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Public Transportation Returns to Arrowhead on Gamedays

October 20th – 4:39 PM
 
The 3:00 CST NFL trading deadline has come and gone without kcchiefs.com learning of any finalized trades involving the Chiefs. However, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any offers on the table.

Barring a delay of trade approval by the NFL offices, an inability to contact involved players, or some other form of hold-up in the process, it appears that the Chiefs did not make any more trade news on deadline day. 

Overall, the Chiefs made five player trades under Scott Pioli, bringing in four players and giving away three. Kansas City also made one draft day trade. Kansas City’s 2009 “official” trade activity is highlighted below.

Draft Day - Chiefs trade an undisclosed draft pick in 2010 to Miami for a 7th-round choice (pick used on TE Jake O’Connell)

March 1st - Chiefs trade a 2010 2nd-round pick to New England for LB Mike Vrabel and QB Matt Cassel.

March 23rd - Chiefs trade TE Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta for a 2nd-round pick in 2010.

August 24th - Chiefs trade an undisclosed 2010 pick to Miami for OL Andy Alleman and Ikechuku Ndukwe.

September 29th - Chiefs trade QB Tyler Thigpen to Miami for an undisclosed 2010 pick.

October 19th - Chiefs trade DT Tank Tyler to Carolina for an undisclosed 2010 pick.

FINDING CONFIDENCE

October 20th – 3:07 PM
 
Keeping your head up despite a long line of struggles can be quite difficult. The Chiefs are no exception. Winless teams have a decision to make when they go on the road; they can bow up and play a prideful, confident game or they can lay down and go through the motions.

The Chiefs did former on Sunday when they won 14-6 at Washington. The latter choice, that was performed by the Titans in a 59-0 rout by New England. This team, despite it’s record, won’t sulk or feel sorry for themselves. Their head coach won’t let them.

“Honestly, I said to a couple of guys yesterday I didn’t feel like we were 0-5,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “We weren’t acting like an 0-5 team, although that’s what our record was. I would have surely expected to have had a couple of wins out of the way before yesterday. So, really until I got on the bus and turned on my phone and saw probably as many messages as when I got the job did it kind of hit me. First of all, a lot more people than I thought cared about me, or were pretending to. That hit me a little bit.

Haley expected to win a few more games because, quite frankly, the Chiefs should have won more games. This is a team that dominated an Oakland squad and saw Dallas storm a second-half victory that ultimately ended in overtime; both defeats. “Could have…” “Should have…” “Would have…“

Those three phrases are something Chiefs fans have grown accustomed to muttering over the past two seasons. The Chiefs have been close, but unfortunately close doesn’t cut it. Unable to close the door on opponents, Kansas City has seen 17 games end by a margin of less than seven points since 2007. The Chiefs record in those games: 4-13.

But on Sunday, leading by six points, the Chiefs didn’t leave anything for chance. Washington began a comeback attempt with 31 seconds to play, but their first shot at glory turned out to be their last. LB Tamba Hali sealed victory with a sack of QB Todd Collins in the end zone. The Chiefs had closed out an opponent for the first time in 2009. The ending felt good and it felt right.

“It’s a great feeling and it’s been way to long,” S Jon McGraw said in the locker room yesterday.

Yes, you’re correct. Yesterday was indeed Monday, but there was no off-day granted by Haley following the Chiefs first victory in 11 months. Once Monday rolled around, it was time to get back to work and prepare for San Diego.

“Coach Haley gave us permission to enjoy it on the flight home,” McGraw said. “But now we’re all about building on it.“

After the game on Sunday, McGraw said that seeing Hali bring down Collins in the end zone was one of the best sports feelings that he’s had in recent memory. Winning really can help a team more forward. To Haley, winning has become the standard during his coaching past and Sunday’s victory made everything feel the way it should.

“Right after the game in the locker room it just felt like what we should have been doing anyway,” Haley said. “I said in the press conference after the game going into each and every one of those first six games I felt like we were going to win or had a very good chance to win. They didn’t turn out that way until yesterday so I guess I didn’t make a big enough deal about it but I’m happy that it’s over it.”

Winning breeds confidence. It’s back to the practice field tomorrow as Kansas City prepares to begin a winning streak. The Chiefs haven’t won back-to-back games since Weeks Six and Seven of the 2007 season. A bye week followed that second victory in Week 8. Hmmm…isn’t that the exact scenario facing this team in 2009? Interesting.

VOTE FOR SUCCOP

October 20th – 11:09 AM
 
Be sure to vote Chiefs K Ryan Succop as the NFL’s Rookie of the Week.

Fans can cast their vote for Succop on NFL.com/rookies starting today through Friday at Noon EST.

Succop’s competition is Buffalo s Jairus Byrd, Houston LB Brian Cushing, Green Bay LB Clay Matthews and New York Giants WR Hakeem Nicks.

After the regular season, five players will be nominated for NFL Rookie of the Year honors.

October 20th – 10:43 AM
 
The Chiefs did a little something different with their linebacking core on Sunday at Washington. All four linebackers - Demorrio Williams, Corey Mays, Derrick Johnson and Jovan Belcher - played within 10 plays of each other. By my count, Belcher led all inside linebacker with 29 total plays.

