The Most Intriguing Match Ups: Week 2

by Chris Thorman on Jul 16, 2008 3:45 PM CDT in 2008 Off Season Comment 20 comments

Tankville...where running backs come to retire.

The Kansas City Chiefs open up Arrowhead Stadium for 2008 play in Week 2 against the Oakland Raiders. Both teams were 4-12 last year, with the Raiders taking one in KC and the Chiefs taking a win in Oakland.

The tempting match up to point out is the newly souped up Raiders' secondary against the Chiefs' young corp of receivers. The addition of former Falcon Pro Bowl CB DeAngelo Hall catapults this secondary into probably one of the best in the league. A Hall-Bowe matchup sounds great to watch but it won't be the most intriguing. We know Dwayne Bowe is fantastic and we don't need a good performance against the Raiders to prove it again.

I again think that the most interesting data from this game will come from the defensive line. The Chiefs squeaked in at 28th overall last year in rushing defense, a mark that absolutely must be improved for the team to progress as a whole. Teams absolutely stomped the Chiefs last year on the ground. Selvin Young and LaDainian Tomlinson had monster days against us, helping bump that 130 yard/game average the Chiefs relinquished last year.

The Raiders will be another early and difficult test for an unproven squad of defensive linemen. Last year, RB Justin Fargas became the first Raider to rush for over 100 yards at Arrowhead since 1978. Highly touted second year RB Michael Bush will get his first chance to play on an NFL field, after spending 2007 on the PUP list.

And there is this other guy they have...McFadden? Yeah, that's it. Darren McFadden. We'll keep an eye on him too.

In other words, the Raiders are stacked at running back and should prove to be a worthy challenge to our youngsters on the defensive line.

I'm going to assume a vast improvement over 2007 on the offensive line, which means I'm shifting the utmost importance of development to our defensive line. Worked right, the talent is there on that line to create an intimidating force. Worked wrong, and like our offensive line, the team could be harmed for seasons to come.

To sum it up, the Chiefs have a lot riding on pretty much every position on the team.

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Tank Tyler

Tankville…where running backs come to retire.

He’s still got to win the starting job first. Tough to put running backs into retirement if you’re not on the field all that much.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 16, 2008 3:58 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ha, true

I’m trying to pump the guy up!

by Chris Thorman on Jul 16, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

RE

He’s more like a developing retirement community that is taking applications but doesn’t have funding yet.

by Chris Thorman on Jul 16, 2008 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No

that would work if he were old – He’s more like a newly built series of condos that have cost a fortune but nobody has moved in yet.

by PVChiefsfan on Jul 16, 2008 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even better

by Chris Thorman on Jul 16, 2008 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tank and Turk need

to step it up a notch this year. Last year was their chance to learn, now they need to play like professional football players and earn their check. I think the opening game with the Patriots will be tough. Following that game, the chemistry of the new Chiefs will be tested. If they rise to the occasion, the Oakland game could very well turn into a route. I know Herm’s offenses are not meant to score a lot of points, but I just think the Chiefs defense may play very well following the opening game, and by this point the offense should be hungry to score. My prediction: the Chiefs win BIG over the Raiders.

by G.L. on Jul 16, 2008 4:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

RE

I keep having to remind myself we drafted Turk McBride in the second round! He’s lucky he’s gotten by without much flack from us.

by Chris Thorman on Jul 16, 2008 6:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Afer the 2007 draft

the thinking was we may have reached for Turk and gotten a steal for Tank – I think we’ll figure that all out this season – if we hadn’t made the playoffs in 2006, we might already now, because they would probably have played more last season (if we had admitted we were rebuilding Week one)

by PVChiefsfan on Jul 17, 2008 7:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm still waiting

for Turk to show up…...................How ‘bout it?

by G.L. on Jul 16, 2008 8:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

We'll See

After all, Neil Smith’s rookie season wasn’t particularly spectacular either, but he had an excellent career. Sometimes it takes players a little while to adjust to the NFL. If Turk’s a non-factor this season, then I’ll probably call him a bust.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 17, 2008 10:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

But who would be

The Derrick Thomas to free Turk up, there were alot of reasons Neil Smith came as far as he did.

by Eric Allen on Jul 17, 2008 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of Derrick's

Is this the year for DJ to breakout with Gun coaching the linebackers?

by Eric Allen on Jul 17, 2008 4:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Not Sure

I’m usually of the mind that if a player hasn’t established himself as a star in his first three seasons, he’s probably not going to do it after that. I think DJ’s a solid linebacker, but I’m starting to think that “solid” is about his ceiling. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…solid linebackers are a good thing to have and they can have long careers as well (e.g. Broderick Thomas, Seth Joyner).

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 17, 2008 6:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Improvment last year

I know I saw DJ causing more disruption last year than ever before. He would blow through the line and have a shot at making a play in the backfield. He snagged some INT’s for a change as well.

I want to see more consistency from him this year. It seemed like last year he would have great games, and then some average/below average games.

I like DJ and I think he may lead the team in tackles this year. What he really needs in order to make us go bonkers is more BIG plays… mainly INT’s and Sacks.

by Ochophosphate on Jul 17, 2008 10:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

For what it counts

DJ is the highest rated OLB in Madden.

by Joel Thorman on Jul 18, 2008 7:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's Done Well By Me In Madden

Sadly he’s been so far unable to translate that to real life. :)

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 18, 2008 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This game...

will come down to the ground. The Raiders have a spectacular secondary, big deal. We need to run their ass over; their front 7 sucks in my opinion. In fact I think they ranked worse in run defense than us last year. Dorsey will be the story; can he help in run defense. I think he can and at least force them to run to the outside. I think DJ hasn’t been unleashed. You get noticed in this league when u get sacks so I think gun will blitz him more this year. Plus, we got some good tacklers in the secondary that can shut down an outside run attack from a speedy McFadden. We can win a lot this season upon one condition: That we run the ball effectively.

by chiefsfan1384 on Jul 17, 2008 9:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

load that box

Oakland won’t have much of a choice but to load the box against us. Their D-line is a smoking turd. Their secondary is pretty solid, but will lose some effectiveness if they are hawking LJ the whole time. If we show that we can throw the ball well this year, play action could be lethal.

by Ochophosphate on Jul 17, 2008 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's The Big Question

Will Croyle be a good enough passer to keep defenses honest? I have my doubts.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 18, 2008 9:50 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

They Were Worse Than Us In Run Defense

As many people in fantasy football can tell you, any running back facing the Raiders defense last year was a must-start because it usually meant a season-high performance.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jul 18, 2008 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs