Arrowhead Pride

Third Shift Open Thread

2012-05-17T02:07:01Z

The week is more than half over and I hope you're surviving it as well as I am. The weather has been awesome in DC and the wife and I just got back from a lovely outdoor meal. What are you doing this evening?

As always, this is your late night open thread. Use it to talk about whatever you'd like.

AFC West Pre-Cuts Power Rankings

2012-05-16T21:11:08Z

I have been met with a lot of justified hate with my constant prediction that Denver does in fact have the best team in the division, and will win the division this year. So to that end I figured I would go ahead and rank unit by unit each team in the AFC West as they stand today. After doing this it might be the Chargers that should be the team to watch out for.

Quarterback

via i2.cdn.turner.com

1) Denver Broncos

Easy one here, every AFC West QB is coming off of terrible showings in 2011, while there could be an argument for Phillip Rivers here Manning has to be the favorite. Yes, Manning is old, has only played on one other team his whole life, and is coming off of four neck surgeries, and no Manning will not be 100% and he won't have the "rocket" part of the laser rocket arm jig. However what didn't get injured is his brain, he'll still be able to sort through defenses at a high level.

2) San Diego Chargers

Rivers would have been #1 on my list if not for his terrible play in 2011, will it persist? Rivers is accurate intelligent and the kind of guy you want leading your team (when you're winning) but we shall see. Still, even a Terrible Rivers is better than Palmer and Cassel on any day

3) Oakland Raiders

You can't sell to me that Palmer is worse than Cassel. You just can't. Palmers highs are high enough that his lows are bearable. The Raiders better hope that Terrel Pryor develops into something because Palmer is just a bridge to him.

4) Kansas City Chiefs

Cassel is among the worst starting QB's in the NFL. He can't read worth a damn, he has happy feet, and if by chance he ever finds an open man there is a 70-80% chance that he overthrows him and the ball lands right in the defenders hands. (Homer note: Secretly I think Quinn is going to revive his career here)

Running Backs

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

1) Kansas City Chiefs

Easy choice here. Jamaal Charles, Peyton Hillis, Dexter McCluster and Cyrus Gray complete a backfield that can do damn near anything you ask of them.

2) Oakland Raiders

I'm going to make something clear. I believe Darren McFadden is the better back between he and Charles. However you can't rely on McFadden for a whole season and the Raiders have Taiwan Jones and some chump they got from the Panthers after him while the Chiefs have several solid options. It was hard not to put the Broncos here, but losing Tebow is going to effect McGahee more than Bronco fans know.

3) Denver Broncos

Yeah Willis McGahee was one of the best in the league last year but it was in a gimmick offense. In college the leading rusher is almost always coming out of an option offense. McGahee is old, injury prone, and looks to be set for some regression starting this season. Fans will argue that Ronnie Hillman was selected in the third round and provised insurance, I say you reached for a sixth round back that isn't going to do much for your team.

4) San Diego Chargers

Ryan Matthews is in a make it or bust status season. I like that they added LeRon McClain but losing Mike Tolbert is going to hurt

Receivers (including TE's)

via thegoodinsports.com

1) Kansas City Chiefs

I tried hard to look for a reason not to put the Chiefs here but I couldn't find a legitimate one. The Chiefs have three proven targets in Dwayne Bowe, Tony Moeaki, and Steve Breaston. They brought in Kevin Boss and Devon Wylie in the off season and still have the promising Jonathan Baldwin to boast. The Chiefs are stacked with receiving options, to say the least.

2) Oakland Raiders

Another tough one. Darius Heyward-Bey finally started to live up to his draft status last season, and Denarius Moore looks like he is going to be a star for a long time. Add in versatile man Marcel Reece and lightning bolt Jacoby Ford and you have a young formidable group of options. They lack a solid TE but the

3) Denver Broncos

Erick Decker and Demaryius Thomas are a solid 1 2 punch and Jacob Tamme has shown he can be effective with Manning at QB, but after that things get a little iffy. . There are no legitimate targets and replacing Eddie Royal with Brandon Stokely is a huge downgrade.

