Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 10/16

by NJ Chiefs Fan on Oct 16, 2009 5:30 AM CDT

What would be the situation around the Chiefs right now if they were 2-3, instead of 0-5? Even without a victory on the season, and the apparent demotion of an assistant coach in the past week, there is not the feeling of desperation and negativity hanging over the team or the locker room. Nobody is happy, but they continue to put their head down, handle the work they’ve been given and hope to earn their first victory this Sunday when they play the Washington Redskins.

Now, the Skins are 2-3 and the kettle is boiling around the franchise. If you thought the Chiefs might be catching Washington at the right time, think again based on the comments of QB Jason Campbell.

"It’s not just another game," Campbell told the media this week. "It’s a big game for us, for a lot of ways and a lot of reasons. We’re in a tough division. You can’t afford to fall too behind in your division. And for the morale of our team, to get confidence going back in the right direction, you got to do everything you can to get the win."

Where 2-3 Is Worse than 0-5 … Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs from Bob Gretz

Apparently frustrated with a lack of progress from the wide receivers, coach Todd Haley made another staff change this week, replacing position coach Dedric Ward with Richie Anderson.

Anderson joined the Chiefs this year as a member of the NFL’s minority coaching fellowship program. A former NFL running back, he helped coach the wide receivers for the Jets in 2006.

Ward is still coaching for the Chiefs, but Anderson was running the receiver drills during the media portion of practice Thursday.

Haley, not satisfied with receivers, makes coaching change from KC Star

The Chiefs made a superstar, if only for a day, of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin during Sunday’s loss, and Kansas City did it, coach Todd Haley said, because the team’s defensive backs ignored technique and what they had been coached.

Miles had 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime, in the Cowboys’ 26-20 win at Arrowhead Stadium. On two of Miles’ long plays, nickelback Maurice Leggett and strong safety Mike Brown failed to wrap up Miles and hold him to short or intermediate gains.

Haley said the Chiefs couldn’t stand for those kinds of lapses in the future.

Chiefs notebook | Defense wants to stop big plays from KC Star

The Washington Redskins are not in the position they had hoped to be in at this point of the season. It's hard to blame the schedule makers, though, for the team's undesired start.

The beleaguered Redskins will be taking on a winless opponent for the sixth straight week when the 0-5 Kansas City Chiefs make a stop at FedEx Field this Sunday for an interconference matchup.

NFL Preview - Kansas City (0-5) at Washington (2-3) from KC Star

Gutierrez made a visit to Orrick High School to talk to the Bearcat football players. He spoke about his experiences at De La Salle and how they prepared him for life after high school, both on and off the field. He was honored to impart such wisdom on a special group of players.

“It’s great to acknowledge their accomplishments and the streak they have going. I was able to share my high school experience and relate to them a little bit because of the similar things they are going through.” Gutierrez said. “I tried to be a part of what they are doing and hopefully that can help them out.”

Chiefs QB Matt Gutierrez Makes Special High School Visit, Recants Time at De La Salle from The Mothership

The Packers joined a growing trend by switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 with the arrival of defensive coordinator Dom Capers this offseason. And while Green Bay is the odd duck in the NFC North, more than one-third of the NFL is running some form of a base 3-4, with three down linemen and four linebackers.

"I think it's an evolutionary, copycat thing -- it's inevitable," said Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, in his 28th season as an NFL coach. "I remember when the run-and-shoot (offense) came in and everybody was trying to run it -- and then they lost all their quarterbacks (to injuries). The 3-4 is the same thing: There are some holes in it if you know how to attack it. ... Some teams are doing it and getting hammered."

Some are, some aren't. In fact, the two other teams to make the offseason switch to a 3-4 -- Denver and Kansas City -- are at opposite ends of the statistical rankings. The Broncos rank first in scoring defense, while the Chiefs rank last in total defense.

Lions aren't believers in 3-4 fad from The Detroit News

While the Broncos, Colts, Vikings, Saints and Giants are enjoying unprecedented success (the league has never before had five undefeated teams entering Week 6), the Chiefs, Lions and Rams are all stumbling through stretches that rank among the worst in the league's history.

The Chiefs (0-5) have lost an astonishing 28 of their past 30 games. And Pro-football-reference.com reports that the Lions (1-4) and Rams (0-5) may soon join Kansas City in registering a dubious mark of futility achieved rarely in NFL history.

