SB Nation User Blog: ChiefDJ

Charles grossly underused in Jacksonville game

ChiefDJ — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:44:00 -0000

Charles grossly underused in Jacksonville game

Despite all of this, Charles had nine touches (6 carries, 36 yards; 3 catches, 19 rec. yards).

But here's my scientific proof: The Chiefs had 12 drives in this game. On seven of those possessions, Charles either touched the ball or was targeted with a pass. That means that he wasn't involved in the offense in those other five drives.

Here's the breakdown:

On the seven drives that Charles saw the ball go his way, Kansas City scored 20 points and averaged an amazing 35.7 yards per possession.

On the five drives that Charles didn't get a touch or a target, Kansas City scored three points and averaged a laughable 8.4 yards per possession.

Good and great coaches find ways to win

ChiefDJ — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:47:20 -0000

Good and great coaches find ways to win

Todd Haley - 11/9 press conference - Keep digging that hole Todd!

Random Observations from the Chiefs vs Jaguars

ChiefDJ — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:19:57 -0000

- Why did Haley give up on the running game before the game even started? Larry Johnson gets 20 carries a game to run up Niswangers butt for 2.7 yds a carry, but he only gives Jamaal Charles 6 carries (for 6 yds a carry), Kolby Smith 4 carries (for 4.3 yds a carry). Maybe if he had committed to the run with RBs who actually gained yardage we could have stayed on the field for more than 3 downs at a time.

- Chiefs offense only converted 31% of their 3rd downs. The defense allowed Jacksonville to convert 56% of theirs.

- Anyone else noticed how much Cassel double clutches the ball before he passes?

- Tyson Jackson had 2 solo tackles and 3 assists going into todays game. Today he had 7 solo tackles.

- Mike Brown had 3 tackles today and blew coverage on a Jaguars TD. Bernard Pollard had 12 combined Tackles (9 solo), 2 interceptions and 3 passes defended for the Texans against the Colts.

- Maurice Jones-Drew was held to 2.7 yds per carry. The other two Jaguars RBs had a combined 23 yds per carry.

- The Jaguars defense had 5 sacks in seven games. Today the Chiefs gave up 3 (plus 8 QB hurries).

- Haley decided to try to kick a 56 yard field goal into winds gusting up to 30 mph at the end of the half that would have been returned for a TD if the holder (Dustin Colquitt) had not tripped the returner up out of bounds.

Kokinis fired by Browns

ChiefDJ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:38:05 -0000

Kokinis fired by Browns

The Browns organization is a train wreck. They have the incompetent Mangini making all the decisions (when did he ever earn that?) and let go Kokinis who is a good personnel guy. How can you fire your GM after half a season???

Time For Chiefs Coach Haley To Prove He's Not A Paper Tiger

ChiefDJ — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:42:29 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

about 1 month ago: Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, center, argues a call during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Giants Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. The Giants won the game 27-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Browse more photos »

Lots of head coaches in the NFL have talked tough over the years. You frequently hear new coaches talk about how they are going to have tough, disciplined teams.

How they are going to have open competitions and that the best performer, not the biggest contract, will be playing on Sundays. How they want the "right 53" players who will work with the coaches and do what it takes to make the team better.

We've heard all these things from Todd Haley. Haley has no problem calling the team he took over fat and lazy, although his conditioning has not equaled improvent 4th quarter performance. He talks tough about discipline and punshing players for mistakes, but they are still bitten by penalties and turnovers.

So you can question how much of what Haley does is his natural motivational instinct and how much of it is an artificial tactic that he uses without any real intent to take really follow through with it. The case of Dwayne Bowe being benched in meaningless preseason games for dropping balls, but not being benched during the regular season when the games count despite the continuing drops is an example of why this question arises.

The Larry Johnson situation is going to be Haley's biggest test to date. Will Haley enforce the discipline he preaches and deal with LJ, or will he prove himself soft and ignore the comments?

This should be an easy chance for Haley to prove he's not a paper tiger. You have an aging running back who has been ineffective for the last several years with a history of legal problems and antisocial behavior. Despite Haley backing up LJ's poor performance this year, Johnson throws him under the bus. That is bad enough, but then Johnson went on to get into a pissing match with fans that he should have simply ignored, waving his millions in their face and then using a couple of bigoted slurs in a public forum.

