Whitlock: Blame Moe, Larry and Curly for this Chiefs mess

[Tribal Warfare]

Blame Moe, Larry and Curly for this Chiefs mess
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star

There’s no mystery here. Teams lacking an adequate amount of talent eventually collapse under the weight of trying to play perfectly.

Four days before Thanksgiving, inside two-thirds-full Arrowhead Stadium, the Buffalo Bills snapped the back of the Chiefs, thrashing and humiliating the home team 54-31.

There’s no reason to blame Tyler Thigpen, Glenn Dorsey, Tamba Hali or any of the nameless, faceless jerseys masquerading as starting NFL linebackers. It’s not their fault. They didn’t assemble this team.

Carl “Moe” Peterson, Herm “Larry” Edwards and Bill “Curly” Kuharich put together the worst team in Chiefs history, a squad with a two-year, 19-of-20 losing stretch.

For a solid month, the Chiefs feigned competitiveness by avoiding turnovers and penalties. Error-free football allowed the Chiefs to keep games close and fool some of us into believing they were making real progress.

Sunday, against a Buffalo team that had lost four straight, the disgusting truth reared its head like Putin staring down Sarah Palin’s lake house. The Chiefs jumped offside, picked up a personal foul, turned the ball over five times and played like the inexperienced, talent-deficient team they truly are.

The result was a franchise-record, 54-point meltdown that all but ensured Arrowhead will be less than half filled when the Dolphins and Chargers visit later this season.

It also ends the debate about whether the Chiefs are on the right path being blazed by Moe, Larry and Curly.

No way.

You could see in July that they had constructed a roster more capable of finishing 1-15 than 8-8. In fact, when I arrived at training camp, a Chiefs official told me that Herm should be praised if he took this team to a .500 finish.

I laughed out loud and said, “Herm should be coach of the year if this team wins four.”

I’m sure the Chiefs employee thought I was being flip. Allegedly, I’m prone toward bluster. I was dead serious. Without Jared Allen, the defense didn’t have a proven playmaker. On offense, I had no faith in Brodie Croyle, thought the QB depth chart was midmajor, assumed Larry Johnson wouldn’t handle the adversity and figured the offensive line would get exploited.

We have no reason to be surprised. The lone surprise of the season was Kansas City’s 33-19 trouncing of the Denver Broncos. Twenty years from now, football historians will still be trying to determine how these Chiefs won that game convincingly.

This team just isn’t built to win football games. It’s built to be $32 million under the salary cap while Arrowhead Stadium undergoes renovation. The season is a success. We’re getting exactly what Clark Hunt was willing to pay for and what Moe, Larry and Curly could conceive given their operating budget.

That in no way excuses Moe, Larry and Curly. They drafted Glenn Dorsey with the sixth overall pick. He has been completely ineffective. His rookie season has been far worse than Ryan Sims’ rookie season.

We knew the loss of Allen would destroy the Chiefs’ outside pass rush. The theory behind drafting Dorsey was that he would give Kansas City an inside push. He is supposed to disrupt the pocket from the inside. It just hasn’t happened.

Opposing quarterbacks don’t even need to wear a helmet and shoulder pads when playing the Chiefs. Bills coach Dick Jauron so enjoyed playing against KC’s front four that he left his struggling QB, Trent Edwards, in the game well into the fourth quarter just so Edwards could pad his passing stats.

“They kept throwing the football because they wanted to get their quarterback going,” Edwards acknowledged.

Kansas City’s defense is a confidence-builder for opposing quarterbacks. Runners, too. The Bills ran for 171 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry.

Dorsey hasn’t helped Kansas City’s run or pass defense.

This is a horrendously bad football team. Lucky for the Chiefs, they play in the equally horrendous AFC West. It’s going to be tough for the Chiefs to win just one more game this season. They get to play the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers again. The Chiefs also have a season-ending date with the Cincinnati Bengals. And the Dolphins are beatable.

Kansas City will win — in my estimation — two games down the stretch. But the inevitable victories will not excuse the game plan that put this roster together.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Extra Point

Cover-Blew defense. Can't Gunther be called Shemp in all this, too?

He's not even "Joe", the 2cnd Curly replacement.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by KCJohnny

I stand by it.

What about Jeff Terrell?
Kris Wilson as a feature back?

You exist on this forum only to show the bottom of the abyss when it comes to fan stupidity.

[chiefzilla1501]

I still don't understand why people are ripping on Kuharich. Not his fault that Peterson forced him to build a team entirely on draft picks. He was given no money to spend.

I think Kuharich is doing a good job. I can understand hatred for Peterson and Herm. Kuharich doesn't belong in this equation.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I still don't understand why people are ripping on Kuharich. Not his fault that Peterson forced him to build a team entirely on draft picks. He was given no money to spend.

I think Kuharich is doing a good job. I can understand hatred for Peterson and Herm. Kuharich doesn't belong in this equation.

He also hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt to stay around. When he's the top of the food chain when it comes to draft picks and you're selecting McBride and Pollard in the second round, something is amiss.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

He also hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt to stay around. When he's the top of the food chain when it comes to draft picks and you're selecting McBride and Pollard in the second round, something is amiss.

