Game Day! We have a few hours to wait for the afternoon kickoff, so spend some time reading up on your Kansas City Chiefs news. The Cassel/Carroll connection seems to be getting the most ink, but we also have two articles on running backs in the NFL, and a closer look at defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. Go Chiefs!
He grew up in a disciplined military household that shaped his outlook and influenced the way he coaches. But he also sees things beyond orders and rules, and that’s why players are willing to swim oceans for him.
Crennel is the wild card separating last season’s 4-12 Chiefs from this year’s team. In a little less than a year as defensive coordinator, Crennel has transformed most of the same core players that comprised one of the NFL’s worst defenses into a smart and disciplined group that has the Chiefs on the verge of the playoffs.
Son of a military man, Crennel’s no drill sergeant from KC Star
The coaches for the Kansas City Chiefs this week could be excused if they wrestled with what to do against the Seahawks this afternoon at Qwest Field.
Try to figure out the Seattle offensive line? They've had eight different combinations of players in the first 10 games. They gave up no sacks to the Giants, but eight to the Raiders.
Their top receiver, Mike Williams, has a mysterious foot injury, so they may end up featuring Ben Obomanu (a total of six catches in the first eight games), Brandon Stokley (picked up off the street in late September), or maybe rookie Golden Tate (10 career catches).
Try to decode tendencies of that bunch.
Tough to get a true read on these Seahawks from The Olympian
Today: A 30 percent chance of showers before 10am. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 41. Light south wind.
Game Day Forecast from The National Weather Service
Pete Carroll sees the change in weather as a chance to turn the page to the next chapter in his first season with the Seattle Seahawks.
"As the seasons have changed this weekend it feels like we're shifting and we're shifting into the final stretch here," he said. "It's exciting. We know that there's a great opportunity ahead for us, being two division leaders going at it, it's a championship game for us and so we're really looking forward to it."
Seahawks Loving the View This Winter from The Kitsap Sun
This just happened 15 minutes ago at the Hyatt on Pine:
I just got off the elevator with a minimum of 8 Kansas City Chiefs. 8 of them, and me and my friend.
12th Man Rising vs. the Kansas City Chiefs from 12th Man Rising
Cassel attended USC, but played very little as coach Pete Carroll opted to go with Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, both of whom would win the Heisman Trophy. Carroll is now running the Seahawks, so you can see where this one is headed.
The classy Cassel, though, had nothing but good things to say about his days at USC despite his lack of playing time.
"As a competitor, would I have liked to compete and play for a coach there? Of course," he said. "But you go with the hand that you are dealt, and I feel like it has worked out for me thus far. At the same time, this is the team we are competing against this week and I'd like to go out and get a win."Belichick headed for Paul Brown success? from The Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The Kansas City Chiefs' Thomas Jones, in his 11th NFL season, echoes many of Bettis' sentiments. "I don't take too many hits. I can make guys miss," he says. "If you're a smart runner, you can play a long time."
Fans envision running backs straining with everything they have for extra yardage even as tacklers tear at their arms and legs. That is the stuff of Hollywood, not reality.
"Sometimes you have to know when to go down," Jones says. "You have to pick your battles because the whole point is being durable and playing the whole season."
Defying injury odds, running backs thrive as 30-somethings from USA Today
Dexter McCluster became the first player in SEC history to collect 1,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving in the same season at Mississippi in 2009. He also returned kickoffs and punts and specialized in the long touchdown.
NFL coaches drooled at the versatility a Spiller and McCluster could bring to an offense. But there was one catch - Spiller was small (5-10, 195) and McCluster smaller (5-8, 172).
Size matters in realm of NFL running backs from The Sacramento Bee
I'm a Chiefs fan and I was intrigued when your site posted that Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald likely will want out of Arizona and that Kansas City is a possible destination. What would it take to get him? If I were the Cardinals I would want two first-round picks at least. We've seen that kind of compensation for lesser players. Brian B.
The question as to Fitzgerald becomes whether the Cardinals want to try to get value for him before the 2011 season ends, at which time he can leave without the use of the franchise tag or any other restricted. Though total free-agency losses in 2012 could net the Cardinals a compensatory draft pick in 2013, the Cardinals need to at least explore what the market would bear for Fitzgerald in 2011.
The PFT Week 12 mailbag from Pro Football Talk
The Seahawks have played only two games at Qwest Field the previous eight weeks, and now they will play four of their next six at home. That makes this game against Kansas City the beginning of the end for a Seahawks season that could go either way.
And the end is what coach Pete Carroll focuses on above everything else whether it's the end of the practice, conclusion of the game or finishing kick for a season.
Seahawks start key homestretch against Chiefs from The Sacramento Bee
"He didn't have that college play time, which is going to set you back experience-wise, and even though he may be 28 or 29 years old, he doesn't have the play time that generally you would have at that point," Kansas City coach Todd Haley said of Cassel. "So each and every game that he's in there is a great chance for him to gain valuable experience because that's so much of playing quarterback in this league."
It helps Cassel to be throwing to the likes of Dwayne Bowe, who is on a tear of touchdown receptions in six straight games, a franchise record. Bowe has caught multiple touchdowns in four of those games, becoming just the third player since 1951 to have four multiple TD games during such a streak, according to the Chiefs.
Surprising division leaders Seattle and KC meet from The Washington Examiner