Chiefs Teicher: Chiefs encouraged by Thigpen; cancel meeting with Culpepper - Page 2

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-27-2008, 11:36 PM

Chiefs encouraged by Thigpen; cancel meeting with Culpepper
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

Tyler Thigpen didn’t realize just how much things had changed, how much he had changed, until he reviewed the video Monday.

He saw himself throwing darts in the previous day’s 28-24 Chiefs loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands. Absent were the balls sent zipping off to nowhere. In their place were on-target throws that frequently beat good coverage.

One of the more vivid examples of Thigpen’s dramatic improvement came on his 19-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the first quarter. Gonzalez was covered by both cornerback Dwight Lowery and linebacker Calvin Pace, but Thigpen’s throw went where only Gonzalez could get it.

That’s the type of play, Thigpen only now realized, he couldn’t have made before.

“A couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have even tried to throw that one to Tony,” Thigpen said Monday. “I wouldn’t have had the confidence. That play was a big difference for me.

“I know I’m here for a reason. If I wasn’t good enough to play or didn’t have the talent, I wouldn’t be in the National Football League. So it was just time to trust my instincts and just go out and play just like it was backyard ball.”

Suddenly, the Chiefs’ need to sign Daunte Culpepper to stabilize their quarterback play doesn’t seem as urgent. The Chiefs were planning to meet this week with Culpepper, a three-time Pro Bowler, but the visit was abruptly canceled, a move that could end the talks between the quarterback and the team.

It’s coincidence, probably, that the conversation between Culpepper and the Chiefs was scrapped in the hours after Thigpen delivered the team’s best-quarterbacked game of the season.

There’s real danger in making a judgment based on one game, good or bad. Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay at Arrowhead Stadium will be a better test for Thigpen. The Bucs, second in the NFL in scoring defense and fifth in yardage, are much stronger defensively than the Jets.

“It gives you some hope that the guy can continue to play like that, that he’s going to get better,” coach Herm Edwards said. “And you’ve got a guy who’s consistent at the quarterback position. I don’t think we’ve started two games with the same guy starting at quarterback yet. So that gives you that stability. Now hopefully he can go out there this week. The problem this week again is he’s playing one of the better defenses in football.

“I think that helps you when you get a guy who plays the way he played. You go, ‘Wait, wait, this guy did pretty good.’ I think he gave everybody some confidence, not only himself but also the team.”

Even when Culpepper’s signing with the Chiefs looked probable, he would have needed at least a week or two before he was ready to play. Thigpen could have made the Chiefs’ eventual decision to bench him a difficult one.

“He did a good job, he really did for his second start and playing against a pretty good defense on the road,” Edwards said. “He didn’t do everything right. But for his second time starting, I think he did a pretty good job. He moved the team, he moved the ball. That’s progress. From his last game, he got better.”

Thigpen said he only realized the Chiefs were talking with Culpepper on Monday after reading something about it on the Internet.

“I’m going to worry about the things I can control,” he said.

The way he plays falls under that category. Thigpen entered the Jets game having completed 42 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

His passer rating, a complicated statistical measure of a quarterback’s efficiency, of 44.3 was the lowest among the 34 NFL quarterbacks with enough pass attempts to be ranked.

Against the Jets, Thigpen was 25 of 36 (69 percent) with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 110.9, which is higher than that of the NFL’s season leader, Philip Rivers of San Diego.

Thigpen searched for an explanation for this startling transformation but didn’t hit on one he liked until he stumbled on this one.

“Something,” he said, “just clicked.”

The Chiefs can only hope.

“I knew what to expect and was more comfortable in the situation,” he said. “It was my second start and really like my third start because the Oakland game was pretty much a whole game.

“The biggest thing is that I didn’t turn the ball over. I was really just trying to keep the chains moving. It’s better to hit the 5-yard pass than throw a 50-yard go-route that’s out of the guy’s reach. It’s so much better seeing the ball complete and knowing you’ve given the receiver a chance to do something with it.”

el borracho · 10-28-2008, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv

There shouldnt be a let down. If he works out great, if not, then we have to draft a QB next year.

No, no, no. Irregardless of any success Thigpen has the Chiefs absolutely have to draft a QB early next April. Doesn't have to be (but should be) the top 5 pick but it has to be one of the top QBs taken.

Chiefs Pantalones · 10-28-2008, 12:41 AM

Bullshit. It was one game. The Chiefs are reeruns.

**007** · 10-28-2008, 12:44 AM

You can't write this shit. Oh wait, I guess you can.

Our FO is the laughing stock.

