FanPost

Backing Myself Off the Ledge


Here it is folks, one day later. Yesterday, I was confused, angry, depressed, you name it. Devastated, I went to bed early, not even staying up to watch the Eagles-Saints game. I didn't even get under the blankets. I laid down, fully clothed, and wished the day had never happened. And there I awoke this morning. I got up, made coffee, and headed to the couch. I woke up my laptop and refreshed AP. I finally was ready to see what my fellow Chiefs fans had to say about the game. I instantly found reactions from one extreme to the other regarding coaches and players who fans thought should be jettisoned from the team, thrown out on the frozen streets of Indianapolis without winter clothes and left for dead to save them from the court of public opinion upon their return to KC.


So after a miserable night's sleep to reflect, where do I stand you might ask. Well, I'm here to tell you what I think, now that I've taken a moment to step back from the ledge of a Chiefs fan who has never witnessed a postseason victory at an age where I could realize the significance of what I had just witnessed (I was 12 the last time the Chiefs won a playoff game and was brought up in a household void of football fans). Here's my rundown on some key personnel that many of you have discussed.


Coach Reid: I've been a fan of Reid and his Eagles for a long time. My best friend's dad is from Philly and is an Eagles fan, so they have been my NFC team for a long time. With that said, I was nervous at halftime yesterday. Nobody can blow a lead at halftime like Andy Reid. After the game, I was furious with Reid. Today, I am not. We lost a lot of players to injury and still scored 44. We lost yesterday, but Reid got us to the postseason, and as his history in Philly showed, we will be there more often than not.


Coach Sutton: Keep him. Had B-Flo not been injured we win the game. TY Hilton would not have been covered by Lewis and Demps. We lost B-Flo and Robinson. That really hurt a secondary that to that point had been FEASTING on Andrew Luck, don't forget that fans. My biggest gripe with Sutton's game yesterday was not putting Cooper or Ron Parker on Hilton after Flowers got hurt. They're young, yes, but at least they can keep up. You don't cover him with your 2 slowest safeties.


The Secondary: We MUST re-sign Abdullah. He came to play yesterday. As good as Demps has been returning kicks, I'm afraid re-signing him to do so may lead to him continuing to see time on our defense, welcome to free agency Demps. Same goes for Lewis. As a 5th round pick, we can't be mad. We got one pretty good year from him (when Berry went down). I hope to see more Cooper (whoops, almost typed 'Copper') and Parker next year. I'm also excited to see Commings back from injury. A lot of people are clamoring for Byrd, but I say save the money. Draft a DB or two in the draft. Robinson would be great depth but costs too much to be a player-coach, I imagine he gets cut.


LB's and D-Line: If Jordan re-signs cheap cool, if not, promote the other Johnson. I think if we resign T-Jax to a deal more in-line with his value it'd be smart. Otherwise, draft or sign players for depth & development.


Pass Catchers: Our #1 priority in FA should be Maclin. Its been said before and I'll say it again, we got to get him if Philly doesn't re-sign him. He'll be on the cheap coming off an injury and KC/Reid should be an attractive option for him. We should also draft a WR. I would love to see us bring in an AJ Green/DGB type WR. Tall with Speed and good hands. I'm also excited to get Kelce back from injury. I think we could cut Fasano, but doubt we do. I'm not too concerned with drafting a TE as some are unless we cut Fasano, but even then it'd be a late round in-line blocker I'd be after. Kelce will be our pass catcher.


Running backs: I didn't like it when we drafted Knile Davis (a bunch of you didn't either). I also didn't like it when we drafted Charles when we had LJ. Heck, while I'm being honest, I also didn't like it when we drafted LJ when we had Holmes. So what am I saying? I think all of us who whined about the size of his hands need to wash our dirty mouths out with soap. Knile showed up BIG time yesterday at a moment when all of us thought about driving off a bridge.


QB's: I think we stand pat with our three QB's. Before the SD game I was all for cutting Chase Daniel. Now I think he may be worth that absurd backup QB contract we gave hime...so he stays...unless we need to save some money.


O-Line: You may ask why I keep talking about saving money. Maybe it because Albert, Schwartz & Asamoah are all set to become free agents. Albert has been one of my favorite Chiefs since we drafted him. He's our best o-lineman. Its a mistake to let your best o-lineman walk...EVER!!! I understand he's going to be looking for pro-bowl LT money and that he may walk, but I hope Dorsey at least tries to sign him. I also think it would be a mistake to let Schwartz. For the record, I'm really confused about Asamoah. I still feel like he's a better OG than Allen...but Asamoah got benched? I think he struggled when he was playing next to a rookie RT who was struggling. I think Asamoah is allowed to walk, and I also have a bad feeling he's going to have a pro-bowl career for another team. I'd like to re-sign all three of these guys if possible. My ideal O-line would be:


LT: Abert - LG: Asamoah - C: Hudson - RG: Schwartz - RT: Fisher


I'd keep Allen and D-Steve as reserves, although I'd consider putting Stephenson at LG if Reid really plays his "best 5 o-linemen".


Wade Phillips? Why? He runs the Crennel 2-gap that we all loathed last year. JJ Watt just made him look a lot better than you remember him for. How many times has he been fired for good reason now? A lot. Get over it, he's not that good. We all went into this year knowing Sutton's attacking style of defense was going to get us burned on some big plays and we were all just fine and dandy with that before the season began.


And finally, my conspiracy theory of the day: I think all the lawsuits against the Chiefs right now (between the former players and Belcher's mom) had an impact on yesterdays game. With both Charles and Flowers it really didn't look like the type of hit that takes a player out of the game. A few weeks ago Bowe suffers a concussion against the Colts and goes back in the game. Then a bunch of big-name former players join the class-action suite and Belcher's mom files her own and suddenly two star players are literally dragged off the field by their arm by Chiefs staff.


So there it is my fellow suffering Chiefs fans. That is my take on all widely discussed personnel decisions. Its a terrible day to be a Chiefs fans, our team again got knocked out of the playoffs in possibly the worst of all manners, but we'll be back, and we'll be better.


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.