WEEK SIX: Kansas City Chiefs @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (1-4) @ TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (1-3)
KICKOFF: 12:00PM CT, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15TH
WHERE: RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM, TAMPA, FL
SPREAD: TB -4 O/U 40
TV: CBS (MARV ALBERT & RICH GANNON)
RADIO: CHIEFS FOX FOOTBALL RADIO NETWORK (MITCH HOLTHUS, LENNY DAWSON, KENDALL GAMMON) – 101.1 THE FOX IN KC
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY, MID 80S, NE WINDS 11MPH
KC INJURIES: OUT – QB. MATT CASSEL (CONCUSSION), RB. PEYTON HILLIS (ANKLE), DE. GLENN DORSEY (CALF), WR. DEVON WYLIE (HAMSTRING), QUESTIONABLE – WR. JON BALDWIN (HAMSTRING), WR. TERRANCE COPPER (CALF), RB. CYRUS GRAY (ILLNESS), DE. ROPATI PITOITUA (ELBOW), PROBABLE – RB. SHAUN DRAUGHN (ANKLE), CB. JALIL BROWN (HAMSTRING), C. RYAN LILJA (BACK), S. KENDRICK LEWIS (SHOULDER)
TB INJURIES: QUESTIONABLE – DT. ROY MILLER (BACK), PROBABLE – CB. ERIC WRIGHT (HEAD), OT. JEREMY TRUEBLOOD (ILLNESS), OG. CARL NICKS (TOE)
AFC WEST STANDINGS: SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (3-2), DENVER BRONCOS (2-3), KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (1-4), OAKLAND RAIDERS (1-4)
Coming off one of the most unusual losses in recent memory, the Kansas City Chiefs will try to rebound today as they travel to Tampa to take on the 1-3 Bucs.
Last week’s 9-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens not only pretty much ended any glimmer of hope for the 2012 season, but it also showed exactly what every knowledgeable fan has been saying for years now: Matt Cassel is a terrible quarterback and Scott Pioli is a moron.
A lot of Chiefs fans saw this coming. We didn’t expect another rash of injuries and a terrible start to the season, and we didn’t expect all of the turnovers, even from Cassel. But we did expect arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL to totally hold this team back again and waste another year of Jamaal Charles, Tamba Hali, Brandon Flowers, etc…
And that’s exactly what has happened.
Similar to the San Diego game a week before, Cassel was atrocious and lost the game for his team. Any other starter in the NFL, maybe minus Mark Sanchez, would have won the last two games for the Chiefs easily.
The defense, running game and offensive line was brilliant and played up to their capabilities all game long. The D held one of the best offenses in the league to three field goals and under 300 yards of total offense. They sacked Joe Flacco four times and forced two turnovers.
The Chiefs ran for 214 yards against the 13th ranked run defense coming into the game…yet failed to score a touchdown, becoming only the second team since 1999 to rush for over 200 yards and fail to reach paydirt. Jamaal Charles was brilliant, rushing for 140 yards on 30 carries, but you have to worry about the amount of work he is getting to make up for our lack of a quarterback. Charles had 125 yards at the half…Only two rushers have ran for over 125 yards in a GAME on the Ravens since 2008. The offensive line was absolutely owning the line of scrimmage, especially in the first half. The Ravens, like all good defenses do, adjusted in the second half and dared us even more to beat them with the pass. We didn’t.
The Chiefs ran the ball 34 times and passed the ball seven times in the first half. I think that showed the confidence that this team has in their own starting quarterback.
SO WHY IS/WAS HE STILL STARTING?
Why was he still in the game if you don’t trust him to do what a quarterback does?
The Chiefs completely dominated one of the best teams in the NFL…yet only scored six points and lost.
Cassel, with some assist from Shaun Draughn and Dwayne Bowe, turned the ball over FOUR more times.
Cassel now has more turnovers by himself than 29 TEAMS. Think about that.
The Chiefs have now committed 19 turnovers on the year, the most in the first five games of a season since the 1997 New Orleans Saints.
But it was clear Romeo Crennel was not going to take him out of the game and put Brady Quinn in. And it’s clear that Scott Pioli probably has all the say in that.
