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

[seclark]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THIGPEN, GOD DAMN YOU; IT'S ABOUT THE RUN!!!

THE RUN,
THE RUN,
THE MOTHER****ING RUN!!!!

looks like somebody's morphing into dick mode...chill out little cowboy.
sec

[Hootie]

Darth CarlSatan is a moron...

LJ has looked really good running the football the last three weeks...he looks like the LJ of old...

Even the few 2 yard runs he had were impressive...he ran hard and finished every run.

I am willing to bet LJ will be a monster down the stretch...he's going to average 100 yards per game to finish out the season...and he'll be a 1000 yard back. I'd bet on it.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THIGPEN, GOD DAMN YOU; IT'S ABOUT THE RUN!!!

THE RUN,
THE RUN,
THE MOTHER****ING RUN!!!!

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Great.

So we'll score 26 points per game instead of 23, but the defense will continue to give up 30.

Brilliant.

A hypothetical Warpath, a hypothetical. Of course the Defense requires personnel.

This isn't about DRAFT! It's about Game Science.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THIGPEN, GOD DAMN YOU; IT'S ABOUT THE RUN!!!

THE RUN,
THE RUN,
THE MOTHER****ING RUN!!!!

I thought it was about a W versus a top 10 D? Doesn't matter, substitute in offense for Thigpen and nothing in the argument changes.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Great.

So we'll score 26 points per game instead of 23, but the defense will continue to give up 30.

Brilliant.

You'd think this franchise and some of its fans would learn that we wasted one of the best offenses in the NFL in the last decade cause of the worst defense ever. You need atleast a top 15 defense

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Well **** me, man; it's like "We're working here, people; try and keep the **** up"!

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Hootie

Darth CarlSatan is a moron...

LJ has looked really good running the football the last three weeks...he looks like the LJ of old...

Even the few 2 yard runs he had were impressive...he ran hard and finished every run.

I am willing to bet LJ will be a monster down the stretch...he's going to average 100 yards per game to finish out the season...and he'll be a 1000 yard back. I'd bet on it.

He could run for 2000 and I still wont root for him anymore... Too many domestic issues, spitting, gun pointing, etc....

Its past time for LJ to move on....

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

I thought it was about a W versus a top 10 D? Doesn't matter, substitute in offense for Thigpen and nothing in the argument changes.

There simply isn't an emoticon available to express what I'm feeling at this moment.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Darth CarlSatan

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.

Whatever dumbass. You asked for stats to back it up, I presented them to you. Just because you choose to ignore it doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

You'd think this franchise and some of its fans would learn that we wasted one of the best offenses in the NFL in the last decade cause of the worst defense ever. You need atleast a top 15 defense

I agree, it's about balance.

Right now I'm just happy that this season wasn't a total waste, and perhaps we might have found an offense.

Next year we better have a vastly improved defense or it's bye bye to Herm...anything less than 8-8 and a revamped defensive line in 2009 equals failure in my mind.

We were suppose to be bad this year...I figured we'd be better on defense than we would be on offense...the fact that we have 6 sacks on the year means Herm isn't doing his job, plain and simple. I'm willing to waste one more year on Herm because the players continue to play hard for him...which isn't the case for the other teams that have similar records to Kansas City. We are a pretty competitive 2-10 team.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

You'd think this franchise and some of its fans would learn that we wasted one of the best offenses in the NFL in the last decade cause of the worst defense ever. You need atleast a top 15 defense

Well it looks like we might waste another Offense, because our defense is worse than anything GROB put on the field and they were historically bad..

This is a complete EPIC fail by Herm and Gun...

[DaKCMan AP]

As stated on page 1 of this thread, our run offense is ranked #12 in the NFL. Since we've gone spread we've rushed the ball more, gained more yards and have a higher yards per carry average.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

You'd think this franchise and some of its fans would learn that we wasted one of the best offenses in the NFL in the last decade cause of the worst defense ever. You need atleast a top 15 defense

It cracks me up when people bring up having a dominant O-line, and someone says "look what that got us" like it was their fault we couldn't force ONE punt.


Wait. Where did that come from?

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

He could run for 2000 and I still wont root for him anymore... Too many domestic issues, spitting, gun pointing, etc....

Its past time for LJ to move on....

Meh.

It just doesn't bother me...one more incident and he's done, that's for sure...but until then as long as he produces he's ok in my book. Lets face it, 50% of professional athletes are scum these days.