Dear, Vikings: Thanks for our quarterback; Sincerely, Chiefs

[DaKCMan AP]

Dear, Vikings: Thanks for our quarterback; Sincerely, Chiefs

By Clark Judge
CBSSports.com Senior Writer

I heard someone last week ask if there were any way the Minnesota Vikings could repay Kansas City for dropping star defensive end Jared Allen on their doorstep, and, yes, I said, there is. In fact, they've already done it.

Meet Tyler Thigpen.

He's the Chiefs' quarterback for now and maybe the future, but he wouldn't be in Kansas City if the Vikings hadn't cut him loose a year ago to make room for a reserve tight end.

The move was a gamble, and Minnesota knew it, but it figured it could re-sign Thigpen -- chosen by the Vikings in the seventh round of the 2007 draft -- to its practice squad after he cleared waivers.

Only he didn't clear. Kansas City claimed him.

Now he's playing so well that Chiefs coach Herman Edwards confessed he's considering scrapping the Chiefs' run-heavy offense next season and going with what works for Tyler Thigpen -- a more spread-out, wide-open, two-minute approach that usually has Thigpen operating out of the shotgun.

That can't be good news for someone like running back Larry Johnson, but it is for Thigpen. It means someone has a conviction about the guy, and that someone is Edwards -- with the coach considering a change next season from his offenses of the past just to suit his young quarterback.

If that happens, it means Edwards believes in Thigpen as his future starter. But he isn't there yet, and he emphasized that when I reached him Wednesday.

"We've got four games left," he said. "Let's see what he does. But one thing I do know: He's a No. 2. There is no doubt about that. That we know."

Others within the Kansas City hierarchy admit "cautious optimism" about Thigpen, who produced his first victory last weekend and who has played well for one of the league's bottom feeders. In fact, in a recent four-game stretch, he threw eight touchdown passes and one interception and took, in order, the Jets, Tampa Bay and San Diego to the mat, with all three games decided in the closing seconds.

Now, let's make something clear: Tyler Thigpen is not the next Eli or Peyton Manning. But he is a pleasant discovery in a not-so-pleasant season in Kansas City, and the Chiefs can address those "thank you" notes to 9520 Viking Drive, Eden Prairie, Minn. They wouldn't have Thigpen were it not for the Vikings' gamble.

The common perception is that Kansas City discovered Thigpen when the Chiefs and Vikings held a preseason scrimmage, but Edwards shot down that idea, saying Thigpen didn't play "that much" when the two teams practiced against each other. Instead, he said, Thigpen appeared on the Kansas City radar when he was a star quarterback at Coastal Carolina, with the Chiefs rating him a low fifth- or high sixth-round choice.

He could run. He had a strong arm. He was accurate. He was durable. And he won. Basically, he was everything you wanted from a quarterback, with a couple of drawbacks: 1) He didn't operate in a pro offense, working instead out of the shotgun, and 2) he played at a small school against lesser competition.

Nevertheless, when the team's vice president of player personnel, Bill Kuharich, watched him that summer in the fourth quarter of an exhibition game, he noticed something he liked.

"It was just the way he handled himself and the pressure," said Kuharich. "It reinforced what I had seen on tape. (Team president) Carl (Peterson), Herm and I decided if he ever became available we would claim him."

Which, of course, they did when Minnesota stuck with Tarvaris Jackson and acquired veteran backup Kelly Holcomb. Now, Holcomb is gone, Jackson is benched and Thigpen is playing for Kansas City. Hindsight is 20-20, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out the Vikings erred when they let Thigpen go.

I came to that conclusion last weekend when Thigpen led Kansas City on a 16-play, 91-yard drive that broke a 10-10 deadlock against Oakland. He completed three of four passes and ran for two first downs on that series.

I came to that conclusion again that afternoon when, on third-and-3 with just over two minutes to play, he iced the game by hitting Dwayne Bowe with a 12-yard completion.

"We've got ourselves a pretty good quarterback," said Edwards.

That's as strong a statement as you get from the head coach, but it tells you what he will not: That Tyler Thigpen could be the quarterback the Chiefs envisioned when they drafted Brodie Croyle in 2006. Croyle was supposed to be the Chiefs' quarterback of the future, but those plans have been scrapped because he can't stay healthy.

Thigpen can. He can also win, with last weekend's defeat of Oakland a breakthrough. After close calls against four opponents -- including New Orleans -- he finally demonstrated that he can close a deal, and that's what the Chiefs have been missing the past year and a half.

But that's just the beginning. They rave about Thigpen's mobility. In fact, it was the first quality Edwards ticked off when he listed his quarterback's strengths. Thigpen can throw with accuracy, too, with a string of 161 passes without an interception and a third-down passer-rating higher than those of Brett Favre and Jay Cutler. Plus, he's an outstanding athlete -- the only quarterback in Kansas City history to score a touchdown by running, passing and receiving.

"The question now," said Edwards, "is how will he continue to play and do we want to change the offense? I have to talk to (offensive coordinator) Chan Gailey, but right now I'm thinking we would.

"We changed everything to build the offense around him. It's like we're operating with a three-page notebook, adding a little with each week. Now the question is: Do we stay with this? Because it means you would have to do some things differently, like look at a little different offensive linemen."

