FanHouse Brian Waters

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

Every offseason for the past several years, Chiefs' fans have clamored for change. Changes on defense. Changes at wide receiver. Changes within the coaching staff.

But never the offensive line. Why would they have to? For years, the Chiefs boasted the best offensive line in the league, made up of veterans who were still in their primes.

Last offseason was a taste of something slightly different. There were worries that Will Shields would retire, but not many people seriously expected him to retire. It wasn't until training camp that we all of a sudden learned Willie Roaf would not return and John Welbourn purported to retire.

This offseason is completely different. The offensive line was not particularly dominant, and was downright bad at times. The only surefire starters are Brian Waters and Casey Wiegmann, and Shields' potential retirement is more realistic now.

By most accounts, left tackle is the most worrisome position. Although I felt that Jordan Black played fairly steadily for most of the year, he is certainly not Willie Roaf, and his performance in the playoffs was, shall we say, regrettable. Further, I have opined previously that the Chiefs did an awful job this year of picking up blitzes; one has to wonder if that was the case because there was more help assigned to Black, rather than in detecting blitzers. The Chiefs appeared to have been grooming Will Svitek for the job, but Svitek was extremely raw as a rookie and missed most of this year with injuries. Kyle Turley simply cannot be an option anymore.

So... I interviewed a 3-year-old kid. He barely knows any English, cannot read, and still has to have his Mom dress him in the morning, and even HE knows that LJ is going to carry the ball 30+ times today when the Chiefs square off against the Colts.

When the Chiefs pass the ball:
So many experts want to tell us that LJ is the key to this football game. He is not. The key for the Chiefs is their passing game and how they will help set up LJ. If the Chiefs can effectively move the football in the air, it is scary to think about how much damage LJ can inflict on a Colts' defense that isn't loading up every player in the box.

That means that the two most important Chiefs' players in today's game are going to be Jordan Black and Trent Green. I know, I know. Disconcerting, isn't it? Jordan Black has got to give Trent Green time to throw the ball and Green has got to give his offense a chance to move the ball in the air. More importantly, Trent Green has GOT to stop throwing the ball into the hands of his opponents. As I mentioned in a radio spot on "360 the Pitch", I think a sleeper in this game is going to be Eddie Kennison. He is exactly the guy that can stretch the defense out and, the less defenders paying attention to LJ the better.

Realize one thing: the most important thing the Chiefs can do to win the game is to keep Peyton Manning and the Colts' offense off the field. If Solari is smart, he will utilize a short passing attack.

AFC Pro Bowl rosters were announced today, and, ho hum, Will Shields, Tony Gonzalez, Brian Waters, and Larry Johnson made the roster. Shields is the lone starter; the rest are reserves. While obviously a great achievement, it hardly seems worthwhile given the disappointing year by both the Chiefs and the offense.

Truth be told, I think Shields probably got in more by reputation than actual performance. At the least, Waters should have earned the starting nod over Shields. Nonetheless, Shields will be making his record-tying 12th appearance in Honolulu.

Once again, no defensive players will be representing the Chiefs, nor should any. While the defense enjoyed a decent year, no player truly stood out. Jared Allen started off very strong, but he has tailed off lately. Tamba Hali has been inconsistent while battling injuries. Derrick Johnson looked terrific early, but he, too, was injured, and this year's AFC linebacking options were incredible.

So we are left with the 4 players we pretty much knew very early would be going to Hawaii. Four Pro Bowl players is a lot, so the Chiefs have a lot to be proud of. Congratulations to Shields, Gonzalez, Waters, and Johnson, but you have to wonder if this year in particular they will be going to Honolulu without feeling so hot about it.

Click on this link. Tell me what you see.

No, it is not the Chiefs' starting lineup. It is the injury report. Six starters are either out, doubtful, or questionable. Sammy Knight has been upgraded to probable.

It is really quite a list. Brian Waters and Tony Gonzalez are perennial Pro Bowlers. Derrick Johnson is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Tamba Hali was a sleeper possibility for defensive rookie of the year. Greg Wesley was having his best season in several years. Kevin Sampson... well, he had to be replaced by Kyle Turley.

The Chiefs are still going to be favored against the Raiders, but the game is going to be a lot tougher than it should be. Chris Bober, replacing Waters, was nothing more than a turnstile against the Dolphins. Jason Dunn, replacing Gonzalez, is a fine blocker, but is as much of a downfield threat as Lawrence Tynes is. Keyaron Fox, replacing Johnson, forgot that the most important part of tackling is to actually bring the ballcarrier down. Eric Hicks has not had a sack in about forty years. And, of course, there is Turley, of whom nothing more needs to be said, except that I already did.

I suppose I should take some solace in the fact that all these injuries came when the Chiefs are facing the Raiders. Yet, I cannot help but worry. Only the win against the 49ers was easy; otherwise, the Chiefs have scratched, clawed, and hung on for dear life to win games. The Chiefs absolutely cannot lose this game if they want to keep any hope alive for the playoffs. As Herm Edwards has said all year, "You play to win the game." The only problem is that, well, you need to actually play.

