An NFL Weekly Lands in Cleveland and Kansas City

Something I do once in awhile to combine two smaller stories together is make it into one larger story because then you get some substance and I feel a lot better about myself. Anyways this is the first time doing it with the NFL, here we go...

Cleveland Brings the Man-Genius back but Deals with Cribbs- I would like applaud Browns President Mike Holmgrem's decision to bring back Eric Mangini for another year. I think he deserved a second chance after winning the last four games of the season (first time four straight wins since 1994) and gave the fans hope for next season.  I think they need a few more pieces on defense and with Brady Quinn continuing to develop they could be a decent team next year.  I think that Mangini has to have a two win improvement at least to keep his job next year.
         Now sadly the news isn't all good in Browns Country as Joshua Cribbs, one of the most electrifying players in the NFL wants a new contract and called the first offer an insulting now looking for a trade. I will admit the guy is great in the wildcat and a beast at kick returns but heres the thing, people figure you out on Special Teams.  See Devin Hester, Dante Hall, and any other lighting in bottle returners, they never get big contracts because they do not deserve them.  I feel no team will give Cribbs the money he wants and he will end up back in Cleveland where he said multiple times that he likes Mangini.

Kansas City, the New England of the Midwest  First they brought in General Manager Scott Pioli, then they traded/signed Matt Cassel to a fat extension that he didn't live up to, and now they have brought in former Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis to coach their offensive. This is a fantastic idea and has immediatly made the Chiefs a better team.  Every quarterback that Weis has tutored throughout the years has been better because of Weis' toolage. I think this makes the Chiefs a much better team and they are discussing bringing Romeo Crennel to coach the defense, which also would make sense.

-Charlie.

NFL Preview: AFC South/AFC West

And after this one we are done leading to a couple things that happened today then picks for both NCAA/NFL hopefully on time.

AFC South
1. Indianapolis Colts: Key Players- QB Peyton Manning WR Reggie Wayne RB Joesph Addai Key Games- vs. Seattle (10/4) at/vs Tennessee (10/11, 12/6) vs/at Houston (11/8, 11/29) vs. New England (11/15) at Baltimore (11/22) Outlook- My roommate and die hard Manning fan Brett is worried about their O-Line but I think they will once again reclaim the AFC South. Although due to the hard divison, they will finish in the fourth spot in the AFC.

2. Tennessee Titans: Key Players- RB Chris Johnson CB Courtland Finnegan LB Keith Bulluck Key Games- at Pittsburgh (9/10) vs/at Houston (9/20, 11/23) vs/at Indianapolis (10/11, 12/6) at New England (10/18) vs. San Diego (12/25) at Seattle (1/3) Outlook- The big question is will Kerry Collins relive the year he had in 08? I think he can with the combination of Johnson/LenDale White I think will be too much for most teams. They beat out Houston for the sixth spot.

3. Houston Texans: Key Players- WR Andre Johnson QB Matt Schaub LB DeMeco Ryans Key Games- at/vs Tennessee (9/20, 11/23) at/vs Indianapolis (11/8, 11/29) vs. Seattle (12/13) vs. New England (1/3) Outlook- Honestly they could have a chance sneaking in with all the weak teams they play this year but they will fall just short of the Titans.

4. Jacksonville Jaguars: Key Players- RB Maurice Jones-Drew QB David Garrard DT John Henderson Key Games- at/vs Indianapolis (9/13, 12/17 ) vs/at Tennessee (10/4, 11/1) at New England (12/27) Outlook- Its not off to a good start with MJD questionable this week but they have no support through the air. Jack Del Rio will be gone after this one.

AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers: Key Players- QB Phillip Rivers RB LaDainen Tomilinson LB Shawne Tequi.. er Merriman Key Games- vs. Baltimore (9/20) at Pittsburgh (10/4) at NY Giants (11/8) vs. Philadelphia (11/15) at Tennessee (12/25) Outlook- I would like to remind everyone that it took an 8-8 team to win this division. The Chargers should coast and the first four games will tell us a lot about the Bolts.

2. Kansas City Chiefs: Key Players- QB Matt Cassell WR Dwayne Bowe LB Mike Vrabel Key Games- at Baltimore (9/13) at Philadelphia (9/27) vs. NY Giants (10/4) vs/at San Diego (10/25, 11/29) vs. Pittsburgh (11/22) Outlook- This is like picking the smartest Playboy bunny because you know all of those girls are complete dumb shits just like how the rest of the West is awful.

3. Oakland Raiders (AKA the Pratts): Key Players- QB JaMarcus Russell CB Nnamdi Asomugha DE Richard Seymour (oh wait.... shit, great move Al!) RB Darren McFadden Key Games- vs/at San Diego (9/14, 11/1) at NY Giants (10/11) vs. Philadelphia (10/18) at Pittsburgh (12/6) vs. Baltimore Outlook: I think they will be better than Denver but just by a bit. I hope they enjoy picking once again in the top 10. Also I wonder if Al will freeze when teams goes to the Steel City in December.

4. Denver Broncos: Key Players- QB Kyle Orton, WR Brandon Marshall, RB Knowshon Moreno Key Games- vs. New England (10/11) vs/at San Diego (10/19 ) at Baltimore (11/1) vs. Pittsburgh (11/9) vs. NY Giants (11/26) at Indianapolis (12/13) at Philadelphia (12/27) Outlook- With everything that has happened and that is continuing to happen, isn't inevitable with that schedule Denver will be drafting top five? I think so.

-Charlie.

I Called Matt Cassel to the Chiefs

I just wanted to say that before I got started... In this former post, I said the smartest move by the Chiefs would be to deal Gonzalez for Cassel plus some draft picks. Well the Tony Gonzalez part didnt happen but other than that, I look like the frickin man right now.

