Even before the season started, I feared the 2011 version of
the Kansas City Chiefs was being overrated.
The Chiefs won the AFC West in 2010 mainly because of their last place
schedule and a great success at avoiding the injury bug. While, after suffering through three brutal
seasons before last year, I was thrilled the Chiefs had some success but I was
never comfortable with the level of talent.
Let’s just say I was afraid the Chiefs were a paper tiger.
Many fans want to string up Coach Todd Haley already. Haley certainly has his coaching flaws. Haley treats the pre-season with a seemingly
lackadaisical attitude and he just can’t seem to fully support anyone but
himself calling the plays offensively.
He stills makes some head scratching decisions on the field but,
honestly, what head coach doesn’t? With
all his issues though, is he really to blame for this train wreck? Would any other coach have any better success
with this shallow, thinly talented squad?
For me, this mess falls directly at the feet of General
Manager Scott Pioli. As of a few days
ago, sixteen players on the Chiefs roster were holdovers from the Herm Edwards
era. Yes, the same Herm Edwards regime
that won six total games over the last two years before Pioli took over. While there is going to be leftovers from a
team from just four years ago, 30% is much too high. If those players were all that good as a
whole, they would have more than they did.
Injuries have without a doubt crippled this team badly on
both sides of the ball in 2011. Losing
Tony Moeaki, Eric Berry, and Jamaal Charles would be a tough pill to swallow
for any team. Regardless, this team had
a glaring lack of talented depth right from the get go. It was as thin last year but Kansas
City avoided major injuries through the 2010
campaign. While these injuries are
serious, compare the depth of this team to last year’s champion, the Green Bay
Packers. The Packers were plagued all
last season by major injuries but had the depth in place to overcome them. Matt Cassel is no Aaron Rogers so we cannot
expect the same results but a greater depth of talent would have made the spate
of early injuries easier to deal with.
At first, it was believed Pioli would be great on draft
day. After the 2010 draft, he was almost
proclaimed a hero. Pick after pick
looked like it might produce quality players.
Those picks certainly had plenty of opportunities last year and did
produce in some cases. A year later,
though, and the bloom is wearing off.
The best player, Eric Berry is out for the year and several of the other
players don’t look as good as they did early last year. After the Tyson Jackson fiasco in the 2009
draft and the thus far disastrous pick of Jon Baldwin in this past draft, Pioli
doesn’t seem near the genius as he was thought to be. Even if Dexter McCluster is great for the
remainder of this season, at his diminutive size, just how long can he be
productive? Just how many nickel and
dime defensive backs can a team have? It
is like having a team of utility infielders and 4th outfielders in
baseball.
Pioli’s inactivity in the free agent feeding frenzy that
followed the end of the lockout is inexcusable.
Not filling the glaring holes that existed going into this season has
been a huge mark against Pioli. On top
of that, the Chiefs lost a couple of very important and underrated players in
Seth Smith and Ron Edwards that were not properly replaced. Neither player was a star but the Chiefs
could ill afford to lose both, especially the versatile Smith. The Chiefs are way under the salary cap and
coming off a division title, and I can’t believe better players couldn’t have
been convinced to sign with Kansas City
without more effort.
I never want my team to lose games, especially this early in
the season. I am not rooting for the
Chiefs to lose every game just so they can draft Andrew Luck. First round quarterbacks are no guarantee
(Heath Shuler, Ryan Leaf, David Carr, etc.) and the Chiefs have too many holes
to lose games just to fill one. I want
the Chiefs to win. I just don’t think
they have the talent to do so. They have
two winnable games coming up against the Vikings and Colts but they may be the
last two all year. Kansas
City has a brutal schedule for the second half and
they just aren’t going to win many games.
While I want them to win games, if they do continue to lose, by the time
the last few games roll around, I won’t be cheering very hard.
Todd Haley is going to take the fall. If they lose to the Vikings and/or Colts, it
may be as early as the bye week. It is
easier to fire a coach in mid season than a general manager. Make no mistake though. This mess is Pioli’s. Coaches have a hard time coaching up poor
draft picks and throw away free agents.
Haley can only coach the talent Pioli gave him and for 2011, it is not
very much. There is a lot of talk about
doing it the “Patriot Way”. Well, that’s all just dandy if you have a Tom
Brady. Maybe that’s Pioli’s plan – just
throw a crappy squad together, lose a lot of games, and try to draft another
Tom Brady, in the guise of Andrew Luck.
Maybe he can then copy the “Patriot Way”
here in Kansas City. You know, I’d rather just win games the old
fashion way. You know, with lots of
talent.
Read my movie and television reviews at
jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get updates @jawrecliner on twitter.
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