Chiefs X-Factor's Inside the Huddle-Time to "Pack"Up Camp

xfactor · 06:48 AM

Pre-season is no time
to give up on 'the plan'

It was the kind of game I’d been waiting to see throughout the pre-season from the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Matt Cassel was pinpoint accurate with his passes. Tony Moeaki, Steve Breaston and Dwayne Bowe were making great catches all over the place. And our running game was in mid-season form. It was the kind of team performance that Chiefs fans had been expecting to see this season.

No, it wasn’t a pre-season game. You weren’t going to catch any highlights on ESPN. The performances I described above were witnessed by myself and about 10,000 of my closest friends during a team scrimmage on Wednesday, prior to the St. Louis game. The Chiefs were scrimmaging under the lights at Arrowhead and, quite honestly, looked impressive. Which is why I’m not yet ready to hit the panic button after the team remains winless with just one more pre-season game remaining.

Just for a little historical perspective, remember that KC was 0-3 at this time a year ago and most everyone was criticizing Charlie Weis for being “unimaginative” on offense and calling for his job. Some were even worried that a 3-13 record might look pretty good. Well, here we are again . . . 0-3 with an offense that looks like it would struggle against most college teams. That’s not to say there aren’t some concerns. Kansas City has looked like anything but a playoff team in their first three games. I know that head coach Todd Haley has a “plan” for preparing his team for the regular season. If that plan means avoiding injuries to his starters, then it’s been a success.

Outside of a torn ACL by free agent linebacker Brandon Siler and Jon Baldwin’s self-inflicted broken thumb, KC is entering the final pre-season game in great shape. But if the pre-season is meant to build confidence in your players, or fans, then Kansas City’s performance has been a little troubling. Despite having the No. 1 rushing offense a year ago, our ground game has been stuck in the mud. Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones combined for just six carries and 14 yards against St. Louis. We acquired All-Pro fullback Le’Ron McClain and, for the most part, he’s been window dressing. In three pre-season games, the Chiefs have rushed for only 238 yards - an average of just 79.3 yards per game and 3.4 yards per carry. Granted, it’s the pre-season and our starters have been playing only about half a game, but we’ve still come to expect a little more than this.

The area where I sense the biggest concern right now is with the defense. Against our starters, St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford picked apart our secondary with 8-of-8 passing for 78 yards and two touchdowns on the game’s first two possessions. That’s unacceptable, even in pre-season. So is the 170 yards rushing we allowed.The only player who did show up to play on defense was linebacker Derrick Johnson who appears on the verge of becoming the All-Pro player we’ve been hoping for since he was drafted with KC’s No. 1 pick in 2005. Against the Rams, he had eight tackles, a sack and an interception.He wasn’t the only bright spot on Friday.

Rookie lineman Rodney Hudson split time between offensive center and guard. He was responsible for a holding call that prevented an early touchdown, but otherwise had a very solid game. We drafted him for his versatility on the line and he’s proving to be that kind of player.Backup quarterbacks Ricky Stanzi and Tyler Palko each looked respectable while combining for nearly 200 yards passing and runningback Dexter McCluster showed that he can be dangerous in the open field. The pieces appear to be in place. What’s lacking is the consistency . . . and a desire to open things up a little more on offense.

Meeting with the players, I don’t see that they’ve given up on “the plan.” They don’t like losing. They’re professional football players. They want to win every time they’re on the field. But they aren’t in panic mode.I really look for a little more intensity against Green Bay this week. Bottom line is the real season begins in less than two weeks. We can’t keep saying “It’s only pre-season and the games don’t matter.”Since we didn’t have any training camps this summer, Haley’s focus has been on conditioning, avoiding injuries, and making sure the team is ready for the season opener against Buffalo.That’s been “the plan.”We’ll soon know whether “the plan” was a good one or not.
* * *
•In three years as head coach, Haley’s pre-season record is 1-10. Maybe that says something about KC’s emphasis (or lack of) on pre-season games.
•In order to get down to the mandatory 80 players this week, the Chiefs put Ryan O’Callaghan on injured reserve and released kicker Todd Carter.

xfactor · 08-31-2011, 06:04 AM

Here we go again, fire away......

Chiefs=Champions · 08-31-2011, 06:15 AM

I think you should continue to focus on the training camp/practice reports. That part was a good read! Everything else isnt really an "inside the huddle" segment. Its just your own views. You're entitled to them and im not saying you're wrong. But imo, reporting on what the average cp member dosnt have the option of knowing is what we want to hear.

