FanHouse Patricksurtain

Commence housecleaning in Kansas City. The Chiefs won two games last season, hired Scott Pioli in January to fix the mess, and not long after, Herm Edwards was out of a job (although not for long).

And then, earlier this month, Kansas City hired former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley to replace Edwards, and today, the organization's new faces got down to the business of running off the old faces.

There are two weeks remaining in the regular season and we've already seen Mike Nolan, Lane Kiffin and Scott Linehan lose their jobs for varying degrees of incompetence. But more heads will roll in the coming months, and some bone-headed decisions made yesterday will go a long way in cementing the fate of the less fortunate.

Dick Jauron, Buffalo Bills:
A crappy economy might be the only thing to save Jauron's job, because after jumping out to a 4-1 start, the Bills are now sitting at 6-8. And the last two minutes of yesterday's game against the Jets was a microcosm of their season.

With Buffalo leading 27-24 and trying to run the last 240 or so seconds off the clock, somebody thought it would be great fun to let J.P. Losman throw a pass on second-and-five from the Bills' 27. Predictably, he fumbled, the Jets' Shaun Ellis recovered, and 11 yards later, that's your ball game.

For 18 games last year, Josh McDaniels' offense in New England was a well-oiled machine, inflicting pain and embarrassment on any defense that had the audacity to cross its path. The Patriots scored at least 30 points in 13 of their first 18 games (never scoring fewer than 20) and at times resembled somebody playing a game of Madden with the difficulty set to beginner.

Then, in the Super Bowl, in a somewhat shocking development to everyone except Plaxico Burress, the Patriots offense was shut down by a relentless New York Giants pass rush, registering only 14 points in the teams only loss of the season. According to Christopher L. Gasper at the Boston Globe, that game, and performance, is still sitting with McDaniels, and he's looking to do something about it.

Judging by McDaniels's mannerisms answering that question, he is motivated by the way the offense sputtered in the Super Bowl. He is eager and excited to correct his mistakes, starting tomorrow at Gillette Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not satisfied with an offense that was nearly perfect last season, the 32-year-old McDaniels spent the offseason tinkering and tweaking and rethinking the playbook to counter any so-called "blueprint" the Giants may have laid down and to find new ways to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: Oh, holy God. Do we have to start here? Can't we start at defensive line? Or even offensive line? No? Okay. So last season, Damon Huard was such the pinnacle of mediocrity, he may have redefined the word for decades. It wasn't so much that Huard was spectacularly terrible, throwing constant interceptions as he heaved them down the field, Rex-Grossman-style, it was that he looked singularly incapable of actually getting the ball downfield to begin with. So, after far too many games watching the offense set new franchise lows, Brodie Croyle who had been waiting in the wings, finally took the reins. The results were less than spectacular. Chiefs fans support Croyle because the kid has shown flashes of leadership and a pretty solid arm. The trouble is, the protection was so bad last year, no one knows whether to pin the offense's disastrous play on an inability by Brodie to produce, or a result of the fact that Croyle spent so much time on the run it's a wonder he's not dead in the cold, cold ground. So with a retooled and slightly upgraded offensive line, he should be better? Right? Right? Oh, Jesus, where's the bottle? Wait, what? Huard's still on the team? Must get bigger bottle. Heat Index: 2

The Chiefs are a popular pick as the "upset special" of next week, based on Larry Johnson facing what is purported to be the Colts' run defense. As the popular saying goes, the best defense against quarterbacks like Peyton Manning is to keep him off the field, so the Chiefs' defense all of a sudden looks stellar solely because of Number 27.

But hold your horses. As I always like to respond to that cliche, the other team still gets the ball at some point. And when they do, Peyton Manning will be facing the 18th-ranked pass defense in the NFL. That doesn't sound too bad, except when you consider that the Chiefs averaged only two sacks per game. That is bad news when preparing to face Manning, who thrives on staying on the pocket and finding receivers nobody knew even existed.

The key matchup will be Marvin Harrison against Ty Law. In years past, this matchup would have been no contest... for the Chiefs. Law dominated these playoff matchups (some say unfairly), and with his favorite receiver as a complete non-factor, Manning got rattled. But Law has not been quite the same this year. Perhaps because his safeties are still a little unfamiliar with the Cover 2 defense, Law has not been able to take as many gambles this year and has played off the line of scrimmage more. Law has also typically thrived with good pass rushes, and the Chiefs' pass rush has been inconsistent. That does not figure to change against the Colts' stellar offensive line.

Law and Patrick Surtain are two high-priced free agents who have been vitally important, yet still quite disappointing, to the Chiefs. If the Chiefs are to pull off a big upset, they need not only for Larry Johnson to run wild, but also for Law and Surtain to play their best games of the season. If not, we may see another no-punt repeat of 2003.

Defensive Ends:
Simply outstanding. They have been difference makers. Tamba Hali was an absolute steal in the first round of the draft, and Jared Allen is having a pro bowl caliber season. Allen gets his share of sacks, but he is extremely underrated in his ability to strip the football and force turnovers. Watch him tackle a quarterback – he practically integrates a strip into his tackle. Allen would likely have more sacks if it weren't for all those darn forced fumbles. Hopefully, pro bowl voters can look past the sometimes overrated sacks statistic, even though Allen has more than his share. Hali has also been outstanding. He's generated pretty decent pressure, but he is also all over the field and is a critical piece to the Chiefs' run defense. It was almost painful to watch Eric Hicks stand in for Tamba Hali--you could just tell how much Tamba Hali impacts this football team. I almost feel like an injured Hali would have gotten more pressure than Hicks. Jimmy Wilkerson has been a solid rotational DE. He has played his way into a roster spot for next season; I can't say the same for Hicks.
Grade: A

Defensive Tackles:
In short, they get the job done. Nothing more, nothing less. We've certainly seen the pocket collapse a lot more than we have in years past. That's really all you can hope for from your tackles. The tackles have been ordinary; then again, they haven't been awful. There's really not a whole lot to say about them, except that Ryan Sims may have eaten his way out of the Chiefs for next season.
Grade: B-


Linebackers:
It's surprising how little recognition Derrick Johnson is getting this season, but he is on pace to rack up 100 tackles and 9 sacks.