I grew up during a unique time for sports in the United States. I was born to see the peak of Joe Montana and Lawrence Taylor in the NFL. Baseball was only a decade from a strike that it has yet to truly recover from almost two decades later. Michael Jordan was about to enter into the NBA and unleash a dominance upon a sport that only Tiger Woods has ever truly competed with (and I think Jerry Rice is the most dominant football player ever when you consider what he did at his position).

In school I always tried my hand at basketball. There was just something about playing the sport that was always more fun in my mind than the other sports. It might have had something to do with getting hit by a pitch and being too little to want to play football.

But growing up there was always one player that I loved. He was the only one who ever competed with Michael Jordan for my youthful affections for athletes. That man is the late Derrick Thomas, #58 of the Kansas City Chiefs. He was like the reincarnation of Lawrence Taylor for the 1990s. The prototypical 3-4 outside linebacker (OLB) that could cover a tightend or halfback in pass coverage or maintain outside containment of a running play if needed, but his main ability was to blitz the quarterback. And ever since I came to know of that player, I’ve loved defense. And just so you know, MJ was every bit the defender he was as a scorer.

For me defense is the name of the game. And as I’ve matured in life, I have loved the teams that put a premium on defense. Baseball teams that get the dominant pitching rotations and bullpens and fielders with cannons for arms and gloves that react to the ball instantly. I love basketball teams that get guys that stay in their stances, move their feet, deny passing lanes, steal the ball, and block the shots. I love football teams tat can clog running lanes, get after the quarterback, and deny receivers the ball.

Last night, or this morning if you want to look at it, I read an article in Sports Illustrated by Peter King about how the NFL is moving away from their two main base defenses and into special packages. A base defesne is the defensive front seven (combination of linemen and linebackers) that one would line up in on 1st down. There are two. The 4-3 has four linemen and three linebackers. The 3-4 has three linemen and 4 linebackers.

There was a word in that article in an interview with New Orleans head coach, Sean Peyton, about the name of the game on defense. Confusion. The name of the game for defenses is confusion. YOu can read the account of the unique blitz by the New York Jets against Peyton’s Saints about how this game of confusion is played.

But it reminded me that this is really what football is all about. Which team can create the most confusion for the other team. Misdirection and fake snap counts. Lining up multiple defenders to one side of the line of scrimmage but not all attack the line. Who does the offense block? Who does the quarterback assign to help block?

And then it brought me back to Derrick Thomas, the prototypical 3-4 OLB. His defensive coordinators (the coach in charge of the defensive side of football) would move him all over the line, like DeMarcus Ware in the article, to confuse the offense about where he’s coming, if he’s coming at all. And like Ware, he had free reign to attack or not.

In the article, King was talking to teams that ran the 3-4 defense as their base. This base defense means you have lots of the athletic linebackers and less big linemen, where as in the 4-3 you have more linemen. My favorite teams in the league are teams that run this 3-4, from KC to Green Bay to Pittsburgh to New England. Having these large amounts of linebackers allows for the immense flexibility that King talked about. The linebackers are strong enough to engage offensive linemen while fast enough to cover receivers. The 4-3 teams show less flexibility, and create less confusion.

These 3-4 teams have won the majority of the championships this last decade and were only in decline during the 1990s. They dominate opposing teams and quarterbacks because they cannot be predicted. They don’t require the best superstars, but guys who are smart and disciplined.

Last night at work, it dawned on me. If I could be a coach in any pro sport, it would have to be a defensive coordinator coaching a 3-4 defense. I would want to be the next Dick LeBeau of the Steelers or Romeo Crennel of the KC Chiefs. Dom Capers of the Green Bay Packers. It’s coaches like these men that make football the best sport in America to watch.

"Welcome Back!" -- Corey Mays #51

After last Saturday’s Houston game some thought “Broken” Brodie Croyle stood a chance to get the starting spot, thus seemingly creating a QB controversy. Last night Matt Cassel reminded everyone who was the better QB. When WR Dwane Bowe was on the field with Croyle and the second string, Brodie played well. When Bowe was with Cassel and the first string, the offense clicked AND there was a beautiful Cassel-to-Bowe slant for a TD, not even Croyle could get the ball in the endzone for a TD. Despite the lack of protection from the offensive line, Cassel was able to move the ball down field and rack up 10 points. Croyle looks like a very good backup to Cassel, but Cassel proved to be the better QB. Yes Cassel still needs to get the ball out quicker. But barring a complete breakdown next week against Seatle, let there be no more talk of Croyle possibly standing a chance of starting over Cassel.

