[KCrockaholic]

from nfltouchdown.com

The Chiefs went out and shocked NFL nation when they put the hammer down on San Diego by a score of 21-14.

It’s no surprise to some that have followed the Chiefs off-season and management moves throughout the process.

But with as well as guys like Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster and Brandon Carr played, the Chiefs have to find a way to balance the offense, and to churn out yards in the passing game when needed.

Despite the win, the Chiefs offense was only able to convert 1 of 11 3rd down attempts.

Charlie Weis was unable to find a good rhythm was quarterback Matt Cassel and the rest of the Chiefs offense. He proved that he doesn’t trust the ball in Cassel’s hands when it matters most.

Although Weis has plenty of reasons to believe that way, the Chiefs put themselves in a situation after paying Cassel a $63 million dollar contract. If the Chiefs are going to pay somebody that much money, he had better at least be given a chance to make a play.

Another problem was Cassel could not get settled in with the offensive passing game.

When the Chiefs run on first down, run on second down, then leave Cassel in a situation where he is set up to fail by being forced to make a conversion on 3rd and long, It puts your quarterback in a very difficult situation.

Cassel was only able to complete 10 passes on 22 attempts, for a total of 68 yards. Not only was Charlie Weis afraid of letting Cassel release the deep pass, but even Cassel himself didn’t show the confidence to chuck it deep besides the very first play of the game, on a pass intended for Dwayne Bowe.

Weis was inconsistent with his play calling, specifically on 3rd down. He was also uncreative, and had a hard time mixing up the playcalling, pounding the ball eight times in a row, including on 3rd and 9. A situation where the team should at least force Cassel to earn his paycheck, and complete a medium range pass.

In another area where the Chiefs player management came up short, they gave the ball to Jones entirely too many times.

Make no doubt about it. Jamaal Charles is the best player on this team, and when he is only getting 11 touches in a game against a division rival, there seems to be a problem.

Charles made up for his lack of touches by bursting through the Chargers secondary thanks to a great crack back block set up by Dwayne Bowe, and taking it to the house on a 56-yard touchdown.

Watching Jones pound the ball, and only pick up about 3.5 yards per carry was frustrating. Jones would be a terrific change of pace back to pair with Charles, when Charles is worn down after 20 touches or so. But Jones is not the right option to start with, and to take carries away from the lightning fast Charles.

Defensively the addition of Romeo Crennel proved to be a huge factor for Kansas City.

Not only did he put players in a position to make plays, and to shut down their part of the field. But the defense came with an entirely different mind-set than I have seen in about a decade.

After finally earning a starting spot, Derrick Johnson played at a pro bowl level, and had arguably his 2nd best game of his career, dating back to the Broncos game, in Denver of 2009 when Johnson had 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Glenn Dorsey was a monster playing the 2-gap technique, at the defensive end spot in this 3-4. He man handled his opponent on the majority of plays, and had a handful of pressures forced upon Philip Rivers.

Surprisingly enough, the 2009 first round pick Tyson Jackson, actually appeared to make a slight impact as well. He wasn’t bullied to an over-whelming extent, and made a few plays, which is a huge upgrade over what he brought as a rookie last year.

As the Chiefs prepare for the 0-1 Cleveland Browns, I fully expect the Chiefs to come out firing on all cylinders, and even allowing Cassel to attempt a couple of deep passes to his receivers such as Dwayne Bowe and Dexter McCluster.

Jamaal Charles should get the bulk of the carries, but as it stands right now, Thomas Jones is still the #1 HB on the depth chart.

Hopefully Charlie Weis can get in sync with the offense this time, and take advantage of a below average Browns defense.

This would be the perfect game to test out all the toys and options within this Chiefs offense. Such as using the wildcat with Dexter and Charles in the backfield at the same time. Or actually mixing up the playcalling and pressuring Cassel to prove his worth, and to make plays for this offense when necessary.

As it stands right now, Kansas City has potential to not only field a very good defense, but to also have an explosive offense.

Once again. Everything rest in the hands of the quarterback, and in K.C. it just so happens to be Matt Cassel.