Reflections on a Rat****ing
 

But not by the refs


First, I’m going to bet that about 2000 people blamed Carr on that final catch. If you watch, you’ll notice that he was covering Daniels in the short zone. If he would have inexplicably floated to the back pylon before the throw, Schaub has a wide open Daniels walking into the EZ and the result is the same. Don’t blame Carr. With that said, Romeo should have locked Flowers on Johnson for the entirety of that drive and not had us play zone in that situation. Berry was in the area too, but that was a schoolyard play, and those are the hardest to defend.

Cassel really ****ed us on the last drive. He was near the money all game, and when he had Bowe and Horne wide open, he badly misfired on both, which made us need a Hail Mary for any shot. Oh, and that 3^rd and 2 call was there, but Cassel made an awful throw to Moeaki. He really screwed the pooch when we needed him the most, and that’s the difference between a franchise QB and Matt Cassel.

I think we had more missed tackles today than every other game this season combined. Playing good offenses will tend to make that happen, but there were some really bad plays on D today. On Ward’s run, I counted six missed
tackles.

I know Donald Washington is a n00b FS, but he looked lost in coverage several times, and missed a couple of key tackles, one on the Ward run, and another on Jones™ catch late in the third, where he totally took himself
out of coverage, recovered after the catch, and then blew the stop.

Cassel’s first TD to Bowe was a great throw and catch. The other two TDs were phenomenal plays by the receivers. Vrabel’s was obviously way behind him, and Bowe went SD 2007 on the Texans on his second TD.


If you are going to take something from Bowe’s performance today, it should be how he responded to adversity. I hope that the people who wanted him run out of town today feel a little foolish, because he is still a game
changing receiving weapon, and he made a number of very difficult catches. He made 3 really good grabs today, and another circus catch that would have been a top 10 highlight had Cassel not lead him out of bounds.


The running game was nails today. Charles started slow and then really picked it up. More than anything, he was much harder to take down today than he was last week, and Jones looked a hell of a lot quicker than he had the
previous two games. And Charles had the greatest 7 yard run in football history.


It’s becoming more and more apparent that the coaches do not trust Cassel whatsoever. Delay of game coming off of a timeout should be a capital offense for a QB. JFC.We were afraid to pass on the first drive, and unless we are in 3rd and 8+ or in a 2 minute drill, we aren’t attempting to throw downfield at all. However, the throw he made to Moeaki on 3rd and 7 was exactly where it needed to be.


Brandon Flowers may be the most complete corner in the NFL today. The PI call on him was obviously horrendous, but if it’s a no-call, Johnson makes the catch anyway. The elbow in the back was a foul, but it’s not normally one that is called. That said, if you’re throwing a flag there, how do you not throw it on Johnson?

DJ missed a couple of tackles today, but he was still all over the place. He played with a shitload of heart, and his athleticism—landing on your feet when getting flipped by an OL—was amazing. Belcher had a less impressive game.

Gilberry was absolutely abused today. He generated no pressure in the passing game, and on running downs he got blown up or taken out by a single blocker nearly every time.

The biggest thing that we need to take away from this game is that we have one outside receiving threat and nothing else, one pass rusher and nothing else, and no QB. Danario Alexander, a guy who many of us pined for and the Rams got off the street in August stepped in today and had 4 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.


That’s a really tough loss, but I’m proud of the fire that Flowers showed. The guy isn’t a paycheck player. Also, Haley did a masterful job of managing the emotions of the team and the game. Ultimately, our inability to generate pressure on Schaub is why we lost. Vrabel and Studebaker aren’t nearly good enough.

As long as everyone on the AFCW is losing, I am fine. We were bound to lose this one anyway.

This x1000.

We shouldn't expect dogshit quarterbacks to win shootouts like today's.

How could you possibly bad mouth Cassel today?

Did you write this in some other program and pasted it here?

Because it's easy to do. Cassel had a pretty damn good game, regardless of the last drive and 3rd and 2 play.

Because I don't play fantasy football. On the most important throw of the day, the toss to a single covered Moeaki going against a smaller safety, Cassel missed the open man by 3 yards.

He played as well as you could expect him to up to that point. Then, when we put the game in his hands on 3rd and two and the first two plays of the last drive, he missed every throw by a ****ing mile.

