wolfpack
12-10-2007, 02:19 PM
GRETZ: This Is Rock Bottom
Dec 10, 2007, 8:22:51 AM by Bob Gretz (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/bob_gretz/) - FAQ (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2004/01/19/bob_gretz_faq/)
DENVER – There’s one part of the game of football that has never changed not even once since they organized teams of 11-men a side and chased after the funny shaped pigskin.
To win a football game a team must control what happens on the line of scrimmage. Offensively, defensively, either way, the team that can impose its will on their opponent in the blocking zone wins the game.
The Chiefs did not win on Sunday at Invesco Field. They were not even really part of the equation in this game. They were drubbed 41-7 in one of the most embarrassing outings by this franchise in some time. I’m talking back to the disasterous 1980s.
The reason they got their rear ends kicked so thoroughly and completely was their inability to win on the line of scrimmage. We’ve seen that all year from the offensive line and they went out and matched their performance once again, giving up five sacks, gaining a mere 129 yards in total offense and only 16 yards rushing on 17 carries.
What we had not seen a lot of this season has been the defensive line being dominated. But the Broncos came out and completely controlled the Chiefs front four. On the second offensive play of the game, Denver cracked the right side of the Chiefs D-Line for a 50-yard run. In the previous five games the Chiefs had allowed an average of 42 yards rushing in the first half. They gave up more than that in one play.
The Broncos ended up with 215 yards on 34 carries. Jay Cutler threw 27 times for the Broncos and was not sacked. In fact, if he had not fallen down at one point, tripping over his own feet, I’m not sure his pants would have had any grass or dirt stains on them. And by the way, after he fell down he got up and ran for 21 yards.
The saddest part of watching the Chiefs get dominated on the line of scrimmage was that it was being done by one of the worst Broncos teams that Mike Shanahan has fielded in his time in Denver.
Elvis Dumervil is a second-year stud pass rusher for the Broncos and he contributed three sacks. The rest of the domination was coming from guys like John Engelberger, rookies MarcusThomas, Tim Crowder and Steve Harris, Alvin McKinley and some guy named Josh Mallard. Denver is Mallard’s fifth team in the last six years and he was signed by the Broncos on November 6th, after he was cut by the woeful Atlanta Falcons.
The Chiefs began this game like a disinterested group that wanted to be elsewhere on a cold, sunny day. There are those that will say they quit, gave up, weren’t prepared, have thrown the season in the trash. After a performance like that one, it’s not hard to understand why someone would think so.
However, let me tell you that is not true. The Chiefs played hard. They just didn’t play effectively. And how anyone could question the desire of Tony Gonzalez, for instance, I’m not sure. He went out on the first offensive play of the third quarter with an ankle injury. A lot of players would have taken that injury to the nice, warm locker room and called it a day. Gonzalez went to the locker room, got re-taped, and came back on the field and played in the fourth quarter. He played his heart out.
Take it from someone who spends seven days a week with this team. They were prepared, the coaching staff worked hard to get this team ready for everything that Denver does.
But it’s apparent this team has lost its confidence in themselves and each other. When they fell behind 14-0 halfway through the first quarter, the game was over. There weren’t many guys wearing the red and gold that thought they had a chance to come back.
Turned out they were right.
Losing by 34 points can happen, especially on the road. But losing by 34 to a team like Denver (now just 6-7 on the season) and doing it the way the Chiefs did has brought them to rock bottom.
From here, there’s nowhere else to go but up.
(http://kcchiefs.blip.tv/rss/itunes)
Dec 10, 2007, 8:22:51 AM by Bob Gretz (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/bob_gretz/) - FAQ (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2004/01/19/bob_gretz_faq/)
DENVER – There’s one part of the game of football that has never changed not even once since they organized teams of 11-men a side and chased after the funny shaped pigskin.
To win a football game a team must control what happens on the line of scrimmage. Offensively, defensively, either way, the team that can impose its will on their opponent in the blocking zone wins the game.
The Chiefs did not win on Sunday at Invesco Field. They were not even really part of the equation in this game. They were drubbed 41-7 in one of the most embarrassing outings by this franchise in some time. I’m talking back to the disasterous 1980s.
The reason they got their rear ends kicked so thoroughly and completely was their inability to win on the line of scrimmage. We’ve seen that all year from the offensive line and they went out and matched their performance once again, giving up five sacks, gaining a mere 129 yards in total offense and only 16 yards rushing on 17 carries.
What we had not seen a lot of this season has been the defensive line being dominated. But the Broncos came out and completely controlled the Chiefs front four. On the second offensive play of the game, Denver cracked the right side of the Chiefs D-Line for a 50-yard run. In the previous five games the Chiefs had allowed an average of 42 yards rushing in the first half. They gave up more than that in one play.
The Broncos ended up with 215 yards on 34 carries. Jay Cutler threw 27 times for the Broncos and was not sacked. In fact, if he had not fallen down at one point, tripping over his own feet, I’m not sure his pants would have had any grass or dirt stains on them. And by the way, after he fell down he got up and ran for 21 yards.
The saddest part of watching the Chiefs get dominated on the line of scrimmage was that it was being done by one of the worst Broncos teams that Mike Shanahan has fielded in his time in Denver.
Elvis Dumervil is a second-year stud pass rusher for the Broncos and he contributed three sacks. The rest of the domination was coming from guys like John Engelberger, rookies MarcusThomas, Tim Crowder and Steve Harris, Alvin McKinley and some guy named Josh Mallard. Denver is Mallard’s fifth team in the last six years and he was signed by the Broncos on November 6th, after he was cut by the woeful Atlanta Falcons.
The Chiefs began this game like a disinterested group that wanted to be elsewhere on a cold, sunny day. There are those that will say they quit, gave up, weren’t prepared, have thrown the season in the trash. After a performance like that one, it’s not hard to understand why someone would think so.
However, let me tell you that is not true. The Chiefs played hard. They just didn’t play effectively. And how anyone could question the desire of Tony Gonzalez, for instance, I’m not sure. He went out on the first offensive play of the third quarter with an ankle injury. A lot of players would have taken that injury to the nice, warm locker room and called it a day. Gonzalez went to the locker room, got re-taped, and came back on the field and played in the fourth quarter. He played his heart out.
Take it from someone who spends seven days a week with this team. They were prepared, the coaching staff worked hard to get this team ready for everything that Denver does.
But it’s apparent this team has lost its confidence in themselves and each other. When they fell behind 14-0 halfway through the first quarter, the game was over. There weren’t many guys wearing the red and gold that thought they had a chance to come back.
Turned out they were right.
Losing by 34 points can happen, especially on the road. But losing by 34 to a team like Denver (now just 6-7 on the season) and doing it the way the Chiefs did has brought them to rock bottom.
From here, there’s nowhere else to go but up.
(http://kcchiefs.blip.tv/rss/itunes)