Michael Ash discusses expectations, Derrick Johnson and thanksgiving...
 

http://kan.scout.com/2/923799.html

It’s amazing how one win can suddenly change expectations.

A week ago, we were looking ahead to late-season contests with the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns, hoping the Chiefs would be able to scrape together an additional win or two by the end of the season.

But now?

If the Chiefs don’t win both those games, it will be disappointing. Heck, if they can’t beat the Denver Broncos next week, it’ll feel like something of a letdown. That’s the kind of boost a victory over the defending Super Bowl champions can provide. In a season where winning four games once seemed like too tall a task, that number no longer seems like enough.

After all, if the Chiefs are capable of beating the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers, why can’t they rack up another two or three wins before it’s all said and done?

Of course, it’s easy to get carried away with those sorts of thoughts in the aftermath of the win. But after Sunday’s game with the Chargers, things might not look quite as rosy.

After their usual early-season slumber, San Diego has now won five straight, including last month’s 30-point demolishing of the Chiefs inside Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers have the potential to wipe away the sweetness of last week’s victory by putting a sour taste in all our mouths.

We should remember what that feels like. Last year, the Chiefs earned their biggest win of the season – the 33-19 “let’s build on this” victory over the then-unbeaten Broncos – and then followed it up with a humiliating 34-0 road loss to Carolina. Any hope that actual progress was being made quickly gave way to the cold sting of reality.

With two straight wins and a victory over the Steelers, there’s no question this year’s Chiefs have made some degree of progress. How much of it they’ve made will be clearer after their second game with the Chargers.


For Derrick Johnson, Sunday’s game with Pittsburgh was his entire career in a nutshell.

Twelve weeks into the NFL season, there are Chiefs fans who still believe Johnson’s demotion is some kind of head game by Todd Haley. They simply can’t fathom that the former first-round pick isn’t one of the two best inside linebackers on the team. His performance Sunday should have cleared all that up.

Though it was ultimately erased by a penalty, Johnson made one of the game’s more spectacular plays with his leaping sack of Ben Roethlisberger. However, he spent most of the afternoon whiffing on tackles, including one particularly bad miss during overtime.

With the Steelers facing 2nd and 10 on the Chiefs’ 43-yard line, they called an outside run with Rashard Mendenhall that the Chiefs’ defense appeared to have bottled up. Unfortunately, Johnson over-pursued the play and provided Mendenhall with a cut-back lane.

As Johnson extended his arm in a fruitless attempt at making the tackle, Mendenhall charged past him and picked up eight yards, moving the Steelers into field-goal range.

Thanks to a great play by Jovan Belcher, Pittsburgh moved backwards on the next play and opted to punt the ball away. But had that negative play not occurred, the eight-yard run Johnson single-handedly allowed might have cost the Chiefs the game.

A vast collection of errors and forgettable performances peppered by a handful of dynamic, highly-athletic plays summarizes Johnson’s pro career. He’s never managed to put things together for an entire season, but always manages to make two or three plays that are flashy enough to make us ignore the games where he disappears while we hope that he’s finally getting it all figured out.

The Chiefs could do worse than having Johnson around as a backup. But even if they attempted to re-sign him, he’d be crazy to take a modest contract extension in Kansas City when there are surely a few teams willing to throw starter money at him.

With as much playing time as Johnson saw Sunday, he might have had the opportunity to force himself into the team’s future plans. Instead, he only showed why he’s likely to be gone next season.


Looking for things to be thankful for this year?

Be thankful for Tony Gonzalez’s misery.

That’s harsh, but as we all know, the worse Atlanta does this year, the higher the Chiefs will pick with the draft choice they obtained for Gonzalez. The Falcons are currently on the outside of the NFC playoff picture at 5-5. That translates to the Chiefs having the 16th pick of the second round, giving them three of the draft’s first 48 picks.

Atlanta still has three or four more winnable games on their schedule, so it’s unlikely the Chiefs will actually be picking that early. Still, since Atlanta was thought to be a serious contender this season, it’s going to end up being a higher pick than anyone expected when the Gonzalez trade was announced.


Be thankful that Scott Pioli didn’t trade for Richard Seymour or Braylon Edwards.

Do you remember all the complaining and hand-wringing amongst Chiefs fans when the Seymour-to-Oakland and Edwards-to-New York deals were announced? How are those trades looking at the moment?

Seymour, who cost the Raiders a future first-round pick, has four sacks this season as a starter. Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ Wallace Gilberry – who, prior to the season, no one envisioned would play a significant role – has 3.5 sacks as a backup to Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey.

Then we have Edwards, who not only cost the Jets two draft picks, but two players. In six games with his new team, he has 281 yards and two touchdowns. Bobby Wade, who the Chiefs signed off the street, has 243 yards and two touchdowns in seven games with the Chiefs. Better yet, Chris Chambers – who also cost the Chiefs nothing – has 249 yards and three touchdowns in only three games with Kansas City.

