That Was Painful 

The Chiefs got their asses handed to them... there is no other way to say it. Normally I'd go through and try to verbalize what they did wrong... but frankly I don't think I want to write that much. So instead I thought about going through and mentioning what they did right instead. Of course if I did that, then this post would be blank.

Here's the short version... The defense wasn't there, and the offense couldn't get started. Here are a few points that stood out to me if you're interested in the longer version...

Priest + Johnson: Most of the sports media has been touting these guys as the unstoppable dynamic duo. Of course the media also hasn't been able to stop talking about Roaf being out with a hamstring pull on the left side either. I don't think missing Roaf was as much of a killer last night as people want to think. I think switching up backs didn't work last night. The running game was a non-starter because constantly switching backs didn't let either guy get into a rhythm. The only success in the running game came later when we concentrated on using Priest. Had the Chiefs started earlier featuring only one back, I think things could have improved.

Special Teams Penalties: 2003 was Dante Hall's year. He had 5 kick returns for touchdowns, and was phenomenal. There were two reasons for his success. The first is that he's small and fast, with the ability to squirt through before you know where he is. This is still true today. The second reason (which nobody likes to mention) is that none of the refs were calling holding or illegal blocks in the back that year. I don't know why, but if you look at the tape you can see them everywhere. This is no longer the case. The Chiefs this year have had almost every single run called back for major yards on either holding, or a block in the back. This has to stop.

The Bootleg: I mentioned it last week... as if I had a crystal ball:

The defense has so far also been very dependent on big plays, just like 2003. I'm talking about fumbles and interceptions. Every defense loves to have them, but most defenses don't depend on getting them to survive. Most can stop you and make you punt now and then. Kansas City is not showing that sort of strength yet. So I'm a little afraid of what will happen at Mile High on Monday. Denver loves to bootleg, and the Chiefs are notoriously bad at handling it. You can only be lucky so many times. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

The Chiefs didn't generate any big plays, and they had no answers for the bootleg. This is not a new problem. Denver has used this for years... and for some reason the Chiefs still can't respond to it. It killed us last night. The linebackers would over commit to the run, and then get caught. Any smart team playing the Chiefs would add this to their offense, because it will beat Kansas City every day of the week, and twice on Sunday (or Monday as the case may be).

No Pass Protection: Was this just because of Roaf was missing on the left side? I have a hard time blaming just one man... but the fact is that the protection wasn't there. Trent got beat up last night pretty bad. There were lots of hurries, and lots of missed passes because some guy was in his face. I think Dunn had a pretty off night as a blocking tight end, and missed some assignments (which is not like him at all), but overall the line just didn't do its job.

It was just a painful game to watch.