Poor Preseason Puts Heat on Pioli, Cassel

[Hammock Parties]

Poor Preseason Puts Heat on Pioli, Cassel


Did the Chiefs seriously just complete another losing preseason?

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 1-7 in the preseason for the Scott Pioli era. Over the last four years, the Chiefs are a woeful 3-13 in preseason. While it would be foolish to assign too much relevance to exhibition wins and losses, when they come in tandem with 10 Chiefs regular season wins in three years, the correlation is a concern.

When you factor in the performance of the Chiefs’ key starters and draft picks this preseason, there’s even more reason for concern.

Aside from the shocking revelation that Todd Haley can control his previously nuclear sideline temper for an entire month, the most important thing we learned from August is that Pioli and his highly-paid quarterback, Matt Cassel, still have a lot to prove. Preseason provided no legitimate answers to the questions that have surrounded the pair since last season.

In Pioli’s case, the question is simple – can he effectively identify and cultivate game-changing, impact players?

Most of his initial draft class appears to have been written off already. Jake O’Connell, Javarris Williams, Quinten Lawrence, Colin Brown and Donald Washington have been pushed down the depth chart by 2010 rookies.

The three who don’t appear to have been written off - Alex Magee, Tyson Jackson and Ryan Succop – are a mixed bag. Magee actually showed up this preseason, recording a sack, which makes the crown jewel of Pioli’s 2009 rookie class, Tyson Jackson, look like a lump of cubic zirconia. After a disastrous rookie year, Jackson didn’t show much progress over the last month. He was invisible. If he made an impact play, I missed it.

Clearly, the Chiefs don’t consider Jackson much of a threat as a pass rusher. He comes off the field frequently on third down. It’s not hard to see why – Magee and Wallace Gilberry are far more athletic and explosive, not to mention cheaper. Considering his price tag, Jackson’s impact should be more noticeable.

Has Pioli picked the right players? Getty Images

After missing four field goals all of last year, Succop missed three this preseason. Sure, they were long kicks. Is that supposed to make Chiefs fans feel better when a game is on the line this season and Succop needs to make another long kick?

Conclusion: there are no signs from the 2009 draft class of a game-changing, impact player. How about Pioli’s 2010 draft class? Any signs there?

Pencil in safety Eric Berry as a legit possibility. After seeing Berry blast through a fullback to upend a ball carrier against the Buccaneers two weeks ago, I began speaking in tongues. The Chiefs shut down starting quarterbacks this preseason (apart from one busted play against Tampa) and Berry was definitely part of it.

The problem is Pioli’s second-round picks, wide receiver Dexter McCluster and cornerback Javier Arenas, and his third-round pick, tight end Tony Moeaki. Carl Peterson is no longer hanging around Arrowhead Stadium, which means second-round picks should be having a huge impact, even as rookies.

Are McCluster and Arenas having a huge impact? Based on preseason, the answer is no. While they’ve both proven to be exciting, athletic players who can change a game on special teams, they have to be more.

Arenas has to make an impact on defense. In a perfect world, he’d challenge for Brandon Carr’s starting job by season’s end. If he’s Allen Rossum, a great “cornerback” who has elite return skills but never plays defense, Pioli reached on the pick.

McCluster’s preseason receiving numbers – seven catches, 40 yards, no touchdowns, two or three drops – are disappointing. While it’s great that McCluster can make explosive plays as a running back, he needs 600 receiving yards and three or four touchdowns to justify the pick Pioli spent, and that’s setting the bar low. Kenny Britt and Hakeem Nicks, selected in 2009 in roughly the same draft slot as McCluster, both went over 700 yards as rookies.

And let’s go ahead and set the bar a little higher for Moeaki, who finally caught a pass Thursday night. Third-round picks, especially on teams lacking viable starting tight ends, have to make more of an impact.

But maybe we should temper the expectations for any of KC’s pass catchers. Because based on Cassel’s preseason, the Chiefs will again struggle to throw the ball.

Will Cassel chuck it down the field? Getty Images

I’m honestly flabbergasted that Cassel managed to complete 64 percent of his passes this preseason, throw more touchdowns than interceptions, and finish with a lousy 79.3 rating. Previously, football scientists believed such a feat was impossible, because the NFL weights completion percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio so heavily in their passer rating formula.

But Cassel pulled it off by quickly dumping the ball short on almost every snap this preseason, averaging a shockingly low five yards per pass attempt. In some cases, Cassel was dumping the ball to running backs behind the line of scrimmage before receivers running down the field had even completed their patterns.

Either the approach was Cassel’s diabolical plan to avoid looking too inept, or KC’s new offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, watched film of Cassel taking too many sacks and missing too many throws down the field the last two seasons. After sweating profusely for a moment, Weis yanked his 1983 Morristown High School Football playbook out of mothballs, fired up a Xerox machine, and voila! He produced the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs playbook and hatched a plot to turn Cassel into a mistake-free, accurate passer.

