Breaking Down the Chiefs' Schedule

Kansas City surprised the NFL last season with a remarkable turnaround, transforming from one of the league's worst teams into the AFC West champions. Kansas City has made a lot of good moves this offseason, and its younger players will be more experienced when the 2011 season starts. Despite all the signs that this could be a special year for Kansas City, many NFL pundits think the Chiefs won't even be back in the postseason, and for good reason: the Chiefs face a brutal schedule.

Many NFL coaches like to break down their teams' schedule into four segments, so that is what we will do here. In the first segment, Kansas City has two winnable home games against the Bills and the Vikings, and two tough road games against the Chargers and Lions. If the Chiefs want another shot at a playoff run, the team likely needs to win three of these games (since the later portion of the schedule is chalked full of playoff teams). Kansas City should take care of Minnesota and Buffalo at Arrowhead, and a split of San Diego and Detroit doesn't seem that far-fetched.

In Kansas City's second schedule segment, the team faces three AFC opponents it hasn't had very much luck against recently. Apart from a bye week, the Chiefs play the Colts and Raiders on the road, and San Diego at home. Kansas City will likely need to win two of these games to sniff the postseason, which could be asking a lot. The team finishes this portion with a home game against Miami, who will have one of the best defenses in the league. A winnable game, but the Dolphins will be a tough out next season.

Kansas City opens its third schedule segment hosting Denver, a game the Chiefs should win. However, things get a lot tougher, as the team then travels to New England to face the Patriots and hosts last season's AFC champion, Pittsburgh. Next, Kansas City travels to Chicago to take on the NFC runner-up Bears. The Bears have had a poor offseason and were a lucky team last year, and the game in Chicago should be one Kansas City can steal. If it can split between New England and Pittsburgh, the Chiefs could be in great shape. That is a gigantic"if" though.

The final portion of the Chiefs schedule could be even tougher than the third segment, as Kansas City opens with a trip to New York to face the Jets. You may not like all the talking New York does, but the team will have one of the best defenses in the league, and there is a reason why they have made the last two AFC championship games despite starting one of the worst QBs in the league. After the Jets, Kansas City hosts last year's Super Bowl champion. Being in Kansas City gives the Chiefs a better shot at knocking off Green Bay, but the Packers could very well be even better next season. The Chiefs final two games are both winnable, which is good because Kansas City could very likely need to win both to qualify for the playoffs. The team hosts Oakland before wrapping up the regular season on the road in Denver.

The Chiefs will likely be a better team next season, however the team's win-loss record may not reflect that. On paper, Kansas City's schedule looks like one of the toughest in the league, and the team will likely need to pull a few upsets for another shot at a postseason run.

Courts Rule in Favor of NFL, Deem Lockout Legal

Earlier this week, it appeared that the NFL lockout may soon be coming to an end. While negotiations have continued this week in New York, the 8th curcuit courts recently ruled in favor of the NFL, deeming that the lockout is indeed legal.

The decision came fresh off the news that Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith have started a second day of negotiations in New York. The ruling was not a surprise to both the owners and the players, as previous court decisions have often ended the same way regarding cases similar to the 2011 lockout.

While the news caught both the players and owners off guard, the ruling is not expected to be a factor in the present negotiations. Sources say that both parties feel an agreement is close to being reached, although we still do not know when that will be. While an agreement for how the revenue split should be settled appears close, there is still a lot of work to be done in regards to the new free agency rules. Progress is being made, but it appears that a decision is likely a few weeks away.

NFL Lockout Talks Resume

After the last discussions between NFL owners and players took a step backwards, talks have reportedly resumed. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith have been joined by several owners and players in hopes of ending the lockout.

The group will be meeting at a law firm located in Minneapolis. Some of the more well-known participants include Colts center Jeff Saturday and Giants owner John Mara. These will be the fifth set of "secret" talks between the owners and players. The talks are only scheduled to take place today, but could also extend into Friday if both groups feel it is neccessary.

While reports on how much progress the players and owners have made varies, both sides appear to be running out of time to get something done. Training camps are scheduled to open in three weeks, and the Hall of Fame Game is August 7.

NFL, Players Resume Talks

The NFL and NFL Players Association met earlier today in Washington D.C., with hopes of moving forward in their talks to end the lockout. Sources described both groups as being in "deal-making moods," which could be a positive sign that the the 2011 NFL season will start on time.

This is the third consecutive week that the two sides have had "secret" talks in hopes of ending the lockout. The major subject of discussion this week is the amount of the revenue that will go to the players; the NFLPA has reportedly asked for 50% of the revenue.

One major positive sign from these talks is that lawyers were present for both sides. The presence of lawyers could signal that the talks are becoming more serious, and that some sort of agreement could be reached soon. At the very least, both sides appear to be trying to find a middle ground, which is good news for every NFL fan.

There is a possibility that talks could continue into Wednesday or longer. It is unclear why the NFL has prepared to extend the meetings, but more details could come from the extended negotiations.

NFL Prepares for 8 Game Season

With the NFL lockout in full swing and no end in sight, the league's officials have begun planning an alternative eight game schedule for the 2011 regular season. The NFL has not had a shortened season since 1987 - the last time the league suffered a work stoppage.

The league's current plan for this new eight game format is to have games start in November; if a settlement occured in October, the league would still have time for a free agency period, training camp and eight games. The league took previous measures to prepare for a late start, designing a schedule that could drop bye weeks and the week before the superbowl and still play all 16 games.

It remains unknown how this shortened season would play out. It remains likely that teams will still play all six interdivision games, and the remaining two games would be decided later. This format obviously helps teams in a weak division tremendously.

The league remains adamant that its focus is on a full 16 game regular season, but it isn't a bad idea to start drawing up a plan B. After all, some football is better than no football.

Judge Ends NFL Lockout

U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson ruled in favor of the NFL players yesterday, ending the lockout. While this was a huge victory for the players in their war with NFL owners on how to split over $9 billion in revenue, there is still no promise for an NFL season in 2011. NFL owners plan on appealing Judge Nelson's ruling.

Nelson's ruling wasn't much of a surprise - players have historically come out better anytime they have battled a group of owners in court over a labor dispute. Nelson ruled that players will be harshly affected by a lockout, and that many already are feeling the effects from the work stoppage.

The NFL players had slowly gained the upper hand throughout the lockout process, and Judge Nelson's ruling only gave the side more power. There is still a lot of legal anecdotes to work out, but this ruling has to make fans more optimistic that NFL football will be played in 2011. What comes out of the owners' appeal will likely be a sign to how close (or far away) this is from being over.

NFL Schedule Allows Room to Make Up Missed Games

With the possibility of a lockout next season, the NFL has crafted a schedule in which there could be no games during the first three weeks of the season yet all 16 regular season games could be played. With a lockout looming as a strong possibility, this is a very smart move by the NFL to keep fans optimistic while negotiations continue.

Every game in week three features teams that share the same bye week later in the season. This allows teams to make up a missed week three during what would have been their bye week later on in the year. The league could also skip the week off between the conference championships and the superbowl, while also playing the superbowl a week later than normal. To be safe, the NFL has booked hotel rooms in Indianapolis (the site of next season's superbowl) for two weeks, in case the championship does get pushed back a week.

The regular season is scheduled to kick off September 8 with the Packers hosting the Saints. With the wrinkles in the schedule, the season's start could be delayed until October 2nd and still end February 12. Not bad at all. Kudos to the NFL for drafting an emergency plan and trying to give fans as much football as possible.