The only thing that would have got Cassel out of the game was an injury…
And that’s what happened! Midway through the 4th quarter, Cassel was hit by two Ravens right after completing a short pass to Charles in the flats which resulted in a first down.
He fell to the ground and stayed there for a few minutes, but then proceeded to walk off the field.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last week, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the rant made by Chiefs right tackle Eric Winston after the game.
If you haven’t, in short, Winston basically called out an entire stadium full of Chiefs fans and proclaimed that everyone was cheering when they realized Cassel was injured and not getting up.
Winston’s comments were then picked up and stirred around by ESPN and the rest of the national media and the entire fan base was made out to be savages and terrible people for three straight days.
Winston, who has only been here for like six months, ignorantly blasted one of the most loyal fan bases in the NFL, and it really wasn’t all that serious.
Did a few thousand drunk and incredibly frustrated fans cheer and spew some black humor when Cassel was down? Sure. Was it 70,000 blood thirsty fans like Winston portrayed it to be? Not even close. Did those few thousand fans really want Cassel truly injured? No. There’s a difference between wanting one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL out of the game FINALLY, and truly wanting another human being seriously injured.
Unbelievably, Chiefs fans were getting s*** on again. 40 years without a Super Bowl, 30 years without drafting a quarterback in the 1st round, 20 years without a playoff win, and 4 years of Matt Cassel…yet we’re the bad guys?
Scott Pioli and this regime have already alienated and distanced themselves from one of the best fan bases in football enough already, now this?
Owner Clark Hunt finally issued a statement on Wednesday, calling Chiefs fans the best fans in sports, period. But seriously Clark, where were ya on Monday and Tuesday when your loyal fan base was getting trashed nationally?
Whatever.
This is why a bunch of die-hard Chiefs fans decided to donate their own money to fly a banner over Arrowhead Stadium before the game saying “WE DESERVE BETTER! FIRE PIOLI – BENCH CASSEL.”
We deserve better.
Seriously, check out the Pioli Doc.
Some cliff notes:
Under Pioli, the Chiefs are 22-32.
The Chiefs are 3-15 against playoff and winning teams.
The Chiefs have lost by 14 or more points 17 times in 54 games.
The Chiefs have lost 8 of their last 9 home games, and are 3-10 in their last 13 at Arrowhead, including 6 losses by 17 points or more.
And then check out the original post in this thread on Matt Cassel’s epic failures.
Cliff notes:
Cassel is 19-26 as a Chief.
He is 15-7 when the Chiefs run more than they throw.
He is 3-18 when the Chiefs pass more than they run, averaging only 19 points in those wins.
Cassel is 3-13 against playoff teams, 1-9 as a Chief (7-9 Seahawks in 2010).
In his last five and ten games against playoff teams, he’s led his team to an average of only 13 points per game.
Cassel averages only 148 passing yards per game against playoff teams.
Cassel is 5-13 against winning teams, 2-8 as a Chief.
Cassel is 4-15 against “elite” QBs.
In those 19 games, Cassel’s teams average 15 offensive points per game.
Cassel is 5-18 when the Chiefs rush for less than 135 yards. In the five wins, the Chiefs held the opposition to an average of 15.4 points per game.
Cassel is 5-8 against Top 10 defenses, averaging 189 yds/game & 16.6 points per game to go along with a 10/13 TD/INT ratio.
Cassel was sacked 1 out of every 11 pass attempts in 2008. Tom Brady was sacked 1 out of every 35 pass attempts behind the same exact line.
Cassel was sacked 1 out of every 12 pass attempts in 2011 behind the 5th ranked pass blocking offensive line. Kyle Orton was sacked once in three games.
Cassel is 0-17 as a Chief when the other team scores more than 24 points !!!
Okay, you probably get it.
If you haven’t been able to see with your own two eyes that Matt Cassel is not a starting quarterback in this league, then those stats should convince you.
Fortunately for Chiefs fans, Cassel will be on the sidelines today as Brady Quinn will be getting his first start in the NFL since December 22nd, 2009 against the Chiefs in Arrowhead.
Quinn came into the game last week and was 3/3 for 32 yards with a touchdown strike to Dwayne Bowe called back because of an illegal pick called on Dexter McCluster.
He looked so much better than Cassel just in terms of mechanics, arm strength and accuracy.
