By BJ Kissel

– Staff Writer

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Feb 4, 2012 – According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Kansas City Chiefs will hire former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to same position. Daboll has a history with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel from their time together in New England.

Daboll got his start as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Michigan State from 1998-1999. After a couple of years he was hired by the New England Patriots where he began as a defensive assistant for two years and then as a wide receivers coach for five years. It was there that he worked with Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, who was the defensive coordinator at the time. They won three Super Bowls in New England together before Daboll left for the New York Jets to be their quarterbacks coach.

After two years in New York Daboll left to be the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. While running the offense in Cleveland, the Browns finished 32nd in total offense under Daboll in 2009 and then 29th in 2010. Last year for the Miami Dolphins Daboll helped their offense finish 22nd in the NFL.

Daboll joins a Chiefs team that struggled to score points for most of the season after injuries to Tony Moeaki, Jamaal Charles and Matt Cassel derailed the offense during the season.

For more information on the Daboll hiring visit Arrowhead Pride for all things Chiefs.

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By Chip Rouse

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Dec 14, 2011 – Romeo Crennel has been awarded the additional title “interim head coach” to his defensive coordinator responsibilities to finish out the 2011 season for the Kansas City Chiefs. All that came about following the expected but still somewhat surprising firing of Todd Haley on Monday.

It wasn’t the dismissal itself that was surprising. Everyone who follows the Chiefs or professional football pretty much saw this coming. What caught most of us as a bit strange was the timing of the action, with only three games remaining in the regular season.

No sooner had the Haley firing become public than the speculation started about who general manager Scott Pioli and the Chiefs’ management would go after to be the team’s 13th head coach. Many fans, for sure, would prefer a big name, someone with proven NFL experience and the leadership skills to get Kansas City’s listing ship righted on the field and back on course legitimately contending for divisional, conference and, ultimately, NFL championships.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, who once coached in Kansas City under Marty Schottenheimer and is now an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, Jon Gruden, former coach at Oakland and Tampa Bay, and Jeff Fisher, who was let go after last season after many years on the sidelines with the Tennessee Titans franchise, are names that quickly came up. Also St. Louis offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and college coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes, both of whom have past ties with Pioli. Besides, the bigger names are going to naturally want more control of the football operations, which is not something Pioli is likely to want to relinquish.

Some or all of the aforementioned list of potential candidates may be talked to by Pioli; however, public opinion seems to be leaning more favorably toward someone like McDaniels or Ferentz at this early stage in the search process.

In putting together a wish list of prospective coaching candidates, it’s easy and natural to think big. Despite the Chiefs’ mostly horrendous showing over the past decade, the head coaching job in Kansas City is still a very attractive one. The franchise has long been considered one of the better ones to work for in the league, with a popular and active owner, a tremendous fan base and a great football facility in the renovated New Arrowhead Stadium.

In considering who the next Chiefs’ head coach might be, we may be overlooking the obvious. The 66-year-old Crennel is an NFL veteran and a logical choice to assume the reins for the remainder of the season. Crennel has spent 30 years in the league, including time with both New York teams (the Giants and the Jets), the New England Patriots, with whom he won three Super Bowl rings and was the overseer and behind-the-scenes taskmaster  of Bill Belicheck’s revered defense, and the Cleveland Browns, where he spent four seasons (2005-08) as head coach.

Crennel, whose style is the polar opposite of Haley’s, was 24-40 in leading the Browns. Much like Haley’s second year with the Chiefs, Crennel guided the Browns to a 10-6 finish a year after going 4-12, but the Browns were unable to sustain their winning ways the following season, falling to 4-12, which led to Crennel’s firing.

Skeptics will argue that Crennel is not the long-term solution to the Chiefs’ coaching leadership issues, that his past performance in the lead on-the-field position portends that he is better suited in a coordinator role. I would proceed with caution if this is where your mind set, as a fan, is right now.

It’s true that the Chiefs didn’t have to think twice about putting Crennel in charge of the team following Haley’s firing. It also gave Pioli & Company good reason to make the move now until waiting till season’s end. Crennel has a good chance in these last three games to solidify his chances for top consideration as the team’s next “permanent” head coach. What Hunt, Pioli and, frankly, the rest of us would like to see isn’t necessarily wins, although that would be nice, but competitive, spirited performances, especially in the two games at Arrowhead.

The Chiefs were on life-support most of this season under Haley. Pioli wants to see how the team will respond under Crennel’s direction and alternative leadership style. Three games does not a season make, but you can be assured, if we witness a different, more positive performance out of this struggling, injury-crippled team in these final games under the interim head coach, there is an excellent chance the “interim” tag will be dropped early in the New Year.