Lions, Chiefs, Rams in midst of historic levels of losing in NFL annals from USA Today

Shortly after getting his first NFL head coaching job Todd Haley allegedly told Chiefs left guard Brian Waters he could take "22 guys of the street and win two games". A quarter of the way through his first season, two wins couldn't look further away for the winless Chiefs.

We're one quarter of the way through this season and looking at the schedule, you can't help but wonder where these two wins could possibly come from. The Cleveland Browns are coming to Arrowhead in December and while that might offer one hope, I fear Haley will have long lost this team by then. The Chiefs have been completely dominated in three of their four games on both sides of the ball. The Chiefs did manage to statistically dominate the lowly Raiders but they also managed to lose the game. Ask yourself, if you cannot beat the Raiders in your home opener, who can you beat? The Chiefs offense ranks 31st in the NFL in yards per game averaging only 246. The Chiefs defense ranks 28th in the NFL in yards per game giving up 379.

22 Guys Off The Street Can Win Two Games? from Bleacher Report

Player Tweets

ToonIcon on da way to Heat vs. Hornets!!! - Last time I was at a bball game in kc I was booooooed LOL.

almighty31 been missin. handlin business n workin hard

ToonIcon Lmfao! Didn't get booed but the side comments were funny tho. FOH!!! Change the Channel.

studie32 john 3:16

Media and Fans

Adam_Schefter Not happening this season. RT @KumailLassi: @Adam_Schefter Do you think the Chiefs would trade Bowe?

FakeToddHaley: Headed home for the night. Have some banged up players but at least a Chiefs HOF'er didn't say I should be better off coaching HS football.

SportsMac: 5 worst teams in the nfl (not in any order)..... Titans, rams, Lions, Chiefs, Bucs.... then the raiders

musicforanna: @MissSparkles_97 My city is the kingdom of tailgating. Are you serious? I swear the only reason people show up @ chiefs games is to stuff

lu4mvp: It might be 2days away but matt cassel going to lead the chiefs to victory over the skins.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.

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Comments

awesome work as always, ty!

Gretz talked about the Redskins bringing Sherm Lewis in to help Zorn and the offense, then made the point about all of it being desperation time, followed by this:

While the Chiefs facility is not party central these days, it’s a walk in the park compared to what’s going on with the Redskins. Whether that helps or hurts the Chiefs when they face the Skins on Sunday doesn’t really matter once the game starts.

Quite frankly, if the Chiefs aren’t as desperate as the Redskins, then they have no chance of winning and it will be another long flight home.

but the Chiefs have just added and changed coaches for both DB and WR, which stikes me as being just as desparate as the Redskins move

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisiton!

by upamtn on Oct 16, 2009 8:24 AM CDT reply actions

this change at coaching postion just confirms

in my mind that this team was even in worse disarray than Pioli or Haley could have possibly imagined coming in. Which in my mind doesn’t excuse ALL the offseason misses but it sure opens up new possibilities.

This would sure explain why they didn’t rush out to buy a bunch of superstars in the offseason and why their being such hard asses….it’s hard for reality to sink in isn’t it?
We’re right there with the expansion succaneers here in Tampa from the 70’s. Wow!!

I guess this helped me a lot to just wait and see with patience. It appears our team has been so completely devastated that it’s going to take a LOT more time and effort to build a winning organization here in KC. It’s just all bad isn’t it? Wow!

I expect we’ll see a whole lot of change next season..and I do mean a WHOLE lot of change…period.

by krayfish on Oct 16, 2009 8:35 AM CDT reply actions

Yes and no

I think the biggest changes we’ll see will be on the coaching staff. This front office was two steps behind before they even started.

I also think most of our starting players will still be here next year. You can’t expect to build a winning team when you turn over 30 of your players every year. Lets just hope enough talent is brought in that several of our current starters will turn into quality back-ups.

by dakotadave on Oct 16, 2009 9:02 AM CDT up reply actions

Think how far behind we would have been if the Pat's had made the playoffs

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

by Big Chief on Oct 16, 2009 1:16 PM CDT up reply actions

There is a "Culture of Losing" in KC

and that may be harder to overcome than simply turning over personnel.

You can really see it in some of these game. Guys are not on the same page, with the game on the line. The offense takes it down the field for the tying score. Cassel believes they can win, he has the offense believing they can win. But there is that lingering feeling all around the stadium that they are going to blow it.

They are fighting the culture of losing, but that is probably the most difficult thing for a team like this: to learn how to win. To put the other team away. To believe you can do it, and then DO IT.

