Cassel Is Failing Chiefs

[Hammock Parties]

http://kan.scout.com/2/912917.html

It’s easy to blame the Chiefs’ terrible pass defense or rotten, handicapped offensive line play for Sunday’s 37-7 blowout at the hands of the San Diego Chargers. But you can do that every week. At some point you have to call out the highest-paid player, so it’s time to lay it at the feet of Matt Cassel.

There’s no question Cassel shares some of the blame for the Chiefs’ 1-6 start. He blew a game against the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 but it was nothing compared to what transpired inside a soggy Arrowhead Stadium Sunday. The Chiefs had 19 net passing yards and zero passing first downs at halftime against the Chargers, and even that total was “inflated” by a two-minute drill. At one point, Cassel had dropped back to pass eight times and completed one pass for a grand total of two net yards.

When it was all over, Kansas City had only three passing first downs despite Cassel’s 25 attempts. His 25.3 quarterback rating, a horrifying statistic in a vacuum, appears even more revolting when you consider that it was the lowest rating a Chiefs’ starter has posted since Tyler Thigpen melted down in Atlanta a year ago.

Yes, we’re now revisiting a level of incompetence from KC’s passing game that we haven’t seen since Herm Edwards was trying to save his job by throwing Thigpen to the wolves.

Sunday’s game was that bad. The Chiefs appeared to be a team that cannot field even an average passing attack, and this came at home against a San Diego team with a mediocre secondary and a terrible pass rush. I’m not sure Shaw-knee Merriman touched Cassel, but it really didn’t matter.

As soon as his pocket became congested against the Chargers, Cassel looked lost. The play was dead. And when Cassel did throw, the results were less than inspiring. Specifically, his accuracy hit the bottom of the barrel against the Chargers.

In the second quarter, Cassel threw an awful pass that was intended for newly-activated wide receiver Lance Long. It was underthrown and nearly intercepted. On the next play, Long got a step deep on his coverage, but once again the pass was underthrown and Long was forced to reach back awkwardly in a failed attempt to catch it.

Were they difficult throws? Sure. But Cassel is the highest-paid Chief. He’s supposed to be a difference maker. He failed to make a difference. The Chiefs, already down 14-0 at that point, couldn’t really afford to punt again, but had to because they simply couldn’t move the ball through the air. At all.

A few plays later, Cassel badly skipped a ball to a wide-open Dwayne Bowe, who would have picked up a first down. It wasn’t a difficult throw, and Cassel had a perfect pocket to pass from. He just dumped the ball right in the dirt. Is there really any excuse for that from the highest-paid Chief?

But what really stings is, at one point, Kansas City had a chance to get back in the ball game. They were down 13 points, had been out-gained 2-to-1, and Arrowhead Stadium was a drippy, depressing, scene. But on their first possession of the third quarter, the Chiefs had scored, then KC’s defense had stuffed San Diego’s offense, and all the momentum was on Matt Cassel’s side.

It was at that point that he dropped back to throw, stepped up and heaved one of those long, graceful, arcing spirals you always see in slow motion on NFL Films highlights. For a brief second, Chiefs fans may have seen Jamaal Charles breaking open, seen the ball sailing through the air and thought – this is it! Matt Cassel is about to throw a 65-yard touchdown pass, no one can run down Charles, and this place is about to go crazy! We’re back in this game!

And then the pass fluttered off to the right as Charles made a hopeless stab at an over-the-shoulder miracle catch. The ball thumped into the wet grass and slipped away, just like the opportunity.

Cassel blew it, and he blew the next play when he badly overthrew a wide, wide open Bobby Wade streaking down the right sideline for what was, at least, a 20-yard gain and potentially a touchdown. The pass wasn’t even close. Wade would have needed a last-second gust of hurricane-force wind to catch up to it.

And that was it. On third and long, Cassel scrambled for two meaningless yards, the Chiefs punted, the Chargers torched KC’s defense for another long touchdown. Game over.

