Arrowhead Pride

Trials and Talent: Larry Johnson's Legacy With the Chiefs

2009-11-09T16:07:18Z

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

He was a man both talented and trying, a back so capable of changing both the game on Sunday and your opinion of him by Monday. As a coach, he was maddening to handle - a Chad Ochocinco level of combustion. Yet on game days, that same coach breathed a sign of relief with Johnson's ability to place the Chiefs on his back and run the football.

Nearly 6,000 yards later, Johnson's legacy is over. And it's a tarnished one, for sure. The issues were many in the LJ years and made many within the fan base cringe with each statement to the press, each interview, each Tweet. From Dick Vermeil to Herm Edwards to Todd Haley, each coach had to deal with the baggage that came with one of the franchise's greatest running back ever. And up until now, it's always been worth it. It's a shame it had to go down this way.

Then again, the warning signs were always there - both with the talent and frustration levels. He became the first running back in history to post three consecutive 150-yard games to start his career. He also publicly pouted and complained given his status of sitting behind Priest Holmes, leading to the famous "diapers off" comment from then-coach Vermeil. Here was a back running for 2,000 yards his last year at Penn State and yet Vermeil made it clear he didn't even want to draft LJ in the first place. The situation, in other words, was birthed as a tenuous one.

If anything, Johnson was that challenging child for the Chiefs. He was socially awkward, didn't play by the normal rules and required special attention and needs. Yet he was incredibly gifted, a natural on the field with a rare combination of strength and vision and sheer determination to go where few backs have gone. He was a football prodigy who needed extra care - and the team that took him had to be aware of that.

How LJ will be remembered is a perplexing situation. With final memories like the ones he most recently made, with Twitter references making stabs at gays and the working-class fan, it likely won't be sunny anytime soon. It's not like a Brett Favre situation where he was heavily booed earlier this year, yet we all know the cheers and heartwarming greetings will await him in Green Bay when he's finally done in the NFL. For LJ, some are even already protesting his place in the Ring of Honor, even though those same fans enjoyed the success he brought on-field for the last several years.

Perhaps time will heal these wounds. And perhaps LJ will gain some perspective (or at least some PR advice) and say the right things once the tensions have settled. For now, LJ was a gift and a curse - to quote the philosopher Jay-Z - and that's something that Chiefs fans have always had to deal with.

Kansas City Chiefs Release Larry Johnson

2009-11-09T15:33:48Z

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

13 days ago: FILE -- This is a Sept. 20, 2009, file photo showing Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders, in Kansas City, Mo. Not only are they 1-6 and coming off a 37-7 rout by San Diego, but running back Larry Johnson is popping off, raising the possibility of deepening player discontent with coach Todd Haley's harsh ways. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

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The Larry Johnson era is over.

The Kansas City Chiefs have officially released embatted seven year veteran RB Larry Johnson. Per the Mothership:

The Kansas City Chiefs released RB Larry Johnson on Monday. In 75 games (55 starts) with Kansas City, Johnson rushed 1,375 times for 5,996 yards (4.4 avg.) with 55 touchdowns. He also registered 151 receptions for 1,369 yards (9.1 avg.) with six TDs. He concluded his Chiefs career with 30 100-yard rushing games and also added two 100-yard receiving games.

Johnson established an NFL single-season record with 416 rushing attempts in 2006 when he set a franchise single-season mark with 1,789 rushing yards. He originally entered the league as the Chiefs first-round selection (27th overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Penn State.

A first round draft pick in 2003, LJ has certainly had his ups and downs with the organization, including run-ins with all three head coaches during his tenure.

Highlights of LJ's tenure with the Chiefs after the jump.

A few LJ highlights through his seven year career with the Chiefs:

1st round pick in the 2003 NFL draft. Many fans will remember this because we traded down with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers took Troy Polamalu.

LJ was told by Dick Vermeil early in his career that he needs to "take the diapers off", a statement that became very telling throughout his career with the Chiefs.

LJ sprang to life in the last nine games of the 2005 season. He put up arguably the best half of a season for a running back ever.

He did it again in 2006 with another 1,700+ yards rushing and a NFL record 416 carries. This would be the last time LJ was effective on a regular basis.

In 2007, he suffered an injury and missed the final nine games of the season - all Chiefs losses.

In 2008, he was deactivated by the Chiefs for several games, and officially suspended by the NFL one game, for another altercation with a woman at a nightclub.

In 2009, he became expendable with a 2.7 yards per carry average and the Twitter incident.

Jaguars WR Says Film of Chiefs Zone Defense Helped Them Win

2009-11-09T15:00:44Z

by Stephen Morton - AP

about 19 hours ago: Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jarett Dillard (87) makes a catch over Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, left, in first-quarter action during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

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After Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Kansas City Chiefs players are presumably pissed. Well, it won't help to hear that yet another wide receiver came into town and had a career day. WR Mike Sims-Walker caught six passes for 147 yards including a 61 yard touchdown grab.

The Chiefs, yet again, let up the big plays on defense that the team and the coaching staff has stressed in recent weeks.

According to the Jags' Walker, film preparation of Clancy Pendergast's defense helped them turn the game into a routine event of finding spots in the Chiefs zone.

"We watched film and worked hard at practice all week," he said referring to film of the Chiefs defense. "We saw they were a zone team and found the holes in their zone. Every man tried to get into that hole and whoever he threw the ball to had to make the play. It just happened to me this week."

Sims-Walker said simply, ""It was just a big day for the offense."

I've wondered this about Pendergast's defenses in the past. One of the remarks from a few analysts, former coaches and players was that Pendergast's defenses have a lot of different looks but operates a pretty standard defense.

If you watch the Chiefs defense, they're always lining up in strange sets, like FS Jon McGraw at MLB, or only two or even one lineman with his hand on the ground.

But does that pre-snap stuff really matter? It almost seems like those confusing defensive looks are the defense - that's the unique part of it, even though the defense operates, in the Chiefs case, quite poorly.

On the flip side of this, Mike Brown hints that the Jags offense did some things that the players were not prepared for.

“They did some things we really didn’t go over in practice,” he said. “You prepare for things, but we hadn’t seen those things all week, so there was some miscommunication.”

Two New Chiefs Receivers Show Practice With QB is "Overrated"

2009-11-09T14:00:48Z

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Star

The two newest members of the Kansas City Chiefs receiver corps, Chris Chambers and Lance Long, didn't take long to warm to their new quarterback. Chambers caught two touchdown passes while Long led the team with eight receptions.

Neither player has been with the team for more than two games so the practice time with Matt Cassel hasn't been there. That doesn't necessarily matter to head coach Todd Haley, who called receiver and quarterback practice time as "overrated."

Chambers, who was signed off waivers last week, noted his experience with "11 or 12 quarterbacks" in his career as a reason for his quick success.

"I have a lot of experience — and definitely a lot of experience with new quarterbacks. Matt has a ton of talent. You can see him maturing and growing. It will take awhile before he hits his peak. We didn’t get a lot of reps together but we were able to make plays when we did. We ran that play we scored (the first) touchdown on and it came open the exact same way."

He also remarked, "Everybody runs the same stuff," referring to the offense.

QB Matt Cassel seemed pleased with Chambers' effort on a few plays.

“Anytime a guy comes in, has to learn a new offense, you ask him to do a lot and he performs like that … you have to take your hat off to him,” said Cassel. “It goes to what kind of professional he is. We’re lucky to have him.”

Chambers' second touchdown reception in the corner of the end zone was almost a Montana-to-Davis-esque.

“That was just feel and experience,” Chambers said. “Matt was rolling out and all I had to do was catch the ball and make sure I stayed inbounds. I saw him run that play with [Moss] a couple of times. He put it right on the money.”

Long, who was promoted from the practice squad two weeks ago, said he began to feel more comfortable and "really started to relax" with his new quarterback.

"There hasn’t been a lot of work with Matt, but it’s not really hard. As long as you’re coached to do the right thing, if you do what you’re supposed to do, the chemistry doesn’t really need to be there. If I’m supposed to be in a certain spot and Matt is expecting me to be in a certain spot, then the chemistry is there."

As I've mentioned before, receivers in their first game with the Chiefs tend to do well. In Bobby Wade's first game, he led the team with six receptions for 72 yards. Long was targeted as often as Dwayne Bowe in his first game. And now, Chambers, who caught two touchdown passes in his first game.

With that "L" on the board at the end of the game, Haley had plenty of problems to point to, including the play of the receivers.

"I didn’t see what we needed to see," Haley said. "We can’t take sacks. We can’t give up sacks at the beginning of the second half. We can’t give up sacks. We have to do a better job of protection. We have to do a better job of getting rid of the football. We have to better catching the football. I think we’re number one in dropping the football. We can’t overcome negative plays. We just can’t."

Yeah, there were problems, but these two additions to the receiver corps are, overall, a positive.

I'm still in the "prove it" mode with Chambers since he's 31 years old and has to bring plenty of positivity to the offense to convince me he's more valuable than a younger player with more upside. But Long is definitely in the Wes Welker mode and obviously has a nice rapport with Cassel.

Five Good Stats from the Chiefs' Loss to the Jaguars

2009-11-09T13:00:44Z

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

about 19 hours ago: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel throws a fourth-quarter touchdown pass during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville won 24-21. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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Queue the typical response to this post each week:

"There were good stats from yesterday's game?"

Yes. Yes there were good stats AP readers. Now, there are more bad stats but that's another post for another time.

So far, this is what I've got that was good from yesterday:

Penalties
Tyson Jackson
YPC
The play of Matt Cassel
Eliminating the negative plays

Check out what I'm talking about, after the jump.

Only one penalty

Coming into this game today, the Chiefs had 48 penalties on the season. That's almost a 7 penalty a game average.

Well I'm guessing the extra preparation and rest the bye week gave the Chiefs did some good because they only committed only penalty against the Jaguars. It was offensive pass interference on Dwayne Bowe in the third quarter.

I'm happy about the low penalty number overall and I'm also happy that the Chiefs' offensive line wasn't called for anything. We seemed to have gotten into a nasty pattern where 3-4 penalties a game on the offense line was the norm.

There's Tyson Jackson!

The Chiefs' first round draft pick has been relatively quiet leading up to today's game. There were a few comments made early on in the game about how Tyson Jackson already seemed to be in on more plays that usual.

That good play continued as Jackson ended up being the Chiefs' leading tackler today with seven total tackles.

High YPC

The Chiefs only attempted to run the ball twelve times but they gained 57 yards on those carries. That's almost 5 yards per carry, which is a great stat.

Here's how the rushing stats broke down:

Jamaal Charles: 6 carries, 36 yards
Kolby Smith: 4 carries, 17 yards
Dantrell Savage: 2 carries, 4 yards

Why didn't the Chiefs run the ball more? Jamaal Charles' fumbleitis? Mixing up the playcalling? I'm not sure and that's something we'll explore as the week goes on.

Matt Cassel

Here's a fun stat: Matt Cassel ended up with a 96.3 QB rating, his second best rating of the year. By far Cassel's best game rating wise was Week 2 against the Raiders, when he finished the day with 124.5 passer rating.

Yes, about a third of Cassel's passing yards came on two players to Chris Chambers and Dwayne Bowe in what one may have called garbage time. But I think for what he has to play with, Cassel is playing like a hero out there. It's the same story every week - Cassel is taking heat; scrambling; trying to make something out of nothing most of the time. The timing isn't there with the receivers quite yet but it will be.

For the record, I'm not sold yet on Matt Cassel as this fantastic quarterback of the future. I think I will be sold by the end of the season judging by how Cassel has played so far but I'm not there yet.

No tackles for a loss

stagdsp noted this earlier and it bears repeating. Tackles for a loss or no gain were a standard part of the Larry Johnson rushing package. The advantages of Charles and Savage over LJ were made clear to me today. I don't think there is any reason to start LJ again this season. We'll be fine without him.

Any good stats out there that I missed?

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 11/9

2009-11-09T11:56:42Z

via media.kansascity.com

Without knowing the facts of the game, someone would look at the final score and figure the Chiefs must have been in quite a struggle. Save for the last three minutes of the game, they would be wrong. When Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew scored with four minutes, 26 seconds to play in the game, the Jaguars led 24-6 and obviously began celebrating.

That’s when the Chiefs scored a pair of touchdowns and recovered an onside kick in the span of 91 seconds. A second onside kick was not successful and the Jags stumbled off the field with a three-point victory.

Comeback Falls Short, Chiefs Lose Again from Bob Gretz

KC Star Photo Gallery: Jaguars 24, Chiefs 21 | Sunday, Nov. 8

The Chiefs spent two weeks working on tweaking the offense, working on fine-tuning, working on improvement. The play calls and approach looked different. The result did not.

Kansas City lost again Sunday, and it did it the same old way: poor pass protection, questionable play calls, and the appearance of a disorganized unit that couldn’t adjust quickly enough. Coach Todd Haley took a magnifying glass and scalpel to his offense for two weeks. Time was supposed to help the Chiefs swerve back onto the road toward progress. But this didn’t look much like progress: a 24-21 loss to Jacksonville, a team with problems and a fan base that seems leery that improvement is taking place.

Chiefs get going too late in 24-21 loss to Jaguars from KC Star

"I expect him to make every one," said punter Dustin Colquitt, who is the holder on field goals. "But (56 yards), going into the wind? That’s a tall order."

The encouraging thing for the Chiefs is that such a task is reasonable enough for Succop to try it. In the past, when Kansas City cycled through a new kicker seemingly every few months, Colquitt said the decision would have been easy on what to do in a long-range situation.

