Ten Things About Last Night's Game

[gblowfish]

Ten Things About Last Night's Game

10. I took last week off, which was the first actual week of pure vacation I've had in about a year and a half. Saw Mizzou beat Notre Dame in basketball; saw the last MU-KU football game for the forseeable future; did Thanksgiving in a little tiny town in North Central Kansas; even had a date with my wife. We saw "Puss In Boots." Hey, it was all good! Then we wrapped it all up with the second nationally televised Chiefs game in a week, the turd in the punchbowl called "The Tyler Palko Show." I was thinking this morning, what was worse - The New England game, getting blasted 34-3, or last night, having a chance to win with a minute left and losing 13-9? They're both gut wrenchingly bad, its just that the defense played much better against Rapistburger than they did against Brady.

9. On the way to work this morning I heard a Chiefs commercial. The commercial says something to the effect of "Make Arrowhead as difficult as possible on our opponents." I hate to tell the Chiefs PR wanks this, but of the 71,000 plus there last night, around half of those were Steeler fans. Of course, when your team has been in eight super bowls and won six of them, you're going to have a lot of fans. Being a Steeler fan in football is like being a Yankee fan in baseball: You know you're not going to have to wait around long for a championship season. Of course, Clark Hunt could care less whether the 71,000 fans wore red and gold or black and gold, as long as they had green, that's winning as he measures it. The Hunts are about business, not about football. Last night, in the eyes of Clark the Business Shark, business was good. Very good, indeed.

8. Back to Tyler Failco, AKA Tyler Picko, AKA Tyler Pittsko, AKA Tyler Callabaloo. Six picks and a fumble in two games is no way to go through life, son. Wrap your head around this for a minute: Last night's stat line for Palko: 18-28 for 64%, 167 yards, average pass completion approx 6 yards. Also three picks and a fumble lost. Zero TDs. Passer rating: 40.9. Palko vs. Detroit: One pass attempt, Zero completions, passer rating: 39.6. Now, measure that against Cassel's last start against Denver: 13-28 for 46%, 93 yards, average pass completion approx 3.5 yards. One TD, no picks, passer rating: 66.5. So except for Palko's obvious red/black color blindness problem, he's equal to or better than Cassel's last effort. Point is, had Cassel played, he would have been just as bad. Chiefs just would have punted three more times instead of handing the ball over on picks. Same result, drive stalls, ball turned over.

7. One final thing on Callabaloo: His performance was actually better than a former Chiefs first round draft pick. Yes, that's right. In 1985, Todd Blackledge (AKA Todd Sackledge) played a home game against the LA Rams, and the Chiefs lost 16-0. Sackledge threw six picks in that one game. Six picks...in one game. His stat line was 14-32 for 161 yards, almost identical to Palko's line last night, and Palko only had four turnovers. So, if you want to qualify disasters by saying "it could have been worse," I've actually seen worse. But not by much. Oh, and Blackledge's team finished the 1985 season 6-10, which is better than the 2011 Chiefs will finish.

6. I heard several post game interviews this morning. The ones with Kyle Orton were especially amusing. The Chiefs PR wanks have done a great job coaching him on media-speak. He was asked three different questions by three different reporters, all basically asking "Could you have played? Have you learned the offense? Is KC's offense that much different from Denver?" Orton gave the exact same answer to each question: "I'm just glad to be here. I'm trying to learn the offense as quickly as possible. I just want to help the team win." He said the exact same thing to the three questions almost word for word. Here's the scary thing: The Chiefs pick up Orton off the street. And he is, arguably, better than any QB the Chiefs started the season with. Let's look at 2010 lines: Cassel: 15 starts, 58% completion ratio, just over 3100 yards, 27 TDs, 7 picks, 2 fumbles lost. Orton: 13 starts, 59% completion ratio, just over 3650 yards (playing two fewer games than Cassel), 20 TDs, 9 picks, 1 fumble lost. So in playing two less games than Cassel, he threw for more than 500 more yards, had about the same amount of turnovers and a few less TDs. So both guys are basically the same guy. And we picked him up off the street. What does that say to depth at QB, the most important position on the team? Not much, Mr. Pioli.

5. Why did the Chiefs draft Stanzi? They must not think much of him. I have not watched the NBC broadcast yet -I'll watch it tonight when I get home from work- but I noticed at halftime Coach Haley was having a very spirited discussion with QB Coach Jim Zorn. He was jawing with Zorn pretty good, and kept looking over a Palko on the bench. I think Haley was seriously considering benching Palko in the second half, and Zorn talked him out of it. Since we kicked off, Pittsburgh got the ball first to start the second half. I think if we would have gotten the second half kickoff, Haley might have made the change. Stanzi was warming up more seriously during halftime then he did during pre-game. So I think the temptation was there to change, and Haley decided to stick with Palko. Turned out, bad choice.

