Time to Fire the Gun in Kansas City

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January 3, 2009

Time to Fire the Gun in Kansas City

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I've gone into extensive detail about why Carl Peterson deserves the majority of the blame (part 1 and part 2) for the recent problems in Kansas City and, by association, Lynn Stiles deserves to be culprit #2. Stiles was the VP of Player Personnel from 2001-2005, so you know who to thank for the horrendous drafting during that time period (yes, this is the same Lynn Stiles who could not identify Ben Roethlisberger going into the NFL draft) and for the brilliant free agent acquisitions that included Shawn Barber and Dexter McCleon. I've already discussed the personnel failures ad nauseum, so I'll move on to culprit #3: Gunther Cunningham.

I've been screaming for Gunther Cunningham's head for a while now. Gunther Cunningham's defense is like Sega--it used to be fun in the 90's. The problem is, Gunther Cunningham probably got a lot more credit than he deserved. He took a team that was largely built by Marty Schottenheimer's players and he had Schottenheimer looking over his shoulder to assist in playcalling. Why am I so sure about this? Because Marty has carried an outstanding defense to three different teams, whereas Gunther Cunningham has never recreated the same dominant defense without mentor Marty.

What's worse is that Gun was so popular that the fans and front office forgot to hold him accountable. When Gun blamed his poor 2004 defense on lack of talent, we believed him. When he insisted that he didn't belong up in the booth (for the first, second, and umpteenth time), we reveled at the thought of Gun screaming and cursing at his players on the sidelines. Hell, we were pretty sure he'd throw in a punch or two.

It was exactly this heroism that led to the downfall of Gunther Cunningham. There was never any public outcry for him to lose his job. The fans so furiously defended his record that they bought into his excuses (and he had a new one every single year). And so, the Chiefs continued to cater to his every wish, even when it was against the team's best interests. They entrusted Gun with personnel in 2005; Gun demanded Kendrell Bell, Patrick Surtain, Carlos Hall, and Sammy Knight. We know how that turned out. When Gun scapegoated Don Blackmon for the problems with the linebackers, the Chiefs bought in and fired Blackmon. We know how that turned out too--our linebackers didn't improve under Gun's control; they regressed.

The reason I chose Gun ahead of Herm in the blame game is that Gun is the guy most responsible for this defense. Leave no doubt that Gun had the keys to this defense and he drove it off a cliff. Defensive coordinators are typically more involved with X's and O's and gameday playcalling than head coaches are. More importantly, Gun is the guy most responsible for coaching players to execute fundamentally. The Chiefs have been missing tackles well before Herm came into town.

Gunther Cunningham will probably find somebody else to blame for his failures. I'm sure that he'll continue to insist up and down that injuries led to the problems on defense in 2008, but you cannot let him pull the wool over your eyes one more time. Chan Gailey turned a miserable offense into a relatively productive one by designing an offense around his players' strengths. There is no excuse for Gun not to get the same turnaround after five years of coaching.

Prediction: There is no way the next General Manager will keep Gun on board. Gun no longer has people above him pulling strings. If Herm Edwards is fired, expect a new coach to come in with a new coordinator. If Herm Edwards is retained, because it will probably be difficult to convince a new defensive coordinator to sign on with a coach who may not last more than a year, it might make sense for the Chiefs to consider promoting David Gibbs to the defensive coordinator position just as a one-year stopgap.

Tags: Chan Gailey, Gunther Cunningham, Herm Edwards, Kansas City Chiefs, NFL

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5 Comments on "Time to Fire the Gun in Kansas City"

Posted by bigdaddyt, January 6, 2009 12:56 AM

Are you serious Jon.

They trade away the best defensive player on the team and replace him with a bunch of rookies and it's Gun's fault.

Why don't we face the facts: The Chiefs just don't have enough talent. Give Gun the talent and the defense will dominate.

Posted by Sudden, January 7, 2009 12:23 AM

BigDaddy, you gotta be kidding me. Seriously, You ARE joking, right? Our defensive line consists of two first rounders, a second, and a third. And with all of that, we still get the lowest sack total in NFL history? Oh, thats because we traded away one fourth-rounder with a sketchy history who wanted a huge payday.

We have talent. Just not at the coaching position. (at least not defensively, and I exclude our CB coach from that judgement).