"We would’ve had to have a short punt," Colquitt said. "You can depend on him (Succop) from just about anywhere."

That’s something the Chiefs just haven’t had. So, even in an impossible situation, Kansas City gave Succop a shot. Coach Todd Haley saw the snap and the kick. Haley thought it would be good, too.

"When it took off," Haley said, "it looked like it had a chance. But the wind caught it. That would’ve been a tremendous kick. It really got knocked down at the end. It looked like it was going to have a chance."

Succop gives Chiefs a chance on field goals from KC Star

Mike Brown did not lose this game himself; he had a lot of help from a lot of his teammates and coaches. If Brown plays this game at an All-Pro level there’s a good chance the Chiefs would have still found other ways to lose.

It’s just that right now, the margin of error for the Chiefs is so thin they can’t overcome a bad day from one of their safeties, especially when his poor play leads to a pair of scores.

Column: Mike Brown Takes The Blame from Bob Gretz

Offensively, the Chiefs continue to have their problems. The running game produced just 60 yards, they didn’t convert a third down until late in the fourth quarter and Cassel was sacked three times by what has been an anemic Jacksonville pass rush.

So anything Chambers can provide will be welcome, like what he did in the last minutes of the game.

First, was the 54-yard score, which is the longest pass play and scoring play of the season for the Chiefs. In fact, it’s the longest touchdown pass the Chiefs have thrown in five years, since RB Priest Holmes caught a 60-yard TD throw during the 2005 season from QB Trent Green.

OFFENSE: New Addition Clicks, But Too Late from Bob Gretz

It took eight games and countless wide-receiver combinations, but the Chiefs finally hit on one that worked in Sunday’s 24-21 loss to the Jaguars.

The most recent additions to the group, Chris Chambers and Lance Long, led the way. Chambers, who joined the Chiefs only last week, scored two touchdowns — both in the last 3 minutes of the game.

Chambers, Long catch on quickly for Chiefs from KC Star

That’s the story of the 2009 Kansas City defense: some good things, but too many bad.

For instance, they put at a lot of pressure on Jaguars QB David Garrard throughout the game. But they were able to sack him only once.

They had a large number of negative plays, as they spent a lot of time in the backfield and forced nine minus plays for the Jaguars, including a fumble that was recovered by the Chiefs.

Yet, they gave up another handful of big plays, as Jacksonville had 10 plays of 12 yards or more, including a 61-yard touchdown pass and a 28-yard TD run. There were also plays of 45 and 33 yards.

"It appeared we were out of position on a couple of those plays," said Todd Haley. "We’re not going to win games or have chances to win many games when we’re giving up big plays and that has been the big problem on defense."

DEFENSE: Same Old Story from Bob Gretz

The Chiefs were happy enough with their running game their first time without the suspended Larry Johnson.

His main replacements, Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith, combined to average more than 5 yards a carry.

The problem is that the Chiefs gave them the ball a total of only 10 times in a 24-21 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday. The game quickly became unbalanced for the Chiefs. They handed the ball to their running backs — including Dantrell Savage — 12 times while Matt Cassel threw 39 passes.

The Jaguars, who had been playing a 3-4 defense, surprised the Chiefs by playing mostly a 4-3.

Charles, Smith run well in limited opportunities from KC Star

Succop’s kick actually looked pretty good as it left his foot and started to rise. But right around the five-yard line, the wind knocked it down and it was short. The kick fell into the hands of Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis and that’s when the fun started.

Mathis brought the ball out of the end zone and headed right; he broke past several Chiefs, and was then in open field, chugging down the sidelines towards a possible touchdown. Finally, at the Chiefs 15-yard line, punter and holder Dustin Colquitt knocked him out of bounds. The return was 91 yards total, but ended up being just forgotten yardage.

Way downfield, the Jaguars were hit with an illegal block in the back penalty, so even had Mathis scored the TD would have been wiped out by the flag.

Colquitt would have liked to have had that information before he threw himself at Mathis.

"You’ve got to do what you have to do at the time," said Colquitt, who banged up his shoulder a bit on the play but returned in the second half.

Jaguars Change Defensive Spots & Other Notes from Bob Gretz

Consequently, what’s the point in analyzing the team? What’s there to look for that would offer any reason to have hope? You know you have severe problems when your best punter is your punter, your best tackler is your punter and your best player is your punter!
Chiefs - Jags Wrap from Upon Further Review

Jacksonville had four plays from scrimmage of more than 25 yards plus a 44-yard punt return.

"They did some things we really didn’t go over in practice," Brown said. "You prepare for things, but we hadn’t seen those things all week, so there was some miscommunication."