**BigMeatballDave** · 10-28-2008, 01:23 AM

Good. Not that I think Thig is the answer, I just don't want Culpepper.

**BigMeatballDave** · 10-28-2008, 01:51 AM

According to ESPN, Culpepper cancelled the visit.

**007** · 10-28-2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigChiefDave

According to ESPN, Culpepper cancelled the visit.

Yep. Who do you believe? The Chiefs FO or ESPN?

dj56dt58 · 10-28-2008, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guru

Yep. Who do you believe? The Chiefs FO or ESPN?

Satan

dj56dt58 · 10-28-2008, 01:59 AM

I dont understand all the hate on Thigpen..its not like he's sucked for 10 years and had one good game..He's a young 7th round draft pick who had a hell of a game and could be starting to put things together..he said it just started to click..thats how a lot of good qbs have come about..they got some playing time and it clicked one game and they never looked back. The plays he made on Sunday did nothing to make me think that this was just a fluke, but we'll see

chiefs1111 · 10-28-2008, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj56dt58

I dont understand all the hate on Thigpen..its not like he's sucked for 10 years and had one good game..He's a young 7th round draft pick who had a hell of a game and could be starting to put things together..he said it just started to click..thats how a lot of good qbs have come about..they got some playing time and it clicked one game and they never looked back. The plays he made on Sunday did nothing to make me think that this was just a fluke, but we'll see

It's just that we shouldn't think that our Quarterback problem is all the sudden solved cause of what he did versus the Jets. Bottom line we need to draft a QB in this next draft no matter what.

chiefs1111 · 10-28-2008, 02:04 AM

Also I think Thigpen is going to be in for a rude awakening against the Bucs defense this Sunday

'Hamas' Jenkins · 10-28-2008, 02:04 AM

Thigpen is going to have some horrible games for the rest of the year. 50% completion percentage, 2 or three picks, but that's part of having a young QB. If the guy continues to show steady, incremental growth, and always takes two steps forward after a step back (which will happen), there's no reason to think that he's forlorn hope as a project.

JuicesFlowing · 10-28-2008, 02:07 AM

So one good game, and we've found our franchise QB? Nice. No.

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-28-2008, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Thigpen is going to have some horrible games for the rest of the year. 50% completion percentage, 2 or three picks, but that's part of having a young QB. If the guy continues to show steady, incremental growth, and always takes two steps forward after a step back (which will happen), there's no reason to think that he's forlorn hope as a project.

Best possible scenario if the BPA is Stafford/Bradford then Thigpen could be trade bait.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 10-28-2008, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Best possible scenario if the BPA is Stafford/Bradford then Thigpen could be trade bait.

No. You keep Thigpen. You can never have enough good quarterbacks.

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-28-2008, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

No. You keep Thigpen. You can never have enough good quarterbacks.

true, but if one is in a Favre/Brunell, Brees/Rivers, or Anderson/Quinn situation it never hurts to look into it.

