Chiefs Posnanski:Croyle is too fragile to be the Chiefs’ answer at quarterback - Page 9

**Tribal Warfare** · 09-07-2008, 10:44 PM

Croyle is too fragile to be the Chiefs’ answer at quarterback

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. | Football is, at heart, a cold-blooded game. It’s easy to forget that because in the NFL, vicious hits are set to music and shoulders ripped from sockets are merely “separated” (leaving open a possibility for a reconciliation), and pain is reduced to those harmless-sounding words, ”questionable,” “doubtful” and “probable.”

In this heartless game, you need a quarterback who can get back up. That’s just a fact. It isn’t fair to blame the quarterback for suffering nasty injuries. It isn’t politically correct. But football isn’t a PC game. Sunday afternoon, the Chiefs were at the New England 5-yard line at the end with a chance to score a touchdown and tie the game, a chance to shock everyone, a chance to stick it in the faces of all those critics who called them the pits, a chance to laugh at all those people who bet the unbeatable New England Patriots to win by more than 15 points.

And the Chiefs’ quarterback of the future, the guy they’re building this whole thing around, the man who needed to be on the field at that key moment — Brodie Croyle — was on the sideline because of a shoulder injury.

In the end, nobody outside Kansas City cared, of course. The Patriots held on, beat the Chiefs 17-10, and the Chiefs showed a few positive signs, the Patriots showed a few cracks, but the only story on anyone’s mind Sunday was that the Patriots’ (and America’s) quarterback Tom Brady hurt his knee.

Some thought it happened on a dirty play by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard, some thought it was just bad luck (that was the way I saw it), some suspected Brady would be out for the year, some thought he would be back next week, some figured the Patriots would collapse without him, some thought they would be just fine, back and forth, on and on, forever.

But, to be ruthless about it — football is a ruthless game — that’s the Patriots’ problem. To steal Mel Brooks’ line about the difference between tragedy and comedy: Tragedy is your quarterback getting hurt. Comedy is the other guy’s quarterback getting hurt.

The Chiefs’ quarterback, Brodie Croyle, got hurt. Again. This was the third time in seven starts that Croyle got hurt. Three for seven makes for a lousy injury average.

Thing is, Croyle has spent a lifetime getting hurt on football fields. He blew out his knee in high school. He separated his shoulder and got two ribs busted his sophomore year in college, then blew out his other knee his junior year. Last year, in his first home start, he hurt his back against Oakland and missed the next game. He hurt his hand at Detroit trying to make a tackle and couldn’t finish the game.

In the third quarter on Sunday, New England linebacker Adalius Thomas sacked Brodie and drove his right shoulder hard into the turf. Croyle grabbed for his shoulder immediately. He walked gingerly to the sideline, with his right arm dangling on the side. He threw one pass to test the shoulder and quickly shook his head no. He was done. Backup Damon Huard went into the game, threw a touchdown pass, led the Chiefs to the shadow of overtime and, well, you know the rest.

Now the Chiefs have to face up to something very real: The chosen quarterback, Brodie Croyle, cannot stay healthy. It isn’t his fault — this isn’t a toughness question. Everyone says the guy is as tough as a Ford truck. But the harsh reality is that his body, for whatever reason, cannot stand up to the NFL pounding. And you can’t build a football team around a quarterback who cannot stay on the field.

“Maybe he’s just unlucky,” one teammate says.

There’s no maybe about it. Croyle has talent. He has a good arm, and he has a pretty quick release, and he has a presence. That’s what everyone with the Chiefs wants to talk about when discussing Croyle. His abilities. The way he handles the huddle. The throws he can make. That’s great. But those are not the things that get you through in this violent game.

No, what made Brett Favre great wasn’t his arm or his gunslinger attitude, it was that he was able to be there every single week, no matter what kind of pounding he took, no matter how ferociously he was hit, no matter how many times he got blindsided. The same goes for John Elway and Dan Marino and Peyton Manning and, up to Sunday, Tom Brady. The one thing every great quarterback shared is that they started games. And they finished them.

That takes more than toughness, and it takes more than heart. You also need luck, a body that will not break, a mind that can ignore the obvious dangers that are all around.