Posted by Stir Crazy, January 7, 2009 3:44 PM

Okay...lets see..as i look @ the chiefs..ordeal...this is what i would do ...i am not gonna be cheap..and it for the long hall..and i am making my judgment from what i have seen from this year..

staff....all GONE ..ALL..
NEEDS ...QB..A REAL STARTER..THIGGY..NOT READY YET..CASSELL..WINS..
RB LJ UR GONE..3RD 7TH RD DRAFT PICK
HERE'S SURTAIN THE EGG DROP..TE..GONZO..DJ/..TRADE HOPEFULLY RAVENS..RAY LEW..AND 4RD PICK..I'LL TELL WHY LATER.AND I AM SPENDING MONEY FOR J..PEPPERS..WHAT EVER IT TAKES
if you think we played with rookies last year..this will be a another rebulid...but this is what will be differ..

I NEED MY DEFENSE TO BE ON SIGHT KILLERS...WHEN THAT UNIFORM GO ON BE LIKE THE MOST HATED COP..ON EARTH..I HAVE A JOB TO DO....HOW..THATS RAY LEW..AND PEPPERS...WE HAVE DEFENSE SWAGGER...AND A DAM LEADER..THE BEST IN THE GAME..PUT DORSEY WHERE HE BELONGS..AND CAN DO DAMAGE..THEM PICKS..1 PICK CURRY
NOW LOOK...PEPPERS TYLER DORSEY HALI...IF HALI FAILS MCBRIDE..IS READY..HE PLAYED WITH HEART..
THAT 1ST PICK..A CURRY...RAY LEW D WILLIAMS..
MY CBs AND SAFETYS..ARE LEGIT..RAY LEW..WILL MAKE SURE THEY DO THERE JOB...THAT WHY I HAVE HIM..TO GIVE THEM HEART...AND SWAGGER...AND EACH POSITONS HAS A GOOD BACK UP..DEFENSE SOLID..SOME MAY ASK WHY TRADE DJ...HIS TECHNICS ARE RUIN..THEY COACH HIM BAD OUT THE GATE..(DANG)AND IF B SPIKES IS ON THE BOARD BY 2ND ROUND..I WILL GET HIM ..FOR WHEN RAY LEW..MOVES ON....AND ALL OTHER PICKS LEFT WILL BE TO REVANT THAT LINE..CAUSE THERE ARE SOME ROAD GRATERS..COME OUT THIS YEAR...SOME VERY GOOD 3RDS..AND WE HAVE PICKS..TO DO THE JOB FROM THE TRADE..BRING IN A GOOD DEFENSE COACH AND RAY LEW...AND PEPPERS..TEACHING ALL THRU...AND WHERE AWSOME...

OFFENSE...CASSELL QB THIGGY WATCH AND LEARN
IF WE CAN LET SOME GO.....THAT DIDNT DO A THING IN 08...WHICH WILL NOT BE HARD..GET SPROLES..
WILL HAVE 3 3RD PICKS.OL...AND 4RD THERE ARE SOME..GOOD RB... FEEL IN SOME HOLES...LET THE OFFENSE CATCH UP TO THE DEFENSE GET SOME CHEMISTY..GOING...AND ..WE ARE IN THE PLAY OFFS..

LOOK @ THIS REAL GOOD FOLKS...IT CAN BE DONE..WITH OUT..HOPING. JUST PAY THE MONEY AND WHERE STILL UNDER THE CAP..AND WILL BE A YOUNG TEAM..FOR YEARS TO COME..

Posted by dvusvp, January 7, 2009 3:52 PM

Okay...lets see..as i look @ the chiefs..ordeal...this is what i would do ...i am not gonna be cheap..and it for the long hall..and i am making my judgment from what i have seen from this year..

LOOK @ THIS REAL GOOD FOLKS...IT CAN BE DONE..WITH OUT..HOPING. JUST PAY THE MONEY AND WHERE STILL UNDER THE CAP..AND WILL BE A YOUNG TEAM..FOR YEARS TO COME..

Posted by Yoon sucks, January 8, 2009 4:22 AM

U lazy mother fuckers how long u gonna go without writing a new article?Must be nice to work one a every two weeks. Fucking pussies

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Time to Fire the Gun in Kansas City

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