Ravens Will Reveal Pioli's Progress

[Hammock Parties]

Ravens Will Reveal Pioli's Progress

We're about to discover just how far the Kansas City Chiefs have come in 16 months under Scott Pioli.

Thirty-one regular season games ago, Pioli's roster was led into Baltimore by Todd Haley for the first game of the new era. Thanks to a pair of game-changing plays from Jon McGraw and Derrick Johnson, the Chiefs kept the final score (38-24) close that day, but were dominated nonetheless.

The Ravens had their way with KC's offense and defense, outgaining the Chiefs 501 -188. The Chiefs couldn't run the ball, failed to stop the run, allowed their starting quarterback to be pummeled and looked like a team that was hopelessly overmatched. They didn't have the talent to compete.

Sobering reality: In Week 17 of the 2010 season, against a team that missed the playoffs, the Chiefs couldn't run the ball, failed to stop the run, allowed their starting quarterback to be pummeled and looked like a team that was hopelessly overmatched. They didn't have the talent to compete.

What if it happens two weeks in a row? Would any logical person come to the conclusion that the Chiefs have truly made significant progress since that first meeting with the Ravens? We'd be hard pressed to feel good about a 10-6 season if the Chiefs resembled the sad-sack unit that started life struggling to win two games with 22 players off the street, wouldn't we?

The Ravens haven't changed much since last season. Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Derrick Mason and Michael Oher still drive the offense. Ray lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs contiune to power the defense. Baltimore isn't particularly explosive on offense, but they don't make huge mistakes. Their offensive and defensive schemes are almost identical, implemented by the same coordinators.

The Chiefs? Supposedly, Pioli has performed a complete makeover on the franchise since September 2009. Haley will field 12 new starters Sunday - Matt Cassel, Tony Moeaki, Jamaal Charles, Chris Chambers, Casey Wiegmann, Ryan Lilja, Barry Richardson, Shaun Smith, Derrick Johnson, Jovan Belcher, Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis.

The Chiefs have new offensive and defensive coordinators. Holdovers from that first game - Dwayne Bowe, Branden Albert - are apparently much improved football players.

For all intents and purposes, it's the same Baltimore team facing a completely different, advertised-as-markedly-improved, Chiefs team. We should expect a completely different result, particularly because the Chiefs will be playing at home.

Specifically we should expect KC's top-ranked rushing attack to test Baltimore's fifth-ranked run defense. We should expect Cassel and Bowe to play at a high level against a secondary that features zero elite cornerbacks and a busted-up Ed Reed. We should expect Romeo Crennel, Tamba Hali and Kansas City's talented secondary to throttle a Baltimore passing game that makes Cassel to Bowe look like Montana to Rice.

These are the expectations the Chiefs have set. We expect them to compete and with a few bounces of the ball going in their favor, expect them to win at home and claim their first playoff victory since January 1994.

So what will it say about Pioli if the Ravens replicate their 2009 dominance? You'd start to wonder if he really deserves much credit at all for Kansas City's 10-6 season and the "rebirth" of the franchise. In the aftermath of a Baltimore Beatdown, the AFC West Division Championship would look like a mirage created by the NFL's easiest schedule, and KC's 2011 opponents - mostly playoff contenders led by stud quarterbacks - would appear daunting.

The bottom line is that a Wild Card rerun of KC's struggles against Oakland makes 10 wins appear flimsy in comparison. If the Ravens fly into Kansas City and peck the Chiefs to death with little resistance, the idea that the 2010 Chiefs were a legitimate playoff team that's made significant progress in the last 16 months goes up in smoke.

In other words, the 2010 Chiefs would be frauds.

The perception that the Chiefs are just that goes beyond this column. Wednesday, former Redskins general manager Vinny Cerrato went on 95.7 The Fan in Baltimore and scoffed at the notion that the Chiefs could beat the Ravens.

"Kansas City I think is a fraud," Cerrato said. "You look at their schedule, you look at what Kansas City has played and they've played nobody. They've played two playoff teams. They lost at Indy and beat Seattle, if you count Seattle as a playoff team."

