2009 Chiefs

[KCMax]

FOX4 in Kansas City has been notified to be prepared to show a game because the Chiefs game on CBS may be blacked out due to failing to sell out.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Little hard to expect anyone to get stoked about buying tix for these last two dog home games. 

[im2kull]

Little hard to expect anyone to get stoked about buying tix for these last two dog home games. 

But on the other hand they've gone 16 years without missing a sellout.

Wasn't there just a few people optomistic about this season...ha!  Our defense is worse, not surprisingly...but surprisingly our offense is so bad they're making last years starters look like a bunch of Hall of Famers.

[pstokely]

Channel 5 is probably waiting until the last minute to buy up the tickets like they've always done

[phuqueue]

But on the other hand they've gone 16 years without missing a sellout.

Wasn't there just a few people optomistic about this season...ha!  Our defense is worse, not surprisingly...but surprisingly our offense is so bad they're making last years starters look like a bunch of Hall of Famers.

How surprising are the offensive problems, really?  The biggest offseason changes were losing a future HOFer and bringing in a career backup QB under whom an 18-1 team the year before went 11-5 and missed the playoffs.  I argued back at the time the Cassel trade was made that he didn't look like a substantial upgrade over Thigpen considering the respective conditions they played under in 2008.  I know this has only been one season and not under the most ideal of circumstances, but how bad does Cassel have to be before we realize he's always been a backup for a reason?  I'm hoping somebody quotes this post back to me to embarrass me after he has a breakout year next season, but I'm not holding my breath.

[KansasCityCraka]

Our defense is actually almost exactly the same as last year. Our offense is a lot worse though.

[TheSmokinPun]

I'd still rather see a game like the next two, where we got a chance to win for once, instead of a Broncos blowout. I had already planned to go to this game anyways, so blackout or no blackout, I'm still gonna probably see a Chiefs win.

Plus I can just watch the Browns game online if I have to.

[im2kull]

How surprising are the offensive problems, really?  The biggest offseason changes were losing a future HOFer and bringing in a career backup QB under whom an 18-1 team the year before went 11-5 and missed the playoffs.  I argued back at the time the Cassel trade was made that he didn't look like a substantial upgrade over Thigpen considering the respective conditions they played under in 2008.  I know this has only been one season and not under the most ideal of circumstances, but how bad does Cassel have to be before we realize he's always been a backup for a reason?  I'm hoping somebody quotes this post back to me to embarrass me after he has a breakout year next season, but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm not the least bit surprised, as what I was referring to was all the optomism floating around the offense in the off season.  Most people seemed inclined to think that we were going to be a better, improved team.  I thought the opposite, and sure enough...here we are exactly where I said we'd be.

I also agree that Cassel is a career backup, its just pure fact.  I pointed out various times how much poorly the Pats performed with him behind the wheel..but that didn't matter to most everyone since they still had this enamoring 11-5 record. Clearly everyone but us forgot what they accomplished the year prior.

[jdubwaldo]

The current state of this ballclub and first hand witness of the debacle against Denver last weekend makes letting go of our Chiefs tickets a lot easier, at least.  Being a KC fan is truly like continuously having your hand on a hot burner, but we all keep doing it......

[droopy]

FOX4 in Kansas City has been notified to be prepared to show a game because the Chiefs game on CBS may be blacked out due to failing to sell out.

I was wondering what happened if the local game was blocked out.  So they show another game?  I would probably prefer that the next 2 weeks....

[dublin]

I also agree that Cassel is a career backup, its just pure fact.  I pointed out various times how much poorly the Pats performed with him behind the wheel..but that didn't matter to most everyone since they still had this enamoring 11-5 record. Clearly everyone but us forgot what they accomplished the year prior.

And you've forgotten what they've accomplished with Brady back this year.  They have to win out just to achieve the same record that Cassel led them to last year. 

[phuqueue]

And you've forgotten what they've accomplished with Brady back this year.  They have to win out just to achieve the same record that Cassel led them to last year. 

