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BYE BYE BYE
October 30th – 6:04 AM

Sorry fans, no game action this weekend for the Chiefs. It’s the annual bye weekend – something that infuriated me when I was a child growing up, unable to comprehend why the Chiefs would be so ridiculous and take a Sunday off.

They say that with age comes experience, and with experience, comes knowledge and understanding. I now understand two things about the bye – all teams have them (not just the Chiefs like I thought as a child) and they may be one of the most important weeks/weekends of the season.

In the NFL, bye weekends are used for relaxation, rehabilitation and reflection. The Chiefs certainly need a hefty dose of all three, as the team sits at 1-6 heading into the Week 8 bye.

Relax – The team worked Monday through Thursday before given a three-day weekend to enjoy. Most of the players will spend their extended weekend with friends and family – whether it be attending a college game at the alma mater or coaching the boys on Saturday.

Rehabilitation – A lighter load of practice regimen gives the walking wounded extra time to heal.

T Branden Albert could very well practice in full on Monday and return to the starting lineup at Jacksonville. Albert went through drills in pregame last Sunday and was very close to playing, but ultimately stayed sidelined. His return is much needed considering the injury situation surrounding C Rudy Niswanger. Wade Smith looks to be the starter in Niswanger’s absence. He was also the starter at left tackle while Albert was sidelined.

The same thing goes for S Jon McGraw when the team resumes practices on Monday.

Reflection – This may be the most important of the three, as the coaches punched the time cards this week in similar fashion to a game week. The only difference was that the Chiefs coaches weren’t scheming for an opponent, they were scheming against themselves.

The process is referred to as “self-scouting.” It’s a complete and comprehensive breakdown of formations, schemes, concepts and tendencies based on hours of research and video study. Line up the computer data and video cut-ups and just have at it. Where are the Chiefs being exploited and where are they showing positive areas to build upon? The Chiefs coaching staff has infinite amounts of game tape and technical trend data to support their studies, while we only have our eyes. To each his own, I guess - let’s take a look at where the Chiefs are currently stand regarding each position at the season’s mid-way point.

QUARTERBACKS
What’s to Like?
• Cassel has shown some serious grit in popping right back up after being hit time and time again. His ability to move in and out of the pocket is the most pleasant surprise to me. I knew he could run when we traded for him, but I didn’t know they full extent of his athleticism and agility.

• Croyle’s re-emergence from injury has been a welcome surprise, giving the Chiefs a viable backup should Cassel falter to injury. Croyle’s spot-start at Baltimore looks even better today than it did seven weeks ago.

What’s Not to Like?
• The Chiefs have yielded a league-leading 26 sacks (-148 yards) to date. Sacks are not only a product of offensive line play, but they are a product of quarterback play as well.

• Cassel did have a 150 passes without an INT streak going just one week ago, but when that streak fell, it fell hard. Not one, not two, but three INTs were delivered and Cassel saw his QB rating plummet to 73.2 for the season. Two of the INTs were the products of very poor throws.

• This number has been on the rise in recent weeks, but Cassel’s 5.34-yard per attempt is not where you want it to be. Really, you want that number to be in the high sevens or low eights. Cassel averaged 7.16 yards per attempt in New England last season.

RUNNING BACKS
What’s to Like?
• Jamaal Charles has shown the ability to break the big run on occasion. He has the team’s best yards per carry mark (5.0) and longest rush (24).

• The pass blocking among members of this group has improved dramatically over the past year.

What’s Not to Like?
• No rushing TDs through seven games played is the only thing that needs to be said. That statistic speaks volumes for the type of year it’s been, thus far, on the ground for Kansas City. St. Louis is the only other team in the league yet to score on the ground – they play Detroit this weekend.

WIDE RECEIVERS
What’s to Like?
• Some of the catches that this group has turned in have been flat-out phenomenal (watch the Top 10 Saturday on kcchiefs.com). These groups of receivers have also made some of those phenomenal grabs on key downs and in the end zone.

• Bobby Wade may be this group’s MVP through the first half of the season. He’s learned on the fly and become an immediate contributor. He’s just three catches behind Bowe for the team lead despite joining the team on September 15th.

• With WR Lance Long in the mix, there is competition for the third, fourth and fifth receiver positions. To be successful, you need “real” competition at the bottom of position groups.

What’s Not to Like?
• The group is struggling through major consistency issues. Wrong routes, missed blocks and head-scratching drops sometimes come right before or after impressive, big-time catches and de-cleating hits. The inconsistency is just one of those things that makes you go “hmmmm?”

• Although this group has a nice mix of play-makers and possession receivers, they have yet to show that there is a legitimate deep-threat among the group. The Chiefs are missing that “burner.”

TIGHT ENDS
What’s to Like?
• Chiefs fans have grown accustomed to watching potentially the best receiving tight end to ever put on a football helmet over the past 12 seasons. Obviously that leaves some big shoes to fill – especially for a group of players known more for their blocking skills than their receiving skills.

