Morning, AP. A quick Arrowheadlines and I'm off to the train station. I'll be at Book Expo America the next couple of days and while I'm there, I'll keep an eye out for any upcoming books I think you guys might find interesting. In the meantime, enjoy today's Kansas City Chiefs news.
Much was made after the Chiefs OTA practice on Monday about the Chiefs running Wildcat plays on offense. For the most part, the calls had rookie RB/WR Dexter McCluster taking direct snaps from center. He threw a couple of passes, ran what looked like the veer-option, handed off on an end-around run by a wide receiver and several times took the snap and took off running.
OK, so we should assume that the Chiefs will be one of those teams throwing Wildcat-type plays into every game plan, right?
Wrong.
When asked by the media about the Wildcat plays being run in Monday’s session, head coach Todd Haley said: "We might have to take the cameras away now that we’re telling secrets. Some of it’s bluffs, some of it’s not."
Will They Wildcat? … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs from Bob Gretz
KC Star Video: Haley | Media training
Why? How could this be? They spent the fifth-overall pick in 2008 on LSU DT Glenn Dorsey. Isn’t he any good? Nope. He’s not a natural 3-4 end and has been awful against the run. And as for getting to the passer…well, not much there either. He has two sacks in 31 games over the last two years. Thanks, Glenn.
Chiefs defensive line stinks from Off the Record
February. Gray skies. Snowflakes. Brrrrrrrr.Well, grab your boots and plow the snow. The Super Bowl is coming to the Meadowlands.
In New Jersey? In the dead of winter?
"We'll all pray that it doesn't snow that day," Arizona Cardinals president Michael Bidwill said.
NFL owners voted Tuesday to put the 2014 Super Bowl in the new $1.6 billion Meadowlands Stadium that this season will become home to the New York Jets and Giants. It's the first time the league has gone to a cold weather site that doesn't have a dome; until now, those places couldn't even bid on the big game.
A snowball's chance: NJ picked for 2014 Super Bowl from KC Star
You might remember that for a long, long time no dome team had ever won a Super Bowl -- the Rams were the first in 1999, and since then the Colts (2006) and Saints (last year) have followed. Anyway, no dome team won for a long time and I remember asking Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt why that was. And he said: "Because sooner or later, you have to come out and play." I've always loved that line, but lately it hasn't really been accurate. In the last few years, you could win a Super Bowl without ever really facing the elements. That's a part of life now, a part of the game, and I get that. There are more domes now than ever. There are more warm-weather cities now than ever. Pro football has created its own bit of global warming.
And that's fine. But it's great that at least for one year, yes, if you want to be the best team in the NFL, you will have to come out and play.
For One Year at Least, the Champs Will Have to Come Out and Play from Sports Illustrated
The argument is that wintery weather could give a cold weather team an unfair advantage as dome and southern teams won't be used to playing in such conditions. Let's dispel this myth right away. Did cold weather prevent dome teams Minnesota and Atlanta from coming to Lambeau Field in January and winning? How much of an advantage did Philadelphia have over Tampa Bay in the 2002 NFC Championship Game with the game time temperature at 26° with a wind chill of 16? Where were the complaints when the sun-soaked Jacksonville Jaguars won at Buffalo and Denver on the way to the '96 AFC Championship Game? Was that really the Indianapolis Colts beating the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in balmy 14° weather in the '95 playoffs? Cold weather affects everybody, not just the teams that aren't used to it. You still have to go out and win.
It's Up To You New York, New York from 620 WTMJ
"I think the membership felt and the competition committee felt we had addressed the issue we wanted this offseason with respect to the postseason," Goodell said. "We want to continue to talk to our players."
The biggest headline from two days of meetings was Tuesday's announcement that the 2014 Super Bowl will be played outdoors in New Jersey, but Goodell said owners spent plenty of time discussing labor negotiations, which are expected to resume this summer. The current deal expires after the 2010 season.
Goodell said a major talking point is expanding the 16-game regular season to 18 games, which probably would lead to the elimination of two preseason games. Like the risky decision to play the Super Bowl outside in a cold-weather city, Goodell views the expanded regular season as a way to grow the NFL.
NFL holds off on new OT rule for regular season from KC Star