10-27-2008, 11:36 PM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-3047187	Teicher: Chiefs encouraged by Thigpen; cancel meeting with Culpepper Chiefs encouraged by Thigpen; cancel meeting with Culpepper By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star Tyler Thigpen didn’t realize just how much things had changed, how much he had changed, until he reviewed the video Monday. He saw himself throwing darts in the previous day’s 28-24 Chiefs loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands. Absent were the balls sent zipping off to nowhere. In their place were on-target throws that frequently beat good coverage. One of the more vivid examples of Thigpen’s dramatic improvement came on his 19-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the first quarter. Gonzalez was covered by both cornerback Dwight Lowery and linebacker Calvin Pace, but Thigpen’s throw went where only Gonzalez could get it. That’s the type of play, Thigpen only now realized, he couldn’t have made before. “A couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have even tried to throw that one to Tony,” Thigpen said Monday. “I wouldn’t have had the confidence. That play was a big difference for me. “I know I’m here for a reason. If I wasn’t good enough to play or didn’t have the talent, I wouldn’t be in the National Football League. So it was just time to trust my instincts and just go out and play just like it was backyard ball.” Suddenly, the Chiefs’ need to sign Daunte Culpepper to stabilize their quarterback play doesn’t seem as urgent. The Chiefs were planning to meet this week with Culpepper, a three-time Pro Bowler, but the visit was abruptly canceled, a move that could end the talks between the quarterback and the team. It’s coincidence, probably, that the conversation between Culpepper and the Chiefs was scrapped in the hours after Thigpen delivered the team’s best-quarterbacked game of the season. There’s real danger in making a judgment based on one game, good or bad. Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay at Arrowhead Stadium will be a better test for Thigpen. The Bucs, second in the NFL in scoring defense and fifth in yardage, are much stronger defensively than the Jets. “It gives you some hope that the guy can continue to play like that, that he’s going to get better,” coach Herm Edwards said. “And you’ve got a guy who’s consistent at the quarterback position. I don’t think we’ve started two games with the same guy starting at quarterback yet. So that gives you that stability. Now hopefully he can go out there this week. The problem this week again is he’s playing one of the better defenses in football. “I think that helps you when you get a guy who plays the way he played. You go, ‘Wait, wait, this guy did pretty good.’ I think he gave everybody some confidence, not only himself but also the team.” Even when Culpepper’s signing with the Chiefs looked probable, he would have needed at least a week or two before he was ready to play. Thigpen could have made the Chiefs’ eventual decision to bench him a difficult one. “He did a good job, he really did for his second start and playing against a pretty good defense on the road,” Edwards said. “He didn’t do everything right. But for his second time starting, I think he did a pretty good job. He moved the team, he moved the ball. That’s progress. From his last game, he got better.” Thigpen said he only realized the Chiefs were talking with Culpepper on Monday after reading something about it on the Internet. “I’m going to worry about the things I can control,” he said. The way he plays falls under that category. Thigpen entered the Jets game having completed 42 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions. His passer rating, a complicated statistical measure of a quarterback’s efficiency, of 44.3 was the lowest among the 34 NFL quarterbacks with enough pass attempts to be ranked. Against the Jets, Thigpen was 25 of 36 (69 percent) with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 110.9, which is higher than that of the NFL’s season leader, Philip Rivers of San Diego. Thigpen searched for an explanation for this startling transformation but didn’t hit on one he liked until he stumbled on this one. “Something,” he said, “just clicked.” The Chiefs can only hope. “I knew what to expect and was more comfortable in the situation,” he said. “It was my second start and really like my third start because the Oakland game was pretty much a whole game. “The biggest thing is that I didn’t turn the ball over. I was really just trying to keep the chains moving. It’s better to hit the 5-yard pass than throw a 50-yard go-route that’s out of the guy’s reach. It’s so much better seeing the ball complete and knowing you’ve given the receiver a chance to do something with it.”
Posts: 43,455

10-28-2008, 12:41 AM	#17
Chiefs Pantalones GO CHIEFS!!!!!! Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $6868717	Bullshit. It was one game. The Chiefs are reeruns. __________________ Don't be fooled by my username, I'm white.
Posts: 26,653

10-28-2008, 12:44 AM	#18
007 Shaken. Not stirred. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London Casino cash: $12120126 VARSITY	You can't write this shit. Oh wait, I guess you can. Our FO is the laughing stock. __________________ My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done. Such as, drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.
Posts: 65,738

10-28-2008, 01:23 AM	#19
BigMeatballDave GBM 8-12-15 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Dayton, Oh. Casino cash: $10052154	Good. Not that I think Thig is the answer, I just don't want Culpepper.
Posts: 59,997

10-28-2008, 01:51 AM	#20
BigMeatballDave GBM 8-12-15 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Dayton, Oh. Casino cash: $10052154	According to ESPN, Culpepper cancelled the visit.
Posts: 59,997

10-28-2008, 01:59 AM	#23
dj56dt58 Banned Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Missouri Casino cash: $9960055	I dont understand all the hate on Thigpen..its not like he's sucked for 10 years and had one good game..He's a young 7th round draft pick who had a hell of a game and could be starting to put things together..he said it just started to click..thats how a lot of good qbs have come about..they got some playing time and it clicked one game and they never looked back. The plays he made on Sunday did nothing to make me think that this was just a fluke, but we'll see
Posts: 6,361

10-28-2008, 02:04 AM	#25
chiefs1111 In Search of a Life Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $-2396834	Also I think Thigpen is going to be in for a rude awakening against the Bucs defense this Sunday
Posts: 21,100

10-28-2008, 02:04 AM	#26
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $7129572	Thigpen is going to have some horrible games for the rest of the year. 50% completion percentage, 2 or three picks, but that's part of having a young QB. If the guy continues to show steady, incremental growth, and always takes two steps forward after a step back (which will happen), there's no reason to think that he's forlorn hope as a project. __________________ "When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 75,083

10-28-2008, 02:07 AM	#27
JuicesFlowing Losing with passion. Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oblivion Casino cash: $10004925	So one good game, and we've found our franchise QB? Nice. No.
Posts: 4,399