Brady Quinn, Chiefs need to get in a groove, play it safe

The most important thing for Brady Quinn and the Kansas City Chiefs is to get a little confidence building early on the offensive side of the ball early in Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That means short, safe passes, most likely on play-action. The NFL's leading rusher is on the field -- that's you Jamaal Charles -- and the Chiefs need to use that to their advantage in getting Quinn settled early in the game.

It wouldn't be a bad thing for the defense to see Quinn complete a few passes so they won't feel like they to have throw up a shutout, or even score a touchdown on defense in order for the team to win on Sunday. A few completed passes, even of the short variety early in this game, could go a long way in settling the team as a whole.

So what's the game plan coach Crennel?

I think we game plan how we think we need to play the game. He can make the throws, so if we feel like shorter throws are better, we'll have shorter throws. If we feel like deeper throws are better, we'll throw deeper throws. If we feel like running the ball is better, then we'll run the ball.

That tells me all I need to know!

We'd all love to see the strong-armed Quinn make those down-field passes that seemed to flutter at times from Matt Cassel, early in this game. There will be a time for those passes. If the defense is completely loading the box, which is entirely possible, then taking a shot to loosen up the defense makes sense.

The Chiefs offense needs to give the defense a little help this time around and that means protecting the ball and avoiding three and outs. The short, safe passes to start the game could get Quinn and the receivers in a groove and then Charles can get going.

Peter Aiken Getty Images Sport

The Buccaneers are ranked dead last in the NFL against the pass while giving up 345 yards per game through the air. But in all fairness, they have played four pretty decent quarterbacks in Cam Newton, Eli Manning, Tony Romo and Robert Griffin III. I'm not sure this means that Quinn is going to come out firing all over the field and be successful, but it does mean that some plays should be able to be made through the air from the Chiefs offense.

The more confidence that Quinn builds from the beginning of the game throughout should go a long way in the offense as a whole to be on-point, and in-sync with what they're doing out there. That happens by giving him safe, easy completions that are probably scripted early in the week so he's comfortable with his first few throws.

The first 6-8 passes from Quinn should set the bar for how he does in this game, and if the game plan really does stay the game as last week, those pass attempts should get us well into the 3rd quarter.