FanHouse EddieKennison

The word from St. Louis this week is that the Rams are the worst team in the NFL Drew Bennett is out for at least a month with a broken bone in his foot. Bennett was attempting to fill the void left by the departed Isaac Bruce in the offense formerly known as a "show" of some sort. The obvious next in line would have been explosive-at-times rookie Donnie Avery ... only Avery didn't even suit up Sunday against the Eagles and the team still isn't sure he'll be able to play this Sunday. Lucky break for him, really. Who would want to suit up and be embarrassed?

Anyway, the Rams logically decided upon bringing in the ancient Eddie Kennison. It's hard to call Kennison washed up, because he was never really that good a player anyway. But wait, Rams fans, there is hope:

From the 2002 through '06 seasons, Kennison averaged 58 catches for 961 yards for Kansas City. He was released by the Chiefs following an injury-plagued 2007 season, but has stayed in touch with Rams offensive coordinator Al Saunders, who was his coordinator during most of his time in KC.

Wow. Talk about grasping desperately for any shred of positivity.

It's apparently going to be a long season for the Rams, and Scott Linehan better start working on that resume.

Now that Joe Jurevicius might not be ready for the start of training camp, thanks to knee surgery No. 4 this offseason, the discussion turns to who will man the No. 3 wide receiver position in his absence. Pro Football Weekly writes that Joshua Cribbs could be one alternative, although they admit that he struggled with drop passes during minicamp.

There are also rumors that the Browns are interested in trading for Chargers wideout Eric Parker, and some fans wonder if Eddie Kennison or Joe Horn are viable options (yes, no and no). Perhaps the most intriguing alternative is the suggestion that the Browns could move tight end Kellen Winslow to receiver in certain passing situations. The Orange and Brown Report's Lane Adkins quickly nixes the thought:

Winslow does line-up wide often as part of the offensive scheme, but there is absolutely no desire on part of the Browns to move him to the WR spot and basically rip some of the fabric from the scheme.

The Kansas City Chiefs have cut receiver Eddie Kennison today. Kennison had played the last seven seasons in KC after stops in St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago and Denver.

The 6-foot-1, 201-pound receiver played in 91 games for the Chiefs, catching 321 passes for 5,230 yards and 25 touchdowns. He had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2004 and 2005, joining Carlos Carson as the only players in Chiefs history to accomplish that feat.

The Chiefs are trying to get younger and ditching the 35-year old receiver is a start. Last year, Kennison played in just eight games, catching 13 passes.

Remember that in 2001, he had requested to be released by the Denver Broncos just eight games into the season. He told the team that he lost the love for the game and he wanted to retire. Um, except that three weeks later, he ended up signing with the Chiefs, a rival of the Broncos, which pissed off Denver head coach Mike Shanahan.

To get you ready for week 2, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Kansas City Chiefs/Chicago Bears preview.

2007 Records: (Click names for 2007 preview)

Chicago Bears: 0-1 (4th in NFC North)
Kansas City Chiefs: 0-1 (4th in AFC West)

Last Game(s):

Chargers 14 - Bears 3
Texans 20 - Chiefs 3

When the Chiefs have the ball: The Chiefs will look to score more than three points this week, but that may prove difficult against a defense that managed to shut down one of the NFL's best running backs. However, Kansas City also has one of the NFL's best in Larry Johnson, and it looks like he'll back in the full swing of things this Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Bears will look to put as much pressure on Damon Huard as possible. He was unimpressive against an inferior Texans defense, and will also be without his number one wide receiver, Eddie Kennison.

This is Part II of a multi-part series examining the Chiefs' failures on Saturday against the Colts. We previously discussed the media's role in the Chiefs' loss.

Eddie Kennison, Samie Parker, and Jordan Black owe Trent Green a Rolex. It seems that the fans and media are so intent on blaming Green for Saturday's loss to the Colts that they are completely ignoring the three players that were easily the biggest goats of Saturday's football game. It was not about Trent Green. It was not about Damon Huard. Plain and simple: Trent Green was kept from doing his job because his teammates didn't do theirs.

I know everyone wants to blame the quarterback for the Chiefs' offensive failures on Saturday. The Chiefs didn't get a first down in an entire half of play. Of course, that's pathetic. Of course, the first person to blame for these problems is the quarterback. But you have to look past pure numbers and look at the facts behind the figures. What I saw was not poor play by the quarterback; rather, I witnessed what might have been the absolute worst performance by a wide receiver corps in NFL playoff history. On the rare occasion that the Chiefs chose to pass in the first half, Green threw the ball in the right spot and the receivers dropped it. I'm not talking about tough passes that were dropped; I'm talking about easy catches that, as Madden would probably say, doinked off his receivers.

