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gblowfish
01-09-2011, 08:46 PM
My Final Ten Things About Today's Game (And 2010 Season)

10. I was physically and emotionally drained upon returning home from Arrowhead, so I took a little nap when I got back to the Blowfish Batcave. I'm over 50 now, and have bad knees and ankles that ache in the cold weather. I've seen at least two other "ten things" threads posted so far tonight, so I will end my string of posts this year with one last hurrah, and chalk imitation up as the sincerest form of flattery. Or that other CPers can write as hackishly as I do....

9. It was slate grey and cold today, not as windy as last week, but more damp. You can feel that snow in the air that is coming our way. Some comments have been made in other threads about the crowd size and the crowd noise. The crowd was very good. The yellow rich bastard seats in the club level often look empty, but that's because the rich bastards are all up in the "club" staying warm, having martinis and sniffing each other's rectums, trading business cards and doing all the things that have nothing to do with watching football. Outside, when fans are bundled up tight like today, the noise is a bit more muffled. People clap with gloves on, stamp feet layered in snow boots, and yell through mufflers. They were plenty loud in the first quarter. Second half, not so much, because, frankly, they were never given a reason to get into the game. Chiefs fans were not the problem today. They represented. They sat in bone chilling cold. They did their part. The team didn't hold up their end of the bargain today.

8. Charles was Charles once today, and that was our only offensive point production. He got smashed in the shoulder out of bounds in the second quarter on a sweep towards the Chiefs bench. That play happened right in front of me. After the hit, he was not the same the rest of the game. I don't know if he may have slightly dislocated his shoulder, or had a stinger, but the hit put him out of action for several plays. He was bent over writhing in pain for a couple minutes, and he was ineffective the rest of the day. It also affected his blocking on blitz pickup. Charles only had nine carries today. He easily should have had three times as many if the Chiefs were to have a chance in this game. Thomas Jones had fifteen yards on five carries, but ten of those yards were on one carry, so he was not effective on four of his five chances. Chiefs only had 108 yards rushing today. The really bad news is, that was most of our offensive production. Sadly, running the ball was about the only thing we did halfway decent on offense, and it wasn't nearly good enough.

7. Earlier in the season, I kept comparing Matt Cassel to Bill Kenney of the 1980s. Bill Kenney only played in one playoff game for KC. Against the NY Jets in 1986, Kenney was 8-16 for 97 yards, no picks, no TDs, sacked twice. KC had three turnovers -Blackledge relieved Kenney and threw two picks when the game was out of hand. Kenney had a QB Passer rating of 69. That was a historically horrid playoff performance that still haunts me. Cassel's performance today was much worse. I didn't think I'd ever see a worse KC QB playoff performance, but today's was worse. Cassel was 9-18 for 70 yards, sacked three times, no TDs, three picks, QB rating of 20.4. Only redeeming thing in this comparison is, in 1986, Kenney had been a starting QB for six years. Cassel has only been a starting QB for two years. So hopefully he will learn from this experience. But he definitely stunk up the joint today, and it will take a lot of make-up work to erase this playoff memory. Today, he choked under playoff pressure. No other way to slice it.

6. Earlier in the week, the KC star said three players held the key to how KC would fare today: Cassel, Bowe and Hali. I've covered Cassel. You would have a hard time proving to me that Bowe played today. Not finding him, not even THROWING HIS DIRECTION today, was criminal. If you have an All Pro receiver, you must USE HIM in a PLAYOFF GAME. I put this on Charlie Weis. Even Kevin Curtis, the Chris Chambers replacement rent-a-player, had a ball thrown to him today. Could it have been that Bowe just couldn't get open today, the entire game? I really doubt that. Props to Hali. He did show up today. He had two sacks, a strip and fumble recovery on Flacco that set up the Charles TD and got KC a lead. And he did this with Michael "The Blind Side" Oher holding him the entire game. That is not an exaggeration. Baltimore had NO PENALTIES until the fourth quarter when the game was already out of hand. I guess if Hollywood makes a movie about you while you're still a player, you can hold to your hearts delight. After all, nobody likes a movie with an unhappy ending.

