Chiefs QB Matt Cassel: 'No Reason to Hit the Panic Button'

by Chris Thorman on Oct 1, 2009 4:30 PM CDT in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign

Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel spoke with the media today. He didn't break any new ground but man, doesn't this guy sound like a leader? I'm loving it. I know I'm late to the party on that sentiment but until I catch up with my blogging, that's about as detailed as I can get. I'm telling you, these weddings suck the life out of you.

Here are a few highlights. H/T to stagdsp for the original interview link.

Were you frustrated with not getting a chance to throw the ball down the field last week?

"I don’t call the plays. Coach calls the plays and I just try and go out there and execute it. When Coach feels it is necessary to take shots down the field then we will but that is a question you will have to ask him. I think we have take some shots down the field and WR Mark Bradley showed he can make a big play down the field last week with (WR) Dwayne Bowe the week before and (WR) Mark Bradley in Baltimore with a great play down the field. There is no doubt that we are capable of it."

Has it been an adjustment working with a team that is younger than the New England team you worked with last season?

"I think it has been an adjustment for me this whole off-season. I’ve come to a new place, I have a new home, a new team and a new playbook. In terms of players, we have the players and we have the scheme, now we just have to play better as a unit. I go back to New England last year, we struggled a little bit early on but as we started to move along in the season we got better and played better together. We are three games into the season and there is no reason to hit the panic button. I have told the guys this week that we need to just keep going out. They want to count us out but we just have to keep pushing forward, correct our mistakes, eliminate the penalties and bad football and we will immediately get better."

More good stuff from this interview is at the mothership.

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Comments

Cassel is the man

this is exactly what I want out of a QB.

Give him a chance, and he’ll be a big time winner

* "I doubt anyone will miss Connor Barth except UCrawford"
* the LB corps may become the biggest strength of the Chiefs in 2009
* The OL is NOT as bad as you think it is... give it time, and you'll see improvement this season

by stagdsp on Oct 1, 2009 4:40 PM CDT reply actions

Notice how...

The Chiefs don’t play that up beat ‘65 toss power trap’ productions music anymore after any of the press conferences.

by butchcassidy on Oct 1, 2009 4:41 PM CDT reply actions

What do you mean?

Please read our community rules, netiquette rules and our technical overview before commenting.

by Chris Thorman on Oct 1, 2009 4:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Before at the end of every press conference with...

Haley or Cassel they’d ask the last question, get the answer and then the screen would fade to black and the Chiefs would have that 65 toss power trap production play draw up with an upbeat trumpet and Hank Stram’s voice would come on…

Now at the end of the PCs they just fade straight to black…no music…kind of like they killed the optimistic vibe they were trying to sell.

The end of the PC on 9/15 is what I mean.

by butchcassidy on Oct 1, 2009 4:52 PM CDT reply actions

I really like Matt Cassel

Now, we just need to fire every player and every coach around him. Maybe then SOMEDAY, he can be as successful as he should be.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Oct 1, 2009 5:13 PM CDT reply actions

Damn '70

you went from being one of the most optimistic of bloggers to one of the most pessimistic. Trust me, bro, I totally understand your sentiments, but we have to remain strong. We’ve still got 13 more games of football to play. Those losses are in the past, and they need to stay there. Let’s focus on the Giants and hope that if we do lose, we show giant strides of improvement from last week to this week. It will come with time. As the Bible says, this too will pass….

Put this in your pipe and smoke it:
1. Chiefs will be at least 8-8 and vie for division champs
2. DJ will break out and finally have his year
3. LJ returns to form
4. DBowe drops will reduce

by kcchiefsfan72 on Oct 2, 2009 1:42 AM CDT up reply actions

I know.

I saw a lot of things last sunday that bugged me in a very bad way. Where I have been very happy about Todd Haley, I am now extremely disappointed and I think we made the wrong hire.

It was the game plan in that game that really did it for me. I feel like there are a lot of things that a team can do against a team that is bringing constant pressure and Haley, didn’t attempt any of them. The week prior to that game, Drew Brees destroyed the Eagles with the short passing game. The Eagles didn’t even blitz him because of that. We should have done the same types of things. Quick slants, screens, rollout plays etc. anything that gets the ball out quickly. The run first mentality only works when you have a superior O-line and God knows, we don’t have one of those. We have a very good young QB in Matt Cassel. He is our best weapon and we need to allow him to win games for him instead of constantly trying to force a game plan that obviously isn’t working.

