iPubble

It is Sunday, September 04, 2011. Doesn’t seem that spectacular, does it?

However, today IS in fact significant because we are exactly one week away from the opener of the Kansas City Chiefs 2011 season against the Buffalo Bills.

This time last year, I felt fine about the Chiefs. We were rebuilding, we had some nice new players who needed to grow into veterans (Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster, etc.), but nobody expected us to compete. The 2010 season was very much a “wait and see” type of year. If we won, great, but no healthy-minded Chiefs fan was expecting much.

We all know what happened though: The Chiefs somehow, someway WON the AFC West, which in most of our minds meant the Chiefs were absolutely ahead of schedule in the rebuilding of the roster.

Thus, expectations this year are much, much higher than last year. So why do I feel worse heading into this season than I did last year, even though our team has to be better?

Here are my top five concerns for the 2011 Kansas City Chiefs:

1. Quarterbacks

Let’s get this one out of the way from the get go. Matt Cassel has had two full years to impress in Kansas City. In 2010, he had a great season, on paper: Over 3,000 yards passing, 27 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions – definitely an improvement from his previous season.

They say the numbers don’t lie, but in this case, they do. I use a little something called the “eye test,” and what this test tells me is that Matt Cassel is just not an extremely talented quarterback. To make up for his lack of accuracy and arm strength, he must do three things:

a) Know his offense inside and out – Cassel needs to know where each receiver is going to be, and where to go with the ball when he’s in duress. Also, he must stop staring down his primary receiver.

b) Sense pressure – I’m still waiting for Cassel to be rushed from his blindside, smoothly step up in the pocket as the linebacker just misses him, and calmly drops a pass to his checkdown receiver to complete a first down. I want to see this instead of him freaking out anytime somebody busts through our O-Line.

c) Continue to develop as a leader – I think Cassel did the best of this out of the three last year, and I distinctly remember it from the Rams game in St. Louis. Cassel needs to be that emotional rock of the offense, and not get too high or too low because of the outcome of a play or a drive.

UPDATE – I have just received read that Matt Cassel may be out against the Bills from a cracked rib suffered from the Packers’ B.J. Raji in the final preseason game…

If this news is true and Cassel is hurt, the Chiefs better be putting a call into 1-800-BAKUPQB, which we all know goes directly to Brett Favre. The other Chiefs quarterbacks are simply not ready for regular season action.

2. Offensive/Defensive Line Physicality

The Chiefs were dominated by the Green Bay packers in Preseason Game 4 at the most imperative spot on the field: in the trenches on both sides of the ball. What makes it more concerning is it continued into the fourth quarter, when the Chiefs still had many of their starters playing against the Packers second- and third-stringers.

The Chiefs defensive line consists of Glenn Dorsey, who appears to have figured it out, so I feel good about him. Kelly Gregg will hold down the nose tackle spot for a year or two, but he is 34 and isn’t a long-term solution. And then of course there is BIG Tyson Jackson, who has shown flashes in the preseason of turning it around, but he took a big step back in the final preseason game.

The Chiefs offensive line on the other hand frustrates me more than anything else on the team. We are currently playing Russian roulette at each position because of our severe lack of depth up and down the entire line. One injury to the O-Line can be a death blow to the 2011 season. And that’s not to say our starters are even that good! They were manhandled by Raji and company last Thursday night.

Both the O- and D-Line were consistently pushed one or two yards in the opposite direction of where they wanted to go. If the Chiefs aren’t strong up front, nothing else matters. Any football fan knows that, so why haven’t the Chiefs brass addressed this problem?

3. Receivers

Outside of a handful of drops in 2011, Dwayne Bowe had a breakout season. This offseason, he looks like he is poised to repeat himself – I feel great about Dwayne Bowe. The rest of our receivers, however, not so much. Stevie Breaston at slot I’m good with, but Jerheme Urban as the second starter? He has 87 career catches. Hopefully Haley and Poili have seen some ridiculous athleticism and sure hands in practice that I’ve yet to see.

After those three receivers, we have rookie Jonathan Baldwin, who is hurt and best case scenario will catch 30 balls this year. Dexter McCluster has had a great preseason, maybe better than anyone else on the team. But relying on him to be anything other than a gimmicky running back/receiver is probably putting too much responsibility on his shoulders. I hope he proves me wrong. Finally, there is Terrance Copper, the same Terrance Copper who dropped two consecutive 17-yard passes that would have completed first downs late in the fourth preseason game. Is this the guy we really want in crunch time of a real game?

4. Coaching Staff

The play-calling duties from last year and this year remain a bit of a mystery. How much influence did Charlie Wise have on the offense, and on Matt Cassell? Is WalterFootball.com correct in believing the 2011 Chiefs are doomed just because of Weis’ departure? I think he wayyy overvalued Weis’ contributions, but I suppose we shall see.

All I know is last year’s third-down play calling was pathetic. With the number one rushing offense in the league, the Chiefs seemed to fail on third down more than they succeeded. They consistently seemed to outthink themselves when a simple run up the middle would have sufficed for the first down.

Anyway, the coaching staff is the least of my worries about our team, but it is still a bit of an unknown and we will just have to wait and see how it plays out.

5. 32.7 Million Dollars

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/29/updated-cap-space-as-of-august-29/

Pathetic. Embarrassing. Cheap.

These are the three words that come to mind when I read this article on ProFootballtalk.com, stating that the Chiefs have the most room under the cap at more than 32 million dollars. When I look at all of the holes we have on our team, such as no veteran backup quarterback, no depth whatsoever on the offensive line, receivers who have no history of catching footballs in a regular season NFL game, among other problems, it makes my red and yellow blood boil.

I love the Chiefs, but sometimes I question my fandom. This 32.7 figure does just that.

The Chiefs save money on salary, but continue to stick it to the fans. Parking this year is $27 a car, up $5 from last year. The Chiefs cut their office employees’ salaries this offseason, but with a huge public outcry they reneged on their cheap tactic to save a $100,000 (chump change to an NFL franchise). The Chiefs also decided for the first time to not allow ticket takers into the stadium to watch the game once their job was finished for the day.

All of these things add up to the Chiefs pissing off their fan base. And now with Cassel possibly hurt, an O-Lineman undoubtedly going down, and unproven receivers, wouldn’t it have made sense for the Chiefs to be cheap by 20 million instead of 30 and set themselves up to have a better season than they did?

The Chiefs fan base is very fickle, especially their fan base who actually want to go to games, just like many NFL franchises who have seen attendances drop. However, there are things owners and general managers can do to show their appreciation to fans, and there are things they can do to make their fans feel like they don’t care about them. 32.7 million dollars says just that.

We are just a week away from a new season. I truly hope this article is 1442 words of nonsense after the Chiefs demolish the Bills. As with all NFL games, and this is what makes it so great, is any opinion and worry can completely change with just one ‘W.’