This is a no brainer Todd. Get rid of an unpopular and ineffective locker room cancer and prove you are the tough coach you say you are all in one shot. Larry Johnson must be dealt with swiftly and decisively.

Poll

How should Haley deal with LJ?

Let it slide, LJ was obviously mad.

57 votes

Deal with it privately.

368 votes

Suspend him.

192 votes

Cut the ineffective malcontent and give someone that wants it the chance.

955 votes

1572 votes | Poll has closed

Todd Haley is an idiot

ChiefDJ — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:09:04 -0000

The Chiefs didn't have much of a chance to win this game to begin with. They didn't need their Head Coach sabotaging them on top of that. Todd Haley chose to decide the winner of this game in the 1st quarter.

Going for it on 4th and 1 IN THE FIRST QUARTER on their own 40 yard line was absolutely asinine. There is a difference between being aggressive and making absolutely careless and idiotic decisions. The Chiefs are one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL. They can't make yardage on 1st, 2nd or 3rd downs, what made Haley think he could make it on 4th down? I'm all for giving your players a chance to build their confidence, but this was not the time or place.

He does not have the personnel to be making those kinds of moves. He needs to put his ego aside and admit that he does not have the players to do things like that. He needs to learn to work with what he's got.

Lets look at some other WTF moves Haley made.

Niswanger gets hurt, so do they put in Alleman, a former 3rd round pick that the Chiefs traded needed draft picks for? Hell no. They move Wade Smith, who had practiced all week at Left Tackle back to Center and put Richardson, whose weakness is pass blocking (so naturally they put him at Left Tackle) in.
Boy I'm sure glad they benched Maurice Leggett for being too aggressive on making plays and put Mike Richardson, who got torched all day long in instead. At least he was a former Patriot...
I'm not a big Derrick Johnson fan, but the little he's in the game he is making plays. Its time for Haley to get over himself and see if DJ can make it happen over the course of an entire game.

Where are those 22 guys off the street that could win 2 games? We need to get those guys on the...

ChiefDJ — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:08:03 -0000

Where are those 22 guys off the street that could win 2 games? We need to get those guys on the team NOW!

Chiefs LT Albert Not Doing As Bad As Some Think

ChiefDJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:05:42 -0000

Source

From the FanPosts. Bumped it up to now from last night. Thanks DJ. -Chris

JJ Cooper at AOL Fanhouse has a very nice complilation of sacks allowed for NFL Tackles through Week 5.

I think it will be pretty eye opening for those under the mistaken impression that Brandon Albert is not suited as an NFL Left Tackle.

Through four games this year, Albert is credited with only 2.5 sacks. All five of the Chiefs opponents this year rank in the top 10 for sacks this year.

For context, Jordan Gross, who was a free agent last offseason and was a player many Chiefs fans were hoping Pioli would pick up, has surrendered 5 sacks. Jake Long, the #1 overall pick in the same draft Albert was selected, has given up 3. Ryan Clady, Jeff Otah and Joe Thomas have given up 2, only half a sack less than Albert. Though Cooper apparently forgot about Jacksonville's Eugene Monroe, this article indicates that Monroe had given up 6 sacks through three games (written before Week 5 vs. the Rams).

For those wondering, Ryan O'Callaghan is credited with giving up 1 sack in his short time at Right Tackle.

I thought this particular piece of info regarding TE Sean Ryan was particularly damning:

The Kansas City Chiefs may need to rethink some of their blocking schemes. Tight end Sean Ryan gave up his fifth sack of the season on Sunday against the Redskins. No other tight end in the league has given up more than two sacks this year.

Ryan bounced round to three different teams last year, so he's fortunate to have a starting job, but the Chiefs are asking him to do things that he's not really capable of doing when they ask him to handle defensive ends one-on-one.

This confirms what has frequently been discussed here at AP about the weakness of our tight ends in pass protection. But even more so maybe its an indication that Haley still has not dumbed down his play calling enough for the talent he has. Haley has some very nicely drawn up plays, but if the players he has on the roster are not talented enough to execute it, maybe its time to simplify things a bit.

Man I wish we could have drafted Owen Schmitt. Dude is an animal.

ChiefDJ — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:14:17 -0000

Man I wish we could have drafted Owen Schmitt. Dude is an animal.

Are You In Favor Of Winning At All Costs?

ChiefDJ — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:53:57 -0000

More photos » by Scott Heckel - AP

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How desperate are you to be a winner?

