I think what many people fail to realize is that Todd Haley's assessment of Matt Cassel is dead on accurate. What he wants in his quarterback is someone who will minimize the drastic game changing mistakes.

When you are rebuilding a team the most important think to develop your core skill players is consistency from the quarterback position. Matt Cassel is very consistent and very good this year at minimizing game changing mistakes. The facts are that he has only been sacked three times and has only thrown 3interceptions after 4 games. One of those sacks was on the fumble caused when the ball slipped out of his hands and was recovered by Wiegman, which really is not a sack. Two of the three interceptions were on tipped passes.

Look I am not going to sit here and try to defend Matt Cassel as a great NFL quarterback, but what I am saying is that he is doing exactly what the coaches have asked him to do. One thing the fans fail to remember is that ifyour primary focus is on game management and minimizing turnovers, then you are not going to take any chances.

Low risk equals low reward, which makes fans unhappy even when you have a better record than you had at this point in the last 6 years (0-4, 1-4, 2-2, 2-2, 2-2, 1-4).

That means when you see the pocket starting to collapse, or you are flushed out of the pocket, or you get the snap and count to 5 and nobody is open your job is to throw the ball away. Your job at that point is not to check down the receivers or to hold the ball for another couple of seconds to see if anyone comes open. You only have one option when the primary job you have been given is to do your best to never take a sack and never throw an interception.....that job is to thrown the ball into the dirt or fling it 10 feet over everyone's head out of bounds the very instant you feel that the primary receiver is not open and too much time has passed, or the pocket is starting to fail.

 The reason why Todd Haley says that Matt Cassel is doing the job he expects him to do is because he has given him a different job description than what most of the fans have in mind. I don't think it is a mistake that Matt Cassel has a contract that can be opted out of after 2 years, although I don't think that will happen for the following reason: I think that Pioli fully intends to rework Matt Cassel's contract after this year to that of a backup quarterback and that he intends to keep him on the team.

His 2011 salary is at $4.75 million with a $7.5 million option bonus, all you have to do is make the new contract read $4.75 million with a $7.5 million option if he starts the majority of the season, then go out and draft a rookie QB in the draft or trade for one.

I have seen many comments about the play of a center that decry the horrible job that they are doing, but the evidence given leads me to believe that the average fan has no idea what a center is supposed to be doing.

Pass Blocking assignment for a Center

If you are playing against a 4-3 defense there are 3 ways that a Defense can set up from a center’s perspective.  

Number one is RUN STOPPER set-up.  This is when the two defensive tackles line up in the 1a and 1 b positions.  (The 1 position is the spot between the center and guard, 1a is between the left guard and the center and 1b is between the right guard and center.)  When the two defensive tackle occupy the 1a and 1b positions at the snap of the ball the two guards are supposed to take a power slide step, with their inside foot (the one next to the center) toward the center, which moves their body into the slot before the defensive tackle can engage them.  The center is supposed to snap the ball and immediately bring both hands up and forward, engaging both tackles at the same time.  If either of the DT’s is beating the guard into the slot, the center is supposed to turn toward that DT and leave the other DT to be handled solo by the other guard.

Number two is MID-DOWN HYBRID.  This is when one DT sets up in the 1 position and the other DT sets up in the 3 position (this is the spot between the guard and the tackle.  This formation allows the defense to match a power right or power left formation of the offense, which is when the tight end or full back lines up on one end of the line.  In this formation the center, snaps the ball and immediately turns to engage the DT in the 1 position while keeping an eye out for a blitz coming up the other 1 position.

Number three is BLITZ.  This is when one DT sets up in the 3a position between the left tackle and left guard, and the other DT sets up in the 3b position between the right tackle and right guard.  In this formation the defense likes to run two blitzers up the middle, say a linebacker and a safety, or maybe a defensive end will run a curl stunt.  The center must snap the ball and stay put, looking for the blitzers picking up the first one to reach him.  The second blitzer is the responsibility of the running back.

If you are playing against a 3-4 defense there are only 2 ways for a defense to set up.  The Nose Tackle lines up in the 1a or the 1b position.  In this set up the center has just 2 duties, number one is to double team with the guard on the NT… number two is to look for the stunt/linebacker/safety blitz and try to get one hand on them to slow them down.

If you are playing against a nickel package there are only 2 down linemen.  In this defensive set, there are only 2 ways to line up again.  The most common set up is for the 2 down linemen to set up in the 3a and 3b positions, with the blitz coming from the outside.  This is designed to leave the extra lineman, the center, all alone while you overload one side or the other on the outside.  When the center snaps the ball his only job is to look for a surprise blitzer coming up the middle.  The second set up is to have the two down linemen lined up in the 1a and 1b position, with the blitz coming up the middle from the linebacker of the safety.  This is designed to overload the middle of the line and leave the two offensive tackles out of the play.  This is usually done when the offense is in a 4 receiver set and has an empty backfield.  When the ball is snapped the center has to engage the two down linemen and attempt to stay square with the line of scrimmage.  Both guards need to be engaged in double teams of the down linemen, the blitzer looks to see if the center gets turned to one side or the other and hits the gap on the centers back side that gets created from this turn.

