Okay. The game against the Cowboys proved my theory once and for all. Larry Johnson is arrogant, slow, one dimensional, and plays with no heart. Nearly every single run he fell down at the line of scrimmage, or gained a max of 3 yards. There were a few outside runs that he got more. But with a guy like Charles sitting on our bench, coming in and making a 9 yard gain (with the same offensive line LJ was using) is incredible. We need to start Charles. Why is LJ the only running back that hasn't been inactive this year? He is the problem. He's unreliable in every aspect of the game, and it hurts us to have him. The littlest touch will bring him down. He can't be thrown to, he can't run through people anymore, he walks around calmly with a "I want my paycheck" swagger. Bring Charles in, and let him play. The kid will make plays.

I'm done with LJ. He costs us too much. I'm not saying we lost today because of him, but there were significant plays in this game that Johnson was involved in that went nowhere, and throwing Charles in the same situation would've made a better outcome. I don't care what anyone says about the offensive line. It sucks. We know. But when you have Cassel sitting back there with a big X on his back taking shots from defenders (he was hit or sacked 26/34 times he dropped back to pass) and still getting up, I believe he deserves more than pitiful Larry Johnson out there helping him.

Next Year; a term Chiefs fans have been accustomed to since the beginning of the Marty era in 1989. Every year we've developed hope, only to have it crushed by seasons end. This year, 2009, is no different. We all have hope that Matt Cassel would be our first franchise quarterback since Len Dawson, and Scott Pioli and co. would lead this team to a superbowl. We expected results not necessarily wins. This year, we are getting neither, but before you light a fire to Scott Pioli's house, let me explain why next year will be our year to make strides.

This offseason was primarily spent searching for a new GM, and once we found him, he had to evaluate everything on the football side of the organization, which led to the firing of Herm Edwards. This caused even more of a delay to find a new head coach. Once we hired Todd Haley, Pioli and Haley had to evaluate the whole team by looking at tape of a 2-14 team running a spread offense with a 3rd string qb. Then they went ahead and brought in a new quarterback, and switched defensive schemes.

In turn, we can't expect that many strides this year. Pioli was hired about 1/3 of the way through the offseason, had to hire a coach, the coach had to hire more coaches, then scrap together a team that could be presentable. My guess is that once Pioli has a full offseason to work with and more knowledge of the team's weaknesses, he will go to work with free agency and bring in players to make an impact on this roster. Next year is the year we should be expecting 7-9 wins, not this year. This year we are just trying to keep Matt Cassel alive. That's my take on this, and I'm willing to wait if we can build a solid, continuous, consistent team for years to come.

Let's face it. Our team is erratic. Brilliant on some plays, unorganized and unintelligent on others. The Chiefs find ways to lose games, not win them. For example Monty Beisel not downing a kick that clearly should have been downed inside the 5 yard line. These are the plays that are going to kill the teams morale especially heading into Philly. However the bad, the kansas city Chiefs are only 4 players away from getting over the hump in my opinion. I'll list the players/positions we need in order of importance.

4. Safety- Mike Brown may be a great player now, towards the end of his career, but he is inconsistent and didn't fly around as much as the first game he played. We are leaning way too much on our secondary, when they aren't as great as we think. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm tired of the "Oh they're young and learning" line. It's been 4 years since Page was drafted.

3. Linebacker- Corey Mays fills the void temporarily for a missing pass rush. If we're going to swtich to a 3-4, we have to have linebackers. Derrick Johnson isn't living up to his potential at all, Vrabel is possibly only here for this year, and Tamba hasn't really done much but get stuck on blocks. We need linebackers that can come in and play NOW.

2. Offfensive Tackle- Our right side is shaky, but strengthening. One solid Right Tackle could make this offense explode. Ndukwe is a good sub for a right tackle, but is a natural Right Guard, and would succeed at that position. Goff is overrated and terrible. If Cassel had time, he could pick defenses apart Trent Green style, except we'd have a defense to go with it.

1. Wide Receiver- We did a decent job of bringing in the 1st class players from the trash can this year. Sean Ryan can't block, and he hasn't really been visible. D Bowe is getting covered every play, and still making plays. The whole gameplan is Bowe now, and teams know it. The bright spot of today's game was Bobby Wade, but the Chiefs are going to need more than just 2 people to throw to. If we get a solid number 2 receiver and a tight end who can hold is own, then we will shine.