Yeah. I usually type up responses on the game as a whole post mortem and move them over. Avoids post whoring during the game threads.

It's pretty easy, he choked when the pressure was on. When the pressure was moderate, he was ok today. When it got turned up, he wilted.

Like Hamas said, that's the difference. Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton can pass for a bunch of garbage yards in meaningless lions games too, but when they got close today and the last few weeks, those guys choked too.

Yeah. Not enough pressure on Shaub. On those last drives he had lots of time to throw.

This x2000

Those are arguably the three most important pieces of a modern championship team. Ask the Saints, Colts or Giants.

Brees/Smith/Colston
Manning/Wayne/Freeney
Eli/Plax/Strahan

Hali and Bowe are obviously complementary pieces and Cassel is just a piece (of poo).

I loved how pissed Flowers got about that PI call. He's got a ****ton of heart.

They dont trust Cassel, yet they had him try a low pct. throw on the most critical play of the game??

lol dude he played good and both running backs had 100 yards how can you blame anyone besides the defense is beyond me?

I disagree on the 3rd and 2 play. It didn't fool anyone and Adrian Wilson was in perfect position. It was a stupid play call when they should have run it or did a safe pass.

As far as blaming Cassel on the last drive there was like 28 seconds left and they needed a TD. I think that is a tall order for any QB but B-Richardson didn't even give him a chance because he couldn't even come close to blocking his guy.

The D lost this game though and Berry is playing awful.

Game was in his hands at the end. He threw two absolutely horrible passes to open receivers, pissing away time and downs and not even giving us a chance. On the last play he didn't even manage to get the ball out of his own hands with time expired.

Interesting. Nice summation, BTW.

Because he played like shit when the game was on the line?

Every loss is Cassel's fault. Please catch up.

I hate Cassel and I think he did an alright job today. He put the team in position to win, and the defensive gameplan by Crennel totally dicked us. The refs missed calls were also not helpful.

Stick to politics ****tard how many third downs did he convert today?

So when your defense gives up 4 straight touchdowns it's the QBs fault the team loses? This is amazing logic.

This. Absolutely this. On a 3rd and two, and they tried to get a 15 yarder.

Logic Fail.

It's becoming apparent they know something about the defense that we didn't know 2 straight games they go for it on 4th down in the red zone.

FWIW, don't think of this as a piss on Matt Cassel thread. He failed when we needed him the most, but does that really surprise anyone? I just think it's foolish to praise someone who put up 3 quarters of great dink and dunk stats who shrivels when he has to make a difficult throw.

Yes, the 3rd and 2 call was a low percentage play. Yes, running it was the better choice. But with that having been said, Cassel had good protection a receiver in single coverage against a shitty safety and he had him if he put the ball there. It wasn't a terribly difficult throw.

Yes, the defense deserves blame, but when you play against a good QB with dynamic receivers and you have one pass rusher on the roster, that is what happens.

I don't think Cassel is a franchise guy but he clearly played well enough to win today. He plays like he did today and we will make the playoffs. That 3rd and 2 was a tough call. Have somebody run right and throw across his body to the left across the field is a tough play for anyone. Why not go back to the slant or any of the 8 million plays over the middle that were open... or if you have to roll him out bring Moaeki to his side of the field. Anybody blaming him for that last Hail Mary needs to swallow a running chainsaw. They rushed 3 guys and Richardson gets beat right off the line.

I hate Cassel as much as anyone but he didn't lose this game the D did and they were playing 11 on 12

Nobody is saying the defense isn't to blame. But let's not pretend like Cassel came through in the clutch. He didn't. He just doesn't have what it takes to pull a game out.

and when they did he ass****ed the offense all the way to buttrapedville population Cassel + offense.

Hamas is right the pass rush is ****ing pathetic and I think the lack of a Nose Tackle is starting to show.

Far too many false dichotomies running around here. We lost this game as a team. Period. It's not the D's fault and their fault alone, nor is it Cassel's fault and his alone. Yes, coaching hurt us at points, but you can't pillory Romeo this week when you were ready to bronze his dick 4 hours ago. Sometimes the players don't execute, and sometimes we don't have enough horses to execute.

Thank you.

And today showed the 4 big holes on this team - QB, Pass Rush, Nose Tackle, and 2nd WR.

