GRETZ: This Is Rock Bottom
 

GRETZ: This Is Rock Bottom
Dec 10, 2007, 8:22:51 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

DENVER – There’s one part of the game of football that has never changed not even once since they organized teams of 11-men a side and chased after the funny shaped pigskin.

To win a football game a team must control what happens on the line of scrimmage. Offensively, defensively, either way, the team that can impose its will on their opponent in the blocking zone wins the game.

The Chiefs did not win on Sunday at Invesco Field. They were not even really part of the equation in this game. They were drubbed 41-7 in one of the most embarrassing outings by this franchise in some time. I’m talking back to the disasterous 1980s.

The reason they got their rear ends kicked so thoroughly and completely was their inability to win on the line of scrimmage. We’ve seen that all year from the offensive line and they went out and matched their performance once again, giving up five sacks, gaining a mere 129 yards in total offense and only 16 yards rushing on 17 carries.

What we had not seen a lot of this season has been the defensive line being dominated. But the Broncos came out and completely controlled the Chiefs front four. On the second offensive play of the game, Denver cracked the right side of the Chiefs D-Line for a 50-yard run. In the previous five games the Chiefs had allowed an average of 42 yards rushing in the first half. They gave up more than that in one play.

The Broncos ended up with 215 yards on 34 carries. Jay Cutler threw 27 times for the Broncos and was not sacked. In fact, if he had not fallen down at one point, tripping over his own feet, I’m not sure his pants would have had any grass or dirt stains on them. And by the way, after he fell down he got up and ran for 21 yards.

The saddest part of watching the Chiefs get dominated on the line of scrimmage was that it was being done by one of the worst Broncos teams that Mike Shanahan has fielded in his time in Denver.

Elvis Dumervil is a second-year stud pass rusher for the Broncos and he contributed three sacks. The rest of the domination was coming from guys like John Engelberger, rookies MarcusThomas, Tim Crowder and Steve Harris, Alvin McKinley and some guy named Josh Mallard. Denver is Mallard’s fifth team in the last six years and he was signed by the Broncos on November 6th, after he was cut by the woeful Atlanta Falcons.

The Chiefs began this game like a disinterested group that wanted to be elsewhere on a cold, sunny day. There are those that will say they quit, gave up, weren’t prepared, have thrown the season in the trash. After a performance like that one, it’s not hard to understand why someone would think so.

However, let me tell you that is not true. The Chiefs played hard. They just didn’t play effectively. And how anyone could question the desire of Tony Gonzalez, for instance, I’m not sure. He went out on the first offensive play of the third quarter with an ankle injury. A lot of players would have taken that injury to the nice, warm locker room and called it a day. Gonzalez went to the locker room, got re-taped, and came back on the field and played in the fourth quarter. He played his heart out.

Take it from someone who spends seven days a week with this team. They were prepared, the coaching staff worked hard to get this team ready for everything that Denver does.

But it’s apparent this team has lost its confidence in themselves and each other. When they fell behind 14-0 halfway through the first quarter, the game was over. There weren’t many guys wearing the red and gold that thought they had a chance to come back.

Turned out they were right.

Losing by 34 points can happen, especially on the road. But losing by 34 to a team like Denver (now just 6-7 on the season) and doing it the way the Chiefs did has brought them to rock bottom.

From here, there’s nowhere else to go but up.

Actually, getting completely shut out at home next week would be slightly lower.

I disagree with Gretz.

There's still a lot this team can do to get worse this season, and I expect them not to disappoint.

4-12 here we come

A 4-12 season will get them a fairly high draft pick. However, it won't matter because they will piss it away on someone worthless. AND if they do get someone worth anything, the coaches will **** them up.

Gretz, it could get a LOT worse than this. Our O-Line could get our quarterback of the future injured. Our offense (as mentioned above) could get shut out at Arrowhead Stadium, thus extending the home losing streak to five I believe. I could name more, but this is depressing me.

It will start to look up when Carl is ****ing GONE

Rock bottom will be finishing the season on a 9 game losing streak, having won our last game of the season on October 21.

We'll have really hit rock bottom if Clark Hunt gives Carl and Herm a vote of confidence, and extends both their contracts.

quoted from grunny this morning

It's easier to take the losses when you can see certain areas of the team improving. All I've seen is each area regressing with each game. Significantly.

And when you look at this team next season, who are the "young" players that are supposed to lead us to the promise(d) land? I count Croyle, K. Smith, Bowe, Allen, Hali, D. Johnson, Page, Pollard.

8 players out of 22. I suppose you could count Webb, Tyler, and McBride. Even so, half of the team isn't "young" at all.

This team could be just as awful, if not worse, next season.

We won't be any better if Herm and Carl are still driving the bus. Our record masks how bad we truly are. Look at net yards per play, and I wouldn't be surprised if we were the absolute worst team in football. Teams, even those "rebuilding" rarely get dominated in the fashion we have been. Honestly, I think Miami is a better team than we are, and only SF and St. L have routinely been dominated like we have this year.

Two of those "young players" are terrible: Page & Pollard. Both whiff terribly on tackles, and both bite on playaction. Neither have a clue when it comes to deep coverage... both are always up too close to the LOS, and both allow receivers to GET BEHIND THEM.

wanna bet?

I'm hoping some intelligent decisions will be made come draft time :rolleyes: /sarcasm

I am not sure you can blame that on the player. That's coaching.