CoMoChief
03-14-2006, 05:32 PM
Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006
This was just bad football
JASON WHITLOCK
Well, Tim Seder can take comfort in the knowledge that Kansas City football fans dislike Carl Peterson much more than incompetent AFL kickers.
In the search for positives from Monday night’s Kansas City Brigade game against the Philadelphia Soul, that’s the best I could do: 15,000 Brigade fans unloaded most of their venom at the president/general manger of the Chiefs rather than the sad-sack Brigade.
Peterson had the misfortune of being introduced during a halftime ceremony honoring former Chief great and current Brigade minority owner Neil Smith. The Brigade retired Smith’s No. 90. Smith stood at midfield with his children, Soul minority owner and ESPN personality Ron Jaworski and Peterson.
When Smith thanked Peterson, Brigade fans rained boos on the Kansas City Chiefs’ Supreme Court Justice, the only professional sports GM with a lifetime appointment. To no avail, Smith pleaded with the fans to stop.
To be fair, Brigade fans had every reason to be in a foul mood. They’d just watched 30 minutes of embarrassing football from the home team. The Brigade trailed by 36 points at the break (48-12) and went on to lose for the sixth time in seven games by a score of 54-24.
Brigade fans were hostile from the opening series. They booed when the Brigade settled for a short field-goal attempt on their opening drive. Of course, Seder shanked it. Brigade head coach Kevin Porter was the only person in Kemper Arena surprised by Seder’s miss. Seder basically picked up right where he’d left off in the Brigade’s last game, the one in which he botched three extra points.
Quarterback Andy Kelly, the hero of KC’s 69-59 loss last week, followed Seder’s shank by tossing a pick-6 on Kansas City’s next possession. It was the beginning of what would turn into a four-pick, two-pick-6 night for Kelly.
As bad as Kelly was — and he was God-awful — he didn’t stink as bad as KC’s offensive line, and KC’s receivers matched Kelly’s horridness.
Philadelphia defensive tackle Ernest Allen collapsed the interior of KC’s offensive line repeatedly. (Carl, if you’re reading this, you might want to get a tape of Monday’s game and show it to Ryan Sims. He can get a head start on AFL techniques.) The Soul ruined KC’s third offensive possession with back-to-back sacks. Toss in the dropped passes from KC’s receivers, and the Brigade’s offensive unit was a total embarrassment.
By the time the Brigade trailed 20-0 and Kelly, who calls all the plays for KC, called a fullback dive on first and 10, Brigade fans were really hot. They booed like they’d unearthed Peterson’s latest five-year plan.
Have I mentioned yet that Kansas City’s defense was terrible, too?
The Brigade defensive linemen play with their hands tied to their sides. It’s very difficult to mount a consistent pass rush in a league that features three-step quarterback drops. The key to playing good Arena defense is batting balls around the line of scrimmage and taking away throwing lanes from the quarterback. You can’t do it unless you raise your hands.
You can’t pin all the blame for the Brigade’s ineptness on the fact they’re an expansion franchise. This isn’t the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joining the NFL. The Brigade acquired several players from the Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans franchise. They have experienced Arena League players, including Kelly, who has thrown for more AFL yards than any QB in the history of the league.
At one point while watching Monday’s nightmare, I considered writing about how Jeff George could save the Brigade. But he couldn’t. Oh, he’d light it up. He’d be a big improvement over Kelly.
But the problems with the Brigade run a little deeper than adding the most talented quarterback in football. The Brigade recently added a new majority owner — Chris Likens — and the franchise needs a bit of direction from the top. From its public-address announcer to its coaching — the announcer sounds like a high school kid and the QB needs to start speaking to the offensive coordinator — the Brigade need to upgrade to a professional level.
Seriously, Monday’s contest turned ugly late — two Brigade players got tossed for unnecessary roughness. The frustration of losing and the frustration of getting routed in two of their last three outings drove the players to silly, unprofessional behavior.
You get one chance to make a first impression. Unlike Carl Peterson, the Brigade might not get two decades to execute a five-year plan.
