Mellinger: Chiefs are built for an era thats past.....
 

Babb and Mellinger, just killin it this week. :clap:



http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/19...is-on-the.html




The talk this week is about Scott Pioli’s competence, Clark Hunt’s commitment and Romeo Crennel’s laid-back leadership, and that’s all good and relevant in many ways, but it also misses a very important point that can be summed up something like this:
Even at full strength, the Chiefs are metaphorically not only running a race on a tightrope but doing it directly into the wind.

Matt Cassel’s limitations have been exaggerated and dramatized, a topic as omnipresent around here as potholes, but the argument for him being anything better than a bottom-quarter passer in the NFL is difficult to make.

That’s frustrating enough on its own, but it becomes a game-changer when you put context to the bigger plan on which Pioli is essentially betting his career in Kansas City. The organizational hope — or foundation, because the whole thing crumbles if they’re wrong here — is that Cassel is good enough to facilitate a championship team.

Even a distracted child can realize, just by watching games, that the NFL is a passing league. But when you look at some plain and simple numbers, you will dismiss any notion that the Chiefs are making chicken salad out of something much less appetizing.
Actually, they’re giving their fans the same old meal.
The numbers are clear, and they’re not encouraging.

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The forward pass got a late start in American football, banned for the sport’s first few decades, and in a lot of ways has been playing catch-up ever since. Even now, when the NFL’s three most expensive positions are the quarterback, the left tackle who protects the quarterback and the defensive end who sacks the quarterback, our clichés are stuck in the days of black-and-white television.

Do a quick Google search on all the coaches who say they have to establish the run and stop the run.

And then digest some statistics that say they’re all full of hooey.
“Everybody says you gotta stop the run, stop the run,” Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson says. “But you gotta stop the pass, too.”

Last year, the 10 teams that ran the ball most effectively (by yards per carry) went a combined 82-78. The 10 teams that threw the ball most effectively (by passer rating) went a combined 113-47.

The 10 teams that stopped the run most effectively went a combined 83-77. The 10 teams that stopped the pass most effectively went a combined 96-64.
Put another way: The teams that excelled in the running game won as many times as they lost, while the teams that excelled in the passing game won enough to make the playoffs. That’s the whole thing right there: mediocre or successful, fired or given a raise.
This is more than the anecdotal evidence often used about the Giants winning the Super Bowl last year with the league’s worst running game. And it is particularly timely this week, because the Saints and Chiefs rank fifth and sixth in yards per carry, respectively, and have yet to win a game.

Turnovers have been a particular problem for both teams, but again, the biggest chunk of that problem is coming through the air: Matt Cassel has thrown three interceptions and fumbled twice, while Drew Brees has thrown four interceptions and fumbled once.
Nearly 70 percent of the yards gained in the NFL this season have come through the air, which would be the highest rate in league history.

Perhaps the new maxim should be, “We need to establish the pass and stop the pass.”
“Kind of, because you need to make plays in the passing game,” Charles says. “When you throw the ball down the field, more often those are bigger plays than running plays.”
This is all particularly discouraging when studied through the prism of the Chiefs, and not just as it pertains to the health of defensive backs Eric Berry, Brandon Flowers and Kendrick Lewis. Over the offseason, the Chiefs downgraded at cornerback, going from Brandon Carr to Stanford Routt, while improving at running back, by signing Peyton Hillis to pair with Charles. On top of that, so much of the Chiefs’ focus through recent drafts has been on finding defensive linemen to stop the run.

Meanwhile, if you allow for improvement from young players like Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert and Cleveland’s Brandon Weeden, it’s not a stretch to say the Chiefs have one of the three worst quarterback situations in football.

The NFL world is zigging right, and the Chiefs are zagging left.
Increasingly, it looks like they’re being left behind.
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One of Pioli’s biggest successes in Kansas City has been surrounding Cassel with one of the league’s better groups of skills players. There just aren’t many teams that can match the Chiefs’ crop of receivers, running backs and tight ends.