Cassel will do big things for Kansas City this year because they already have a pretty strong base of players with Dwayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, and Tony Gonzalez although I have expressed my feelings on the last two guys in prior posts I have done. In addition, now they feel no pressure in drafting Matthew Strafford/Mark Sanchez therefore they will go for defense.

Now I wonder if they are going to try swing a deal for Tyler Thigpen because he is probably an NFL starter I believe. They could probably get a fourth or fifth round pick to a team who could use a quarterback with some experience such as Detroit.

The Chiefs I believe you have to put them at the top of the AFC West right now with San Diego, and Denver kind of falling out of the picture. They have all the tools to shoot to the top of the AFC West and I really believe that Todd Haley was the perfect choice for the head coaching job too.

-Charlie.

Chiefs Land a New Coach; the Dismantiling of the Cards?

A dual issue post because it works out with the topics at hand. Todd Haley, the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals took the head coaching job at Kansas City which was the first big move by new GM Scott Pioli.

This is a good move by the Kansas City Chiefs because in my opinion, they had a weird season where they were on the bad end of a 2-14 team I have seen due to the fact they have the talent to be a .500 team and its the simple fact they just have to get older because I thought last year they had the best draft of 2008.

Now I have suggested Cassel from the Pats for the quarterback position, others feel the Chiefs are fine with Tyler Thigpen, and also the suggestion of drafting Matt Sanchez/Matthew Strafford. If I am Haley, I would suggest either Cassel or Thigpen because in my mind, I dont think him and Matt Leinart had a great relationship so who knows if he wants deal with another young quarterback.

One thing that Haley did this year and especially in the playoffs was find ways to exploit the secondary with great wide receivers. I think he can make Dwayne Bowe into an absolute monster. Bowe has a great frame and is a great deep threat for any team in the NFL to have. Now if they can find one more good wideout, they become very good.

I also believe this spells the end for Tony Gonzalez and Larry Johnson because Haley is bringing a new aggressive attitude unlike Edwards and these clowns are suppose to be the face of the franchise which they have failed to do so just let them walk.

The reason I bring up the Cardinals is because all the sudden, the Super Bowl runner-up doesnt look like the same team for next year. Anquan Boldin sounds like he wants no part of being a Cardinal and I would be shocked if Arizona found a way to solve this situation. The same goes with Edgerrin James. The uncertainty of Kurt Warner and I think with Haley's departure will make Warner's decision much easier. I also strongly believe in Matt Leinart and I think he will have great success.

-Charlie.

The Next New England?

Today the Kansas City Chiefs hired Scott Pioli, the former VP of operations in New England to be the general manager. Also this means that Herm Edwards is done as head coach of the Chiefs, likely to be announced later today.

This is a great move by the Chiefs because they are getting the mastermind behind everything that was being done in New England. Granted, Hoodie Bill had the final call on most things going on in that organization. So its not surprise to me at least that Pioli wanted to be the full decision maker and start a new challenge. He has three Super Bowl rings already and its really time to move on to do his own thing.

The Kansas City job was the prime job for a General Manager in my opinion because they have a devoted fan base, a ton of money under the cap, and the AFC West isnt one of the stronger conferences in the NFL. My first big objective if I were Pioli was figuring out the situations with Tony Gonzalez and Larry Johnson. Two figureheads of this franchises both have said that they want out of Kansas City during this year. If these guys really hate here than try to work a deal to teams for more draft picks or in Gonzalez's case they may be able to get players back for him.

An interesting scenario could be if Tom Brady proves to be ready by training camp, would the Patriots swing a deal to send Matt Cassel to the Chiefs for Gonzalez? It doesnt seem like a bad trade to me at all, possibly some draft picks involved in the mix. Although, I do believe they have something in Tyler Thigpen and his performance this year deserves another chance. Lets remember despite the Chiefs 2-14 record, they were in almost every game they played in. They could have easily been 5-11, or 6-10.

-Charlie.

Teams Taking Suspensions into their Own Hands

This in regard to the NFL and how some teams like the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, and the Kansas City Chiefs are not waiting for commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend some of their top players for conduct detrimental to the team. I dont know in any of the three cases, you could say that Goodell would of suspended them but I applaud them these coaches for doing it.

First off the Giants suspended Plaxico Burress earlier on in the year which included two weeks completely away from the team because according to the Giants, Burress has missed over 60-70 meetings during his time as a Giant. Burress is a classic professional athlete who has all the talent in the world but could give two shits about anyone else but himself. I love his athleticism and the way he plays on Sunday although I do not think I would like to be his teammate. He is a step below of some of the other NFL distractions.

The Chiefs were the next team to do something when Larry Johnson was bitching about not being a competitive team and there were reports coming out that he had slapped a women in the face. So that has led Herm Edwards to inactivate him for the last two weeks which is the right thing to do and finally it seems like LJ has turned the corner. He had a press conference today basically apologizing for the things he did in the past and hopes to turn it around in the next couple weeks. Too bad for the Chiefs, Tony Gonzalez cannot have that same attitude.

The Browns announced this week that they were going to suspend Kellen Winslow aka The Soldier after he told the media that the Browns hid the Staft Infection he had and that other Browns players have it worse than him. In true Winslow fashion, he is appealing the suspension but he has no reason to, the Browns asked him to keep it to himself and he had to run his mouth to media to look like a victim.

The team that is starting to look real bad is the Dallas Cowboys and no I am not talking about the way they play haha. They refused to suspend Pacman Jones when they were ask to and let the NFL take in their hands and they did just that, suspending him indefinitely. They should of just suspended him for four weeks and Goodell might have lighten up then again its Pacman Jones we are talking about.

As the season progresses we shall see if this is a new trend for teams to do.

-Charlie.