Run blocking assignment for a Center.

This is the same for pass blocking, with the exception that on plays when the guard pulls, the center picks up the defensive lineman that was lined up in the 1 or 3 positions, and occasionally the center is the one that pulls instead of the guard.  The other difference is that when the center assists the guard with his primary block, the center determines if the guard is getting beat or not.  If the guard is not getting beat, the center performs a chip block and releases to the second level to pick up a blitzer or linebacker.  If things are going really well then he may continue on to the third level block.  The other difference is in the way that they block.  For pass blocking the center wants to hold his ground, whereas in run blocking the center wants to drive his target backwards or redirect them away from the run.

The center has the duty to call out the defensive alignment before the snap.  This is when you see the center pointing his finger and yelling out the blocking assignment to the other linemen.  Really all he is doing is saying hey guys see that linebacker…he is standing right there.  Look at that safety creeping up into the second level.  Then he calls out the code for the blocking assignments for that particular defensive alignment.

Every time that you see a center one on one with a down lineman in a passing situation that means that one of the guards got beat or missed his assignment completely.  It is a misunderstanding that the center is ever assigned to block a down lineman in the passing game.  The center is only supposed to assist the guards and pick up the blitzers.  This role as a blocking assistant is why you see teams moving a good lineman into the center position to extend the end of their career.

     Ok I admit that I am a Chiefs homer, but then I would think that everyone on this site is. Lately I have kind of had my fill of all the crazy posts on here....you know the ones. Our coaches suck, they are either over the hill, over rated, underexperienced, or just plain suck. Pioli was a bad hire, everyone knows that all he did in New England was shake Bill's thing after he took a pee. Our offensive line sucks, we need a new everything. Albert is not a tackle he is a guard. The defense is horrible.

     I think everyone needs to take a step back and then take afew deep breaths. Here is some perpective for you guys. I am going to start with Albert because I like the guy a lot and I hate hearing about how he is really a guard....really you be lieve that one? Lets compare him to a pro bowl guard like Brian Waters. You say that Albert is a guard because that is what he played in college. Waters played Tight End for 3 years in college and switched to Defensive End his senior year, and in the NFL he made his debut at Center for the Chiefs. SO just becuase Albert played guard in college means absolutely squat. He has had decent stats at the left tackle position so since he has never played anything but left tackle in the NFL...that makes him a Left Tackle.

     The Chiefs have started the year at 0-3 so now eveyone is questioning the selection of Scott Pioli and Todd Haley at the top spots....really after only 3 games. Here is a little perspective on that. Now I don't want to hear about what other teams have done now or in the past, becuase I am a Chiefs homer so I am going to talk about the Chiefs. Let's go back a bit. In 1983 John Mackovic took over the Chiefs from Marv Leavy and the Chiefs started the season 2-6 and finished 6-10. In 1987 Frank Ganz took the Head Coaching spot and started the season 1-9 and finished with a 4-11 mark, this was however a strike year where replacement players played 4 games. In 1989 Ganz was replaced with Marty Schottenheimer who began the year at 2-4 and ended it at 8-7-1. Then in 1999 Marty-ball was dead and they gave the reigns to Gunther Cunningham who raced out to a 2-4 start and got over the finish line at 9-7. Gunther was demoted in 2001 and the offensive mastermind Dick Vermeil was thrust into the job and got off to a blazing start of 1-7 before stumbling to a halt at 6-10. Vermeil cried his way into retirement in 2006 and Herman Edwards was bought with a 4th round pick to be the next head Chief. Herm slaped enough butts to get the Chiefs to a 2-5 start and then somehow managed to get to a 9-7 record.

     Why did I start with Mackovic...well because he was young, like Haley, and inexperienced (QB coach from Dallas) like Haley. Now hopefully Haley will turn out to be a better coach than John was, but my point is that if you go back to the 1980's and look at what the new head coach, with a new offensive playbook has done with the Chiefs you will see starts of 2-6, 1-9, 2-4, 2-4, 1-7, and 2-5. None of them is that much different than the current 0-3 Chiefs. Before the season everyone with half a brain new that it was very realistic that the Chiefs could start at 1-6 and now that it looks like that may happen everyone has turned into chicken little. Dick Vermeil started at 1-7 and he was known as an offensive genious. Just becuase Pioli is known around the league as one of the best front office guys and Haley is regaurded by his former players as a great offensive mind does not change the fact that the Chiefs have been a very bad team for the last few years. Now that very bad team is changing offensive scheme, defensive scheme, more than half of the roster and more than half of the coaching staff. We as fans, as painful as it is, have got to lay off of them and give them the time they need to come together and form a cohesive unit. Do really think the players and the staff don't know they have a lot of improvement to make?