• With that said, you can’t ask much more from this group. They’ve been nothing short of a bunch of over-achievers. Sean Ryan already has more receptions, receiving yards and TDs than had posted over his five NFL seasons combined. Heck, on opening day the Chiefs tight ends had a combined career of 19 catches for 168 yards with no TDs (*Pope was not on the roster opening day). Currently, this group has posted 18 receptions for 159 yards with two TDs over seven games. Over-achievers, no doubt.

• The Chiefs have given up the most sacks of any NFL team of the first seven games of 2009. With that said, I wouldn’t want to see what that number might look like if Kansas City didn’t sign Leonard Pope on September 29th. Pope has been instrumental in providing a big body to assist on the edge during plays that require max protection.

What’s Not to Like?
• There are been some blocking breakdowns that have led to sacks and the two youngest players in the group (Cottam and O’Connell) often find themselves on the inactive list.

OFFENSIVE LINE
What’s to Like?
• It’s been a rough year for the Chiefs offensive line. They’ve been the leading recipient of fan frustration regarding the Chiefs offensive struggles. There’s not really anywhere to hide when you rank 30th in total offense, 19th in rushing, 30th in passing and have surrendered the most sacks in the NFL.

With that said, this group has shown versatility. Wade Smith has proven to be a very valuable asset, essentially able to step in at any position when called upon. His presence has helped stabilize a group dealing with instability.

What’s Not to Like?
• See everything listed in the first bullet point above, and then add 13 false starts and 13 holding calls. Many of those penalties are unacceptable, especially when you have a head coach preaching the elimination of negative plays.

DEFENSIVE LINE
What’s to Like?
• A trimmer, slimmer and quicker Glenn Dorsey is getting off the football in a hurry, and starting to collapse the pocket more often.

• The defensive lineman have done a good job recognizing passing lanes and timing jumps, batting down a number of throws at the line of scrimmage.

• Life in the 3-4 defense is filled with duties that are anything but glamorous. The defensive ends have done a nice job on several occasions by occupying blockers on the edge to free Tamba Hali for pressures from the outside.

What’s Not to Like?
• Defensive linemen in the 3-4 defense don’t rack up that stats, but you’d still like to see those flat-line games (no stat games) eliminated.

• Although the Chiefs are on pace for considerably more sacks than a year ago, the Chiefs still rank among the league’s bottom three in that category.

• Kansas City is allowing 131.0 rushing yards per game. Plugging holes and keeping linemen off of linebackers is a tough duty in the trenches, but will help decrease that number.

LINEBACKERS
What’s to Like?
• The breakout player of the year, defensively, has been Tamba Hali – hands down. Hali’s really done a nice job transitioning from a 4-3 defensive end to a 3-4 outside linebacker.

• The leader of this defense is Mike Vrabel – hands down. Vrabel’s championship demeanor will pay dividends to the young players on this defense for years to come. Vrabel’s impact won’t leave this organization when he moves on. He’s one of those special, unique type of players that don’t come around often, and the Chiefs are very lucky to have him. It also doesn’t hurt that he plays at a consistently high level.

What’s Not to Like?
• The linebackers sometimes have matchup problems while playing in man coverage against running backs and when going up against athletic tight ends.

• Vrabel said earlier this week that part of the defense’s problem has been an inordinate amount of big plays yielded. He said that a lot of that has to do with giving and receiving the proper defensive calls. Ultimately that starts on defense with the linebackers.

DEFENSIVE BACKS
What’s to Like?
• The Chiefs have some young players in the secondary that will be bedrocks of this defense for many years to come – specifically CB Brandon Flowers.

• The group has gotten a lot of mileage out of S Jon McGraw. Potentially the new starter at free safety, McGraw has really stepped up. He’s a valuable asset to a team with the ability to play on special teams, and virtually any position asked of him at a high level. Last year, McGraw lined up at both safety positions, cornerback and nickel back – in the same game! This year, he’s already added linebacker to his duties on occasion. What’s next? Nose tackle?

What’s Not to Like?
• Missed tackles, bad angles and coverage breakdowns have cost the Chiefs some big plays this season. Two words can sum up the Chiefs first-half frustrations in the defensive backfield – Miles Austin.

THE SPECIALISTS
What’s to Like?
• The coverage units are excellent (only 3.6 yards per punt return – NFL average is 8.6 yards), rookie K Ryan Succop is nails and Dustin Colquitt remains one of the NFL’s most consistent punters.

What’s Not to Like
• This group has made very little errors, but when they have made errors they’ve been huge errors. The fumbled opening kickoff vs. the Giants, Succop’s blocked field goal vs. Dallas and Colquitt’s blocked punt last weekend are the examples.

• Although it looks like Jamaal Charles has been close on a number of occasions, we’re still waiting to see a returner turn in that big, game-changing special teams return.

Here’s to a successful second-half of 2009!