Sporting News on the Chiefs and the AFC West

Quote from the Sporting News:

"It may be early, but here is my projected order of finish for the AFC West this season:

1. Raiders (13-3)
2. Broncos (10-6)
3. Chargers (9-7)
4. Seahawks (8-8)
5. Chiefs (4-12)

Disagree with Vinnie? Don't worry -- you're not alone. Submit your own AFC West predictions for 2001 in Voice of the Fan."

[TEX]

MM,
Agreed. Stop the underneith stuff and and Gannon can't beat you. I watched in total diabelief as Kurt's soft zones played right into Gannon's hands. Shoot, I bet Gruden was counting on it.

HB,
True, it's hard to march B-more's defense, but not Denver's. Seems like the Donx have Gannon's/Oakland's number and have for quite sometime now. Do you know where Greg Robinson went? :p

[stevieray]

For the first time in 10 years, this team is not predictable. While I agree it takes time for a new system....I honestly think this team will be better than projected.

When you know nothing about a team, it's easier and more realistic to say they will tank.

[milkman]

TX,
I also watched in dismay and near fury as Gannon and the TRaiders just totally used KS's soft zone defense.

If the Chiefs, or any other team for that matter, go into games on defense against the TRaiders with the same type of strategy and gameplan as the Ravens, then the TRaiders are very beatable, even for teams that are only average defensively, like the Donkey Boys of last season.

If evey team uses the same strategy against them, the TRaiders are only middle of the pack in the division, IMO.

[milkman]

Stevieray,
I recall that you were one of Goonther's staunchest defenders last season.
Does your previous post mean that you are on board with the coaching change?
Does it also mean that you came to realize that the Chiefs were going to continue on their downward spiral under Goonther?

[Rausch]

I supported Gun, but would have prefered Dom Capers over him at the time of hiring...


And I think the Stooges did more to tank Gun then Gun did. If Gun would have threatened to quit, blown the San Diego call, etc. yet still made the playoffs, I don't think he's canned....



Still, as progress is being made, I wouldn't change anything SO FAR!....:rolleyes:

[milkman]

I never thought that Goonther should have been hired to begin with. I supported him, and after my initial reservations, I maintained a positive outlook for a period of time.

I gave up that positivity when he blamed Larry Parker for the loss in Indy publicly. That was a horrible mistake, and really showed Goonther's lack of understanding the relationship between his words and the effect they would have on people.

He only got worse from there.

Now, like Goonther's hiring, I have my reservations about Vermeil.
There are others that I thought would be better for this team.
However, he is now the HC, and unless and until he does something as ignorant as Goonther, I'll support him and hold hope that he is just exactly the answer this team needed.

Of course, even though Vermeil wasn't my favorite choice for the position, I know that he'll never do anything that remotely resembles the moronacy of Goonther.

[milkman]

BTW Brad,
Capers would have been my second choice at the time of Goonther's hiring.
I really wanted Art Shell.

Why hasn't he gotten another chance? He did better in TRaiderville than the Rat under similiar circumstances.

[NaptownChief]

The Flyin' Hawaiian returns...

What lava rock you been hiding under?

I can't wait to get my Jungle Book hat back after week 1.:D

I can't believe people think we are only going to win 4 games...I guess they assume we won't win anything outside of the 4 games against the Donks and the Faiders...At least those four are locks....

[RaiderCorporate]

Morphius:

“…it will be nice now that nobody on the Raiders Squad knows our offense and defensive coaches, and the way they like to do things.”

I read about some recording technology involving films and videotapes that allow you to review past games. This is just a guess, of course, but I’m guessing Gruden and company will review past games involving Dick Vermeil or other coaches for clues how they like to do things.


KCPHILLY:

“Of the 3 loses we've experienced we could have easily won 2 but the last one we were clearly out Coached.”

Coulda, woulda, shoulda – and didn’t. I suppose it's a matter of how you see things because I thought the Raiders should have won those games more easily (and convincingly) had they not made so many mistakes.