So it’s not that they’re ignoring the pass. Bowe is making close to $10 million this year, and new tight end Kevin Boss made a remarkable touchdown catch against the Falcons — and then was injured in Buffalo. It’s just that they are increasingly emphasizing the run, which by definition increasingly de-emphasizes the pass.

When Todd Haley was hired as head coach, he went from designing a pass-first offense with Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald to a power running game featuring Charles. Cassel’s success in 2010 is often credited to former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, but it’s just as likely that Haley benefitted from defenses having to focus so much on the run (as well as string of would-be interceptions dropped by defenders). Crennel is now the head coach, his reputation in large part anchored by coordinating defenses that stopped the run in New England.

There is a bit of a chicken-and-egg aspect to all of this — of course the Chiefs would love to have an elite quarterback; but since they lack one, they are trying to create and emphasize other strengths.

But it’s hard to find a team anywhere else in the NFL that’s stressing the run as hard as the Chiefs. And it’s impossible to find another time in the league’s history where doing so is less important.

What's sad is the millions and millions of dollars paid to folks who should know this...we are building a team to compete in the 1980's NFL.

Clark clean house now.

What's really sad is that there is only one way to do it now.

"One of Pioli’s biggest successes in Kansas City has been surrounding Cassel with one of the league’s better groups of skills players. There just aren’t many teams that can match the Chiefs’ crop of receivers, running backs and tight ends."

Really? What's the proof?

For once we agree.

A team that won 17 games the past two seasons with Cassel and Palko/Orton starting and not even full strength last season.

Losing by double figures every game fails during any era.

Saying this team has tons of weapons reminds me of 85% of the fanbase 7 weeks ago after KC's first preseason game. Everyone was talking about what a great roster and depth that Pioli built and it was ONLY Cassel holding the team back. Weeks later every single phase of the team stinks - passing game, running game, blocking, run D, pass D, special teams.

The reality is that these "playmakers" are questionable.

Charles - will he ever return from his knee?
Moeaki - will he ever return from his knee, plus he was overrated his rookie year.
Hillis - not effective game 1, critical fumble game 2, tons of issues last year.

WRs - being honest, McCluster MIGHT be the best WR on the team. Best route runner and better hands than Bowe. Bowe is good, but inconsistent. Baldwin has yet to emerge and Breaston has always been a complimentary player.

Paper tigers.

Not this guy.

Our 2 best LB's are going to be on the downside of their careers by the time our offense is ever worth a crap...whenever we get a real QB.

We are all going to have to live with the fact the only a few of the current "stars" on the team are going to be here when/if the Chiefs become competitive again.

Charles looks not too bad. He will continue to get better. They just need to stop running him between the tackles. I have no worries about Hillis. Moeaki, like most TE is not going to get wide open all the time and needs a QB that can get him the ball when he does get some space. His health is an issue though.

Baldwin and Breaston suffer from a QB that can't spread the ball around. If he is targeting you that game he will get you otherwise it's a crapshoot.

Only an idiot would suggest Bowe is not our best WR and is inconsistent. He has put up some of the best numbers in the league each of the past four seasons with garbage throwing him the ball. 3 of the last 4 seasons with at least 1,000 yards receiving just screams inconsistency doesn't it. His QBs are inconsistent at best. Not him.

I am fine with that. Aside from Berry, we need better stars imo. I see alot of role players. We need leadership in a bad way. Hopefully, we can get a QB and a MLB that are real leaders. That has got to be where we start.

Fire up the El Camino for Geno

I can understand the concern here because I think there is pressure to get a real QB while this core, who is suppose to be good (take that for what you will), is still young.

However when I think you take a step back and realize that all these other guys just don't matter as much in today's game, it's not a big deal.

Once we finally get that QB, we then become eligible to be good again. And hopefully the new GM will have brought in some players to compliment the QB.

Essentially who cares about these guys? All you should care about is us getting a franchise QB. The rest will take care of itself.