4) San Diego Chargers

Losing Vincent Jackson is going to be huge, I understand that Vincent Brown has looked like he's ready but this team looks like it will be lacking a true #1 and will be playing with a bunch of solid #2's. If Antonio Gates could stay on the field longer than one drive I would have easily put the Chargers at #2.

Offensive Line

via cdn0.sbnation.com

1) Kansas City Chiefs

After all this time having a terrible O line it's weird to put the Chiefs here but it was pretty easy to. The Chiefs had solid starters across their offensive line with the addition of Eric Winson, then went ahead and spent two of their top three picks on the line to just overkill it.

2) San Diego Chargers

This was a hard one, the Chargers are solid everywhere except where it is most important. If Jared Gaither plays anything like he did last year they'll have an unspectacular but solid offensive line.

3) Denver Broncos

The interior line is a mess save Chris Kuper, but their OT's are both near elite, which saves them from a last place spot. Who would you take between Clady/Franklin and Albert/Winston? I'd say it's pretty close and the end result would be a 1a 1b kind of deal

4) Oakland Raiders

Wisnewski and Veldheer are the only above average starters on the team. After that is a whole bunch of mediocre, I respect that the Raiders brought in Brisel in Free Agency, I just think he gets way overrated.

Defensive Line

via www.pigskinbuzz.com

1) San Diego Chargers

The Chargers have absolutely no needs on their defensive line and have no questions regarding their starters. More than the rest of the division can say.

2) Denver Broncos

I'm putting the Broncos here based entirely on Elvis Dumberville and Von Miller (yes I am including him on the line) being part of that line. Derek Wolfe was a huge reach in the second and it will probably take a while for him to get to speed in the NFL, and while Broncos fans think the world of Robert Ayers he's only a marginal starter.

3) Oakland Raiders

Lamaar Houston and Richard Seymour are phenomenal players and Tommy Kelly is solid in his own right. Again fewest questions and solid starters.

4) Kansas City Chiefs

Not to say this defensive line is a mess just that they don't do anything spectacular. Dorsey could be replaced and there are a ton of questions about Poe and Powe. When Tyson Jackson is your best lineman, you shouldn't be too encouraged.

Linebackers

via www.jimrome.com

1) Kansas City Chiefs

Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson have to be top three at their position, add in Justin Houston who was impressive as a rookie and Jovan Belcher who is a solid but unspectacular player and you have a special group of linebackers here.

2) San Diego Chargers

Solid across the board. The addition of Jarett Johson is going to be bigger than people think, meanwhile a rushing tandem of Shaun Phillips and Melvin Ingram should be dangerous. ILB's are solid yet unspectacular. A good group overall

3) Denver Broncos

Joe Mays is terrible and Wesley Woodyard is a solid starter. What puts the Broncos above the Raiders is D.J Williams, who when he isn't suspended is among the second tier of linebackers in the NFL.

4) Oakland Raiders

Aaron Curry will turn his career around in Oakland, he's in a pretty ideal situation to do so. Rolando McClain sucks and has been a huge bust, he has the physical part of the game down it's just that he is too stupid to play football. Raiders fans think Phillip Wheeler is the answer but I think they'll see why he lasted so long in free agency.

Secondary

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

1) Denver Broncos

WHAAT? Yeah I went there. Champ Bailey is still the man and they brought in a slew of talent in free agency. Tracy Porter, Drayton Florence and Kelvin Hayden should be more than solid across of Bailey while Omar Bolden has all sorts of potential to become a starting corner. Rahim Moore is a solid safety and while there is a hole across oh him at the other safety spot the Broncos have enough talent in the secondary to throw a corner there.

2) Kansas City Chiefs

The reason they are at #2 is because of Stanford Routt. We don't know how effective he will be in Crennel's defense. While Berry/Flowers/Lewis/Arenas is an elite group, a hole at #2 corner would destroy what could make this secondary special

3) San Diego Chargers

Anoine Cason and Quinten Jammer aren't what they used to be, but they are still decent. There is a hole at Safety too, Atari Bigby may be much akin to their Bob Sanders signing last year.