The plays ruined what otherwise could have been a big day for the Chiefs’ defense. Tamba Hali and Brandon Flowers were continually disruptive, and Wallace Gilberry had a third-down sack that pushed Jacksonville to the edge of field-goal position. Josh Scobee was then wide left on a 53-yard attempt.

Derrick Johnson also forced a fumble that put the Chiefs on the Jaguars’ 20, but the Chiefs settled for a field goal in that instance.

"It’s always the same thing," cornerback Brandon Carr said. "We play well and we play well but there’s always a few big plays and we let the game get away from us."

Chiefs’ defense gives up too many big plays from KC Star

Finally, some good economic news: The Kansas City Chiefs have lowered the price of their logo shot glasses to just $7.00 at the team store on their Web site. A gift that makes watching the Chiefs more tolerable - 2 ounces at a time. Chiefs garden gnomes are still $25, however.

Anyway, we think it was a sound business decision to lower the shot glass price as booze consumption is up 821% on Sundays in the greater Kansas City area this year. Or so we hear. Sunday, the Chiefs coughed up 426 yards of offense to Jacksonville, held the ball for just 23:00, didn't convert a third-down until the fourth quarter and, despite a frantic yet unfulfilled rally in the fourth, exited the game as the lone NFL team without a rushing touchdown this season. Just to update, that's 30 losses in their last 33 games and 14 of the last 16 on the road.

K.C. is at Oakland next week and with a loss to the Raiders, we just may get drunk enough with our new shot glasses to order the garden gnome. Maybe two.

Goin' Deep: Intrigue from around the National Football League from NY Daily News

The 3-4 is dead. Long live the 3-4, just not in Jacksonville.

Sunday’s it-wasn’t-as-close-as-the-final-score-would-indicate, 24-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs saw the Jaguars return to their familiar 4-3 defense, and the results were stunning.

The Chiefs were held to 60 yards rushing, a week after the Jaguars allowed a franchise-record 305 yards rushing by the Titans.

Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel was sacked three times, by a team that had just five sacks through seven games.

Jaguars return to 4-3 roots from Jaguars.com

Player Tweets

almighty31 thanx to my supporters that came to duval. Valdosta state c u soon

MrKolbySmith @mrbigplay850 good luck tomorrow. Look forward to facing off with you on the 22nd. What up tho

Media and Fans

kb_kcstar Of all the reasons for the Chiefs' offense to be good, it seems that only desperation can motivate this group.

dussery: @goatboytim the chiefs tried the last three minutes of the game

BrentMichael06: @Adam_Schefter funny play Chiefs Leonard Pope gave a first down sign when he was 10yds short on 3rd down

midacoll: the chiefs stink, but you already knew that...

justd913: bummed the Eagles lost, but did the announcer HAVE to call the Chiefs bottom feeders?! Give us a damn break, we are in "rebuilding phase"

jhailos: Awesome day for the Chiefs. We play like garbage and are now tied for the worst record in football. Can we earn the #1 pick??

moneydesignz: #worldsthinnestbooks How to win a football game - by the Bucs, Raiders, Redskins, Lions, Rams, Bills, Chiefs

Only 40,000 Show up to Watch Chiefs and Jags

2009-11-09T03:12:21Z

via b_radd

View full size photo »

Joel tweeted this out earlier but I wanted to mention it here to go with this picture. The attendance at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium today was 40,541.

The stadium's capacity for Jaguars games is 67,164.

Judging by that picture, I'm not surprised the game was blacked out in the Jacksonville area. Could you imagine a Chiefs game blackout? That would be the ultimate disappointment.

One positive take away is that it seems like our fans came out in droves to Jacksonville to watch the game. It seems like we've been traveling better as fans than I remember in the past.

Out of 39 pass attempts by Matt Cassel today, 21 of them were intended for Lance Long or Dwayne...

2009-11-09T02:38:43Z

Out of 39 pass attempts by Matt Cassel today, 21 of them were intended for Lance Long or Dwayne Bowe.

For the record, Bernard Pollard was a bad, bad influence in the locker room. Not the Chiefs' kind...

2009-11-09T02:27:18Z

For the record, Bernard Pollard was a bad, bad influence in the locker room. Not the Chiefs' kind of guy. Much better player than Brown tho.

Twitter / Kent Babb

@ArrowheadPride Slightly exaggerating, but yes Chiefs fans came out in droves. A legitimate...

2009-11-09T02:01:24Z

@ArrowheadPride Slightly exaggerating, but yes Chiefs fans came out in droves. A legitimate estimate would be 10,000.

