Whitlock: Listening to Sharpe beats this.

[easymobee]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...ts/12750352.htm


Listening to Sharpe beats this
JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star

DENVER — Can’t blame Sterling Sharpe, not for Monday Night Meltdown II.

Nope. The Chiefs made you want to change the channel, turn in early and kick your dog on the way to bed. The Chiefs sabotaged their national image, raising questions about their alleged defensive improvement and legitimacy as a playoff threat.

In a contest that brought back memories of the infamous 1998 Monday Night Meltdown, the Denver Broncos once again toyed with the Chiefs, causing Kansas City’s football team to unravel mentally and physically.

By the time the Broncos were done clobbering the Chiefs 30-10, the refs had whistled Kansas City players for 13 penalties (118 yards), including three personal fouls; KC football fans had a new No. 1 enemy in Broncos defensive end Trevor Pryce; and those of us forced to watch the whole thing were left to put this latest mess in perspective.

OK, this meltdown wasn’t as bad as the 1998 one. The original disaster occurred inside Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs fell to 4-6, Derrick Thomas single-handedly earned three personal-foul penalties and a one-game suspension, the Broncos won 30-7, and Lamar Hunt called it one of the worst nights of his football life.

“I thought we disgraced this organization and certainly this community,” Hunt said in 1998.

The Chiefs didn’t disgrace their community Monday night, and they can certainly “rebound” from falling to 2-1. But Monday’s loss was bad, an ominous sign.

It was so bad that I’m sure if given a choice between listening to Sharpe analyze another football game or watching Pryce torture KC’s Willie Roaf-less offensive line, most Chiefs fans would adopt Sharpe and let him read Randy Moss bedtime stories five days a week.

The only thing more painful than witnessing Pryce alternate between embarrassing — in no particular order — Jordan Black, Chris Bober, Kevin Sampson, Jason Dunn, Brian Waters and Will Shields was watching KC’s “improved” D try to slow Mike Shanahan’s offense.

It was a group meltdown. It’s almost impossible to single out any particular Chief for poor play. Trent Green stunk, even before it was obvious he’d have no pass protection. Superhero Larry Johnson ran soft and fumbled deep inside KC territory. Receiver Samie Parker had everyone asking questions about Marc Boerigter. (Why isn’t Boerigter on the active roster?)

You name a Chiefs defender, and he had a bad game. Kansas City’s linebackers — Kawika Mitchell, Derrick Johnson and Kendrell Bell — were all missing in action. Beyond an Eric Hicks sack, KC’s defensive linemen never got close to quarterback Jake Plummer. Dexter McCleon was Dexter McCleon. Sammy Knight never laid an angry hand on a Bronco.

As usual, the Chiefs couldn’t stop Denver’s bootleg passing attack or running game. Plummer completed 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos rushed for 221 yards.

No surprise here. Gunther Cunningham still has plenty of work left to do.

What was surprising was how poorly Kansas City’s offense performed without Roaf. If not for a meaningless touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Al Saunders’ unit would be touchdown-less in six straight quarters.

The Randy Moss and the Raiders held the Chiefs without a touchdown in the second half of KC’s victory in week two. In fact, Kansas City’s offense went 101 minutes, 15 seconds between touchdowns. That’s more than a game and a half.

Roaf’s agent should ask Carl Peterson for a raise. Any questions about KC’s real most valuable player have been answered the last two weeks. I suspect, though, the offensive problems run just a tad deeper than Roaf. Since the Chiefs don’t have a legit No. 2 receiver, Saunders might consider making much-hyped No. 3 tight end Kris Wilson part of the passing game.

The offense needs a new twist. The Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday’s opponent, play a pretty solid brand of D, too. And you know Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens can’t wait to get their crack at Dexter McCleon and Kansas City’s Bum Rush.

