Blogs

Dear Matt,

By Ryan S. Hall

Matt Cassel is playing for more than pride today, he could be playing for his job

Let me start by apologizing. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this season is going to be for you. After just two weeks, your team has lost their two best players to injury... not to mention your favorite security blanket, Tony Moeaki. There's a much bigger problem at play here, though.

As an NFL Quarterback, you're expected to be a team leader. There have been a few instances since you arrived in Kansas City when I thought, "Damn... he might be the guy." Problem is, the one that comes to mind was only put in perspective because you lost your appendix. Sorry about that, by the way. My point was that playing Quarterback comes with a great amount of responsibility; responsibility that frankly, to this point in your career, you haven't lived-up to.

I have to say: when I first saw

Suck For Luck, Revisited

By Ryan S. Hall

First I'd like to delve into our (previously) anointed savior, Scott Pioli. For those of you that want Todd Haley gone - and you will certainly get your wish if we have the first overall pick - you need to think about a few things: for starters, Pioli could have picked damn near any coach out there for this team given his reputation... but he still hand-picked Haley. He took enough time that speculation arose about Herm Edwards being brought back. Pioli was patient enough to wait until after the Super Bowl and as soon as he and Haley got in a room together, the deal was sealed.

Let’s also look at the coaching alternatives following this season: If I hear another word about Bill Cowher or John Gruden, I'm going to lose it on someone. It could be a stranger

Pride and Prejudice

By Ryan S. Hall

For the past 36 hours, I've tried to imagine how Todd Haley is feeling. Following a wildly successful 2010 season, he's now being asked about job security the Monday after game two of 2011... My how things change.

Even after a somewhat questionable preseason, the fan base was wholly behind this team. There was talk of another division crown, the first repeat for the franchise in its history. Yet here we stand, in the wee hours of Tuesday, September 20th and I've just wasted the better part of three hours reviewing my favorite radio show's inane drivel about rooting for losses in hopes of landing Stanford's whiz-kid QB Andrew Luck.

It almost feels worthless preaching to a fan base that has seemingly lost all hope after two miserable weeks.

Again, I'm reminded of Todd Haley.

For all his faults, the Chiefs' Head Coach

Mankato On My Mind

By Ryan S. Hall

Chiefs shutout 25-0 by the Buccaneers

Last night’s defeat – a 25-0 embarrassment at the hands of the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers – came as quite a shock to a lot of Chiefs fans. Online forums are flush with complaints about competitiveness and winning attitude after a game in which the Chiefs sat the majority of their starters. It’s been difficult for some to grasp the trickle-down effect a decision like that has on the quality of play in what was essentially a glorified scrimmage.

Given the fact that the Chiefs are reduced to basically one padded practice a week – not to mention the late start with their full-compliment of veteran players – Coach Haley clearly treated the first preseason game a lot like the Mankato scrimmages of years passed.  While each team has a different plan on how to reach it, the goal of every NFL franchise is to “peak” at the right time. What should be clear after the Chiefs’ first preseason contest is that Todd Haley and Co. are not worried about what other teams are doing; they have a schedule meticulously mapped out and they’re going to do everything in their power to ensure this team plays its best football

Analyzing Danny Parkins' "Five Chiefs We Can Least Afford to Lose"

By Stephen DeMeo

Is Matt Cassel the most important cog in the Chief machine?

As we head into the preseason tonight, which can be both productive and destructive, Danny Parkins decided to look into the latter and examine who we can least afford to lose in this preseason and beyond. Let's take a look and offer some analysis:

1. Matt Cassel (QB): Is Cassel the best player on the team? No. But his value to this club cannot be understated and Parkins is spot on with this one. The Chiefs do not possess a backup at this time who could be put in a pressure situation with confidence off the bench. Will Stanzi be that guy down the road? Most likely. But right now we are looking at Tyler Palko as our backup and quite frankly while he knows the system very well, he exudes no confidence out on the practice field or in game situations. Without Cassel in the lineup, it would be almost impossible for the Chiefs to win a game over the course of four quarters. Palko panics, throws some ill-advised floaters and to be honest wasn't even a "great" QB during his time in college at Pitt. It's very difficult to envision a more valuable player to the Chiefs than

Writers, Bloggers needed

By Michael Scheuerman

Chiefs Center back for another year.