Crennel is an NFL guy, but more important, he is Pioli’s guy. The Kansas City general manager will maintain an opened mind and surely will put out some feelers and soft soundings for the head-coach opening to keep his options open. But make more mistake, Pioli would delight in nothing more this season of giving than to be able to award Crennel the job.

“I would like to be head coach and show that I can get it done,” Crennel said in an interview with Kansas City Star sports reporter writer Kent Babb. “I know how to get it done, and I think the experience from the first time (as head coach of the Browns) will make me better the next time around.”

The decision is the Chiefs’ to make, but one thing is fairly certain, or should be. It is Crennel’s job to lose.

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By BJ Kissel

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Nov 28, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs are right in the middle of a brutal part of their schedule that includes the final four teams in last seasons’ playoff picture. That’s not including last weeks’ game against the New England Patriots. After losing to the Steelers on Sunday night, the Chiefs can look forward to the Bears, Jets and Packers over the next three weeks. Most Chiefs fans knew coming into this season and taking a look at that schedule that we would truly learn how far this team has come along after this current stretch of games. Then the injuries happened. First it was Tony Moeaki, then Eric Berry, then Jamaal Charles and finally Matt Cassel.

It’s hard to get a read on how good of a team we actually had when everyone was healthy because we didn’t see it this year, and we still won’t see it. But this is the NFL and nobody was going to feel sorry for the Chiefs. I don’t see the Houston Texans struggling after losing Mario Williams, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub and now, Matt Leinart. Obviously some of those weren’t season-ending injuries, but all teams have to deal with injuries and while most teams around the NFL couldn’t bounce-back from the injuries the Chiefs have suffered this year, that doesn’t change the schedule laid out on front of them.

And for the Chiefs, that didn’t change from them playing back-to-back primetime games in front of the entire country. It’s one thing to be struggling and have to play good teams when you don’t have your star players healthy, it’s quite another to have to do it in front of the entire country against two of the best teams teams in the AFC, in primetime, in consecutive weeks. 

But it took a pretty special effort from the Kansas City Chiefs defense to go out there and perform the way that they did over the last two weeks. Especially considering the Chiefs offense gave away seven, yes SEVEN, turnovers in the last two games. So while the Chiefs offense was embarrassing itself and all Chiefs fans around the country, the defense gave all of us something we could hang our hat on at the end of the day. The Chiefs went to Foxboro and gave Tom Brady and the Patriots offense all they could handle for the first half of that game. The Eagles couldn’t do that at home with their “dream team” defensive backfield.

The Patriots may have won the game by a final score of 34-3, but anyone who watched that game will know that Tom Brady’s 15-27 performance for 234 yards and two touchdowns wasn’t very Brady-like. Only two other times this season was he held to fewer than 234 yards passing. Brady had 198 yards passing in a loss to the Steelers and 226 in a win against the Raiders. It was a couple of big plays in the second half that broke that game open, but it was obvious that the Chiefs had Brady struggling for a good portion of that game and not many teams around the NFL can say that, let alone do it on Monday night football in Foxboro. 

It was mentioned several times on the Sunday night broadcast how well the Chiefs defense was playing and keeping them in the game against the Steelers. I don’t think it can be stated enough how proud Chiefs fans should be of the defense right now. They held the Pittsburgh Steelers to 291 yards of total offense and just one touchdown, all while having the Chiefs offense hand them four turnovers. (The last was at the end of the game, but still) If it hadn’t of been for the defense against the Patriots and Steelers, I’d be struggling to look forward to the rest of the season.

But as it stands now, I know that former Broncos quarterback, Kyle Orton will have a full week of practice to get acclimated to this team and hopefully he picks up the offense quickly. Because with the way this defense has played over the last two weeks, there is reason to be optimistic if Orton can come in and at-worst, be average for the final five games of the season. So while playoff chances may be hanging on by a very small thread, I still find good reason to feel good about a particular part of the Chiefs team right now. I wasn’t sure that would have been the case a few weeks ago.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots

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By BJ Kissel

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Oct 4, 2011 – Much has been talked about regarding the sideline argument between Chiefs head coach Todd Haley and starting quarterback Matt Cassel during last weeks 22-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. While both downplayed the argument after the game, it’s important to note that the actual conversation may not have been a big deal. But something like that has not happened before, at least not that the TV’s have caught (and they’re pretty good at that nowadays), and that is the interesting storyline from this situation.  

I don’t personally believe that it’s anything more than two competitive people not seeing eye-to-eye on something during a game. I’m surprised we don’t see these things more often to be honest. A very smart person once told me that life isn’t about what happens to you, but rather how you react to it. This isn’t a big deal that these two had a tiff on camera, it’s the fact that Cassel came out and played well after.

