Burning Questions: Chiefs vs. Chargers
November 30th, 2009 | by Ryan Jones |What a difference a week makes.
After taking down the big, bad Pittsburgh Steelers (and two of their quarterbacks) last week, the Kansas City Chiefs decided not to show up Sunday in San Diego. Instead they let the Chargers have their way to the tune of a 43-14 blowout.
With that kind of difference from week to week there are bound to be plenty of questions.
Which game was the aberration?
When you are 3-8, there are going to be a lot of ugly games and only a few bright spots. That means the good money is on the well played Steelers game is the aberration and the Chargers debacle is what we should expect.
Maybe I’m still wearing the red and gold colored glasses from last week’s victory celebration, but I still believe the blowout is the game that doesn’t belong. Because buried in the rubble of that 43-14 score were bright spots on the Chiefs offense.
Jamaal Charles carried the ball 16 times for 93 yards, good for a 6.6 average per carry. He also made a catch 25 yards down the field, a play that Larry Johnson could only dream about finishing. At the same time, Charles turned the ball over showing that he still has a long way to go before he’s a legitimate starting running back. But the key here is that he is on his way and in his short time as the Cheifs starter has already surpassed LJ as the team’s leading rusher for the season.
It’s also clear that there is plenty of tread on Chris Chambers’ tires. He will be a vital part of getting Matt Cassel on track during the final leg of the season.
A couple bright spots in a blowout loss doesn’t mean the Chiefs will win more than they will lose down the stretch, but I am certain that there will be single digit games than 4 touchdown games.
Where was the pass rush?
I’m not even talking about sacks (there weren’t any), but even just run of the mill hands in the face. Philip Rivers not only had all day in the pocket, but also had his choice of receivers down the field. If you are going to give a guy all day, you better have all his options covered down the field. As you saw by the 21 for 28 day from Rivers, that wasn’t the case.
And if you’re going to give up big plays in the middle of the field, the quarterback better be sore for getting those looks. Let the guy have his 25 yard completion, but hit him so hard when he lets the ball go that he has to peel himself off the carpet. You don’t need sacks to be effective, but you better knock the guy around a little bit. The Kansas City defense couldn’t get sacks or even a sniff of pressure.
Last week and beyond, Tamba Hali, Glenn Dorsey and Wallace Gilberry were all over the opposing quarterbacks. Every week they would make sure whoever they were going up against needed a new jersey the following week. This week Rivers doesn’t even need to dry clean his.
What’s worse, it didn’t matter how many players defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast sent. 1, 2, 3 they were all picked up, all day long. I don’t care who the Chiefs are playing, if they can’t get back to pressuring the quarterback they are not going to add to that 3 in the “W” column.
Will Rudy Niswanger get the yips?
Arguably the most consistent player along the Chiefs offensive line, C Rudy Niswanger, had two terrible snaps to Matt Cassel in the shotgun. Both resulted in fumbles with the Chargers recovering one and the other effectively gave them the ball since it was on 4th down.
For all the problems and shuffling Todd Haley has had to do along the line, his one rock has been Niswanger. He even came back almost inhumanly quick from a knee injury that would have forced some players out for the season. The easy conclusion would just be that like most of the team, Niswanger had a bad game. But there are those out there that are going to make a much bigger deal out of this and I can’t blame them if they do.
With the amount of time Matt Cassel spends — and will continue to spend — in the shotgun, there is no way Kansas City can deal with a case of the yips. If this becomes more than a one game problem the Chiefs will be forced to go to Wade Smith, which would attack their already thin depth on the offensive line.
