Tag: Matt Cassel (Page 3 of 14)

      Maybe Charlie Weis’ head is already in Florida

      January 2, 2011 /
      game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 02 January 2011. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH fotoglif865099

      Here are three quick-hit observations from the Raiders’ 31-10 upset over the Chiefs on Sunday.

      1. The Chiefs just did themselves a huge disservice.
      Coaches and players always say that it doesn’t matter who they play in the playoffs. “We’ll take on anyone – we don’t care,” is what they’ll say. With this loss, the Chiefs will play the Ravens next weekend instead of the Jets (assuming the Colts beat the Titans later this afternoon). Sorry, but that’s a huge difference. The Jets’ pass rush has been non-existent since earlier in the season and Mark Sanchez is playing with a torn shoulder. The Ravens, on the other hand, can get after the quarterback, have the better quarterback and proved last year in Foxboro that they don’t mind playing on the road in the postseason. Get a Chief liquored up enough and I bet they’d tell you they’d rather face the Jets next week rather than Baltimore.

      2. Did Charlie Weis already leave for Florida?
      That looked like the Kansas City offense from earlier this season. In their final tune up before the playoffs, the Chiefs’ offense was held to 10 points, was limited to 201 total yards (including just 86 through the air) and turned the ball over twice. They had zero rhythm, they couldn’t sustain drives and Matt Cassel was a disaster. It’s not fair to place all the blame on Weis because the players have to execute, but it makes you wonder if his head isn’t already in Gainesville after accepting Florida’s offer to become its next offensive coordinator.

      3. Tom Cable should retain his job.
      ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Cable is unlikely to return as head coach of the Raiders in 2011. Why? Oakland finished 8-8 and went undefeated (6-0) in division play this year. Despite having scattered talent, Cable didn’t have a lot to work with and Al Davis’ prized offseason acquisition, Jason Campbell, was highly inconsistent. Yet, they were in the playoff hunt into the final two weeks of the season. Maybe Davis will promote offensive coordinator Hue Jackson after the Raiders’ offense blossomed throughout the course of the year, but would Jackson provide an upgrade? For once, Davis should stay the course and provide his team with some stability at the head coach position.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 16 MVP power rankings

      January 1, 2011 /

      So Michael Vick slipped a little on Tuesday night, which makes us feel better about keeping Tommy Brady (as Charlie Weis calls him) in the top spot.

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Amazingly, Brady has thrown for an NFL record 319 pass attempts without an interception, going back to Week 6. So let’s review—3701 yards, 34 TDs (NFL high) and just 4 picks, and his team is 13-2 and in the fast lane in the AFC. Damn.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Look, we can’t disregard what Vick has done this season, because it’s phenomenal. But he looked mortal against the Vikings, and also for 52 minutes against the Giants before that.

      3. Matt Cassel/Jamaal Charles/Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs—This trio has led the Chiefs to the AFC West crown. Cassel has 27 TDs to 5 picks/Jamaal has 1835 all-purpose yards and Bowe leads all NFL receivers with 15 TDs. The league won’t view this as one person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

      4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—What, did you think the Saints were just going to go away? Not with this guy leading the team. But the 21 picks may hurt him in the voting.

      5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—This kid is just a beast week-in and week-out.

      6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, the Falcons are impressive, especially some of the late-game heroics, but losing at home to Saints hurt.

      7. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Rodgers admitted that sitting out with a concussion allowed him to come back fresh in Week 16—to the tune of 404 yards and 4 TDs.

      8. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Do you get the feeling you have to account for this dude as if he were Lawrence Taylor?

      9. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills—136 total tackles (92 solo) with a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 7 passes defensed. I know the Bills suck, but Whitner is a one-man wrecking crew.

      10. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Look who’s back, and he even showed he can run—in slow motion, but he can run.

      External Sports, NFL

      The Chiefs continue to prove doubters wrong

      December 26, 2010 /

      I’ll be the first to admit that I thought the Chiefs would have collapsed by now and the Chargers would have overtaken the top spot in the AFC West. Kansas City has been in control of the division for most of the year but I’ve patiently waited for disaster to strike.

      But it hasn’t. Perhaps I should have considered that their win over the Chargers in Week 1 wasn’t a fluke and this team is for real. But I didn’t. And they are.

      Matt Cassel was brilliant in the Chiefs’ 34-14 win over the Titans on Sunday. He completed 24-of-34 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns, all while showing no ill effects from the appendectomy surgery he had three weeks ago. It’s amazing to think that at the start of the year, many people believed KC would have to search for a new quarterback in 2011 and now it appears that the Chiefs will only go as far as he takes them. Understandably, it took a while for him to get comfortable in Charlie Weis’ system but now that he is, the skies the limit for both him and KC. (It also doesn’t hurt that he has a couple of great weapons around him in Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe).