If Cassel came out and played terrible after this confrontation, or whatever you want to call it, than it changes everything. But guess what? He didn’t play bad after, actually, he played pretty damn well after it and that is what’s important. I won’t go as far to say that Haley should get a lot of credit for Cassel playing well after this, but he should get a nod for doing his job.

When head coaches are constantly second-guessed from everyone with a medium to voice their displeasure, whether it be an angry fan calling a radio station or a journalist writing a column. It seems as if even some good things can go unnoticed when they are still in the midst of something sub-par. The Chiefs are still only 1-3 on the season and that’s not very good, but they did just pick up a victory and the things they did right in that game should be as talked about as the things they’ve done wrong in all the others. And everyone knows how much we’ve talked about all of the wrong.

What the Chiefs need now is an encore performance of what happened against the Vikings. It’s not enough to do things well for one game and feel as if you’ve arrived. You have to prove it each and every Sunday that you and your team are either getting better, or you’ll show that you’re getting worse. There is no staying-the-same in todays’ NFL.

Matt Cassel can either come out and show the Indianapolis Colts that he’s ready to build on his performance against the Vikings, or show people that he’s not ready to be the same guy everyday. Cassel has shown the ability to make the plays needed to help the Chiefs win games. If he can do that again this week against the Colts, it’ll go a long ways with Chiefs fans that want to see more than just one good game out of every four this season.

The Colts are ranked low in both passing defense (No. 20) and rushing defense (No. 28) through four games so far this season. Therefore the Chiefs should be able to move the ball against the Colts defense if they are to show us that Sunday’s game against the Vikings wasn’t some kind of a fluke. The Colts are hungry for their first win of the season after losing a heart-breaker to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. The Colts have a short week to prepare and that already gives the Chiefs an advantage. Let’s see if they use it.

Read More: Matt Cassel (QB – KAN), Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings

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By Chip Rouse

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Sep 17, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs rank 18th among the 32 teams in the National Football League in terms of franchise value, according to the Forbes magazine annual survey of the most valuable sports franchises.

The Dallas Cowboys have the highest value in the NFL and are the highest ranked U.S. sports team, with a franchise value of $1.85 billion, according to the survey. The Cowboys are second worldwide only to soccer’s Manchester United of the English Premier League, valued at $1.9 billion.

The Chiefs are worth $986 million, based on the Forbes report, but this figure is down from the team’s reported value of $1.027 billion a year earlier, when they were considered the 14 most valuable team in the NFL. The average value of the 32 NFL teams is $1.04 billion, up 1.4 percent over the previous year.

The Washington Redskins have the second highest value at $1.55 billion, the same as it was in the prior year; New England is worth $1.41 billion, compared with $1.36 billion a year earlier; the New York Giants increased in value from $1.183 billion to $1.3 billion, followed by their New York City rivals, the Jets, who have a franchise value of $1.22 billion.

Operating income dipped to an average of $30.6 million per team in the 2010 season, on which the latest survey is based, but the new collective bargaining agreement will bring the owners a bigger slice of the  revenue in the future. According to Forbes, the owners who stand to benefit the most are the owners of high-revenue teams, who will now make lower revenue-sharing payments to the other owners. The Chiefs’ had operating income of $14.5 million in 2010 on revenue of $252 million.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the owners will pay the players as much as 48 percent of total revenues, which is down from 51 percent previously.

Read More: New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins

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By BJ Kissel

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Sep 16, 2011 – There will be a lot of people around the NFL that will be curious to see the matchup between the Lions and Chiefs this week. Besides the fact that the Chiefs struggled last week in a big way against Buffalo, these are still two of the exciting young teams in the NFL.

The Lions are led by their young standout defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and the former No. 1 overall pick Matt Stafford at quarterback. The Chiefs led the NFL in rushing in 2010 and despite a dismal showing against the Bills overall, they still managed a 6 yards per carry average on the ground. But just like the Bills defensive line is on the upswing with Kyle Williams and Marcel Dareus, the Lions front seven is already there with arguably the best young defensive player in the NFL and perhaps one of the best overall defensive players in the NFL. Suh really is at that level and Todd Haley knows as much. via KCChiefs.com

“As far as him as a player, he’s one of the bright young stars in the league at a position that doesn’t always get a lot of notoriety. I love the way he plays. I love his intensity, his toughness and his ability to make plays.”

The key to victory for the Chiefs on offense is to lessen Suh’s impact on the game. If they can keep him from causing a turnover or making a big play, they have a shot at moving the ball and putting some points on the board. They also must find a way to at least show the threat of throwing the ball downfield against the Lions secondary. Matt Cassel’s 3.3 YPA last week against the Bills wouldn’t get it done against K-State, let alone a NFL caliber defense.