4. I still can't get a hold on Coach Haley's game management. You fake a punt to continue a drive, then when you get fourth and two with seven minutes left on the Steeler 22 yard line, you lose your nerve, kick a field goal, and you're still down by four; hoping to get the ball back. The defense did get the ball back, but Palko proved to be worse in the two minute drill than normal game time. Either way, you need seven to tie. So why not go for it with seven minutes? If you fail, you give the Steelers a long field, and still have time to get the ball back and try again. Taking a field goal there does you no good. You just lose by four instead of seven. The Chiefs offense has failed to produce a TD in 41 straight possessions. That's staggeringly bad offense from a head coach who is supposed to be an offensive guru. Fail, fail, and more fail.

3. The defense played its best since the Oakland game. I think Pittsburgh came in thinking it just had to step on the field to win. DJ had nine tackles, Hali caused at least three holding penalties and was chasing Rapistburger all night long. Houston played well, as did Kendrick Lewis. The one Steeler TD drive was punctuated by several official calls that sustained the drive. Not activating "The Donald" Washington and having McGraw back helped the pass defense a lot. Steeler receivers were held pretty much in check save for the one TD by a backup tight end. The defense was on the field more than they should have been, yet they held up. Nothing but respect for them, they played hard and played to win. They just got zero help from the offense or special teams.

2. When Troy Head-n-Shoulders got knocked out, the Steeler run defense was compromised somewhat. Still, KC's longest run of the night was only nine yards. That's another big reason Palko was forced to throw so much, no real help from the ground game. That last two minute drill was its own special kind of cluster fuck. They mis-managed the clock before the two minute warning. Then Fat Albert gets dinged up, they put in Gaither The Human Speed Bump, who's only contribution to the evening is forgetting the snap count. They pull Gaither, put Fat Albert back in, Pittsburgh uses the interruption to re-set their defense. Then Callabaloo throws into triple coverage to end it. Was it mis-communication? Was Bowe supposed to go long and broke off his route? Who knows? And who cares, really. It just shows how important the QB-Receiver relationship is when its crunch time. These guys looked like they just met for the first time in the parking lot before the game. And if three guys are on Bowe, somebody has to be open somewhere else.

1. The season is toast. KC might steal a win against Chicago, or Oakland, or Denver, but for all practical purposes, it's all over. Coach Haley will not get fired. The front office will blame the whole year on injuries. They'll probably try to re-sign Orton, promise him a shot at starting, and go into next year with Cassel/Orton as the one-two QB lineup. Which will mean more of the same dink and dunk offense. Chiefs will draft a tackle, and talk about how excited they are to go into the year with Bowe, Baldwin, Moeacki, Charles and Dexter McNuthin. It will be business as usual. The most important thing to the front office is, season ticket renewals will go out this week. Nothing like putting millions of dollars in the bank and drawing interest on it for six months. And if you thought a stadium half full of Steeler Fans was bad, just wait until December 18th when the stadium is 3/4 full of Cheeseheads.

[notorious]

At least Palko took shots downfield even though his noodle arm couldn't get the job done.


Cassel rarely tried.

[Extra Point]

One thing about all this season's games:

Haley must go!

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Ten Things About Last Night's Game

10. I took last week off, which was the first actual week of pure vacation I've had in about a year and a half. Saw Mizzou beat Notre Dame in basketball; saw the last MU-KU football game for the forseeable future; did Thanksgiving in a little tiny town in North Central Kansas; even had a date with my wife. We saw "Puss In Boots." Hey, it was all good! Then we wrapped it all up with the second nationally televised Chiefs game in a week, the turd in the punchbowl called "The Tyler Palko Show." I was thinking this morning, what was worse - The New England game, getting blasted 34-3, or last night, having a chance to win with a minute left and losing 13-9? They're both gut wrenchingly bad, its just that the defense played much better against Rapistburger than they did against Brady.