Every Chiefs fan hopes last Sunday was the end of the Cassel era. If that is to be true, either Scott Pioli must die or Quinn will have to go play well and win the game to keep Cassel on the bench.
CHIEFS OFFENSE VS BUCS DEFENSE
There were so many positives to take out of last week’s game, but none of them were surprising. Everyone expected Jamaal Charles and the Chiefs running game to be one of the best in the league again this season and everyone expected the offensive line to perform like one of the better units in the NFL.
Charles was his amazing self and the offensive line was dominating the point of attack against a very good front seven who knew they were going to run the ball.
But the Ravens made adjustments in the second half, the Chiefs didn’t. Instead of taking advantage of the Ravens completely selling out for the run, the Chiefs continued to run the ball even in passing downs. They were clearly trying to keep the ball out of their own quarterback’s hands, yet he still managed to turn the ball over four times.
If the Chiefs had just an average quarterback at their disposal (Kyle Orton), they would have won this game by 17+ points. It’s just bulls***.
As for this game, the Bucs come in with the 4th best run defense in the NFL…but the 32nd ranked pass defense.
Knowing the Chiefs, even with Quinn, they’ll probably still run it 75% of the time.
The Chiefs cannot employ the same game plan as last week and expect to win. They’ll have to trust Quinn at least a little to do some damage in the air, and he should be able to do so against Tampa.
Although Jon Baldwin is questionable for the game with a hamstring issue, the Chiefs obviously have plenty of weapons for any quarterback to work with in Bowe, Breaston, Moeaki, McCluster and Charles out of the backfield.
This is it for Brady Quinn. Will he take advantage of it? Will he be able to keep Cassel on the bench for good?
CHIEFS DEFENSE VS BUCS OFFENSE
Well, it didn’t take long for the Chiefs defense to start looking like the Top 10 defense we all thought they ‘d be coming into the season.
The defense has played very well the last three weeks against three of the better quarterbacks in the NFL (Brees, Rivers, Flacco), and will be getting back a familiar face in the secondary in safety Kendrick Lewis who will play for the first time this season after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason.
With two more sacks against Baltimore, outside linebacker Justin Houston has become one of the best pass rushers in the NFL since Week 13 last season in Chicago. Houston is tied for the most sacks since then with Jared Allen with 11.5.
Tamba Hali, who’s been arguably the best pass rusher in the AFC the past two seasons, also had two sacks against Baltimore.
The secondary has looked like the secondary of last season the last three weeks, and the return of Lewis will only help.
Josh Freeman and the Bucs offense has struggled so far this season. Freeman has yet to really take that next step and will have his hands full against the Chiefs today.
He has some very good receivers at his disposal in Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams and a good duo at running back in rookie Doug Martin and LeGarrette Blount.
However the Bucs are only averaging 4.9 yards/play (KC at 5.5) and are 28th in the NFL in passing yards/game.
If the Chiefs defense plays with the same energy and focus that they’ve played with the last three weeks, they should be able to hold the Bucs to under 20 points and have a great chance to win this game.
PREDICTION: CHIEFS – 24 BUCS – 17
As we all witnessed the last two weeks, it doesn’t really matter how your defense or running game performs if you can’t pass the ball and turn it over four times.
If Brady Quinn can just not turn it over, the Chiefs will have a good chance at winning this game.
But he’s going to have to do more than that.
It won’t be very difficult to look and play better than Matt Cassel, so he has that going for him.
We’ll see what happens. But I think we’ll finally limit our turnovers and the defense will continue to play very well. The running game won’t be as successful as last week going up against the Bucs run defense, and I’ll probably murder Romeo if he runs Charles over 20 times, let alone 30 again.
If Quinn can take advantage of a weak Bucs secondary, I think the Chiefs will get their 2nd win of the season. Which, honestly, is not in the best interest of Chiefs fans right now. We want and need that number one pick…but what are we going to be pissed off if the Chiefs win?
The defense, offensive line and running game alone will win 4 or 5 more games this season anyways, we’re just too talented all over to only win 2 or 3 games on the year, even with no quarterback.
If we want Mr. Geno Smith, we’re going to have to grow some balls and trade up for him like the Washington Redskins did with Robert Griffin III just six months ago.
30 years without drafting a quarterback in the first round…I think Chiefs fans deserve that.