4) Oakland Raiders

They have question marks at every position in the secondary and while the players they have there are young, they all sucked last year. Plain and simple

Worst Case Scenario

2012-05-16T20:24:51Z

The offseason is a wonderful time of sunshine, lollipops, and good ol' All-American homerism. We all see the improvements the Chiefs made, and things look good on paper.

But here's the thing about paper... it's not real life. It's just paper, silly. And as we all know, any two-year-old can draw up something nice on a piece of paper. Trust me, it's true. I have a fridge that's completely covered with the stuff (slightly off topic, when did everything our kids draw become fridge-worthy? I mean crap, our oldest is just phoning it in at this point because he knows no matter what he draws my wife will put it up there. I personally think that if a drawing is bad we ought to burn it in front of him. You know, just to really drive the point home).

Anyways... what if the worst happens? What if our team is terrible? What if that old jackass Murphy decides to use his law on us and everything that can possibly go wrong does? What if we suffer through the worst year in sports history? What if, by the end of this year, we're pining for the good old days of 2008?

Now, obviously, not EVERYTHING can go wrong. The odds of lightening striking every player on the team simultaneously are slim at best (if anything it's way more likely that the earth opens up and swallows everyone at Arrowhead during the first half of Game 1 of the preseason). But lots of things CAN go wrong, and I think it's important to be prepared for the worst case scenario. So steel yourself, gird your loins and cover your nipples because you're about to take a trip down "Worst Case Scenario" Avenue...

The season starts with a bang in the preseason. And by bang, I mean the sound you hear as Eric Berry's knee pops out the second he steps onto the field for the first snap of Game 1. As he's carted off the field Berry grabs a bullhorn from one of the coaches on the sideline and announces his retirement, as he's afraid multiple leg injuries will lead to severe leg depression when he retires. During his press conference following the game, Berry says, "I love the game, but I can't even look at my leg in the mirror anymore. It's like it's not even my leg. We need to have some time to ourselves to start the healing process, and we can't do it with all these other legs around us."

The team tries to rally around Romeo Crennel following the stunning loss of our star safety, and we make it to the final game of the preseason without incident. However, RAC decides to honor Todd Haley's memory by playing our starters well into the 3rd quarter of the game, and Jamaal Charles collides with Tony Moeaki at the end of a 45 yard run. He runs so fast that he literally obliterates the injury-prone-and-highly-delicate Moeaki to the point that not enough pieces can even be collected to fill up his urn. The sight of a man exploding in front of him triggers Peyton Hillis's dormant memory of his time as a CIA spy, and he is instantly taken captive by Kevin Boss, who turned out to be nothing more than a sleeper agent put in place to remove the threat Hillis represented to the United States if his memory ever returned. Neither player is ever seen again, at least not in the continental U.S. (although rumors abound that they became a heck of a spy tandem in Russia working with Michael Weston).

The team, shell-shocked from the tragedies that have already taken place, attempts to prepare for the first game of the season. This is not made easy by the discovery that Dontari Poe is actually a midget in a bodysuit. That's right, a freaking midget in a freaking bodysuit. This discovery is made by his training camp roommate Allen Bailey, who wakes up one night to discover the midget (who ironically goes by the name "Big Jim") asleep in what is supposed to be Poe's bed. Bailey mistakes the midget for an alligator (the room is poorly lit due to Clark Hunt cutting back on light bulbs in favor of candles) and promptly kills him with a shovel. As he is taken away by the police Bailey states, "I only did what anyone else would do if they found an alligator... right? Right?"

The season begins dismally with the Chiefs falling behind 14-0 in the first half of their first game. This is largely due to several poor throws by Matt Cassel killing promising drives. At halftime Dwayne Bowe snaps, with years of repressed frustration over playing with mediocre quarterbacks finally coming to the surface. He attacks Cassel with an imported "lady friend" he had hidden in his locker, using her as a club with which to batter Cassel repeatedly. both are carted from the locker room, one in a body cast the other in a straight jacket. Romeo attempts to rally the team with a, "Hey guys, it can't get any worse from here" speech. The team is to later look back on this moment as on of high spirits and good fortune.

