Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 9/7

Good morning! Lots of Kansas City Chiefs news for you today. We're just days away from kickoff. Enjoy.

For this Sunday’s home opener, on the 10^th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Chiefs have several special events planned to remember the courage and resilience that followed the events of September 11, 2001...

...Following the national display of unity, Kansas City area first responders will come together to hold field-length American flags for the playing of the National Anthem. Performing the Anthem will be Blue Springs native David Cook.

Cook’s performance will be followed by a loud, slow and low flyover from four A-10 Thunderbolt "tank busters."

Arrowhead Stadium To Host Special 9/11 Tributes For 2011 Home Opener from The Mothership

No other starting quarterback in the NFL took more snaps in the final week of preseason than the Chiefs’ Matt Cassel. And the Chiefs might have paid the price when Cassel suffered a rib injury that could affect his play in Sunday’s season opener against Buffalo.

It was a chance that Chiefs coach Todd Haley continues to defend, though it certainly surprised some observers, including former Chiefs quarterback and NFL MVP Rich Gannon...

Chiefs Learn Painful Lesson On Playing Starters In Preseason from KC Star

One of Kansas City’s favorite traditions returns Friday as the Chiefs celebrate the initial Red Friday of the 2011 season.  Red Fridays, which celebrate the community’s enthusiasm for the Chiefs, have become part of the Kansas City culture and will start this week with celebrations around the metro area as fans wear red to show their team spirit on Fridays during football season.

Chiefs Paint The Town Red For First Red Friday Of Season from The Mothership

Matt Cassel’s upcoming week, and the short-term outlook of the Chiefs, could rely on something as unpredictable as a sneeze.

Cassel, the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, has an injured rib, and twisting or straining could send a shot of pain through him that could keep him out of this week’s regular-season opener against Buffalo — or perhaps render him ineffective.

Cassel's Pain Tolerance Will Determine Whether He Plays from KC Star

Kansas City opens the 2011 regular season with a matchup against the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 11. It will mark the fourth-consecutive season the Bills have visited Kansas City. The Chiefs won the matchup between the old AFL rivals in thrilling fashion a year ago as K Ryan Succop made a game winning fi eld goal as time expired in overtime to give Kansas City a 13-10 victory.

Chiefs vs Bills - Home Opener from The Mothership

The PFS power blocking score tells the fan how the lineman is compared to his peers and the defenders he faces each week...

...This weeks’ power run blocking rankings are based on week #4 of the preseason only.

Let’s take a look at those rankings.

AFC West O-Line Power Rankings: Preseason Week #4 from Pro Football Spotlight

Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Cassel is banged up. Tight end Tony Moeaki is done for the year, and nobody knows when wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin will be back from a thumb injury. The offensive line is at turns old, inexperienced and lacking any depth.

Yet the Kansas City Chiefs somehow believe their offense is even better than last year, when it featured the most potent rushing attack in the NFL. Go figure.

Injuries, Age, Inexperience Abound For KC Offense from The Wall Street Journal

Did the bad preseason and injuries change your opinion of the Chiefs? Do you think this team’s slow summer will extend into the regular season or do you think Kansas City will be fine and come out firing early in the season.

Please take our poll. We will review the poll results Wednesday.

Poll: Are the Chiefs Ready? from ESPN

Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs: The Buffalo Bills allowed the most rushing yards a game (170) and yielded the highest rushing average (4.8) last season. Charles ran for the second-most yards, and his per-carry average of 6.4 was at least 1.5 yards better than any other top-10 back in 2010.

Week 1 Offers Big Fantasy Opportunities, and Pitfalls from USA Today

Before Steve Maneri was claimed by the Chiefs there were only three options for Kansas City at offensive tackle:  Branden Albert, Barry Richardson, and Jared Gaither.  So what does Steve Maneri bring to the Chiefs?

Pro Football Spotlight went back and graded the last two preseason games that Maneri was in for the Patriots.  Let’s take a look at what we found…

Chiefs Newest Addition Steve Maneri: Breaking Down the Film from Pro Football Spotlight

You have to put the Kansas City Chiefs on the list of teams that will likely consider signing quarterback David Garrard. He was cut by Jacksonville on Tuesday.

The Chiefs have the worst backup quarterback situation in the AFC West. It would make perfect sense for the team to consider adding a veteran who has started 76 NFL games.

