Do you have FAITH in the Chiefs?

[duncan_idaho]

This season's theme song: To be provided by George Michael

I was tumbling through my Twitter feed this morning (How very ChiefsandOsFan of me!) and found this article from Fox Sports about season two of the Dorsey/Reid regime.

My thoughts: It sums this season up pretty accurately. Awful lot of faith being asked for at this point. It's a hard thing for me to have as a fan due to: 1) The franchise's history when asking fans to have FAITH; 2) The lack of track record in KC for Reid, and the lack of track record for Dorsey as his own man, period.

It's preseason. The Chiefs seem to be running so much on HOPE and FAITH, Barrack Obama's 2008 campaign team would have a good case for plagiarism.

So let's start with this: What area that requires FAITH do you feel most confident will end up where the team needs it to end up?

For me, I probably would go with Marcus Cooper improving and Sean Smith getting his sh*t together.

[WakkaWakka]

Nope

[loochy]

No.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by loochy

No.

DITTO!!!!

[rico]

I envy the fool who is capable of having faith in the Chiefs.

[keg in kc]

I'm not big on faith.

[KC native]

offseason. amirite?

[Frosty]

Fool me once...

[BlackHelicopters]

The past has me jaded. No.

[KCUnited]

He can't be any worse than Kendrick Lewis, amirite?

[RealSNR]

Abdullah is going to not just be better than Kendrick Lewis (which was a given anyway) but he's actually going to be fairly impressive at FS.

I'm also pretty confident we'll pick out a pretty decent RG.

Other than that, I'm not willing to put faith in anything else. The Chiefs need about 7 or 8 different players to unprecedentedly do great things this season. It's extremely unlikely that more than 4 of those guys will meet those expectations

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by SNR

Abdullah is going to not just be better than Kendrick Lewis (which was a given anyway) but he's actually going to be fairly impressive at FS.

Abdullah will be markedly better.

Commings will be better.

Sorensen will be better.

You couldn't possibly have anyone at this level that was worse. Feel kinda bad as Lewis really had a nice rookie year and seemed like he could have been the guy at FS, but something got him. Probably the repeated injuries to his shoulder. But he was downright awful last season, as was Dunta Robinson. I don't think I've ever seen two defensive backs play as bad as those two did in 2013. We are going to be better simply by subtracting both of those guys off the roster and replacing them with anyone else.

I'm also pretty confident we'll pick out a pretty decent RG.

Agree. Between Linkenbach, Kush, Watkins, Johnson, Fulton and Duvernay-Tardiff, they'll find someone who can play. As well, I really like their offensive line coaching staff that compliments Reid's experience at the position and coaching the position. The offensive line will be much better this year.

Other than that, I'm not willing to put faith in anything else. The Chiefs need about 7 or 8 different players to unprecedentedly do great things this season. It's extremely unlikely that more than 4 of those guys will meet those expectations

I don't know about 7 or 8 doing "great" things, though they will need some guys to step up:

1. Dwayne Bowe
- Bowe can't show up like he did last season. I think he got complacent due to Smith and Reid versus what he had to work with previously in his career. He can't just show up.

2. Catapano & Bailey
- These two guys have to step it up and provide a pass rush and minutes beyond what we get from Hali and Houston. I'm sick of hearing about these guys - let's see something from them on the field.

3. Nico Johnson
- He's got to be the man next to DJ. Nobody seems to be talking about this position and it's importance, but there has to be more impact and production from the MLB spot so that it allows Berry to effectively play the safety position versus cover over for mediocrity at this spot. If Nico can't beat out the other tomato cans on this roster for this spot, then the FO really missed the boat on drafting a guy who could have/should have in the 2014 Draft.

4. Marcus Cooper
- While he flashed as a rookie last season, he's got to take the next step and be the guy who made it possible to just outright release Flowers for.

I think that if these four/five guys step it up, we're a better all-around team than last season and we will contend with the Donkeys for the top spot in the AFC West.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I don't know about 7 or 8 doing "great" things, though they will need some guys to step up:

1. Dwayne Bowe
- Bowe can't show up like he did last season. I think he got complacent due to Smith and Reid versus what he had to work with previously in his career. He can't just show up.

2. Catapano & Bailey
- These two guys have to step it up and provide a pass rush and minutes beyond what we get from Hali and Houston. I'm sick of hearing about these guys - let's see something from them on the field.