Humor aside, here are the facts: had Dwayne Bowe not caught a short pass from Cassel and rumbled for a 30-yard gain Thursday night, every one of Kansas City’s starting receivers and tight ends would have averaged fewer than 10 yards per catch this preseason. Quite literally, in four exhibition games, Cassel did not complete a pass that traveled 15 yards or more from the line of scrimmage.

All of this happened in the midst of an improved offensive line that barely resembled the unit responsible for Cassel’s knee injury last year. Cassel handed the ball to three dynamite running backs this preseason, threw it to a receiver (Bowe) who appears to have made a quantum leap in maturity, and had not one, but two former Super Bowl offensive coordinators talking inside his helmet between plays.

Chan Gailey, Bobby Wade, Larry Johnson and Mike Goff are gone. The excuses are drying up.

Is preseason a mirage, or will Cassel continue to play quarterback as if he were coached by Herm Edwards and Dick Curl? We’re talking about a player who will make more money this year than Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Tom Brady.

That means he has something to prove. So does Pioli. The heat is on.

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by milkman

There isn't single thing you said here that is right, or even remotely makes a bit of sense.

why doesn't it make sense?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by billay

And everything fit just about how we expected it to. We knew the D-line and ILB would suck and that there wouldn't be much depth.

And, no one stepped up their level of play.

There was no huge leap by Dorsey or Jackson or Belcher. Asamoah didn't stand out and Moeaki couldn't stay healthy. Cassel continued to suck ass.

To call this preseason "Not bad" is ****ing stupid.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

You're right: It was ****ing atrocious.

How so?

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

And, no one stepped up their level of play.

There was no huge leap by Dorsey or Jackson or Belcher. Asamoah didn't stand out and Moeaki couldn't stay healthy. Cassel continued to suck ass.

To call this preseason "Not bad" is ****ing stupid.

Skip the theatrics.


Where did I say this preseason is not bad? The team wasn't good which is what I expected. And for all the guys you listed you didn't list guys that actually played good. Williams, Richardson, Lewis, Battle, ect.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

And, no one stepped up their level of play.

There was no huge leap by Dorsey or Jackson or Belcher. Asamoah didn't stand out and Moeaki couldn't stay healthy. Cassel continued to suck ass.

To call this preseason "Not bad" is ****ing stupid.

The d played very well. We were 1st or 2nd in rushing. We made correctable mistakes (fumbles) that were overcome. To call the preseason a disaster is stupid. By the way how do you know Asamoah didn't stand out? What was he supposed to do to stand out?

[milkman]

Originally Posted by RedThat

why doesn't it make sense?

Let's go through it.

Originally Posted by RedThat

That was what? 3,4 or 5 years ago? You don't see players like that lasting far into the draft simply because those kind of players have more value in the game today than they did before.

The game hasn't changed that reurners have more value than every down players, and most of the top returners are 4th round or later picks.

I believe Joshua Cribs was an UDFA.

No I do understand. I don't look for ways to complain that they didn't draft this guy or that guy because they could of filled this position instead of that one, etc...this is a long term process, a rebuilding process that takes a while. i understand no team is going to get all their pieces in place overnight. But for what we drafted at that time in that round was good value, and those players definately addressed positions of need. Now the key is, do this very same thing next year, except at another position that we could use BPA to go with position of need.

No one has to look for ways to complain, the complaints are slaping us right in the face.

And this rebuilding is made a longer term process because they ****ed up their first offseason with every single move that they made.

And I still believe that addressing the NT position should have been far more important than nickle corner and returner.

Unfortunately the Chiefs disagree with you. You either cheer for them or complain against them.

Team needs aren't all going to be addressed in one night. People have to understand that. Accept the teams weaknesses for what they are, and hopefully they can address the team weaknesses next year. We argue about sh*t like this every year and it gets us nowhere. It's pointless. Considering what they got out of this years draft is progress. Like it or not. We should be grateful instead of complaining. Besides, what makes these picks great is that these guys( Arenas and McCluster) can improve your team in more ways than one.

We argue about this shit every year and it gets us nowhere.

Think about that for just a second.

If this team had adressed any of the things we argue about every year, we wouyldn't be arguing about it this year.

Of course our arguments are getting us nowhere.
We're just fans on a mesage board.

But the people in charge haven't gotten us anywhere.

[KCDC]

If we're going to discuss opportunity costs of our second round picks, my memory of the draft discussion by our resident experts on CP was that our two picks should have been two of the following 3 players: Kindle, Clausen, Cody.

Clausen has not looked good this spring. The Ravens took the other two. Kindle got hurt falling down the stairs (and has a horrid knee) and Cody is having a solid spring, I think.

