If the Chiefs had Rivers they'd be a playoff team lol.

Yet even after a great win, on the same night even, a thread that had nothing to do with Cassel turns into a Cassel bash-fest. We get it guys. He isn't very good. But God damn, we won the ****ing game against the Chargers. Enjoy it for a few hours, will ya?

We didn't really shut down their running game. We had a 2 TD lead at halftime, so they were playing from behind. We did a better job, I'm not saying we didn't, especially compared to recent KC defenses, but in the end Mathews only carried the ball 19 times, although he still racked up 75 yards (that's just a hair under 4.0 ypc).

Not that 3.8 ypc for the game isn't a good thing, and they weren't too far over 100 yards for the day, but I don't think I'd go so far as to characterize it as dominant...

But it was a very encouraging (and I think very important) sign of improvement.

I don't think that's funny, I think its very true.

Along with at least 10 other quarterbacks.

LOL do you think its a coincidence that they are playing the Stanford game on ESPN right now?

1. Crennel
- Johnson, Dorsey, Jackson, Smith all jumped off the page tonight. Vrabel took control in the fourth and called a near perfect game. Belcher was totally solid for an undersized small college player making his fifth NFL start. Everyone wrapped people up. The defense converged on the ball carrier, and even though there were some missed tackles, especially in the fourth quarter (it was wet and Rivers was hitting guys in stride at most points in the sub 8 minute mark), our defensive guys were filling up the lanes, knocking down passes and had a lot of chances at big plays. And these are the same guys from last year who sucked dog balls. That's on the coordinator. Crennel came up huge.

2. Scott Pioli
- Guy was hammered here for his shitty drafts and horrible personnel changes. Me being one of the hammers. However, his '10 draft class, as far as the first game of the season goes, did okay. Okay, better than okay. And getting Weigmann back and signing Lilja was excellent, even though both guys wanted to come back to Kansas City and it wouldn't have mattered who was the GM in terms of getting two quality OL guys on this team. It happened under Pioli's watch, so he gets the credit.

3. Todd Haley
- No meltdowns. No obvious berserk tirades. His team won, beat a division rival in the process (a division rival who has won the past four division titles and who has beaten the Chiefs like a drum over the past five years). He's the coach, the team won. Kudos you berserk, mean ass ****er.

4. Derrick Johnson
- That was the guy we have been waiting for for six seasons. Sure, he's had his moments, but he was completely solid all game long and played hard every single quarter. Welcome to the NFL Mr. Johnson.

5. Shawn Smith
- We all complained about a lack of a quality NT, and decided to overlook/ignore the signing of a guy who was, at one point, considered one of the better nose tackles in the NFL. The guy generated a push up the middle nearly every time he was in holding two blockers in the process. Dorsey and Jackson looked like near studs playing next to a legitimate 3-4 NT.

6. Javier Arenas
- If he could have held onto the gimmee interception in the fourth quarter, he would be at #1. His return abilities are amazing and give the Chiefs 15 more yards of field position over last season. And he didn't embarrass at the nickle, which was a source of tragedy last season.

7. Tony Moeaki
- The guy goes from the gurney to the end zone. If he seals a corner as well as BossChief says, he's okay in my book. He caught a TD and didn't have his leg fall off in the process. That's huge.

8. Casey Weigmann
- Welcome home Casey. You were the lynchpin for what might have been the best offensive line in the history of the NFL and you showed that in your late 30's you can still kick ass and hold your own. That's stud material.

9. Dexter McCluster
- Touchdown in your first NFL game. Made the Chargers play catchup and worry about you all game long.

10. Matt Cassel
- You credited the defense with the win in your post game interview. You threw for 60 something yards and still won the game. You didn't die or throw 64 interceptions. Phil Rivers, not you, hit the crossbar on a pass. That's top ten in my book.

dude, read the op I wrote. Forgive me for enjoying the good while not turning a blind eye to the elephant in the room.

As opposed to the last 10 years of run defense this team has fielded, this was god mode run defense.

I think Shaun Smith isnt getting enough credit either. Dude played very well tonight.

In english please.

I absolutely love this dude. He needs more touches, in better spots. If you don't want him carrying the ball, that's fine, but we need to find a way to get him the ball at for 25% of our total snaps.

He and TJ both played like they were possessed. Held their ground all night. Yes, SD got a few decent runs passed our front 7, but that's going to happen. Overall, they were holding both RBs to < 3 yards consistently. That play on Sproles in the backfield was nothing short of spectacular.

