Whitlock: Wanted: More Offense - Page 3

siberian khatru · 05-01-2007, 06:26 AM

http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/89730.html

Wanted: more offense
By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist

In case you forgot, when last we saw our Chiefs, the final score was 23-8, the Chiefs didn’t get a first down until late in the third quarter, Larry Johnson rushed for 32 yards, and the Indianapolis Colts fielded one of the league’s worst defenses.

Carl Peterson, Herm Edwards and Bill Kuharich should have been forced to re-watch KC’s playoff loss in the hours leading up to the draft. Maybe then they would have been reminded of what they needed to do over the weekend.

Kansas City’s offense needs a major injection of youth, talent and energy. Somehow that has all been forgotten this offseason. So after signing two free-agent linebackers, the Chiefs reluctantly settled on a wide receiver in the first round of the draft and then settled on a Turk and a Tank, two defensive linemen, in the second and third rounds.

Am I the only one who remembers Indianapolis? Am I the only one who remembers that Dick Vermeil went overboard trying to build an offense and that Herm promised to build a complete team?

Am I the only person who thinks it is absolute lunacy to hand Larry Johnson any more contract leverage?

Let me be the first to label this offseason a failure. I don’t mind climbing out on limbs. I’ll be the first to apologize if I’m wrong. But from my view, the Chiefs played this thing all wrong.

They did not do near enough to fix their decaying offense. Will Shields retired. Trent Green is on his way out. Larry Johnson wants Peyton Manning money. The Chiefs never replaced Willie Roaf or Tony Richardson. Eddie Kennison is old.

And let’s see, a little more than three months after the most embarrassing offensive performance in the history of the league, the Chiefs take a flier on Sylvester Bowe or Dwayne Morris or SlyBowe.

Hey, I’m not down on Dwayne Bowe, the receiver out of LSU. I was happy about his acquisition. I called it a great pick at the time. But the Chiefs needed to do more on the offensive side of the ball.

They should have taken an offensive tackle in the second round. Who? I don’t know. If there was no tackle worthy of a second-round pick, I’d have taken another receiver. In the third round, they should have selected Louisville running back Michael Bush, a sure-fire top-15 pick had he not broken his leg. The Raiders took Bush with the first pick of the fourth round. He might be the steal of the draft.

Right now, if Larry Johnson holds out in a contract dispute, Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard should sue Peterson, Edwards and Kuharich for negligence.

It is impossible to develop a young quarterback (Croyle) without the proper complementary surrounding talent. It appears Croyle is going to get Schottenheimered, which is quarterback death caused by neglect.

Dick Vermeil put on a five-year clinic on how to develop a quarterback. You pamper quarterbacks. Peterson didn’t pay attention, and Herm spends his free time fantasizing about 9-3 field-goal shootouts.

Did anyone notice that the Colts drafted a receiver in the first round and an offensive tackle in the second? The Colts are constantly giving Manning new toys to play with.

Croyle and Huard got Bowe and upgraded life-insurance policies. Meanwhile, Herm and Gunther Cunningham got a Tank and a Turk to maneuver, and a new kicker.

If Johnson is a no-show, the Chiefs won’t score a touchdown this season. Not an offensive one. Even with Johnson, the KC offense is still highly suspect. Bowe is not a burner. He won’t open up passing lanes for Tony Gonzalez. In fact, Bowe is likely to crowd Gonzalez’s zones. Best-case scenario, Bowe is a T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals receiver who plays opposite speedster Chad Johnson.

The Chiefs don’t have a Chad Johnson. They don’t have a dominant offensive line, either. They have a top-flight, 31-year-old tight end and a punishing, overworked, hard-to-like running back who wants a $30 million signing bonus. That’s it.

The Chiefs made five key acquisitions this offseason: two linebackers, two defensive tackles and a receiver.

Rewatch the Indy playoff game and ask yourself whether the offseason strategy makes any sense at all.

el borracho · 05-01-2007, 08:04 AM

1. We added a T in free-agency
2. Yes! We need help on the Oline but this draft sucked for Oline. After the top two Ts, the only thing we could have done is add more youthful question marks (which we did at the end of the draft) and, yes, Joe Staley is a question mark.
3. We have a lot of youthful question marks already on the roster.

