Whitlock: I LOVE YOU HERM

[BigRock]

I was so looking forward to the reaction to these columns. But nobody's posting them! So I figured I gotta get on that.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/col...ry/882946.html

Chiefs are heading in the right direction

Bad news for devout Herm Haters:

In losing 20-19 to San Diego on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs played a near-flawless game and gave the strongest testimony to date Herm Edwards might deserve at least one more season to lead the Chiefs.

Sorry. I absolutely loved Sunday’s game, especially the decisive decision to go for two points and the victory in the final minute rather than a game-tying extra point. And, to be totally honest, I loved the fact the two-point conversion failed.

The Chiefs’ single mission this season is improvement. As fans, we should have two missions: 1. Improvement; 2. Securing a draft pick high enough to pluck the best quarterback in the 2009 draft (Ball State’s Nate Davis if we’re lucky).

For the third week in a row, the Chiefs demonstrated dramatic improvement without jeopardizing a shot at the league’s No. 1 pick. Only the irrational would argue the Chiefs aren’t making progress.

“Yes, yes, I think we are,” Edwards said.

“As a team we feel like we’re going the right direction,” Tyler Thigpen added.

“We feel like we’re going the right way,” Brian Waters said.

Playing with its junior-varsity defense due to injuries to Turk McBride, Derrick Johnson, Brandon Flowers and Tamba Hali, Kansas City throttled San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson-powered running game, baffled quarterback Philip Rivers, produced two turnovers and forced the Chargers into a critical three-and-out with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter.

Safety Bernard Pollard starred, grabbing an interception and delivering pulverizing hits throughout the afternoon.

Offensively, Kansas City’s playmakers — Dwayne Bowe, Tony Gonzalez, Mark Bradley and Chan Gailey — made plays.

Yes, I put offensive coordinator Chan Gailey in the same classification as KC’s receivers. Gailey’s a playmaker. His spread offense is the innovation of the season. More than a quarterback, the Chiefs have discovered a style of play since losing Brodie Croyle to an injury and Larry Johnson to thuggery.

Bowe, Gonzalez, Bradley and the spread should be a permanent part of Kansas City’s offensive philosophy. When/if Larry Johnson returns, he’ll need to make far more adjustments than KC’s playbook. Obviously he can no longer be the centerpiece of the Chiefs’ offense.

Gonzalez (10 catches, 113 yards and two TDs), Bradley (nine for 81 yards and a TD) and Bowe (six for 72) key the Chiefs’ offense this season and next.

As for Tyler Thigpen (266 passing yards and three TDs), I like what he’s doing, but I’m far from sold on him as anybody’s quarterback of the future. He’s not Rich Gannon. He’s a good backup. The ability to improvise and an instinctive swagger define starting NFL quarterbacks. I don’t see those qualities in Thigpen.

On the two-point conversion, he momentarily froze when the Chargers took away his primary target, Gonzalez, and then Thigpen floated a duck in Gonzalez’s direction. Nope. I can be convinced otherwise, but right now he’s a good No.2 at best.

A bogus defensive pass-interference call put the Chiefs in position to win the game, setting the Chiefs up at the 2.

The fortunate PI, KC’s one-win record and the injuries on defense made Herm’s decision to go for two points a no-brainer. There was no reason to throw Kansas City’s banged-up defense out on the field for overtime.

It was the perfect loss.

The last three weeks make me wonder how much of a role Johnson’s poor attitude and big contract played in Kansas City’s horrific start to the season. What we’ve witnessed since his absence is a clear case of addition by subtraction. With Johnson out of the lineup, Gailey was free to use his full imagination in reshaping Kansas City’s strategy. With Johnson either out of the locker room or demoted to scout team, it’s clear, too, that Herm has the attention of his young team.

We all need to take a step back and re-evaluate Edwards’ performance. He is not perfect. But he’s been hamstrung by a set of problems not his own making. He’s beginning to dig out from those problems.

The Chiefs are building an identity. We can afford to look at these final seven games with a fresh set of eyes. We have nothing to lose.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Man, I kind of hate to do that because it would ruin an excellent movie (IMO - people that watch it either love it or absolutely hate it).

send pm....

[tk13]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

a good young QB who could be our QBOTF (by the way, I can't believe people took Whitlock's joke about the Ball State QB seriously)

There's going to be plenty of time to have this fight in March... but I'll have to step in on this one. He's probably only 50% joking with that statement. If somebody like Tampa Bay takes him in the late 1st/2nd round... you'll see.

[Hammock Parties]

Yup, Whitlock loved Herm. Kind of makes anything negative he says about Haley smell like bullshit now.

[kcxiv]

If this was a test, he would have gotten 30 out of 30 questions wrong. Herm was a ****ing failire. not even an F, incomplete.

[Deberg_1990]

"The Chiefs are building an identity. We can afford to look at these final seven games with a fresh set of eyes."





Wow...

Maybe the worst thing JWhit has ever written

[Hammock Parties]

Whitlock should be called on the carpet for everything positive he said about Herm.

It's all on this forum.

Go find it.

(so should I, BTW)