MVN - Most Valuable Network

If Chiefs Had Any Chance to Beat Colts, It’s This Week

This week, my examination of the opponent’s injury report took me a lot longer than usual.  I kept getting confused between the injury report and the active roster because the Colts’ injury list is quite extensive:  7 players on IR, and 11 players questionable.

These aren’t just third-stringers on the list either.  All-Pros, starting players, significant contributors, you name it.  Dwight Freeney is out for the season, which probably has Herm Edwards and Mike Solari breathing a huge sigh of relief.   On offense, Peyton Manning showed that he is actually human when he has only three WRs available and an offensive lineman hobbles off the field every five plays, and this week, three offensive tackles are already listed as Questionable.

With Bob Sanders fighting an injury as well, the Chiefs really have the best chance they could have had to win this matchup, save for Manning being unavailable.  Some speculated that Brodie Croyle would not take over QB duties until after this game because of the tough matchup, but the situation has actually become an ideal one for the first-time starter.  Despite the Chiefs’ porous offensive line, Croyle should now at least have a decent amount of time in the pocket to make his throws.  The Colts’ secondary is tough even when the QB has time, but it is certainly better than the alternative of watching him run for his life on every play.

The one downside- the Chiefs do not have a workhorse back available to take some pressure off of Croyle.  Even if Priest Holmes runs for a significant number of yards, he is not going to carry the ball 30+ times, and Kolby Smith is unlikely to get double-digit carries, we may see Croyle give his arm a significant workout.

In some ways, this game is an ideal starting point for evaluating Croyle.  His decision-making will be greatly challenged, but he should have a sufficient amount of time to consider his checkdowns.  At the same time, with Holmes in the backfield, who is a significantly better protector of the QB than Larry Johnson, Croyle should have the experience behind or alongside him to guide him through the game.

All of the advantages for Croyle, however, will mean nothing for the present unless the defense improves from the past two weeks.  The big plays that the defense were able to limit in the first half of the season came back in ugly fashion in the past two weeks.  The Chiefs’ safeties looked very much like the inexperienced players they are, causing confusion for the rest of the defense.  With the ever-calculating and deceptive Manning as their opponent, Bernard Pollard, Jarrad Page, and Greg Wesley must be on top of their games.  Manning can be hassled, as the Chargers proved last week, but he is also the master of exploiting a defense’s unrestrained aggressiveness.

Nobody expected the Chiefs to have a chance to win this game before this season, and few people probably believe they have a chance now.  However, by losing a couple of games they should have won, the Chiefs are now in a position where they need to win some games they should have lost.  This week, the opening is there.  It might be the tiniest of openings, but the Chiefs need Brodie Croyle to show that he can pry that door wide open, rather than just be the wedge the Chiefs’ QBs have historically been.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 10:04 am and is filed under Preview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.