The Chiefs had missed their window of opportunity to get back in the game. When you’re a 1-6 team, those chances don’t come along that often. The highest-paid player on the team has to seize the moment. Matt Cassel failed to do that, and right now he is failing the Chiefs. His performance Sunday was as bad as anything we saw from Thigpen a year ago, and could have been worse. Cassel’s three interceptions could have easily been five. If Bowe doesn’t make a sensational play on the end-zone boundary, the Chiefs don’t even score.

Chiefs fans love to laugh at Oakland’s JaMarcus Russell, who is completing only 45.6 percent of his passes. But Cassel is now keeping him company, just four spots above at 54.8 percent. Cassel is 34th in the NFL in yards per attempt (note that there are only 32 starting quarterbacks) and the Chiefs have the league’s worst third-down conversion rate.

Are the questions that arose around Cassel last season in New England still an issue? It’s hard to argue otherwise. The Patriots had a woeful deep passing game a year ago and Sunday, Charles might as well have been Randy Moss getting wide open down the field only to watch the ball sail over his head. There are no shortage of plays where Cassel holds onto the ball and takes a sack, and at this rate, after taking 47 sacks with the Patriots and already another 23 this season, he may wind up as the most-sacked quarterback in the league over the last two seasons. These are not trends that should be ignored.

The saddest part may be that at times, Cassel actually shows signs of being the franchise quarterback he’s paid to be. Sunday, he made a spectacular throw to Long that would have gone for a touchdown had it not been dropped. He threw gorgeous passes to Bowe for clutch, game-tying touchdowns against the Raiders and Cowboys. He has protected the ball well, been a good teammate, played with heart and determination and said all the right things.

But the Chiefs are 1-6, have one of the league’s worst passing games, and here we are comparing Cassel to Thigpen and Russell. After Sunday, it’s hard to argue he hasn’t been a giant disappointment. The Chiefs had a chance, if only for the briefest of moments, and Cassel failed them. His contract demands success.

[L.A. Chieffan]

if we're talking about players salaries in relation to their poor performance, LJ would be at the top of the list

[Mile High Mania]

I did not watch the game, wasn't playing locally... but based on footage I did see and things I just know... the QB is not the weak link of the team. The WRs and TEs are average or below. The Oline is patch-work and the ground game is void of everything you want from a ground game. So, it's all the fault of the QB? Doesn't add up to me.

[CrazyHorse]

I blame Larry Johnson. Every game is a shitty game for Johnson.

Till we can run the ball, it's just gonna be more of the same every week. Cassel will continue to struggle until he feels some confidence in his O line and we can run the ball.

Till then it's a jail break for the QB on every play. Timing patterns? Forget about it.

Oh yeah, and the defense sucks.

Another poorly thought out article. More like head hunting. Why dont you just quit trying instead of proving you dont know shit?

[TEX]

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse

I blame Larry Johnson. Every game is a shitty game for Johnson.

Till we can run the ball, it's just gonna be more of the same every week. Cassel will continue to struggle until he feels some confidence in his O line and we can run the ball.

Till then it's a jail break for the QB on every play. Timing patterns? Forget about it.

Oh yeah, and the defense sucks.

Another poorly thought out article. More like head hunting. Why dont you just quit trying instead of proving you dont know shit?

This. Once the O-Line is better, everything else will follow. Period.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

http://kan.scout.com/2/912917.html

It’s easy to blame the Chiefs’ terrible pass defense or rotten, handicapped offensive line play for Sunday’s 37-7 blowout at the hands of the San Diego Chargers. But you can do that every week. At some point you have to call out the highest-paid player, so it’s time to lay it at the feet of Matt Cassel.

There’s no question Cassel shares some of the blame for the Chiefs’ 1-6 start. He blew a game against the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 but it was nothing compared to what transpired inside a soggy Arrowhead Stadium Sunday. The Chiefs had 19 net passing yards and zero passing first downs at halftime against the Chargers, and even that total was “inflated” by a two-minute drill. At one point, Cassel had dropped back to pass eight times and completed one pass for a grand total of two net yards.

When it was all over, Kansas City had only three passing first downs despite Cassel’s 25 attempts. His 25.3 quarterback rating, a horrifying statistic in a vacuum, appears even more revolting when you consider that it was the lowest rating a Chiefs’ starter has posted since Tyler Thigpen melted down in Atlanta a year ago.