LMAO

I think he has proven he can be successful in a Welker type role if we go that route. He does have better hands and run better routes than Bowe. I could see him putting up better numbers than Bowe soon.... maybe?

Here is the main problem. Romeo is not a babysitter rah rah type and you can't look at this Chiefs team and pick out that main offensive or defensive leader on either side of the ball like a Drew Brees or Ray Lewis type of player that will lead or motivate. I'm not trying to compare the talent here, just leadership in general.

It looks like everyone is waiting on everyone else to take the lead and Romeo sure isn't going to do it. He will teach and give you the game plan but he isn't going to motivate and lead that's for sure.

Who will step up ???

setting this Martyball style team up in today's pass happy league would be like setting your kid up with an 8 track instead of an ipod.

I think Berry can do it. They just need to put him in a normal SS roles rather than use him as a hybrid LBer. They are asking him to do too much right now. On offense, we have no one this year imo.

Yep and it's really sad. Everything the owners did geared the league to be a passing game only. It was all about money as it brought more interest and made the game more exciting. The DBs have to back off and the quarterbacks can't be touched.

No way he puts up numbers like Bowe. I don't think his body can handle the pounding. Plus There Kano way this team has 2 1000 yard recievers not with mark throwing the ball.

This article is spot on.

I think it's alot easier to put up big numbers in the Welker sort of way than the Bowe sort of way. It's two completely different sort of styles. I could see it happening. Especially if we keep losing. They might start phasing Bowe out and preparing for the future. Kind of like the way New England is phasing Welker out.

Well, obviously McCluster is smaller, quicker and faster than Bowe…so hes quicker in and out of cuts. Bowe has always had seperation problems. Don’t know why they don’t just run more of a West Coast short passing offense with Bowe and Baldwin? If I remember right, Bowe got most of his biggest gains in 2010 by catching short slants and using his strength to breakaway from defenders for long gains. Hes done that a lot throughout his career.

Pioli seems to forget that the Chiefs of 2012 will never play the Chiefs of 2011. He's not looking external to counter what other teams are doing or to follow emerging trends like the forward pass - nicely played Sam.
This is the same crap the Royals do next door - improve the roster annually, sell tickets on the hope that this will produce a winner but it never does because they do so at a slower rate than competitors are improving theirs.

I agree. Weis had it going on with the short passing game.

Pioli is probably thinking that in the last 3 years the Jets (2x), San Fran, and to a lesser degree Baltimore have all had run first, strong D teams that made it far in the playoffs (and in some cases should have won the conference championship games). Yes, it isn't as popular and there is a much smaller window for error, but it can still be effective at times.

I agree with one caveat; this only works if you have a strong coaching staff that can prepare a team for Sunday and then make in game adjustments as needed.

Right now this HC and staff seem to be lacking either of those qualifications.

That's what I don't understand. Pioli drafted team captains, and the right 53. Where the hell are the leaders?

I agree. Those teams also have had their QBs step up in the postseason and pass the ball when needed. Something Cassel hasn't shown the ability to do.

The Jets are really the only example he could possibly use. SF and Baltimore both have GREAT head coaches. We don't.

Interestingly enough, ALL THREE of those teams have 1st round QBs.

Exactly.

Good point...

And consider that Alex Smith was on and off the bench and considered a bust until Harbaugh (sp?) was hired as HC.

Right now, I think it's arguable whether ANY of the 3 are "franchise" QBs.

Sanchez has underwhelmed, Smith needs to continue to prove he's turned the corner, and Flacco needs to take it to the next level.

That being said, if Pioli is trying to emulate these teams, they ALL have QBs drafted in the 1st round. So he better get one.

He has probably stepped on them all and enforced his will. You have to allow them to succeed.