None of this is to suggest that Seymour and Edwards aren’t talented players, of course. But to this point, the Chiefs have managed to match their production without losing a single draft pick.

Towards the end of the game the Chiefs made a tackle and was laying on the ground, not moving. DJ came in over estimated the distance and missed the pile.

A pretty good article! It truly is funny what a win will do for you...suddenly everything and everyone isn't so bad after all.

I would like to see Chambers re-signed to a two year deal. He and Bowe would be a decent combo for the next 2 years IMO. A threat in the slot and a pass catchin TE to go with Pope would be great in later rounds as well.
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I think Long will grow into that threat in the slot.

You may be correct, but I would rather have a slot guy initially that could blossom into a starter opposite Bowe in a couple of seasons...I don't envision that for Lance Long.
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Did Edwards turn back into the Browns' Braylon Edwards?

It's a point to keep in mind. Will Chambers turn back into the Chargers' Chambers?

His take on DJ is dead on and I am amazed there are still people here who cant grasp it.

egad!! i really like DJ too. he has a lot of skill but i admit he isnt helping himself. DAMN it DJ!!

i don't think there are many, or atleast can you point out some people who still think DJ is good. We now have some talent up front and it exposes DJ more and more now that he has space to make plays. GC has the vids to prove it

Prior to Sunday's game there were many people screaming Haley was an idiot for benching him and DJ should be playing because he was our best LB.

I was a DJ fan and thought he would improve this year with some different coaching. While other players have been coached up, Hali, Studebaker, Dorsey, etc...same old DJ.

DJ has all the physical tools to be a great LB, but he's just reeruned.

I'd kinda feel sorry for TG, but it would be funny if the Falcons and Chiefs both finished 6-10.

I still think 4-5 wins will be a fairly successful season. I've said this since July.
I too was one of those fans thinking not starting DJ was a head game by Haley...
Not anymore
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it's good to see yet another writer using CPlanet for his source material.





we should get royalties or something

I just finished rewatching the game on TiVo. I pretty much just watched the offensive plays to focus on the offensive line. I'm most definately no offensive line guru, but it looked to me like Smith at RG was by far our best O-lineman last week. Albert and O'Callaghan were just average at best in pass blocking, but decent in the run blocking game. Waters was overpowered quite a bit in pass blocking. Same for Rudy. When all five of them gave Cassel time, Cassel was pretty darn good. But on most of the pass plays at least one of the 4 not named Smith was overpowered back into Cassel.

Three upgrades on the O-line at least seem to be in order. C, LG, and one of the tackle spots.

Center is by far our biggest need on the offensive line right now.

Wade and Alleman are both upgrades over Goff ... Alleman can't stay healthy.

Waters is just about done ... Maybe 1 more season.

both O'callaghan and Albert struggle with quickness and it makes you immediately think about moving both inside to guard and just grabbing 2 new OT's.

LOT - new
LG - Albert
Center - Wade
RG - O'callaghan
ROT - new

It wouldn't be a pulling type Oline but they could be a decent power line ... i dunno.

I am super-stoked about last week's win. I think the good thing was they finally won two in a row (and the second one against a good team) and that will do a LOT for the team's morale. But I am not going into the SD game thinking we are gonna wipe up Qualcomm with the Chargers. Not by any stretch. I think the article's harken back to the DEN/CAR weeks might be a scary premonition.

Chiefs played a hard-fought game last week, but the offense only had 46 total yds by the end of the first half. And we had to force many takeovers to win. we got 10 points from the runback TD and the STUDebaker INT.

Did PIT give us that game? Maybe. More like they put it out there and we took it. But I don't think we're gonna win the next four games. We'd be lucky to win two of them.

I am glad we are improving and seeing what we're made of in a good way rather than a crap way. And while I will relish the DJ "sackle over the tackle" for a long time, I think he is not starter material. He makes a big play once a game and whiffs most of the rest of the time.

I was actually wondering about both OT's moving inside. I know Milkman and the gang are going to give Albert the benifit of losing weight and all, but he flat got beat time after time pass blocking. He did a nice job run blocking though.

I don't expect us to win the next four either. But I don't think we will necessarily have to be lucky to win two. I think two is very doable. It may not be pretty in those two, but I don't think we will have to have a lot of luck to beat Buffalo or Cleveland.

i think moving them inside and grabbing 1 OT in FA and 1 in the Draft might be the quickest way to turn the line around.

Albert and O'callaghan are average at OT but i imagine they could be well above average at guard.

So we'll need luck to beat Buffalo and Cleveland?

