Strengths:

I know the NFL pretty well - and I know what kind of team I would like to put out on the field.  Most importantly, I want to put a winner in Arrowhead and give the fans something to cheer for, and make it worth their "$29 for parking" while. 

Most of my knowledge comes from playing an extraordinary amount of Madden 2009 on my Xbox, watching about 85% of all available games to me each week on TV, and being an avid (not necessarily "good") fantasy football player.  Doesn't that at least put me in the top 50%? 

Weaknesses:

I have not been personally associated with football since 8th-grade when I broke my arm in practice.  To date, I have never been involved with dealings with an agent or a salary cap, and have yet to make a pick in the NFL Draft.

Ace in the Hole:

With word coming down that Scott Pioli will command a $6 million salary, I would be a much more affordable candidate, and likely at least 50% as effective as Pioli would be.  Likewise, I would redirect that saved money into our team and our stadium - so everyone wins. 

Team Structure:

The first move would be to fire Herm Edwards, begrudgingly so.  I have supported Herm - I have really tried to get behind him and his style.  But he is, without a doubt (which is code for "here comes some more blowhard rhetoric"), one of the worst game-day coaches in the league right now.  Herm simply doesn't get how to manage strategy while the clock is ticking - and that needs to change.

Beer prices would immediately be lowered to $5, and I would begin to search for hotter cheerleaders.  Stupid, you say?  Insignificant?  I disagree - hear me out.

When we struggled through a 2-14 season this year (1-7 in Arrowhead), what would convince you to stay, and more importantly, to keep coming back?  Cheap beer and hot girls?  I thought so.  Seriously - we live in Kansas City, not freaking Mongolia - we can certainly find some hotter cheerleaders than those road hags we keep running out there week after week.  Crap, at least import the Dallas and San Diego rejects that don't make the squad - anything other than the sea monsters that roam the Arrowhead sidelines eight times a year.

My next move would be to remove Larry Johnson from the team...ideally, by catapult, much like Rex Banner was removed from Springfield in the "Beer Baron" episode of "The Simpsons".  If someone is willing to give me some belly lint and an autographed Lin Elliot football from the 1993 playoff game, I would take that in exchange for LJ. 

Finally, I would make sure Damion McIntosh, Donnie Edwards, Pat Surtain and Damon Huard had finished their "ahem" illustrious careers in KC.  Draft some speed (we'll talk about draft scenarios later next week), sign at least one "Holy $@&%, we signed him?" free agent, and get a head coach in here that has all the fan base nodding in approval.

Seriously - is it really that diffcult?  Clark Hunt, you know where to find me.  I guarantee a playoff victory by 2010, or I will tounge bathe Rudy Niswanger on the 50-yard line after his second two-a-day in the 110 degree heat.

Larry Johnson wants out - Larry, I think I speak for most of Kansas City when I say "Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you" on your request to leave this city.  Do you need the number for U-haul? I know a great realtor that can help you sell your place if you need it.

Ever since he got the big guaranteed contract, LJ has ceased to be an impact player.  His defining feature as a running back was that chip on the shoulder to prove everyone wrong and take it out on opposing defenses.  Then he got paid, bought the Maybach, seemed intent on beating up every woman in the greater Metro area, and lost his heart (and balls) on the field. Maybe Dick Vermeil had a good read on LJ when he called him a baby all those years ago.

I've had a few other teams on MVN ask me what it will take to get LJ - and honestly, I think that we would take anything at this point.  Heck, a Tackle Buddy punching doll with a football taped to it would provide more resistance than Johnson did this year.  If the Chiefs got more than a 4th-round pick for LJ offered to them right now, they would be ludicrous not to take the deal. 

Side note on art imitating life - I was playing Madden 2009 and leading the Chiefs to their third consecutive Super Bowl win with Chris Simms at quarterback (Brodie Croyle got hurt in the second game and I released him immediately thereafter), and LJ held out for more money after the season.  I refused to pay him...and he was snatched up by the Raiders, where he promptly got hurt and spent the season on IR.  I can't wait for this to happen in real life.

So hopefully this is the last we've seen of #27 in a Chiefs' uniform.  This team can survive with Jammal Charles, Kolby Smith, and a free agent or drafted player as their running back corps.  Trust me - there are several talented players that will be available before the 2009 season starts.

Chiefs receive permission to speak to Scott Pioli - Giddy-up!  At least Clark Hunt is trying to nab a big-time player for the General Manager position.  Pioli has been seen by many as the next great GM of the NFL, someone who is ready to escape from Bill Belicheck's shadow in New England.  While speculation has him leaning towards the Cleveland job, I hope that he at least interviews with Kansas City.  I don't know if Pioli can do what he did in New England here in KC, but look at it this way - HE'S NOT CARL PETERSON!  That has to be in our favor, right?