9. On the way to work this morning I heard a Chiefs commercial. The commercial says something to the effect of "Make Arrowhead as difficult as possible on our opponents." I hate to tell the Chiefs PR wanks this, but of the 71,000 plus there last night, around half of those were Steeler fans. Of course, when your team has been in eight super bowls and won six of them, you're going to have a lot of fans. Being a Steeler fan in football is like being a Yankee fan in baseball: You know you're not going to have to wait around long for a championship season. Of course, Clark Hunt could care less whether the 71,000 fans wore red and gold or black and gold, as long as they had green, that's winning as he measures it. The Hunts are about business, not about football. Last night, in the eyes of Clark the Business Shark, business was good. Very good, indeed.

8. Back to Tyler Failco, AKA Tyler Picko, AKA Tyler Pittsko, AKA Tyler Callabaloo. Six picks and a fumble in two games is no way to go through life, son. Wrap your head around this for a minute: Last night's stat line for Palko: 18-28 for 64%, 167 yards, average pass completion approx 6 yards. Also three picks and a fumble lost. Zero TDs. Passer rating: 40.9. Palko vs. Detroit: One pass attempt, Zero completions, passer rating: 39.6. Now, measure that against Cassel's last start against Denver: 13-28 for 46%, 93 yards, average pass completion approx 3.5 yards. One TD, no picks, passer rating: 66.5. So except for Palko's obvious red/black color blindness problem, he's equal to or better than Cassel's last effort. Point is, had Cassel played, he would have been just as bad. Chiefs just would have punted three more times instead of handing the ball over on picks. Same result, drive stalls, ball turned over.

7. One final thing on Callabaloo: His performance was actually better than a former Chiefs first round draft pick. Yes, that's right. In 1985, Todd Blackledge (AKA Todd Sackledge) played a home game against the LA Rams, and the Chiefs lost 16-0. Sackledge threw six picks in that one game. Six picks...in one game. His stat line was 14-32 for 161 yards, almost identical to Palko's line last night, and Palko only had four turnovers. So, if you want to qualify disasters by saying "it could have been worse," I've actually seen worse. But not by much. Oh, and Blackledge's team finished the 1985 season 6-10, which is better than the 2011 Chiefs will finish.

6. I heard several post game interviews this morning. The ones with Kyle Orton were especially amusing. The Chiefs PR wanks have done a great job coaching him on media-speak. He was asked three different questions by three different reporters, all basically asking "Could you have played? Have you learned the offense? Is KC's offense that much different from Denver?" Orton gave the exact same answer to each question: "I'm just glad to be here. I'm trying to learn the offense as quickly as possible. I just want to help the team win." He said the exact same thing to the three questions almost word for word. Here's the scary thing: The Chiefs pick up Orton off the street. And he is, arguably, better than any QB the Chiefs started the season with. Let's look at 2010 lines: Cassel: 15 starts, 58% completion ratio, just over 3100 yards, 27 TDs, 7 picks, 2 fumbles lost. Orton: 13 starts, 59% completion ratio, just over 3650 yards (playing two fewer games than Cassel), 20 TDs, 9 picks, 1 fumble lost. So in playing two less games than Cassel, he threw for more than 500 more yards, had about the same amount of turnovers and a few less TDs. So both guys are basically the same guy. And we picked him up off the street. What does that say to depth at QB, the most important position on the team? Not much, Mr. Pioli.

5. Why did the Chiefs draft Stanzi? They must not think much of him. I have not watched the NBC broadcast yet -I'll watch it tonight when I get home from work- but I noticed at halftime Coach Haley was having a very spirited discussion with QB Coach Jim Zorn. He was jawing with Zorn pretty good, and kept looking over a Palko on the bench. I think Haley was seriously considering benching Palko in the second half, and Zorn talked him out of it. Since we kicked off, Pittsburgh got the ball first to start the second half. I think if we would have gotten the second half kickoff, Haley might have made the change. Stanzi was warming up more seriously during halftime then he did during pre-game. So I think the temptation was there to change, and Haley decided to stick with Palko. Turned out, bad choice.

4. I still can't get a hold on Coach Haley's game management. You fake a punt to continue a drive, then when you get fourth and two with seven minutes left on the Steeler 22 yard line, you lose your nerve, kick a field goal, and you're still down by four; hoping to get the ball back. The defense did get the ball back, but Palko proved to be worse in the two minute drill than normal game time. Either way, you need seven to tie. So why not go for it with seven minutes? If you fail, you give the Steelers a long field, and still have time to get the ball back and try again. Taking a field goal there does you no good. You just lose by four instead of seven. The Chiefs offense has failed to produce a TD in 41 straight possessions. That's staggeringly bad offense from a head coach who is supposed to be an offensive guru. Fail, fail, and more fail.