You saw at the end of that game. Leggett’s going for the ball instead of playing his man, who already broke big plays that day for a record amt of yards. He’s going for the ball, are you kidding me?? Going for the ball? Instead of him and the safety Brown containing him and stopping the big play.

That is a symptom of guys who are still in a culture of losing. The scouting report said the key thing to look for were the Dallas receivers were extremely difficult to bring down after the catch. The j-man TOLD US that. J-man is a great fan, but is he better than our scouting staff?? I mean, c’mon!

Going for the ball, instead of playing contain; allowing the NT to leap over the long snapper twice, those are key reasons they lost that game. That comes down to a losing mentality. Small things that kill a team in the end.

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 9:04 AM CDT reply actions

with all due respect, that's BS

the whole “culture of losing” thing is a bogus argument for teams that lack talent, don’t play well and have inferior coaching …the “culture of losing” didn’t prevent the Chiefs from SCORING a late TD so why use it as a lame excuse for players missing assignments, not backing each other up and an overall lack of excution?

blame the players for not making the plays, blame the coaches for not putting the right guys on the field or not doing a better job of making sure the guys who ARE on the field know what they need to do in any given situation (ie, yes Leggett missed by going for the ball, but Brown was supposed to “have his back” and didn’t – and considering that was Austin’s TENTH catch of the day, you’d kind of like to think that SOMEONE out there, player or coach, would have a handle on the guy by then)

every one of the guys on that team comes from a “Culture Of Winning” starting with PeeWee football to Jr High, High School and State Playoffs and Winning College Programs where the term “Student/Athlete” means “Athlete In A Program Designed To Rake In Tons Of Money For The School”

LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State … that’s where some of the Chiefs are out of, and if you think ANY of those schools has a “Culture Of Losing” you need to think again … poor coaching, poor execution, lack of talent, anything you can imagine except “Culture Of Losing”

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisiton!

by upamtn on Oct 16, 2009 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions

Got To Agree

Most of the time when people talk about a “culture of losing” they’re creating a mystical explanation for what is simply a badly run organization.

Who are the teams that have a consistent “culture of losing”? Teams like the Lions (whose decline is directly linked to William Clay Ford buying the team), the Cardinals (owned by the Bidwell family for 60 years), the Patriots (who had a series of horrible owners and didn’t get good until Robert Kraft bought the team), the Raiders (since Al Davis went senile sometime in the late 80s), the post-Jimmy Johnson Cowboys (whose owner fancies himself a judge of football talent despite a history of terrible drafts), the Bob Irsay-era Colts (who didn’t get good until Jim Irsay forced his dad out) and the Chiefs (whose owner for most of the last 40 years wouldn’t fire a GM no matter how badly he did his job).

It’s not a “culture” that causes teams to lose…it’s inept management. And most of the time if you want to know who in management is responsible, just look at who’s the guy at the top. Most of the time a team with a “culture of losing” is simply a team that’s got an owner that’s either apathetic, incompetent, or cheap (or all three).

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

1. Todd Haley's going to struggle with managing his staff in his rookie year as head coach.
6. The Chiefs will go 7-9 in 2009, good for 2nd in the AFC West. Revision: We go 5-11 and finish behind Oakland.
7. Ryan Succop will not perform better in 2009 than Connor Barth did in 2008.
8. The Chiefs will have a bottom 10 defense this year.
9. RB will be a problem area this season on offense.

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 10:48 AM CDT up reply actions

Good summary

but I’m surprised that you’ve left off the Mike Brown Bengals.

But I do believe that it takes time to turn that around. I agree with you that it links directly to the management, but call it what you will it takes time to turn it around. And only time will tell if Clark, Pioli, and Haley are the right guys.

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

by Big Chief on Oct 16, 2009 1:22 PM CDT up reply actions

Whoops

You’re absolutely correct…Mike Brown is a perfect example. Guess I forgot about them considering how well they’re doing this year (on pace for only their second winning season in 18 years).

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 2:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Actually, culture of losing

extends to the fans as well. It’s the entire organization, top to bottom.

And, you mentioned all of those teams, UC, well I was there for the Patriots revival. It didn’t happen in one season, or the “2-3” seasons you intend to give each and every new coach, to turn it around.

So, you are contradictory. Took, Parcells 4 years to revive the Patriots. Not 2. They scraped into the playoffs the second year as a wild card, but that is not a revival, they went 6-10 the 3rd year, equally as frustrating as year one. That is not turning a program around in 2 years.