[bloodsunday]

By the time the Broncos were done clobbering the Chiefs 30-10, the refs had whistled Kansas City players for 13 penalties (118 yards), including three personal fouls; KC football fans had a new No. 1 enemy in Broncos defensive end Trevor Pryce; and those of us forced to watch the whole thing were left to put this latest mess in perspective.

Oh yeah. ;)


No surprise here. Gunther Cunningham still has plenty of work left to do.

So much for the new and improved KC D ;D


Roaf’s agent should ask Carl Peterson for a raise. Any questions about KC’s real most valuable player have been answered the last two weeks. I suspect, though, the offensive problems run just a tad deeper than Roaf. Since the Chiefs don’t have a legit No. 2 receiver, Saunders might consider making much-hyped No. 3 tight end Kris Wilson part of the passing game.

Classic. That's aobut what the KC people are gonna say, "well we were injured, blah, blah, blah".

[easymobee]

Classic. That's aobut what the KC people are gonna say, "well we were injured, blah, blah, blah".

Some (Not All) Planet posters are already making comments to suggest that it would have been a completely different game had Roaf played.

Some (most of the best ones btw) realize he would have helped, but would not have been good for a 20+ point swing.

[OrangeShadow]

the way trevor played last night roaf wouldnt of mattered

[bronco militia]

Trevor has played well against Roaf in the past...the 2002 game at arrowhead comes to mind.

[Denver Crush]

Some (Not All) Planet posters are already making comments to suggest that it would have been a completely different game had Roaf played.

Some (most of the best ones btw) realize he would have helped, but would not have been good for a 20+ point swing.

**** that! Champ (our best player) was out the whole second half and we still disposed of this supposed #1 offense.

[westcliffe]

Roaf is a great player, but he wouldn't have made a difference last night. Bad game by KC, great game by Denver. It happens.

[brncs_fan]

The Randy Moss and the Raiders held the Chiefs without a touchdown in the second half of KC’s victory in week two. In fact, Kansas City’s offense went 101 minutes, 15 seconds between touchdowns. That’s more than a game and a half.



Actually, the only reason the TD was scored at all, is Walls thought that the pass was so poorly thrown, that he wouldn't catch it and gave up on the play. Parker somehow caught the ball that was thrown 4 yards behind him and scored.

[bendog]

Roaf is a great player, but he wouldn't have made a difference last night. Bad game by KC, great game by Denver. It happens.
I dunno. Put him on Trevor, if he was healthy, and I think Treavor is taken out of the game. As it was they had to use two guys to block him, and then Den started moving him around like they used to. But, because the interior of the dline held up, the chorfs still wouldn't have run the ball very well. And considering how badly their d played, and how well Jake played, Den still wins.

[DivineLegion]

Sammy Knight never laid an angry hand on a Bronco.
.


Hmmm lets see his H2H hit on Smith...The Hit out of bounds on Smith...Angry maybe, Legal...NOT EVEN CLOSE!

[brncs_fan]

I dunno. Put him on Trevor, if he was healthy, and I think Treavor is taken out of the game. As it was they had to use two guys to block him, and then Den started moving him around like they used to. But, because the interior of the dline held up, the chorfs still wouldn't have run the ball very well. And considering how badly their d played, and how well Jake played, Den still wins.

I think if a healthy roaf had been in there last night, it would have been 50/50 between him and pryce.

Pryce was on fire last night. It wouldn't have mattered in Jonathan Ogden was blocking him.

[Old Dude]

Well, just how important is Roaf to the Chiefs?

Vermeil took over the Chiefs in 2001. That year, they went 6-10-0. They were #16 in points scored. Roaf was playing for the Saints in 2001, but went on IR with a sprained MCL in late November.

There was some noise about Roaf coming to Denver in the offseason between 2001 and 2002, but we didn't want to take a chance on the guy, and the Chiefs signed him instead.

2002: Started all 16 games at left tackle, earning his eighth Pro Bowl appearance in first year with Kansas City ... Earned first-team All-Pro honors from Sports Illustrated and Football Digest ... Was also a second-team All-Pro pick by AP ... Was part of a Chiefs offense that led the NFL with 467 points and set a team record with 6,000 total yards.