The range of sports fan philosophies can range anywhere between "It doesn't matter if you go 16-0, if you don't win the Super Bowl you are a failure" to "I don't really care if they win as long as the game is entertaining".

Right now Chiefs fans are seeing a huge transition in how the organization deals with its players and fans.

The previous regime under Carl Peterson, who combined the football operations with marketing and sales, spent a lot of time trying to make the team attractive to the fans, even if that didn't always lead to the ultimate success on the field.

The "Arrowhead Experience" as we know it today was cultivated and promoted during that time. The players were held up as idols to the fans to the point that many went to the games just to watch Derrick Thomas, Tony Gonzalez and Priest Holmes, and if the Chiefs won, well that was a bonus. Players that had been loyal to the organization were rewarded, often to the detriment of the team as a whole, but this too was part of the entertainment value to the fans. Fans don't like to see their favorite players mistreated. It was required by the organization that the players must give back to the community and you could see the evidence of their charity hanging on banners from the walls of the stadium.

No matter how many people expressed their dislike for Petersons way of business and the lack of playoff victories in recent years, Arrowhead was always full of people enjoying their Sundays watching their favorite players, even when the results were mediocre.

The new regime under Scott Pioli, however, is shaping up to be very very different.

Pioli learned the "Patriot Way" under Bill Belichick who, despite being one of the most brilliant coaches in NFL history, is also an undeniably ruthless, iron fisted tyrant who is infamous for his secrecy and combative relationship with the media.

Bellichicks success has made it possible for him to get away with being an anti-social curmudgeon. Fans love to see their team win and will put up with behavior that they otherwise wouldn't. The excitement of seeing the best team in football on Sunday goes a long ways to making up for the drudgery of Monday through Saturday of boring, information-less press conferences and a cloak of secrecy draped over every move the team makes.

Seeing fan favorite players that have been loyal to the Patriots organization like Vrabel and Seymour exiled to teams like the Chiefs and Raiders that are scraping the NFL gutter would outrage most Chiefs fans. Look at the uproar over the Jared Allen trade. Yet there is a consistent theme you hear repeated over and over from hardcore Patriots fans no matter what move is made. "In Bill We Trust."

No matter how heartbroken they are to see their favorite players cut or shuttled off for impersonal future draft picks or to find out their team has been cheating by videotaping the other teams sidelines; they have been conditioned to accept whatever it takes in order to win, no matter what.

That is the type of attitude Pioli is bringing to Kansas City. Draping the front office in a veil of secrecy, one of his early moves was to trade future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez away for a 2nd round pick two drafts down the road. No nonsense is accepted. Anything not directly having to do with fashioning the team into a winner will not be accepted. The charity banners are gone. If you believe the reports, former Chiefs players who had always been treated as family are being treated as threatening strangers.

The Patriot Way is in full effect in Kansas City. The unanswered question of course, is whether the tactic will be successful without its most important ingredient: Bill Belichick.

But for a moment, let us assume that everything Pioli is planned will have success.

Assume that a few years from now the Chiefs are a shoe-in to the playoffs and have been to the Super Bowl multiple times.

Assume that Pioli will run the Chiefs the same way Belichick runs the Patriots. By this time stocked with talent, we will see favorite players who have hit their peak and are beginning to see the downhill of their career cold-bloodedly cut or traded away for future picks that may or may not turn out to be as good. We will be used to seeing players who break ranks and speak out of turn ruthlessly slapped down and we as fans will be locked out of the inner workings of the team. Former players are kept at a distance instead of continuing to be a part of the organization. Once they have outlived their usefulness on Sundays, they are given a thank you and discarded. Anything that does not directly lead to victory on Sunday is a mere side note.

The question is, are we so desperate for victory that we are ready to go that hardcore to win? Are we willing to be held at a distance and accept unpopular moves if it means we are consistently one of the best teams in the league? Are you willing to give up hero worship of players if it is in the best interest of the team?

Poll

How far are you willing to go to win?

I don't care if they win as long as they are competitive.

41 votes

I want the team to be competitive, but thats not as important as feeling good about the organization.

131 votes

Hardcore, scorched earth Patriot Way. All that matters is Sunday, win at all cost.

514 votes

I'd be happy if it was like when Marty was here where we were in the playoffs nearly every year but didn't get far.

193 votes

879 votes | Poll has closed