Here’s a name for you: Greg Cook. Have you heard of him? Bill Walsh, the man who coached Joe Montana, said Greg Cook could have been the greatest quarterback who ever lived. As you know, that did not happen. Cook played one year in the NFL, was chosen Rookie of the Year, but badly hurt his shoulder. He threw only three more passes for the rest of his career. That’s the harshness of the game.

And right now, it looks more and more that Brodie Croyle simply cannot take the NFL pounding. The Chiefs’ young team did show promise Sunday. The defense played a high-energy game, and Turk McBride was often unblockable. The offense looked more organized than the last couple of years, and if Devard Darling could run a little faster or Dwayne Bowe could have made a catch, the game would have gone to overtime.

But in the end, plainly, you need a quarterback you can count on to go anywhere in this league. The Chiefs said they would test Croyle’s shoulder today, see the seriousness of the injury.

“He’s so tough, I’ll bet he will be back sooner than anyone thinks,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez says.

Maybe. Nobody questions Croyle’s heart. It’s his shoulder … and knees … and back. In the end, those things matter just as much as the heart.

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-08-2008, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

Bigger question....who do you start, Matt Ryan @ TB or Damon Huard vs Oak

Serious too, i have no QB's

Matt Ryan would have won that game for the Chiefs yesterday.

No question.

blaise · 09-08-2008, 01:35 PM

If there was still an NFL Europe Brodie Croyle would be there.
Instead he's quarterbacking the Chiefs.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 09-08-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Can't execute a game plan with two blocking dummies on the right side of the line.

Those same two dummies were on the field when we marched 80+ yards in 16 plays against a defense that made Peyton Manning wet the bed last night.

The gameplan was weak. Period.

No misdirection, counters, play-action.

None of what we saw in the PS.

Right back to Solari's way of doing things - being ridiculously predictable.

If I can guess what play is coming from my couch, imagine what the opposing defense is thinking?

**OnTheWarpath15** · 09-08-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Matt Ryan would have won that game for the Chiefs yesterday.

No question.

No he wouldn't have.

Because Herm Edwards is afraid of mistakes, and they would have handcuffed him, just like they have Croyle.

Yet they open things up for the guy who has 10 INT's to 7 TD's over his past 8-9 games...

Sure-Oz · 09-08-2008, 01:41 PM

Yeah i was leaning towards Ryan too, i hope he gets more than 13 attempts...but yeah in a deep league and lost brady for the year...sucks ass

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-08-2008, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

No he wouldn't have.

Because Herm Edwards is afraid of mistakes, and they would have handcuffed him, just like they have Croyle.

Yet they open things up for the guy who has 10 INT's to 7 TD's over his past 8-9 games...

No way, Dude.

I understand that you have a hate of Edwards.

But that's completely unreasonable.

Do you think that maybe the reason that Croyle was "hamstrung" is the very reason why he was injured? They tried to protect him too much, know he's injury prone?

This team just needs to move on in terms of a QB and it's very clear that the QBOTF isn't on the Chiefs roster.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 09-08-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

No way, Dude.

I understand that you have a hate of Edwards.

But that's completely unreasonable.

Do you think that maybe the reason that Croyle was "hamstrung" is the very reason why he was injured? They tried to protect him too much, know he's injury prone?

This team just needs to move on in terms of a QB and it's very clear that the QBOTF isn't on the Chiefs roster.

Wow.

First time in 3 years I've ever been accused of hating Edwards. Usually, it's the exact opposite. I try to stay as fair and objective as possible regarding Herm - but yesterday proved quite a bit IMO.

If they were REALLY concerned about protecting Croyle, they would have done more in the offseason. Hell, they'd be doing more NOW. Even a casual football fan can watch a game and tell that McIntosh is severely overmatched. Yet Herb Taylor rides pine.

Croyle has the mobility to avoid the majority of those big hits - yet they handcuff him.

Huard is a ****ing statue back there, and they open up the offense for him.

COMPLETELY ****ing backwards way of thinking.

Zouk · 09-08-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Matt Ryan would have won that game for the Chiefs yesterday.

No question.

Strongly disagree. That's a huge extrapolation from home against the Lions to on the road vs. the Patriots.

**The Franchise** · 09-08-2008, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

If I can guess what play is coming from my couch, imagine what the opposing defense is thinking?

My brother thought I was psychic because I was calling the Chiefs plays and how many yards they would get off of them.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 09-08-2008, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pestilenceaf23

My brother thought I was psychic because I was calling the Chiefs plays and how many yards they would get off of them.