3. The defense played its best since the Oakland game. I think Pittsburgh came in thinking it just had to step on the field to win. DJ had nine tackles, Hali caused at least three holding penalties and was chasing Rapistburger all night long. Houston played well, as did Kendrick Lewis. The one Steeler TD drive was punctuated by several official calls that sustained the drive. Not activating "The Donald" Washington and having McGraw back helped the pass defense a lot. Steeler receivers were held pretty much in check save for the one TD by a backup tight end. The defense was on the field more than they should have been, yet they held up. Nothing but respect for them, they played hard and played to win. They just got zero help from the offense or special teams.

2. When Troy Head-n-Shoulders got knocked out, the Steeler run defense was compromised somewhat. Still, KC's longest run of the night was only nine yards. That's another big reason Palko was forced to throw so much, no real help from the ground game. That last two minute drill was its own special kind of cluster fuck. They mis-managed the clock before the two minute warning. Then Fat Albert gets dinged up, they put in Gaither The Human Speed Bump, who's only contribution to the evening is forgetting the snap count. They pull Gaither, put Fat Albert back in, Pittsburgh uses the interruption to re-set their defense. Then Callabaloo throws into triple coverage to end it. Was it mis-communication? Was Bowe supposed to go long and broke off his route? Who knows? And who cares, really. It just shows how important the QB-Receiver relationship is when its crunch time. These guys looked like they just met for the first time in the parking lot before the game. And if three guys are on Bowe, somebody has to be open somewhere else.

1. The season is toast. KC might steal a win against Chicago, or Oakland, or Denver, but for all practical purposes, it's all over. Coach Haley will not get fired. The front office will blame the whole year on injuries. They'll probably try to re-sign Orton, promise him a shot at starting, and go into next year with Cassel/Orton as the one-two QB lineup. Which will mean more of the same dink and dunk offense. Chiefs will draft a tackle, and talk about how excited they are to go into the year with Bowe, Baldwin, Moeacki, Charles and Dexter McNuthin. It will be business as usual. The most important thing to the front office is, season ticket renewals will go out this week. Nothing like putting millions of dollars in the bank and drawing interest on it for six months. And if you thought a stadium half full of Steeler Fans was bad, just wait until December 18th when the stadium is 3/4 full of Cheeseheads.

I loved readin your posts, but I have to comment on a few things.

6) Orton threw for more yards then Cassel because of the offense they ran in Denver. They were an air it out team while we were a running team. But yes, they are basically the same which is sad for us.

4) I don't disagree with the FG. With as bad as our offense is, you have to take any points you can get and hope for a miracle like a defensive or ST's TD. We haven't scored a TD in 41 straight possessions, why would that drive have been any different?

3)Love how their only TD came against Sabby who started the pregame ruckus last night. Classic. Overall though the defense was lights out and it shows again why we need to resign Carr.

1) I hope you are wrong about us stealing a win because at this time wins are pointless and only hurt our draft stock. I also hope you are wrong about us resigning Orton and having him and Cassel compete for the starting job next year.

[Agent V]

After the game, I heard someone on the radio (Gammon?) say, "We just need to wait for next year when we'll have Berry, Charles, Moeaki, and Cassel back." And, of course, Mitch agreed. I wanted to puke.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by tredadda

6) Orton threw for more yards then Cassel because of the offense they ran in Denver. They were an air it out team while we were a running team. But yes, they are basically the same which is sad for us.

Are people really this obtuse?

They ran that offense because Orton was capable of executing it.

Put Cassel in that offense, throwing to Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd, with a lackluster (26th) running game, and he wouldn't come close to Orton's production. The guy averaged 7.34 YPA. Had he played in all 16 games in 2010, he throws for 4,500 yards.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

Are people really this obtuse?

They ran that offense because Orton was capable of executing it.

Put Cassel in that offense, throwing to Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd, with a lackluster (26th) running game, and he wouldn't come close to Orton's production. The guy averaged 7.34 YPA. Had he played in all 16 games in 2010, he throws for 4,500 yards.

Put Orton in a Muir ran offense instead of a McDaniels ran offense and see if he puts up those numbers.

[Extra Point]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

Put Cassel in that offense, throwing to Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd, with a lackluster (26th) running game, and he wouldn't come close to Orton's production.

Cassel has Tennesse eyeballs/Okie Apparition

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I can't help but think, if they would have played Stanzi and he played well, then you have a "QB controversy." Quite a bit different than Denver, who gave Donk Jesus a shot, and now they're in the hunt for a division. I just think Pioli is so sold on the "Patriot Right 53" BS that he won't admit Cassel is a big mistake, and wants no distractions for Cassel's return next year. They've already flushed this year, now in their minds, they don't want to poison the well for next year. That's how I read it, anyway.