Nice job!

xfactor · 08-31-2011, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefs=Good

I think you should continue to focus on the training camp/practice reports. That part was a good read! Everything else isnt really an "inside the huddle" segment. Its just your own views. You're entitled to them and im not saying you're wrong. But imo, reporting on what the average cp member dosnt have the option of knowing is what we want to hear.

Nice job!

I totally respect that, thank you for insight. I kinda covered this last week, Im not slim reporter that reports any dirt on players im friends with or get disclosed confidental info about. Does me no good, i don't want to lose there respect. Im not looking to make this my career, don't recieve a penny. It is newspaper column in my small hometown paper.

excessive · 08-31-2011, 06:27 AM

Here's some constructive criticism.

If you notice, most professional journalist's work has very short paragraphs. That's the journalistic convention. Because they are writing for the masses, not only are their paragraphs shorter, but sentences tend to be simpler as well. It's easy to read, the eye passes quickly over the page, and even those of limited reading comprehension (think chiefsplanet) can make it through without struggling.

Much criticism you've taken has been because of your tendency to write involved, extended paragraphs. You've gotten better from your first postings (I'm thinking last year), but there's room for more improvement with the above.

Chiefs=Champions · 08-31-2011, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xfactor

I totally respect that, thank you for insight. I kinda covered this last week, Im not slim reporter that reports any dirt on players im friends with or get disclosed confidental info about. Does me no good, i don't want to lose there respect. Im not looking to make this my career, don't recieve a penny. It is newspaper column in my small hometown paper.

Thats cool mate, i get that. But what ive seen on cp countless times this preseason, is when someone actually takes the time to write up a detailed analysis of a practice. Everyone loves to read it. Myself included. No matter how basic it is.

By no means do you have to bash a player, but focusing more on practice, even just the positives, like: Bowe had several big catches, Big Jon continues to look impressive at RG, he had a couple of even battles with Kelly G. etc. (which mind you, you have done to an extent) Is exactly what the people want to hear. However that may just be the more educated cp residents

...

Or maybe just me...

**Shaid** · 08-31-2011, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by excessive

even those of limited reading comprehension (think chiefsplanet) can make it through without struggling.

Well played sir, well played.

Chiefs=Champions · 08-31-2011, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaid

Well played sir, well played.

UNDERUSED SMILEY, REPLACE IT!

xfactor · 08-31-2011, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by excessive

Here's some constructive criticism.

If you notice, most professional journalist's work has very short paragraphs. That's the journalistic convention. Because they are writing for the masses, not only are their paragraphs shorter, but sentences tend to be simpler as well. It's easy to read, the eye passes quickly over the page, and even those of limited reading comprehension (think chiefsplanet) can make it through without struggling.

Much criticism you've taken has been because of your tendency to write involved, extended paragraphs. You've gotten better from your first postings (I'm thinking last year), but there's room for more improvement with the above.

I totally understand where u r coming from, I get this in emai back from newspaper editor. I copy and paste it here and have to go through and fix it on here. Ill do better job of finding breaking points and making new paragraphs, Thank you for advise!! Much appriciated

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefs=Good

Thats cool mate, i get that. But what ive seen on cp countless times this preseason, is when someone actually takes the time to write up a detailed analysis of a practice. Everyone loves to read it. Myself included. No matter how basic it is.

By no means do you have to bash a player, but focusing more on practice, even just the positives, like: Bowe had several big catches, Big Jon continues to look impressive at RG, he had a couple of even battles with Kelly G. etc. (which mind you, you have done to an extent) Is exactly what the people want to hear. However that may just be the more educated cp residents

...

Or maybe just me...

I totally agree and I used to do this in daily camp reports from River Falls. This is weekly newspaper article so I try to cover whole weeks news

xfactor · 08-31-2011, 06:49 AM

Excessive, I edited it, tell me what you think

Hammock Parties · 08-31-2011, 06:53 AM

**the Talking Can** · 08-31-2011, 07:00 AM

it would be cooler if told us you heard all this from some strange chick at Denny's...

DTLB58 · 08-31-2011, 07:08 AM

One thing I've learned watching the Chiefs in several training camps (Been a Chiefs fan since I was 10, I'm 47 now) is that they generally look good, sometimes great against eachother, but then when it comes to pre-season games, YUK. Just like we have witnessed time and time again. I can't remember the last time the Chiefs looked great in the preseason and had a coach (maybe Vermeil) that cared that much about winning in the "practice" games.