After several more losses, Jamaal Charles decides he'd be better off on a new team and joins the Broncos. When Pioli attempts to enforce the Chiefs' contract with Charles, JC points out that they'd forgotten to have him sign it. Pioli reluctantly acquiesces and Charles leaves to join the (soon to be Super Bowl Champion) Broncos. Mass hysteria ensues around Arrowhead and Romeo, in a panic, puts Branden Albert in at left tackle, stating that it's his natural position and should have been done years ago.

Several additional losses later, Derrick Johnson comes to a realization: football was a lot easier when he didn't try all the time and was wildly inconsistent. This epiphany leads to the return of "old DJ." While this in and of itself is bad enough, DJ and Tamba Hali had recently become "BFF's" and DJ's lack of motor rubs off on Tamba. Soon thereafter Tamba vanishes into thin air right in the middle of a game. Doctor's soon after discover that Tamba was 98% motor and 2% water, and the combination of losing his motor and the hot day caused him to completely evaporate. The team mourns once again, besides Justin Houston, who celebrates his chance at taking over as rush OLB by smoking an entire acre of his favorite herb. Upon doing so, he realizes his life goal of being an artist and quits the team.

By this point, the Chiefs are 0-10 and staring at the possibility of going down as the worst team in history. Fortunately, the team gets its first positive break: Jonathan Baldwin has a breakout game and looks to be on the brink of becoming a superstar. In yet another tragic turn, though, Thomas Jones un-retires to "finish the job" and pulls off Baldwin's thumbs. Hysterical at the idea that he will never be able to hitchhike properly, Baldwin is cut from the team as Pioli tells the press, "He has 8 fingers. No part of the right 53."

With three games left and the team at 0-13, times are desperate. Clark Hunt suddenly cuts off all contact between the coaching staff and the players, citing practices as "too expensive." The team still shows up and competes hard, only to discover that they went to the wrong stadium on the wrong day and are losing 21-17 to Alabama at halftime. Deciding to "roll with it," RAC instructs his team to finish the game, only to be handed the most devastating loss yet when Tyson Jackson trips over his own hair and misses the game-saving tackle. Roger Goodell decides that the loss should count in the record books as two losses, since it was to a college team. And just like that, the Chiefs are facing the prospect of being the only team in NFL history to go 0-17.

The last game of the season arrives, and the Chiefs are ready to play. Dexter McCluster and Steve Breaston are having fantastic games and are attempting to carry the Chiefs to victory. However, during a lull in the action Ricky Stanzi overhears them joking around about the current political state of America. This proves to be a mistake, as Stanzi reveals himself to literally be Captain America and decapitates them both with his shield for making jokes about the "greatest country on Earth."

The season ends with the Chiefs being 0-17, the only team that ever has or will attain such a low level of play in the NFL. Shortly thereafter, Clark Hunt sells the team. While this is met with joy by some on Arrowhead Pride, horror soon follow when it is announced that the team was sold to Justin Bieber, who plans on moving it to LA and changing the team name to "The Biebs." The team is relocated shortly thereafter, with Bieber instructing that Arrowhead be burned to the ground and any person who so much as mentions "The Chiefs" be executed (I perhaps should have mentioned that Bieber had since taken over the country as an all-powerful dictator).

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There. Now you're ready for the season to start.

Military Veterans: What's Your Favorite Sports Memory From Deployment?

2012-05-16T17:53:36Z

Military Veterans: What's Your Favorite Sports Memory From Deployment?

We have plenty of military men and women who read Arrowhead Pride, many from overseas. Matt Ufford of SB Nation is rounding up great deployment sports stories for a Memorial Day piece. Let him know if you have one at the link above.

Which Team Has The Best Shot At Worst-To-First?

2012-05-16T17:31:12Z

Carrington Harrison had a good question for me during out KC Chiefs talk on 610 Sports today: Which team that finished in last place in their division in 2011 has the best chance of finishing in first place in 2012? The old worst-to-first question...