2003: Started 16 regular season games for Chiefs for second straight season ... Selected to his ninth Pro Bowl and his second with the Chiefs ... Was a first-team All-Pro pick of the AP and Pro Football Weekly ... Earned second-team All-Pro honors from Football Digest ... A member of a Chiefs offense that led the NFL with a franchise-record 484 points ...

2004: Started 16 regular season games for the third straight season … Selected to his 10th Pro Bowl and his third with the Chiefs … Joined Gs Will Shields and Brian Waters on the AFC Pro Bowl squad, making the Chiefs the first AFC squad to have three Pro Bowl offensive linemen since Denver following the ‘98 season … Was a first-team All-Pro pick of the Associated Press and Pro Football Weekly … Also earned All-AFC honors from Pro Football Weekly … Helped the Chiefs lead the NFL in total offense for the first time in team history, as Kansas City averaged 418.4 yards per game.

One of the big advantages KC had during those years was that its O-Line was almost never injured. They played a tremendous number of consecutive games with the same guys.

.. so after 48 consecutive regular season starts for KC, he enters the 2006 season ...

In the opener agaisnt the Jets, with Roaf active, the Chiefs pile up 170 yards and two TDs against the Jets ... in the first quarter.

So far, it looks like KC was off to the races again.

Then Roaf pulls the hammy.

Jet's game

Before Roaf Injury (first 12 mins.)

6-6 Comp.
87 Pass yards
83 Rushing yards
2-2 3rd downs

After Roaf Injury (48 minutes remaining in game)

9-20 comp.
104 passing yards
115 Rushing yards
2-8 Third Downs

See: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/12658072.htm?source=yahoodist&content=ksc_sports

Last week, the 0-3 Raiders held the Chiefs without a touchdown in the whole second half of their game.

The whole situation is probably aggravated by the fact that Shields is playing in a lot of pain. Losing a guy like Roaf has a domino effect.

This to take nothing away from Trevor, who had a great game. But Roaf is the guy the Chiefs can least afford to lose.

The good news for us is that he's 35.

I think we just saw what the window's going to look like when it closes on the Chiefs.

[brncs_fan]

Well, just how important is Roaf to the Chiefs?

Vermeil took over the Chiefs in 2001. That year, they went 6-10-0. They were #16 in points scored. Roaf was playing for the Saints in 2001, but went on IR with a sprained MCL in late November.

There was some noise about Roaf coming to Denver in the offseason between 2001 and 2002, but we didn't want to take a chance on the guy, and the Chiefs signed him instead.

2002: Started all 16 games at left tackle, earning his eighth Pro Bowl appearance in first year with Kansas City ... Earned first-team All-Pro honors from Sports Illustrated and Football Digest ... Was also a second-team All-Pro pick by AP ... Was part of a Chiefs offense that led the NFL with 467 points and set a team record with 6,000 total yards.

2003: Started 16 regular season games for Chiefs for second straight season ... Selected to his ninth Pro Bowl and his second with the Chiefs ... Was a first-team All-Pro pick of the AP and Pro Football Weekly ... Earned second-team All-Pro honors from Football Digest ... A member of a Chiefs offense that led the NFL with a franchise-record 484 points ...

2004: Started 16 regular season games for the third straight season … Selected to his 10th Pro Bowl and his third with the Chiefs … Joined Gs Will Shields and Brian Waters on the AFC Pro Bowl squad, making the Chiefs the first AFC squad to have three Pro Bowl offensive linemen since Denver following the ‘98 season … Was a first-team All-Pro pick of the Associated Press and Pro Football Weekly … Also earned All-AFC honors from Pro Football Weekly … Helped the Chiefs lead the NFL in total offense for the first time in team history, as Kansas City averaged 418.4 yards per game.