3. Nico Johnson
- He's got to be the man next to DJ. Nobody seems to be talking about this position and it's importance, but there has to be more impact and production from the MLB spot so that it allows Berry to effectively play the safety position versus cover over for mediocrity at this spot. If Nico can't beat out the other tomato cans on this roster for this spot, then the FO really missed the boat on drafting a guy who could have/should have in the 2014 Draft.

4. Marcus Cooper
- While he flashed as a rookie last season, he's got to take the next step and be the guy who made it possible to just outright release Flowers for.

I think that if these four/five guys step it up, we're a better all-around team than last season and we will contend with the Donkeys for the top spot in the AFC West.

Joe Mays is very likely going to start over Nico Johnson unless Johnson improved by leaps and bounds over the offseason. It would be nice to find an improvement over Akeem Jordan between those two players, but if we just get more of the same, we're not necessarily screwed.

We also have Vance Walker on the team now. Again, it would be really swell if Bailey and Catapano did something awesome, but we're at least adequately covered at that position if they're just going to be talentless shitdicks. We never were going to find the next JJ Watt in that group of players anyway.

So in addition to Bowe and Cooper being absolute MUSTS for marked improvement, I would also add:

• Eric Fisher- I don't care what kind of little adjustments he made as the season went on. He was a fat pussy throughout the entire season as far as I'm concerned. And with the comfort of the left side (I'm STILL skeptical that moving to the right was such a huge ****ing deal to him) comes greater responsibility, and the dude wasn't even able to work out heavy duty in the spring months. I'm extremely on guard about him at LT. He NEEDS to not **** this up or we're pretty much dead
  
• Jeff Allen- I have yet to see this guy put together a game where I go, "Wow, he's looking pretty good out there!" If Fisher is still AIDS, Allen isn't good enough to at least do his job the right way. It's quite possible that our entire left flank is going to suck. Have fun, Alex.
  
• Kelce, Harris, or SOME shitty TE on our roster- I don't need to explain this one
  
• AJ Jenkins or Junior Hemingway- Can you imagine what would happen if Bowe or Avery went down in a game? I know last year we didn't exactly have a great backup plan either, but at least McCluster was decent on short yardage possession routes and slants. We don't even have that this year. And Christ... forget about running 3 or 4 receiver formations if neither of these two assholes can find their dicks
  
• Alex Smith- ITTH NOT ALEXTH THMITH'TH FAULT!!!!!11111 No, I'm not saying it is, but we simply can not afford to have the Alex Smith of the first 8 games. I'm expecting some stupid asshole to bring up how the team went 9-0 with shitty Alex Smith, but let's be honest here. He wasn't game managing in a lot of those games-- he was sucking ass and getting bailed out by the defense. I'm fine with game manager Alex Smith- the one we saw against Jacksonville, Dallas, and Oakland. I know that we don't necessarily need the Indianapolis game Alex Smith. I'm NOT okay with Buffalo and Houston Alex Smith. We can't afford any shitty games by him, especially against the defenses we're facing this year. If he's not on par, I don't think we've made enough adjustments on defense to carry his ass. Especially not against the Donks and Chargers.

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by SNR

Joe Mays is very likely going to start over Nico Johnson unless Johnson improved by leaps and bounds over the offseason. It would be nice to find an improvement over Akeem Jordan between those two players, but if we just get more of the same, we're not necessarily screwed.

We also have Vance Walker on the team now. Again, it would be really swell if Bailey and Catapano did something awesome, but we're at least adequately covered at that position if they're just going to be talentless shitdicks. We never were going to find the next JJ Watt in that group of players anyway.

So in addition to Bowe and Cooper being absolute MUSTS for marked improvement, I would also add:

• Eric Fisher- I don't care what kind of little adjustments he made as the season went on. He was a fat pussy throughout the entire season as far as I'm concerned. And with the comfort of the left side (I'm STILL skeptical that moving to the right was such a huge ****ing deal to him) comes greater responsibility, and the dude wasn't even able to work out heavy duty in the spring months. I'm extremely on guard about him at LT. He NEEDS to not **** this up or we're pretty much dead
  
• Jeff Allen- I have yet to see this guy put together a game where I go, "Wow, he's looking pretty good out there!" If Fisher is still AIDS, Allen isn't good enough to at least do his job the right way. It's quite possible that our entire left flank is going to suck. Have fun, Alex.
  