What we saw was a new wrinkle to the Chiefs nickel defense, one that prominentlyprominitely featured Johnson at it’s core. Johnson wound up playing a season high number of plays and even started the game. It was his first start of the 2009 season.

“I won’t get into specifics of why we’re doing what,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “I thought Derrick Johnson had a good week of practice and in an effort to get a lot of different guys out on the field playing it was a lot of different reasons. Other than really two plays that you would like to have back defensively, the defense did a heck of a job. They competed, they fought and really gave us a chance to win.“

In addition to Johnson, another new wrikle to the Chiefs nickel defense was CB Mike Richadson. Richardson was active for the first time since signing with the club a few weeks ago and has apparently taken over the nickel duties from CBs Maurice Leggett and Donald Washington. Niehter Leggett or Washington logged any defensive snaps in Washington.

“Thought he did a pretty good job,” Haley said of Richardson. “He had a good week of practice but he was under the spotlight for sure and I thought he came out and competed and came out there on special teams and had a couple of tackles or was in on a couple. That’s positive.“

Richardson finished his Chiefs debut with two tackles and also added key man coverage on two Washington plays - one on an attempt to the end zone and one on a third down conversion attempt.

Overall, the secondary was a highlight for Kansas City, limiting the Redskins passing attack to just a 50% completion percentage, 164 passing yards and a 52.6 quarterback rating. Not bad considering S Jarrad Page wasn’t in the starting lineup for the first time in 37 games. Page had the third longest starting streak among active Chiefs, dating back to a start on opening day at Houston September 9, 2007. G Mike Goff has the longest active starting streak at 112 games (began vs. TEN, 10/27/02), while G Brian Waters comes in second with 44 consective starts (began vs. Denver, 11/23/06).

Veteran S Jon McGraw started his first game since 2006 and filled in admirably for the injured Page.

THE RETURN OF KOLBY?

October 20th – 6:03 AM
 
RB Kolby Smith is in the best shape of his life. You don’t have to ask him to realize that, it’s apparent on first look. The former 2007 fifth-round pick has spent the entire offseason rehabbing a season-ending knee injury and his hard work shows. Smith could literally be a model for “after” photos if Chiefs head coach Todd Haley ever wanted to produce a Body By Haley infomercial. He’s lean, he’s cut and he’s fast.
 
Smith continues to be listed on the reserve physically-unable-to-perform list (PUP) after suffering a season-ending knee injury on November 11, 2008 vs. Tampa Bay. Almost a full year later, it appears that Smith is nearing his return to the Chiefs.
 
“This is when the window opens,” Haley said yesterday. “We’ve had some side discussions about (activating Smith), but we’ll make the decision later in the week. I know he’s chomping at the bit. He’s been working really hard and I’d sure like to get him there.“
 
Technically the Chiefs have three options with Smith. They can release him outright, send him to injured reserve and effectively end his season, or activate him. Right now, it seems like the latter is the most likely. They will have to make that decision within three weeks.
To be clear, reserve PUP players have a three week window after Week Six to practice with the team, but a roster decision must eventually be made. Once Smith is cleared to practice, the team would have three weeks from that date to either place him on the active roster or put him on injured reserve and end his season.
Smith offers a wrinkle that the Chiefs rushing attack could certainly use. He represents a runner unlike any others currently on the roster. Smith is a little bit Larry Johnson and a little bit Jamaal Charles, making him a perfect complement to the Chiefs two most active running backs.
 
The new-look Smith is ready to burst onto the scene once again for Kansas City. In his first NFL start vs. Oakland (11/25/07), Smith turned in a franchise single-game rookie record 31 carries for 150 yards. Overall, he has seen action in 23 games (nine starts) and owns 147 rushes for 507 yards with three TDs and 32 catches for 200 yards. He also owns nine career special teams tackles and can factor into just about any special teams unit.
 
TYLER TRADED TO CAROLINA
October 20th – 5:56 AM
 
As was originally reported yesterday evening on kcchiefs.com, Tank Tyler has been traded to the Carolina Panthers for an undisclosed draft pick in 2010. Since that news was released on kcchiefs.com, numerous reports have surfaced that the draft choice obtained from Carolina is a fifth-round selection. The NFL trade deadline expires today at 3:00 PM CST.
 
The deal makes sense for both teams as Carolina has been in desperate need for help at defensive tackle, while NT Ron Edwards had beaten out Tyler for the starting nose position in Kansas City. Tyler played in just nine defensive snaps at Washington and had seen his playing time cut significantly since Edwards took over the starting duties in Week Three at Philadelphia.
 
Tyler’s trade to Carolina leaves the Chiefs with one open slot on the club’s 53-man roster. Kansas City will need to do something to address the absence of Tyler, as Edwards is now the only player on the roster listed at the nose tackle position. On Saturday, the Chiefs promoted T Barry Richardson from the practice squad and released LB Justin Rogers to make room for Richardson. Rogers had only been with the team for three days.
 
Richardson’s promotion also leaves an open slot on the eight-man practice squad. With Rogers sitting in the shadows, a trade deadline looming and the need to add a body on the defensive front, you can bet that there will be more moves made by the Chiefs. Also, the club may make a decision regarding RB Kolby Smith. Smith has been on the reserve PUP list since training camp; more on that later.
 
Stay tuned to kcchiefs.com throughout the day for the latest news and tune into the live call-in show at Noon CST.