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Praying for Priest- Chiefs on Their Knees?

Update: John Clayton of ESPN.com reports that Priest Holmes should make an announcement about his future as early as Wednesday.

Bigger Update:  Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com reports that Priest Holmes is set to announce his retirement at 1:30 PM ET today.

Herm Edwards has an awful lot to worry about lately. He has come under fire for overseeing a frustratingly conservative offense. His starting QB has one career start under his belt. His team cannot score points even when they cross into enemy territory because they do not score touchdowns and his kicker cannot make FGs. His team, after surprising everyone with a 4-3 start, has lost 3 games in a row and has the players, particularly on offense, starting to grumble.

Now he has this to worry about– he may be down to Kolby Smith as his only RB, now that Priest Holmes has another of his mysterious injuries. Honestly, this injury is not unexpected. After all, Holmes came back after a two-year hiatus and was suddenly thrust into a workhorse role, a daunting task for a 34-year old body, let alone one coming off a severe injury.

Still, while an event may not be unexpected, it can still be shocking, and that is what is hitting the Chiefs right now. All of a sudden, trading Michael Bennett away looks like it was a bad idea. All of a sudden, not investing more in the offensive line looks like it will have cost the Chiefs two expensive backs. All of a sudden, Herm Edwards may be forced to unleash Brodie Croyle faster than he wanted to.

Make no mistake about it, if Holmes cannot play more than half of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps, the Chiefs are in enormous trouble. Part of Croyle’s maturation process depended on Holmes protecting him, either as a blocking back or as a safety valve. Now, with a 2nd-year QB, a rookie RB, and a not-really-a-true-fullback FB in the backfield, one wonders what exactly Croyle can learn in this offense.

And yet, the Chiefs must find a way to win. While they lost games they should have won, they also enter a stretch of games they need to win. With the AFC West still hanging in the balance, the Chiefs essentially decide their playoff fate in the next three weeks by finishing up their AFC West schedule: vs. Oakland, vs. San Diego, and at Denver. The Chiefs, again, face a game they should win, while the Broncos and Chargers also play winnable games. If the Chiefs lose, while the Broncos and Chargers win, the Chiefs kiss any chance of the playoffs goodbye.

What can Herm Edwards do? Perhaps, just perhaps, this might be just the excuse he needs to open up the offense. Even Edwards and Mike Solari can’t be happy with five consecutive drives of two yard gains by Smith and a third-down sack of Croyle. Against a Raiders’ defense that has struggled to find its identity this year, there may not be a better time to showcase Croyle’s arm with Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez.

Then again, the Chiefs might just get on their knees and pray to get out of Arrowhead with any score at all.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Priest Holmes. 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.