“BALT proved last year what I had been saying all year. Play the FAIDS in a phone booth and you shut them down.”

I agree with you other teams will attempt the same defense. What you may not be factoring in is Gruden saw what happened that day too. I expect Gruden will find a better way to deal with that defensive scheme.

I can understand why you want to trumpet Gonzalez as he was one of your few bright spots last year. I seem to recall, however, in the first game - Raiders 20, KC 17 – that Gonzalez was effective in the first half then ineffective in the second half. And in the second game - Raiders 49, KC 31 – Gonzalez’s heroics were nowhere close enough to compensate for your team’s shortcomings that day. If Gonzalez is all you can bring to the game again this year, expect many bad outcomes for your team.

[donkhater]

Gruden saw what happened vs. San Diego as well. The Chargers shut down the Raider offense both games. Billick was smart enough (and had the personnel) to mimic that stategy.

What's Chucky going to do? Start telling Gannon to throw it vertically? Yeah, right.

[KCPHILLY]

PINEAPPLE: Don't be miss-quoting my quotes or I'll have to road trip to that Lava wasteland you call home and show those sheep you keep out in back who the "real master" is.

Good to hear from you. Glad to see you're not spending ALL your time behind the shed. ;)

As others have stated, it doesn't take a BALT D to shut you down as the BOLTS and DONKS showed last year. The key to our success will hinge on how well our DB's are able to man cover and that could be a tall order this year... We shall see.

The JETS did show what it takes to beat that D... A strong arm. Something RICH doesn't have. I don't see WILLIAMS as a difference maker and my spies tell me PORTER has shown improvement, but not enough to be a true threat yet. I do think GARNER could make a difference for you, It will be interesting to see how much of a "team" player mentality WHEATLEY displays with his presence... Could be a problem.

I'm sure GRU is prepairing to see many versions of that scheme this year. It will be interesting to see how well he's able to make the adjustments... Should be a true test of his Coaching abilities.

[stevieray]

John, yes I'm willing to see if DV can do his magic here...I also believe if Stoyo didn't miss that kick, and carl got a 1000 yard back, things might've turned out different. You gotta admit, he gave us Hicks, Wesley, Maz, Cat, Bartee and Dennis.

Stock and Kurt killed his chances. Gun wanted the Chiefs to win so bad, I believe it became his downfall. Inconsistant coaching produced inconsistant play.

[KCPHILLY]

[QUOTE]Coulda, woulda, shoulda – and didn’t. I suppose it's a matter of how you see things because I thought the Raiders should have won those games more easily (and convincingly) had they not made so many mistakes. [/QUOTE]

Pahleeease don't go there... I wasn't. I was just pointing out that neither team showed dominance in those games. Also, for every mistake the FAIDS made the CHIEFS made two.

IMO, the difference in those games was coaching. Props to CHUCKY for showing the ability to adjust and take advantage of what is given. The CHIEFS, on the other hand, had NO ONE on their sidelines displaying the same ability.

As far as GONZO, I wasn't stating he's our FAIDS savior... just pointing out the obvious. You'll see more weapons this year. And as far as the second half of games... Again, coaching. I think you'll find we have a few guys this year who actually have experience at game planning and making halftime adjustments.

[TEX]

HB,
Good to see you back! I see that you're still honest about your boys.

My take on Gun is this. He was not head coaching material. He needed every advantage he could get his hands on. Unfortunately, he was at a disadvantage from the get go. He needed a good staff and he had total HORSE $HIT there. The Stooges did him in along with his moranic "Tuffer than you are" and "blame everyone else" approach. I wish him well, but he was in way over his head in KC. Shoot, how would anybody feel on game day if they looked around them and saw the likes of Raye, Kurt, Stock and Shaw??? Pretty SCARY if you ask me. Pure horror is more like it.:confused:

[morphius]

RC - Big diff between video and having the playbook in front of you. Especially when you play the first game of the season against the Chiefs, not much game video at that point in the season. Of course, why let a little thing called logic get in your way :)