One of the big advantages KC had during those years was that its O-Line was almost never injured. They played a tremendous number of consecutive games with the same guys.

.. so after 48 consecutive regular season starts for KC, he enters the 2006 season ...

In the opener agaisnt the Jets, with Roaf active, the Chiefs pile up 170 yards and two TDs against the Jets ... in the first quarter.

So far, it looks like KC was off to the races again.

Then Roaf pulls the hammy.

Jet's game

Before Roaf Injury (first 12 mins.)

6-6 Comp.
87 Pass yards
83 Rushing yards
2-2 3rd downs

After Roaf Injury (48 minutes remaining in game)

9-20 comp.
104 passing yards
115 Rushing yards
2-8 Third Downs

See: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/12658072.htm?source=yahoodist&content=ksc_sports

Last week, the 0-3 Raiders held the Chiefs without a touchdown in the whole second half of their game.

The whole situation is probably aggravated by the fact that Shields is playing in a lot of pain. Losing a guy like Roaf has a domino effect.

This to take nothing away from Trevor, who had a great game. But Roaf is the guy the Chiefs can least afford to lose.

The good news for us is that he's 35.

I think we just saw what the window's going to look like when it closes on the Chiefs.

How long have we been telling the chief faithful that they are an injury away from a loosing record?

[RhymesayersDU]

It was so bad that I’m sure if given a choice between listening to Sharpe analyze another football game or watching Pryce torture KC’s Willie Roaf-less offensive line, most Chiefs fans would adopt Sharpe and let him read Randy Moss bedtime stories five days a week.

rofl

[Bronx33]

Hmmm lets see his H2H hit on Smith...The Hit out of bounds on Smith...Angry maybe, Legal...NOT EVEN CLOSE!


I'am curious what happens on this one from the league.

[Old Dude]

I'am curious what happens on this one from the league.

Nothing will happen. Chiefs don't get fined. That would make Dicky cry, and no one wants that.

[DBroncos4life]

Pryce linedup everywhere this game. Roaf migh have helped some but Pryce beat pretty much everyone of their "pro bowl" line guys.

[Northman]

OK, this meltdown wasn’t as bad as the 1998 one. The original disaster occurred inside Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs fell to 4-6, Derrick Thomas single-handedly earned three personal-foul penalties and a one-game suspension, the Broncos won 30-7, and Lamar Hunt called it one of the worst nights of his football life.

Yep, this was the night my hatred for the chiefs grew even above the lowly raiders.


What was surprising was how poorly Kansas City’s offense performed without Roaf. If not for a meaningless touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Al Saunders’ unit would be touchdown-less in six straight quarters.


Again, not shocked. only further proof that TrInt is not a great Qb. without that line he cannot make any plays on his own and therefore is just a system Qb fortuante to have played behind a really good Rams and Chiefs O-line.

[Rock Chalk]

Trevor has played well against Roaf in the past...the 2002 game at arrowhead comes to mind.
In the interview after the game Pryce mentioned one player not being here that he wanted to get back at for pushing him around in that game last year when he had no strength in his legs. The reporter asked if it was Willie Roaf to which Pryce replied "No, its not him, he is too much of a good guy" Now I dont know if he was implying that Roaf is a character guy or if it was his talent (though in the context it sounded to me like he was talking about Roaf's character, not his talent)

[Atlas]

Roaf is a great player, but he wouldn't have made a difference last night. Bad game by KC, great game by Denver. It happens.

How would have Roaf helped When Pryce was kick Shields ass on the other side of the line???

[MadCity]

In the interview after the game Pryce mentioned one player not being here that he wanted to get back at for pushing him around in that game last year when he had no strength in his legs. The reporter asked if it was Willie Roaf to which Pryce replied "No, its not him, he is too much of a good guy" Now I dont know if he was implying that Roaf is a character guy or if it was his talent (though in the context it sounded to me like he was talking about Roaf's character, not his talent)

Pretty sure he was referring to John Welbourn.