I think Tyler Thigpen’s job is in jeopardy. I love Thigpen and think he is a solid QB. But after Matt Gutierrez did not turn the ball over on the final drive to possibly win the game, I just don’t know. Thigpen had the same opportunity and threw and interception to end the game and give Houston the win. From what I gather, Matt did not lose the game. With just under a minute to go, the Chiefs took a shot at the endzone for the win and Chiefs’ WR Ashley Lelie caught the ball, but the officials called it out of bounds and defensive pass interference. That put the ball on the 1 yard line. Four tries, four failures with a bad call for a fade to the corner of the endzone to Lelie. Gutierrez didn’t lose the game so much as he didn’t win the game. Thigpen turned the ball over when it was absolutely critical that they don’t.

The offensive line (OL) is a problem. The QB’s cannot run around in the backfield like that for 4 quarters of a football game. The RBs did not have the lanes to run through, and no RB can be effective if the OL won’t block. No QB can be effective in the passing game if the OL won’t keep the rushers off of him. Granted, Minnesota has arguably the best front-four in the game but regardless the Chiefs have to block better because they are going to play some of the best defenses in the league in the first 7 games.

The defense played pretty well, only allowing 17 points from a really good team. “All-Day” Peterson was held in check for 44 yards. Favre was shut down (granted he has only three practices under his belt this offseason/preseason). Good pressure was put up on the QB. T Jackson of the Vivkings is just a mobile QB that can escape and elude down field to buy his receivers time. Hali was getting pressure and I’m pretty certain that if Zach Thomas doesn’t hold up well at SILB/Mike linebacker Corey Mays will be there for some time. His play has been spectacular.

Mr. Irrelevant is now Mr. Relevant. Ryan Succop has continued for the second straight game to play extremely well. Though no long-range field goals against Minnesota, he was perfect on the day going 3/3. If the Chiefs can nail the return-game, and Jackie Battle could be the answer, they will be set at special teams.

The team feels like they are fairly close at establishing a defensive identity and on their way to establishing an offensive identity. Once an identity is established, I think this team may not have the best schedule this year but the teams they play will have to win ballgames. They won’t be able to mark off the Chiefs as an easy win. The Chiefs will put points on the board. The more time Cassel and Bowe play together the more those two will be like peanut butter and jelly. A 6-10 season for the Chiefs does look to be possible, possibly an 8-8 season given how weak the AFC West is this year. I am liking what I am seeing/hearing. Scott Pioli and Todd Haley have this team on the right track.

First, I was impressed with the Chiefs new 3-4 defense (three guys playing lineman and four guys playing linebacker). For having a bunch of 4-3 (four lineman and three linebackers) players, there seemed to be a decent pass rush being generated by Pendergast and co. Two sacks and holding last years #3 offense to 16 points is good, including only allowing Houston to convert only 2 third-downs. The secondary continues to be the strength of the team as there was much YAC (yards after catch), if any, produced by the Texans. Yes Houston was able to get some big plays but KC is still learning this defense. DJ seemed to be playing well as well as Pollard and Flowers. Corey Mays seems to be the mike (middle) linebacker Kansas City has been looking for. He should get to know Zach Thomas a lot over the next few seasons to learn what he can from such a great mike linebacker. Andy Stuedebaker, who with Tyson Jackson, sacked the QB. Stuedebaker looks to be a long-term solution to Mike Vrabel, when Vrabel decides to leave the game or KC. In the highlight video I’ll link to below, be watching at 1:45 mark as you’ll see Stuedebaker’s sack with Jackson. But you’ll also see that Glenn Dorsey was able to get penetration on that play as well. While Dorsey only had 1 tackle, he isn’t supposed to have great numbers–he can as HOF Bruce Smith did at the same position that Dorsey plays–but seeing him in the back field was encouraging.

Second, the media has been stupid about the DBowe and Coach Haley situation. Haley put last years second best receiver at third string b/c Bowe had been playing poorly in camp. His big knock is that he is inconsistent in catching the ball, just watch the second Chargers game last year when he dropped an onside kick that would have won the game. Upon this “demotion” becoming public knowledge, Bowe’s play in camp picked up and last night he had 5 catches for 70 yards (he could have had six had not one been thrown too high over his head), impressive enough but it was raining and thus harder to catch the ball. If Bowe keeps practicing hard and making catches in the games he will be back in the starting lineup with Cassel and co.

The QB play wasn’t half bad. Cassel went 2-5 but two balls were clearly catchable and the receivers failed to catch the ball. Broken Brodie Croyle played very well. He was 12-18 with 145 yards and led a successful 2-minute drill that landed a field goal. Thigpen did what he always did and put up points when the team needed them, just not enough. He tendered a 7-14, 40 yard performance with a TD pass to TE Brad Cottam. The kicker played well too with deep kickoffs and a good long field goal with three seconds until halftime.

