Whitlock: Vermeil's mistakes troubling

[Coach]

Vermeil's mistakes troubling

JASON WHITLOCK


Turns out Larry Johnson isn't the only member of the Chiefs who needs to outgrow diapers.

For the second consecutive Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, Johnson's old, tired and frustrated head coach wet his pants along the Kansas City sideline and flushed away a season that began with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.

Dick Vermeil, facing fourth and 2 at the Houston 6 late in the first half, eschewed common sense, turned down an easy field-goal attempt and sent running back Priest Holmes running wide right. The Texans stopped Holmes about a half-yard short of the first-down marker.

“I made up my mind (to go for it) before the game even started,” explained Vermeil, who admitted being haunted by two conservative fourth-and-1 decisions last week when playing the Carolina Panthers.

Vermeil doubled his trouble moments later when he called a timeout after the Texans picked up a first down on their ensuing possession. The foolish Kansas City timeout saved the Texans valuable seconds on their 10-play, 64-yard field-goal drive that sliced KC's lead to one point just before halftime.

“It was a bad decision on my part,” Vermeil said of the timeout. “I'd made my mind up that I was going to call a timeout if they ran the ball on second down.”

Houston running back Jonathan Wells ran for 13 yards, which was 8 more than he needed for a first down. In a game that eventually swung Houston's direction 24-21, Vermeil's coaching gaffe arguably decided the outcome, overshadowed a horrible officiating performance and calls into question Vermeil's future and his level of happiness in Kansas City.

The Chiefs are 0-3 and headed for a “Monday Night Football” clash with the Baltimore Ravens, a team with an awesome defense and even better running game. If Vermeil's Chiefs can't figure out a way to beat Houston, quite possibly the worst team in the league, it's difficult to imagine KC having much success against Ray and Jamal Lewis.

Houston quarterback David Carr tried to hand this game to the Chiefs. He threw wildly. He panicked in the pocket. He wasted timeouts. Carr's coach, Dom Capers, had so little confidence in his QB that he drained the clock and settled for a game-winning 49-yard field goal rather than risk Carr making a mistake.

The Chiefs still couldn't get it done. Yes, bad officiating hurt the Chiefs. But Vermeil's mistakes hurt more.

Take away Vermeil's Hall of Fame resume, and this season he looks like the second coming of Marty Mornhinweg, the former Lions coach who once chose to kick off in overtime. Vermeil's coaching staff can't manage the clock or game situations.

“I don't think so. No,” responded Chiefs president Carl Peterson when I asked him whether his coaching staff struggles with game management. “I really don't think so. If I did, I'd let you know. Would you like to do some other things? I'm sure you're talking about the second timeout in the first half. Yeah, the first timeout was certainly the right thing to do. The second one, you'd like to take it back because it gave them a few more seconds and they got the 50-yard field goal.”

Peterson won't go much further than that when it comes to criticizing his football mentor. Vermeil will have to do the rest.

“The very first person he critiques would be himself,” Chiefs quarterback Trent Green said of Vermeil. “That's the way he is, and that's the way he wants us to be as players.”

Peterson said: “(Vermeil) is brutally honest. He's honest with himself, with other people. He's never going to hide from a tough decision.”

Vermeil can't hide from the fact that two weeks in a row he's had to acknowledge making a mistake that hurt his football team. Last week against the Panthers, he should have been aggressive and gone for it on fourth and short. This week against the Texans, he should have kicked the field goal.

You can't make game-management decisions before kickoff. There's a huge difference between fourth and 1 and trying a 47-yard field goal (Carolina game) and fourth and 2 and trying a 23-yard field goal (Houston game). Vermeil blew it. He made things worse by calling a dumb timeout.

If the Chiefs don't recover from Vermeil's horrendous mistakes — and it's highly unlikely they'll be able to — Vermeil will be haunted throughout the off-season.

“Sure, it hurts,” Vermeil told me outside an Arrowhead Stadium elevator. “It really does. But I've been in it long enough — I understand that was my 200th game — I've made some great decisions over the years and I've made some that have backfired. … In the bigger picture, there were a lot of other things that were little things that could've made a difference in whether we win or lose.”

Vermeil will have an easier time moving past those little mistakes than the big ones he made.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...ts/9768150.htm

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Whilock is a moron. That said... I wish Vermeil would go away too. I just don't think he has it anymore.

[ChiefsOne]

Who knows the outcome of the game until it's all over. Make one thing different and the whole ball game changes. Maybe for the better and maybe not. Everything would have been different.

You can't say what if then the whole dynamics would be different.

[shaneo69]

Hindsight is great, ain't it?

I'm sure glad that Fatlock felt the need to respond in kind to DV's diaper comment by saying that DV was "wetting himself" on the field yesterday. I guess Fatlock was personally offended by Vermiel's comments about LJ.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by shaneo69

Hindsight is great, ain't it?

I'm sure glad that Fatlock felt the need to respond in kind to DV's diaper comment by saying that DV was "wetting himself" on the field yesterday. I guess Fatlock was personally offended by Vermiel's comments about LJ.

That's just Whitlock being Whitlock. He says some stupid things and doesn't ever have to answer for them. However, he's exactly right on the 2nd timeout criticism. That was awful, and a high school coach knows better than to make that decision.

[Inspector]

I still think the worst decision was throwing to Tony instead of having Priest pound it in.

We woould have had the touchdown and they wouldn't have had it. & more points for us, 7 less for them.

To me, that was the worst decision in the whole game. And that was probably AS who made that choice.

[chiefqueen]

They quoted this column on Around the Horn today. Woody called Jason "Jabba the Columnist". I was hoping one of them would call him Fatlock but they stayed politically correct.

[whoman69]

Call out Whitlock if you will, but this time he hit it on the head. Vermeil stating that he decided to go for it on 4th down before the game even started was ridiculous. Last week facing an uncertain 48 yard FG you go for it. This week with certain points on the board, take the points. That's not hindsight, its common sense.
Its one thing to always back DV, its another to always bust on Whitlock, even if he's right. He's an opinion columnist so you can disagree with him. But to automatically disagree with him is ridiculous.

[irishjayhawk]

Originally Posted by whoman69

Call out Whitlock if you will, but this time he hit it on the head. Vermeil stating that he decided to go for it on 4th down before the game even started was ridiculous. Last week facing an uncertain 48 yard FG you go for it. This week with certain points on the board, take the points. That's not hindsight, its common sense.
Its one thing to always back DV, its another to always bust on Whitlock, even if he's right. He's an opinion columnist so you can disagree with him. But to automatically disagree with him is ridiculous.

Exactly my thoughts. Well said.