This draft isn't going to look real sexy. And to be honest I'm fine with that as long as we go BPA, BPA, BPA. Other than QB and Flowers this team needs EVERYTHING! No sacred cows anywhere with this bunch. The only way my head explodes on draft day is if I hear "with the number nine overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft the Kansas City Chiefs select QB......"
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This article is fantastic and as noted by others, I don't think a lot of Chief fans actually WATCH what goes on on the field. Derrick Johnson has been an inconsistent player since he was drafted.

IT'S NOT THE COACHING STAFF

IT'S NOT THE SCHEME

He's just an inconsistent player. Who gives a shit what he did at Texas, this isn't the big 12. He's just not that great, and he never will be. And he's not going to go someplace else and become some pro bowl/all pro player. He doesn't have the make up to be that kind of player. He doesn't. He isn't a great tackler, he doesn't have great instincts and doesn't even take good angles to the ball carrier.

I have never gotten why some fans here think this guy is one of the best linebackers on the roster. Draft status? That's years ago now. He is what he is, an inconsistent player even on his best days. He'll be gone after this season and hopefully Belcher will move into the starting line up soon and we'll grab someone this offseason to replace Vrabel or at least push he and Studebaker for playing time/starting time.

Good read by Ash, short & to the point.

He's right about last week raising the expectation bar & i dont see why we shouldnt be able to get another 2-3... if we can beat the Steelers, we should be able to do that. Win or lose Sunday, i cant imagine us getting humiliated like v. Carolina, this isnt Herms team anymore... this crew will give better effort for 4 quarters. My $ says Haley will keep them focused.

DJ - God bless the guy, i honestly think he's doing everything asked of him to the best of his ability, i think he wants to be 'The Guy' here but just isnt able to fully grasp the mental requirements. I gave up on the 'Haleys just playing head games' idea a few weeks ago, if mind ****'s havent worked by now... they never will. I hope DJ finds success at his next stop.

I've been more ambivelant about Big Money Free Agents this year than ever & it didnt twist my drawers in a knot at all that we didnt grab Edwards & Seymour. Jumping in up to our necks with a bunch of expensive older guys right off the bat in a new administration, on a rebuilding team, just didnt seem like a good 'Big Picture' move.

Cant wait for this draft & free agency periods, i think it'll be a much more exciting go this time.

Yeah we got a lot of money to spend and I am curious to see what Pioli is going to do with it.

ROFL funny I was thinking the exact same thing. Most of these points have been covered on here.

i don't remember any of us whining about Seymour

Yeah, he's not comparing apples to apples. Edwards isn't 900. The Chiefs have a more stable QB situation (of late).

If Edwards came here with our coach and QB, he may have lit the world on fire.
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I think rejoicing and laughing at the compensation was what I recall.

The Chiefs won a lot of games in the 90s, then Tony was drafted, and the overall decline of the Chiefs started in earnest.

Tony is traded to a young ascending team with fairly high expectations for this season, and suddenly that team seems to be backstepping.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Elaborate. So far it seems just like coincidence to me.

I've talked about this a number of times in the past, Coogs.

In school, watching Albert, I saw a kid with some of the quickest feet I'd ever seen.

In Eugene Monroe's second or third start after taking over for for D'Brickashaw Fergurson, he was beaten around the corner by the RDE and Albert, who was doubling down on the DT saw it, and quickly and fluidly glided back and knocked the DE on his ass.

In space he was as graceful and smooth as anyone I'd seen.

In watching the combines, he and Ryan Clady were far more fluid than any of the O-Linemen.

The problem is, when you drop 25 lbs in a short time, you become a little awkward, being unused to moving that substantially lesser weight around.

Add to the fact that he was concentrating more on techniqe, and he became easier to push.

Then you also have the fact that he was learning a new scheme, then had a another new scheme thrown at him in just a month's time, and he has been/is thinking more than simply playing.

Go back and look at the threads about Albert since the preseason.

In those threads, I talked about how those issues would lead to him struggling, and that he would probably struggle mightily until after the bye week at the least, but we would start to see improvement as the season progressed around the 7th or 8th game.

If you've watched closely, then you would see, in the last two games, he's shown progress, and his struggles aren't nearly as glaring.

As the season progresses, he'll continue to progress.

I was being facetious.

Fair enough. I have not watched any of the games that closely this season except for the Steelers one. One game day, I find myself watching "the ball", and just enjoying the game. I had some time yesterday, so I went back through all the offensive plays, and a few of the defensive plays, just to watch the lines.

Early on, it looked like the right side of the line was actually better than the right side of the line... right up to the sack O'Callaghan gave up right before half. He struggled in pass protection from that point on. He did well in the run game though. Smith was pretty good all game long in both pass/run situations. The left side and the C had their moments both good and bad all game long.

When the whole line did their job, Cassel actually looked pretty good. I'm just not good enough to know what we need to actually fix the group to be good every play.

Good post milk.

