Your Glass of Reality...

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I love the Chiefs just as much as the next person.  I never jump on and off the bandwagon.  I stick with them no matter what happens. I am the first one to yell at the television telling the Chief player that messed up that they get paid all this money and that they need to step up.  I love the weekly glass of Kool-Aid just as much as you but what I am looking at is reality.  The reality is that we’ve only won 3 games this year so far which is better than last year and a downgrade from the year before.  I know this year isn’t over yet but I can only realistically say we’ll maybe win 2 of the remaining games.  These teams are the Bills and Browns.  Last year, we got slaughtered by the Bills and they are pretty much the same team this year.  They have a lot of weapons and nothing is guaranteed in football (week 2 against the Raiders).  In our wildcard let down year of 2006 we lost to the Browns which are now arguably a more complete team minus a receiver.  I’ll compare this year to the last two years since these last three seasons have been some of the worst seasons we have ever had.  I know that we have four games left this year so I’ll have a realistic take on the rest of the season.

’ll start out with the offensive side of the ball.  This year we have put up a low 196 points.  This is 95 points less than last year and 30 less from 2007.  Since we are averaging about 16 points a game I can say that maybe we’ll score 260 points this year.  This number could go up or down depending on a good or bad game.  The Bills defense is giving up 22 points a game.  The Browns defense is giving up 24 points a game.  The Bengals defense is giving up 16 points a game.  The Broncos defense is giving up 17 points a game.  These all hit or go above our average points per game.  So it is realistic to say we’ll come close to 260 points this year. 
This year we are ranked 28th in points per game, 30th in yards per game, 29th in pass yards per game, and 24th in rush yards per game.  In 2008 we were ranked 26th in points per game, 24th in yards per game, 20th pass yards per game, and 16th in rush yards per game.  I won’t compare 2007 because I don’t need to.  Do I expect our averages to go up for the remaining of the games?  Maybe a little but they won’t surpass the totals we had last year.  What does this tell me?  We are a worse offensive team this year and we’ve already won more games.  This could be due to many reasons such as our defense playing better this year, our new coaching staff or maybe just the teams we’ve played.  We aren’t getting better offensively number wise than last year.  We need to step up and create points like we used to.

Now, I’ll look at the defensive side of the ball.  This year we have allowed 326 points to opposing teams.  Last year we gave up a miserable 440 points to opposing teams which is the most in franchise history.  Wait!  What did I say?  Yes, kids that is correct.  Last years defense gave up the most points in Chiefs history barely beating out 435 in 2004.  In 2007 we gave up 335 points on defense.  The Bills offensive is averaging 17 points per game.  The Browns offense is averaging 12 points a game.  The Bengals offense is averaging 21 points per game.  The Broncos offense is averaging 20 per game.  So taking this into account our defense this year will give up 396 plus or minus a bad or good game. This year our defense is ranked 30th in allowed points a game, 32nd in yards allowed a game, 28th in pass yards given up per game, and 27th in rush yards given up per game.  In 2008 our defense was ranked 29th in allowed points a game, 31st in yards allowed a game, 28th in pass yards given up per game, and 30th in rush yards given up per game.  We are looking pretty much the same this year than last and I don’t expect our numbers to go up in the next four games.  This year right now or takeaway/giveaway difference is 0 which is good for 13th in the NFL.  Last year it was +5 which was good for 8th in the NFL.  Do I expect us to reach plus five in the next four games?  No, I don’t but it could happen especially with our defense stepping up.

So what is going on here?  We are worst statistically as an offensive team and pretty much the same defensively than last year.  Yet, we already have won a game more and have four more to go.  Believe it or not we are looking better as a team but certain parts of our team need to do better.  We need more depth in key positions and upgrades in others.  I honestly think Cassel has all the tools.  I’m not ready to throw him under the bus yet.  I’ll give him another season.  Charles is playing great and we finally got rid of cancer (LJ).  He needs to work on fumbles and up the middle runs.  I am happy with our defense right now.  We do need a starting nose tackle, safety, and some depth at linebacker.  Our special teams couldn’t be better except for a good return man since I don’t want Charles to take on the additional load.  We are heading in the right direction but realistically if we don’t get better on offense I am sadly saying that we’ll never get out of the gutter.  Our defense just needs to work on giving up the big plays.  I also think Haley needs an offensive coordinator.  They can work together to draw up plays and what not.  We need a new defensive coordinator altogether.  So in conclusion we are a better team in the last two years in areas but far worst in others.  We need to come together as a team and give Pioli/Haley some time.  Go Chiefs!