Compare our two picks and I think we fare well, if Arenas is a decent nickel back. I like how he was an excellent blitzer in college, and I am hoping that Romeo is going to surprise teams more in the regular season with him blitzing from the slot. If he gets a few sacks and keeps opposing offenses off balance on third downs, that is a nice feature.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Messier

The d played very well. We were 1st or 2nd in rushing. We made correctable mistakes (fumbles) that were overcome. To call the preseason a disaster is stupid. By the way how do you know Asamoah didn't stand out? What was he supposed to do to stand out?

The D sucked against the number one offenses. Atlanta ran the ball at will with Michael Turner and Tampa Bay (you know, 3-13 Tampa Bay?) moved the ball in the passing game.

There was no true test of the defense, which they'll get in full on September 13th.

How do I know Asamoah didn't stand out? Well, I watched him play.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by billay

Skip the theatrics.


Where did I say this preseason is not bad? The team wasn't good which is what I expected. And for all the guys you listed you didn't list guys that actually played good. Williams, Richardson, Lewis, Battle, ect.

I wasn't talking about you, I was referring to other members.

Richardson has made strides since his rookie season. That was expected. Battle has flashed in the past, so that was expected. I don't know why anyone didn't expect Kendrick Lewis to play like he did, if they'd actually seen him play in the past.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The D sucked against the number one offenses. Atlanta ran the ball at will with Michael Turner and Tampa Bay (you know, 3-13 Tampa Bay?) moved the ball in the passing game.

There was no true test of the defense, which they'll get in full on September 13th.

How do I know Asamoah didn't stand out? Well, I watched him play.

Youre right about this. I'm expecting the Chiefs to beat San Diego but I know they won't. the sad thing is McNeil, Jackson and likely Merrimam won't be playing.

[Chiefnj2]

I don't agree with the way Pioli and Haley are going about the rebuild. I would do things very differently. But, what's more important than the sour grapes of the team not picking the players/positions that I think they should take, is the fact that the players that they took are looking good. In DMC's case, he's looking great. Yes, I used the word great.

They are throwing the entire kitchen sink at the kid, and he's picking it all up. Kick returns (he's leading the team in yards per return), running the ball he's averaging over 6 yards per carry, receiving he's an outlet for the subpar QB group, punt returning - he can do that too.

As much as I would have preferred that they take an impact NT or ILB, if DMC can keep up what he started in preseason, he'll be an impact player. He might not get the 700 yards that Clayton thinks 2nd round WRs should, but he should be able to give 700+ yards from the LOS as a jack of all trades and keep the chains moving.

[Messier]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The D sucked against the number one offenses. Atlanta ran the ball at will with Michael Turner and Tampa Bay (you know, 3-13 Tampa Bay?) moved the ball in the passing game.

There was no true test of the defense, which they'll get in full on September 13th.

How do I know Asamoah didn't stand out? Well, I watched him play.

Really? We were the #6 defense until GB threw the ball all over the field in the 2nd half. And Asamoah blocked for the #2 rushing attack. Was he a weak link on the line?

[Messier]

I will say Cassel is THE weakness on this team. I hope for him to play better this season I don't expect it, but I think we will be a good rushing team, with a defense that will be top 15 or better.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Cassel is THE weakness, but he's far from the only one.

We are still going to have a lot of problems generating a pass rush, and our run D is going to really suffer.

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by milkman

Let's go through it.



The game hasn't changed that reurners have more value than every down players, and most of the top returners are 4th round or later picks.

I believe Joshua Cribs was an UDFA.

Joshua Cribbs was 5 years ago. We tried to fix the return game last year with quiten lawrence and that didn't pan out well. At least we got Arenas, problem solved. you don't get Arenas in the 2nd, good luck finding a returner in the later rounds of that draft or somewhere else?

Originally Posted by milkman

No one has to look for ways to complain, the complaints are slaping us right in the face.

And this rebuilding is made a longer term process because they ****ed up their first offseason with every single move that they made.

And I still believe that addressing the NT position should have been far more important than nickle corner and returner..

Yeah that's just **** up after **** up by the organization. We fail some years to address critical positions and it comes back and bites us in the a** and leads to us bitchn...I agree we could use a NT, but then do you want Terrance Cody? We weren't going to get any of the best NT's available on the FA market either because they were secured by their teams. Im still convinced Arenas was the best player picked at the time. Unless you want Cody, but Id rather have Arenas over Cody jmo.

Originally Posted by milkman

We argue about this shit every year and it gets us nowhere.

Think about that for just a second.

If this team had adressed any of the things we argue about every year, we wouyldn't be arguing about it this year.

Of course our arguments are getting us nowhere.
We're just fans on a mesage board.

Agreed. I guess thats the good thing that comes out of a bad off-season, you have a message board to bitch about it lol