You can still win divisions and playoff games with a good running attack. The Texans and Broncos led the league in rushing last year and they both won a playoff game with QBs who aren't very good. The Ravens, Jets, Niners have all had success running the football. The Niners were one of the best run defenses ever, and they almost went to a Super Bowl. The Giants averaged 89 yards rushing a game, but they also went 9-7 and barely made the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, they averaged over 116 rushing yards a game. Not great but servicable. Meanwhile the high flying Packers, Saints and Lions didn't even make the league championship game. Numbers are what you make of them. You absolutely have to have the QB to make the key plays and win the whole thing... but being able to run the ball or playing good D to have a balanced team is still a good thing.
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I have personally never seen the Chiefs media so strong and bold against the organization. It seems like they all have been emboldened since Babb tore into the team first and now it's a free-for-all.

GOOD!

Yeah, we've got too many ignoramuses on the Planet who have become convinced a strong running game is actually a weakness.

Just because you need to have a competent QB does not mean a strong running game is a doomsday scenario for a team's chances. When you have nothing but a strong running game, that is the trouble, not the running game itself.

ROFL

There isn't a single person here that thinks a strong running game is a weakness.

Where is this strong running game, btw?

in Buffalo?

this

none of the things we thought we would have are actually functioning. strong defense? uh...no. dominant o-line and running game? uh...no.

which leaves our only hope to outscore opponents. uh...definitely no!

Yea, he throws a lot of numbers around all to say you need a top tier QB to win a Super Bowl.
Funny you mention the Giants. Ive been saying for the past few years the the NFL regular season has been diminished and not as significant as it once was. We are starting to see a trend now of average regular season teams make a run in the playoffs and/or winning championships. Giants last year….Cardinals a few years ago…Seahawks in 2010…Steelers in 2005 were only 10-6 when they won as a wildcard

It comes down to two things. Shitty coaching and shitty QB play.

Daboll is more about being ****ing cute than he is playing to this team's strengths. RAC can't be the DC and HC at the same time. Cassel flat out sucks and he's dragging this team down because he's causing the strengths to be mis-used and defenses can stack 9 in the box and win.

The Saints have given up 38 points per game against two very different offenses.

Daboll should be able to craft something semi-effective. And I know people don't want to hear it but turnovers (not Daboll's fault) have really killed the O.

Well, against Buffalo, the possessions went punt punt punt punt punt fumble punt fumble or something like that. I don't have much confidence that Daboll really knows what he's doing.

They are questionable, but everyone knows the major weakness of this team is at quarterback. If you improve the quarterback situation to top 15 in the league even the players above you mentioned will look a whole heck of a lot better. Example: Colts with and without Peyton Manning.

LMAO Kool-aid Oh YEAH!

One thing I know for certain...the offense will never score if they keep losing 5 yards on ****ing sweeps and shit. Which seems to happen EVERY DAMN DRIVE.

I understand what you mean. IMO, the O plan for the Atlanta game was pretty good. The Buffalo game, not as much. Is it bad playcalling? Some of it. I didn't like the dump offs on 3rd and long which weren't converted especially when they were able to convert those against Atlanta. But, on some other drives the execution was just so poor. Euchus, Lilja, Asamoah and Moeaki were getting blown off the bal and/or run over.

The offense for Atlanta would have been ok if the defense could have gotten a damn stop. I expected this defense to be stout. I really did. Sucks.

I don't think Daboll is a particularly good OC. His playcalling is very Herm like from a run/pass standpoint.

I also think he's severely limited by Cassel and it shows in how he calls the game.

Last year Haley tried to "fix" Cassel. This year they're trying to make what he does well translate into a productive offense.

FAIL

And mostly because the run blocking stinks. Our running game was a huge bag of shit in that first half against Buffalo. That exposes Cassel, and he shows his ass to the world.

Lets give him a little credit. Being an OC for an offense led by Matt Cassel is one of the toughest gigs in the league.

Darren Sharper says we should be able to pound the ball right down their throats.

He thinks the Saints start 0-4.

It's complicated. Generally speaking, over the course of many games, the better teams are going to win more games. If some team can get on a streak in a weak division (...cough, cough...Broncos...cough, cough) they have a shot at doing anything. That's what makes the playoffs so exciting though. It comes down to coaches and players who have that "it" factor but it's more than "clutch". It's playmaking ability, situational awareness, football IQ and some luck.

