Chief Concerns

My thoughts.

First half…

Tony Gonzalez made the first catch of game…bravo, now moving on.

Third-string corner Jacques Reeves isn’t it; that was determined promptly. No Brandon Flowers is a big hurt. Chiefs have no backup for Flowers. Personally, I would have tried Travis Daniels. Daniels filled in for Flowers before with two almost three INT’s in a game in 2010. Daniels would have been my option, but Daniels was playing for an injured Kendrick Lewis.

Stanford Routt on Julio Jones second TD was illegally blocked, a replacement ref miss. It cost KC a touchdown. Secondary was torched; did I mention #21 Javier Arenas can go? Well, he’s nothing special.

Jamaal Charles has averaged 6.1 per carry since 2008 leading the NFL, but that Charles wasn’t there. Charles finished the game with 16 carries, 87 yards, but 46 came on one run. If you minus the long run of 46 yards Charles averaged 2.7 a carry with the rest.

Bowe dropped the first pass to him; fans boo…could have been the BIG play but came back and made great catch. Right away Bowe’s dropped pass stats were displayed. Bowe also made a terrific jump catch in tight coverage.

Uhm ST’s, you’re supposed to be better? Never saw it once during the game. The Falcons 77-yard kickoff return was bad, everyone was blocked. If Arenas can’t make a go of it on ST’s, then what’s his point? Ryan Succop, get with it!

Kansas City allowed just 84 yards rushing, so the run defense looked stout. That was a positive throughout the game, but why run if Atlanta could pass?

Tony Moeaki the forgotten man did well early. Kevin Boss for president! Boss had a tremendous catch for KC’s first TD of the 2012 season.

Eric Winston on Charles 46-yard run took on two O-linemen, worth the money! Cassel got LOTS of time overall, totally different offense from 2011 to start the game. I’ll say that again, to start the game. The offensive line, TE’s and WR’s blocked well I thought.

Matt Cassel turned on beast mode the first half. Cassel looked like the fantasy steal late in the draft.

The defense? Let’s sum it up here; the first two quarters looked like the last two. A big F for RAC’s unit. Ugly play all around from the defense, which I didn’t expect. Matt Ryan didn’t get sacked until 53 seconds left in the second quarter by second-year player Justin Houston. Again it’s the recurring theme, no pressure.

I do consider though the amount of weapons the Falcons have and what the Chiefs didn’t have on the field on defense. They looked depleted, but without several main starters on defense and Derrick Johnson not 100 percent Kansas City was crippled.

Just another Chief excuse? Maybe, but the defense could be totally different with starters back and healthy.

The big concern for this game was if it came down to a point war would the Chiefs offense be able to keep up. A positive for a couple quarters was if this would have been the offense from last season the Chiefs would be down 20 – 0, but instead KC was down by three going into half-time.

Second half…

I drafted Peyton Hillis as my FLEX player, come on buddy! Think “trucks”!

Hillis finished the game with seven carries for 17 yards and a long of seven yards. Not what I wanted from the dynamic duo. Hillis averaged 2.4 yards per carry against the Falcons.

Dontari Poe had his first flash of brilliance. Pope shot through tackling the back for a loss, exactly what I wanted. Sorry Anthony Toribio, but being out was best for Poe. Poe is the future and I’d like that now.

When it went 27-17 Falcons things changed. The defense had been toast, but the offense collapsed. As good as Cassel had done for nearly three quarters it quickly vanished.

The rusty nail into Arrowhead’s coffin came via the Tony Gonzalez touchdown. To make sure it was felt Gonzo dunked it on his former goal post. Admit it, you didn’t like it. I thought it classless of Tony and it screamed disrespect. My OP is Gonzo could have held back.

Cassel’s fumble and INT’s erased any previous good. Enough ammo for Cassel bashers to continue their Cassel can’t deliver chants. Defensive players didn't want another Buffalo Bill season opener. Well, it happened…again.

Conclusion…

Which Matt Cassel did fans see: first half great or second half terrible? The word is inconsistent, something KC can’t shake. Something Cassel is. Cassel sank in the second half. Cassel literally melted making bad plays, bad throws and looked clumsy.

First half peak, second half valley.

But final conclusion is after four quarters was Kansas City didn't look close, complete or together. Need four quarters of team effort, not two and it has to be all phases.

That’s the bottom line. Can it change? Sure, but KC was throttled on defense with the offense giving up and falling apart. Special teams never made an appearance including Succop’s botched FG.

Oh, and where was Jonathan Baldwin? Anyone, anyone…didn’t show? Nope, Baldwin sure didn’t!

No Tamba Hali definitely slowed KC; Matt Ryan had plenty of time the entire game. Lots of work to do KC Chiefs, lots!

Good day, Chiefs fans!