It’s not just Cerrato. Good luck finding many people outside of Kansas City who believe the Chiefs are on the same level as Baltimore. Inside The NFL hosts Cris Collinsworth and Warren Sapp both picked the Ravens to knock off Kansas City Wednesday night on Showtime. Phil Simms declined to pick a favorite because he’s calling the game.

And of course, the Chiefs are three-point underdogs in their own home stadium. They are perceived as pretenders, not contenders.

The only way to change that perception is for Pioli’s two-year talent crop to rise to the occasion.

Jason Whitlock's assault on Todd Haley's legitimacy as a head coach is irrelevant this weekend. It's Pioli's legitimacy as a general manager that's in question. The Ravens will reveal just how much progress he's made as the architect of the Kansas City Chiefs.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Honestly, they don't. 9-7 and out of the playoffs would've been very substantial progress.

You've got a young team with a first time playoff HC, first time playoff starting QB, and god-knows how many never-been-there-'afore players. You've got a handful of imported veterans to say "hey, by the way, the intensity REALLY GOES UP in the playoffs. Be READY!!" But until you live it, you can be down 21-zip and getting hammered before you know it.

The Patriots with many young players and a team that wasn't well in-synch got blown out at home during the playoffs by essentially this same Ravens team.

If you're saying "Frauds in terms of being a real, elite level playoff team" then I guess so, but to essentially argue no progress since 2 win and 4 win teams? It's far too late for that. They proved progress by going 10-6. Soft schedule, but it's the only one they had and they handled it better than the other AFCW teams.

All that said, I expect the Chiefs to get blown out, and I expect them to regress to 8-8 or so next year against a tougher sched but heighten their competitiveness after that, assuming solid drafting etc.

This, except for the blown out part Sunday.

I expect a heartbreaking loss... followed up with the 8-8 scenario next season. Then look out.

[Norman Einstein]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Bull
****ing
Shit

Herm Edwards drafted the single worst team in football in terms of players under 30. Not even close. It's not his fault that Roaf, Green, Shields, Kennison, Dante Hall, Surtain, Knight, Wesley/Woods, Priest were all on the way out of the NFL.

It's been well documented that Herm always wanted to rebuild, but Carl Peterson stubbornly insisted that the team reload. That's why we made genius moves like bringing in Ty Law and Damion McIntosh at a time when we needed youth and we were low on cap space.

And it's been well documented that Herm went over Carl's head and got in Clark Hunt's ear, which is the only reason the Chiefs tore the team apart and focused on rebuilding through youth.

Without Herm, Carl Peterson would have tried to win fans back by reloading the team with more versions of Shawn Barber and Dexter McCleon and we would have been content with our 10-6, 1-and-out playoff losers with no Super Bowl potential. Herm Edwards deserves all the credit in the world for giving Pioli a good base to work with.

I don't think I agree with your point. Got any links that backs up you assertions? There are people that have posted that HE did a great job drafting, I don't think he did, but there are those that feel that way.

[Norman Einstein]

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

They don't need to win.

They need to prove they belong on the same field.

Like you are trying to prove you belong on the same plane as Jason Whitlock?

I think not. The Chiefs have proven all they have to prove, anything more is extra bang for the bucks. They have gone from the basement to the top floor in the division, if you can't be happy with their progress you really need to find another team to write about.

I hear Oakland needs another punching bag for the Tribune.

[Hammock Parties]

The Unknown Player You Need to Know This Week

Ron Edwards, NT, Kansas City (No. 91)

The Ravens are going to run it and then try to run it some more, and the Chiefs' run defense has been lousy over the last five weeks (5.0 yards per rush allowed over the last five games).That puts the pressure at the point of attack, right on the Kansas City nose, a 10-year, 315-pound journeyman (five years in Buffalo, five in K.C.) from Texas A&M. If the Chiefs are going to advance, Edwards has to handle his gaps and stop Ray Rice from getting a head of steam.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1ANbAy8eS

[jettio]

The game will measure which team between the Ravens and the Chiefs advances to the next round of the 2010 NFL playoffs.

Pioli is not going to be fired by Clark Hunt even if the Chiefs don't beat an overhyped Ravens team in Ray Lewis's last playoff game.

What a dumb idea to try to write an article that tries to convince people into believing something that even the author does not believe.