Anyone who has ever spent a significant amount of time in the weight room knows that a big loss in bodyweight will cause strength to plummet. When your weight settles back your strength will stabilize and then actually go up. You won't get back to where you were before you lost the weight, but your body will normalize, so to speak. Well Albert appears to be in the process of normalizing. I think next year he'll be really good. He'll have a year of good technique work under his belt and he'll actually be stronger than he was this year.

The thing is, it doesn't appear to be all strength issues. He is getting pushed back into Cassel a bit to easily... as is Waters from the left side protection... which I can see being affected by the weight loss issue. What concerns me more is the quickness things. Changes of direction by the DE's seemed to cause him fits. And he was beat around the edge on a couple of occasions too. I know that happens to all LT's at some point, but with the weight loss, I would have thought that would have been less of an issue than the bull rushes. Is that wrong thinking? Or do both things go hand-in-hand with a weight loss/technique adjustment period.

Different subject here, but on the rewatch, I kind of thought it looked like Mays was responsible for giving up a couple of the longer runs up the middle by the Steelers. I'm not sure who was supposed to be covering the Steelers TE either, but he was running totally free nearly the whole game. One of the MLB's I would assume?

Both.

The weight loss, as I said, leaves him feeling a little awkward, and he's not moving with his normal fluidity and athleticism.

He's also uncertain about his assignments, and finds himself trying to move in different directions at the same time, which makes him appear to be nearly tripping over his own feet.

:thumb: Thanks for helping one of the learning impared! :toast:

he been at this weight for 4 preseason games and 10 regular season games.



how long is weight a viable excuse?

For longer than you think, because he got by on sheer athletic ability and getting his body on defenders last year.

The weight loss placed a premium on learning technique, and, as pointed out like a thousand times already, he's just learning technique and new schems.

That's a lot of adjustment in a relatively short time span.

I'm all for more OL pick ups in FA and the draft; but, as has been posted in other threads, the FA market this year (if there is no CBA agreement) is pretty slim pickings. Basically, its the same crap on the waiver wire this year. The draft has a few, but not as rich in OL as this past draft was. Also, take into account all the teams that have crappy lines and are looking to upgrade as well (Redskins, Packers, heck, with injuries, the Dolphins want their two guys back), there will be a real premium on that position. As such, expect the draft to be the only vehicle to upgrade at the position, and it may mean that Pioli uses one 2nd rounder and then a few late rounders. That will be unlikely to gain us any premium tackles (unless we find a real hidden gem), but will gain us some more average tackles and maybe a decent guard or center. So, don't be expecting that you'll see much opportunity for immediate improvement, sadly.

well they need to just move him to the bench then because he can't be playing this shitty next year .... period.

maybe in a couple years when his reeruned ass learns to walk again he can play again. Just in time for free agency.

I'm sorry, but the best, fastest way, for him to develop and grow is to get him out on the field, and by the end of this year, we will be seeing that progress.

We are already starting to see that progress in the last couple of games.

He won't be playing this shitty next year, because he wasn't sitting on the bench this year.

And even if he was, what the hell difference would it make?

We aren't going to the playoffs next year either.

Move him to the bench? Why? Oh....so the Chiefs can make their run for the playoffs?? ROFL

Thats kind of a bold assumption to make.

Its coincidence more than anything, but i think its fairly obvious by now that having an elite recieving TE is really not that important overall.

He was being sarcastic. With that said, an elite TE is a luxury, one this team couldn't afford more than a really nice pick instead.

The problem with the Falcons is Ryan, mired in a sophmore slump, and an overrated defense. They're falling back to reality after last years miracle season.

we were talking about next year, reerun.

Albert has the rest of this crappy year to prove himself imo. if he doesn't he gets moved inside next year.

Again, why?

We aren't going to be a playoff team next year either.

Every one is always in so much of a hurry to call a player a failure.

you have your opinion i have mine


i'm not prepared to have Albert suck ass at LOT all of next year too.

Says who? Anything is possible.

If we have a good off-season we should be a .500 team next year.

upgrade our offensive line and linebackers and we should be in every game.

The LT from Maryland... Bruce Campbell... is 6-7 310. He is already at the weight area Haley likes, and he flat dominated today against BC. Not sure who he was up against for talent, but he looked damn good. Get him, slide Albert back into G, draft Tennant from BC in the 3rd to play C. O-lline would be well on it's way to being rock solid.

i'm all for trying whatever ... but i'm not for stilling on our thumbs and letting our OT suck for the next season and a half just to develop Albert.

he gets the rest of this season and if he still is sucking then he can "develop" at LG for awhile.

I agree. Middle of the first round pick is OK for a LT IMO.

Well, I'm happy that you aren't the coach or GM.

The guy has huge upside potential, and if it takes another year to get him where he needs to be, then it's worth it.