5. The Chiefs were totally outplayed, out-coached and overmatched the entire second half. In reality, Baltimore really outplayed the Chiefs in the first half too. Time of possession was way out of whack, with the Ravens having control for around 42 minutes. Still, when KC went in down only 10-7 at half, and getting the ball to start the second half, there was reason for optimism. The Chiefs offense just pissed down their leg the entire second half. You won't win with five turnovers, especially against a defense like Baltimore. When KC got back the fumbled pick to start the second half, I thought it might be their day. But that fourth and one call to sweep Charles was hard to understand, especially when they had used a jumbo package with Smith and Asamoah lead blocking for Jones to success earlier, why not power straight ahead for a yard? Or at least run behind your only All Pro lineman -Waters- and Fat Albert for a yard? After that call, the entire game went to shit. Our year long bugaboo of failing on third down came home to roost again. We were 1-8 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. Meanwhile, Baltimore was 9-17 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down. Most telling stat: Every single Ravens drive today made it into KC territory. That's what ball control really is all about, and that fueled the rout.

4. If we look for silver linings, KC is a very young team. Today's bad experience of getting thumped may pay dividends down the road. Players like Cassel, Berry, Charles, Bowe and Moeacki will hopefully take with them how hard it is to get to the playoffs, and how hard it is to win once you get there. I hope this also applies to Coach Haley, who I think matured a lot over the course of this season. He did a lot of boneheaded, stupid stuff this year, but getting this team to win a division crown was a great coaching job no matter how you look at it. He won as many games this year as in the last three years combined, and that's doing something. Today they were overmatched by a more experienced, battle tested and talented team. I also think after two upsets yesterday (Seattle and NY Jets) that may have served as a wake up call for Baltimore not to let it happen to them. They played with urgency and focus. We played -the second half anyway- with mostly panic and disaster.

3. Next year I'm afraid we may backslide. The rest of the league will watch the film of these last two games to see how to stuff the KC running attack. And we'll be playing a first place schedule instead of a fourth place schedule. That will make it a much rougher road. We'll also face up against the NFC Central, not the NFC West. KC may be lucky to win eight games next year. We could end up being a better team, with a worse record.

2. Draft or Free Agent Search: FA: Get Larry Fitzgerald opposite Bowe. Draft an inside linebacker to replace Belcher, draft a tackle to replace Richardson, draft a guard or center. Get McCluster and Moeacki in the weight room. I wanted to congratulate Moeacki for making it through most of the year uninjured. The cheap hit in Denver on the onside kick was not his fault. I hope we will have another productive draft in 2011. This last year's crop will be hard to top. We'll also need a solution at Offensive Coordinator. This might be a hard job to fill. Coach Haley is a micromanager on offense. May be hard to find an experienced, qualified person who will want that job. Stay tuned. Should be an interesting pick.

1. It was a fun ride and WAY beyond all our expectations. Football was fun again. It was great not to have to dwell on negative crap week after week after week like we did around here the last three years prior. Of course, the more you get, the more you want. It was great fun here on the CP talking about game aftermaths and looking forward to each game this season. Thanks to you all for reading my game threads, and for all the fun back and forth in those threads this season. Let's do it again next year, OK?

nascher
01-09-2011, 08:52 PM
thanks ! Really good points

ThaVirus
01-09-2011, 08:54 PM
Wow, everyone seems to be jumping on Belcher. Let me start by saying he is not the guy I want in the middle when we're making a legit playoff run, but he IS NOT our weakest LB. How can anyone watch a game and not see it's Mike Vrabel? He is just tooooo slow and needs to be replace MUCH more urgently than Belcher, imo.

Deberg_1990
01-09-2011, 08:54 PM
I'm over 50 now, and have bad knees and ankles that ache in the cold weather.

Thanks George....it was a great season and the best part about it all is we appear to be ascending.

Im starting to wonder if the rolling roof thing would not have been a bad idea? Alot of fans dont appear to have the stomach anymore to spend hours in the cold KC weather. Cant say i blame them......thoughts?

Deberg_1990
01-09-2011, 08:55 PM
Wow, everyone seems to be jumping on Belcher. Let me start by saying he is not the guy I want in the middle when we're making a legit playoff run, but he IS NOT our weakest LB. How can anyone watch a game and not see it's Mike Vrabel? He is just tooooo slow and needs to be replace MUCH more urgently than Belcher, imo.

DJ completely whiffed on the Rice TD catch. Rice ran right by him and while DJ just stood there.

jjchieffan
01-09-2011, 08:56 PM
Great read as always. And spot on too. I couldn't agree more with the entire post

jbwm89
01-09-2011, 08:56 PM
Great as always. I didn't think Belcher played that bad today, but then again from my seats it can be a little tough to catch everything.

