scheme.

Larry Johnson

This one is pretty obvious in my opinion. I know the Chiefs have had to pass quite a bit in the first two games of the 2008 season but that is no excuse for Larry Johnson to only receive two carries in the second half of last week's game. The Chiefs only rushed the ball four times as a team in the second half on Sunday.

To be fair, Larry split his 22 carries in Week 1 equally over the first and second halves but last week's play calling was atrocious in the second half.

Is LJ being taken out because of insufficient pass blocking? Is he actually being phased out of the offense? The first one rings much more true than the second. I will say I agree with Larry - Get him the ball at least, at least 20 times a game and you can feel good about your play calling. That seems like a no-brainer to me but so have a lot of things this season.

Jamaal Charles

I know it's a bit odd to suggest Larry needs more carries and Charles does as well but I think you know what I'm getting at.

I'm suggesting Jamaal Charles get more carries at the expense of Kolby Smith getting fewer. Now, Kolby only has one carry on the season mind you but Charles has yet to be anointed the official #2 back and I'm going to assume that Kolby Smith still factors heavily into the game plan as far as the #2 RB spot.

I think we've all loved what we've seen so far from Jamaal Charles - the quick cuts, the darts in between the tackles and that feeling of anxiety you get while watching a super fast running back who he can break off a big run at any time.

Any WR not named Dwayne Bowe (And more Bowe too!)

Hopefully rookie WR Will Franklin returns this week and can take some of the heat off of Bowe but I haven't heard anything definite on that quite yet. I went over the lack of receiving options in my recap of last week's game and it has quickly become a growing problem inside my head. We're back where we've pretty much always been Chiefs fans, without a sold receiving corp. That should feel familiar.

Glenn Dorsey

It seems to me that in the four or five games I saw Dorsey play while he was at LSU, he made his mark in the games as a disruptive force behind the line of scrimmage. In the short first two games of Dorsey's career in the NFL, the Chiefs appear content to have him in more of a run-stuffing role on the line of scrimmage. Let Dorsey do his disruption act within the limits of the Cover 2 defense and hopefully we can see our rookie doing his sack dance against the Falcons this weekend.

Dantrell Savage

This is another obvious one, right?

Savage was inactive last weekend in favor of Eddie Drummond B.J. Sams who yet again showed us nothing. Savage may have the same luck with this special teams coverage unit but we can all agree that youth should be served at the kick return position. As long as Savage doesn't fumble the ball, why not let him get 10 yard returns instead of Sams?

By the way, after this post, I'm retiring my small personal campaign for Savage and against Sams. I'm tired of talking about it already.

Who do you think should be a bigger part of the game plan this weekend?

Chiefs and Patriots Friday Primer

Chris Thorman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:06:30 -0000

All the news that fit to post...

I had a clip embedded above in which Mike Reiss of The Boston Globe says the Patriots may have trouble with the Kansas City Chiefs running game. It was acting funny so I posted it after the jump.

Definitely check out this post from Pats Pulpit linking up yesterday's news.

Kolby Smith is listed on the injury report as not participating in practice with a back issue but I haven't heard any details on that injury. Today is the day we find out the more specific injury listings - probable, questionable, doubtful or out - and we'll know what we're dealing with. H/T to Eric in the FanShot section for that one.

Kent Babb makes Tamba Hali sound more competitive than I ever knew he was. Interesting picture with that article too.

More keys to the game from Double D at Arrowhead Addict.

Over at The Red Zone , Randy Covitz talks about a possible San Diego Charger blackout this weekend. He says, "There's little question the Fox affiliate in San Diego will buy out the remaining seats because this is one of just two Chargers games it can televise this season." How terrible are your fans when your team is very successful and people still won't watch? At least Rams fans ride the bandwagon.

The kick returner position has not been settled on yet - "B.J. Sams said after practice that neither he nor Dantrell Savage has been told which player will return punts and kickoffs in New England. Both have been working at each position this week in practice."

Karen Guregian of The Boston Herald asks some good questions about Sunday's game: "Will Chiefs coach Herm Edwards really have second-round pick Brandon Flowers cover Randy Moss?" and "How will first-round pick Branden Albert, who missed the preseason with a sprained foot, attempt to hold off Richard Seymour?

Those potential matchups are definitely worth discussing this morning. Surtain on Randy Moss? Or Flowers on him?

Let me throw out a reminder about the open thread on Sunday during the game. If you can't watch the game, watch it at home with the computer on anyway or just want to talk about the Chiefs come on by.

Wow...the last Friday of the off-season. Can you feel it? The long wait is almost over. The over saturation of media has Patriots fans wondering what the Chiefs can do to win this game. You gotta love this, right?

To get the conversation started, what individual matchups do you like and dislike this weekend against the Patriots? Yes, I know there are probably many. That Boston Herald article really got me thinking - No matter who the Chiefs put on Randy Moss, he's going to about five times as talented as they are. Of course I knew this already but Moss' potential for damage is massive this game.

Thoughts on the best and worst matchups for the Chiefs?