Yes, we’re now revisiting a level of incompetence from KC’s passing game that we haven’t seen since Herm Edwards was trying to save his job by throwing Thigpen to the wolves.

Sunday’s game was that bad. The Chiefs appeared to be a team that cannot field even an average passing attack, and this came at home against a San Diego team with a mediocre secondary and a terrible pass rush. I’m not sure Shaw-knee Merriman touched Cassel, but it really didn’t matter.

As soon as his pocket became congested against the Chargers, Cassel looked lost. The play was dead. And when Cassel did throw, the results were less than inspiring. Specifically, his accuracy hit the bottom of the barrel against the Chargers.

In the second quarter, Cassel threw an awful pass that was intended for newly-activated wide receiver Lance Long. It was underthrown and nearly intercepted. On the next play, Long got a step deep on his coverage, but once again the pass was underthrown and Long was forced to reach back awkwardly in a failed attempt to catch it.

Were they difficult throws? Sure. But Cassel is the highest-paid Chief. He’s supposed to be a difference maker. He failed to make a difference. The Chiefs, already down 14-0 at that point, couldn’t really afford to punt again, but had to because they simply couldn’t move the ball through the air. At all.

A few plays later, Cassel badly skipped a ball to a wide-open Dwayne Bowe, who would have picked up a first down. It wasn’t a difficult throw, and Cassel had a perfect pocket to pass from. He just dumped the ball right in the dirt. Is there really any excuse for that from the highest-paid Chief?

But what really stings is, at one point, Kansas City had a chance to get back in the ball game. They were down 13 points, had been out-gained 2-to-1, and Arrowhead Stadium was a drippy, depressing, scene. But on their first possession of the third quarter, the Chiefs had scored, then KC’s defense had stuffed San Diego’s offense, and all the momentum was on Matt Cassel’s side.

It was at that point that he dropped back to throw, stepped up and heaved one of those long, graceful, arcing spirals you always see in slow motion on NFL Films highlights. For a brief second, Chiefs fans may have seen Jamaal Charles breaking open, seen the ball sailing through the air and thought – this is it! Matt Cassel is about to throw a 65-yard touchdown pass, no one can run down Charles, and this place is about to go crazy! We’re back in this game!

And then the pass fluttered off to the right as Charles made a hopeless stab at an over-the-shoulder miracle catch. The ball thumped into the wet grass and slipped away, just like the opportunity.

Cassel blew it, and he blew the next play when he badly overthrew a wide, wide open Bobby Wade streaking down the right sideline for what was, at least, a 20-yard gain and potentially a touchdown. The pass wasn’t even close. Wade would have needed a last-second gust of hurricane-force wind to catch up to it.

And that was it. On third and long, Cassel scrambled for two meaningless yards, the Chiefs punted, the Chargers torched KC’s defense for another long touchdown. Game over.

The Chiefs had missed their window of opportunity to get back in the game. When you’re a 1-6 team, those chances don’t come along that often. The highest-paid player on the team has to seize the moment. Matt Cassel failed to do that, and right now he is failing the Chiefs. His performance Sunday was as bad as anything we saw from Thigpen a year ago, and could have been worse. Cassel’s three interceptions could have easily been five. If Bowe doesn’t make a sensational play on the end-zone boundary, the Chiefs don’t even score.

Chiefs fans love to laugh at Oakland’s JaMarcus Russell, who is completing only 45.6 percent of his passes. But Cassel is now keeping him company, just four spots above at 54.8 percent. Cassel is 34th in the NFL in yards per attempt (note that there are only 32 starting quarterbacks) and the Chiefs have the league’s worst third-down conversion rate.

Are the questions that arose around Cassel last season in New England still an issue? It’s hard to argue otherwise. The Patriots had a woeful deep passing game a year ago and Sunday, Charles might as well have been Randy Moss getting wide open down the field only to watch the ball sail over his head. There are no shortage of plays where Cassel holds onto the ball and takes a sack, and at this rate, after taking 47 sacks with the Patriots and already another 23 this season, he may wind up as the most-sacked quarterback in the league over the last two seasons. These are not trends that should be ignored.

