National Media starts the bashing. It's Trent's fault now.

[Gaz]

htismaqe summed it up in another thread, but I will repeat the salient points here.

Our Defense is new. No one should have expected them to dominate anyone right off the bat [if our roster allows them to dominate at all].

Even so, the Defense showed signs of improvement. The forced some punts, stopped several runs for negative yardage, got [2] turnovers and even returned one of them into a touchdown [which, by the way, matched the TD production of the “high-octane” Offense]. They are not as good now as they will be later in the season. The incremental improvement will continue. Certainly not as fast as we would like, but it would be foolish to expect anything else.

The Offense, on the other hand, has taken several giant steps backwards. It is essentially the same Offense that tore up the NFL last season. And yet they have done nothing [with the glaring exception of a heroic individual performance from Holes in week #1]. Ten points from the hottest Offense in the NFL? They repeatedly gave the ball to the Panthers, sending the Chiefs D back onto the field. No wonder the Carolina front four was fresh. They did not have to play all that much. Our O would run four or five plays and then give up the ball again. The Chiefs Offense ran a grand total of [4] plays in the entire 3rd quarter.

There is only one segment of the Chiefs team that hideously under-performed last Sunday. The Offense. Something is hard-broke there. That is where our concern should be.

xoxo~
Gaz
Putting the blame squarely where it belongs.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Respectfully Gaz, I'll disagree on the D. The Panthers were minus their two best players. Still the Panthers tore this D a new chute.

The O got 4 plays in the 3rd because the D failed miserably in that quarter. Yes I realize that Warfield got the INT for a score.

But what happened on the ensuing Carolina possesion? After a real (expletive) excessive celebration call, Carolina went 56 yards in 8 plays for the TD and the lead. Game over. The D gave us a lead, then gave it right back, through no fault of the O.

In the 4th Quarter The Chiefs had drives of 7 plays (punt), 1 play (fumble) 10 plays (INT) 4 plays (lost on downs) and 1 play (game over). 7 minutes of total possesion.

Forgive me for expecting better out of defense that was playing AT HOME in the season opener, against a team that was without it's two best players.

I'm discouraged.

On the offensive side, I feel the game swung on 2 decisions.

1) to not try for a first down on 4th and 1 late in the 2nd with the best player in the league in the backfield. Could have had 3 more shots to get it in the EZ or shortened the kick.

2) failing to give Holmes more touches overall.

Just plain stupid IMO.

OK, I'm done. On to the Texans.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

Respectfully Gaz, I'll disagree on the D. The Panthers were minus their two best players. Still the Panthers tore this D a new chute.

The O got 4 plays in the 3rd because the D failed miserably in that quarter. Yes I realize that Warfield got the INT for a score.

But what happened on the ensuing Carolina possesion? After a real (expletive) excessive celebration call, Carolina went 56 yards in 8 plays for the TD and the lead. Game over. The D gave us a lead, then gave it right back, through no fault of the O.

I agree William.
However, if the O had peformed at the high level that we had come to expect in the first half, and they had put some points on the board, then that drive in the 3rd Qtr would have been meaningless

If the Chiefs O had put some points on the board in the 1st half, the Panthers might have had to come out in a different mindset on O, and maybe that drive doesn't happen.

I would expect where we would see marked improvement on D quickly would be in situations where the opposition has to play catch up, and Gun can let loose the hounds.

[Gaz]

The pertinent question is: Which part of the team did you expect to carry the team?

I expected the Defense to struggle. It is only game #2 under a new scheme. I see improvement [negative yardage on runs, for example], but I do not think anyone rightfully expected the Chiefs Defense to dominate anyone at this point in the season [if at all].

I expected the Offense to move the ball. This is essentially the same Offense that tore up the NFL last season and the Defense matched them TD for TD. They had one good drive that ended in a FG [bad choice, DV]. The Offense’s TD came on the heels of a PI call that put them at the 1-yard line. A gift. Other than that, all the Offense did was hand the ball back to The Enemy and put our D back on the field.

I am not saying that our Defense is great. Our Defense is still rebuilding and will only get better in small chunks. However, the Offense has not lived up to its reputation and is hanging our Defense out to dry.

xoxo~
Gaz
Finds one segment of the team falling WAY below expectations.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by Gaz

but I do not think anyone rightfully expected the Chiefs Defense to dominate anyone at this point in the season [if at all].

I suspect that, even though it was the pre-season, the defense Gun unleashed on the Rams at Arrowhead maybe led a few of us astray. I know it did me. I had visions of the Gun defense from years gone by dancing in my head. And as a GR basher that faulted the scheme instead of the players, that preseason game left me saying "I knew it"!

Now I am comming back to the reality that it may take a while. Perhaps even a year or two to aquire a bit more talent to make the thing fly.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Coogs

Now I am comming back to the reality that it may take a while. Perhaps even a year or two to aquire a bit more talent to make the thing fly.

We may have one more year. But right now our ol is looking old. Our LB are below average. We are desperate at WR. Priest might retire. Trwnt will be 37 after next year. Tony G 31. We can't fix everything in one year.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

We may have one more year. But right now our ol is looking old. Our LB are below average. We are desperate at WR. Priest might retire. Trwnt will be 37 after next year. Tony G 31. We can't fix everything in one year.

Trent just turned 34 this summer, and Gonzo just turned 28. (No, I don't have a poster of them in my bedroom). They've got a few more years left. Priest is 31 this October. Unless he pusses out or gets injured, one would think that he could run for a couple more years. That's up to him of course, but that's also what LJ is for. I don't think we'd be fixing EVERYTHING in one year. Next season, our rookies of the last 2 years will either get it or be gone. It just takes time.

My biggest concern is the injury bug. I fear it will bite and bite hard this year...

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

We may have one more year. But right now our ol is looking old. Our LB are below average. We are desperate at WR. Priest might retire. Trwnt will be 37 after next year. Tony G 31. We can't fix everything in one year.

I'm not throwing in the towel just yet, but I am starting to come to grips with the fact that last year was our year.

[Chiefnj]

Originally Posted by Gaz

The pertinent question is: Which part of the team did you expect to carry the team?

I expected the offense to carry the team. I also expected management not to sit on their thumbs while 4 of the "receivers" the team expected to rely upon were out for almost the entire preseason and/or lost for the regular season.

As far as making this an evaluation year, I think it is a huge mistake when you look at the age, and in Priest's case his quirkiness, of key offensive players - Green, Richardson, Roaf, Shields and Morton.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj

I expected the offense to carry the team. I also expected management not to sit on their thumbs while 4 of the "receivers" the team expected to rely upon were out for almost the entire preseason and/or lost for the regular season.

As far as making this an evaluation year, I think it is a huge mistake when you look at the age, and in Priest's case his quirkiness, of key offensive players - Green, Richardson, Roaf, Shields and Morton.

Good post.