Other potential candidates include (in order of my preference): Chris Polian (Colts' VP of Football Operations), George Kokinis (Ravens' Director of Pro Personnel) and Phil Savage (former Cleveland GM).  Savage is the weakest prospect of this bunch, and fails to deliver the message of a true change in regime.  It's time for drastic measures in the front office - hopefully Hunt realizes this and goes the right direction.

Mike Shanahan is fired by the Broncos - Wow - did anyone see this coming? Of all the AFC West coaches, I thought Shanahan would be the last one fired, not the first.  However, after an epic collapse (that would be bemoaned endlessly if it had happened on the East Coast) by Denver, it should not have been as surprising that Shanahan was let go. 

This affects Kansas City several ways - first, they no longer have to deal with Shanahan, who seemingly owned Kansas City during his 14-year stretch in Denver.  Second, Shanahan is now a viable replacement for Herm Edwards.  Third - this opens a new, attractive coaching position for Bill Cowher - which frightens the bejeezus out of me.

I think that Denver will be a possible landing spot for Cowher because the team may be willing to give him the GM control he desires as a coach.  Shanahan handled the role for Denver, so the team may want to go in another direction - but remember that it could happen.  However, Peter King claims that Cowher will not coach until 2010, so we may be safe for now.

So - tell me what you think, fans.  There's a lot to talk about between now and Opening Day in nine short months.  I hope you have a Happy New Year, and please be safe this evening.

Wow - we knew this year would be rough.  We knew going in that there were going to be "growing pains" or whatever euphemism that we want to use to describe "a bunch of young players who are going to get their asses handed to them and make a bunch of dumb mistakes and wonder why in the world we bought into this stupid youth movement".  But this year was about answering some questions rather than positioning ourselves to win the most putrid division since the AFC (L)East in 2004.

But damn, this season was still tough to watch.  From the back-to-back ass-kickings in Carolina and at home against Tennessee, to the Brazilian-wax worthy San Diego games - yeah, this team ran the gamut in terms of losses.  Blowouts.  Shutouts.  Nail-biters.  Remote throwings.  I dropped the loudest "F" bomb maybe in my life, definitely since any game that didn't involve Lin Elliot, during the Chargers' fiasco in Arrowhead.  I thought the cops were going to come.

There were some bright spots.  Tyler Thigpen emerged as a potential starter/definite backup quarterback, which I will discuss ad naseum in the coming weeks.  The rookie corners (Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr) are here to stay.  Branden Albert learned the hardest spot on the offensive line and held his own, and managed to stay healthy.  The jury is out on Glen Dorsey, but I still think he will contribute mightily in the coming years.  Tony Gonzalez set more records, and continues his march to Canton as the greatest tight end in the history of the NFL.

But for every silver lining, there MUST be a cloud.  Larry Johnson embarrased the team multiple times.  Dwayne Bowe couldn't catch herpes from Lindsay Lohan.  Damion McIntosh ripped out Jordan Black's heart as he took the honor of "Worst Offensive Lineman in Kansas City history" this year.  Herm Edwards just challenged that last sentence, thus wasting his first timeout in 2009.  Yeah - there was plenty of bad stuff.

The biggest frustration to me is that there are more questions than answers after the season is over - because that was what 2008 was supposed to be (in my eyes, at least).  We should have answered questions about the future of the Chiefs.

Is Brodie Croyle the quarterback of the future?  (That one is a resounding no...at least we got that one sorted out).

Is the defense improved? (Good God no.)

Will Herm and Carl make it to 2009?  (Halfway there to a full "no".)

How will the rookies and second-year players fare? (Remarkably well, actually.)

There were millions of other questions - but the big one was "Will this team compete in 2009 and beyond?"  The troubling answer is still "We're not sure".

Now we have to find a new general manager, probably a new head coach (Herm needs to go, and I've been one of his more vocal supporters), a new running back, and god willing, a new defensive coordinator, if only to insure that Jon Yoon doesn't stroke out during Week 3 of next year when the Chiefs are down 31-3 in the second quarter to someone.

So - no, 2008 was not a successful season by almost any measure.  Sure, there were some highlights, but what I had hoped to happen didn't, except for Carl getting axed.  Hopefully owner Clark Hunt will start filling in the blanks shorty - I want to feel confident about my team again.