Nose tackle? How about linebackers that can actually rush the passer?

Vrabel shouldn't have been on the field, period. Studebaker once again made plays, yet he was in for Hali?

No Kendrick Lewis also hurt this team.

When you give up 35 points and 4 straight touchdowns its the defenses fault espcially when the offense moved the ball like it did. period. The reality is we beat 3 teams that are inept on offense hopefully we can find a way to make the playoffs though today really hurts.

The NT got pwnt all day and when I said a pass rusher I was talking about a OLB that can get to the QB.

****ing Kyle Orton would have the Chiefs at 5-0.

I was very disappointed that we missed out on another Mark Castle hail mary.

Do you think Joe Montana was bitching in the huddle at the 8 yard line during Super Bowl XXIII about the 49ers' inability to cover punts? Do you think that he was looking for an out when a holding call put them in first and 20? Or did he nut up and make the passes he needed to make when the team needed him the most.

This should be called the Roethlisberger test. How do you play when your team needs you the most? Can you go 11-24 up until that point but still have enough gumption to thread the needle on a must make, or do you over, under, and throw behind your receivers?

And again, this is not a ****ing Matt Cassel thread. This is a team loss. Our run D was not good enough. Our pass D was not good enough. Our coaching was not good enough. And although he was for most of the game, when we needed him, our QB was not good enough.

The above should not even be considered arguable.

Now I'm off to read through all the "Hali is like DT" posts. I'm sure there should be a shit ton.

Is it just me or is that every time we try a hail mary our o-line can't block a 2-3 man rush.

We knew Cassel was a hole on this team.

However, this game did not show him as a weakness.

It's becoming a broken record around here. There's a ton of posters (not you Hamas) that only post when Cassel has a shitty play. I rarely see the ones that rag on him post when he's played well. It's like the Mecca rule around here.

Never, ever do I see anything positive regarding the QB.

This game showed that we need a #2 WR, a nose guard, another rush linebacker. We knew we needed a QB a long time ago.

Cassel has his best game, and some want to put some of the blame on him for this one. This offense scored 31 on the road and it was on the defense to hold a lead and they couldn't.

Dude, I dislike Cassel as much as anybody but he played a great game. Sure he stunk it up on the final drive but you can't really expect any quarterback to drive down the field and score with the amount of time we had to work with. I realize we were playing a bad pass d but come on.

Ascending.

I hate him, as a player, as much as, if not more than, anyone, but I offered several complimentary posts in the game thread.

I don't think anyone was expecting us to score a TD on that drive. That said, you don't get easier throws than the two he missed, and missing those did cost us.

We had maybe a 4% chance of a TD in that situation. Missing those two throws took it down to .5%

Again, this game should show you the difference between a game manager and a franchise QB. Cassel managed the hell out of this game, given that he was put in the absolute easiest possible position throughout its entirety. There was one point where he was in a tough spot, and he folded.

Horne was wide open.

He threw behind Bowe and Moeaki.

If the Chiefs had a competent QB, they would have been in the Red Zone, if not scored the winning TD, when the game ended.

The biggest complaint is the third down pass that he missed badly when we needed to run out the clock.

But at the end of the day, this loss falls squarely on a defense that couldn't get the job done.

This will be a problem for this team against teams that has the ability to both run and pass.

Yea cause you know that's what I said today.

Another thing... we need to be able to line up on offense. There were a few occasions today where Cassel would spend most of the pre-snap directing guys where to go instead of trying to read the defense. We're 6 weeks into the season, we should be better than that.

This is a good point, and Cassel did a nice job, at times, directing traffic. McCluster, I can understand. Bowe, however, cannot still be having these problems.

And it cost us one TO that would've been crucial to have on that last drive.

This has been a problem even going back to the days of Vermeil.

It doesn't make sense.

You're crazy. Just checked we had :22 seconds left with 1 TO and and at the 39 yd line.

Spot on in this thread, Hamas.

Wasn't that the same drive where KC got penalized for delay of game?

So what are everyone's thoughts on J-Ville next week?

But the throw to Horne was a corner route, and if Horne caught that, assuming he's smart, he would had gotten out of bounds. That would have been what, a 15 yard pick up, give or take?

So, you think it's impossible for a QB to throw a 19 yard pass in 22 seconds to get to the Red Zone?