I disagree. If they thought Cassel was the answer, they would have rode out Palko and Stanzi and said... "see Cassel is clearly the best QB on the roster." The fact that they brought in Orton, to me, indicates that they want to see if Orton will do better than Cassel.

I don't think Pioli is married to Cassel anymore. What worries me is that Orton plays better than Cassel, and they assume that he is the answer. The good news is, even if Orton does well, I am positive they won't be as emotionally attached to him as they were with Cassel.

[Extra Point]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Put Orton in a Muir ran offense instead of a McDaniels ran offense and see if he puts up those numbers.

Grandpa gets real tired, looking at Haley's flowchart.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by tredadda

I loved readin your posts, but I have to comment on a few things.

6) Orton threw for more yards then Cassel because of the offense they ran in Denver. They were an air it out team while we were a running team. But yes, they are basically the same which is sad for us.

4) I don't disagree with the FG. With as bad as our offense is, you have to take any points you can get and hope for a miracle like a defensive or ST's TD. We haven't scored a TD in 41 straight possessions, why would that drive have been any different?

3)Love how their only TD came against Sabby who started the pregame ruckus last night. Classic. Overall though the defense was lights out and it shows again why we need to resign Carr.

1) I hope you are wrong about us stealing a win because at this time wins are pointless and only hurt our draft stock. I also hope you are wrong about us resigning Orton and having him and Cassel compete for the starting job next year.

Great post. I agree on point #4. Ever notice that Haley resorts to a lot more gimmicks and fakes and onsides when our team is at a serious talent disadvantage? He did it a ton in 2009. Didn't do it much in 2010 and early 2011. Is starting to do it again. I think he's clearly showing that he doesn't think a Palko-led team can win without a few lucky bounces. And I think he's right.

On #3, Piscitelli needs to be cut. It's hard to imagine you could do much worse than him in terms of talent, and his attitude sucks. Lose/lose. I'm really curious to see what becomes of Daniels. I really liked him as a nickel/dime back. Might make for a very good backup Safety.

On #6... terrific point. People claim Haley is a horizontal offense guy. I disagree. He wasn't in Arizona. I think he went horizontal because that's all Cassel could do (it's all he did in New England). It will be interesting to see what they do now that they have a guy who doesn't mind going vertical.

[Hammock Parties]

Saw you on TV, George.

[BigRock]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

4. I still can't get a hold on Coach Haley's game management. You fake a punt to continue a drive, then when you get fourth and two with seven minutes left on the Steeler 22 yard line, you lose your nerve, kick a field goal, and you're still down by four; hoping to get the ball back. The defense did get the ball back, but Palko proved to be worse in the two minute drill than normal game time. Either way, you need seven to tie. So why not go for it with seven minutes? If you fail, you give the Steelers a long field, and still have time to get the ball back and try again. Taking a field goal there does you no good. You just lose by four instead of seven.

But you don't need seven to tie either way. If you go for it and fail, you need seven to tie. If kick the FG, you need seven to win. Either way, if you don't get a TD, you lose. But one scenario involves winning right then and there, the other involves overtime and crossing your fingers.

I'm amazed at how many people are acting like that's a meaningless distiction.

And when the 4th down situation came up, and you're deciding which course of action would give you the best chance to win the game, what are your options?

A) Go for it on 4th down, convert it, ultimately score the TD, stop the Steelers defensively in a situation where the game is now tied and Ben Roethlisberger, one of the great clutch QBs of our time, is in a situation where he has to score points, get the ball back, drive into FG range, kick the game winner.

or

B) Kick the FG, stop the Steelers defensively in a situation where they're sitting on a lead and not as aggressive, get the ball back, go for a TD.

Haley chose option B. You can disagree, but I don't know how anyone can act like they can't wrap their mind around it.

[notorious]

I can think of nothing that would sting Denver worse than Orton winning a Superbowl with the Chiefs.



Since that's not going to happen.........

[cabletech94]

while palko did ultimately fail last night, i was glad not to see him not get a play off, screaming @ the sideline to Haley (ala casshole).
i've never understood the inability to get a play off in time (ala casshole).
palko did yell @ receivers on several accounts to be in the right formation. if there was any postive, that may have been it.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Gif Horse

Saw you on TV, George.

Is that really George? I remember him from last night.