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CHIEFS MAKE FIVE MORE MOVES
September 29th - 5:27 PM

The Chiefs kicked off “Transaction Tuesday” by trading QB Tyler Thigpen to the Dolphins for an undisclosed draft pick. Kansas City recently announced five more moves in addition to the Thigpen trade.

Kansas City announced that they have released CB Ricardo Colcough and LB Monty Beisel from the 53-man roster, as well as TE Tom Crabtree from the practice squad.

Signed to the 53-man roster was free agent TE Leonard Pope, and added to the practice squad was T Chris Patrick. Like many of the newest Chiefs, Pope has a working history with head coach Todd Haley. Pope was a tight end with Arizona from 2006-07. He played in 42 games and caught 48 passes for 476 yards and five TDs with the Cardinals. Pope was released by Arizona on September 4th. Patrick was most recently with Philadelphia after being released on August 31st.

These transactions put Kansas City’s active roster at 51 players, meaning that two roster positions remain open and will likely be filled via free agency or practice squad promotion before practice on Wednesday.

PIOLI REWARDED WITH PATIENCE
September 29th - 3:29 PM

Patience really is a virtue. Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli played the waiting game, rostering four Chiefs quarterbacks for the past week despite QB Matt Cassel being back in action. There was no longer a need to keep four players at the quarterback position after Cassel returned to action vs. Oakland on September 20th.

Nine days came and went, but Pioli didn’t budge. Quite frankly, the indecision by Pioli to make a move had many fans and media members scratching their heads. But in the end, Pioli was truly a winner and the move (or lack thereof) was most definitely calculated.

There was a market for QB Tyler Thigpen a month ago when rumors swirled that the Chiefs were in discussions with Jacksonville to trade the former starter. Just a few days later, Cassel injured his knee and the trade rumors died instantly. Today, Thigpen was dealt to the Dolphins for an undisclosed draft pick.

Pioli could have released Gutierrez or Thigpen and signed a free agent, or promoted a man from the practice squad a week ago. He didn’t, and it paid off. Instead of sending either player out to the waiver wire and gaining nothing in return, Pioli was able to strike a deal after QB Chad Pennington injured his shoulder on Sunday. That injury ultimately ended his 2009 season.

Maybe there was a trade in the works the whole time, who knows? But the fact of the matter is that Pioli was able to get a pick and make a deal, when it looked like he was going to have to let a guy fly for free. Chiefs win no matter which way you look at it.

The future is impossible to predict, but it almost seems as if Pioli had a hunch all along.

THIGPEN TO ‘FINS
September 29th - 1:00 PM

As reported on kcchiefs.com in our live call-in show, the Chiefs have traded QB Tyler Thigpen to the Miami Dolphins for an undisclosed draft choice.

The Dolphins have yet to confirm a season ending injury to QB Chad Pennington, but he suffered a shoulder injury this Sunday and his future for the season remains uncertain. The move leaves the Chiefs with three quarterbacks (Cassel, Croyle and Gutierrez) and an open roster slot on the 53-man active roster.

Update 3:00 PM - The Dolphins officially placed Pennington on IR to make room for Thigpen.

RIDE THE BUS
September 29th – 11:52 AM

Public Transportation Returns to Arrowhead on Gamedays

WELCOME TO THE “THREE” IN THE 3-4
September 29th – 6:17 AM

If stats are your thing, playing defensive line in the 3-4 scheme probably isn’t for you. Enamored by sack totals and big plays? Maybe it’s time to play linebacker. They’re the stars in the 3-4. The 3-4 defense is a linebackers dream as the scheme is designed around the four linebackers roaming the second level and space off the edge.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast told kcchiefs.com in an exclusive interview last week that stopping the run is the primary role of a defensive lineman in the 3-4. These are the guys that do the dirty work. Their job is to stay inside and keep the offensive linemen off of the linebackers. Every once in a while they’ll find themselves in a third-down situation that allows them to move into a seven technique and rush the quarterback.

A lot of times, d-linemen in the 3-4 are asked to play two-gap techniques. The nose must play both “A gaps,” while the ends are asked to move inside and occupy both the “B and C gaps” - at least on a temporary basis. The idea is to cloud the path of the offensive linemen, allowing the linebackers extra time to flow free to the football. Quite frankly, the job can be boring, but its impact is colossal.

Making the jump from college to pros is already a difficult one, but it’s especially difficult in the trenches and it’s seems even more difficult in the 3-4. There are a handful of rookies on each side of the football, which jump out and hold their own during their first season in the NFL. Most are skill players and rarely does a rookie defensive lineman in the 3-4 schemes gain national accolades.

“With that particular position it is difficult,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said of evaluating the defensive end position in the 3-4 defense.

What about evaluating 2009 first-round pick DE Tyson Jackson after just three games? Where do we start?  He seemed to struggle a bit at times this past weekend, just a week after he showed flashes of the type of force he will grow to be with Kansas City.

“Incrementally,” Haley said. “Small increments knowing what we know about that position. It’s a non-glory position as it is. You just want to see steady improvement and this was probably just a little step back for him.”

So how do you measure success for a player like Jackson, or Glenn Dorsey for that matter? Not by individual stats, that’s for sure. Jackson and Dorsey, like their 3-4 counter parts across the league, are kind of like sitcom or screenplay writers. Their success is measured on how someone else carries out the material. The success and praise of the comedy or film is usually dedicated to the actor who delivers the lines. In the case of the 3-4, that would be the linebackers.