     I love my Chiefs and I will give them my 100% support while they go through this painfull transition. I will give nothing but 100% of my loyalty and respect to them all. If you really think it is that easy then why aren't all of you downers out there doing it yourself?

A lot has been said about all the roster changes made by the new GM Pioli and HC Haley. So this got me kind of curious as to how they compare to the previous years of the Chiefs organization. I did a little research into the roster changes made year to year starting in 2004. I also wanted to look at the changes made to the offensive line year to year. The rosters I used are for the full year, so players that made the active roster any time during a year are included.

In 2004 the Chiefs started the season at 0-3 and finished the season out of the playoffs at 7-9. From 2004 to 2005 there were 19 new faces added to the roster and 17 players were shown the door. This included only 1 offensive lineman leaving (Brett Williams OT) and the addition of 4 new lineman (Jonathon Ingram C, Jeremy Parquet OT, Will Svitek OT, and Casey Wiegmann C). The Chiefs finished 2005 at 10-6 and missed the playoffs again.

In 2006 the Chiefs welcomed new coach Herm Edwards.The Chiefs added 22 new players and removed 21 players from the roster of 2005. There were 3 offensive lineman cut (Jonathon Ingram C, Jeremy Parquet OT and Willie Roaf OT) and 4 lineman added (Rudy Niswanger C, Tre Stallings OL, Chris Terry OT and Kyle Turley OT). The 9-7 Chiefs managed to make the playoffs this year.

There were 31 new players added to the roster in 2007 and 25 players gone from the year before. The Chiefs reduced the number of offensive lineman by 4 (Jordan Black OT, Chris Bober OT, Kevin Sampson OT and Will Shields OG) and added a total of 5 new offensive lineman (Jean-Philippe Darche C, Adrian Jones OT, Travis Leffew OG, Damion McIntosh OT and Herbert Taylor OT). The 2007 Kansas City Chiefs finished the season at 4-12.

In 2008 the Herm Edwards led Chiefs started 0-3 and finished an embarrasing 2-14.The front office went to a youth movement with 41 players added to the roster and 36 players deleted from the previous year. There were a total of 7 offensive lineman gone (Travis Leffew OG, Tre Stallings OL, Will Svitek OT, Chris Terry OT, Kyle Turley OT, John Welbourn OG and Casey Wiegmann C) and the addition of 5 new lineman (Branden Albert OT, Andrew Carnahan OT, Barry Richardson OT, Wade Smith OT and Tavares Washington OT).

In 2009 the Chiefs welcomed a new GM Scott Pioli and a new Head Coach Todd Haley. The previous year's roster has been purged of 40 players and 24 new players have been added. There are 7 offensive linemen passed over from last year (Andrew Carnahan OT, Jean-Philippe Darche C, Adrian Jones OT, Damion McIntosh OT, Barry Richardson OT, Herbert Taylor OT and Tavares Washington OT) and 5 new lineman have been added (Andy Alleman OG, Colin Brown OT, Mike Goff OG, Ikechuku Ndukwe OG and Ryan O’Callaghan OT).

It appears that Herm Edwards was involved in a lot of player turnover of his own. In his first year Edwards was in KC, Carl Peterson was still very much in charge, and the player personnel changes reflect that. There were only 7 additional roster changes over the previous year. In Herm's second year there was an increase in roster moves from his first year of a total of 13 (+20 from the '04 to '05 basis). The third year, which was openly known as a rebuilding year, there was an increase of 21 from the previous year (+41 from the '04 to '05 basis).

So far in the first year of the newest regime there has been a net decrease in roster changes of -13 (now this may get smaller as the year goes on). But the idea that I had that Haley has made significantly more roster changes than Edwards did is incorrect. Haley has only removed 4 more players from the previous year's roster than Edwards did in his 3rd year, and up to this point Haley has added 12 fewer players.

On the offensive line there is only one player that remains from before Edwards arrived and that is Brian Waters. Waters who never played lineman in college and was an undrafted free agent somehow managed to stay put through 3 coaching changes. Rudy Niswanger was added in 2006 Edwards' first year and Brandon Albert was added in Edwards' last year. In the last 5 years the Chiefs have seen a transition of 40 different offensive linemen. The idea that the offensive line was ignored by the previous brass at Arrowhead in incorrect. Either they failed misserably at talent evaluation or talent development or both when it comes to the offensive line. In 2008 there were 7 lineman dismissed and 5 linemen added and so far in 2009 it is the same... 7 linemen dismissed and 5 linemen added. I can only  hope that this group is better at talent evaluation and development when it comes to the offensive line or we are in for a very long season indeed.