Chiefs Lose to Texans, Fall to 3-2

Despite a strong effort from its offense and a breakout game from WR Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs blew a late lead and lost to the Houston Texans, 35-31. Kansas City played well on both sides of the ball, but couldn't hold off a potent Texans offense late. Despite the loss, the Chiefs still find themselves in first place in the lousy AFC West.

Kansas City found themselves leading the entire game, but a stalled late drive gave Texans QB Matt Schaub too much time. After failing to convert a late third and 2, Schaub eventually found WR Andre Johnson wide open in the end zone for the game winning score. The loss wasted both Matt Cassel and Bowe's best games as Chiefs, as well as a strong running attack led by Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles.

A loss is a loss, but Chiefs fans should still remain optimistic about this season's potential. With such an easy schedule, Kansas City should be able to drop a few games on the road against potential playoff teams. With its next two games at home against Jacksonville and Buffalo, and a weak division, the Chiefs still remain in the driver's seat in the AFC East. If Kansas City's offense can continue to improve, there is no reason why this team shouldn't be in contention when January begins.

Chief's Passing Game - Receivers to Blame

Much talk around Kansas City this week has focused on the play of Chief's QB Matt Cassel. Cassel has not come close to living up to his enormous contract and has been average at best in his short time in Kansas City. However, blaming all of the Chief's passing woes on Cassel is wrong - Kansas City's mediocre receiving corps should shoulder most of the blame.

Until Cassel has a legitimate number one receiver, it is impossible to fully analyze his accomplishments. The Chiefs spent a first round pick on WR Dwayne Bowe, who has, to put it mildly, failed to live up to expectations. Bowe's drop of an easy touchdown catch against the Colts (that would have given the Chiefs a fourth quarter lead) has prompted SI's Peter King to name him the goat of the week. This is the Chief's best wideout? Chris Chambers has all but dissapeared this season as well, leaving Cassel with little to work with with his receivers.

Despite the poor numbers, the Chiefs do have some hope to improve in the passing department. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki looks like a futre Tony Gonzalez, and has produced at a high level while also providing a few eye-popping grabs. The Chiefs have playmakers who can do a lot after the catch like Dexter McCluster and Jamaal Charles, and the team's strong running game should keep the passing game open.

The team needs to address its problem at receiver quickly for Matt Cassel to have any chance to be a legitimate NFL QB. Until he has the proper talent at wideout, Cassel's performance grade remains an "incomplete."

Chiefs Lose to Colts, Fall to 3-1

The Kansas City Chiefs' magical start to the 2010 season finally hit a roadblock today, as the Indianapolis Colts beat the NFL's last unbeaten team, 19-9. The loss drops Kansas City to 3-1, and brought the team back down to earth after the Chiefs became the talk of the NFL en route to a 3-0 start.

Despite the loss, Kansas City fans can still remain optimistic about this season. The Chiefs lost on the road to Indianapolis, who never loses at home and was hungry after losing at Jacksonville last week. The Chiefs continued to run the ball extremely well and Matt Cassel played well and minimized mistakes. The Chiefs once again were plagued by drops, which has been a theme in Kansas City over the last couple seasons. Dwayne Bowe, known for having a bit of a history with dropped balls, failed to haul in a perfectly thrown ball in the endzone for a touchdown. The running game remains Kansas City's biggest threat, but the passing game must continue to evolve for the Chiefs to remain a contender.

While Kansas City's offense struggled, the Chief's defense played well, frustrating Peyton Manning all afternoon and forcing the Colts to settle for field goals every time it sniffed the end zone. The Chiefs defense under Romeo Crennel has quickly turned into one of the league's better units, and should only get better.

Despite the loss, Kansas City still remains in great shape to have a shot at the playoffs. With the easiest schedule in the league, the Chiefs can afford to drop a few tough games like facing Peyton Manning on the road.

Cassel wants more big plays from Chiefs

Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel has gone on record that the chiefs need to throw the ball down the field more, and I couldn't agree more. The Chief's lack of a big play threat has been a big fat albatross hanging on the neck of an offense that has shown promise but has yet to break through and find consistency.

Cassel indicted that part of the Chief's problem was that the team hasn't shown much of its playbook this preseason, although last year's offense hardly struck fear in opposing defenses when it had the ball and was using its full array of plays. Getting the ball to running backs Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles is the primary focus of the offense, and rightfully so, but the Chiefs must be able to stretch the field to give its backs running room and keep safeties away from the line of scrimmage.

While no one is expecting the Chiefs to put up its Dick Vermeil era numbers, the team will need more points per game while its defense continues to experience growing pains. The problem the Chiefs face is it lacks a Randy Moss type receiver that can stretch the field. Dwayne Bowe has looked promising in spurts, and Chris Chambers can do this. Hopefully Charlie Weiss can use his creativity to keep defenses off guard with a few big plays so Kansas City's real strength, its rushing attack, can be effective.

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Don't be Confused by some of the Chiefs Moves...yet

In watching Herm Edwards fill in on Mike and Mike this morning on ESPN, I thought about how much I respect the man as a person, but how much I also like to see him on the ESPN sets instead of our beloved sidelines. Even the least passionate Chiefs fans know that there has been a ton of needed change at 1 Arrowhead Drive. It started, of course, with Scott Pioli and Todd Haley. In their wake, there has been a continued effort to add more people to create more competition, as per their promise.

The off-season began with the acquisitions of Matt Cassel and Mike Vraebel from New England. Despite his success, I think a guy that hadn't started a game since High School may not be the guy we need behind a swiss cheese offensive line and weak receiving core. Vraebel tags up with Bobby Engram and Zach Thomas to start their farewell tour from the NFL. All three have been potent threats in the past, but those days are well behind them. Trust me.

That being said, the Chiefs did need some senior leadership. The past few years showed Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards running most of the veterans and team leaders out of town. Don't get me started on Jarred Allen. With the recent trade of Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons that would leave...um...Brian Waters. So, I guess these player/coaches could be of some value.

My confusion comes with the addition of Amani Toomer and most recently backup Quarterback Matt Gutierrez. But hey, they released Ingle Martin at QB to make room for Gutierrez. Yeah, I wouldn't make out the flashcards trying to remember either of these guys names any more than they should be purchasing property while employed in the NFL. Still, I see the method in the madness as Gutierrez backed up Cassel in New England. In addition, if we have Brodie Croyle battling Tyler Thigpen for the number two and three spots respectively, I really get it.

This brings me to the well dressed Amani Toomer. I have a ton of respect for this guy, but I think he rounds out the number four spot on the "All-will-be-retired-by-the-end-of-the-season-team." That is, of course, assuming they see time on the field. That brings the Chiefs tally to two receivers that should be watching football on television on Sunday and ten receivers total in camp. DWAYNE BOWE...DO WE NEED TO SPELL IT OUT? CATCH THE DAMN BALL!!

All that said, my opinion is that the Pioli and Haley are trying to bring as much talent as can be acquired at this time of the year to create as much competition as possible in camp. Don't be surprised if half of these guys don't make the team this year. If you will recall, we had Fred "Fred-X" Mitchell on the team last year for a few weeks before the season started. As some of these trades happen, please keep in mind that we have a GM and Coach with winning traditions. Let's not call these moves bad...yet.

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