Tell me your opinion. I feel if we had these positions upgraded, we would be a team sitting at 2-0, and surprising people.

Wide Receiver 1: Dwayne Bowe

Left Tackle: Branden Albert

Left Guard: Brian Waters, Wade Smith

Center: Rudy Niswanger, Andy Alleman

Right Guard: Mike Goff, Ikechuku Ndukwe

Right Tackle: Ryan O'Callaghan

Quarterback: Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Matt Gutierrez, Tyler Thigpen

Tight End: Sean Ryan, Brad Cottam

Running Back: Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Dantrell Savage, Jackie Battle

Fullback: Mike Cox

Wide Receiver 2: Mark Bradley

Wide Receiver 3: Bobby Engram

We're pretty short on depth right now at some line postitions, but look for a battle for the right guard position. Ndukwe was the statistical best RT last year with .06 sacks allowed in 15 starts for the Dolphins, it's his natural position. In my opinion, I'm surprised Goff made it past the turk this week. Tell me what you think about the addition of O'Callaghan.

This was straight out of college, assume he's gotten better. The injury is what concerns me the most.

Pros: O’Callaghan combines enormous size with good agility and a massive wingspan. Over his final season he played through a broken wrist. When he gets his big mitts on a defender, he is difficult for most to shed. He is a quick study and has made line calls. He has fine functional strength to go with his imposing size. He can sit and anchor against the bull rush. He does get set up fairly quickly for his size, and is able to make blocks on the move when he reaches the second level. He is also a prospect on the inside and could be a big Kevin Gogan-type of guard too, though not useful for teams that pull regularly. He can pick up a blitz or stunt and works well switching off, showing enough agility to quickly move to either side.
Cons: He had multiple surgeries on his left shoulder, but he has not missed any time due to that injury. He is not sudden or explosive, and his hand punch is only average. His initial pop is barely adequate at this point.
Numbers:: At the Combine he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.37 seconds with a 25” vertical jump and a 7’8” broad jump. He did 21 reps of the 225-pound bench press.

My theory of what happened to the Chiefs. Carl Peterson knew he was on his way out, so he very much decided to do the unthinkable: get ol' Al involved in on this. Al Davis has been trying to F the chiefs up for his entire life and he'd give his wrinkly left nut to do it. So Carl decided to hand the keys over to Al. Al went ahead and paid Herm under the table to break the Chiefs apart, starting with K.O. ing Trent Green. (Herm paid Robert Geathers to hit him). Then he traded away Dante Hall, Jared Allen, and brought Mcintosh, the ultimate sack of crap. Then he decided to draft every wrong player to instill failure. A quarterback who could throw but couldn't stay healthy, a running back who could run but couldn't hang onto the ball, a kicker who could kick in college but couldn't under the lights, a defensive monster that couldn't tackle. Then he simply said here Al take it from here, build your team and kick the hell out of us, I'm in it for the money. But what happened? Clark Hunt exposed it. And it's too late....

This is Tony Geravesh, stay hopeful Kansas City.

Personally, in this situation where no one knows when Cassel will be back, I believe that Brodie Croyle should start in his absence. Here are my reasons. If his injuries were just flukes, his arm and smartness will prevail and lead us to a chunk of victories (I'm not promising playoffs or anything) which also may show us that he can actually play and maybe have trade value. If he gets injured  again then we know who he really is on the field. But if we start Thigpen over him this week and Cassel is out (hope not) for opening game, Brodie will not have seen any live game action for nearly a month, granted that this week Thigpen will run with the first team. That could be a potential problem. I say we start Brodie just to see what he can do. Don't look at his two injuries and say he's prone to injury. Any guy that takes a good shot to the knee will tear an MCL. Rex Grossman had that kind of luck too, and yes even though he didn't turn out to be a great QB, he at least stayed healthy and played in a superbowl. Brodie's line was terrible, he didn't even have Brandon Albert. He had Waters and a washed up John Welbourn. That's it. Any QB would get thrashed behind that line. I say start Brodie and if he gets hurt, then we know Thigpen is our unquestioned guy for the time being and the number 2 job. If he doesn't get hurt, watch out, because if this guy had durability, I think he'd find the end zone a lot. In his scouting report they had his disclaimer as such: First round talent with history of injuries.