The saddest part may be that at times, Cassel actually shows signs of being the franchise quarterback he’s paid to be. Sunday, he made a spectacular throw to Long that would have gone for a touchdown had it not been dropped. He threw gorgeous passes to Bowe for clutch, game-tying touchdowns against the Raiders and Cowboys. He has protected the ball well, been a good teammate, played with heart and determination and said all the right things.

But the Chiefs are 1-6, have one of the league’s worst passing games, and here we are comparing Cassel to Thigpen and Russell. After Sunday, it’s hard to argue he hasn’t been a giant disappointment. The Chiefs had a chance, if only for the briefest of moments, and Cassel failed them. His contract demands success.

If this "article" was turned in to a middle school teacher for a grade, they would give it an "f"

You cant start a thought in one paragraph, never end it, then continue it on a whole new paragraph.

Its just dumb.

I'm not an english major, but even I know that.

Dont you guys have an editor?

BTW almost EVERY point made in this topic could have been read in my "our expectations of Cassel" thread....over three weeks ago!

fail

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

I did not watch the game, wasn't playing locally... but based on footage I did see and things I just know... the QB is not the weak link of the team. The WRs and TEs are average or below. The Oline is patch-work and the ground game is void of everything you want from a ground game. So, it's all the fault of the QB? Doesn't add up to me.

Cassel had a really bad game. End of story. It happens.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

Cassel had a really bad game. End of story. It happens.

he hasnt even had an average game yet.

numbers can be very misleading.

our best game from the QB position was Croyle vs Baltimore...its not even close!

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Mecca

You know what bugs the shit out of me, does Matt Cassel want to do a favor for new guys or something?

Bobby Wade signs and Cassel throws it to him a shit ton, today Lance Long plays and Cassel just keeps trying to feed him the ball. How about you feed that guy named Dwayne Bowe?

you know i dont see how a guy as smart as you cant get it. cassel obviously doent TRUST bowe, or the o line, they have let him down all year. how many passes did bowe drop yesterday?

[KCUnited]

Danan Hughes this morning on 610 - Chiefs receivers the worst route runners he's seen. Was impressed with Long's route running in pregame.

[Chiefnj2]

Originally Posted by BossChief

he hasnt even had an average game yet.

numbers can be very misleading.

our best game from the QB position was Croyle vs Baltimore...its not even close!

Dallas wasn't an average or above average game?

[KcFanInGA]

From what I have seen, Cassel has been what I expected up until last night. You guys act like because a man gets a paycheck that is a large amount of money, that he can't get rattled. Well, I call BS. Here is a guy that wants to win...badly. He has leadership ability out the wazoo according to teammates and coaches...we were fresh off our first win in ages and playing at home in Arrowhead, packed slap full of Chiefs fans donning the red and gold (hail to it) and daring to believe. Things crumbled early. LJ didn't want to run hard before the half, the line was trying to get it's act together, and Cassel made some bad decisions. So he tried to step it up. Tried to force it. For the fans. For himself. For his teammates. And he fell on his face. The whole team did. It is disappointing. It hurts to see the team you love struggle so badly. But you dig deeper. You give a good qb in a bad offense time. You wait until he has talent around him, not game changing talent but at least nfl level talent, and see what he does with it. I predict a big game for Cassel next week. He will bounce back. But half of you seem like you'd be pretty pissed if he did bounce back. I'm sure you'd find something wrong. Start Brodie? Why, because he kept us close in one preseason game? If you are a Chiefs fan, you owe it to the team to see what Cassel does. Just my advice...I was in Atlanta when Jerry Glanville and the fans thought it would be a good idea to trade a 2nd stringer name Brett Farve from the Falcons to the Packers. Let's at least give Cassel this season and next. He's playing hard, and taking some massive shots out there, hoping to do what we need him to do. Bring the ****ing glory back to Arrowhead, bring the damned pride back to the Red and Gold! Science has proven the effect of human thought when many minds are attuned to the same outcome. You dont have to pray...but lets at least try to twice this week and twice next, and all together right before week 9's game, envision the Chiefs driving downfield to win it over and over again. We will get there. And we are moving in that direction. I know where we are going...I just don't know how long it will take to get there. Signing off Chiefs fans.