[Marcellus]

If Clay isn't getting his sandy vagina pounded on a weekly basis he isn't happy.

Some people are into weird shit.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by jettio

Pioli is not going to be fired by Clark Hunt even if the Chiefs don't beat an overhyped Ravens team in Ray Lewis's last playoff game.

No one is suggesting Pioli should be fired.

But if he goes 8-8 in year three as Amnorix suggests is possible...wow, he'd really need to hit a home run in the last two years of his contract.

We haven't even gotten into that. Quite frankly I can't believe anyone would think missing the playoffs next season is acceptable. Pioli is the highest paid GM in football.

[Rasputin]

I'm stoked we get back to the playoffs! Just getting there shows improvement & this gives our young team experience, that can go long ways for our future success regardless of how this game turns out. You can not substitute playoff game experience for any team. Especially on a young team like ours. We made progress to get us in this position. Were not a great team yet, but we are on the upside on getting there. It's next year that we have to continue to make a big leap to the big times.

Getting rid of Carl Peckerlesson & Worm Edwards was the beginning of rebuilding this team. From that point we made progress & now the Ws will start to come as this team develops, we are still a developing team. You can't go from suck to Super Bowl over night, but you can make progress & that's what we have done. 10 & 6 division winners, playoffs > getting top 3 pick in the draft . **** YOU other wise!!!!

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

The Unknown Player You Need to Know This Week

Ron Edwards, NT, Kansas City (No. 91)

The Ravens are going to run it and then try to run it some more, and the Chiefs' run defense has been lousy over the last five weeks (5.0 yards per rush allowed over the last five games).That puts the pressure at the point of attack, right on the Kansas City nose, a 10-year, 315-pound journeyman (five years in Buffalo, five in K.C.) from Texas A&M. If the Chiefs are going to advance, Edwards has to handle his gaps and stop Ray Rice from getting a head of steam.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1ANbAy8eS

Wow, he is so unknown he is sharing a jersey number with Hali.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

The Unknown Player You Need to Know This Week

Ron Edwards, NT, Kansas City (No. 91)

The Ravens are going to run it and then try to run it some more, and the Chiefs' run defense has been lousy over the last five weeks (5.0 yards per rush allowed over the last five games).That puts the pressure at the point of attack, right on the Kansas City nose, a 10-year, 315-pound journeyman (five years in Buffalo, five in K.C.) from Texas A&M. If the Chiefs are going to advance, Edwards has to handle his gaps and stop Ray Rice from getting a head of steam.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1ANbAy8eS

During in that 5 game stretch, we held CJ pretty much in check for the entire game. It is possible we could hold Ray Rice in check as well.

[Ming the Merciless]

I see so if we lose, Pioli and Haley are fail? SO if we win, will you just slither away somewhere and never crawl back out please?

Every ****ign week it is the same garbage.....

How do you regurgitate the same drivel over and over and think it is some kind of pulitzer material?

"If we lose next week , we are frauds"

Herp derp derp

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

The Unknown Player You Need to Know This Week

Ron Edwards, NT, Kansas City (No. 91)

The Ravens are going to run it and then try to run it some more, and the Chiefs' run defense has been lousy over the last five weeks (5.0 yards per rush allowed over the last five games).That puts the pressure at the point of attack, right on the Kansas City nose, a 10-year, 315-pound journeyman (five years in Buffalo, five in K.C.) from Texas A&M. If the Chiefs are going to advance, Edwards has to handle his gaps and stop Ray Rice from getting a head of steam.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1ANbAy8eS

Teh only 2 players that did well in 5 games were KNowshown and Bush.

No other runner broke 4.2ypc or close to 100 yards against KC in that 5 game stretch.

S. Jackson- 3.5ypc
C.Johnson - 4.1
Tolbert- 4.1
Mathews- 4.1

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Pawnmower

SO if we win, will you just slither away somewhere and never crawl back out please?

The board deserves it. I may just disappear.

[|Zach|]

This article is hogwash.

[WebGem]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

The +6 game turnaround from last season and +8 game turnaround from 2 years ago and winning the division doesnt reveal progress?

This. Seriously, lol @ the article title. I didn't even read it.