He doesn't hold all the Alabama records for nothing.  I'm sure breaking Joe Namath and Bart Starr's records with the Crimson Tide means something. That isn't a fluke.

Who should be the next defensive captain for Kansas City? In my opinion, the guys taking charge are both Linebacker Corey Mays, and Strong safety Bernard Pollard. Pollard has already earned his arrowhead as well, said Kent Babb on twitter. I'll open up a poll to see what you think. Personally I like either candidate to wear it, but I think if Pollard is given the C, he will step up and have a breakout year because of the responsibility. Another good name that could be in contention would be Derrick Johnson. Although I was in disagreement with people who were angry at his production last year, I said to myself "Well, he doesn't have a front seven. He can't do it all alone." But then I just haven't heard his name out there enough this year and I'm starting to wonder whether he'll live up to his potential of being the next Derrick Thomas. What do you think?

Right now, everyone on that line is out of sync, and sooner or later Brian Waters will be considering hanging up the cleats. Let's take a look at the positives and negatives.

The Positives- Brandon Albert. Albert is big, strong, flexible, and can play either Left tackle or Right tackle. The next positive is Brian Waters, for reasons I shouldn't have to list.

The Negatives- Mike Goff, Rudy Niswanger, Damion Mcintosh. Goff is past his prime and slow, Niswanger isn't built to play center. Mcintosh isn't buying into Todd Haley's new system and is frustrated on the right side.

Now, for the solution. It's not as impossible as you think, but it does take at least one more draft. We need to draft either a left tackle. That way we can slide Albert over to Right Tackle where he played  some in college. That solves the two ends. Waters is still there at Left Guard. Then we can either pickup a solid center in free agency, or draft one. Then we can take Niswanger and place him inside on Right guard where he's most productive. His size benefits him in that position. The line will look like this from left to right: LT, Waters, C, Niswanger, Albert. Waters can be replaced hopefully by a developed player like Herb Taylor or one of the new guys Andy Alleman or Ikechuku Ndukwe. I don't include these guys because I haven't seen enough tape of them to realize their potential. As far as I see it, both of those players upgraded the line last night and should have started. Ndukwe outplayed Mcintosh by a long shot. Now there are other ways to do this, like leaving Albert and drafting a RT, I'm trying to start some debate here.

 Many people believe that Scott Pioli is the right candidate to manage this troubled club in Kansas City. I am one of them. I am also aware of the people who question his every move, and I am aware of the people that adore his every move. Put me in the category with the people that understand that this team is far from competing, and that the necessary moves were made this offseason to give our team not only the best chance to win, but the best chance to grow. Let's look at Pioli's moves.

First major personnel move; Acquiring Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel for a 2nd round pick. Let's look at the positives. Cassel is a developed player who not only knows what it takes to win, but has the hunger to go out and win one on his own steam without being behind Tom Brady. Cassel is a great, young player who is coming fresh off of a great season.

The common regime hating Chiefs fan (often named Jason Whitlock) will say the following: "Cassel had an Offensive line, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and a stout defense. Anyone could succeed with that sort of talent around them therefore Cassel is nothing special." Not true. Someone had to make those accurate throws, lead that team, scramble around and win. Cassel did that. 21 Td's, 4 running Td's, 400 throwing yards in a single game, 4000 yards on the season and leading the team to an 11-5 record aren't traits of a one year wonder. One year wonders have the names Rex Grossman, Tyler Thigpen, Sage Rosenfels, Elvis Grbac, Rob Johnson, etc. They got by. He didn't just get by. He didn't just backup Brady and return to the bench. He showed the rest of the league that he could be that guy to take charge, lead an offense, and do what it takes to win. Picking up Cassel in the 2nd round was a steal because this is a guy who is young, but is a veteran, doesn't have wear and tear of a starter, knows how to win, and has the knowledge to step in and play for years to come, unlike a rookie who would have to take a few years to develop completely. His rookie season was essentially last year. He hadn't started a game since high school.

We all know we have offensive line problems. I'm sure Pioli didn't see those problems because there was limited tape on the Chiefs original offense last year before the spread. He saw the spread offense and Thigpen scrambling which didn't give him a great opportunity to assess the line. Now that they see the right line is weak, they went out and signed two potential starters who played significantly well last night against the Seahawks. All you nay-sayers need to think about the potential that Cassel has, and accept the fact that he's a good quarterback.