Chiefs Need a White Knight (My Cry for Support)
10/5/2009
Sunday's drubbing at the hands of the Giants is just another notch on board for our belittled Chiefs team. I was not at nor saw Sunday's game but really all you need to do is check the box score. 27-16 score, 429-193 in yards, and 2-1 in the turnover column. It is just glaring how bad this team has become with out watching one snap of the game.
After browsing through the box score, and looking back on our other 3 games, it is clear we are missing something every great team now has, a savior, a leader, the white knight who seems to save the day. It seems every good team has one, and not all of them are on one side of the ball. New England has Tom Brady, Baltimore has Ray Lewis, and a team like Pittsburgh has 2 (Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu). These guys are all Hall of Fame players, able to carry their team on their back when needed. The Chiefs have Zero of these players, not even one close to the caliber either.
Through all the big 1st round picks, not one has turned into even a mere Pro-Bowler, or resemble anything of one. Everyone in the media, the fans, and it's starting to sound like the team it's self is pointing fingers at the top. General Manger Scott Pioli is taking the heat for not having any playmakers and everyone seems to be up in arms about his bring in anyone anytime approach but all he’s doing is bringing in other teams scraps.
To that I ask all the fans and the media “who should we get then?” The biggest name this past free agent market that could have filled a major hole would have been DT Albert Hanyesworth, but would you really be much happier with a $100 million dollar defensive e tackle who now is limping around on the disabled list? We complain about the line, but who where we to get once Pioli came on board? Who where we to get? The best option out there we could have gone for was OT Stacy Andrews who many scouts grade out at the same level or less as our own Brandon Albert. Pioli is trying something most of you forget our old GM never did the last 10 years, improve our roster by any means available. Yes we are getting left other teams rejects, but our players aren't any better and in many cases worse.
Many other people are pointing at our Ego-manic head coach in Todd Haley and his bench players who don’t do it the right way philosophy. Media and Fans are out raged that we are not taking shots down field and players like Derrick Johnson are 3rd on the depth chart. You don’t think this method works? Ok, let’s give you the play book. You call the plays with this in mind, if you run the ball with Larry Johnson your always going to get around 2 to 3 yards per play, and with anyone else it could go for 5 or 6 yards or a loss of 3 or 5 yards. If you pass you have a grand total on average of 2 seconds to throw the football. Now go try and do what you’re complaining about. On defense your front 3 are adjusting to completly new rolls and your linebackers are mostly square pegs in round holes with the exception of Mike Vrabel. Now try to pressure a quarterback or stop the run with players learning to play the position and do it at the highest level against teams who are the best in the league. This isn't going to happen over night people.
When you’re left with a bare cupboard, no game changer on the roster, no white knight, and no foundation, how would you rebuild a team into winner? Over night? Too many fans and media sound like we should be doing this thing now and we should see signs of a winner by now. It’s not going to take one year, nor 2... This is in worse shape then any of us could have imagined. Folks, we were not going to beat the Giants, Ravens, or Eagles this year so quit complaining.
To win, the Chiefs will need to draft and develop there own Ray Lewis, or their own Adrian Peterson. They need a white knight, the player this origination can build around. Maybe they really think they have it in Matt Cassel, but running for his life on every play with no play makers around him makes it hard for us to evaluate this one. One thing I strongly believe in is this regime is going to do what it takes to find that white knight and be able to keep him. No more King Carl, who when he finds one, trades it away (take the Jarrod Allen deal for example). What would this team be like with 69 coming off the edge getting 10+ sacks a year and allowing us to disguise blitz’s and drop more players in coverage? I’m sure 400 yards passing wouldn’t happen on Allen’s watch.
To win we need our Priest Holmes, or our Derrick Thomas, or our Len Dawson to carry our team. It is the only thing I believe holding this rebuilding project up. Until we draft this guy (cause finding them in free agency or by trades are hard to do) we can’t evaluate anything with what Scott Pioli or Todd Haley are doing, we just know from a history stand point their method, vision, and drive is a proven winner. So before you call for their heads, let them find or build around their cornerstone. Let Scott do what he does and that's finding that player. You can bet Bill Belichick didn’t find Matt Cassel or Tom Brady... he doesn’t have the time to scout 6th or 7th round pick players. You can also bet that Haley knows how to teach a player the right way of doing things (there was a good reason Arizona with no running game and a 40+ year old QB reached the Super Bowl).
So to the Whitlock's and the TV and Radio know it all's, don't complain and scream to the Chiefs to do something better when you yourself have no idea yourself of how to fix it, and yes I don't either, but I have faith in people who do. Scott Pioli knows the players it takes, he's wearing rings to prove it, and Todd Haley hasn't forgot how to teach and motivate players. None of us have rings or even been to the big game. so lets trust they know what they are doing is right and in 3 years and we don't see a playoff team, we can cry for change Rome wasn't built in a day, and nor will the Chiefs, but to build an empire you need to lay a foundation, and drafting the right players and playing the players who do it the right way is how you build it, brick by brick. And hey, one thing about Kansas City, if you build the right team, your white knight might be the 80,000 fans in the Sea of Red. When Arrowhead was full, no matter what team we put on the field, the Chiefs we're as hard to beat has anyone.