Ok for those of you that don't know me (which is all of you!), I'm not a guy that likes to focus on the things that are going well or on things that I think will go well.  I'm paid to be paranoid at work; the only way to ensure that things get done on my timeline is to identify potential roadblocks.  To me there's no reason to spend significant time discussing the positives because that behavior leads to complacency.  For better or worse, that's also the approach that I take as a lifelong Chiefs fanatic.  I do not want to address our perceived shortcomings, because we do that all the time, and frankly it's getting stale.  Instead, I'd like to discuss some of the positives for the other teams in our division, and why I think those positives have the potential to cause us problems.  In identifying some of the potential match-up problems, I'm going to assume that our roster at game time will be as it is now (ie- Albert is the LT, B Rich is the RT, etc.).  Finally, just to get it out there for everyone to see, I'm going to post my prediction for our win-loss record.  I'm sure that I didn't cover it all, so please discuss!

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This might be in the wrong spot, if so I apologize.  This is the first time I've made one of these.  This post has nothing to do with Cassel's ability, whether or not he should be the starter, etc.  This post is about something I noticed that could indicate a little rift between Cassel and his linemen.  After watching the game last night, something kept bothering me.  Aside from the fact that Cassel took a lot of hits, he seemed to be constantly picking himself up off of the ground.  That's a problem. 

Those of you who have played ball before know that whenever your teammate (and ESPECIALLY THE FREAKIN' QB) takes a hit, and is on the ground, you run your ass over there to help him up after the play is over.  In fact, I've seen O-linemen fight D-linemen for not getting off of the QB quickly enough, hell I've seen guys throw punches for looking at the QB wrong.  That didn't happen with our O-line last night.  If you watch the tape, I saw O-lineman look at Cassel on the ground, and then turn around and walk to the sidelines.  They didn't even think of going to help him up.  To me, that's a serious freaking problem.  They ought to be over there helping him up, straightening out his pads, and apologizing for throwing the "Ole" block that got Cassel hit. 

I might be way off, but these are the types of things that we should be watching for when we talk about team chemistry and leadership.  If we rely on press conferences and interviews, we are going to get the standard, "Matt's been great, he's getting better everyday, everything is great, etc. etc. etc."  I don't have time to rewatch the tape right now to count how many times Matt got up without someone at least acknowledging that he's on the ground, but I'd like to rewatch the game and see if it was just a perception from a few plays.  I didn't really start noticing it until Barry Richardson let that rookie from Michigan by untouched to cream Cassel, and then he proceeded to look at Cassel on the ground, and then promptly turn around and trot off to the sidelines.  Did anyone else notice this, or am I crazy?