Create an account on Chiefscoalition.com and login.  There will be a link "Submit a story" located at the bottom of the website.  You can submit your writings this way.  We will review your submission and if it meets the websites standards we will post and promote it.  With your account you will have your own section with all your writings.  Your blog will have a listing to all your accepted submissions and bodies of work.  Feel free to e-mail questions to mescheuerman@chiefscoalition.com or on twitter @chiefscoalition.

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Back to Football!!!

By Ryan S. Hall

Football is here!

You can’t refresh your twitter feed fast enough to digest the dizzying pace of free agent signings. With such a short window before training camp starts, some teams are throwing around ridiculous sums of money at players that frankly do not deserve it (see: Tavaris Jackson, Olindo Mare, Doug Free and Eric Weddle, among others).

Here in Kansas City though, all seems rather quiet. So far their free agent “splash” has consisted of re-signing 38-year old center Casey Weigmann, Special Teams “ace” Terrance Copper and reserve cornerback Travis Daniels to one year contracts. When you account for the six or seven faceless undrafted free agents, it’s clear that Scott Pioli is once again planning to use a shrewd evaluation of talent rather than high profile signings in order to improve his team.

While there have been a few rumors regarding the likes of Steve Breaston and Aubrayo Franklin, nothing looks eminent. That being said, the Chiefs find themselves in a very unique position. With young talent ready to blossom at many key positions, adding veteran players may only slow their development. Kansas City does have an advantage over most of their opposition: patience.

Patience is what landed

Chiefs face tough Ravens team

By Ryan S. Hall

Charles needs to have a big game

Allow me to quote Mitch Holthus: “We cannot play to their reputation.” He was of course referring to the Baltimore Ravens, one of the most successful franchises in the NFL over the last decade. Before Mitch’s words sank in, I cringed every time I thought about guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. It’s hard not to be fearful of a defense that has never conceded a 100-yard rusher in the playoffs. Then I took a deep breath, did a little research and began to feel much better about the Chiefs’ upcoming opponent… but first, the bad news.

At 12-4, the Ravens are not your average Wild Card team. Their four losses were by a total of only 16 points, with no game yielding worse than a five-point defeat. Three of their four losses came at the hands of some of the league’s stiffest competition:  New England, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

In terms of experience, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed have participated in almost as many playoff games as the whole of the Kansas City Chiefs roster. If you somehow needed more proof of the Ravens’ excellence, consider the fact that Baltimore has 42 players on their roster with postseason

Raiders destroy playoff bound Chiefs

By Ryan S. Hall

Casell sacked 7 times on Sunday.

Yesterday’s loss at Arrowhead Stadium may have been the worst I’ve witnessed in all my years as a Chiefs fan. For a moment there, I actually began to wonder if the NFL could change a rule or two and allow the Oakland Raiders to advance to the playoffs in our stead.

Kansas City allowed 7 sacks and Matt Cassel tossed two interceptions. The Chiefs ran 72 plays for 201 net yards of offense… I’m not even going to dignify that by doing the math. Oakland was clearly the better team, even following the Chiefs’ only touchdown that tied the score at 10 with 8:02 left in the third quarter. Fourteen game minutes later, the score was 31-10 Oakland.

For the first time all season, the Chiefs looked completely inept. At least in San Diego the Chiefs had a few excuses for looking so terrible. Yesterday was a home game that yielded the largest crowd at Arrowhead this season sans the home opener on Monday Night Football. The crowd was charged and the team was coming off their most complete win to date.

So… honestly, what happened?

I’m sure the majority of Chiefs fans want to point blame at Charlie Weis…

Chiefs still have work to do before the playoffs.

By Ryan S. Hall

Chiefs win AFC WEST

For those of you unable to resist the urge, consider this your final opportunity to congratulate the Chiefs on winning the AFC West.

As per Todd Haley’s approach the entire season, we’re going to continue to steady our focus on one game at a time. The demolition of the Tennessee Titans, coupled with Cincinnati’s belated Christmas gift made for one hell of an afternoon… but that should be the end of it. 86 all talk of the playoffs, my friends – despite the guaranteed home contest.

“Our focus isn’t going to change,” Coach Haley said Tuesday. “It’s all part of staying in the present tense and understanding the task at hand. We have a big (game) this week.”

If it were any other week during any other season, this game would be circled on the calendar of every Chiefs fan nationwide. Before Sunday’s developments, it likely was. Its Raider week and wrapping-up the division early is no reason to relax, even as fans.

The Chiefs are too young, too unproven and too fragile to kick-up their heels for this final regular season contest. This week is paramount in terms of rhythm for a constantly developing football team. There are