Saulbadguy
01-09-2011, 08:57 PM
Always enjoy reading these. Thank you. #3 and #4 were the points I agreed with most.

mnchiefsguy
01-09-2011, 08:58 PM
Great points as always. Thanks for your input through the whole season, really enjoyed reading them every week!

The Bad Guy
01-09-2011, 08:58 PM
What's nuts about the Cassel line is at one point he was 4/5.

I think we also need another rush backer opposite of Tamba.

gblowfish
01-09-2011, 08:58 PM
Thanks George....it was a great season and the best part about it all is we appear to be ascending.

Im starting to wonder if the rolling roof thing would not have been a bad idea? Alot of fans dont appear to have the stomach anymore to spend hours in the cold KC weather. Cant say i blame them......thoughts?

Jackson County taxpayers were approached with two different propositions on stadium improvements, both on the same ballot. One was for general stadium renovations, which passed. That was for work done on both Arrowhead and on Kauffman Stadium. A second proposal was to build a roof over Arrowhead. It failed. Taxpayers thought it was too much $, and a lot of Chiefs fans like the competitive advantage to playing in cold weather, especially when California teams like San Diego and Oakland come here in December.

It sucks to have spent $350 million on the stadium and still get rained on, and freeze in winter, but it is what it is. I think our fans are some of the toughest in the NFL. We show up literally in all weather, no matter what.

chiefqueen
01-09-2011, 08:59 PM
Next year's schedule is brutal don't be surprised at a 6-10 or 7-9 season.

vailpass
01-09-2011, 09:00 PM
There was nothing cheap about the slobber-knocker laid on Moeaki in Denver. Unless if by cheap you mean a straight up de-cleater laid on a special teams player who didn't have his eyes open.
I'm a Moeaki fan but football is football.

Coach
01-09-2011, 09:00 PM
What's nuts about the Cassel line is at one point he was 4/5.

I think we also need another rush backer opposite of Tamba.

Another backer and a NT, I'm good.

I think asking for a QB might be too much to ask, so that above, would be a better option.

Isn't this class of LB's supposed to be pretty solid?

Edit: And btw GB, always enjoyed reading your 10 things. I look forward to the 2011 season edition.

Bwana
01-09-2011, 09:00 PM
As always, good read George.

Buehler445
01-09-2011, 09:01 PM
Thanks George. Good stuff as always. I appreciate your time and thoughts. Thank you.

'Hamas' Jenkins
01-09-2011, 09:01 PM
Don't think we need a NT to replace Suge?

'Hamas' Jenkins
01-09-2011, 09:02 PM
Other than TE and S, we have the same needs we had last year:

NT, OLB, QB, Burner WR, C

KCSupersized
01-09-2011, 09:02 PM
Nice read man.

KChiefs1
01-09-2011, 09:10 PM
Good stuff again George!

Raiderhater58
01-09-2011, 09:10 PM
Enjoyed your takes George. Go Chiefs!!

MahiMike
01-09-2011, 09:12 PM
Wow, everyone seems to be jumping on Belcher. Let me start by saying he is not the guy I want in the middle when we're making a legit playoff run, but he IS NOT our weakest LB. How can anyone watch a game and not see it's Mike Vrabel? He is just tooooo slow and needs to be replace MUCH more urgently than Belcher, imo.

I saw Belcher make a lot of plays today. I also saw Vrable whiff on the near TD in the 1st qtr.

KChiefs1
01-09-2011, 09:13 PM
Thanks George....it was a great season and the best part about it all is we appear to be ascending.

Im starting to wonder if the rolling roof thing would not have been a bad idea? Alot of fans dont appear to have the stomach anymore to spend hours in the cold KC weather. Cant say i blame them......thoughts?

I know I wanted a roof for the weather, Super Bowl, Final Four, etc....

KChiefs1
01-09-2011, 09:14 PM
Other than TE and S, we have the same needs we had last year:

NT, OLB, QB, Burner WR, C

Yep.

gblowfish
01-09-2011, 09:15 PM
I saw Belcher make a lot of plays today. I also saw Vrable whiff on the near TD in the 1st qtr.

Belcher actually had one of his better games today. He got a sack, made a few tackles. But his yearly body of work leaves a lot to be desired. He had many missed assignments, missed tackles, drive sustaining penalties, etc.

Vrabel is near the end, everybody knows that. Studebaker may be able to replace him, maybe not. But we need a stud in the middle, like the Ravens have Ray Lewis.