Twitter / Jonathan Loesche

Others say as many as 20,000.

SNF Cowboys @ Eagles Open Thread

2009-11-09T00:45:50Z

via cowboys.beloblog.com

Who: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Where: Lincoln Financial Field

Tonight the Dallas Cowboys (5-2) will be visiting the division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2) and this one should be entertaining.

Ex Chiefs:

Dallas Cowboys: DT Junior Siavii

Philadelphia Eagles:DE Jason Babin

DB Dmitri Patterson

Tough loss today but I think I can say that I like the pick up of Chris Chambers and we should have a pretty solid WR group by the end of the year. Im not in a bad mood after this loss like I normally am. I dont know if its because this angel of a daughter I have been given or the fact that Im just used to losing but either way its nice to be in good spirits even after a loss. Looking forward to chatting with yall tonight!

NFL Week 9 Jaguars 24 - Chiefs 21 Highlights (via TheSection300)

2009-11-08T23:54:01Z

NFL Week 9 Jaguars 24 - Chiefs 21 Highlights (via TheSection300)

Chiefs S Mike Brown Does Not Look Like the Bears S Mike Brown

2009-11-08T23:47:25Z

More photos » by Stephen Morton - AP

about 19 hours ago: Jacksonville Jaguars running back Rashad Jennings, right, stiff-arms Kansas City Chiefs safety Mike Brown for a touchdown in first-quarter action during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

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Bob Gretz of BobGretz.com is churning out stories as usual and he's got a few interesting quotes from Kansas City Chiefs S Mike Brown. There are quite a few of us who are pointing to Brown as part of the problem and not the solution. He's a known Todd Haley guy, someone the coach believes is the quarterback of the defense, and a familiar piece for Haley, but has been highlighted multiple times this season for the wrong reason.

When the Chiefs first signed him, and then following the release of Bernard Pollard in September, the rap on Brown by a lot of folks in the know was that he could still be a decent starter, if he were healthy.

"He looked like the Mike Brown of old, I mean a long ways back," a NFC head coach told Brad Biggs of the National Football Post after the Chiefs week one game against Baltimore. "I’m sitting there watching it and I’m saying to my assistant, ‘What a steal.’ He made some big hits and he was just all over the field. They used him at strong and they used him at free."

Two months later?

"I feel bad, I feel like I cost my team the game," Brown said today via Bob Gretz. "We only lost this game by three points. It’s easy to see if I had played a better game how we might be enjoying a win today, rather than another loss."

I think that's a fair statement from him. He's not backing down from his mistakes today but it's hard to ignore what he said. A better game by the 31 year old safety and the Chiefs might be talking about a win right now.

Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star said, "I'm just going to go ahead and say it: Mike Brown isn't getting it done."

Much more on Brown after the jump, including quotes on the two big plays he was responsible for today.

There were two major blunders from the safety spot in this game and Brown was in the middle of both of them.

The first came from Rashad Jennings. The Chiefs should be familiar with this rookie. The Liberty product was worked out by the Chiefs prior to the draft. He had nice numbers coming out of college and showed why in a 28 yard touchdown run this afternoon.

"I missed that one; I take responsibility for that," Brown said. "Those plays are things I cannot do if we are going to win … I had the opportunity to make the tackle and it didn’t happen."

Jennings was only in because Maurice Jones-Drew had lost his shoe on the play before it.

On the CBS halftime show, Shannon Sharpe had fun with the Jennings touchdown highlight. "Where's the safety? That's Mike Brown again. You'll notice a recurring theme: Mike Brown, touchdown, Mike Brown, touchdown...(laughs)."

The second big mistake came on a 61 yard touchdown pass from Jaguars QB David Garrard to WR Mike Sims-Walker.

Walker was wide open on a big touchdown grab. Brown was actually responsible for him but read something in the offensive alignment before the play and admittedly screwed up his assignment in the cover two the Chiefs were playing at the time.

Brown also had two big missed tackles in Miles Austin's career day a few weeks ago.

I've heard some folks chatter about someone, maybe Morgan, replacing Brown at SS. My opinion? Not gonna happen. Haley is a big, big fan of Brown and has, on multiple occasions, says he brings more to the team than what you see on Sundays.

I don't think Mike Brown will be replaced this season, though I understand there's beginning to be a argument that he should be.

Photos from the Chiefs's Loss to the Jaguars

2009-11-08T23:46:55Z

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

about 19 hours ago: Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe (82) catches a fourth-quarter pass in front of Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis during an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. Jacksonville won 24-21. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Browse more photos »

Dwayne Bowe had some great plays today. Click the picture above to browse the game gallery.