The key to shutting down the Lions on offense for the Chiefs is to limit the impact of Brandon Pettigrew in the passing game. The tight end is a favorite target of Stafford and is more of a move-the-chains type of player than your home run threat. That spot is saved for Calvin Johnson, who is going to make some plays in this game because he’s just too talented to be completely shut down. But if the Chiefs can tighten up on him in the redzone and force some field goals rather than touchdowns, they have a much better chance at winning with a low-scoring game. Limiting Pettigrew might be a tough task to ask the Chiefs secondary after losing Eric Berry for the season with the torn ACL. Newly re-signed Chiefs safety Reshard Langford might have his opportunity to see what he can do and match up with the Lions’ tight end.

The Chiefs are also going to see a lot of Jahvid Best on Sunday. They’ll need to do a much better job of tackling this week because Best has the ability to score any time he touches the ball from any distance. Much like the Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles, Best is a very explosive runner that can put it into another gear if he finds enough space. The Lions were unfortunate to lose Mikel Leshoure for the season from an achilles injury that occured before the season began. The second-round pick from Illinois was slated to pair with Best to make a pretty good young running back tandem. Instead the Chiefs will see the familiar face in Jerome Harrison.

It was Harrison that broke Jim Brown’s single game rushing record for a Cleveland Brown by putting up 286 yards rushing against the Chiefs back in 2009. Although the Chiefs did answer back last year by limiting Harrison to just 33 yards on 16 carries. Best will see the majority of carries in this game though. Last week against the Buccaneers Best carried the ball 21 times to just 8 for Harrison.

It’s pretty simple for the Chiefs on offense. They need to hold on to the ball and not turn it over like they did against the Bills, and find a way to sustain some drives so they can use their bread and butter in a way that works for them. Jamaal Charles needs to have his prescence felt early in this game and a quick start by the Chiefs would go a long ways in quieting what is sure to be a roudy crowd at Ford Field in Detroit.

Read More: Ndamukong Suh (DT – DET), Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions

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By BJ Kissel

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Sep 14, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs helped Buffalo Bills tight end Scott Chandler have the best game of his career last week in the Bills 41-7 victory over the Chiefs. Actually, Chandler had only one career reception before last weeks coming out party in which he had 5 receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns. It didn’t help the Chiefs defense that starting strong safety Eric Berry left the game with an injury early in the first quarter. But Chandler torched the Chiefs defense on several big occasions.

It was Sabby Piscitelli and Jon McGraw who were in charge of shutting down Chandler last week and that didn’t happen, obviously. So when the Chiefs look at their opponent this week they will see a much more talented player at the same position in Brandon Pettigrew. They need to focus on containing Pettigrew if they are going to have success in this game.

Pettigrew is the third-year tight end drafted in the first round by the Lions out of Oklahoma State. Last year Pettigrew was coming off a torn ACL suffered on Thanksgiving day in ’09, but still managed to be the third most-targeted tight end in the NFL while also finishing third in the league in receptions for a tight end. Last week he finished the game with six targets (2nd on the team behind Calvin Johnson-10), and four receptions for 57 yards in the Lions 27-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pettigrew is not much of a downfield threat in regards to big-play ability. He finished 23rd in the league last year among tight ends in average yards per catch (10.3). But he did have 71 receptions last season and that means that Lions quarterback Matt Stafford looks for Pettigrew often, and based on the Chiefs performance last week against the tight end it would only make sense for the Lions to try and take advantage of that as well.

The Lions have one of the best, if not the best, wide receiver in all of football in Calvin Johnson. He is the main go-to-guy and the player with the big play ability that keeps defensive coordinators up at night. But it’s Pettigrew that moves the chains with all of his receptions as a security blanket for Stafford, and if the Chiefs can limit Pettigrew’s receptions, they can limit the chains moving and that’s the ultimate goal.

Whether it’s Piscitelli, McGraw, or someone else, the Chiefs need to find out how to shut down the opposing teams tight end now that Berry is out for the season. Outside linebacker Justin Houston may have to join in the party as well in trying to shut down Pettigrew on Sunday. The athletic rookie linebacker from Georgia showed us in preseason that he has the ability to get after the passer. But this may be his chance to show us another part of his game, and shutting down Pettigrew would go a long way in helping the Chiefs pick up their first win of the season.

Read More: Jon McGraw (S – KAN), Scott Chandler (TE – BUF), Sabby Piscitelli (S – KAN), Calvin Johnson (WR – DET), Eric Berry (DB – KAN), Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions

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By BJ Kissel

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Aug 31, 2011 – Jamaal Charles carried the ball 22 times in the meeting last season between the Chiefs and Bills, which tied his season high. While the Chiefs squeaked out the game with a 13-10 victory in the closing seconds of overtime on a Ryan Succop 35 yard field goal, it wasn’t the easiest game for Chiefs fans to watch.

