OFFICIAL Debunking the Planet's Chiefs Myths Thread

[DaKCMan AP]

This thread is dedicated to educating and correcting some growing myths that are perpetuating throughout this BB.

1. We should have kept Lawrence Tynes!

Not even no, HELL NO! Some people have very short memories. Lawrence Tynes missed a 23yd FG in the playoffs. YOU CANNOT COUNT ON A KICKER WHO MISSES A 23 YARD FG IN THE PLAYOFFS. He also missed extra points. This preseason he is kicking a dismal 33% and may get cut by the Giants.

While Medlock hasn't been perfect (50% thus far through 3 preseason games), he has a big leg and a lot of talent. He'll get better, but there may be some growing pains. If you want a young kicker to develop, you've got to stick with him.

For instance, in Nate Kaedings rookie year he kicked 80%, which isn't bad but wouldn't have cracked the top-20 last year. Since, he's improved each year (87.5 in 2005 and 89.7 in 2006). Matt Stover kicked at 72% his first 3 years in the league. He's averaged 86% over the last 13 seasons.

2. We have the worst offensive line in the league!

Yes, we have been spoiled throughout the years with greats such as Dave Szott, Tim Grunhard, John Alt, Will Shields and Willie Roaf among others. Our line, while not spectacular, is still very solid. Don't let the preseason fool you. We are solid inside with Waters-Weigman-Welbourne. Outside we improve at both tackle positions with Turley and McIntosh. We have yet to see our starting offensive line play together along with Jason Dunn and a blocking FB. Save the hysteria until we see the real unit take the field.

There are several teams with lines worse than ours - Oakland, Miami, Houston, Green Bay, Buffalo, Arizona, Tampa and Detroit to name a few. For entertainment sake, here is an offensive line ranking from last season: http://www.nfl.com/goto?id=09000d5d80025d3e

Our line has improved from last season with the departure of I-65 and Sampson and the addition of McIntosh and moving Turley to RT.

3. Samie Parker will get cut!

Despite what goatcheese writes, Samie Parker will be a Chief during the 2007 season. The fact is that no other WR (Hannon, Webb, etc.) has stepped it up enough to take his job. Yes, Samie has the drops. Yes, many of us would like to see him go. However, it will not happen this year.

4. Damon "Downfield" Huard

For some reason many believe that Damon Huard cannot throw the long ball. Convinced, they are, that we are destined for a season of dump off passes in the flat, quick outs and 10 yard overthrown routes (since the furthest Damon can throw is 15yds, a 5 yard overthrow). None of these claims are true, however. Last season Damon Huard had the 9th longest completion in the NFL at 78 yards. In fact, in just 8 starts, Damon had 23 completions of 20+ yards and 5 of 40+.

5. We need to draft a Top-5 pick OT

This is absolute bullshit. A lot of top pick OTs don't pan out (see Robert Gallery, Mike Williams, Leonard Davis among others). Additionally we have a much greater need at QB than O-Line. We just signed McIntosh who can fill in at LT for a while. We should be able to sign a RT to take over for Turley in the offseason. As it stands now, our OLine is not that bad. Today we had a 4.5 ypc average. There were holes there for the running game. We also didn't yeild a single sack until after the game was 17-0. By then we were in obvious passing situations and no O-Line is going to stand up to that type of pressure. Brian Brohm, Colt McCoy, another WR or more D help? Fine. But a top-5 pick offensive lineman is not our #1 need. Even moreso because I don't think Jake Long is the answer.

More to come on an as-needed basis.