Reminds me of Herm.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Oct 2, 2009 9:48 AM CDT up reply actions

Amen Brutha

That too was also my biggest bitch about last week’s game. Establishing an identity is running the ball when we’re getting caned by that much? I don’t agree, but I certainly hope it pays off and somehow miraculously taught the offensive line how to block better. This game against the Giants will be a tell-tale sign for me. Here’s to hoping we pull a rabbit out of our asses, or at least a rabbit’s foot…

Put this in your pipe and smoke it:
1. Chiefs will be at least 8-8 and vie for division champs
2. DJ will break out and finally have his year
3. LJ returns to form
4. DBowe drops will reduce

by kcchiefsfan72 on Oct 2, 2009 10:48 AM CDT up reply actions

I just want to see Haley let Cassel make some plays.

Enough with the play it safe crap.

Chiefs set an NFL most roster changes in 1 season.

by bringbacktheglory on Oct 1, 2009 5:32 PM CDT reply actions

i don't think he's calling it safe

i really think he’s trying to ingrain an idenity into the team. if he opens the playbook too much too early, that idenity could be lost.

by Leaf on Oct 1, 2009 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions

that being said

i to would like to see Cassel make some plays, but for now i’m content to wait for it to happen because i believe that haley is trying to lay a foundation.

by Leaf on Oct 1, 2009 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Hopefully once the foundation

has been laid (somewhat) Cassel will be allowed to audible at the LOS. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t believe that audibles have been a part of the offense yet. To me, it looks like they always run what was called, no matter what the defensive formation is.
Once the trust has been established between the OC & the QB, giving the QB the opportunity to change the play at the LOS if he sees a formation stacked to stop what has been called into a play that will work, I think that Cassel will really start to flourish; however, I don’t think that trust level is there yet.
Especially from Cassel’s comment that he just calls what the coach tells him to!

by ttownmikey on Oct 1, 2009 6:00 PM CDT up reply actions

Good point.

The worst thing to do to a QB is limit his options out of a well-intended but wrongheaded desire to “protect him.” Ironically, giving your QB a caretaker role often puts him under more pressure, leaving him in a lot of 3rd and longs and in “must-pass” situations in the 2nd halves of games. That’s what Martyball did.

I don’t think, though, that this is the case with Haley. It looked to me like he tried to be more balls-to-the-wall and got his ears boxed for his trouble early on. And while I agree that the TD to Bradley has “real deal” written all over it, the fact that they weren’t going downfield much probably had something to do with their ability to execute that play. And the one to Bowe was in the 4th quarter after Asomugha left the game dehydrated, and they had a 2nd-tier DB on Bowe.

No question. Otis Taylor should be in the Hall of Fame.

by hmills110 on Oct 1, 2009 7:00 PM CDT up reply actions

What I'm wondering

is calling an audible at theLOS a part of our offense yet? I haven’t noticed it & without that being a valid option it severely cripples the effectiveness of your offense. Peyton Manning is a master at it & it plays a huge part in the success of their offense.
If you don’t have the ability or option to switch into a different playcall after you see what set the defense is in, you are limiting yourself in how effective you can be unless you are able to guess the defensive scheme 100% of the time before you break the huddle!

by ttownmikey on Oct 1, 2009 8:01 PM CDT up reply actions

read the reply's first paragraph.

Please.

by TDubb on Oct 1, 2009 11:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Panic Button?

I was looking for the fast forward button. I just want to get to the second half of our schedule where we actually have a shot of putting together a few wins.

David Janssen
KC Chiefs Fan

by Mr J on Oct 1, 2009 11:35 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

But Cassel may have to hit the panic button if he goes through the scenario outlined in the satirical blogpost about Cassel LJ and Haley at kissingsuzykobler.uproxx.com .

If you can stomach the profanity and offensive racial and sexual references and don’t mind seeing Haley bashed, it is one hilarious post.

People who read it and commented were comparing Haley to everyone from Lee Emery’s character in Full Metal Jacket to Chet from Weird Science. Quite a hoot.

by WarWolf on Oct 2, 2009 12:23 AM CDT reply actions

Provide Exact Link Please

the link you provided takes me to the server default page. Thanks…

Put this in your pipe and smoke it:
1. Chiefs will be at least 8-8 and vie for division champs
2. DJ will break out and finally have his year
3. LJ returns to form
4. DBowe drops will reduce

by kcchiefsfan72 on Oct 2, 2009 1:47 AM CDT reply actions

Reply Fail

I suck. Meant to reply to WarWolf…

Put this in your pipe and smoke it:
1. Chiefs will be at least 8-8 and vie for division champs
2. DJ will break out and finally have his year
3. LJ returns to form
4. DBowe drops will reduce

by kcchiefsfan72 on Oct 2, 2009 1:48 AM CDT reply actions

Nevermind

I quit. It’s late and I’m tired…

Put this in your pipe and smoke it:
1. Chiefs will be at least 8-8 and vie for division champs
2. DJ will break out and finally have his year
3. LJ returns to form
4. DBowe drops will reduce

by kcchiefsfan72 on Oct 2, 2009 1:48 AM CDT up reply actions