Despite Charles averaging 8 yards per carry and chipping in another 61 yards receiving, the Chiefs still only managed one touchdown in the game. They didn’t turn the ball over, which is the main reason they were able to pull out this victory. But going 4-15 on third down isn’t going to win many games for anyone.

Matt Cassel was fantastically average going 14-26 for 152 yards and a touchdown. But with under a minute remaining in overtime, Cassel threw consecutive passes of 18 yards and 11 yards to Tony Moeaki that got the Chiefs into field goal range and gave them the opportunity to win the game. The Chiefs may have ran for 274 yards in the game with a 6.1 yards per carry average, but it was the passing game that ultimately won this game for the Chiefs.

The Bills have re-shaped their defense heading into this 2011 season. They have lost their two leading tacklers from last season in Paul Posluszny and Donte Whitner. Posluszny signed with the Jaguars and Whitner has joined the 49ers. They also released former first-round pick Aaron Maybin, who recently signed with the Jets. They signed free agent linebacker Nick Barnett, formerly with the Packers, and drafted DT Marcell Dareus with the No. 3 pick overall in the 2011 NFL draft.

The key to this game is going to be very simple for the Chiefs. The Chiefs need to establish that they can run the ball effectively at any time. If the Chiefs are going to be a truly dominant rushing team this year than they need to prove they can successfully run the ball when the other team knows it coming, and still can’t do anything about it. That comes down to winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. The Chiefs haven’t been too successful yet this preseason in terms of their offensive line, but the first week of the regular season should prove to be a barometer for how Haley’s offseason and preseason tactics have worked in regular season situations.

It wouldn’t surprise anyone if most teams the Chiefs play this year do everything they can to try and stop Charles and the Chiefs running game. They will test Matt Cassel early and often and make him prove that he can beat them through the air. There is one player on the Chiefs roster that’s should to be able to help Cassel the most with this problem. That’s Dexter McCluster. He will be able to take short, safe passes and turn them into huge gains.

Teams better not relax when they see Charles leave the game and McCluster comes rolling onto the field. Draws and screens will be set up specifically for McCluster to get some space and break off a big play. Cassel just needs to make sure to make the correct read and to get McCluster the ball at the right time. He’ll take care of the rest as shown this preseason. Cassel still has a lot to prove in situations where the running game gets shut down and it falls on his shoulders throwing the ball, but that shouldn’t happen against the Bills and if it does, the problems are much bigger anyways. 

The Chiefs know that Chan Gailey loves to pass the ball and Ryan Fitzpatrick loves to air it out for the Bills. They will be testing the Chiefs secondary early and often and Chiefs fans ought to be comfortable with that. Rookie linebacker Justin Houston might have the opportunity to build on the pass-rushing repertoire he’s flashed in the preseason and take that to the field, namely to Ryan Fitzpatrick. They already know about Tamba and the Chiefs shouldn’t have any problem introducing some of the new players to the Bills.

The Bills return No. 1 receiver Steve Johnson, who finished the 2010 season with 1,073 yards and 10 touchdowns. But did lose No. 2 Lee Evans in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens. For as much as the Bills like the pass the ball you’d think they would want to keep as many playmakers around as possible. They did sign wide receiver/return man/quarterback/wildcat back, Brad Smith, who signed over from the New York Jets this past offseason. But Johnson and Smith aren’t enough to truly worry this strong secondary.

The Chiefs will get a very good gauge of where they stand in the trenches after this game and that should go a long way in answering some of the lingering offensive line questions that have surfaced in the last couple of preseason games. Buffalo ranked dead last in the NFL last season against the run and the additions they’ve made might help their team, but losing Posluszny is going to hurt the middle of their defense. And that’s right where the Chiefs should try and run the ball.

Read More: Matt Cassel (QB – KAN), Donte Whitner (S – SFX), Jamaal Charles (RB – KAN), Tony Moeaki (TE – KAN), Dexter McCluster (WR – KAN), New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs

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By BJ Kissel

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Aug 29, 2011 – All NFL teams must have their rosters cut to 80 players by 3pm CT on Tuesday. The Chiefs cut seven players on Monday and currently sit at 82 players on the roster.

The players that were cut were LB Eric Bakhtiari, RB Tervaris Johnson, DB Javes Lewis, WR Chris Manno, WR Josue Paul, DB Mario Russell, and WR Chandler Williams.

None of these players were all that surprising and were long shots to make the team anyways. There should be more news coming shortly on the last two players that the Chiefs need to cut in order to be at the 80 player maximum.