One of the other things, I wouldn't refer to the Chiefs as "We or "Us". That's my opinion but I think it's more proffesional since you are not actually part of the team, even though sometimes as fans we feel as we are, I think it may be better to stay with "They or the "Chiefs".

xfactor · 08-31-2011, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTLB58

One thing I've learned watching the Chiefs in several training camps (Been a Chiefs fan since I was 10, I'm 47 now) is that they generally look good, sometimes great against eachother, but then when it comes to pre-season games, YUK. Just like we have witnessed time and time again. I can't remember the last time the Chiefs looked great in the preseason and had a coach (maybe Vermeil) that cared that much about winning in the "practice" games.

One of the other things, I wouldn't refer to the Chiefs as "We or "Us". That's my opinion but I think it's more proffesional since you are not actually part of the team, even though sometimes as fans we feel as we are, I think it may be better to stay with "They or the "Chiefs".

i understand where u r coming from but my opinion is we are all in this together as a family. Talk to any player, past or present, any coach past or present, any Chiefs personal, Lamar or Clark and they will tell you differently. Either by presence at Arrowhead or away games, hell even if you buy a Chiefs hat your are contributing. Just my take not right or wrong in either case

**Bwana** · 08-31-2011, 08:08 AM

Cool, thanks for posting it.

08-31-2011, 06:04 AM
xfactor Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Overland Park Casino cash: $10005222	X-Factor's Inside the Huddle-Time to "Pack"Up Camp Pre-season is no time to give up on 'the plan' It was the kind of game I’d been waiting to see throughout the pre-season from the Kansas City Chiefs. Quarterback Matt Cassel was pinpoint accurate with his passes. Tony Moeaki, Steve Breaston and Dwayne Bowe were making great catches all over the place. And our running game was in mid-season form. It was the kind of team performance that Chiefs fans had been expecting to see this season. No, it wasn’t a pre-season game. You weren’t going to catch any highlights on ESPN. The performances I described above were witnessed by myself and about 10,000 of my closest friends during a team scrimmage on Wednesday, prior to the St. Louis game. The Chiefs were scrimmaging under the lights at Arrowhead and, quite honestly, looked impressive. Which is why I’m not yet ready to hit the panic button after the team remains winless with just one more pre-season game remaining. Just for a little historical perspective, remember that KC was 0-3 at this time a year ago and most everyone was criticizing Charlie Weis for being “unimaginative” on offense and calling for his job. Some were even worried that a 3-13 record might look pretty good. Well, here we are again . . . 0-3 with an offense that looks like it would struggle against most college teams. That’s not to say there aren’t some concerns. Kansas City has looked like anything but a playoff team in their first three games. I know that head coach Todd Haley has a “plan” for preparing his team for the regular season. If that plan means avoiding injuries to his starters, then it’s been a success. Outside of a torn ACL by free agent linebacker Brandon Siler and Jon Baldwin’s self-inflicted broken thumb, KC is entering the final pre-season game in great shape. But if the pre-season is meant to build confidence in your players, or fans, then Kansas City’s performance has been a little troubling. Despite having the No. 1 rushing offense a year ago, our ground game has been stuck in the mud. Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones combined for just six carries and 14 yards against St. Louis. We acquired All-Pro fullback Le’Ron McClain and, for the most part, he’s been window dressing. In three pre-season games, the Chiefs have rushed for only 238 yards - an average of just 79.3 yards per game and 3.4 yards per carry. Granted, it’s the pre-season and our starters have been playing only about half a game, but we’ve still come to expect a little more than this. The area where I sense the biggest concern right now is with the defense. Against our starters, St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford picked apart our secondary with 8-of-8 passing for 78 yards and two touchdowns on the game’s first two possessions. That’s unacceptable, even in pre-season. So is the 170 yards rushing we allowed.The only player who did show up to play on defense was linebacker Derrick Johnson who appears on the verge of becoming the All-Pro player we’ve been hoping for since he was drafted with KC’s No. 1 pick in 2005. Against the Rams, he had eight tackles, a sack and an interception.He wasn’t the only bright spot on Friday. Rookie lineman Rodney Hudson split time between offensive center and guard. He was responsible for a holding call that prevented an early touchdown, but otherwise had a very solid game. We drafted him for his versatility on the line and he’s proving to be that kind of player.Backup quarterbacks Ricky Stanzi and Tyler Palko each looked respectable while combining for nearly 200 yards passing and runningback Dexter McCluster showed that he can be dangerous in the open field. The pieces appear to be in place. What’s lacking is the consistency . . . and a desire to open things up a little more on offense. Meeting with the players, I don’t see that they’ve given up on “the plan.” They don’t like losing. They’re professional football players. They want to win every time they’re on the field. But they aren’t in panic mode.I really look for a little more intensity against Green Bay this week. Bottom line is the real season begins in less than two weeks. We can’t keep saying “It’s only pre-season and the games don’t matter.”Since we didn’t have any training camps this summer, Haley’s focus has been on conditioning, avoiding injuries, and making sure the team is ready for the season opener against Buffalo.That’s been “the plan.”We’ll soon know whether “the plan” was a good one or not. * * * •In three years as head coach, Haley’s pre-season record is 1-10. Maybe that says something about KC’s emphasis (or lack of) on pre-season games. •In order to get down to the mandatory 80 players this week, the Chiefs put Ryan O’Callaghan on injured reserve and released kicker Todd Carter. Last edited by xfactor; 08-31-2011 at 06:48 AM..
Posts: 587