Player of the game, IMO. DJ ran people down all day, was great in coverage, was a tackle machine, and basically gift wrapped a touchdown for our offense. He took one of the few times that SD was able to open a decent hole for their rookie (which could have been a backbreaking run against a defense that hadn't quite gotten it's legs under it) and turned it into a positive for his defense. And after tonight, I'm under the impression that this IS DJs defense. He might be growing into one of those middle linebackers that makes the rest of the defense play better around him. :)

He also got some pressure on the quarterback and drove his man backwards a LOT. Not to mention taking up blockers to free up DJ. He also scraped the line several times to keep runs from breaking outside. His first tackle, he made while still engaged with the blocker and being held, just reached out with his left hand and brought the dude down. I was mega impressed with his play. Can't wait to go back and watch the tape.

Honestly, I couldn't see him most of the time. I did notice him calling out defensive line audibles and switches, which is AWESOME. We've needed a good leader in the middle of that line. But once the ball was snapped, he just seemed engulfed in people of both teams and usually the ball carrier was brought down. Until I see the tape and some replays, I'll hold off judgement.

Overall, he seemed to have a good game. Didn't have a TON of catches, but the touchdown was great (although pretty easy, since everybody bit on the fake) and there was a drive in the 4th quarter where he got up and caught a nice out route. Best ball Cassel threw all day, and it was shades of Tony G how he squared his shoulders and jumped to grab the ball. Lets hope he takes this decent game and gets even better.

He really looked lost a couple of times in his zones, but the guy is just a STUD with the ball in his hands. I'm not opposed to him getting some offensive touches at some point. It's a shame Studebaker didn't lay that block on his long return. Scifres made a great tackle, but #96 was there and should have leveled him, giving Arenas a walk in TD.

Agreed. It was hard to really evaluate who and why those zones were breaking down late in the game, but when he was matched up, man to man, he did show that he had the ability to make a play on the ball and overall, I'd venture a "pre-look-at-the-film" guess that he did a great job over the course of the game.

Dexter also needs more touches. Period. The little WR screens and half assed draws aren't taking full advantage of his skills. There was one end-around that I just WISHED we'd have given him. He would have been GONE. As far as the punt return goes... GREAT job, and made my night. But next time, lets not field those booming kicks at the 5, okay?

Not sure I can say this, for sure. Again, we won and I don't want to rain (so to speak) on the parade, but the Chiefs were a tale of two cities tonight. Fortunately, we played as good as we had to, when we had to the most. But we were soundly beaten in most categories. Our offense needs to be smarter and sharper and cut into defenses with our best weapons in places where they're most vulnerable. We didn't show an ability to really do that tonight. On defense though, we dictated the pace of the game by really dampening their rush attack and putting just enough pressure on Rivers that he just never could really get a rhythm going. The crowd, a few hits on the qb, some great coverage down field at key times, Derrick Johnson stripping a football, and a HUGE night for special teams helped us overcome a general lack of good football on the other side of the ball.

This.

Belcher is going to be our London Fletcher. Leads the league every year in tackles (or close to it), but never gets to the pro bowl.

Everyone should realize that Belcher is only a second year player out of small school Maine. The guy is very instinctive and plays hard as nails every down. He impresses the shit out of me. His stand up tackle of the fullback took the wind out of San Diego's sails on that last drive. Like I said, he's only going to get better as the year progresses, and God knows we've needed a decent MLB for a long, long time.

Credit to Clark Hunt

It's hard to have a pocket presence when both of your offensive tackles might be the worst at their position in the entire NFL. There ain't much of a pocket to have a presence in at that point.

How about some love for something else we haven't seen in KC for awhile...the 12th man!! Arrowhead was rockin and it caused some confusion on their side multiple times. Was great to see the atmosphere starting to return to that place.

Believe it or just, they just about did. There were 49 Chiefs plays and he had 12 touches.

give this shit a rest already.

Richardson is junk IMO and always will be. He doesnt have the mind of a guy that always knows who to block...but Albert didnt have a bad game and is FAR from the worst at his position in the NFL.

They should spend a 3rd-5th on a RT, but nothing higher.

We will need a starter opposite Bowe, another pass rusher, a quarterback and a young nose guard to groom under Romeo before we even think about drafting a OL in the first two rounds again.

Richardson was up and down (and when he was down, it was really down), but I didn't notice Albert at all, which means he was probably fine. I don't think we have any issues at LT.

Still too much pressure from the right and in my opinion up the middle.