There is plenty of culture of losing on this website. For some, that means they are so numb from losing, they simply make excuses after each game. For guys like you and up, it’s the other extreme: 5 games is enough time to determine the new direction of the franchise. Already calling the coach a “fraud” and he gets “2-3 years”.

OK, sure, whatever. But, many coaches, including coach Hoodie, barely made that time table by the seat of their pants. So, even for a coach who is expected to do something, it’s still only 50/50 he be able to produce from square one, given that time table.

THEN… consider that hoodie wasn’t even building from block one, Pete Carroll left him with a pretty damn decent team. They were what? 7-9 when hoodie took over, that’s hardly the 2008-2009 KC Chiefs, that’s more like the 2008-2009 Broncos.

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Sorry, 8-8, same difference, hardly 2-14.

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 11:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Actually

Took, Parcells 4 years to revive the Patriots.

The real difference between the Patriots of Parcells and after and the teams that went before Parcells was Robert Kraft (team owner). He was the one who brought in Parcells and worked to create a stable organization. Before that you had jokers like the Sullivan family and Victor Kiam running the team into the ground.

A bad owner will usually doom an organization…that was my point.

As for where Clark Hunt fits intot he picture, I tend to think he’ll be okay. I don’t know if the Pioli/Haley hires were good, but I’ve found his decision-making process appropriate in the short time he’s run this team.

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 2:46 PM CDT up reply actions

Actually, you're wrong

Kraft was not the owner of the Patriots when Bill Parcells was hired.

James Orthwein Busch hired Bill Parcells. Krafty didn’t hire the team until later, and that’s one of the reason why Parcells and Kraft DID NOT get along.

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 3:19 PM CDT up reply actions

buy the team^

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 3:19 PM CDT up reply actions

My Bad

You’re right…forgot about Orthwein.

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions

I Use His Middle Name

Because Orthwein sounds funny. :)

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 3:34 PM CDT up reply actions

And

There is plenty of culture of losing on this website. For some, that means they are so numb from losing, they simply make excuses after each game. For guys like you and up, it’s the other extreme: 5 games is enough time to determine the new direction of the franchise.

Actually, it’s more a matter of watching a lot of football and having a long history of seeing franchises that follow both good and bad paths to rebuilding. The Chiefs so far this year have a lot more in common with the teams that perpetually stay bad than the ones that succeed in their rebuild. Not saying Pioli and Haley can’t turn it around, but unless Pioli pulls out of his four year trend of mediocre to bad drafts and unless Haley gets this team to pick up a few wins, they’re going to get written off as yet another victim of the post-Belichick curse.

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 2:49 PM CDT up reply actions

I never really thought Pioli's drafts were bad

They picked up some pretty talented players, and that’s without the luxuray obviously of having a top 15 pick in the first round (and succeeding rounds) in most drafts. You can’t compare drafts from a team that always drafts #30 in the first round to a team that may have not only one but two top-20 players, and one of them a top-5 to boot.

Pioli’s problem, that I never liked, was he was cheap. OK? I said it.

He was never willing to pay the really good players what they were worth, and then they would leave. I never forgave them for not paying Assante Samuel,for instance. And that’s not just Pioli, that stems from Kraft himself.

I just think that is a trend that will continue here, and also in New England, even tho they have parted ways. Kraft is raking in money, but refuses to pay up,he wants everyone to take the hometown discount. That works, when you are winning championships…

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

His Last Three In New England Were Bad

It’s about the time he went from BPA to drafting for need.

I share your concern about the cheapness thing…I remember when Tom Brady renegotiated his contract down to allow the Pats to sign more players by giving them cap space. Then the Pats didn’t sign anyone and stuck Brady with a WR corps of scrubs. On the other hand, I’m not entirely sure it will happen here. Hunt seems motivated to put out a good team, so I think he’ll spend. Guess we’ll find out in the next couple of offseasons. But I do hope he’s not like his old man (Lamar was more concerned with profitability than success).

Moderator - Arrowhead Pride
Predictions for 2009

by UCrawford on Oct 16, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, that's it

They let Deon Branch take off, no replacement. A bunch of free agents on the level of what Pioli got the Chiefs this year.

Even Tom Brady can’t win with no receivers.

Then, the next year they got Welker and then Moss.

They do learn from their mistakes, it’s the short term memory I worry about.

by jcru on Oct 16, 2009 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions

YES

Just like we all thought, our problems is the wide receiver coach fault. Boy, we should really start winning now. But Tim Krumrie keeps his job. Go figure.

vajazz24

by vajazz24 on Oct 16, 2009 10:51 AM CDT reply actions