Rookie left tackle Branden Albert will be making an appearance this Saturday, December 20th, in Independence.  He will be signing autographs, so please come out to meet the anchor of the Chiefs' offensive line:

Place: Westlake Ace Hardware

           4545 S. Noland Road, Suite B

           Independence, MO 64055

Albert will be appearing from 1:00-2:00 p.m.  You can call the store (816-373-1073) if you need further directions.

To begin with, I'd like to first remark that I'm not going to jump in the Carl Peterson analysis right now. I think that's very well covered already, and if I add anything else to it, I think this blog might explode. So consider this your break from talking King Carl.

The very first thing I want to tackle is a myth going around among a lot of Chiefs fans that Glenn Dorsey is already a bust, or not performing as expected. It's another post for another day, but KC has had some miserable drafts in the past. This one is an exception, in my opinion. I understand fans wanting wins, but coming into this season, on some level, you could not expect these rookies to carry this team to a .500 record in the NFL. That's absolutely unreasonable. I can understand being unhappy with past drafts and doubting this franchise's ability to build through the draft, but let's stop with the over analysis.

Just the other week I was listening to the radio on my way back home, and they were breaking down Dorsey's footwork. His footwork? Unless you're qualified (pro coach or a competitive DT yourself), I don't think it's really anyone's place to do that. There's one way to measure players for fans, and that is the lovely world of statistics.

Let me preface this by saying something: I hate math. I hate it with a passion. My posts will not be stat-centric, typically. This will be an exception. In this case, though, the stats don't lie - DTs do not typically have fantastic, eye-catching turnover / sack numbers. The generally accepted role of a DT in a pro defense is to take up space, collapse the "between the tackles" run game, and be a force. Your job is to get double teamed, plain and simple- to free up other linemen / LB's to pick off backs and pass rush. The Chiefs don't have a pass rush, so people try to push this on Dorsey. It's hard to tell if Dorsey is getting doubled a lot without doing a lot of video review (I don't have the time or the DVR to do this), but we can tell if he's impacting games in a couple ways. Most importantly, the thing to remember is: He is a rookie. It's too early to call him a bust.

Let's compare some statistics of some other all-pro DT's in their rookie or first full season: Warren Sapp, Richard Seymour, Jamal Williams, Tommie Harris, and Marcus Stroud to our man, Glenn Dorsey.

Round Taken in Draft - Name and First Season of 10+ games - pertinent stats for that year

1^st Rnd - W. Sapp 1995 - 16 Games, 17 Solo tackles, 10 assists, 3 sacks, 1 FF

1^st Rnd - R. Seymour 2001 -13 Games, 25 Solo tackles, 20 assists, 3 sacks, 0 FF

2^nd Rnd - J. Williams 1999  - 16 Games, 22 Solo tackles, 4 Assists, 1 sack, 0 FF*

1^st Rnd - M. Stroud 2006 - 11 Games, 19 Solo tackles, 2 Assists, 2.5 sacks, 0 FF

1^St Rnd - T. Harris 2004 - 16 Games, 29 Solo tackles, 15 Assists, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF

1^st Rnd -Dorsey 2008 - 14 Games, 29 Solo tackles, 9 Assists, 1 sack, 1 FF

So what can we gather from this information? High round draft picks on DTs can pay off pretty well for some teams, but the immediate impact remains a question. I think most can agree that the main priority for a defensive tackle is, well, tackling. Given this, let's rank the above 6 rookie (ish) players based on their primary role:

1. Seymour - 3.46 Stops / Game (3 sacks, 0 FF). 1.25 Solo : 1 assist

2. Harris - 2.75 Stops / Game (3.5 sacks, 1 FF). 1.93 Solo : 1 assist

3. Dorsey - 2.71 Stops / Game (1 sack, 1 FF). 3.22 Solo  : 1 assist

4.  Stroud - 1.90 Stops / Game (2.5 sacks, 0 FF) 9.5 Solo : 1 assist (only 11 games)

5. Sapp - 1.69 Stops / Game (3 sacks, 1 FF) 1.7 Solo : 1 assist

6. Williams - 1.63 Stops / Game (1 sack, 0 FF)* 5.5 Solo : 1 assist

Stops/Game calculates how many tackles + assists a player gets divided by number of games played. I tossed in the number of solo stops versus assisted stops, as well. Based on this, Dorsey averages over a full stop per game more than Sapp and Williams. Seymour is a beast, also. If we reorder the list by sacks / game, it's a bit different.