All of these guys were born in the 80s:
Niswanger, 82
Pruneda, 83
Sampson, 81
Stallings, 83
Svitek, 82
Taylor, 84

p.s. I'm not sure why the author mentioned Kennison's age when our very first pick was a WR and all our other receivers are young.

Bowe, 84
Hannon, 84
Parker, 81
Webb, 82

p.p.s. Is anyone really arguing that we needed no help on the Dline? I can't believe it. Our Dline has been a wreck for years. Hopefully, we have finally fixed it.

Pushead2 · 05-01-2007, 08:05 AM

We couldn't have fixed everything in 1 draft. The problem with the Chiefs in the playoff game I still stand by it was the coaching. Poor choices and combined with the offense not producing. Hopefully with kennison , gonzo and Bowe we could have a descent receiving core.

Messier · 05-01-2007, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj

Please explain how Tren't "awful" performance resulted in LJ having a bad day and not being able to break 40 yards.

Oh the line played horribly too. But man you could just see Trent didn't have it, the last four games of the season you could see it.

Hammock Parties · 05-01-2007, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Messier

Really? You thought he played well? Do you want him back?

I want him back and competing for the job. He wasn't the worst player in that playoff game by far.

htismaqe · 05-01-2007, 08:07 AM

The problem with the playoff game was two-fold:

1) The Colt stacked the box. We TRIED to throw. The WR's couldn't catch a damn cold.

2) Herm crawled into his shell after that and ran Larry into 9-man fronts the rest of the game.

trndobrd · 05-01-2007, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj

Whitlock does bring up a valid point - it was the offense that failed in the playoffs. Whitlock thinks that they should have paid more attention to the OL and getting more offensive weapons. It's a valid point whether people want to admit it or not.

Paying more attention to the Offense is a valid point to make. I don't think anyone is disputing that. However, there are other areas that need help, and the Chiefs can only draft players that are on the board. Frankly, because of the reaching of the DV era, the Chiefs will need to string together 4-5 drafts like last year and this year, to really get what they need.

JW suggests that a RB should have been drafted because LJ has too much leverage in contract negotiations. That is just stupid. The draft should not be about ways to save the Hunt family money.

He doesn't have any ideas of who should have been drafted, apparently anyone who plays offense would have been OK. Again, the same kind of thinking of the DV era, someone, anyone...doesn't matter.

The Chiefs made the right move by drafting a 3rd down blocking/receiving back on the second day. Made an outstanding pick with Bowe in the 1st. Good choice in the 2nd, and may have gotten the steal of the draft in the 3rd (although they probably didn't expect to have that option)

So, basically JW's article can be summed up as "Chiefs should have picked different people, I have know idea who, but these people suck."

htismaqe · 05-01-2007, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by el borracho

Yes! We need help on the Oline but this draft sucked for Oline. After the top two Ts, the only thing we could have done is add more youthful question marks (which we did at the end of the draft) and, yes, Joe Staley is a question mark.

I've come to the conclusion that the "offensive line at all costs" people have their fingers in their ears. I would suggest you don't post this anymore, it's a waste of your time. If they haven't read this and digested it by now, they're not going to. They're not interested in reality.

Messier · 05-01-2007, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

I want him back and competing for the job. He wasn't the worst player in that playoff game by far.

Why do you think the Chiefs don't want him back?
Really I want to know. Is it just to get younger or do they see the end of the line for Trent?

'Hamas' Jenkins · 05-01-2007, 08:09 AM

Jesus Christ, the reerunation of this article spawned some hellacious stupidity throughout this thread.

I guess we should have reached for a 4th round Tackle in Round 2 when our best d-lineman is going to miss a quarter of the season, and there is a player who is on the top of our board available at that position when we pick.

How is Samie Parker's speed working out for him?

trndobrd · 05-01-2007, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

How is Samie Parker's speed working out for him?

He's getting open.

Messier · 05-01-2007, 08:14 AM

Getting open has little to do with speed. It's route running and awareness.

