Dallas Clark Signs With Buccaneers - Kansas City News

Although it has not been officially announced, different sources have reported that Dallas Clark has signed with theTampa Bay Buccaneers.  This move makes a lot of sense as Tampa's starting tight end Kellen Winslow has been told that "his services are no longer needed" in Tampa Bay.

We were excited to learn that Dallas had made a visit to Kansas City and that he may possibly land here, but we spoke too soon and it looks like Dallas is headed to the Buccaneers instead.  Sorry Chiefs fans!  Here was our original article (that we had strong feelings but were eventually wrong about):

Dallas Clark's best friends is Chiefs O Lineman Ryan Lilja.  Clark and Lilja bonded when they played together in Indianapolis, where they won a Super Bowl together.  Dal las Clark makes frequent trips to Kansas City anyway to visit Lilja, so it is probable that Ryan Lilja had a little pull in getting Dallas Clark on the Chiefs roster.  We have had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Dallas and his wife at recent parties and we find him to be very personable and down to earth.

After floating around in free agency for months, Dallas Clark was amazingly unsigned by anyone, even after his incredible career as a tight end.  Clark comes to the Chiefs with 4887 career receiving yards and 46 touchdowns, more than any receiving member of the current team.  It is not clear what Dallas Clark's role will be as the Chiefs already have two starting quality tight ends in Kevin Boss and Tony Moeaki, but adding another great leader to the team who happens to be wearing a Super Bowl ring sure can't hurt.

The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to beef up their running offense and their defense in the off season.  Although Dallas Clark is known for more of a receiving tight end than a blocking tight end, the Chiefs focus will remain on the running game despite the signing of Dallas Clark.  It makes sense for the Chiefs to have a lot of short out receiving options as starting quarterback Matt Cassel is notorious for his lack of long ball throwing ability.  Since Cassel has difficulty getting the ball down the field on long passes, it makes sense to bring in players like Kevin Boss and Dallas Clark so that they can run successful short passing routes that Matt Cassel is more likely to complete.  So, with that in mind, it looks like the Chiefs have a strong running attack with blocking that remains to be seen, a lot of short pass options, and a beefed up defense, who already played quite well last season.

We will expect an official announcement of Dallas Clark signing with The Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow morning.  Many Chiefs season ticket holders have had their eye on Dallas Clark in the past two weeks and now it seems that the Chiefs management are going to make them happy - if only in the short term.

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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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Chiefs Show Improvement, Concerns Against Bucs

The Chiefs' second preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offered reasons to be both optimistic and pessimistic for the upcoming season for Kansas City fans. The offense looked to finally be establishing a rythem, while it was the same old story for the Chiefs' defense.

After looking like a high school team on offense against the Atlanta Falcons in the team's first preseason game, Matt Cassell and his receivers showed promise yesterday. The team's receivers got open and hung on to the ball, two glaring problems against Atlanta. Cassell seemed to settle down a bit, and the team developed some rythem on scoring drives. The Chiefs will be able to run the ball with the steady Thomas Jones and electric Jamaal Charles, and if the passing game remains steady, the offense could put some points on the board.

Another boost to the team has been the special teams, most notably Javier Arenas. The rookie had a long kickoff return to help set up one of the team's scoring drives, and has shown game-changing return ability the team has lacked since Dante Hall. The Chief's already boost reliable kickers in Ryan Succop and Dustin Colquitt, and with a strong return game, the Chief's special teams could be a difference maker this season.

However, with the good comes a lot bad, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The front seven continues to struggle with almost no pass rush and poor defending of the run. The secondary, which was viewed as a strength entering the season, has struggled with tackling and drawing penalties. While the secondary's problems can likely be corrected, it is starting to appear that the Chief's front seven lacks the personel to get the job done at a consistent basis. Romeo Crennell is one of the best defensive coordinators in the game, but he certainly has his work cut out for him.

The Chiefs showed much needed improvement from its starters in its second preseason game. The team still has a long way to go, luckily there are two preseason games still remaining. The team looks better, but it will need every second of its next too exhibition games to move back towards being a competitive team.

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Chiefs 2010 - Projections, Offense, Defense, Schedule

 

Kansas City Chiefs News - Chiefs projected to go 6-10 according to NFL analysts

Today NFL expert Pat Kirwan predicted that the Kansas City Chiefs would likely finish with a record of 6 and 10.  He explained that the Chiefs were definitely moving in the right direction but the changes that they have made would not affect the scoreboard that much in the 2010 season.  The Chiefs were 4 and 12 in 2009 and they have made enough improvement to possibly move up to 6 and 10 in 2010.  Many Chiefs fans are hopeful that the team can at least muster up a .500 season at 8 and 8 this year.

What improvements have the Chiefs made this year?

The Chiefs added star running back Thomas Jones, who many feel was a huge mistake on the Jets part for letting him go.  Jones adds a tremendous threat in the backfield and is a perfect compliment to Jamaal Charles as Jamaal is smaller and faster and Thomas Jones is stronger and can be used to punish defenses up the middle.  The Chiefs are looking to try their wings at the Wildcat offense this year involving speedy rookie WR Dexter McCluster, Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles as the cast.

The Chiefs also added a talented safety in Eric Berry, currently wearing number 29.  Whether or not Berry will make the starting line up is yet to be determined, but you can bet that he will see a lot of playing time when the Chiefs go to the Zone Nickle and the Dime defense strategies.

The Chiefs added Superbowl champion offensive lineman Ryan Lilja to their struggling offensive line.  Lilja is an experienced and capable offensive lineman and he brings a lot of talent to an offensive line that desperately needs a boost.  Lilja is close with co-lineman Casey Wiegmann, who is also a smaller lineman with great ability.

NFL analysts feel that the Chiefs do not have a legitimate threat at the wide receiver position.  Wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has already been in the media this year for a few off color remarks that he made and is not really considered much of a threat to opposing defenses.  Aging Chris Chambers is not considered much of a threat either.  Young rookie Dexter McCluster could provide a spark downfield with his speed but at 5'8" 170lbs you probably won't see him going across the middle.  If the Chiefs receivers are not going to force opposing defenses to take their gameplan focus off the run, then obviously the Chiefs running attack will suffer.

Top NFL analysts are also commenting that the Chiefs are seriously lacking talent on the defensive line and linebacker positions.  The Chiefs were 31st overall against the rush in 2009 allowing 156 rushing yards PER GAME.  That stat has to change or they cannot win.

Even though the Chiefs will do well to end up 8 and 8 at season's end, the Chiefs fans are still very excited and optimistic to see their new team in action.  The Chiefs open their season with an unusual Monday Night Football appearance vs. the San Diego Chargers on September 13th.

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