Ever heard of Murphy's Law? The theory states that "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

The 2006 Kansas City Chiefs are a good football team, but they are cursed. CURSED! According to the Palm Beach Post, the Chiefs will now have to play without Tony Gonzalez, who will miss 2-3 weeks with a strained shoulder.

This could be the Chiefs' most devastating injury to date. Gonzalez is a critical blocker for Larry Johnson, he is the main reason for Damon Huard's most recent resurgence, and he draws attention from linebackers and safeties that would normally be focused on LJ. With two upcoming rivalry games against Oakland and Denver, the Chiefs really did not need to lose these two players.

Let's review the Chiefs' woes to date:

• John Welbourn retires suddenly. He claims he wants to become a lawyer; truthfully, we find out he probably needed a law degree to defend himself from a 6-month suspension.
• Pro bowl left tackle Willie Roaf retires on extremely short notice.

The Chiefs have gotten a lot of press this week because of the nature of their division. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about how the AFC West is the toughest division in the league (though AFC West fans already knew that before the season), and how the division could send three teams to the playoffs.

Little has been made, though, of the team itself. While we have been receiving constant updates about Brian Urlacher and Terry Glenn, quietly the Kansas City Star reported that Brian Waters and Derrick Johnson are out for the Miami game, and that Greg Wesley is still a question mark. Kevin Sampson will miss his second consecutive game.

These are some major injuries, and that isn't even taking into account Trent Green or Ronnie Cruz. Maybe it's because those player don't have a lot of fantasy value, or because the Chiefs are facing a very disappointing Miami team, but Waters is the Chiefs' best offensive lineman (in fact, one of the NFL's best linemen), and Derrick Johnson was on pace for a 100+ tackle, possibly 10-sack season. Meanwhile, Wesley has stepped up his play, and his improvement is a big reason why the Chiefs' defense has improved this year. While Sampson isn't a star, Kyle Turley has not shown yet that he is able to overcome his massive weight loss.

Most are favoring the Chiefs to win, largely based on their winning streak, but you wonder how many of the "experts" realize that so many key components will be missing from the game. Miami has struggled enough this year for the Chiefs to still be favored, but they have a lot more to overcome than people may realize.

I haven't been graded on anything for a while, so it makes me feel good to now grade others and let others feel my wrath. The Chiefs have finished half of their games so far. Here is how I would grade them midway through the season.

Quarterbacks:
The Chiefs have two quarterbacks right now that can carry this team. Damon Huard has been razor-sharp, posting a 105.2 QB rating and a stunning 11/1 TD/INT ratio. The only thing holding back their grade is the fact that the passing game is secondary to the running game in Kansas City.
Grade: A-

HalfBacks:
Larry Johnson is not only playing outstanding, he is a top candidate for the NFL MVP. LJ got off to a fairly slow start, for KC running back standards, but he has carried this offense ever since. Michael Bennett was a big addition this year. The Chiefs often over-relied on LJ last season, asking LJ to do well more than he was capable of. The Chiefs were so deathly afraid of yanking him from games that LJ often had to take himself out of games to take a breather. That's no longer the case with Bennett in the rotation. LJ and Bennett are carrying this team. If I could give them a higher score, I would.
Grade: A+

Fullbacks:
Ronnie Cruz did his job fine, but it too often gave us flashbacks of how much the Chiefs missed Tony Richardson.

According to the Fanhouse's own Michael David Smith, CBS eliminated sideline reporters and nobody noticed. Smith's comment is actually very representative of what many people think: sideline reporters are useless and, like most useless objects, they should be thrown into the trash.

First, let me point out, that I am very partial to Bonnie Bernstein. Nothing, to me, is sexier than a woman who knows sports. Before I go Joe Namath on this blog, let me also add that she is a terrific sideline reporter. She is a true professional, she takes her job very seriously, and she asks all the right questions. In my opinion, it is sideline reporters like Bernstein and Michelle Tafoya that epitomize the way the sideline reporter job should be operated. But even the most seemingly useless sideline reporters are useful in some capacity.

The CBS broadcast dropped the ball big time in the Chiefs vs. Rams broadcast.
Because of CBS' hard-headed decision to eliminate sideline reporters, Chiefs' fans missed extremely valuable information on why four of their starters were hooked from the game with injuries, never to return. Shouldn't somebody at CBS notice when star linebacker Derrick Johnson leaves the game on crutches? Instead, we had to make that conclusion ourselves, asking ourselves why Keyaran Fox was playing snap after snap after snap. What about the status of the Chiefs' pro bowl guard, who was carted off the field? What about Greg Wesley, who left the game with a shoulder injury? What about potential Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Tamba Hali, who left the game with a hip pointer injury. These are four marquee players that left the game and yet not a whisper from the broadcast crew. Not even a mouse squeak.