• Kelce, Harris, or SOME shitty TE on our roster- I don't need to explain this one
  
• AJ Jenkins or Junior Hemingway- Can you imagine what would happen if Bowe or Avery went down in a game? I know last year we didn't exactly have a great backup plan either, but at least McCluster was decent on short yardage possession routes and slants. We don't even have that this year. And Christ... forget about running 3 or 4 receiver formations if neither of these two assholes can find their dicks
  
• Alex Smith- ITTH NOT ALEXTH THMITH'TH FAULT!!!!!11111 No, I'm not saying it is, but we simply can not afford to have the Alex Smith of the first 8 games. I'm expecting some stupid asshole to bring up how the team went 9-0 with shitty Alex Smith, but let's be honest here. He wasn't game managing in a lot of those games-- he was sucking ass and getting bailed out by the defense. I'm fine with game manager Alex Smith- the one we saw against Jacksonville, Dallas, and Oakland. I know that we don't necessarily need the Indianapolis game Alex Smith. I'm NOT okay with Buffalo and Houston Alex Smith. We can't afford any shitty games by him, especially against the defenses we're facing this year. If he's not on par, I don't think we've made enough adjustments on defense to carry his ass. Especially not against the Donks and Chargers.

I'd agree with everything, but if Joe Mays is starting, that doesn't bode well for our defense. He's poor in coverage and is just a dude. And I do think that teams were taking advantage of our lack of productivity at that spot in the field and it forced us to put Berry more into the box than he should be at this point in his career.

Because of the tomato cans we had at MLB, Berry was essentially turned into LaRon Landry, and for a guy with Berry's speed and athleticism, that's not a good thing for the back half of the defense.

Having shit at the MLB position hurt this team.

I'm not so much worried about Fisher and Allen. I think that they are both going to be much better than who they were last season and Fisher did improve markedly by the end of the season. He has to stay healthy though, as well as Stephenson, or we are really screwed.

I think you are a little overstated on the expectations (or lack thereof) on Smith. New system, entirely new coaches from top to bottom, new players, what was essentially a rookie offensive line outside of Albert, a rookie TE and a hobbled one, etc. The guy was walking into a situation that was exceedingly detrimental to kicking ass and he did remarkably well. If those situations, against better teams, you are going to see "game manager" more than you are against what you saw in the playoff game. For this season, I think you see that Alex Smith and that offense (and hopefully a Dwayne Bowe who doesn't shit the game away by bad play after bad play) versus the "game manager" type of performances.

[TRR]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'd agree with everything, but if Joe Mays is starting, that doesn't bode well for our defense. He's poor in coverage and is just a dude. And I do think that teams were taking advantage of our lack of productivity at that spot in the field and it forced us to put Berry more into the box than he should be at this point in his career.

Because of the tomato cans we had at MLB, Berry was essentially turned into LaRon Landry, and for a guy with Berry's speed and athleticism, that's not a good thing for the back half of the defense.

Having shit at the MLB position hurt this team.

I'm not so much worried about Fisher and Allen. I think that they are both going to be much better than who they were last season and Fisher did improve markedly by the end of the season. He has to stay healthy though, as well as Stephenson, or we are really screwed.

I think you are a little overstated on the expectations (or lack thereof) on Smith. New system, entirely new coaches from top to bottom, new players, what was essentially a rookie offensive line outside of Albert, a rookie TE and a hobbled one, etc. The guy was walking into a situation that was exceedingly detrimental to kicking ass and he did remarkably well. If those situations, against better teams, you are going to see "game manager" more than you are against what you saw in the playoff game. For this season, I think you see that Alex Smith and that offense (and hopefully a Dwayne Bowe who doesn't shit the game away by bad play after bad play) versus the "game manager" type of performances.

I think you are undervaluing Joe Mays. He is better in coverage than Jordan was, and is certainly better in coverage thank Nico Johnson. Johnson's MO has always been that...even at Alabama.

You are certainly more sure of the OL than I am. Whoever starts at RG will be a downgrade IMO over last year...at least in the first half of the year. Fisher really needs to be consistent at LT, or KC is in trouble.

I believe Junior will give KC something they missed in the slot last year....size and hands. He is good in the red zone and I believe in his targets last year, Junior didn't drop a ball. KC will need AJ or Kyle Williams to step up as well as Kelce to take the O to the next level.

As far as the D goes....the CBs will need to play with more intelligence than last season. Flowers, Lewis, Demps, Robinson, Berry, Smith and Cooper all had moments of complete idiocy last season. You are going to get beat. The NFL has made sure of that. Just be where you are supposed to be. Hopefully our new players in the secondary can simply do that.