What are you supposed to do when you run 8 first-half pass plays and half of them go for drops? Is it the quarterback's fault if half of his third down passes went into his receivers' hands or between their numbers, then were dropped? Is it the quarterback's fault if, on two 3rd down pass plays in the first half, the linemen completely failed on him (Jordan Black let Freeney come in untouched for one third down sack, and Brian Waters was so far back after another snap that Green tripped over his feet). Even his interception in the second half should be blamed on atrocious blocking by the offensive line that got their quarterback clobbered in mid-throw.

A playoff loss, a fan, especially a Chiefs' fan, can take. When half of your team decides the playoff game is not worth playing, however... well, that's hard to take.

The Chiefs lost a 23-8 heartbreaker. I say heartbreaker not in the sense that they blew a chance of winning, but a heartbreaker because you could see no conceivable way that they could win.

There are an awful lot of goats in this game. I will name none on defense, because they played their hearts out for 3/5 of the game, until they simply got worn out. If memory serves, the lone time NBC decided to show the time of possession graphic, Indy had a 28 to 10 minute advantage. That's virtually impossible for any defense to overcome.

I generally don't like naming goats, because I do believe a loss is a team loss, but in this game, it is unavoidable. So let's get to them. First and foremost are the Chiefs' receivers. Their drops set the tone for the first half, and their drops are really what cost the Chiefs the game. Eddie Kennison dropped passes in the first two series. Tony Gonzalez dropped a first down pass, then another meaningless one late in the game. Dante Hall dropped an obvious first down pass. Maybe the receivers figured that they only needed to run to the sticks to get the first down, but I think the rule still says that you have to have the ball too. Maybe Ty Law should have played offense, because he had the best hands in the game. It is impossible to gain any momentum when your receivers cost you a chance for a fourth play in a series.

The second goat is Lawrence Tynes. I actually thought it might be a good thing that Ty Law didn't return his first interception for a touchdown, because I thought the defense needed the rest. Even when the Chiefs failed to punch in what should have been an easy touchdown, I didn't panic, because I thought a field goal is all the Chiefs needed to deflate the Colts. How Tynes missed a 23-yard field goal is, well, I honestly have no idea. None.

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.

The Chiefs are playing miserable right now. They've lost two games in a row, including a very winnable game against Cleveland two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the brunt of that blame goes to the men in charge: Herm Edwards, Trent Green, and Carl Peterson. Though they certainly deserve a bit of the blame for the Chiefs' struggles, I think there are better targets:

1) Offensive line: The Chiefs' offensive line was solid against Cleveland. Then again, it was Kyle Turley's blown block that led to a game-changing fumble. Against Baltimore, the blocking was atrocious. That wasn't just limited to the right tackle. It also included blown blocks from all areas, including our pro bowl core of interior guards. I get the feeling that Trent Green is a quarterback that could excel with Peyton Manning's offensive line; I'm beginning to question whether he can get the job done with the Chiefs' offensive line. Though, there are other variables to consider. Let's proceed.

2) Wide receivers: The Samie Parker project is definitely over. He's a bust. He'd be a nice receiver in the slot, but he has to be one of the worst #2 receivers in the game. I think Eddie Kennison is starting to decline a bit too, though I think he'd do fine as a #2 receiver.

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.

The Arrowhead Award for this week was not an easy decision. There were a lot of worthy candidates. Damon Huard would deserve it just for his toughness alone, but his performance was more than the Chiefs could ask for even from a healthy Huard. Patrick Surtain finally had a game worthy of the hoopla surrounding his acquisition. Tony Gonzalez was unstoppable again. Brian Waters punished any defender who wandered his way.

And, of course, there was Larry Johnson, who ran so hard and so effectively, the Chiefs just couldn't stop giving him the ball. Literally. He earned a season's worth of Arrowhead Awards just for carrying the ball that many times.

In the end, though, I decided to give the Arrowhead Award to two people who truly stepped up. First, Mike Solari has taken a lot of heat from this blog, but his playcalling this past week was nothing short of exemplary. I have no problem with calling mostly running plays on 1st down, but for a long while, all Solari would call on 1st downs were runs up the middle. Against the Seahawks, while relying heavily on Larry Johnson, Solari also called several run plays to the edges and a few playactions as well. Solari kept the Seahawks' defense off-balance, and the offense executed the plan nearly to perfection.

Eddie Kennison also gets the nod because of his golden hands and rejuvenated legs. We saw a Kennison that I can't ever remember seeing. He made tough catch after tough catch, and he burned past defensive backs as if he patented a human rocket pack. His 51-yard reception in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty and was probably the most important play of the game. Kennison had been relatively quiet for much of the season, but last Sunday's game showed that he has got a lot left in those hands and legs.