David Garrard Makes Sense for Chiefs from ESPN

Fast start concerns in Kansas City: Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley knows his team has to have a fast start to repeat as AFC West champs. The Chiefs have a relatively easy start to the season, but it gets tough in Week 5 with the Colts. The rest of the schedule is filled with playoff-caliber teams. To do well this season, the Chiefs need a 3-1 start.

Ready or not, here we go... from ESPN

...unless you are married or are involved with a woman who already is gaga over your favorite football team and can't live without seeing every minute of the season, then you've got some negotiating to do.

A simple Google internet search on "how to get your wife to watch football with you" returned 456 million hits in about nine-tenths of a second. In contrast, there were only 118 million entries for Casey Anthony.

The Wife Is Cookin' With NFL from Florida Today

Which AFC team is poised to make some noise? I think the Kansas City Chiefs will make another run at repeating as divisional champs. The Chiefs took the AFC West title last season at 10-6, and quarterback Matt Cassel should improve upon his stats from last season (262 completions; 450 attempts; 3,116 passing yards; 27 touchdowns) as long as running backs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe stay healthy.

NFL Season Preview from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Two AFC West teams that both took promising steps forward in 2010 -- Kansas City and Oakland -- will both take a step back. The Chiefs won the division at 10-6 last season, but will miss the playoffs this time, hovering near .500 all season. The Raiders broke their seven-year run of double-digit loss seasons in 2010, making it to 8-8. But even .500 will be too much to ask from the Raiders under first-year head coach Hue Jackson.

20 Bold Predictions for 2011 from Sports Illustrated

Kansas City Chiefs: The 2010 Chiefs were a team that benefited from an easy schedule and a hot start. They ended the year very poorly however, with three of their last five games, including their Wild Card matchup, resulting in blowout losses of at least 21 points. Matt Cassel was solid throughout most of the season, but he declined dramatically following the departure of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Despite the additions of Le'Ron McClain and Steve Breaston, Cassel and the rest of the Chiefs have played abysmally this preseason. Kansas City has all the makings of a surprise team that takes a big step back the following year.
Prediction: 7-9

Disappointments for the Upcoming Season from WVBR

"That'll be our challenge going in," Gailey said. "We've got to stop the run. We have to be effective."

To that point, the team made several changes to its defensive front seven -- the biggest of which was adding defensive end Marcell Dareus with the third overall pick. In the team's base 3-4, there will be four new starters from last year's game against Kansas City (which, it should be noted, the Bills started in a nickel package): Dareus (who replaces Marcus Stroud) and linebackers Nick Barnett (replacing Posluszny), Andra Davis (back from injury) and outside linebacker Shawne Merriman (who wasn't with the Bills at the time).

Bills' Run Defense to See Where It Stands from The Buffalo News

This stuff is infuriating because these coaches act so big and bad until it's time to show their baby-soft rear end, and again, this isn't directed merely at Rob Ianello. It's directed at Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley, who has twice made a scene after a game because the other coach was a big fat meanie. Once was an exhibition in August when Haley didn't appreciate Ravens coach John Harbaugh letting his deep reserves play actual football -- and score -- in the final seconds. The other was last year against the Broncos, when Haley scolded victorious Denver coach Josh McDaniels rather than shake his hand.

There's No Crying In Football - Unless You're A Coach from CBS Sports

It's pretty remarkable that Kansas City Chiefs teammates Jamaal Charles (plus-74) and Thomas Jones (minus-23) could have such substantial "stack" splits, and that Charles was the game's second-most reliable fantasy starter in 2010 speaks to his talent. He did that despite finishing second on his own team in carries (230, compared to 245 for Jones). But look closer at when Jones excelled:

In Search of Consistency from ESPN

Arguably Kansas City's fastest-rising sports star, Malto has spent this year competing for six-figure prizes against the world's top street skateboarders in Rob Dyrdek's Street League DC Pro Tour...

...Malto reps Kansas City hard. He loves this place. His first shoe for Etnies was Royals-blue with the letters KC stitched on the back. He often appears in videos wearing a red No. 7 Matt Cassel Chiefs jersey. Malto and other members of the Escapist crew put their hometown love up front in a skate video that's set to Irv da Phenom's "Red and Yellow" and features the athletes skating at Arrowhead, the Liberty Memorial and other spots around the city.

No Pro Athlete Reps KC Harder Than 21-Year-Old Skateboarder Sean Malto from The Pitch