Hammock Parties · 05-01-2007, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trndobrd

He's getting open.

Not nearly enough.

PastorMikH · 05-01-2007, 08:18 AM

I agree on the offense. I have been troubled for some time at our lack of concern for the offensive side. Other than Bowe, our best move to improve the O was to let Black go.

We need some O Linemen desparately. Also, if things go like they appear, we will have a career backup and a kid with no NFL game experience as our only QBs. We have 3 Probowl RBs, one with a HUGE ego and contract demands, one that can't stay healthy, and one that won't make up his mind if he wants to play or retire.

Granted, I like what Herm has done with the D, but I fear we are heading in the complete opposite direction that DV took us - all D, no O.

At this point, even with salary cap space that would be freed up with Green gone, who's out there that can be a legit upgrade on the OL? And if I'm over-reacting on our OL, someone explain to me how the OL will be solid the the players we have on the roster now.

trndobrd · 05-01-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Not nearly enough.

Always the glass is half empty.

PastorMikH · 05-01-2007, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trndobrd

He's open when he drops the ball which lessens the chance for an INT.

Fixed your post.

05-01-2007, 06:26 AM
siberian khatru 21st Century Schizoid Fan Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: The Gates of Delirium Casino cash: $2274950	Whitlock: Wanted: More Offense http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/89730.html Wanted: more offense By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist In case you forgot, when last we saw our Chiefs, the final score was 23-8, the Chiefs didn’t get a first down until late in the third quarter, Larry Johnson rushed for 32 yards, and the Indianapolis Colts fielded one of the league’s worst defenses. Carl Peterson, Herm Edwards and Bill Kuharich should have been forced to re-watch KC’s playoff loss in the hours leading up to the draft. Maybe then they would have been reminded of what they needed to do over the weekend. Kansas City’s offense needs a major injection of youth, talent and energy. Somehow that has all been forgotten this offseason. So after signing two free-agent linebackers, the Chiefs reluctantly settled on a wide receiver in the first round of the draft and then settled on a Turk and a Tank, two defensive linemen, in the second and third rounds. Am I the only one who remembers Indianapolis? Am I the only one who remembers that Dick Vermeil went overboard trying to build an offense and that Herm promised to build a complete team? Am I the only person who thinks it is absolute lunacy to hand Larry Johnson any more contract leverage? Let me be the first to label this offseason a failure. I don’t mind climbing out on limbs. I’ll be the first to apologize if I’m wrong. But from my view, the Chiefs played this thing all wrong. They did not do near enough to fix their decaying offense. Will Shields retired. Trent Green is on his way out. Larry Johnson wants Peyton Manning money. The Chiefs never replaced Willie Roaf or Tony Richardson. Eddie Kennison is old. And let’s see, a little more than three months after the most embarrassing offensive performance in the history of the league, the Chiefs take a flier on Sylvester Bowe or Dwayne Morris or SlyBowe. Hey, I’m not down on Dwayne Bowe, the receiver out of LSU. I was happy about his acquisition. I called it a great pick at the time. But the Chiefs needed to do more on the offensive side of the ball. They should have taken an offensive tackle in the second round. Who? I don’t know. If there was no tackle worthy of a second-round pick, I’d have taken another receiver. In the third round, they should have selected Louisville running back Michael Bush, a sure-fire top-15 pick had he not broken his leg. The Raiders took Bush with the first pick of the fourth round. He might be the steal of the draft. Right now, if Larry Johnson holds out in a contract dispute, Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard should sue Peterson, Edwards and Kuharich for negligence. It is impossible to develop a young quarterback (Croyle) without the proper complementary surrounding talent. It appears Croyle is going to get Schottenheimered, which is quarterback death caused by neglect. Dick Vermeil put on a five-year clinic on how to develop a quarterback. You pamper quarterbacks. Peterson didn’t pay attention, and Herm spends his free time fantasizing about 9-3 field-goal shootouts. Did anyone notice that the Colts drafted a receiver in the first round and an offensive tackle in the second? The Colts are constantly giving Manning new toys to play with. Croyle and Huard got Bowe and upgraded life-insurance policies. Meanwhile, Herm and Gunther Cunningham got a Tank and a Turk to maneuver, and a new kicker. If Johnson is a no-show, the Chiefs won’t score a touchdown this season. Not an offensive one. Even with Johnson, the KC offense is still highly suspect. Bowe is not a burner. He won’t open up passing lanes for Tony Gonzalez. In fact, Bowe is likely to crowd Gonzalez’s zones. Best-case scenario, Bowe is a T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals receiver who plays opposite speedster Chad Johnson. The Chiefs don’t have a Chad Johnson. They don’t have a dominant offensive line, either. They have a top-flight, 31-year-old tight end and a punishing, overworked, hard-to-like running back who wants a $30 million signing bonus. That’s it. The Chiefs made five key acquisitions this offseason: two linebackers, two defensive tackles and a receiver. Rewatch the Indy playoff game and ask yourself whether the offseason strategy makes any sense at all.
Posts: 69,289