08-31-2011, 06:04 AM	#2
xfactor Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Overland Park Casino cash: $10005222	Here we go again, fire away...... __________________ Join the KCSUPERFANS in making positive changes happen in our communities throughout the Chiefs Nation. www.kcsuperfans.com
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08-31-2011, 06:15 AM	#3
Chiefs=Champions Training Camp Hero Join Date: Oct 2006 Casino cash: $8504801	I think you should continue to focus on the training camp/practice reports. That part was a good read! Everything else isnt really an "inside the huddle" segment. Its just your own views. You're entitled to them and im not saying you're wrong. But imo, reporting on what the average cp member dosnt have the option of knowing is what we want to hear. Nice job! Last edited by Chiefs=Champions; 08-31-2011 at 06:20 AM..
Posts: 5,996

08-31-2011, 06:27 AM	#5
excessive Starter Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: KCMO Casino cash: $9766885	Here's some constructive criticism. If you notice, most professional journalist's work has very short paragraphs. That's the journalistic convention. Because they are writing for the masses, not only are their paragraphs shorter, but sentences tend to be simpler as well. It's easy to read, the eye passes quickly over the page, and even those of limited reading comprehension (think chiefsplanet) can make it through without struggling. Much criticism you've taken has been because of your tendency to write involved, extended paragraphs. You've gotten better from your first postings (I'm thinking last year), but there's room for more improvement with the above. __________________ "I've been known to party some, but I ain't ever hurt no one. Been ashamed of things I've done, especially when, especially when, especially when I'm stoned." D.A.C.
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08-31-2011, 06:49 AM	#10
xfactor Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: Overland Park Casino cash: $10005222	Excessive, I edited it, tell me what you think __________________ Join the KCSUPERFANS in making positive changes happen in our communities throughout the Chiefs Nation. www.kcsuperfans.com
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08-31-2011, 06:53 AM	#11
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $4720478	__________________ Chiefs game films
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08-31-2011, 07:00 AM	#12
the Talking Can Supporter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: street Casino cash: $10022208	it would be cooler if told us you heard all this from some strange chick at Denny's... __________________ Clark Hunt: "Thank god for the Dominican pool boy"
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08-31-2011, 07:08 AM	#13
DTLB58 DT CARD COLLECTOR Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: ManCave Casino cash: $10005837	One thing I've learned watching the Chiefs in several training camps (Been a Chiefs fan since I was 10, I'm 47 now) is that they generally look good, sometimes great against eachother, but then when it comes to pre-season games, YUK. Just like we have witnessed time and time again. I can't remember the last time the Chiefs looked great in the preseason and had a coach (maybe Vermeil) that cared that much about winning in the "practice" games. One of the other things, I wouldn't refer to the Chiefs as "We or "Us". That's my opinion but I think it's more proffesional since you are not actually part of the team, even though sometimes as fans we feel as we are, I think it may be better to stay with "They or the "Chiefs". __________________ 667 Different DT cards and counting
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08-31-2011, 08:08 AM	#15
Bwana It's Five O'Clock Somewhere Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Billings, Montana Casino cash: $2139553647	Cool, thanks for posting it. __________________ Adventure is dangerous....but monotony can kill you.
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