Pretty easy when you can call:

Run up middle. 1 yard.

Run up middle. 2 yards.

On 50% of the plays...

**Buehler445** · 09-08-2008, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

No way, Dude.

I understand that you have a hate of Edwards.

But that's completely unreasonable.

Do you think that maybe the reason that Croyle was "hamstrung" is the very reason why he was injured? They tried to protect him too much, know he's injury prone?

This team just needs to move on in terms of a QB and it's very clear that the QBOTF isn't on the Chiefs roster.

I seriously doubt the playcalling was to protect croyle. Fact is he cited playcalling as the main reason he canned Solari. Now we're running the SAME predictably? I might put this on Chan if they were different plays, but we saw one game of decent playcalling, and now we're stuck with the same plays that Solari called, and it looks nothing like the game Chan called.

That suggests to me that Edwards contols what plays are called. Even though he canned the last guy for play calling....
Posted via Mobile Device

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-08-2008, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zouk

Strongly disagree. That's a huge extrapolation from home against the Lions to on the road vs. the Patriots.

That's your right.

I see a big, strong, smaret, strong-armed QB in Matt Ryan that virtually made no mistakes yesterday.

I truly think that he could have tied or won that game yesterday for the Chiefs.

That's just how I see it.

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-08-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Wow.

First time in 3 years I've ever been accused of hating Edwards. Usually, it's the exact opposite. I try to stay as fair and objective as possible regarding Herm - but yesterday proved quite a bit IMO.

If they were REALLY concerned about protecting Croyle, they would have done more in the offseason. Hell, they'd be doing more NOW. Even a casual football fan can watch a game and tell that McIntosh is severely overmatched. Yet Herb Taylor rides pine.

Croyle has the mobility to avoid the majority of those big hits - yet they handcuff him.

Huard is a ****ing statue back there, and they open up the offense for him.

COMPLETELY ****ing backwards way of thinking.

I can't tell you why Herb is on the pine. I have a feeling it may have been different if not for Albert's injury.

I'd be shocked if Taylor or Richardson isn't lining up at RT within in the next two weeks and as I mentioned in another thread, they're should be a new RG as well (Day-La-Pwen-Tay?)

Huard is a statue but Croyle is made of glass.

Not too many options in this case.

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-08-2008, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445

That suggests to me that Edwards contols what plays are called. Even though he canned the last guy for play calling....
Posted via Mobile Device

I find this hard to believe but if true, that won't happen this week.

I can't see Clark Hunt sitting still IF this is HE's offense.

Again, lack of talent is what hamstrung this offense.

King_Chief_Fan · 09-08-2008, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I seriously doubt the playcalling was to protect croyle. Fact is he cited playcalling as the main reason he canned Solari. Now we're running the SAME predictably? I might put this on Chan if they were different plays, but we saw one game of decent playcalling, and now we're stuck with the same plays that Solari called, and it looks nothing like the game Chan called.

That suggests to me that Edwards contols what plays are called. Even though he canned the last guy for play calling....
Posted via Mobile Device

and the next speed bump for the bus is Chan. Herm's crafting his excuses and going to throw the guy under.