I'm not saying cut Belcher. I'm just saying get somebody better to start.

KChiefs1
01-09-2011, 09:15 PM
Next year's schedule is brutal don't be surprised at a 6-10 or 7-9 season.

Maybe we should go 2-14 & have Andrew Luck fall in our laps?

gblowfish
01-09-2011, 09:17 PM
We did a piss poor job covering Todd Heap today. He was the go to guy for Flacco, and we still can't figure out how to stop a crossing route on third and long. Very frustrating pass coverage today.

Discuss Thrower
01-09-2011, 09:18 PM
Other than TE and S, we have the same needs we had last year:

NT, OLB, QB, Burner WR, C

Which means we draft a true nickelback, a ST gunner, a FB, and trade picks for a blocking TE?

Coach
01-09-2011, 09:21 PM
Which means we draft a true nickelback, a ST gunner, a FB, and trade picks for a blocking TE?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

milkman
01-09-2011, 09:22 PM
While I rarely agree with your talking points about the play on the field, George, I do enjoy reading your thoughts, as you are far more talented as a writer than most of the hacks at the Star, and the guys that think they are writers here.

Lonewolf Ed
01-09-2011, 09:23 PM
If Vrabel is back this next season, I will be very surprised. It's time for him to hang it up. He runs like he is in ankle deep mud. There will be at least one new QB on the team, either via free agency or the draft. When Palko came in to replace Cassel at the end of the Oakland game and the reason given for not putting Brodie in was an "injury," it was clear to my eyes that he would never take another snap for the Chiefs. After that debacle in San Diego, it was clear that the kid won't ever amount to anything here. What's Brodie's major, anyhow? Get those resumes out, Brodie.

Buehler445
01-09-2011, 09:24 PM
While I rarely agree with your talking points about the play on the field, George, I do enjoy reading your thoughts, as you are far more talented as a writer than most of the hacks at the Star, and the guys that think they are writers here.

Really? I think he's on point most of the time.

gblowfish
01-09-2011, 09:25 PM
While I rarely agree with your talking points about the play on the field, George, I do enjoy reading your thoughts, as you are far more talented as a writer than most of the hacks at the Star, and the guys that think they are writers here.

Thanks Milk. If we all agreed on everything every week, it would be pretty damn dull around here...

DeezNutz
01-09-2011, 09:26 PM
Often imitated, never duplicated. Your posts are consistently some of the most interesting post-game comments. Keep it up, please.

RedThat
01-09-2011, 09:30 PM
A lot of people are saying we need a passrusher opposite of Tamba.
I don't think that is the real issue.

I think the main issue is NT. There were many incidences where Flacco had time to step up in pocket.

The next thing I would if I were the Chiefs is add 2 really good linebackers. If they could do all that, this defense would go from good to great imo.

*So if I had to prioritize the team defensive needs in order it would go like this:

1. NT
2. ILB
3. OLB

gblowfish
01-09-2011, 09:33 PM
We need another wide out and offensive line help. We still have a lot of holes to fill, that's for sure. I guess we'll need to see what happens in free agency, which may be very interesting, considering the CBA is up in the air right now.

alpha_omega
01-09-2011, 09:36 PM
Excellent, as always. Thanks.

milkman
01-09-2011, 09:39 PM
Really? I think he's on point most of the time.

Maybe it's just my perception, since I tend to focus on the things I disagree with.

Today, I thought I should give him props since it is his last of the season, and I do really appreciate his writing.

Straight, No Chaser
01-09-2011, 10:00 PM
All good points... from the T.V's view, Jon McGraw should never want to see Heap again. Heap had a career day vs. Chiefs and McGraw could not do anything about it, too slow and had trouble tackling.

ChiefsCountry
01-09-2011, 10:00 PM
Maybe we should go 2-14 & have Andrew Luck fall in our laps?

Hopefully some team will trade us a 2012 number one for something stupid this year and that turns into the #1 overall pick.

Macroach
01-09-2011, 10:04 PM
Thanks for the weekly must-read commentary, George. I particularly agree with #1 this time. It was certainly a fun ride

KurtCobain
01-09-2011, 10:05 PM
I'm sorry, but I saw ALOT of Upper level fans give up today, around Flaccos second first down run of that before the half drive. They stopped even trying to help, they either sat down, left or just started standing there like zombies. I even took pics of how lazy they got before the half was even over, and from how it looked where I was, the game changed when they took the chill pill. And during the first ravens possession of the second half, I could easily hear myself and specific people around me where-as I couldn't in the first quarter. The fans around me gave up. I didn't.