Your options are: Bills, Browns, Colts, Chiefs, Redskins, Vikings, Buccaneers and Rams.

Despite my effort to avoid being a Chiefs homer, I picked KC. They were the only seven-game winner on the list and, even though they finished in last place in 2011, they were also a game out of first place, which no other team on this list can say.

My rank of most likely to go from worst-to-first would look like this: Chiefs, Buccaneers, Redskins, Colts, Bills, Rams, Browns and Vikings.

The Chiefs have a very winnable division, as we all know. The Bucs division is very difficult but the Saints season is up in the air with some of the things that have happened this offseason. The Redskins and Colts both have rookie quarterbacks so they're sort of an unknown as well, but also in winnable divisions. The Browns and Vikings are in very difficult divisions and have little shot of winning the division title. The Rams are an interesting case because they should be better but they've also been the worst team in the NFL in the last few years. Plus, with the 49ers rising up, I have a hard time believing St. Louis can topple San Francisco.

Of those eight teams, which one has the best shot of going from worst-to-first?

NFL Roundtable: Which Draft Pick Is Most Likely To Bust?

2012-05-16T17:03:32Z

NFL Roundtable: Which Draft Pick Is Most Likely To Bust?

You won't believe who Joel picked...

Where Are The Chiefs Remaining Needs?

2012-05-16T15:30:13Z

The Kansas City Chiefs have had a couple of months of free agency, hit the NFL draft, signed undrafted players and circled back around to free agency again. They've signed several dozen players since the end of the season, and others didn't return to Kansas City.

In short, the roster has changed a lot in the last couple of months. Keeping the additions in mind, I wanted to look at the Chiefs remaining needs. Four positions stand out to me as needs, which I've listed below.

I also noticed while perusing the roster...the Chiefs have a pretty good roster. It's hard to find a ton of holes on this team. There are question marks, sure, but not many obvious holes among the starters. We've said that before but it's just something that came to me while going through the needs. It's almost silly to say that considering the team won just seven games last year but the Chiefs appear to have a solid roster.

Safety: OJ Atogwe visited a few weeks ago and Yeremiah Bell is scheduled to visit on Wednesday. It's obvious the Chiefs want safety help. Eric Berry is coming back from a serious injury so you need some insurance for him. And Kendrick Lewis has been beat up in his brief NFL career. Jon McGraw, who saw a good chunk of playing time last year remains unsigned. There's new talent at the position but the Chiefs may need a veteran who can step in immediately in case he's needed.

Inside linebacker: I feel really good about three linebacker spots -- Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson and Justin Houston. It's the inside spot next to DJ that has be concerned at times. Jovan Belcher started there the last two years but I think most want to see increased competition there. Brandon Siler will offer some of that competition but we don't know where he stands after coming off an Achilles' injury. He's on just a one-year deal so the Chiefs are probably as unsure as we are on him. Cory Greenwood also has an outside shot for playing time. It seems like you have a handful of guys at that position who you hope will get better with competition, not necessarily sure things.

Defensive end: This isn't as much of a need, but maybe still a little bit. Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson are your starters with Allen Bailey seeing time in the sub package. Amon Gordon backs up every spot on the defensive line so he has a role. Ropati Pitoitua was signed last week and an unknown. Jerome Long is a developmental player.

Tight end: Martin Rucker's addition doesn't really change anything. He has two career catches and should be considered a longshot at making the roster. Tony Moeaki is the top player at this position, but he also has an injury history. Kevin Boss was signed in free agency. UDFA Tim Biere is on the roster, as is Steve Maneri and Jake O'Connell. Of those guys, Moeaki and Boss are your "sure things" in making the roster. After that, it's up in the air if you ask me.

Devon Wylie (@WylieMan7) has moved from jersey No. 83 to No. 19. Martin Rucker (@RuckerSouthSide)...

2012-05-16T14:43:45Z

Devon Wylie (@WylieMan7) has moved from jersey No. 83 to No. 19. Martin Rucker (@RuckerSouthSide) will wear No. 83 #Chiefs

Twitter / Josh Looney