Kerberos
11-26-2007, 07:13 AM
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/11/26/gretz_that_was_painful/
There is no denying it now. The Chiefs free fall continued Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. They lost their fourth in a row.
And they may not be done.
At various times, parts of the Chiefs clicked against Oakland. But in crunch time, with the game one the line, with the pressure of a three-game losing streak and fading dreams of the playoffs, the Chiefs could not produce on offense, defense or special teams. Raiders 20, Chiefs 17.
Here’s how ugly this loss was for the Chiefs. Oakland had lost 17 straight games in the AFC West, nine straight games to the Chiefs and six straight games this season.
They ended all that misery and put a smile on the crinkled face of Al Davis by pounding the Chiefs defense with their running game, stopping the Chiefs passing game and putting the outcome on the foot of Kansas City’s place kicker.
Right now, that spells doom for the Chiefs. Dave Rayner is not the answer and he continues to prove it week after week. When you are going to play the type of football the Chiefs are playing right now, then they must be able to rely on their kicker to make field goals, especially three-pointers inside the 40-yard line.
Rayner can’t get it done. His missed 33-yarder was the game’s turning point. Instead of giving the Chiefs a touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, the Raiders took the ball and shoved it down the defense’s throat, scoring a touchdown on a drive that needed just three plays and covered 77 yards.
That 10-point swing decided the game, because when the Chiefs got back into field goal range, Herm Edwards decided to go for a fourth-and-one play, rather than kick the field goal. Who could blame him?
Right now, Rayner is 15 of 22 on the season. That’s 68.2 percent. He needs to be above 80 percent. He’s only 10 of 13 inside the 40-yard line, or 77 percent. He should be 90 percent. And, in the midst of this losing streak, he’s made just two of his last six field goals, that’s 33 percent.
This comes despite a great deal of work and coaching with the young man. But it doesn’t seem to be working. He’s automatic in that nearly every kick he misses goes left. He’s a golfer with a hook and cannot correct the problem, even with work on the practice tee. All that should earn him a handshake and a ticket down the road.
There will be plenty of others joining him on that trip out of town when this season comes to a completion. That becomes more and more evident each week as the Chiefs try to overcome their deficiencies and give their young players a chance to learn their way.
Most disappointing Sunday was the play of the defense. After a top notch effort against Indianapolis last week, where they shutdown the Colts running game and befuddled Peyton Manning all day, they got stomped by the Raiders, with Justin Fargas running for 139 yards, or 6.3 yards per carry.
Right now, the Chiefs need to simply win a game. Forget the post-season; to be a serious contender, they would have to win all five of their remaining games. When have they shown the ability to do that?
But here’s one thing that should provide Chiefs fans hope. There are already numerous young players contributing to this team, and doing it in important and big ways.
In the last two years, they’ve added Tamba Hali, Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page, Dwayne Bowe and Brodie Croyle in the draft. To that group we can now add Kolby Smith, who in his first NFL start ran for 150 yards on 31 carries and a pair of touchdown. He did that with the Chiefs struggling offensive line providing the blocking.
Along with a host of other young players who are making contributions as backups or on special teams, the Chiefs are adding talent. Sunday’s game against Oakland showed again that there’s a lot more talent that needs to be added to get this roster turned around.
There is no denying it now. The Chiefs free fall continued Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. They lost their fourth in a row.
And they may not be done.
At various times, parts of the Chiefs clicked against Oakland. But in crunch time, with the game one the line, with the pressure of a three-game losing streak and fading dreams of the playoffs, the Chiefs could not produce on offense, defense or special teams. Raiders 20, Chiefs 17.
Here’s how ugly this loss was for the Chiefs. Oakland had lost 17 straight games in the AFC West, nine straight games to the Chiefs and six straight games this season.
They ended all that misery and put a smile on the crinkled face of Al Davis by pounding the Chiefs defense with their running game, stopping the Chiefs passing game and putting the outcome on the foot of Kansas City’s place kicker.
Right now, that spells doom for the Chiefs. Dave Rayner is not the answer and he continues to prove it week after week. When you are going to play the type of football the Chiefs are playing right now, then they must be able to rely on their kicker to make field goals, especially three-pointers inside the 40-yard line.
Rayner can’t get it done. His missed 33-yarder was the game’s turning point. Instead of giving the Chiefs a touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, the Raiders took the ball and shoved it down the defense’s throat, scoring a touchdown on a drive that needed just three plays and covered 77 yards.
That 10-point swing decided the game, because when the Chiefs got back into field goal range, Herm Edwards decided to go for a fourth-and-one play, rather than kick the field goal. Who could blame him?
Right now, Rayner is 15 of 22 on the season. That’s 68.2 percent. He needs to be above 80 percent. He’s only 10 of 13 inside the 40-yard line, or 77 percent. He should be 90 percent. And, in the midst of this losing streak, he’s made just two of his last six field goals, that’s 33 percent.
This comes despite a great deal of work and coaching with the young man. But it doesn’t seem to be working. He’s automatic in that nearly every kick he misses goes left. He’s a golfer with a hook and cannot correct the problem, even with work on the practice tee. All that should earn him a handshake and a ticket down the road.
There will be plenty of others joining him on that trip out of town when this season comes to a completion. That becomes more and more evident each week as the Chiefs try to overcome their deficiencies and give their young players a chance to learn their way.
Most disappointing Sunday was the play of the defense. After a top notch effort against Indianapolis last week, where they shutdown the Colts running game and befuddled Peyton Manning all day, they got stomped by the Raiders, with Justin Fargas running for 139 yards, or 6.3 yards per carry.
Right now, the Chiefs need to simply win a game. Forget the post-season; to be a serious contender, they would have to win all five of their remaining games. When have they shown the ability to do that?
But here’s one thing that should provide Chiefs fans hope. There are already numerous young players contributing to this team, and doing it in important and big ways.
In the last two years, they’ve added Tamba Hali, Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page, Dwayne Bowe and Brodie Croyle in the draft. To that group we can now add Kolby Smith, who in his first NFL start ran for 150 yards on 31 carries and a pair of touchdown. He did that with the Chiefs struggling offensive line providing the blocking.
Along with a host of other young players who are making contributions as backups or on special teams, the Chiefs are adding talent. Sunday’s game against Oakland showed again that there’s a lot more talent that needs to be added to get this roster turned around.