1. Seymour - 0.23 Sacks / Game

2. Stroud - 0.23 Sacks / Game (slightly lower decimal than Seymour)

3. Harris - 0.22 Sacks / Game

4. Sapp - 0.19 Sacks / Game

5. Dorsey - 0.07 Sacks / Game

6. Williams - 0.06 Sacks / Game*

*-Jamal Williams did not play 10+ games in his first year. Stats here are taken from his second pro season.

What can we take away from this? Well, I'm not sure it gives any conclusive proof to anything. It's hard to say that Dorsey will be better than Jamal Williams in terms of tackles and sacks in his career. If he progresses as the guys above have, and can stay around them statistically, is there any doubt he'd be a great player and investment for this team? I think not.

• Carl Peterson was a tremendous asset to Kansas City and helped revive the Chiefs
• The same Carl Peterson became too comfortable and slowly let the team slide away from him
• Everybody in Kansas City is happy because it appears that ClarK Hunt is actively seeking a fresh face for the organization

First and foremost, I think I was most surprised by the stones that owner Clark Hunt has shown during the last 12-16 hours.  Many fans (myself included) thought that Hunt was conservative, close to the vest, and happy to keep the status quo.  In his two years as the team's owner since the passing of his dad Lamar Hunt, Clark had done little to change the structure of a franchise that has hit rock bottom.  Sure, he signed off on the youth movement, but the fundamental changes had not been made - until yesterday.

The best news coming out of Peterson's resignation is that Hunt is now breaking up the business side and the football side in terms of responsibilities.  Now, there will be one person in charge of all things personnel, and another in charge of ticket prices, parking prices, etc.  For too long (and probably too often overlooked), Peterson managed both entities, and often let the business side cloud his personnel side, leading to poor roster decisions.  Now, thankfully, that matter should be laid to rest.

Additionally, the news that Peterson will no longer have any connection to this team whatsoever leads me to believe that a massive infrastructure change is coming - from the coaching staff to the PR guys to the ticket takers.  If the team wanted to maintain the way things were going, I would assume that Peterson would be awarded a cushy "consultant" role somewhere in the organization.  Not so - the Peterson boil has been completely lanced by Dr. Clark Hunt.

So where does that leave us?  Now that Hunt has a head start on finding a GM candidate (and to my knowledge, we are the only team currently searching for one), we should have a head start on getting the pick of the litter.  Now whether or not that person wants to take over the Kansas City job is another matter entirely, but this appears to be a new dawn in the Midwest, and hopefully the Chiefs bring in someone who will be willing think a little differently than what we have gotten used to for the past 20 years.

I have heard mumblings for former coach Marty Schottenheimer to come in as a GM - and honestly, I would rather be plucked head to toe than have Marty back in the Chiefs' organization.  Schottenheimer has clashed with owners and GM's throughout his entire career - I just don't think he would be a good fit. 

Who is a good fit? I'm not sure - I haven't researched that enough.  I would like to follow Atlanta's example a little and pick someone with a track record of success (New England, Indy, Pittsburgh, Philly), or someone new from one of those franchises.  The worst possible thing that could happen would be to hire a retread that is from the "old-boys network" and would be happy with a 9-7 or 8-8 season and eight sellouts at Arrowhead.  We just got rid of that person - we don't need them again.

Also - if I'm Herm Edwards, I'm checking the rates from U-Haul to move a family from Kansas City to California in January, because I think once our new GM is announced, that will spell the end of the Herm era.  It's just common sense - if you are taking over a team, you want a coach who will play your players that you picked, and run a team in your own image.  I can't say that I'm unhappy about the possibility of Herm being gone - especially after Sunday's debacle and piss-poor time management that has become the calling card of Edwards-coached teams.

Finally - where does that leave Peterson's legacy?  After a few years, I would imagine that we will remember Peterson as someone who did indeed turn around a shattered franchise.  The most important thing that Peterson's reign created was expectations - we expected to be successful as Chiefs fans.  The team was supposed to win every home game, compete for the AFC West title, and win a playoff game or two every year.  Heck, maybe we could catch lightning in a bottle and win the Super Bowl.

Obviously, that never happened.  It only came close once - and therein lies the true demise of Peterson's time here in Kansas City.  He created his own monster with those expectations, and then couldn't feed it with success. 

This is a great time to be a fan of a leaderless 2-12 team - the young talent is there, we're probably going to have a top-4 draft pick in the loaded 2009 draft, and there is hope on the horizon with a new GM and potential new coach on the way.  Christmas has indeed come early, Chiefs fans.  Hallelujah and thank you Clark Hunt, for doing the right thing.