Now that the "first quarter of the season" is over, as Todd Haley calls it, I was thinking about what we can realistically expect from the Chiefs to feel confident about us getting better. Playing into this whole "quarter of the season" thing, the goal really should be to win an extra game each quarter. Looking at our schedule, I think this is realistic. Here's how I see it:

First quarter: 0-4, No wins.

Second quarter: 1-3, with a win against Washington.

Third quarter: 2-2, with wins against Oakland and Denver.

Fourth quarter: 3-1, with wins against Buffalo, Cleveland, and Denver (I really just hate Denver).

If we finished the last half of our season 5-3, I'd feel pretty damn good about the Chiefs going into the offseason. Final record of 6-10. Is that realistic? What's your expectations?

This is what I think will be the final 53 after watching the game tonight.

OL
Branden Albert, Barry Richardson
Brian Waters, Wade Smith
Rudy Niswanger, Andy Alleman
Mike Goff, (Andy Alleman)
Damien McIntosh, Ikechuku Ndukwe

RB
Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle, Dantrell Savage (KR/PR)

Savage makes the team after a good showing tonight, and gets the KR/PR job because he's the only one that didn't completely f**k it up.

LB
Tamba Hali, Monty Beisel
Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams
Corey Mays, Zach Thomas
Mike Vrabel, Andy Studebaker

Special Teams:
Jovan Belcher

WR
Dwayne Bowe, Terrence Copper
Mark Bradley, Ashley Lelie
Bobby Engram (slot), Quinten Lawrence

CB
Brandon Carr, Ricardo Colclough
Brandon Flowers, Donald Washington
Maurice Leggett (nickel)

QB
Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Matt Guitierrez

P/K/LS
Dustin Colquitt
Ryan Succop
Thomas Gafford

TE/FB
Sean Ryan, Brad Cottam, Jake O’Connell, (Thomas Gafford)
Mike Cox

DE
Glenn Dorsey, Alex Magee
Tyson Jackson, Wallace Gilberry

NT
Ron Edwards, Tank Tyler

S
Jarrad Page, Jon McGraw
Bernard Pollard, DaJuan Morgan

Keep in mind that a couple of these people will also be cut in order to add more talent. Namely: Wade Smith, Terrence Copper.

Whaddya think?

I believe it would serve the Jaguars well to pull the trigger on the Thigpen trade right now. It all comes down to one thing.

Money.

Jacksonville needs to find an heir to David Garrard. He's 31 years old and struggled last year compared to his incredible 2007 campaign, which landed him a $60 million dollar contract over six years. The Jaguars' problem right now is that they can't afford to draft a high round QB or pay a decent free agent QB because it will require too much of a money investment in one position. They are also without a 2nd round pick next year and have other needs.

In comes Tyler Thigpen... a 24-year-old QB who started in 11 games last year, threw 18 TD's to 12 INTs, rushed for more yards than any other NFL quarterback (and for more YPC than any NFL player with over 50 rushes), and did this all behind one of the NFL's worst offensive lines. Here's the kicker: he's getting paid the salary of a 7th rounder.

The Jags can trade for Thigpen and pay him next to nothing for being a reliable backup, and in the meantime train him to be QB of the future. If Garrard stays healthy and Thigpen remains his backup, the Jags should have an easy time resigning Thigpen when he becomes a free-agent. Thigpen would have incentive to stay in Jacksonville since it's close to his home in Carolina and since he'd know he's being trained to be a starter. His market value would be lower in the future than it would be this year, coming off a good season for a QB who had never started an NFL game before.

For the naysayers that think Thigpen can't perform under center, consider these stats: 10 TD's vs 0 INTs under center. Yeah, shut up.

It would serve the Jags well to get this deal done, and I think their management is well aware of it. Hence why negotiations are still ongoing.

For a QB of his age, ability, and contract price, the Jags should offer a 4th rounder. I think it would get the deal done. I believe he is worth a 3rd easily, but I don't think many teams would be willing to fork up a 3rd for a backup QB.

Jags, make this deal happen. 4th rounder for Tyler Thigpen.