Are you joking or high?

Yup...it was coming off said TO.

I think it may be the fastest game of the year time wise. Over by 2:30

He could stick the ball up his butt and shoot it out of his ass that is possible as well.

I thought the 3rd and two call was brilliant. Mo used his body to screen Wilson and he was open. It's a play I expect a NFL QB to make regardless of the %'s.

If they can come back from two tough road losses and beat them convincingly, they're contenders. If they come out flat and lose, they're a total ****ing fluke and we might be back to square one.

A good team would beat JAX at home by at least two touchdowns coming off a loss like this one. I really hope this is a good team.

Given the debate about Brokaki quitting on the play, it needs to be GIFed up. Like WTI, I thought it **** up was on Cassel (dusts William's coat).

I don't blame Cassel at all, unless that ****ing 3rd and 2 play was his idea.

Despite all the other factors, that was No. 1 reason we lost. We run for two yards, get the first down, the game is either over or so close to over that they can't get down the field to score or tie.

Shitty refs? Bad defense? Sure, they were factors. But that one call ruined us.

Jacksonville has had our number for years. They are essential the Martyball Chiefs with less talent overall. It will be a big test. Chiefs should win, especially at Arrowhead.

Albert did a good job on Williams.

When I first saw it live, I thought it was a miscommunication and Moaeki stopped when Cassel thought he was supposed to keep going. Seeing the replay a couple times, I'm not so sure. Maybe it was just an overthrow. We'll probably never really know.

I haven't read through this thread or the Official game thread so if this was said then sorry, but this is entirely Cassel's fault.....On that 3rd and 2 play Cassel had a guy crossing over the middle of the field with his arm up in the air calling for the ball and Cassel had made a pre-snap decision to throw to Moeaki.....Cassel is garbage most of the time, he played better today but not good enough....simple as that

I liked the fact they put the game in Cassel's hands at that point. "Make a play". He had an open man. And seriously, how difficult was that throw? It's a toss Mark Vlasic could have made. Or DeHack.

As a disclaimer I do not blame Cassel for this loss. But I do agree that it showed very clearly what he is capable of as a NFL QB.

I just wanted to quote this because I think it reflects my thoughts as well.

Moeaki also pulled up on the 3rd and 2 play... I know people want to blame Cassel for everything, but his throw was just a third of the fail on that play.

Man, I sure don't. I don't mind aggressive playcalling, but when you run as effortlessly as the Chiefs were today, there's no reason not to go back to that well on 3rd & 2.

this was a team loss. the defense wilted, cassel didn't show up when he was needed. there were a few questionable offensive play calls. the refs made some mistakes at very inopportune times. you can't pin this on one thing or one person. but you can't excuse mistakes by any to try and say another is to blame. in my eyes, both cassel and the defense should share equal blame, and i hope haley makes them all run gassers when they get back to kc.

You can't? Why not?

On third and short, there weren't any effortless runs today.

They continually stuffed us on third and short runs.

Weis and Co. gave up 21 points in the 4th? I love our young D, but they got their ass handed to them today.

Defense lost this game pure and simple. Our offense is the only reason it was winable but they were one play short. I love how our d has played this year but today was bad. Can't be great every game.

This is the kind of team Herm Edwards would love. A QB who can manage the game, and if the defense can play well and we can move the chains mainly by running the ball, you have a chance on the road.

In the first half we were that kinda team.

2nd half was a much different story. Our defense broke the **** down, let up a few key huge plays, and when/if we get into a shootout, we don't have a good QB to help us win in those situations. That PI call took all the wind out of the defense's sails, whatever remaining amount that was left. Gotta blame the defense for this loss. You're supposed to win when you score more than 30pts one would think.

Our Dline just got abused in the 2nd half. Just completely abused. Ron Edwards got blown off the ball time after time again, we need a true NT. That's just the bottom god damn line. We need a large big fat mother****er to plug up the middle. Shit I would make a trade w/ Baltimore for one, they have a surplus of 34 interior lineman.

Safety play in this game was horrible. Where's Eric Berry? Jon Mcgraw is playig better than him by a considerable margin IMO....Jon ****ing McGraw. Berry has talent, needs to get his shit together. I know he's a rookie, but damn he's been horrible more times than not.