Just take a look at DE Richard Seymour, a player most consider to be one of the finest defensive ends in the game. While Seymour excelled in New England’s 3-4 scheme, he constantly posted between 3.0 and 5.5 sacks per season. There were two occasions where he set career-highs with 8.0 sacks in a season. His sack and tackle totals are hardly impressive compared to ends playing other schemes.

Nose tackles, cover your ears and eyes, it gets uglier for you. Pittsburgh DT Casey Hampton is widely considered as one of the best 3-4 nose tackles in the game today. His sack totals – 6.5 over nine seasons. Not a season-high of 6.5, but a career total of 6.5.

It’s a humbling experience for Jackson to go through as the third overall selection and many incorrectly basing his progress of sack totals. But that’s life in the 3-4.

“I’m not making excuses for the player because he needs to be better and we need to get him better,” Haley said. “He can’t take steps back. That’s what I would say. I just want to see steady improvement and not the yo-yo stuff. He’s working hard and is into it but it is a big job, a big job.”

As Jackson improves, the Chiefs defense will improve as well. He will receive praise and notoriety in due time. It just won’t be based off of individual statistics. Jackson will arrive when the Chiefs defense arrives as a whole. Ask Seymour or Hampton if you don’t believe me.

AN EERIE PREGAME FEELING
September 28th – 9:06 PM

Something just didn’t feel right to Chiefs head coach Todd Haley during pregame warm-ups in Philly. He was pleased with his team’s prep during the week, but as the rain fell on Lincoln Financial Field, something was just off. Haley still can’t quite put his finger on it.

”In pre-game I was even a little worried because of the overall mood and the way some guys were acting,” Haley said.

Odd. What was it? A lack of focus? Nerves? A flat locker room? All of the above?

Whatever it was, things didn’t start out particularly well for the Chiefs as they found themselves in an early 14-0 hole.

”Just having coached and been out in that situation a bunch as a position coach and coordinator, that’s a game us coaches play all the time: what do you think?,” Haley explained. “We talk to each other. What are they acting like, what’s your feel?  Yesterday in particular it wasn’t a very good feel that I had of what I was seeing. In fact, in seven-on-seven which is a throwing drill I ended up getting ticked off and handing the ball off about eight straight times. The energy, the movement was bothersome to me.”

Sometimes when a team looks flat, they come out on fire; and sometimes when a squad looks pumped, they come out and lay an egg. There really is no way to handicap a pregame routine, but when the head coach has a gut feeling about something he’s usually right. Haley’s gut was right on Sunday. The next time he feels that way, seven-on-seven likely won’t be the only thing he switches up.

BELCHER’S STOCK IS RISING
September 28th – 4:58 PM

LB Jovan Belcher entered training camp as a long shot to make the Chiefs roster. It was nothing against Belcher, but any rookie free agent faces an uphill battle to make an NFL team; especially if you’re from a football subdivision school (Maine) and players like Derrick Johnson and Zach Thomas are listed ahead of you on the depth chart.

But Belcher went about his business, first turning heads on special teams with big hits and quality coverage. He has the ability to play, and has appeared, on nearly every special teams unit. Belcher has shown to be a fearless player who can both run and hit. Simply making the football team, however, hasn’t  been enough for Belcher.

After not playing any defensive plays during his first two games as a pro (he did see time on special teams), Belcher arrived on the linebacking scene in Philadelphia. Belcher logged a career-high 20 snaps on the defensive side of the football while Derrick Johnson was out held out with a groin injury. The early returns on Belcher are good and he seems to have earned himself a second look.

“I think that you will see more of #59,” Haley said. “He is a guy who has impressed us all from early on and I think that we have a potential player there. Whenever you have a guy who can run, hit and show up around the football, he’s a guy who has helped us on special teams. When he was in there (on defense) that was his first real action, so I think that he was a little wound up and that probably caused him to get out of position a little bit, but that’s a guy who needs to be on the field.“

Some very encouraging words for a 22-year old to hear from his head coach. The ball is now in Belcher’s court to keep progressing the way he has this preseason and into the early portion of 2009.

INJURY UPDATE: BOWE, D. JOHNSON
September 28th – 4:18 PM

Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said today that WR Dwayne Bowe was not very close to being active on Sunday. It has been reported that Bowe missed the Eagles game due to a hamstring injury he suffered running sprints following last Wednesday’s practice. Bowe spent the majority of Thursday’s practice session on a stationary bike and tried to make practice a go on Friday, but it was determined he wasn’t ready to play in Philadelphia.

“No, not this week,” Haley said today responding to a question of if Bowe was close to playing on Sunday. “Anytime you are talking about a hamstring, especially at the skill positions, I think that you have to error on the side of caution. Those can end up being a long-term thing if you aren’t careful. He didn’t make the progress that we wanted him to make.“

Haley went on to say that he was hopeful injured LB Derrick Johnson would be able to return to practice on Wednesday. He seemed a little reserved to say the same thing about Bowe, however.

CHIEFS JUGGLE RIGHT TACKLE
September 28th – 4:09 PM

According to the latest addition of the Chiefs depth chart, T Ryan O’Callaghan has surpassed T Ikechuku Ndukwe as Kansas City’s starting right tackle. O’Callaghan was claimed off waivers from New England earlier this month.

DT Ron Edwards is also listed as the starting nose tackle on defense. Edwards started at that position on Sunday. DT Tank Tyler had started the previous two games at that position.