FAX
01-09-2011, 10:18 PM
Well, that makes a grand total of exactly almost about 170 things this year, Mr. gblowfish. And, each and every thing was insightful, interesting, and enjoyable to read.

Here's to at least 200 things next year.

FAX

cabletech94
01-09-2011, 10:22 PM
nice read blow!
really enjoyed every one you put out.
nice perspective.

can't wait 'til next year!!

DBOSHO
01-09-2011, 10:25 PM
DJ completely whiffed on the Rice TD catch. Rice ran right by him and while DJ just stood there.

Dj wasnt going to catch rice from his position, and that touchdown is on white grandpa mcgraw. Its his zone and flacco looks him off like mcgraw was a rookie.

KCChiefsFan88
01-09-2011, 10:32 PM
Larry Fitzgerald would do wonders to this offense. He is a boost for Cassel, for the running game (in addition to being another outside threat to prevent defenses from stacking the box against the run, he's also a great run blocker), and for Bowe.

Fitzgerald to KC needs to happen this offseason.

DBOSHO
01-09-2011, 10:33 PM
Larry Fitzgerald would do wonders to this offense. He is a boost for Cassel, for the running game (in addition to being another outside threat to prevent defenses from stacking the box against the run, he's also a great run blocker), and for Bowe.

Fitzgerald to KC needs to happen this offseason.

Apparently AZ is talking new contract. Or restructuring or something.

Bowser
01-09-2011, 10:40 PM
Your Ten Things lists are must read material around these parts, George. Thank you so much for putting them together. I always look forward to and enjoy reading them.

journeyscarab
01-09-2011, 11:23 PM
Nice read, as always.

ThaVirus
01-10-2011, 02:11 PM
A lot of people are saying we need a passrusher opposite of Tamba.
I don't think that is the real issue.

I think the main issue is NT. There were many incidences where Flacco had time to step up in pocket.

The next thing I would if I were the Chiefs is add 2 really good linebackers. If they could do all that, this defense would go from good to great imo.

*So if I had to prioritize the team defensive needs in order it would go like this:

1. NT
2. ILB
3. OLB

Oh, definitely. Although it's nice to have two consistent, edge pass rushers, it's not necessary to bring the pressure. Actually, if you have that you just allow the QB to be able to step up into the pocket and make a play. We need an NT that can not only help stop the run, but get some push on passing downs. Although we're not super stout against the run like some of the big dogs in the league (mostly due to our small size), we do a good job of filling in the gaps so pass rush from our new NT will be a must.

Molitoth
01-10-2011, 02:23 PM
I've seen at least two other "ten things" threads posted so far tonight, so I will end my string of posts this year with one last hurrah, and chalk imitation up as the sincerest form of flattery

I love your "10 things" and wish we would stop see'ing the poorly written immitations tbh.

Halfcan
01-10-2011, 02:40 PM
Charles-9 carries-nuff said.

Our game plan was DOOMED!

EyePod
01-10-2011, 02:51 PM
DJ completely whiffed on the Rice TD catch. Rice ran right by him and while DJ just stood there.

Was that the one where DJ jumped really high to try and swat the ball? I think McGraw was the person who blew the coverage there. Rice took a step to the left and McGraw bit and rice just turned right and was wide open cause of the fake. McGraw stinks the big one.

EyePod
01-10-2011, 02:52 PM
Charles-9 carries-nuff said.

Our game plan was DOOMED!

I'm hoping you're joking. I mean, he probably would have had 18-20 if we had kept the ball more than 2 plays. I mean, 2nd half, we lose the ball after the 4th. They score. Then was it quick int or fumble (too many turnovers to remember). Then it was passing mode.

LoneWolf
01-10-2011, 03:21 PM
Next year's schedule is brutal don't be surprised at a 6-10 or 7-9 season.

Nobody knows how brutal or easy next years schedule is going to be. Teams change from one season to the next. At the beginning of this season, the 49ers, Texans, Titans, and Jaguars all looked like tough teams based on their performance the year before. I'm not saying that next seasons schedule isn't going to be tough, but at this point it is foolish to predict any teams record for next season based on who they play.

Chief Henry
01-10-2011, 03:35 PM
Your Ten Things lists are must read material around these parts, George. Thank you so much for putting them together. I always look forward to and enjoy reading them.

THIS... I could not have said it any better.