I noticed that the offensive line had problems keeping the QB safe. First and foremost, Houston’s front seven is a really good unit. I expected for them to get pressure on the QB. But I also expect the Chiefs to be the absolute best. So I think there is work there. But, I do think that if LJ had been playing the whole game, that defense would be been on its heels a bit which would have helped the O-line pass protect. But even LJ was having problems finding holes and getting up field, getting 4 carries for 12 yards.

The other problem is the turnovers and penalties. A botched snap leads to a turnover, as well as a Dontrell Savage run leads to a turnover. Those will kill any team trying to get back into a winning mindset. The penalties were almost inexcusable. I’m not certain where Alex MaGee’s horse-collar was that would have resulted in a fumble and gave KC the ball back on Houston’s only TD drive of the night. But there were stupid hold calls and offsides and false starts that killed KC’s momentum.

But all in all, I think given their situation (first preseason game under a new HC and GM, as well as a new 3-4 defense and playing a really good Houston Texans team) they didn’t play half bad. There were areas that needed improvement and areas of success to build upon. The Vikings game should see a better Chiefs team than last night did. Even the coaching staff was learning what they were doing.

Highlights from NFLN

That last couple of years have seen my college team playing very well (MU being ranked #1 in the nation in 2007) and my NFL team having a dismal 6-26 record over two years; the year before that they went 8-8 and limped into the playoffs and got needlessly thumped in round 1. So I’ve been paying attention to what is said about my Chiefs and Tigers. One NFL journalist has really drawn my ire as of late, NFLN’s Jamie Dukes.

On TV, Dukes has a great personality and really has some keen insights to the game. He is great for the camera. I don’t know what it is but for some reason, may be it’s my own bias, but the Chiefs have not been able to do anything–and I mean anything–right since the owner hired New England Patriots’ personnel guru, Scott Pioli. Two examples stand out to me: hiring Todd Haley as the new head coach (HC), trading for Patriots’ backup QB Matt Cassel.

Todd Haley is a first-time head coach who was a scout and then a wide receivers (WR) coach for the NY Jets. He also coached for the Chicago Bears at WR as well as the Dallas Cowboys WR. Cowboys HC Bill Parcels, one of the best coaches in the history of the game, put Haley in charge of the passing game for the Cowboys. Then he leaves Dallas when Parcels left to become the offensive coordinator (OC) for the Arizona Cardinals. He was in charge of the Arizona offense that went to the Superbowl this past February. If one looks at his resume with players he is very good. He helped developed Pro-Bowl WRs like Keyshawn Johnson, Terrel Owens, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin. Haley is a very emotional guy and has had some noticeable disputes with some players. Just this past January the cameras caught Haley and Boldin yelling at each other on the sidelines. All year long Haley and Arizona QB Kurt Warner (one of the best QBs of the last 10 years) were known to butt heads repeatedly. Haley refused to coach for the Cowboys if T.O. was still going to play there. He doesn’t back down from players.

Jamie Dukes doesn’t like that about Haley. I understand that. But at the same time, his fiery attitude that gets in players’ faces has turned Larry Fitzgerald into a monster, as well as Anquan Boldin. He turned Arizona into one of the highest scoring offenses in recent NFL history. Kurt Warner went from being a backup to returning to his Superbowl winning, league MVP form under Haley’s direction. Jamie Dukes doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge this. And more to the point, as OC and WR coach, Haley could be a more in-your-face kind of coach. But he isn’t OC or WR coach, he is the Chiefs’ HC. The players love him a lot. The refrain I hear from them is that he is a man of few words, but the words he does speak are important so they listen to them. Because Haley is a baby HC I have decided to reserve judgment as to whether he is effective or not. Dukes is in the media and so he isn’t paid to not render a decision. But he needs to show more balance than he does about coach Haley.

Matt Cassel is a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick the New England Patriots from the University of Southern California (USC). During his time there he served as backup to great USC QBs such as Carson Palmer and Matt Leinhart, both being first-round draft picks in the NFL Draft. Upon coming into the NFL with the Patriots, he played backup to one of the best QBs to ever play the game, Tom Brady. Brady has led the Patriots to 4 Superbowls, 3 Superbowl wins, and an 18-1 season including the playoffs–the one loss being the Superbowl loss to the Giants in 2007-2008. Had they won that Superbowl they would have been the first team since the Miami Dolphins 17-0 season some 20 or thirty years ago. In the first regular season game (there are 20 total games minus the playoffs, 4 preseason and 16 regular season), played in New England against my beloved Chiefs, Tom Brady’s knee was destroyed by strong safety Bernard Pollard and was lost for the rest of the season. Cassel took over as the start QB and led the Patriots to an 11-5 season, barely missing the playoffs to the Dolphins. As Cassel started out, his play wasn’t so good. He was getting sacked and not making good throws. As the season progressed so did Cassel’s play. He moved away from defenders, made smarter throws, and got rid of the ball more quickly to avoid the sacks. He threw 21 scores and only threw the ball to the other team 11 times (not bad actually).