The Chiefs have four games to produce an answer, but that they are even considering a change in their offense tells me one thing: They may have found themselves a quarterback.

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/11149961

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

I like the fact that having Thigpen has forced Herm to change his offensive philosophy.

It is good to see, but I think the losing streak may have brought some pressure to bear on Herm.


It is good to see one of these claims go the Chiefs way, many of us have been upset over the Colts claim of Ryan Lilja for quite a while.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

You're a ****ing idiot, and can't see shit right in front of your clown face.

And **** you too, mother****er! Back it up with numbers instead of being an asshole( If you can ).

[blueballs]

if r2p2 scores you 17 points and the other team 24
or the spread scores you 27 and the other team 34
the outcome is just the same -sav perhaps a little more entertaining

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

Oh baby; that is one laundry list full of Wrong.

You can't handicap the running game by working out of the shotgun all day. I'm a fan of Thigpen, but this is just scary stupid.

Have you watched the Chiefs play this year? Old offense = worst in league history. Spread = at a minimum, league average. Yeah, let's go back to Herm's vaunted power running game.

[dj56dt58]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE RUNNING GAME.

God, somebody back me on this PLEASE!

If you stick with this current scheme; lining LJ or whoever up behind Thigpen in a shotgun formation, you've lost 3+ yards before the ****ing ball is even snapped!

This is stupid, reeruned, gay, D-D-DEE, Ass clown Offense.
If there were only ONE THING I could point to and say Herm needs to be fired; this would be the one.

yeah..your right. Damn, thought we had something. Back to rrp2

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

And your bandwagon-jumpery is equaly comical. Let's keep this about the ****ing game, okay Sherlock?

Look, GoSuck, using a different user name does not make you a football genius. You are the same pillow-biting moron no matter what name you sign on with.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Have you watched the Chiefs play this year? Old offense = worst in league history. Spread = at a minimum, league average. Yeah, let's go back to Herm's vaunted power running game.

Herm had a vaunted power running game?

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

And **** you too, mother****er! Back it up with numbers instead of being an asshole( If you can ).

We scored 27 points, had 384 yards of total offense, 201 yards passing, 183 yards rushing against Tampa Bay....and their ranks:

Total Defense: #4
Pass Defense: #3
Rush Defense: #9
Scoring: #4

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

We scored 27 points, had 384 yards of total offense, 201 yards passing, 183 yards rushing against Tampa Bay....and their ranks:

Total Defense: #4
Pass Defense: #3
Rush Defense: #9
Scoring: #4

So your saying we are going to the Big Bowl? Or we might as just as well go Demonpenz and smoke a Big Bowl?

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Herm had a vaunted power running game?

In Herm, Carl, and CarlSatan's minds, he did.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

These are the current rankings of our opponents for overall NFL defense:

Tampa Bay: 4th. This was the game where we really opened up the playbook, and had better performance from the Offense after the NYJ and two solid weeks of practicing the scheme. The Tampa D however did what a good D is supposed to do; they made adjustments at the half, and shut the Offense down in the 2nd half of the game.

Tennessee: 5th. Doesn't really count, but WTF.

New England: 9th. Again; doesn't count.

Carolina: 11th. No Count.

Buffalo: 12th. Interesting...

Miami: 18th.

New Orleans: 20th.

Atlanta: 22nd. Shits and giggles only; no count.

Cincinnati: 24th.

Oakland: 25th.

San Diego: 27th.

Denver: 28th.

If I'm wrong, and this scheme becomes the Holy of Holies; great. But until I see a 'W' against a top 10 defense, I will NOT be convinced.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

In Herm, Carl, and CarlSatan's minds, he did.

I never said that. What I said, is that the running game in this scheme will fail miserably against an Elite Defense.

[Reerun_KC]

CarlSatan, do you really think the Chiefs had a power running game?

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

We scored 27 points, had 384 yards of total offense, 201 yards passing, 183 yards rushing against Tampa Bay....and their ranks:

Total Defense: #4
Pass Defense: #3
Rush Defense: #9
Scoring: #4

See my post above; I knew this was the "ace" everyone was going to attempt to pull.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

These are the current rankings of our opponents for overall NFL defense:

Tampa Bay: 4th. This was the game where we really opened up the playbook, and had better performance from the Offense after the NYJ and two solid weeks of practicing the scheme. The Tampa D however did what a good D is supposed to do; they made adjustments at the half, and shut the Offense down in the 2nd half of the game.

Tennessee: 5th. Doesn't really count, but WTF.

New England: 9th. Again; doesn't count.

Carolina: 11th. No Count.

Buffalo: 12th. Interesting...

Miami: 18th.

New Orleans: 20th.

Atlanta: 22nd. Shits and giggles only; no count.

Cincinnati: 24th.

Oakland: 25th.

San Diego: 27th.

Denver: 28th.

If I'm wrong, and this scheme becomes the Holy of Holies; great. But until I see a 'W' against a top 10 defense, I will NOT be convinced.

And I guess it was because of the offense that we lost to Indy in 2003? You're th type of guy who would claim a pitcher sucks if he had 1.50 ERA and had a losing record because of a league-worst offense. Your argument is a joke.