The final cuts for teams to get to the 53 man roster will be by Saturday, September 3rd.

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Aug 29, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs were the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL last season. Jamaal Charles had an astounding 6.4 yards per carry average, despite finishing second on the team in carries (230) behind Thomas Jones (245). So far this preseason in three games Charles has carried the ball just six times and Jones for nine times.

That’s more than just a coincidence from some game situation. They are unwilling to either risk injury to these players, or they just aren’t willing to tip their hand and give opposing teams for the regular season tape to scout them. At least teams in those first couple of weeks. It’s a bold move because you’re risking players not being ready when the regular season does begin.

When you look around the league at other players who finished in the top 5 in rushing last season you’ll see how other teams are treating their star running backs. Arian Foster has carried the ball 13 times so far this preseason. He didn’t carry the ball once in their first game against the New York Jets, he carried it five times against the New Orleans Saints and then eight times against the San Francisco 49ers. He re-injured his hamstring in the game against the 49ers and is questionable for their week one matchup with the Colts. It’s nothing that can be forseen but you hate to see injuries to key players on a teams’ offense during the preseason.

Michael Turner finished third in rushing in 2010 and has carried the ball 18 times so far this preseason for the Atlanta Falcons. He’s averaging just three yards-per-carry in their three losses to the Dolphins, Jaguars and Steelers. The two other running backs in the top 5 last year, Maurice Jones-Drew and Chris Johnson, have not played yet this preseason. Jones-Drew is being held back because of offseason knee surgery, and Johnson is still holding out for a new contract.

Adrian Peterson has carried the ball 21 times this preseason for the Minnesota Vikings. That’s a much different philosophy than the Chiefs considering you could make a case that Peterson is much more valuable to the Vikings than Charles is to the Chiefs. The Chiefs would still have Thomas Jones, Dexter McCluster and LeRon McClain if something were to happen to Charles.

There are quite a few more running backs that had great years in 2010 that are getting more work in than the Charles and Jones so far in this preseason. Rashard Mendenhall has carried it 14 times, Steven Jackson has carried it 21 times (15 against the Chiefs), Ahmad Bradshaw – 10 times in two games thus far, and Ray Rice has carried it 25 times so far in three games.

Is it fear of injury or some other not-giving-anything-away type of reason as to why the Chiefs haven’t made a concious effort to get Charles more carries so far this preseason? It’s a strategy that can be picked apart if the Chiefs aren’t successful early in the season running the ball. The Chiefs first game of the season is against the Buffalo Bills, who ranked dead last in the NFL last season against the run, giving up an average of 169 yards per game. Charles won’t sneak up on the Bills after 177 yards on 22 carries against them last year, not to mention 61 yards receiving on four receptions.

Todd Haley seems to have a specific plan in mind for the preseason and that doesn’t involve getting his star players a lot of reps in the game. We’ll know in a few weeks if this plan worked.

Read More: Thomas Jones (RB – KAN), Jamaal Charles (RB – KAN), Arian Foster (RB – HOU), Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs

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Aug 26, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs take on Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams Friday night in Kansas City. Despite being shutout 56-13 in the first two games of the preseason, the Kansas City Chiefs can take some positives away from their loss last week against the Baltimore Ravens.

It was the first time the entire starting defense played together in the preseason and Kelly Gregg showed Chiefs fans why they have a reason to feel good about the nose tackle position, finally. But heading into the game against the Rams the Chiefs still have questions that need to be answered.

Here are a few things to watch for Friday night.

Matt Cassel

For the second time in two years Matt Cassel faces the Rams with a lot of questions surrounding him heading into the game. Last season he was playing less than two weeks removed from surgery that had his appendix removed, and played quite well in that game that proved to be one of the key victories late in the season that helped the Chiefs win the AFC west division.

This preseason, Cassel has been far from impressive in just the limited action he saw last week against the Ravens. It may have been his first real game action of the preseason, but he’ll need to go out and play well Friday night or more questions, and more pressure will follow him to the regular season.

Cory Greenwood and Micah Johnson

Brandon Siler’s injury that will cost him the entire 2011 season was unfortunate for the Chiefs, who had thought Siler would push Belcher for a starting role and contribute on special teams. Instead, the Chiefs get to take a closer look at Johnson and Greenwood. Both have been impressive at times so far this preseason and both should see plenty of action Friday night.

They are both fighting for roster spots that will become more clear on Tuesday, when teams have to shrink their rosters from 90 players, to 80 players. There are always surprises every year but depth at insider linebacker just got a little more thin with the injury to Siler. Greenwood and Johnson are two players to keep your eyes on.