[Demonpenz]

Cassel sucks.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by KcFanInGA

From what I have seen, Cassel has been what I expected up until last night. You guys act like because a man gets a paycheck that is a large amount of money, that he can't get rattled. Well, I call BS. Here is a guy that wants to win...badly. He has leadership ability out the wazoo according to teammates and coaches...we were fresh off our first win in ages and playing at home in Arrowhead, packed slap full of Chiefs fans donning the red and gold (hail to it) and daring to believe. Things crumbled early. LJ didn't want to run hard before the half, the line was trying to get it's act together, and Cassel made some bad decisions. So he tried to step it up. Tried to force it. For the fans. For himself. For his teammates. And he fell on his face. The whole team did. It is disappointing. It hurts to see the team you love struggle so badly. But you dig deeper. You give a good qb in a bad offense time. You wait until he has talent around him, not game changing talent but at least nfl level talent, and see what he does with it. I predict a big game for Cassel next week. He will bounce back. But half of you seem like you'd be pretty pissed if he did bounce back. I'm sure you'd find something wrong. Start Brodie? Why, because he kept us close in one preseason game? If you are a Chiefs fan, you owe it to the team to see what Cassel does. Just my advice...I was in Atlanta when Jerry Glanville and the fans thought it would be a good idea to trade a 2nd stringer name Brett Farve from the Falcons to the Packers. Let's at least give Cassel this season and next. He's playing hard, and taking some massive shots out there, hoping to do what we need him to do. Bring the ****ing glory back to Arrowhead, bring the damned pride back to the Red and Gold! Science has proven the effect of human thought when many minds are attuned to the same outcome. You dont have to pray...but lets at least try to twice this week and twice next, and all together right before week 9's game, envision the Chiefs driving downfield to win it over and over again. We will get there. And we are moving in that direction. I know where we are going...I just don't know how long it will take to get there. Signing off Chiefs fans.

there might be some good points there, but they are hard to decipher because of the huge paragraph.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by KcFanInGA

From what I have seen, Cassel has been what I expected up until last night. You guys act like because a man gets a paycheck that is a large amount of money, that he can't get rattled. Well, I call BS. Here is a guy that wants to win...badly. He has leadership ability out the wazoo according to teammates and coaches...we were fresh off our first win in ages and playing at home in Arrowhead, packed slap full of Chiefs fans donning the red and gold (hail to it) and daring to believe. Things crumbled early. LJ didn't want to run hard before the half, the line was trying to get it's act together, and Cassel made some bad decisions. So he tried to step it up. Tried to force it. For the fans. For himself. For his teammates. And he fell on his face. The whole team did. It is disappointing. It hurts to see the team you love struggle so badly. But you dig deeper. You give a good qb in a bad offense time. You wait until he has talent around him, not game changing talent but at least nfl level talent, and see what he does with it. I predict a big game for Cassel next week. He will bounce back. But half of you seem like you'd be pretty pissed if he did bounce back. I'm sure you'd find something wrong. Start Brodie? Why, because he kept us close in one preseason game? If you are a Chiefs fan, you owe it to the team to see what Cassel does. Just my advice...I was in Atlanta when Jerry Glanville and the fans thought it would be a good idea to trade a 2nd stringer name Brett Farve from the Falcons to the Packers. Let's at least give Cassel this season and next. He's playing hard, and taking some massive shots out there, hoping to do what we need him to do. Bring the ****ing glory back to Arrowhead, bring the damned pride back to the Red and Gold! Science has proven the effect of human thought when many minds are attuned to the same outcome. You dont have to pray...but lets at least try to twice this week and twice next, and all together right before week 9's game, envision the Chiefs driving downfield to win it over and over again. We will get there. And we are moving in that direction. I know where we are going...I just don't know how long it will take to get there. Signing off Chiefs fans.

Wall-o-words

[LaChapelle]

I could understand if maybe his arm got ****ed up by someone landing on it, but unless that happens most games....