Multiple Reports Say NFLPA, Not LJ, Possibly Wants to File Grievance

2009-11-08T23:14:40Z

Before today's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reiterated a report from PFT last week that Chiefs RB Larry Johnson would not fight it if the team chose to deactivate him for the rest of the season, keeping him from earning a $62,500 bonus each game.

If he chose not to fight it, then today's running backs, Jamaal Charles, Kolby Smith and Dantrell Savage, are likely the three that'll carry the load from here on out.

And, if that's the case, then the showdown will be this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. LJ will be back at the Chiefs facility tomorrow, per the terms of his suspension.

LJ talk after the jump (if you're sick of the situation, then I would suggest not clicking 'Continue reading').

To get you caught up, last week, PFT reported that Larry Johnson and his agent, Peter Schaffer, are not expected to file a grievance if he is not the starter when he returns.

Also last week, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that the NFLPA wanted to file a grievance if he isn't the starter.

So what happens when a player and the union disagree? Well, in this case the player will win. It's not just a matter of semantics - the player has to actually file the grievance (with the NFLPA backing him if he does). The NFLPA does not file the grievance themselves in this case.

After LJ filed a grievance last week that ultimately resulted in a settlement, Schaffer relayed a similar message from LJ.

"He kept saying, `You go to a grievance hearing, they can get adversarial and I don't want to be that way,'" Schaffer said. "He said, `I plan on being a Chief the next Monday, so why would I want to fight with somebody when the next day I will be fighting for them?'

Is this really the case? I'm not so sure. Per Chris Mortensen on Sunday NFL Countdown this morning, even though LJ would be losing his $62,500 per game bonus, it might be in his best interest to not fight a season-long deactivation by the Chiefs.

"The problem is," Mortensen reported today, "Johnson has to initiate the grievance and he ha sent signals he won't fight the Chiefs on anything, preferring to diplomatically ease his way out of town for 2010 and maybe save himself some wear and tear."

I've said this before and firmly believe it - if LJ's avenue out of town is to be a bratty PR nightmare then other teams are going to take notice and think twice before they sign him if/when he's a free agent. I'm not saying other teams will necessarily ignore him - just that GMs across the league notice the pattern of behavior.

Also today, the Chiefs rushed the ball 14 times for 60 yards, which is a 4.3 average. LJ, of course, has averaged 2.7 yards per carry this season so it's hard to say the Chiefs really missed him at all, which would only strengthen the possibilities that the Chiefs would deactivate him for the season (although there's been no indication from the team that they'll do that).

Chiefs did a good job of eliminating negative plays on offense

2009-11-08T22:47:03Z

Chiefs did a good job of eliminating negative plays on offense

Looking for a positive? How about Haley's #1 goal... eliminating negative plays. A good improvement, I think

0 Runs stopped for a loss
1 pass for a 4yd loss
1 penalty
3 sacks

Announcers Were Right on Keys to the Chiefs, Jaguars Game

2009-11-08T22:29:49Z

More photos » by Stephen Morton - AP

about 19 hours ago: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel, right, avoids a sack from Jacksonville Jaguars' Bryan Smith, left, in fourth-quarter action during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

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Prior to the Kansas City Chiefs 24-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, CBS announcers Bill Macatee and Steve Beuerlein laid out the keys to the game for each side.

Beuerlein was actually the Jaguars No. 1 draft pick in their inaugural season but he didn't appear to show any bias.

Here were the keys to the game, according to CBS, and how each team fared in that area.

Chiefs: Convert on 3rd downs

"They've got to convert 3rd downs and keep MJD off the field," Beuerlein said.

The Chiefs converted on 4 of 13 third down conversions. Good for a 31% conversion rate.

Five of those eight missed opportunities were on three-and-outs. The Chiefs did not have a drive longer than 8 plays. Part of that is failure to convert on third down.

The 31% actually represents an improvement on the Chiefs part. For the season they've converted 21 of 100 3rd downs, or 21%.

Jaguars: No three-and-outs

"They've got to find their rhythm early or it's going to be a long day," Beuerlein said. Indeed that was the case.

The Jaguars drove inside the Chiefs 40 on two of the first three possessions, but only came away with seven points so they were moving early.

In 11 possessions, the Jaguars only had 2 three-and-outs (compared to the Chiefs 5 in 12 possessions).

***

Yep, national pundits still seem to be zeroing in on the Chiefs NFL worst third down conversion percentage, and rightfully so.