Verran Tucker and Keary Colbert

Tucker was very impressive last week against the Ravens at wide receiver and if he can build on that performance and take it to Friday’s game, along with his special teams ability, he’s going to make it a very difficult decision for Todd Haley and the Chiefs.

Colbert is also in the mix at wide receiver and the veteran, who hasn’t played in a NFL regular season game since 2008, needs to make an impact in Friday’s game to solidify his spot on this team.

Wallace Gilberry

Gilberry has been one of the more quiet pieces of the Chiefs defensive puzzle so far this preseason. He was second on the team in sacks in 2010, behind Tamba Hali, and was looked at prior to the draft as one of the key defensive lineman in 2011. Teams know about Tamba Hali and they started to notice Gilberry towards the end of 2010, but Allen Bailey, Andy Studebaker and Justin Houston need to become consistent threats to get after the quarterback.

Tyler Palco and Ricky Stanzi

The backup quarterback position is currently open and Palco and Stanzi will have some time on Friday night to show that they are ready to be the guy to step in should something happen to Cassel. It’s been a hot topic over the last week that the Chiefs should look for a veteran quarterback to backup Matt Cassel. Stanzi is a rookie and will be given time to develop should he become 3rd string.

So Palco is playing for his career Friday night and the following week should he make it that far. Palco led the Chiefs of an impressive touchdown drive against the Ravens that ended with a touchdown pass to Terrance Copper. If he can put together another drive or two like that on Friday, some of those doubters may go away.

These are just a few of the players to keep an eye on Friday night against the Rams. Generally the 3rd game of the preseason is when the starters will play the longest for most NFL teams. The first half of this game should give Chiefs fans an indication of where exactly this team is in their maturation process.

It should be fun to watch.

Read More: Kelly Gregg (DT – KAN), Matt Cassel (QB – KAN), Wallace Gilberry (DE – KAN), Micah Johnson (LB – KAN), Sam Bradford (QB – STL), Cory Greenwood (LB – KAN), Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams

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By BJ Kissel

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Aug 23, 2011 – The first round of roster cuts for NFL teams is on August 30th, and each team will have to trim their rosters from 90 players to 80 players at that point. The final cuts are on September 3rd and all teams must be down the 53 players at that time.

One of the most intriguing positional groups heading into cut-time for the Kansas City Chiefs is the secondary. They have a lot of young talent that is already set up to start on their first-team defense with Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis. Throw in Javier Arenas and Jalil Brown as as second-year player and a rookie that are also locks to make the squad. Then it becomes pretty interesting.

One of the most debated players in the secondary right now is veteran safety, Jon McGraw. Coach Haley has gone as far to say that McGraw is still in the running for a spot on the first-team defense. From kcchiefs.com

“Obviously, Jon McGraw is there, and he’s not out of the mix to even be out front in the mix,” Haley said.

I would venture to guess that McGraw could be in the mix for the first-team defense. But I don’t think that Haley would come right at this point and declare Kendrick Lewis as the starter. But regardless of who is considered the “starter”, Jon McGraw will be on the team and will contribute to the defense and special teams. A lot of fans like to talk about the Ravens game and how McGraw didn’t play well in that game. In all fairness, if we didn’t give roster spots to everyone that didn’t play well in the playoff blowout last season then we might be looking for more than just depth in the secondary.

Lewis will be the starter but McGraw could find himself in the game in certain situations in sub packages as said by Josh Looney in his report on kcchiefs.com.

Jon McGraw is the veteran of the bunch, re-signing with the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent this offseason and finding himself in the mix of numerous sub-package sets with the first-team defense. He’s worked with the second-team in base alignment throughout the preseason.

The real question marks in the secondary come down to Reshard Langford, Donald Washington, Sabby Piscitelli, Travis Daniels, Ricky Price and Quentin Lawrence. I personally believe that Washington and Daniels would be the front-runners in this group at this point in time. But we have two more preseason games and they are going to be extremely important for this group of players.

Read More: Jon McGraw (S – KAN), Brandon Carr (CB – KAN), Brandon Flowers (CB – KAN), Eric Berry (DB – KAN), Kendrick Lewis (DB – KAN), Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs

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Aug 20, 2011 – You can’t always judge a game based on the stats in the box score. Especially when you’re talking about a preseason game. It was true last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when the majority of Chiefs defensive starters didn’t even play. It was a little different story this week. The Chiefs starters did play on defense, but not quite as long as the Ravens starters played on offense.

The Chiefs had held Ravens starting running back Ray Rice to 18 yards on 6 carries before the 2nd team defense allowed a 26-yard touchdown run to Rice with 3 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter. It was a big play for the Ravens and seemed as if no Chiefs players were around as a cutback opened up the entire right side of the field for Rice to easily trot into the end zone.