Put it this way: Patriots offensive YPG in 2007 was 411 and this year it's 414.  Last year, it was 365.  Still a lot of yards, still good enough to be fifth in the NFL.  Also still 50 yards per game fewer than they're gaining this year, not a negligible difference.  Not only was their total yardage per game significantly lower, but they only maintained that number by stepping up their running game: 142 yards per game, compared to 116 in 2007 and 113 this year.  The passing offense under Cassel averaged 223 yards per game, compared to this year's 302 and 2007's 296.

There's basically no solid argument to make that Cassel didn't have a significant negative impact on the team last year.  And that's all right, I mean Tom Brady is going to the Hall of Fame, so it's totally fair to expect the backup not to perform as well as he would have.  But the facts are the facts.  Cassel stepped into an offense last year that included the likes of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, a strong line, and a great running game.  Even so, the drop off in production was notable.

If you look at Thigpen's overall numbers from last year, they were, let's just say, not great.  But anyone who actually watched the team remembers that he struggled in his first few games and then there was a point in that game against the Jets when the light just seemed to come on for him.  If you compare his numbers from that point forward against Cassel's (which I did some months ago -- I'm not going to do it again, but the numbers are buried somewhere in this thread if you care so much that you've got to see them), you'll see two guys who managed remarkably similar production under remarkably different circumstances.  And actually, Thigpen's numbers for the whole season last year, even including the first part where he looked completely lost, were actually better (marginally) than what Cassel has done so far this season.

That's not to say I think Thigpen is actually better than Cassel or that we should have relied on Thigpen as our starting QB moving forward.  Just that, at the time, I argued that Cassel wasn't the answer, and this season has done little to dissuade me of that position.

[im2kull]

And you've forgotten what they've accomplished with Brady back this year.  They have to win out just to achieve the same record that Cassel led them to last year. 

Brady's coming off and injury, and is reinjured.
They've lost 2 starters on the offensive line.
Their best LB in Mayo has been injured for much of the season.
Richard Seymour...Gone
Mike Vrabel...Gone.
Jabar Gaffney...Gone.
Heath Evans...Gone.
Ellis Hobbs...Gone.
Rodney Harrison...Retired.
Bruschi...Retired.
Gostkowsi...might as well kick himself off the team at this point with his poor accuracy this season.

..Oh and how the list goes on!


My point was that Cassel accomplished nothing spectactular with a team that was largely unchanged (Except for at the QB position) from the year before's squad that nearly went undefeated in the regular season, through the title game.

This years squad has TONS of missing parts compared to last year, and the previous years team.

[im2kull]

I forgot to mention: Nearly all NE's Key Free-Agency Additions are sitting on IR.  Shawn Springs...Check.  Fred Taylor...Check.  Etc, Etc.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Fred Taylor...Check. 

Shit, they might has well of just pre-emptively put IR next to his name when they signed him.

[im2kull]

Shit, they might has well of just pre-emptively put IR next to his name when they signed him.

I don't even get why they signed him in the first place, unless it was simply as a mentor.  He has no real game value anymore.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I wonder if Tony Gonzalez is excited to be getting ready for some playoff football with the super bowl contender he insisted on playing for?  Oh wait . . . .

[im2kull]

I wonder if Tony Gonzalez is excited to be getting ready for some playoff football with the super bowl contender he insisted on playing for?  Oh wait . . . .

What's your point, Atlanta would easily be tops in their division had it not been for injurys at nearly every game-changing position.  Hell, Playoffs or not, I'm sure Tony G is glad to be exempt from the complete trainwreck known as the Kansas City Chiefs.  At least he knows they've got a great shot at it next year, whereas the Chiefs will once again be squirming amongst the leagues bottom dwellers.

[aknowledgeableperson]

BLACKOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[im2kull]

BLACKOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow..how low can this franchise go?

150+ sellouts, goodbye!