Dukes has always been critical of Matt Cassel since he was traded. He says that Cassel holds onto the ball too long and could throw to two of the best WRs in the game right now, as well as the guys who were supposed to keep him from getting sacked were some of the best. Plus, Cassel was playing in a system that has won multiple championships and nearly achieved a perfect season. But what I noticed about Dukes’ reporting on Cassel is that Cassel never had to actually throw the ball to his WRs so that only they, and not the defenses of the other teams, could catch the ball. Cassel had to make sure the team started the play quickly enough. He had to make sure the players were where they were supposed to be and knew the right play to run. He did all of that, nearly made the playoffs, and did not get all the practice with the starters like Tom Brady did. He had to learn how to play in a trial-by-fire situation, and convince the team that he could lead them.

Now here’s the thing with Jamie Dukes. His stick about Cassel came when Denver was in the mix to trade for Cassel. The thing was that Denver already had a very promising QB in Jay Cutler (Wuss! Sorry, rivals to the Chiefs.). Why trade for a guy who showed that he could win games and that Denver missed the playoffs because they had a horrid defense? Good point. His numbers were better than Cassel’s (but not enough to make me think the trade wasn’t worth considering). But Dukes didn’t like the trade, understandable enough. But ever since that came out into the public’s awareness, the only thing positive about Cassel Dukes has said is that Cassel is a nice guy. Cassel is the product of a system and great talent around him. But so was Joe Montana in San Fransico (one of the best QBs ever), Steve Young had Jerry Rice, and Troy Aikman had Michael Irving and Emmit Smith. Kurt Warner had Marshall Faulk and Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce in St. Louis, while in Arizona he had Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald. One of the most fun QBs to watch in the NFL is Peyton Manning. He is an OC on the field. He knows what the defense is going to do like he was in their huddle when they got the play. He will change the play on the field to counter what the defense is going to do. He has played with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and has had the same offensive system since he was drafted in the late 1990s, still does even to this day except the guy is called a consultant and not OC. Yet Jamie Dukes would not say that these QBs are the product of the talent around them or the systems they were in.

Dukes and I would both agree that these QBs are some of the best this sport has ever seen. But why is Matt Cassel’s stellar play the system and talent around him and yet these other guys’ play isn’t? When Warner was with the NY Giants, he stunk. It took Peyton Manning a couple of years to learn the system and play at the level he plays now. My point is that all QBs play well when they have good talent around them and/or are in a good system. So why knock on a guy for things that I can say about some of the best QBs today? The only knock I have on Cassel is that he hasn’t been the starter at either USC or New England–understandably–and he has only played well one year. I don’t know how good the kid will be this coming year. But I’m will to see if he is like Tom Brady who makes the players around him better or is just a backup who did his job.

So here is what I would like to see. Jamie Dukes to do a segment or a blog that only shows how Matt Cassel and Todd Haley will help the Chiefs win at least 6 games this year (not counting preseason). I want him to show me that he understands what Cassel’s strengths are and how Cassel helped contribute positively to the Patriots 11-5 record. The sad thing is that even if the Chiefs become the highest scoring offense this year and win the Superbowl all because of Matt’s arm and Todd’s coaching, I still think that Jamie Dukes will not attribute the success to either Todd Haley or Matt Cassel. He seems that opposed to these guys, less so to Haley but more so to Cassel.

Mizzou DBs practicing a pursuit drill

Has Gary Pinkel, head coach of the University of Missouri football team, gone nuts and turned into Oakland Raiders Owner/GM Al Davis?

Pinkel has made speed a priority in recruiting. Find a fast player, he tells the staff, and we’ll turn him into a football player.

Isn’t that why Oakland drafted Darius Hayward Bay? DHB had the fastest 40 time in the draft for wide receivers. I’m kind of nervous. True some of the best NCAA football defenses are quick, but come one. Don’t go insane like Al Davis. Please No!

I just hope that their new defense can take this highlight reel and expand it out from just a few games a year to every year. There is real potential that I hope Haley and co. can unlock it all.

Oh and FYI: that last part of the video was not a hit to change the rules if it had been John Kitna or Brodie Croyle. The only reason why the NFL changed the rules to make that hit on Tom Brady illegal is because the hit was on Tom Brady, the NFL’s cash cow and we don’t want to hurt the league’s wallet now do we. Forget that this allowed a guy like Matt Cassel to get a chance to be a starting QB for a team of his own–it’s ironic that that hit landed Cassel in KC as our new QB, so ironic and funny.