This was just bad football
JASON WHITLOCK
Well, Tim Seder can take comfort in the knowledge that Kansas City football fans dislike Carl Peterson much more than incompetent AFL kickers.
In the search for positives from Monday night’s Kansas City Brigade game against the Philadelphia Soul, that’s the best I could do: 15,000 Brigade fans unloaded most of their venom at the president/general manger of the Chiefs rather than the sad-sack Brigade.
Peterson had the misfortune of being introduced during a halftime ceremony honoring former Chief great and current Brigade minority owner Neil Smith. The Brigade retired Smith’s No. 90. Smith stood at midfield with his children, Soul minority owner and ESPN personality Ron Jaworski and Peterson.
When Smith thanked Peterson, Brigade fans rained boos on the Kansas City Chiefs’ Supreme Court Justice, the only professional sports GM with a lifetime appointment. To no avail, Smith pleaded with the fans to stop.
To be fair, Brigade fans had every reason to be in a foul mood. They’d just watched 30 minutes of embarrassing football from the home team. The Brigade trailed by 36 points at the break (48-12) and went on to lose for the sixth time in seven games by a score of 54-24.
Brigade fans were hostile from the opening series. They booed when the Brigade settled for a short field-goal attempt on their opening drive. Of course, Seder shanked it. Brigade head coach Kevin Porter was the only person in Kemper Arena surprised by Seder’s miss. Seder basically picked up right where he’d left off in the Brigade’s last game, the one in which he botched three extra points.
Quarterback Andy Kelly, the hero of KC’s 69-59 loss last week, followed Seder’s shank by tossing a pick-6 on Kansas City’s next possession. It was the beginning of what would turn into a four-pick, two-pick-6 night for Kelly.
As bad as Kelly was — and he was God-awful — he didn’t stink as bad as KC’s offensive line, and KC’s receivers matched Kelly’s horridness.
Philadelphia defensive tackle Ernest Allen collapsed the interior of KC’s offensive line repeatedly. (Carl, if you’re reading this, you might want to get a tape of Monday’s game and show it to Ryan Sims. He can get a head start on AFL techniques.) The Soul ruined KC’s third offensive possession with back-to-back sacks. Toss in the dropped passes from KC’s receivers, and the Brigade’s offensive unit was a total embarrassment.
By the time the Brigade trailed 20-0 and Kelly, who calls all the plays for KC, called a fullback dive on first and 10, Brigade fans were really hot. They booed like they’d unearthed Peterson’s latest five-year plan.
Have I mentioned yet that Kansas City’s defense was terrible, too?
The Brigade defensive linemen play with their hands tied to their sides. It’s very difficult to mount a consistent pass rush in a league that features three-step quarterback drops. The key to playing good Arena defense is batting balls around the line of scrimmage and taking away throwing lanes from the quarterback. You can’t do it unless you raise your hands.
You can’t pin all the blame for the Brigade’s ineptness on the fact they’re an expansion franchise. This isn’t the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joining the NFL. The Brigade acquired several players from the Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans franchise. They have experienced Arena League players, including Kelly, who has thrown for more AFL yards than any QB in the history of the league.
At one point while watching Monday’s nightmare, I considered writing about how Jeff George could save the Brigade. But he couldn’t. Oh, he’d light it up. He’d be a big improvement over Kelly.
But the problems with the Brigade run a little deeper than adding the most talented quarterback in football. The Brigade recently added a new majority owner — Chris Likens — and the franchise needs a bit of direction from the top. From its public-address announcer to its coaching — the announcer sounds like a high school kid and the QB needs to start speaking to the offensive coordinator — the Brigade need to upgrade to a professional level.
Seriously, Monday’s contest turned ugly late — two Brigade players got tossed for unnecessary roughness. The frustration of losing and the frustration of getting routed in two of their last three outings drove the players to silly, unprofessional behavior.
You get one chance to make a first impression. Unlike Carl Peterson, the Brigade might not get two decades to execute a five-year plan.