09-07-2008, 10:44 PM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-3097187	Posnanski:Croyle is too fragile to be the Chiefs’ answer at quarterback Croyle is too fragile to be the Chiefs’ answer at quarterback FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \| Football is, at heart, a cold-blooded game. It’s easy to forget that because in the NFL, vicious hits are set to music and shoulders ripped from sockets are merely “separated” (leaving open a possibility for a reconciliation), and pain is reduced to those harmless-sounding words, ”questionable,” “doubtful” and “probable.” In this heartless game, you need a quarterback who can get back up. That’s just a fact. It isn’t fair to blame the quarterback for suffering nasty injuries. It isn’t politically correct. But football isn’t a PC game. Sunday afternoon, the Chiefs were at the New England 5-yard line at the end with a chance to score a touchdown and tie the game, a chance to shock everyone, a chance to stick it in the faces of all those critics who called them the pits, a chance to laugh at all those people who bet the unbeatable New England Patriots to win by more than 15 points. And the Chiefs’ quarterback of the future, the guy they’re building this whole thing around, the man who needed to be on the field at that key moment — Brodie Croyle — was on the sideline because of a shoulder injury. In the end, nobody outside Kansas City cared, of course. The Patriots held on, beat the Chiefs 17-10, and the Chiefs showed a few positive signs, the Patriots showed a few cracks, but the only story on anyone’s mind Sunday was that the Patriots’ (and America’s) quarterback Tom Brady hurt his knee. Some thought it happened on a dirty play by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard, some thought it was just bad luck (that was the way I saw it), some suspected Brady would be out for the year, some thought he would be back next week, some figured the Patriots would collapse without him, some thought they would be just fine, back and forth, on and on, forever. But, to be ruthless about it — football is a ruthless game — that’s the Patriots’ problem. To steal Mel Brooks’ line about the difference between tragedy and comedy: Tragedy is your quarterback getting hurt. Comedy is the other guy’s quarterback getting hurt. The Chiefs’ quarterback, Brodie Croyle, got hurt. Again. This was the third time in seven starts that Croyle got hurt. Three for seven makes for a lousy injury average. Thing is, Croyle has spent a lifetime getting hurt on football fields. He blew out his knee in high school. He separated his shoulder and got two ribs busted his sophomore year in college, then blew out his other knee his junior year. Last year, in his first home start, he hurt his back against Oakland and missed the next game. He hurt his hand at Detroit trying to make a tackle and couldn’t finish the game. In the third quarter on Sunday, New England linebacker Adalius Thomas sacked Brodie and drove his right shoulder hard into the turf. Croyle grabbed for his shoulder immediately. He walked gingerly to the sideline, with his right arm dangling on the side. He threw one pass to test the shoulder and quickly shook his head no. He was done. Backup Damon Huard went into the game, threw a touchdown pass, led the Chiefs to the shadow of overtime and, well, you know the rest. Now the Chiefs have to face up to something very real: The chosen quarterback, Brodie Croyle, cannot stay healthy. It isn’t his fault — this isn’t a toughness question. Everyone says the guy is as tough as a Ford truck. But the harsh reality is that his body, for whatever reason, cannot stand up to the NFL pounding. And you can’t build a football team around a quarterback who cannot stay on the field. “Maybe he’s just unlucky,” one teammate says. There’s no maybe about it. Croyle has talent. He has a good arm, and he has a pretty quick release, and he has a presence. That’s what everyone with the Chiefs wants to talk about when discussing Croyle. His abilities. The way he handles the huddle. The throws he can make. That’s great. But those are not the things that get you through in this violent game. No, what made Brett Favre great wasn’t his arm or his gunslinger attitude, it was that he was able to be there every single week, no matter what kind of pounding he took, no matter how ferociously he was hit, no matter how many times he got blindsided. The same goes for John Elway and Dan Marino and Peyton Manning and, up to Sunday, Tom Brady. The one thing every great quarterback shared is that they started games. And they finished them. That takes more than toughness, and it takes more than heart. You also need luck, a body that will not break, a mind that can ignore the obvious dangers that are all around. Here’s a name for you: Greg Cook. Have you heard of him? Bill Walsh, the man who coached Joe Montana, said Greg Cook could have been the greatest quarterback who ever lived. As you know, that did not happen. Cook played one year in the NFL, was chosen Rookie of the Year, but badly hurt his shoulder. He threw only three more passes for the rest of his career. That’s the harshness of the game. And right now, it looks more and more that Brodie Croyle simply cannot take the NFL pounding. The Chiefs’ young team did show promise Sunday. The defense played a high-energy game, and Turk McBride was often unblockable. The offense looked more organized than the last couple of years, and if Devard Darling could run a little faster or Dwayne Bowe could have made a catch, the game would have gone to overtime. But in the end, plainly, you need a quarterback you can count on to go anywhere in this league. The Chiefs said they would test Croyle’s shoulder today, see the seriousness of the injury. “He’s so tough, I’ll bet he will be back sooner than anyone thinks,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez says. Maybe. Nobody questions Croyle’s heart. It’s his shoulder … and knees … and back. In the end, those things matter just as much as the heart.
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09-08-2008, 01:35 PM	#122
blaise In Search of a Life Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Plano, TX Casino cash: $9989900	If there was still an NFL Europe Brodie Croyle would be there. Instead he's quarterbacking the Chiefs.
Posts: 22,189