But you're picking and choosing. I would bet his draft record the past 2 years has been as good if not better than most in the league. His second round picks weren't stellar, but what about his ability to draft in the second day where there is huge bust potential?

The only difference is, if a 2nd round pick in New England busts, nobody notices or cares because the team has so much talent that mistakes are hidden. It's a sad state of affairs when a team demands that 2nd round picks be very good starters. I don't think McBride was a reach. I think he's very good quality depth, which is what most teams hope and expect out of a 2nd round pick.

The draft only carries one guarantee (first round) and you can only hope to get 1, 2, or 3 more quality starters, if you're lucky. While he may have whiffed on McBride, he hit a home run on Bowe, Albert, Carr, Flowers, Charles, skimmed the junk pile to find Mark Bradley, Connor Barth, Tyler Thigpen, and Mike Cox, and hit a pretty good shot on Page, Turk, and Tank.

Personnel decisions are not the problem in KC. Nor do I think are roster decisions. The problem is poor X's and O's that aren't using our talent correctly, poor motivation of our defensive players, poor gameday decisions, and the fact that this roster was so beat-up that we are asking second day draft picks to start. Never has a personnel guy like Kuharich been asked to do so much with so little. Peterson didn't give him ANY money to spend. And he left him with a roster full of old farts and a bunch of complete reject players. And he expected to fill a 53-man roster with that sad sack of misfits?

Not everyone in KC's front office deserves to go. Kuharich and Cook have done their job. A good chunk of everyone else can take a hike.

[ChiefsCountry]

Just clean the whole damn house let the new guy bring in his own people. Dont try to fit puzzle pieces that dont fit.

[CoMoChief]

We need Eric Hicks, its that simple.

[Papi]

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Kansas City will win — in my estimation — two games down the stretch. But the inevitable victories will not excuse the game plan that put this roster together.

This is the part that jumped out at me the most and no one has commented on it! We might just sneak past the Raiders but the safe money is against the Chiefs the rest of the season

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

But you're picking and choosing. I would bet his draft record the past 2 years has been as good if not better than most in the league. His second round picks weren't stellar, but what about his ability to draft in the second day where there is huge bust potential?

The only difference is, if a 2nd round pick in New England busts, nobody notices or cares because the team has so much talent that mistakes are hidden. It's a sad state of affairs when a team demands that 2nd round picks be very good starters. I don't think McBride was a reach. I think he's very good quality depth, which is what most teams hope and expect out of a 2nd round pick.
The draft only carries one guarantee (first round) and you can only hope to get 1, 2, or 3 more quality starters, if you're lucky. While he may have whiffed on McBride, he hit a home run on Bowe, Albert, Carr, Flowers, Charles, skimmed the junk pile to find Mark Bradley, Connor Barth, Tyler Thigpen, and Mike Cox, and hit a pretty good shot on Page, Turk, and Tank.

Personnel decisions are not the problem in KC. Nor do I think are roster decisions. The problem is poor X's and O's that aren't using our talent correctly, poor motivation of our defensive players, poor gameday decisions, and the fact that this roster was so beat-up that we are asking second day draft picks to start. Never has a personnel guy like Kuharich been asked to do so much with so little. Peterson didn't give him ANY money to spend. And he left him with a roster full of old farts and a bunch of complete reject players. And he expected to fill a 53-man roster with that sad sack of misfits?

Not everyone in KC's front office deserves to go. Kuharich and Cook have done their job. A good chunk of everyone else can take a hike.

That is not even close to being accurate. Teams had better expect quality starters from the second round. Or is your stance that all 22 starters should come out of the first round? Teams have to get starters out of second and third round guys or they are going to end up 1-10 with Herman ****ing Edwards running the show.

[Mecca]

Turk McBride is a complete scrub, he's an oversized end with no pass rush, if someone can tell me how that contributes to a defense other than a backup that plays 15 snaps a game in certain run downs I'd love to know.

[The Bad Guy]

Chiefzilla,

Please stop posting. Every post shows how much of a complete idiot you are.

Turk McBride a good player? Since ****ing when? Teams get quality starters out of 2nd round picks. You get depth in the 4th, 5th and 6th rounds.

Turk McBride is a fringe player on most 53-man rosters.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Turk McBride is a complete scrub, he's an oversized end with no pass rush, if someone can tell me how that contributes to a defense other than a backup that plays 15 snaps a game in certain run downs I'd love to know.

Backup rush DT.

[The Bad Guy]

You know what Turk McBride is good at?

Hitting the QB about 30 seconds after he releases the ball.

[bobbything]

I love how one of the excuses for Dorsey's lack of effectiveness is that he "just needs to learn proper technique." It's great to hear that a 1st round draft pick, in (probably) 15 years of playing football, still hasn't mastered that pesky thing called "technique" that oh-so many players at this level lack.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

You know what Turk McBride is good at?

Hitting the QB about 30 seconds after he releases the ball.

I was about to say, I love having a player on the team that gets more roughing the passer penalties than sacks.