      Granted, things could still turn sour for KC next week and seeing as how I have deemed them “for real,” the jinx has probably been set.

      But as of this writing, the Chargers are losing at halftime to the Bengals, so it looks like the Chiefs are in good shape. If Cincinnati holds on, KC would win the AFC West for the first time since 2003. If San Diego mounts a comeback and wins, then the Chiefs would have to beat the Raiders next week or have San Diego lose at Denver.

      Let’s assume for a second that the Chiefs do win the division and wrap up the No. 3 seed in the AFC. How far could this team go? Well, given how bad the Jets’ (who will have the No. 6 seed) defense has looked in recent weeks, it’s not a stretch to think that KC would move to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. And then, who knows? Nobody outside of the Patriots looks indestructible in the AFC so there’s a chance that this pesky Chiefs team could be the dark horse of the conference.

      But first things first: they need to get in and then they can worry about seeding and opponents. Either way, the Chiefs continue to make noise.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 15 MVP power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      Boy, this is becoming a two-man race, isn’t it? You could probably wrestle with the Brady/Vick debate for days, and the next two weeks will likely determine the outcome of that. But for now, we have to pontificate…..

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Well, his team is 12-2 and he leads in QB rating (109.9) with a modest 3561 yards, and 31 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. It’s hard to argue with that.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—That game against the Giants and that comeback against the Giants are hard for this Big Blue fan to bear (242 yards, 3 TDs, 1 pick, 130 rushing yards and one more TD), but it’s hard not to respect Vick’s season and his own personal resurgence.

      3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—First of all, dude was on the field like 8 days after having his appendix out. Not great stats (184 yards, 1 TD, one pick), but he led his team to a much-needed win and has done that all season.

      4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Imagine what Rivers could have done with a healthy Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates all season?

      5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—His numbers are still modest, but he just keeps winning and has orchestrated quite a few late-game comebacks.

      6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—His team lost to the Ravens, but still a strong body of work in 2010 despite being under the radar.

      7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Almost 1900 total yards and 15 total scores are making this guy a possible #1 fantasy pick in 2011.

      8 Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Only 8 touchdowns, but 106 catches and 1284 yards both lead the NFL in a career year for Roddy.

      9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—10 more tackles against the G-men and the leader of a defense that has a lot of heart despite a ton of injuries.

      10. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions—No TDs last week in Tampa, but 10 catches for 152 yards in an impressive win. For my money, Calvin might be the best receiver in the NFL.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 14 MVP power rankings

      December 18, 2010 /

      Now, I feel like I knew what I was talking about by moving Tom Brady up to #1. The man is simply a man possessed this year to win a title. I mean, it’s been, what? Five years since his Pats did win. Yep. Those guys are in a zone. Here are the weekly power rankings…..

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—In a blizzard, Brady completed 27 of 40 passes (67.5%) for 369 yards, 2 TDs and zero picks. Against the Bears’ defense. Someone needs to check to see if Brady actually IS human.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He’s only played 10 full games, but his overall numbers are sick—averaging 251 yards per game passing, and another 48 yards per game rushing, with 17 passing TDs and 7 more rushing, with only 4 interceptions.

      3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—The fact that the Chiefs didn’t have Cassel available last Sunday and got blown out in San Diego is the pure definition of MVP.

      4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—At what point do we start paying attention to Brees and his Saints?

      5. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Here come the Chargers. Sorry, Todd Haley, they are gonna find a way to spoil your postseason aspirations.

      6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White/Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, they have the best record in the NFC, but Ryan’s numbers aren’t quite backing up MVP vote consideration, so I thought it made sense to group these three together for now.

      7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Leads in rushing yards (1330), rushing scores (13), and is right behind LeSean McCoy in receiving yards for running backs (504) with 2 more TDs. Just sick, and it’s only too bad the Texans can’t play defense.

      8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—He leaves the game, the Packers lose to the Lions. See # 3—Cassel, Matt. Same situation.

      9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—Leads all DE’s in solo tackles (46) and has 9 sacks, but for some reason he doesn’t get much love.

      10. Justin Tuck/Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants—Tuck leads all DE’s with 46 total tackles and has 9 sacks; Osi has 40 tackles and 10 sacks. No wonder these guys have been knocking quarterbacks silly.

      External Sports, NFL

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