Take the DEN-PIT playoff game last year. I think the Steelers had momentum and would have won that game if Rapistburger could have gotten his game on just a little bit earlier. Shit, PIT had all the momentum of a piano falling from a three story window. I'd say if they had gotten the ball first in OT they would have won it. But It was just a bit too late. DEN calls that one play in OT, Tebow manages to make that one good throw, Thomas gets into a perfect situation that plays right into his strengths...game over.

Crazy shit.

The Saints are 32nd in run defense.........after playing Cam Newton and RG3. I wonder how much of that is because of the QB.

This is why I rape Cassel with at least 6/10 posts.

The longer he is here, the longer we waste time.

I don't give a **** about the defense. It can be fixed. There's talent over there.

THERE'S NO ****ING TALENT UNDER CENTER.

Yeah, and we all ****ing agree with you. Except for LAChieffan or whoever else that believes he's a "top 10 QB".

The Saints are going to have fun playing Cassel. They know damn well that....

A. We're going run heavy.
B. Won't throw it down the field.
C. Any pressure on Cassel will cause him to shit his pants.

Cam Newton was the top rusher against the Saints with 71 yards on the ground. Griffin had 42 yards against them.

That actually was Heath Evans' counterpoint.

Yeah but if you don't have to worry about a running QB.....you can key in on the runs by the HBs.

Not on this team...

we dont have a cover linebacker on this team .....

We shouldn't need one. Romeo had us in a 2-3-6 on 90% of the snaps last week.

Every opposing DC has to salivate at playing the Chiefs... It would be so easy.....

Believe it or not, NFL.com shows us as being #5 in rushing and #5 in total offense (http://www.nfl.com/stats/team). Too bad we can't actually get into the end zone.

Looking deeper we find that the biggest issue this team has had per the numbers, -6 in TO ratio. The is 2 worse than the next teams, Saints and Broncos with -4.

And you get Geno Smith to lead that charge.

One of Pioli’s biggest successes in Kansas City has been surrounding Cassel with one of the league’s better groups of skills players. There just aren’t many teams that can match the Chiefs’ crop of receivers, running backs and tight ends.
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No true. I used to think that way, but then I looked and found many that can. Most of the good one's certainly can.

I don't think he's the kind of name that's given him the leverage to override anyone...

Garbage time stats.

Those numbers are COMPLETELY deceiving.

COMPLETELY.

The running game was absolutely pathetic in the first half against Buffalo.

The whole offense was garbage until the drive at the end of the first half, which was basically two plays - the big pass to Boss and Cassel's scramble.

Funny how this offense works when we get big plays, and usually doesn't when we try to dink and dunk shit.

COULD IT BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS WHAT WE NEED?

That and Atlantas defense is not what you would call stout. Even with 4 turnovers Denver almost won that game.

I love how you post as if you have discovered some secret about what we need. We all know it. LMAO

That being said, the defense in spite of Cassel should still be playing better than they are.

Three or four straight possessions running the ball with a 240lb Turner who is averaging about 2.6 YPC will do that to you. IIRC Atlanta threw the ball ONE time in the third quarter.

This is true, but in a league where the rules favor offenses nowadays you can't expect an 85 Bears or a 2000 Ravens/Titans defensive performance. Heck, you can't expect your defense to perform even at an above average peformance on a consistent basis. Look at the 49ers defense, which is considered by most in the league as the best. They gave up 22 and 19 points in their two games against potent offenses, that's good. But that's still 22 and 19 points. Back in the day, that's not THAT good. Today that's good, considering the offenses and the rules that favor them.

I won't say what you already know. Ok, I will. :) We need a QB. When your defense isn't having its best day you can't count on him to bring you from behind or keep the pressure on the defense if you have the lead.

We'll get there soon. Herm was building a team built for the 70s.

My thoughts exactly. Any success or strength the Chiefs possess under Peeholi is all theoretical at this point.