Chiefs fans got a first look at former Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Kelly Gregg, and he was everything he has been advertised. He consistently clogged the middle of the line of scrimmage staying on his feet, allowing middle-linebacker Jovan Belcher to run around and make plays and lead the team with seven tackles on the night.

Tyson Jackson also had a fantastic game for the Chiefs as he showed why the Chiefs coaching staff has been singing his praises so far in camp. The defensive line was once thought to be a question mark heading into the season, but Friday’s game should bring a little optimism to Chiefs fans about what this group can accomplish this season. Rookie nose tackle Jerrel Powe showed again that he should not be pre-judged by his draft position (6th round), but from his performance on the field. For the second week in a row Powe gave Chiefs fans a few plays to remember heading into the regular season.

Despite the Ravens starting a rookie at right tackle in Jah Reid, the Chiefs defensive line did what they were supposed to do and held stout at the line of scrimmage for most of the night. Rookie linebacker Justin Houston picked up two big sacks for the Chiefs and was consistently around the ball making plays all night.

Rookie cornerback Jalil Brown did not impress Friday night like he had in the opener against Tampa Bay. The same goes for now-cornerback, once-wide receiver Quinten Lawrence, who is just trying to find a spot on the 53-man roster in some capacity. Brown got beat on a big pass play to Lee Evans that went for 43 yards to set up Rice’s touchdown run. And a pass interference call later in the game on Brown, when helooked much like Brandon Carr of 2009 in which he didn’t get his head around to see where the ball was coming from.

When it’s all said and done it is still a preseason game, but the Chiefs should be able to take some positives away from Friday’s game against the Ravens. They take on the St. Louis Rams next Friday in Kansas City.

Read More: Ray Rice (RB – BAL), Jalil Brown (CB – KAN), Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs

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By BJ Kissel

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Aug 15, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs secondary has gotten a lot of publicity over the past few months. There is a lot to be excited about if you are a Chiefs fan right now in regards to the defensive backs and what they could accomplish in 2010. The unit made strides in 2010 with rookie Eric Berry going to the pro bowl, and then second-year players Brandon Carr and Brandon Flowers took steps forward in their development. But Kendrick Lewis should also be mentioned when talking about how special this group could become.

Lewis was the fifth pick in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL draft. Scott Pioli was a fan of Lewis and made him a priority before the third day of the draft. per arrowheadpride.

“There were a couple people in here that were strong supporters — this is why you have a strong staff, a scouting staff. And when he continued to last on the board, we spent additional time — actually the morning of the third day — watching more tape.”

The Chiefs had already drafted Eric Berry in the first round that same year and the uncertainty regarding returning safety Jarrad Page opened the door for Lewis to join the Chiefs. It seems to have worked out for the Chiefs as Lewis helped the defense make tremendous strides from 2009 to 2010. The Chiefs went from 30th in the NFL in scoring defense in 2009 by giving up almost 27 points per game to just over 20 points per game and ranking 11th in 2010. They shaved off an entire touchdown per game in the one-year span. Obviously Lewis wasn’t the only new addition to the defense and having a player like Eric Berry at strong safety is going to help out any defense. Throw in Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator and Emmitt Thomas as defensive backs coach and you’re going to be better. But Lewis helped make them better.

Part of the success in the development in the younger defensive backs has to do with the contributions of veteran safety Jon McGraw. He is the veteran defensive back that has been the kind of go-to-guy for the younger players to reach out to with questions about assignments and responsibilities. You would think that there would be a strange dynamic between the veteran players and those who were ultimately drafted to replace those same guys that are helping them day-in and day-out. McGraw doesn’t have that attitude and he said as much before last season right after Berry and Lewis were drafted. per arrowheadpride

“I want to be the best player I can be and a lot of times becoming the best player, the way to get there is to be a better teacher. If you can really teach something well, you can actually help yourself and learn it better. It’s a great way for veterans to get better at their skill to teach it to other guys. Guys that go into isolation mode, in the end actually hurt the team.”

It would seem that this quote would perfectly sum up the reason why the Chiefs wanted to bring McGraw back for another season. Most would believe that Lewis would be starting over McGraw and the most recent depth chart would confirm that Lewis will in fact be the starter. But McGraw has a role on this team and he should help both Berry and Lewis become better players.

There will be a lot of talk about Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr and Eric Berry when people talk about the talented defensive backs for the Chiefs. But the 23-year old Lewis has a bright career ahead of him and hopefully he and Berry can team up to roam the defensive backfield for the Chiefs for the next 10+ years.

Read More: Jon McGraw (S – KAN), Brandon Carr (CB – KAN), Brandon Flowers (CB – KAN), Eric Berry (DB – KAN), Kendrick Lewis (DB – KAN), Kansas City Chiefs

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