Chiefs Late Scoring Spree Softens the Blow in 24-21 Loss to the Jaguars

2009-11-08T21:13:40Z

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

about 22 hours ago: Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, left, runs for first-quarter yardage as Jacksonville Jaguars safety Gerald Alexander makes the tackle during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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Yes like nearly all NFL games, not everything today was bad for the Kansas City Chiefs. There were a few positive notes to come out of the game.

In light of a nice FanPost from KCporkchop early this morning, here are a few positive, yes positive, notes on the game.

We'll have plenty of stories coming up shortly so let's stick to the improvements the Chiefs made in this post. Chris has the good, the bad and the ugly here.

MJD contained

Maurice Jones-Drew was the biggest offensive target entering the game. Overall, the Chiefs contained him.

Last week he averaged over 20 yards per carry and runs of 80 and 79 yards. Today he barely broke the LJLine, or 2.7 yards per carry with 29 carries for 97 yards.

Tyson Jackson steps up

Your Week 9 tackle leader.

Seven tackles and some pressure on the quarterback. As we've talked about on here a few times, Jackson's not necessarily put up big numbers, so these numbers can demonstrate that he was active in this game.

Yeah, yeah, there were still plenty of negatives to come out of this game. But these are a few areas that I will say the Chiefs did a good job.

Chris Chambers has a big game

Hmm...I seem to recall someone around here saying Chambers could be the next in line to put up nice numbers in his debut with the Chiefs. Bobby Wade (6 receptions) and Lance Long (4 receptions) have had better-than-usual numbers in their first game with the Chiefs.

Chambers continued that today with 3 receptions for 65 yards. One of those was a 54 yard touchdown pass from Matt Cassel and another was a touchdown grab in the Chiefs 9th goal-to-go situation this season.

Two touchdowns in game one? Nice start, Mr. Chambers.

Succop converts an onside kick

Entering this week, Ryan Succop led the NFL in onside kicks with four. Unfortunately, the Chiefs onsides team hasn't come away with any of those.

Until today. Down 24-13 with just over 2:00 left in the fourth quarter, Succop attempted an onsides. The ball bounced off of a Jaguars blocker and the kicker recovered it himself.

Chiefs produce a legitimate comeback

Seriously.

The Chiefs in the second part of the fourth quarter was like looking into the future (hopefully). They moved the ball down the field, kept a quick pace and consistently got positive yards.

The offense during those drives at the end are the only thing leaving a better taste in my mouth.

One penalty

Really?

No, really, only one penalty.

Late Rally Comes up Short for the Kansas City Chiefs

2009-11-08T21:11:06Z

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

about 21 hours ago: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel, top, is sacked in the second quarter by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Julius Williams during an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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An exciting final few minutes for the Kansas City Chiefs didn't even out a terrible game on nearly every front. The Chiefs only lost by three points - 24 to 21 - and the late comeback effort showed a lot of heart. But if you were going to divide this game up, it would have been 56 minutes of bad football and 4 minutes of aggressive, on point execution by the Chiefs.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the game. Add yours in the comments. More to come later this afternoon, of course.

The Good

Hello Chris Chambers! He caught a 54-yard TD pass and a 5-yard TD pass late in the game.
The Chiefs recovered an onside kick, which Ryan Succop picked up.
In the last five minutes of the game, the Chiefs got aggressive and it worked. Matt Cassel made two big passing plays late in the game on throws that were just heaves.
The Chiefs only had one penalty the entire game.

The Bad

The running game did not get it done once again, despite looking better than the normal Larry Johnson fare. The team only rushed for 60 yards. (Note: On second thought, looking at the YPC, it wasn't so bad)
The Chiefs were 4/13 on third down, keeping them right around their 20% season average.

The Ugly

Anyone see Brodie Croyle's hair on the sidelines? Yikes. Was he also wearing an earring?
No wonder this game was blacked out in Jacksonville. There were tons of empty seats at the stadium from the start of the game.

Poll

Grade the Chiefs performance today.

Chiefs Struggling as the Fourth Quarter Begins

2009-11-08T20:15:06Z

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

about 21 hours ago: Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard (9) scrambles for first-quarter yardage during an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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The Kansas City Chiefs have still not scored a touchdown today. It's 17 to 6 Jacksonville.

Almost every phase of the game is sub-par for the Chiefs. Right now, we're lucky the Jaguars only have 17 points. They could easily have another touchdown in there.

I find it hard to believe that deactivating WR Bobby Wade gave the Chiefs the best possible chance to win today. He's not a super star but he was one of the better wideouts the Chiefs have.

The fourth quarter is starting. The game isn't out of reach but the way the Chiefs are playing it's going to take a heck of a fourth quarter to move ahead of the Jags.

GOOOOOOOOOOO CHIEFS!!!