I asked Chris from Arrowhead Pride 5 questions about his Kansas City Chiefs:
The Chiefs should definitely be playing second-year quarterback Brodie Croyle for the remaining three games. Despite playing behind an offensive line that may give up enough pressure to injure the kid, Croyle needs all the playing time in the NFL that he can get. The Chiefs also need to see Croyle play out the season to help them further decide if he will be the Chiefs' quarterback of the future. Damon Huard has shown the KC faithful what he can do and it isn't much beyond what you'd normally expect out of a career backup quarterback.
After Huard was pulled earlier this year, the Croyle era began. And the Chiefs aren't looking back. At least not this year.
2. It seemed that the Chiefs did everything in their power before the season to hand the job to Croyle. Why wasn't he able to take hold of the job? Is he the right guy for the future, or do the Chiefs need to find someone else?
Brodie Croyle did not play well in the preseason and neither did the Chiefs team as a whole. I don't think that Herm Edwards felt he could justify giving the starting job to a rookie if he hadn't necessarily earned it. This was before the fans and the team realized just how terrible our offensive line is, which makes any quarterback look unimpressive. Whether we liked it or not, Damon Huard started a lot of games for this team last year and played pretty well as Trent Green's replacement. There were definitely valid arguments made during the preseason for starting Damon Huard.
We're trying to figure out right now if Brodie Croyle is our man or not. The problem is that the Chiefs have not shown an ability to do anything on offense all season long, even with Damon Huard at the helm. It's difficult to evaluate quarterback talent when your best running back is out, your offensive line is just terrible and your best receiver is a rookie (And a damn fine one at that). The consensus in Kansas City seems to be that Croyle has been dealt a very bad hand this season and that he's earned at least a chance to begin the 2008 season as the Chiefs quarterback. I for one like his arm strength and his calm on-the-field demeanor. He's going to need that calmness the rest of this season and next.
3. What is going on with Larry Johnson? Is he going to play again this season?
Larry Johnson has missed the last six games with a foot injury and the Chiefs have not been forthcoming with details about it except to say that LJ did not need season-ending surgery on it. I wondered the same thing about Larry's status earlier this week when I asked why hadn't he been put on injured reserve. To quote myself:
Larry Johnson might as well not play this year. The Chiefs have been mathematically elminated from the playoffs, which really means there isn't a reason to bring Larry back.
4. Is Herm Edwards a good coach?
I've been quiet about my feelings for Herm Edwards most of the year. I still think he deserves one more year in Kansas City before we run him out of town. He has an eye for drafting talent on defense and pulled a 180 with the Chiefs defense in the last two years. Our defense will only get better but I'm not sold, at all, on Herm Edwards and his affect on offenses. Herm's conservative, close to the vest game strategy has been killer to this Chiefs team. We'll play a team close in the first half of the game, continue a conservative mindset in the second half, and eventually lose out as the vast majority of teams manufacture more points in the second half than the Chiefs. That's a complicated way of saying, "We score less points than the other team" but we're looking at possibly the worst offense in Kansas City franchise history right now. There are major issues and they go beyond just scoring points.
Simply put, our offense can't score. Is that on Herm Edwards? The sad condition of our offensive line is definitely on Herm Edwards. His lack of identifying the deep problems of our offensive line before the season began has been his biggest coaching mistake. I'm officially holding out on the "Fire Herm!" talk until next season. But I"ll say that he hasn't show much in 2006 and 2007 to indicate he'll be able to field an offense that can score points. And not a lot of points. Just some points would be nice. Herm's inability to adjust during games is a big cause of this.
5. Which lesser known player should the Titans watch out for?
Keep an eye on #44 Jarrad Page in the secondary. Page was a 7th round draft pick last year and is already a starting safety. He's not going to blow your socks off but he's fun to watch as a second-year player. My standard answer throughout the year to this question has been to watch LB Derrick Johnson. Johnson is in his third year out of Texas and he's had some monster games. DJ is really coming into his own this year amidst a good group of linebackers and his progression has been a lot of fun to watch.