05-01-2007, 08:04 AM	#31
el borracho In Pat We Trust Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Albuquerque, NM Casino cash: $6109148	1. We added a T in free-agency 2. Yes! We need help on the Oline but this draft sucked for Oline. After the top two Ts, the only thing we could have done is add more youthful question marks (which we did at the end of the draft) and, yes, Joe Staley is a question mark. 3. We have a lot of youthful question marks already on the roster. All of these guys were born in the 80s: Niswanger, 82 Pruneda, 83 Sampson, 81 Stallings, 83 Svitek, 82 Taylor, 84 p.s. I'm not sure why the author mentioned Kennison's age when our very first pick was a WR and all our other receivers are young. Bowe, 84 Hannon, 84 Parker, 81 Webb, 82 p.p.s. Is anyone really arguing that we needed no help on the Dline? I can't believe it. Our Dline has been a wreck for years. Hopefully, we have finally fixed it.
Posts: 11,845

05-01-2007, 08:05 AM	#32
Pushead2 **** off Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New York Casino cash: $7231882	We couldn't have fixed everything in 1 draft. The problem with the Chiefs in the playoff game I still stand by it was the coaching. Poor choices and combined with the offense not producing. Hopefully with kennison , gonzo and Bowe we could have a descent receiving core. __________________ "**** up once, lose two teeth....”
Posts: 5,213

05-01-2007, 08:07 AM	#35
htismaqe 'Tis my eye! Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Chiefsplanet Casino cash: $10269900	The problem with the playoff game was two-fold: 1) The Colt stacked the box. We TRIED to throw. The WR's couldn't catch a damn cold. 2) Herm crawled into his shell after that and ran Larry into 9-man fronts the rest of the game.
Posts: 100,022

05-01-2007, 08:09 AM	#39
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7959572	Jesus Christ, the reerunation of this article spawned some hellacious stupidity throughout this thread. I guess we should have reached for a 4th round Tackle in Round 2 when our best d-lineman is going to miss a quarter of the season, and there is a player who is on the top of our board available at that position when we pick. How is Samie Parker's speed working out for him? __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 74,848

05-01-2007, 08:14 AM	#41
Messier MVP Join Date: Mar 2004 Casino cash: $10005050	Getting open has little to do with speed. It's route running and awareness.
Posts: 7,610

05-01-2007, 08:18 AM	#43
PastorMikH Will KC ever be better? Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Land of Red Dirt & Necks Casino cash: $9925087	I agree on the offense. I have been troubled for some time at our lack of concern for the offensive side. Other than Bowe, our best move to improve the O was to let Black go. We need some O Linemen desparately. Also, if things go like they appear, we will have a career backup and a kid with no NFL game experience as our only QBs. We have 3 Probowl RBs, one with a HUGE ego and contract demands, one that can't stay healthy, and one that won't make up his mind if he wants to play or retire. Granted, I like what Herm has done with the D, but I fear we are heading in the complete opposite direction that DV took us - all D, no O. At this point, even with salary cap space that would be freed up with Green gone, who's out there that can be a legit upgrade on the OL? And if I'm over-reacting on our OL, someone explain to me how the OL will be solid the the players we have on the roster now. __________________
Posts: 20,454